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Player of the Month: May 2008

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--- POLL CLOSED

The ATP Player of the Month May is Rafael Nadal, who finished a sensational clay court season with the destruction of Federer. He extended his Roland Garros record to 28-0 (def. Federer), completed the AMS Clay Triple by winning in Hamburg (def. Federer) and also four-peated Barcelona (def. Ferrer). He also went 8-0 against his fellow top 5 players this clay court season.

This month also saw a lot of first-timers, with Jeremy Chardy reaching the fourth round of Roland Garros as a wildcard, Monfils reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final, Wawrinka reaching his first AMS final (l. Djokovic), Gulbis reaching his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, Bolelli reaching his first ATP final (l. Gonzalez) and Seppi reaching his first AMS semifinal.

The WTA Player of the Month May is Dinara Safina, who went on a 11 match winning streak winning Tier I Berlin (def. Elena Dementieva) and reaching the finals of Roland Garros (l. Ana Ivanovic). Her fighting spirit was very impressive, coming from matchpoint down to win in several matches.

Ana Ivanovic deserves a special mention here, for winning her first Grand Slam title (def. Safina) and obtaining the number 1 ranking in the world.

Some other players who performed well. Zvonareva wins in Prague (def. Azarenka), Dulko wins in Fes (def. Garrigues) and Cornet backs up her strong month in April with a Tier I final in Rome (l. Jankovic)


Final Standings

ATP*
Player Votes
1. Nadal 26
2. Chardy 3
3. Federer 2
3. Monfils 2
5. Wawrinka 1
5. Gulbis 1
7. Ferrer 0
7. Ferrero 0
7. Bolelli 0
7. Djokovic 0
7. Seppi 0
WTA**
Player Votes
1. Safina 15
2. Ivanovic 14
3. Keothavong 1
4. Zvonareva 0
4. Dulko 0
4. Cornet 0
* Last vote counted: patidaba
** Last vote counted: patidaba

April 2008 Thread: www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A34785...
March 2008 Thread: www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A33825...
February 2008 Thread: www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A32953...
January 2008 Thread: www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A32984...

Latest 10 comments

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posted Jun 10, 2008

ATP: Chardy
WTA: Safina

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posted Jun 10, 2008

ATP: Chardy
WTA: Safina

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posted Jun 10, 2008

Chardy? Who is Chardy? Are you being indie?

ATP: Nadal
WTA: Ivanovic

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posted Jun 10, 2008

I'm going to be controversial and go for Nadal and Ivanovic the French Open champions. I can see a case for Safina, but Ivanovic was comfortably the best player in the biggest tournament of the extended month. Also maiden grand slam and reaching number 1 both landmark achievments for her.

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posted Jun 10, 2008

"Chardy? Who is Chardy? Are you being indie?"

doh

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posted Jun 10, 2008


ATP: Nadal
WTA: Ivanovic

"Trashes Nadal in AMS Rome" - Just a *hunch* that Nadals' enormous blister played a part in that, according to the match commentary / post-game interviews.. smiley

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comment by JG (U2037057)

posted Jun 10, 2008

ATP: Nadal
WTA: Keothavong

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comment by Kirill (U3020163)

posted Jun 10, 2008

"WTA: Keothavong"

laugh

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comment by katada (U8420250)

posted Jun 10, 2008

ATP- Rafael Nadal

WTA- Dinara Safina

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posted Jun 11, 2008

atp: gulbis
wta: ivanovic

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