Nadal Qualifies for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai
July 24th, 2005
Masters Cup Site
Rafael Nadal will make his Masters Cup debut.
Spanish tennis sensation Rafael Nadal has qualified for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, becoming the youngest player in more than a decade to win a berth at the prestigious $4.45 million circuit finale. He joins World No. 1 and INDESIT ATP 2005 Race leader Roger Federer as the only two ATP players to have qualified so far for the elite eight-man and eight-team circuit finale in Shanghai.
Nadal ensured that he would play in his first Tennis Masters Cup after another stellar performance on clay this week at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. The 19-year-old won his eighth title of the season on Sunday, defeating Gaston Gaudio 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to improve his 2005 clay court record to 48-2 and keeping his 34-match clay court winning streak alive.
�For me it�s a dream. Now I�m amongst the eight best players in the world, which is very important to me,� said Nadal. �Shanghai is an exotic and nice place. Carlos Moya told me that it was a very, very nice tournament three years ago. For me this is unbelievable. It will be my first Masters and I hope to enjoy the experience and to play well.�
The 19-year-old Spaniard remains in second position in the INDESIT ATP 2005 Race, more than 250 points clear of third-placed American Andy Roddick and now within 173 points of Federer. Nadal, who is 59-8 on the season, has enjoyed a history-making run in 2005, winning eight titles including Roland Garros and back-to-back ATP Masters Series titles in Monte-Carlo and Rome. Indeed, the two Shanghai qualifiers, Federer and Nadal, have shared all five ATP Masters Series titles this year, with Federer winning back-to-back crowns in Indian Wells and Miami and a third title in Hamburg.
Nadal is the youngest qualifier for the men�s circuit finale since Andrei Medvedev in 1993. On Monday Nadal, at 19 years, 1 month and 22 days, will become the third teenager in history (since 1973) to reach No. 2 in the INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking. He joins Boris Becker (18 years, 9 mos., 17 days) and Bjorn Borg (18 years, 10 mos., 2 days) as the only teenagers to rank No. 2.
This year�s Tennis Masters Cup, the culminating event of the men�s professional tennis circuit, will be held November 13-20 in Shanghai, China.
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