Tennis: US Open 2017 II

[Panteras]

Two years ago I thought Nadal was done with potentially ever being the best player in the world, wow was I wrong.

I thought the same for him before his epic 2013 comeback. Thought the same 2 years ago as you mentioned and I seriously thought this time was for real. Again, he proved me wrong.

Nadal is the greatest warrior this sport has ever known.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

I legit forgot about the final. I see that Rafa won easily. Good work. Anderson had 0 break point opportunities. Lol.

He didn't even get to 40 points on Nadal's server until he saved the first championship point at 40-30 in the 3rd.

 

[rangerssharks414]

The majors go Roger, Rafa, Roger and Rafa. In 2017. That is unbelievable.

 

[Hadoop]

Gotta give credit to Nadal, who like Federer has turned back the clock this season. Obviously there's still lots of tennis left to be played. But assuming both remain healthy it will be interesting to see if Rafa can capture the elusive WTF title in London to add to his collection, or whether Roger or someone else can stop him.

 

[Uncle Rotter]

In a way he had a perfect storm this tournament just like Roger had at Wimbledon.

Roger beat the #6, #7,#11,#13 and #27 seeds; so not quite the same.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

Isn't it time for the USTA to bump the USO for a week so that the final won't collide with the NFL Opening Day?

 

[kihei]

Roger beat the #6, #7,#11,#13 and #27 seeds; so not quite the same.

When you put it like that it sounds impressive. But he competed against players that he has utterly dominated:

Dolgopolov
Lajovic
M Zverev
Dimitrov
Roanic
Berdychh
Cilic

 

[discostu]

Isn't it time for the USTA to bump the USO for a week so that the final won't collide with the NFL Opening Day?

Bump it a week and you have two weekends that conflict with busy NFL schedules rather than one. Moving it up a week is probably more feasible, but the tennis calendar doesn't provide a lot of room.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

Also, was that the first time Rafa didn't fall on his ass as a celebration? It was like his most unemotional major win in his career, lol.

 

[Marmoset]

When you put it like that it sounds impressive. But he competed against players that he has utterly dominated:

Dolgopolov
Lajovic
M Zverev
Dimitrov
Roanic
Berdychh
Cilic

That may be true, but for Federer (and Nadal, and Djokovic) the list of guys they have dominated is almost the entire tour.

I think Nadal did have one of the easiest roads ever to a slam, but it's not his fault that everyone else lost or got hurt. He still had to do it, and a guy like del Potro could have beaten him if he had an off day. It's too bad that other than the Australian Open we've had some very predictable finals in a season that has been so unpredictable overall.

 

[Uncle Rotter]

Isn't it time for the USTA to bump the USO for a week so that the final won't collide with the NFL Opening Day?

Screw the NFL.

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

Dogge: how's that tongue feel?

A far more pleasant experience than I expected.

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

When you put it like that it sounds impressive. But he competed against players that he has utterly dominated:

Dolgopolov
Lajovic
M Zverev
Dimitrov
Roanic
Berdychh
Cilic

Yeah, Roger's Wimbledon draw and Rafa's US Open draws were about the easiest/simplest things they've ever had to deal with in winning a Slam. But like you said, they deserve a break after the careers they've had. And at the end of the day, you still have to beat your opponent across the net.

 

[kihei]

A far more pleasant experience than I expected.

Damn, Dogge, you should know better than to give me such great gag lines. I just barely fought back the temptation....

I think Sloane is here to stay. In some ways, that was a very mature win.

 

[Cruor]

When you put it like that it sounds impressive. But he competed against players that he has utterly dominated:

Dolgopolov
Lajovic
M Zverev
Dimitrov
Roanic
Berdychh
Cilic

Yeah I don't know about that. You know how grass is, against an on fire opponent you can bomb out quite easily (certainly, as a Rafa fan you should appreciate that fact). Roger peaked for Wimbledon and manhandled his opposition that was most certainly dangerous. On balance, I do think Rafa had an easier time at the USO.

 

[Hadoop]

I LOL'ed at an earlier comment. I'm sure y'all know which one.

Anyways to put my two cents on Rafa's USO victory. YES. Objectively speaking the field was very weak because I don't remember another slam (at least recently) that was missing so many top 10 players.

That said don't blame him either; blame guys like Zverev, Thiem, Dimitrov, Cilic, etc. for failing to bring their A game (or in some cases even their C game).

 

[kihei]

If Nadal can win in Australia next year, does he put himself back in the conversation for best ever?

Rafa has a steep road. What Roger did this year at his age added another level of renown and respect to his already monumentally impressive legacy, in terms of accomplishments nearly unparalleled in any sport. Rafa winning in Australia would help his case, but at the end of the day, I think he has to match Roger's GS total or better it to be really in the running. There is even a problem with that. To do so would almost certainly mean more wins at Roland Garros (his US Open win is his first hard court title of any kind since January, 2014), and each additional win at Roland Garros only cements his already well established reputation as the best clay court player ever.

I think it ends up this way most likely: Roger as the greatest of all time and Rafa as the greatest ever on any single surface.

 

[Cruor]

If Slams are the be all and end all, I think Rafa has a legitimate chance to surpass Roger.

Their current totals are distributed as:

5-1-8-5

v.s.

1-10-2-3

So at this point I'd say Roger is the more well rounded player, then add 6 WTF titles to that and his total weeks of number one and Rafa has to make up some ground.

 

[kihei]

If Slams are the be all and end all, I think Rafa has a legitimate chance to surpass Roger.

Their current totals are distributed as:

5-1-8-5

v.s.

1-10-2-3

So at this point I'd say Roger is the more well rounded player, then add 6 WTF titles to that and his total weeks of number one and Rafa has to make up some ground.

Well, to me, it's sort of like Slams +. With Roger having about the same sized "+" as Wayne Gretzky. Tough to beat.