Nadal - Emperor of Beijing, King of the World!

Yes, Rafael Nadal has done it again! Not content with being the King of Clay and King of Grass, he nows adds the title of Emperor of Beijing with his Olympic Gold win over Chilean, Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3 7-6 6-3, in today's men's singles final.

To top that off, Nadal is officially crowned ATP world #1 player today, replacing the great Roger Federer who held the throne for the last 4 1/2 years!

Gonzalez was just no match for Nadal's consistency, power and sublime passing shots. According to Nadal, "I played almost the perfect match!"

Gonzalez was very happy with his own personally hat-trick of medals - adding Silver to his tally of Olympic Gold and Bronze in the men's doubles and singles in Athens 4 years ago.

The Bronze went to Serbian, Novak Djokovic, who beat American, James Blake.

No time for rest for all 3 players though as they make the trip half-way across the world to USA, where the US Open begins in a short time.

Predictions - Nadal vs. Gonzalez

Another fantastic encounter to cap a week of remarkable men's tennis in Beijing 2008.

Spain's Rafael Nadal will be hoping to be crowned the new King of Beijing 2008 by winning gold, just before receiving the title of Best Player in the World when the new ATP rankings come out tomorrow (Aug 18).

Extreme spin, great court coverage and amazing passing shots (especially on the bankhand side, make Nadal a tough competitor to beat.

In his way is Chilean, Fernando Gonzalez, who has brought pride to his country by bringing Chile to its second men's Olympic final. The former top 10 player (currently ranked 15th in the world) has a great serve and big forehand. His deep slice backhands also makes it tough for opponents to attack but it also his archilles heel in my opinion.

Nothing can stop Nadal at the moment from becoming the King of Clay, King of Wimbledon, Emperor of Beijing and soon to be King of the World! In fact, barring some major incident et al, I think Nadal may even be able to get the US Open in a few weeks time!

My prediction is for Nadal to win comfortably in straight sets.

No Djoke, Srbija Win Bronze

World #3, Novak Djokovic, brought back some pride to the Serbian camp when he beat American, James Blake, 6-3 7-6, to take home Olympic bronze in convincing fashion.

Djokovic, the reigning Australian Open champion won the first set easily but Blake, who was still angry over what he deemed as "cheating" by Fernando Gonzalez in the previous round, made him work in the second set but succumbed to the tenacious play of Djokovic.

The Serb celebrated by throwing his shirt, racquet and other accessories into the crowd while holding the Serbian flag with pride.

Serbia may be able to make it a bronze-double if Jelena Jankovic can win her 3rd-place play-off against China's Li Na, who lost to Russian, Dinara Safina, in the semifinals.

Speedy Gonzalez Breaks Blake, Controversy

In a slightly controversial match, Fernando Gonzalez of Chile came from a set down to beat giant killer James Blake of the USA, 4-6 7-5 11-9.

Gonzalez lost the first set through a large number of unforced errors and some fantastic backhand winners from Blake, who took out the number 1 seed, Roger Federer in the previous round. Gonzo kept his calm to take the match to a decider.

The 3rd set was a long drawn affair, as there was no deciding tie-breaker and at 9-8 in the 3rd, Blake struck a backhand that went wide but clipped Gonzalez's racquet in the process.

Unsportsman-like Gonzalez never admitted the fault and with Blake pleading his case to the umpire to no avail, Blake lost his nerve to give the 3rd set away, 11-9.

This is the second time Chile are in the Olympic final, where Nicholas Massu prevailed to get Olympic Gold.

Gonzalez is hoping to equal that by lifting the medal but standing in his way are either new world #1, Raphael Nadal or world #3, Novak Djokovic.