Raise your hand if you had picked Rafael Nadal to sweep these past two Masters Series events in Canada and Cincinnati. Because if you did, I think you saw something everyone else didn’t. He was playing for the first time since another Wimbledon letdown (first round loss to Steve Darcis) and on a surface that he has largely avoided all year. Hence, there was a lot of speculation on how well Rafa would do and by the end of the two weeks; we knew more than we thought we would.

Completing the Canada/Cincy Double

I personally love back-to-back Masters Events because it might be the hardest test in tennis. Each player has to play 5/6 matches over a one week span all against Top 50 opponents (times two). Throw in the ultra-competitive surface and you would understand why only three men had ever won these two Masters events in successive…