Rafa returns to No 1 !!!!! But Race Narrows down on US Open Clash !!!!!!!!!!!!!

       Rafael Nadal returned to the top of the ATP Rankings on Monday for his fourth stint as the World No 1. Nadal, who had already spent 141 total weeks at No 1 in the past, replaced Great Britain’s Andy Murray, who had held the top spot for 41 weeks since 7 November, 2016.
The Spaniard first rose to No 1 on 18 August, 2008 at the age of 22, and he last held top spot three years and 45 days ago on 6 July, 2014.

"Being No 1 after all the things that I have been going through the last couple of years is something unbelievable, so [it] is, for me, an amazing achievement to be back to that position after [a] few years, three years," Nadal was quoted as saying in an official press release by the ATP. 

Murray has the most points to defend and will at least need to reach the semi-finals to stay in contention if all three players make the second week of the Slam. If either Federer, Nadal or Murray win the title, that player would be crowned No 1 regardless of how the other two fare.
The other scenarios depend on how far each of these players progress — Federer will need to get a better result than Nadal to be No 1. Here's a look at the number of points a player receives for every round at a Grand Slam.

King of Clay...#LaDecima #FrenchOpen #2017

 As Expected #Nadal completes #LaDecima beating #Wawrinka in French Open final 2017.

Stats about the #KingofClay as on June 2017.

Time to say from King of Clay to God of Clay

Kings battle and conquer, gods on the other hand, just have to show up.

      Rafael Nadal has long been prasied as the King of Clay. He earned this name in his early 20s by beating the then presumably best on the surface, Guillermo Coria and consistently beating the best in the business, Roger Federer on red clay all over the world.

     He won Master titles on the trot, multiple French Open championships and kept cementing his position in tennis as the best of his era on clay, probably the best ever to grace the red courts.

Rafael Nadal celebrating with the trophy after each of his Monte Carlo Masters title wins. AFP

     With his 10th title at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 tournament, Nadal has once again rewritten the history books by becoming the first man in the Open Era to win the same tournament 10 times.

What is worth noting is the fact that Nadal also remains the only male player to win a tournament nine times (French Open and Barcelona). Roland Garros, Monte Carlo and Barcelona all happen to be clay court tournaments.

       The title win in Monte Carlo was Nadal’s 50th title win on clay and the Spaniard is now the clear leader on the list of most titles won on the surface (surpassing Guillermo Vilas’ 49).

Here is why Nadal deserves to be called the God of Clay now:

81

Nadal once rode an 81-match winning streak on the surface between 2005 and 2007. It is the longest winning streak by a male player on a particular surface in the Open Era. The second longest such streak amounted to 46-wins in contrast, and is owned by Vilas.

50

Nadal now has 50 clay court titles in his trophy collection. With the win in Monte Carlo, he broke a year-long tie with Vilas and became the outright leader in this category. What’s worth mentioning is the fact that Nadal has lost only 34 matches to reach this feat, while Vilas lost 157 matches on clay en route his 49 titles.

46

Between 2005 and 2013, Nadal won 46 consecutive matches at the Monte Carlo Masters, which is a record for most consecutive wins at one tournament by any player in the Open Era. The streak started in the first round of the 2005 edition with a victory over Gael Monfils, and ended in the final of the 2013 edition with a straight-sets loss to Novak Djokovic.

10

Nadal is now the first player on the men’s circuit to complete the 'decima' at a single event in the Open Era. Nadal is also second on the list of most titles won at the same event, with nine wins each at Roland Garros and Barcelona.

9

Nadal also holds the record for most titles at the same Grand Slam event with nine title wins at the French Open. No other man has won more than seven and one would only imagine Nadal will have a few more shots left at completing the 'decima' on the red clay of Paris.

1

Nadal is the only player in the history of the sport to have won the three Masters 1000 tournaments on clay (Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid) and the French Open, all in the same year. Nadal accomplished this feat of the Clay Slam in the 2010 campaign.

Whatever you call him God or King, Nadal is, at this point, going in the history books as the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) on the red dirt around the world.

The best part is that he in the pursuit of challenging the limits of his own greatness. Let’s see what the rest of the season has to offer.