ITF

ITFWORLD WINTER 2017 5 www.itftennis.com R afael Nadal is the 2017 ITF Men's World Champion, and in a season when some of the top men faltered with injuries, there was a little irony and plenty of inspiration in the Spaniard coming out on top. Nadal's own setbacks with his knees and wrist, and subsequent return to the pinnacle of the game, will motivate Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic et al as they contemplate their return from long lay-offs in 2018. By Nadal's own admission, the idea of him returning to world No. 1 seemed wildly improbable when he started out on his 2017 season, ranked No. 9, having missed the last three events of the previous year with a wrist injury. The Spaniard was back to his battling best however at the Australian Open, where he survived a tough draw — including five-setters against Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov — to reach his first Grand Slam final since 2014 Roland Garros. Facing Roger Federer in a major final for the first time in more than five years, Nadal lost in five sets, but his march to the title match was to set the tone for his whole season, as it was for Federer too. Nadal reached finals at Acapulco and Miami, where he again lost in the final to Federer. Moving to European clay courts he stepped things up another gear, capturing his first title of the year in Monte Carlo at the start of a 17-match winning streak which also saw him lift the trophies in Barcelona and Madrid. Despite a quarterfinal loss in Rome, Nadal seemed perfectly poised to triumph again at Roland Garros — if his body could just hold up. It did, and Nadal was magnificent as he swept to a tenth Roland Garros title, losing just 35 games along the way, the fewest for a major champion since Bjorn Borg at 1978 Roland Garros. The 31-year-old became the first player to win any Grand Slam event ten times, the oldest Roland Garros champion for 45 years, and in winning his 15th major went ahead of Pete Sampras to wholly own second place on the all-time Grand Slam titles list. Nadal started well at Wimbledon but lost a heartbreaker in the round of 16, falling 15-13 in the fifth set to Gilles Muller. His hard court preparation for the US Open was inauspicious, but Nadal took over the No. 1 ranking from Andy Murray in August. Once at Flushing Meadows, the Spaniard advanced through a wide open draw to reach his third major final of the season, where he defeated Kevin Andersen in straight sets to capture his third US Open, and claim Grand Slam title No. 16. He won his sixth title of 2017 in Beijing, and was runner-up in Shanghai, to Federer, before his season faltered due to a knee injury. Nadal played one match at the ATP Finals before retiring, but had done enough to stay ahead of Federer and end the year at No. 1. It was the fourth time he had finished the season in the top spot, and the first time since 2013. Nadal is the oldest player to be named ITF World Champion in men's singles, and receives the honour for the third time, having previously been World Champion in 2008 and 2010.

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