2022 Tennis Thread

[Nadal Fan]

An injured Nadal at 36 just made the semis at his worst slam..... unreal. The Big 3 are just so much better than everyone else it's actually insane.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Yeah it seems fairly obvious at this point that Djokovic is going to win here.

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

An injured Nadal at 36 just made the semis at his worst slam..... unreal. The Big 3 are just so much better than everyone else it's actually insane.

Murray and Wawrinka each having three slams in the Big 3 era is pretty incredible as well. I don't feel bad for Fritz, I mean he's got millions and a hot girlfriend, but that loss is gonna sting.

[Inglewood Jack]

keep the jinxes coming boys!

[dash_pinched]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1544760258685452289

[Nadal Fan]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

Murray and Wawrinka each having three slams in the Big 3 era is pretty incredible as well. I don't feel bad for Fritz, I mean he's got millions and a hot girlfriend, but that loss is gonna sting.

Murray 11 slam finals played: 0-3 against Fed, 2-5 against Djokovic, 1-0 against Milo's. Against weaker competition Murray could have won 8 Slams easily.

Stanimal 4 slam finals played: 1-1 against Nadal , 2-0 against Djokovic.

15 combined slam finals only one against a mortal.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

keep the jinxes coming boys!

What FedFan isn't rooting for Kyrgios or Norrie lol.

[dash_pinched]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1544775004419633152

[Nadal Fan]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1544732492887953408

[dash_pinched]

It's pretty bad that reporters are just going for soundbites/clicks these days in post-game pressers. There should be a moderator or facilitator that deems questions to be off-base and just moves on to the next question.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

What FedFan isn't rooting for Kyrgios or Norrie lol.

one that knows Fed is out of the goat race either way and would rather see a respectable guy take it rather than Court Bully Domestic Abuser or Holy Water Bread Kryptonite Antivaxer. I guess if Norrie wins that would be fine too for the hometown angle, but that didn't even begin to cross my mind as a possibility.

[Senator Clay Davis]

GOAT debate has been over for a while, people just refuse to acknowledge Novak because of their personal disdain for him. But he'll have every record when it's done, plus the H2H advantage, so there's not much to talk about. Fedal fans should be grateful for that mid-career personal life meltdown or it'd be so lopsided in Novak's favor there wouldn't even even a slight debate, even people who hate him passionately wouldn't have much of a case.

[Izzle]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

GOAT debate has been over for a while, people just refuse to acknowledge Novak because of their personal disdain for him. But he'll have every record when it's done, plus the H2H advantage, so there's not much to talk about. Fedal fans should be grateful for that mid-career personal life meltdown or it'd be so lopsided in Novak's favor there wouldn't even even a slight debate, even people who hate him passionately wouldn't have much of a case.

I can agree with this take. Djok's been his own worst enemy.

- get rid of Pepe and he wouldn't have the 2013-2014 slump.
- listen to Agassi and get elbow surgery early and he'd do well in the 2016-2017 season (granted getting the Nole Slam took out a lot and perhaps an extended break was needed).
- 2020 Wimbledon wasn't played for to COVID
- 2020 us open dq
- 2021 tried for career grand slam but IMO messed it up by trying to get the Olympic gold. If he'd have listened to Vayda he'd have skipped the Olympics and been rested for the US open.
- 2022 aus open missed due to his vaxx stance
- 2022 us open potentially due to vaxx stance.

And he's still one of the best players in the planet at this age. Combine with total weeks #1, Masters success across all surfaces. It becomes very hard to argue that the goat debate isn't settled.

[Nadal Fan]

There is no guarantee Novak would have won the AO if he played, he just lost to Medvedev in the US Open final a couple of months before, upsets happen. He knew the rules going in and decided to try sneak in and it didn't work, he has no one to blame but himself for not playing the AO.

Also, how would Nadal's career look if he was healthy for the entire time? I can think of a few slams Nadal didn't play due to injury or had to retire when he was a title contender. Certainly FO 2009, maybe Wimbledon 2009, AO 2014 he had to play the finals injured against an opponent he never lost to before, US Open 2018 he had to retire in the semis after winning the event in 2017 and 2019 so we're up to 26 hypothetical slams for Nadal so far.

There is no guarantee Djokovic or Nadal will dominate the slams next year, the competition is getting stronger, Alcaraz, Medvedev, Tsitsipas, FAA are all young and I could see them winning multiple slams each in the future. All we can assess is what actually happened, in the words of Nadal, if if if doesn't exist.

[Senator Clay Davis]

The thing is arguments like "what if not for injuries" are directly related to the sport. Rafa's style of play, the style that won him all these majors, is the reason he's hurt so much. So if your argument is "If only he stayed healthy", my counter would be "He would have had to change his style to stay healthy, so how many majors does changing to a less grueling style cost him?". My guess is it's probably a wash, but Rafa is always hurt because of the grinding, grueling style he plays. Roger avoided injuries for most of his career because he played a more efficient style. Rafa becoming a guy who plays for quick points and tries to end rallies quick would be a different guy. Of course maybe he wins more majors, but who knows? At least it's about tennis.

But when I'm talking about Novak, the argument against him is almost entirely non-tennis related. "He's anti-vaxx, he's a science denier, he's a dick" etc...have nothing to do with his tennis. To put it another way, if Novak was Mr. Congeniality like Roger and Rafa are, would there be a debate? I doubt it. But he's abrasive and unlikable, so here we are.

[dash_pinched]

Just my 2 cents, but when the slam count was at 20-20-20, I thought Novak should be ahead in the GOAT debate due to many of the items that the Senator/Izzle listed above. Now that Rafa has pulled ahead, I think he leads the GOAT debate. If Novak manages to pull even or surpass Rafa in total slams, he would be #1 again in my book.

[Nadal Fan]

But Nadal's injuries all stem from his foot which is a genetic issue he's had since birth, and there is nothing he can do to fix it. He has changed his style in recent years to manage the issue, he's serving so much better than before and he is much more aggressive since Moya took over as coach.

One thing we also have to factor in is injuries of other players. How many slams would Del Potro have won if he wasn't cursed, Murray was world #1 before his career essentially ended due to hip issues and Thiem if he was healthy might have won a slam or two these last few years.

[Izzle]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

Just my 2 cents, but when the slam count was at 20-20-20, I thought Novak should be ahead in the GOAT debate due to many of the items that the Senator/Izzle listed above. Now that Rafa has pulled ahead, I think he leads the GOAT debate. If Novak manages to pull even or surpass Rafa in total slams, he would be #1 again in my book.

Ultimately, that's what counts. Total grand slam titles. By that metric Nadal is the current goat.

[Nadal Fan]

I think we are underestimating the brilliance of Federer's peak. His 2004-2007 run will never be matched, during those four years he had a combined record of 315-24 winning 11 majors. That's 4 straight years of blowing away the competition winning over 90% of your matches and 11/12 non clay slams. If he didn't run into Nadal on clay he would have won 3-4 French Opens during this time as well.

[dash_pinched]

Reading on twitter this morning that Rafa has a 7mm abdominal tear but he still intends to play on Friday against Kyrgios.