Tennis 2022 (playoff, leagues, Heat, won)

[MAGAalot]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Wow. Don't want to believe the rumor, but if true, the best part is that he took out his rival on a dead foot before deciding to go have it looked at........maybe not me, but definitely not you! I am going to miss these guys.

If he retired this year I was hoping it'd be after he won the Calendar Year Grand Slam. He could do it, if he's willing to play each slam event with a numb foot. Anaesthetic clearly works, and he doesn't have to play any events this year apart from the the slams.
He didn't play any grass lead-up events in 2018 and 2019, and made the Wimbledon SFs both years (and lost 10-8 5th Set to Djokovic at 2018 Wimbledon).

[RMESMH]

About 8 hours and 45 minutes until NBC starts the telecast.


This new development made me think about Tiger's 2008 U.S. Open playoff PGA win in San Diego with a broken leg.

[wp169]

Tennis is so brutal now, men should being playing best out of 3 like women's tennis, not best out of 5 imo, due to increasing risk of injury. Additionally, by the time a player reaches the final, sometimes he's injured and can't play his best or defaults and both the player and the fans are cheated. Nadal is so lucky he lasted so long as a great player with his long-term foot problem.

[MAGAalot]

Originally Posted by wp169

Tennis is so brutal now, men should being playing best out of 3 like women's tennis, not best out of 5 imo, due to increasing risk of injury. Additionally, by the time a player reaches the final, sometimes he's injured and can't play his best or defaults and both the player and the fans are cheated. Nadal is so lucky he lasted so long as a great player with his long-term foot problem.

But look how young Sampras and Agassi were when they won their last slam titles....
Agassi = 33
Sampras = 31

Now look how old the big3 are....
Nadal = 36
Federer = 40
Djokovic = 35

So tennis has far better longevity now, so no reason to limit slams to best-of-3-sets.

[RMESMH]

I didn't wake up in time, and missed the first set and the first two games of the second set.

Nadal then lost the next two games, and I thought I might be cursing him.

Then he reeled of 11 games in a row to get #22 at 6-3 6-3 6-0, and #14 at Roland Garros .

Rafa's last six words in his victory speech..."I am going to keep fighting" .

[OutdoorLover]

Given his foot issues, it was good for Rafa that he was able to win fairly quickly - Ruud only won 6 games in the match! Rafa didn't therefore need to strain his body too much more. 22 major wins - unbelievable. And while Rafa currently leads, he has two colleagues who have also won an amazing number of majors as his contemporaries. This is a golden age of men's tennis.

[MAGAalot]

That was good the way Nadal won the last 11 games of the Final.
It often happens this way, the opponent gets up a break, and Nadal is energized by the challenge

[westsideboy]

Master class by Nadal. Ruud struggled with serves to his backhand side all match, and as soon as Nadal wised up to the drop shot game it was over fast.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by 0ldsm0bile

If you were forced right now to pick the goat right now, who would you pick?
I still think it's between Djokovic and Federer.
Clay is just such an unorthodox surface, or at least it feels like it is.

I like Rafa the best, but it's because of his character. So far as the winning ability, quality of play, I think it's very hard to pick between them. Certainly by the easiest measure - number of majors won, 22, 20 and 20 is awfully similar and I think just reflects the fact that all three have played at a very high level for a long time in their careers. Rafa is just one year older than Djokovic, but he seems to have a lot more trouble with injuries, so I expect Djokovic to outlast him by a few years at least, and you don't have similar quality players behind them to put a end to Djokovic's wins. I think therefore that Djokovic will end up with the most major wins - soon he will have the court to himself as the only player playing at this very high level, and then the wins only come faster.

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by 0ldsm0bile

If you were forced right now to pick the goat right now, who would you pick?
I still think it's between Djokovic and Federer.
Clay is just such an unorthodox surface, or at least it feels like it is.

Gosh, you can make an argument for each of them. I've always felt like prime Federer was the best tennis player I have ever seen, but he peaked earlier than his rivals and never beat Nadal in the French. Novak likely has 22 majors himself if he had gotten vaccinated or not been DQed at the US Open two years ago and can say he has beaten Federer at Wimbledon and Nadal in the French Open. Nadal has the most majors overall, and 8 total on his "not so great surfaces" is a strong number, especially since many of those wins came over his rivals, beating prime, or near prime, Federer on grass was especially impressive.

So, pick your favorite. I like watching all of them play.....although admittedly it took a while to warm up to Djokovic's game.