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and Djokovic won three majors in one year (and dang near 4 in one year). i forgot he was banned from playing because he didnt get the jab.
i dont think Djokovic is done yet. i think hes got a few more left in him after last year.
And also Nadal won 3 consecutive slams in 2010.
Djokovic won 3 consecutive slams last year, but lost to Medvedev at the US Open last year, in straight sets.
And this year Djokovic won't be allowed to play the US Open, unless they change the vaccination rules by August....
I think if Nadal wins Wimbledon this year (if he plays, we aren't sure yet), he'll win all 4 slams this year, because he'll win the US Open.
Nadal has won more US Opens than Djokovic.
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.
Hardcourt should be banned, because sports are generally not played on cement. Its very hard on the body, especially the feet, ankles, knees and back.
But hardcourts are useful for the less-skilled players, because you don't get "bad bounces" on hardcourt, whereas clay and grass have more variables and affected by weather.
Grass and clay began in the 1800s, but even today most Europeans grow up on clay, and South Americans.
Clay is considered relatively unorthodox to Americans, although Agassi made 3 French Open Finals and won it once. And Jim Courier won 2 French Opens....
Rafa has had his first new radio frequency injection in Barcelona after 5 hours. and was on crutches going to the airport back home to Mallorca.
Radio frequency treatments are usually effective in destroying the offending nerves, but medial branch nerves will regenerate over time. Therefore, the pain relief experienced from this type of treatment is not permanent but can be repeated as necessary.
Frances Roig, one of Rafa's coaches said,
"Rafa has to undergo 2-3 sessions
If Rafa has no pain on court after 3 sessions he'll play Wimbledon
Before he'd test himself in a couple of exho matches
If it doesn't work nobody knows what will happen".
Rafa is more injury prone now due to his very physical playing style early in his career - about which many tennis professionals warned back in the day would set Rafa up for problems later on. It's remarkable, all things considered, he is still able to compete and win as often as he has at this late date.
From what I've read about the foot bone necrosis (death of the bone) - it's far more than just nerve pain - this could be a career-ending development.
Which is why he's said he'd rather have a new foot than another championship. His ailment impairs his normal way of life, not just tennis. Rafa is a very active guy - which means everything he does is affected.
Disclaimer: I've been a Rafa fan since he was a teen.
As far as GOAT, on sheer talent no one can beat Federer. Fed's game is more multi-dimensional, often a thing of beauty, especially in his younger years. Much as I've always liked Rafa, I've never considered Rafa better than Fed even though he's surpassed Fed in slams and has a winning record against him. I still consider Fed the GOAT.
Although I dislike Djokovic (hothouse flower, injury faker, general PITA in his early days), he has been quite the late bloomer comparatively speaking, done a lot better than anyone expected back in the day, so he could very well end up with another five slams under his belt. GOAT will never be synonymous with the Djoker for me - ever. He was just too obnoxious and declasse in his early years. Still is, at times. As classy representatives of the game, Fed and Rafa meet the bar. Djokovic not so much.
I wouldn't mind Rafa losing the French to a guy like Ruud. So happy it wasn't a Rafa/Novak final b/c Novak has beaten Rafa often. A title loss to Novak, especially at RG, for me, would be awful.
Last edited by Ariadne22; 06-08-2022 at 01:44 AM..
^ I wanted Cilic to make the Final, because even though he's likely to hit a huge number of unforced errors, at least the points would be more action-packed. Nadal would have won in straight-sets, but at least some of the points would be on Cilic's racquet.
I know people associate "beauty" with talent, but I don't.
Also, I've never found Federer's tennis to be beautiful, and always found his game relatively boring, because Nadal's game is so unique.
Federer mostly copied the traditional techniques of tennis. Apart from the squash-shot (a shot Hingis played long before Federer), Federer is just a text-book player.
Whereas Nadal's lasso forehand is original (and has since been copied by others), and even if you judge talent by "beauty" its very obvious to me that Nadal's forehand has more beauty than Federer's forehand.
And Nadal is right-handed (in every aspect of his life, outside of tennis) but plays with his left-hand. He holds the 2-handed-backhand with a left-hander's grip but gets maximum power from the right-hand. So his backhand is completely unique.
So Nadal is clearly a greater talent than Federer, based on the forehand and the backhiand.
Also, the doubles legend Mark Woodforde was commentating at Roland Garros last year, and he was asked where he'd rank Nadal in the volleying department. Woodforde said he'd rank Nadal at #1 in volleys.
And John McEnroe said of the top 10 players, Nadal has the best volleys.
And honestly, its not just fundamental volleys, its the difficult volleys too.
I've seen Nadal hit more acrobatic volleys than Federer.
^ I wanted Cilic to make the Final, because even though he's likely to hit a huge number of unforced errors, at least the points would be more action-packed. Nadal would have won in straight-sets, but at least some of the points would be on Cilic's racquet.
I know people associate "beauty" with talent, but I don't.
Also, I've never found Federer's tennis to be beautiful, and always found his game relatively boring, because Nadal's game is so unique.
Federer mostly copied the traditional techniques of tennis. Apart from the squash-shot (a shot Hingis played long before Federer), Federer is just a text-book player.
Whereas Nadal's lasso forehand is original (and has since been copied by others), and even if you judge talent by "beauty" its very obvious to me that Nadal's forehand has more beauty than Federer's forehand.
And Nadal is right-handed (in every aspect of his life, outside of tennis) but plays with his left-hand. He holds the 2-handed-backhand with a left-hander's grip but gets maximum power from the right-hand. So his backhand is completely unique.
So Nadal is clearly a greater talent than Federer, based on the forehand and the backhiand.
Also, the doubles legend Mark Woodforde was commentating at Roland Garros last year, and he was asked where he'd rank Nadal in the volleying department. Woodforde said he'd rank Nadal at #1 in volleys.
And John McEnroe said of the top 10 players, Nadal has the best volleys.
And honestly, its not just fundamental volleys, its the difficult volleys too.
I've seen Nadal hit more acrobatic volleys than Federer.
If you don't like the word "beauty" maybe "aesthetic" works better. Take this clip for instance. Roger's one-handed backhand is a work of art. There are plenty of arguments for why a two-hander is the superior grip, but no way is it as fun to watch people hit it (or hit one yourself,) and you can't create these same kind of angles.
That is what Federer's game is to me, all about angles. In his prime, it was like watching the world's best tennis coach out there. He barely had to move against most opponents. His shots went to places they could barely reach, and always came back to where he was already waiting.
Nadal's game is very unique and enjoyable. I like spin, and he is a master of not just topspin, but slicing and net play as you point out. As for his backhand, as a lefty, he has to be able to use it as a weapon to counter the power of a righty's forehand on cross court exchanges. He gets it deep with power and spin. It is a not what I would consider is a pretty shot though, I would rather watch him hit forehands.
I was only a middling tennis player but I had a friend in college who was an astounding athlete in multiple sports - everything was effortless for him in athletics... and he would hit that ball kind of like Nadal, hard and deep, and with huge topspin - the ball would come back all the way to the baseline very high - up around head height, and making this sound in the air from all the spin, and suddenly it would drop to the ground abruptly, but when it caught the court, it would accelerate and fly up again - very hard to return, even though I knew what it would do.
Within the last 2-3 days...I don't remember what I was watching, nor even which channels (although the channels must have news tickers at the bottom). Via the news ticker, at different times:
- U.S. Open announcement that they won't ban Russian nor Belarusian players from this years Open....just that, IIRC, they have to play 'under' a neutral flag....and (same ticker message) that they won't seek an exemption for Novak (re the vaccination issue) so that he can play.
- Rafa announced that he intends to play Wimbledon.
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