I think Fed is the massive favorite but much like Fed reaffirmed himself as a top 10 clay court player all time at the French Open this year, so too does Nadal reaffirm himself as a top 10 grass court player all time at Wimbledon. At this point all the pressure is on Federer, Nadal can just go out and play his game. Going to be a hell of a match!!
Like Federer and Djokovic, Nadal is a threat on any surface he plays, but an all time .77 win percentage on grass is certainly nowhere near the top 10 all time. Infact, that percentage ranks him 45th all time in terms of win/loss percentage on the green.
If Nadal beats both Federer and Djokovic this year to take another Wimbledon title I would certainly start to argue that case, but even then the match volume just isn't there.
__________________
I hate to tell you this, but I’ve just launched an air biscuit
I'm not sure why people are all-in on the Djokovic coronation. He's certainly been dominant, but he also hasn't played anyone, and won't until the final.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
I'm not sure why people are all-in on the Djokovic coronation. He's certainly been dominant, but he also hasn't played anyone, and won't until the final.
He's 28-6 this year with 2 titles and has already beaten 7 top 10 opponents this season. Given he's constantly facing lesser ranked players being a top seed at every event, it makes those 7 victories even more staggering.
Yes, he's had an easy go of it with his draw, but he's certainly in the best form on tour over the last 12 months.
__________________
I hate to tell you this, but I’ve just launched an air biscuit
Like Federer and Djokovic, Nadal is a threat on any surface he plays, but an all time .77 win percentage on grass is certainly nowhere near the top 10 all time. Infact, that percentage ranks him 45th all time in terms of win/loss percentage on the green.
If Nadal beats both Federer and Djokovic this year to take another Wimbledon title I would certainly start to argue that case, but even then the match volume just isn't there.
Looking at his Wimbledon career (because the other grass tournaments are really not that important) he is absolutely no question top 10 mens player all time there. 5 straight final appearances, winning twice and losing to the GOAT twice in the finals and another decent player in Djokovic. He was also able to dethrone prime Federer in the 08 final which no other player was able to do.
Much as we all agree Roger would have won more French Open's had Nadal not been playing, you have to agree Nadal would have won more Wimbledon's if Federer wasn't playing in the same era. He had a rough 6 year stretch where he never made the quarters but that was due to his knees and the fact he always went deep at the French he had less time off to prepare than the rest of the field. These last 2 years making back to back semi's, is more up to his level on grass. Even given that he had a rough 6 years, his 53 wins at Wimbledon ranks 8th in the Open Era.
Taking into consideration the above facts, I hope you will consider my inclusion of Nadal in the top 10 grass court players ever.
Nadal is obviously top ten, but top five is pretty much impenetrable (Fed, Pete, Djoker, Bjorg, McEnroe).
100% agreed. He has to win this year and have a couple other good showings and maybe, just maybe he can take out Johnny Mc for 5th place but right now he's not there.
Looking at his Wimbledon career (because the other grass tournaments are really not that important) he is absolutely no question top 10 mens player all time there. 5 straight final appearances, winning twice and losing to the GOAT twice in the finals and another decent player in Djokovic. He was also able to dethrone prime Federer in the 08 final which no other player was able to do.
Much as we all agree Roger would have won more French Open's had Nadal not been playing, you have to agree Nadal would have won more Wimbledon's if Federer wasn't playing in the same era. He had a rough 6 year stretch where he never made the quarters but that was due to his knees and the fact he always went deep at the French he had less time off to prepare than the rest of the field. These last 2 years making back to back semi's, is more up to his level on grass. Even given that he had a rough 6 years, his 53 wins at Wimbledon ranks 8th in the Open Era.
Taking into consideration the above facts, I hope you will consider my inclusion of Nadal in the top 10 grass court players ever.
Who are you putting him ahead of though? Despite some considerable results, he certainly isn't even close to some of the top 10 grass players in terms of match win% and titles. I don't think it's fair to put him ahead of players who either have more Wimbledon titles and far better percentages.
He's most certainly not ahead of any of: Federer, Djokovic, Becker, Sampras, Laver, Borg, Connors or McEnroe. This leaves him at 8th all time and there are certainly others I'm missing too.
__________________
I hate to tell you this, but I’ve just launched an air biscuit
Last edited by Hot_Flatus; 07-10-2019 at 03:20 PM.
Who are you putting him ahead of though? Despite some considerable results, he certainly isn't even close to some of the top 10 grass players in terms of match win% and titles. I don't think it's fair to put him ahead of players who either have more Wimbledon titles and far better percentages.
He's most certainly not ahead of any of: Federer, Djokovic, Becker, Sampras, Laver, Borg, Connors or McEnroe. This leaves him at 8th all time and there are certainly others I'm missing too.
I'm comfortable having him ahead of Murray, Edberg and maybe Newcombe ( I don't know much about him tho to be honest, but a lot of his career was before the Open Era). Along with Nadal, they all won 2 titles but made less finals than him.
I like this walk down memory lane and not to go off-topic but it got me thinking of the Wimbledon final between Pat Cash and Ivan Lendl and specifically a sign in the crowd that read 'Cash is better than a Czech'.
That day, he was.
The Following User Says Thank You to dash_pinched For This Useful Post:
Also everyone's favorite Aussie tennis player Thomas the Tank Engine is back playing tennis, after loosing all his prize money at Wimbledon he is now playing in........Winnipeg!
I like this walk down memory lane and not to go off-topic but it got me thinking of the Wimbledon final between Pat Cash and Ivan Lendl and specifically a sign in the crowd that read 'Cash is better than a Czech'.
That day, he was.
I heard a story about Cash, that he went to Majorca to play Becker in an exhibition but Becker got hurt and pulled out. He decided to play a local 14 year old named Rafael Nadal Parera, and Nadal won in a third set tie break and the guys I'm the locker room were just giving it to him after loosing to a 14 year old.
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Nadal Fan For This Useful Post:
Tomic eliminated today in Winnipeg by 32 year old and #230 ranked Zhe Li of China. Peter Polansky also lost today, but Brayden Schnur is into the round of 16.
