Nobody will prevent Rafael Nadal claiming the world No.1 ranking spot from Roger Federer on August 18.

What Nadal has achieved over the last three months is simply breathtaking. The Spaniard has racked up 32 successive wins on three diffrent surfaces in key tournamants - Hamburg Masters on clay, Roland Garros on clay, Queen's on grass, Wimbledon on grass and Canadian Masters on hard courts - a feat that not even Federer can claim to have matched.

A lot of people laughed three years ago when Nadal said that he would one day win Wimbledon. Everybody knew he was the king on clay and that most Spaniards are alergic to grass. That was until Rafa came along. Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl all had amazing runs, but none of them were able to win on three diffrent surfaces in a period of three months.

'The hero's task Federer must now undertake is taking back what Nadal has stripped from him'


People love Nadal's combative spirit and his rough-hewn game, but few have bothered to pay homage to the way he has operated out of his red dirt base and gradually expanded his domain. There's a technical component to Nadal's ascent that is often overlooked.

He's carved away the fat that serves as insurance on clay but becomes a liability on faster surfaces. He worked to become a player who operates aggressively and efficiently, from further inside the court, on faster courts.

This Federer-Nadal rivalry has been extraordinary. Federer secured the record for most consecutive weeks at No.1 (236), while Nadal locked down a slightly less impressive but unique mark of his own, most weeks at No.2 (159).

Beyond that, the idea that a player can win four majors without attaining the No.1 ranking, as Nadal did, is mind-boggling. That's because winning multiple majors represents the gold standard in tennis. It's almost a foregone conclusion that a player who nails down even two or three Grand Slams can't avoid being No.1.

Now that the top two players are about to change places, it's a good time to look at the challenge posed for Federer.

The Mighty Fed will be in unfamiliar territory at No.2 and, in order to reclaim his spot at the top, he'll have to show a degree of grit, determination and confidence he hasn't yet had to demonstrate in his career.

That doesn't mean he lacks those qualities, just that he hasn't had to rely on them. His ascent to the top was gradual and therefore stress-free. Once he got to the top, he ran wild and utterly dominated the game.

This is never as easy as it looks, of course, but the fact remains that the greatest of players have demonstrated a talent for overcoming adversity - to dig deep and win matches with their hearts, not just their hands.

On that score, we don't know who Federer is just yet, but we're about to find out. Though he has 12 Grand Slam singles titles, and may even surpass Pete Sampras' record of 14, he hasn't had to show his ability to navigate typical bumps along a career road.

And, now that the wear and tear is taking a toll, physically as well as mentally and emotionally, the task will be that much more daunting - though not unrealistic, given his talent and reputation.

This line of thinking proceeds with no regard to the quality of the competition during the period when Federer dominated - that's something over which Federer has no control, and for which he certainly can't be blamed. But it does have something to do with that quality we call "character".

The hero's task Federer must now undertake is taking back what Nadal has stripped from him. If he doesn't do that, he'll be a lesser player - even if he ends up the all-time Grand Slam champ. Because at the end of the day, stats are just stats and cross-generational comparisons are somewhat absurd.

Federer has declared himself a candidate for GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), but there's one guy in his generation whom he can't beat regularly. In order to complete his amazing journey in tennis, Federer needs to reclaim that No.1 ranking the way so many other great players have done, even if he can't hold it for another four-year span.