Nadal beats Messi to be crowned the decade's top sportsperson
Kama kawa The King Of Clay
The battle is over.
The world's greatest athletes have gone head to head and
Rafael Nadal has come out on top as the pick of the bunch from the last decade.
Nadal faced
Lionel Messi in a colossal final, but it was the Spaniard who came out as a clear winner.
MARCA readers voted in huge numbers - with almost 160,000 votes being counted - and
Nadal took 62 percent of the vote to
Messi's 38 percent. The tennis star had beaten
Eliud Kipchoge, then
Cristiano Ronaldo in the quarter-finals before long-standing rival
Roger Federer in the semi-finals to face
Messi in the final of the competition to work out the top sportsperson of the decade.
Messi had to beat off competition from
Michael Phelps in the semi-finals after seeing off
Marc Marquez in the quarter-finals and
Novak Djokovic in the previous round.
Nadal has enjoyed a remarkable 2019, winning at Roland Garros, the US Open and the Davis Cup, as well as claiming the world No.1 spot.
Hongera sana Rafael Nadal wewe ni mfano mzuri kwa vijana kujituma ...…… … Big up Rafa Karibu sana Tanzania kwa vacation.
The last 10 years have been impressive for him too, winning practically everything on offer this decade.
He lifted eight Roland Garros titles, four US Opens, Wimbledon, an Olympic gold medal, two Davis Cups and a host of other tournaments too.