I have never been a Rafael Nadal fan, but man is he earning my respect. I always dismissed him as a clay-court wonder, which he was until this year. Now he adds Olympic gold to his 2008 march; and his rival, Roger Federer, doesn't have any Olympic singles medal. Love or hate those cutoffs and Capri pants, you have to really admire what Nadal has done with his game in the last 52 weeks; a fitting Olympic champion and the new No. 1 male tennis player in the world.

I have never been a Rafael Nadal fan, but man is he earning my respect. I always dismissed him as a clay-court wonder, which he was until this year. Now he adds Olympic gold to his 2008 march; and his rival, Roger Federer, doesn't have any Olympic singles medal. Love or hate those cutoffs and Capri pants, you have to really admire what Nadal has done with his game in the last 52 weeks; a fitting Olympic champion and the new No. 1 male tennis player in the world.

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