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09/02/2009Nadal: king of men's tennis

Despite being the newly crowned Australian Open champion, Rafael Nadal remains as humble as before.

MELBOURNE – Newly crowned Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal said the fear of a sudden end to his Grand Slam spree is inspiring him to take his tennis to another level after his titanic victory over Roger Federer.

The Spaniard is the undisputed king of men's tennis after he surged home to prevent Federer from equalling the all-time majors record in an epic five-setter in last Sunday's final in Melbourne.

The 22-year-old holds a special place in tennis, capturing his sixth major title in only his 20th Grand Slam tournament, second only to the strike-rate of Sweden's Bjorn Borg (18 tournaments and six months younger).

By comparison, American Pete Sampras, who holds the record number of 14 Grand Slam wins, won his sixth major in his 25th Grand Slam while Federer reached that mark in his 26th major.

Nadal is the first Spanish man to win the Australian Open. Photo by AFP.
Nadal also became the first Spanish man to win the Australian Open.

His gripping 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-2 triumph in four hours and 23 minutes improved his record over Federer to 13-6 and stretched his lead over the Swiss in the world rankings to more than 3000 points.

But although the world number one is at the height of his tennis powers and holds three of the four Grand Slams, he is cautious about mapping out what he can achieve in the game.

"I have six (majors) right now. I'm happy with my six and I am going to continue to try my best every day to improve my tennis and to continue to win matches and titles," Nadal said after his victory.

"But I know everything is very difficult. Every title, I know how tough it is to win every one.

"I don't know if I'm going to win more. When I won my first one I didn't know if I was going to win more.


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