Rafael Nadal at the 2008 French Open. Nadal won eight titles in 2008 including two Grand Slam tournaments. He finished the year ranked No. 1 and was voted Player of the Year.
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Details | |
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Duration | 31 December 2007 – 9 November 2008 |
Tournaments | 68 |
Categories |
Grand Slam (4) ATP Masters Series (9) ATP International Series Gold (10) ATP International Series (42) |
Achievements (singles) | |
Most tournament titles | Rafael Nadal (8) |
Most tournament finals | Rafael Nadal (10) |
Prize money leader | Rafael Nadal ($6,773,773) |
Points leader | Rafael Nadal (6,675) |
Awards | |
Player of the year | Rafael Nadal |
Doubles Team of the year |
Nenad Zimonjić Daniel Nestor |
Most improved player of the year | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga |
Newcomer of the year | Kei Nishikori |
Comeback player of the year | Rainer Schüttler |
← 2007
2009 →
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The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.
This is the complete schedule of events on the 2008 ATP Tour, with player progression documented until the quarter-final stage.
The opening week of the year featured three tournaments, across the regions of Oceania, South East Asia, and the Middle East. All three of these events began on December 31, 2007. One of the semi-finals in Chennai, India, between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moyá featured a notable match in the history of the ATP Tour, with Nadal coming out on top in three sets. The contest was significant because it was the longest three-set match since 1993, when Andrei Cherkasov defeated Andrea Gaudenzi in three sets at the ATP Tel Aviv. Both matches ran for three hours and fifty-four minutes. Two further tournaments were played in the week prior to the Australian Open; both were in close proximity to the Grand Slam tournament, in Auckland, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia.
The Australian Open saw Novak Djokovic claim his first Grand Slam title, and also saw him becoming the first representative of Serbia to win a Grand Slam title. Djokovic was able to beat Roger Federer in the semi-finals and consequently broke up his monopoly of hard court slam titles, of which he had won the last five. The event also saw the shock emergence of French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who reached the final and drew comparison with Muhammad Ali due to his appearance and audacious style of play. This was the first Australian Open to take place on the new Plexicushion surface, which was designed to have lower heat retention and a more predictable bounce.