Go on Rafael Nadal fans – pop those champagne corks! Can things get any better for the Spanish maestro?

Nadal crowned his last day for now as a world No.2 (before taking over the No.1 ranking from Roger Federer) in magnificent style with an impressive 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3 win over Fernando Gonzalez to capture the Olympic gold medal in Beijing. I admit, I didn’t see the match at all and I honestly didn’t think it would turn out to be one for the time capsule – but from what I’ve read Rafa did what he does best, that is go out and take care of business. Nadal fought off two set points in the second set, but otherwise was never broken and untroubled in the match by the Chilean who had wasted Rafa at the Australian Open back in 2007. Not the case today.

At the start of the week, no, make that the start of the summer, I’d say many didn’t think Rafa could sustain the level, the intensity, that we saw from him in wins at the French Open and Wimbledon. I definitely thought we would see him have his best run on hard courts, but to run the table like this? Well, Rafa has proved us wrong yet again winning two of the three summer events he entered, including Toronto and now the Olympics.

And after so much talk that there were so many more players that could derail the Spaniard on a hard court, the only guy to actually do it was Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati, and you could make the case that Rafa wasn’t all there for that match on that night.

Nadal has now won 38 of his last 39 matches, including the last two Grand Slams and after a three-year chase, he will officially supplant Federer at the top of the new ATP rankings from tomorrow (August 18). And with Federer in freefall, he’s now the clear favorite to win the US Open, which begins on August 25. Can the run continue – can he add to his growing resume which, at the age of 22, already includes the Davis Cup, Olympic Gold, French Open, Wimbledon and the No.1 ranking?

Also today, Russia swept all three medals in the women’s singles. Elena Dementieva took the gold, defeating Dinara Safina 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, while Vera Zvonareva beat China's Li Na to win the bronze.

The Williams sisters won their second doubles gold, having teamed up to take the 2000 Sydney doubles title.

After his disappointing loss to James Blake in the singles in Beijing. Federer did manage to finally collect a gold medal of his own, albeit in doubles when he and Stanislas (or “Stanley” as Fed calls him) Wawrinka overcame Swedish pair Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson in the doubles final. But how satisfying can a doubles gold be compared to Rafa’s singles gold? Or, for Roger, is it mission accomplished now that he has his gold?

I’m still lukewarm on the whole concept of pro tennis being part of the Games. The Olympics simply isn’t the pinnacle of achievement for tennis players that it is for athletes in the other sports where the gold medallist instantly becomes world’s best at that discipline. We now know that the world’s best swimmer is Michael Phelps, the world’s best female gymnast is Nastia Lukin and the world’s fastest man is Usain Bolt, and so on. But is Dementieva really the world’s best female tennis player?

That said, I think that for tennis stars like Federer, part of the allure of winning the Olympic gold isn’t necessarily the recognition, the glory that comes with winning it, but it’s the possession of just having it. Just having arguably the world’s most recognisable sporting award in the trophy case is the real drive. Federer and Nadal both have piles and piles of trophies in their homes, but the gold medal is the only one that is instantly identifiable across all continents and all cultures and all races. And credit to them, they now each have it. Who figured that at the start of the week?