Bob Larson's Daily Tennis News
August 15, 2024

Sopot - Final
Rafael Nadal (6) def. Jose Acasuso 6-3 6-4

And on Sunday, even as all the cameras were turned to the Olympics, Rafael Nadal finally picked up his first singles title.

One way or another, a streak would end here: Either Jose Acasuso's nine-match undefeated streak in Sopot, or Rafael Nadal's title-less streak.

You had to think the odds were with Nadal, even so. He's the better player, and he came in more rested. And, for once, logic was actually right.

Too bad it all gets overshadowed by the Olympics. The scores here don't affect the rankings in a meaningful way; they'll be used to seed Long Island, but Nadal won't be in Long Island. And the Olympics, which are worth more than twice as much as Sopot, will be what settles the U. S. Open seedings. And Nadal will go in tired.

Still, he'll gain some 20 places in the rankings. Acasuso, #105 coming in, will move about 25 places himself -- though he also falls to 1-4 in finals.

At least one person wondered if Nadal's win adds anything to the record books youngest ever, or some such. At 18 years and 2 months, it doesn't even threaten those sorts of records. But he is the youngest tournament winner in more than five years; the last player this age to pick up a title was Lleyton Hewitt at Delray Beach 1999 (and Hewitt was actually a few days older than Nadal is now, so the last player who was actually younger was Hewitt at Adelaide 1998).