After three years stuck behind Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal was finally crowned men's tennis number one on Monday, capping a brilliant spell including his first Olympic title just hours earlier. The 22-year-old Spaniard, who reached the second spot in July 2005, underlined the transformation in men's tennis by brushing aside Fernando Gonzalez in the final with Federer's challenge already a distant memory. With the Swiss misfiring this season, Nadal has seized his chance winning eight tournaments since April including his fourth French Open and his first Wimbledon. He was demonstrably the best player here after a slow start against Potito Starace, blowing away Lleyton Hewitt and Igor Andreev before passing the toughest of tests against hardcourt specialist Novak Djokovic. Buoyed by his success on the surface, Nadal will now be favorite to claim his first US Open title at the season's final Grand Slam starting in New York next Monday. It was his father Sebastien's brother, Toni, who changed Nadal's life when he first handed him a tennis racquet at the age of just four. After shedding his two-handed forehand at about nine, the young Nadal quickly rose through the ranks and reached the junior Wimbledon semifinals at his first attempt in 2002. Asked about his feelings on becoming number one, the Mallorcan left-hander was typically phlegmatic. “I'm very happy to be number one. But the feeling doesn't change too much because the last years I did very well, too,” he said. “I was very happy being the number two. So finally I'm number one. For sure there's satisfaction, but at the same time ... I don't know. I don't have time to celebrate. I play New York in one week.” The 27-year-old Federer in Beijing appeared to hand over the baton to Nadal, five years his junior. “I've known for over a week now about the number one ranking. But it's fine. Rafa played great to get it,” Federer said. “That's what I expected and hoped for many years ago when I got to number one, that if ever somebody were to take it away from me, he would have to play an incredible tennis schedule, win the biggest tournaments, dominate the game basically, and then like this he can take number one,” Federer said. “I didn't want it to happen that I would play completely bad and somebody would pick up number one in the world. So I think Rafa totally deserves it.”
