Raonic The Real Deal

Milos Raonic (courtesy Wikipedia.org)

Milos Raonic stands at No. 37 in the world since the new rankings were released Monday morning. He became the highest ranked Canadian tennis player ever, surpassing Greg Rusedski who rose to No. 41 in the world before taking on British citizenship and then rising to No. 4.

Raonic lost to No. 8 in the world Andy Roddick 7/6 (7) 6/7 (11) 7/5 in a 2 ½ hour war. He saved many match points and showed the poise of a top ten player while playing the championship at the ATP Memphis event against Roddick who bagged his 30^th career title.

Raonic is the real deal. He is confident, motivated and playing some fantastic tennis. A stint in Spain at the end of the year with his coach Galo Blanco to work more intensely on a few areas of his game proved golden. Blanco also tore into Raonic about his lackluster performances to date. A switch suddenly flicked in Milos’ brain and he went on a tear ever since, reaching the 4^th round of the Australian Open, winning in San Jose and now reaching the final in Memphis.

Most Canadian players tend to get buried in the rankings anywhere from 100 to 400 in the world. Only a few manage to break the top 100. Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls more than three years ago reached a high of No. 65 and back in 1989 Andrew Snajder reached a career high ranking of 46.

Raonic is different. He is well spoken, calm, confident and determined. His fitness has improved tremendously and he has lost the chunk that had him losing to top Canadians just two years ago. At 6’ 5” tall, Raonic is terrifying with his huge serve, powerful forehand and backhand, net game and great mobility. He is not the typical sloth-like tall guy, rather a powerful puma.

You better believe Milos Raonic will hit the top 10 before the end of this year. The question is how high can he go and when will he win his first Grand Slam title. Watch out Nadal, Djokovic and Federer – Milos Raonic is coming.

Nadal Voted Sportsman of the Year

Courtesy of http://www.fanpix.net/

World tennis No 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain recently won the Sportsman of the Year award at the Laureus World Sports Awards. He capped a brilliant year winning three Grand Slams titles – at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. Nadal won his first Laureus Award in 2006 capturing the Breakthrough Award.

Laurius is comprised of the Laureus World Sports Academy, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Laureus World Sports Awards. Collectively, these three elements form the essence of Laureus, harnessing the power of sport to promote social change and celebrating sporting excellence.

The Laureus World Sports Academy is made up of some of the greatest legends from sports. Once brought together, their reach, support and investment help social projects around the world that are using sport as a tool for social change. The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation funds the initiatives of social change that seeks to inspire hope and positive change for children around the world.

The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual celebration of that achievement. The world’s media and the legends of the Laureus World Sports Academy judge athletes from across the sporting spectrum where the world of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is showcased. 

Nadal created The Rafa Nadal Foundation in 2007 after a trip to Chennai, India, to focus on social work and development aid particularly on childhood and youth. He feels that he is doing very well and owes society. He plans to be more active in this role after he retires from competitive tennis.

In 2010 Nadal matched legendary Rod Laver by winning the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same year, a feat not achieved since 1969. He showed the stunning versatility of his game by becoming the first man ever to win three Grand Slams in a year on three different surfaces – clay, grass and hard court. Nadal joins a who’s who of great athletes who have won this award such as: Usain Bolt, the Spanish Football Club, Serena Williams, Lance Armstrong, Anika Sorenstam, Esther Vergeer, Roger Federer and Justine Henin.

It’s not only Nadal’s on court prowess that leads one to admire this mature 24 year old, but his sportsmanship after a loss and in press conferences. Nadal is seen after matches hugging opponents and praising them after losses. He deflects questions about injury or poor performance that are aimed by the press to take away from his opponent’s victories. This cannot be said of many of tennis greats of the past and present. Some recent examples: Serena’s 2009 meltdown again Kim Clijsters at the US Open and Roger Federer’s 2009 meltdown at the Australian Open Finals Trophy presentation.

Handling winning and losing with grace is where Nadal can be compared to the all-time great Rod Lavar who also never made excuses, worked hard at perfecting an all-court power game and achieved greatness both off and on the court.

With good health this may be the first of many Laureus Sportsman of the Year awards for Rafa. And at the pace he is going, Nadal may be destined to become not only the greatest tennis player in history, but the greatest athlete of all time.