Tennis: French Open/2020

[kihei]

A break for Nole would be nice just to see what would happen. Not much signs of life at the moment, though.

 

[kihei]

Well, there's the break; back on serve. And Nole does look chipper.

 

[kihei]

Rafa serving for the match as unforced errors scuttle Nole's flickering chances.

 

[Novak Djokovic]

Well deserved by Rafa, just way too good.

 

[MeowLeafs]

#20!!!
13th RG win.
Without dropping a set.
At age 34.
Unreal.

 

[CupofOil]

It was nice when it was competitive for 10 minutes.
It amazes me when anybody has a shred of doubt that Nadal wins the French. His next French Open loss will be when he retires. You just have to appreciate the unparalleled greatness.

 

[John Price]

Congrats

 

[kihei]

 

[MsMeow]

Great job by Rafa!!

 

[Know Your Enemy]

First time i've ever cheered for Nadal.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

And with this GS win, Nadal catches up with Federer at 20 grand slams. Insane. And Nadal has something that Federer does not... a gold medal at the Os in single.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

I remember a little while ago, it seemed almost inevitable that Djokovic would catch up with Nadal and Federer... and then boom, Federer and Nadal with the resurrections, and Djokovic with a small dip. It's insane how good these 3 are. Imagine how many more slams any of them would have had in a different era if they didn't have to face each others ? But then again, perhaps they pushed themselves to greater heights and we're just lucky to have witnessed this era.

 

[sfvega]

As a fan of Nadal, I never thought that he would catch Fed. What a feat.

 

[Troubadour]

As a fan of Nadal, I never thought that he would catch Fed. What a feat.

That's weird! He looked destined to catch on in a couple of years right after AO09, and then again when he returned on the scene in 2010. I thought he would catch up with Federer around 2014/15. Then Novak got too good, but even after 2011, I thought Rafa would get there pretty soon. I mean, for a while in his late twenties early thirties, Roger didn't look like adding more majors

 

[sfvega]

That's weird! He looked destined to catch on in a couple of years right after AO09, and then again when he returned on the scene in 2010. I thought he would catch up with Federer around 2014/15. Then Novak got too good, but even after 2011, I thought Rafa would get there pretty soon. I mean, for a while in his late twenties early thirties, Roger didn't look like adding more majors

Roger obviously hasn't been counted out too many times in his career, but he has been a couple times and I always knew better than to question if Fed was done. Then Nole put it all together and became a real difficult match-up for Nadal outside of clay. He upped his game in the USO and that has been the difference. Who knows when he slows down on clay. He may pass Fed yet, but again, that guy has more lives than Jason Vorhees.

 

[Troubadour]

Roger obviously hasn't been counted out too many times in his career, but he has been a couple times and I always knew better than to question if Fed was done. Then Nole put it all together and became a real difficult match-up for Nadal outside of clay. He upped his game in the USO and that has been the difference. Who knows when he slows down on clay. He may pass Fed yet, but again, that guy has more lives than Jason Vorhees.

How about now though? The only major I can imagine him winning if everything comes together almost miraculously for him is Wimbledon. No jet lag, relatively effortless grass court game (i.e. less running and grinding), less time needed for regeneration which gets more and more tricky deeper in the tournament as harder and longer matches against more advanced opponents start piling up, especially in one's older age... And he will be, crazy as it reads, 40 next year.

Next Wimbledon at best.

 

[kihei]

As a fan of Nadal, I never thought that he would catch Fed. What a feat.

Clay feat?

 

[sfvega]

How about now though? The only major I can imagine him winning if everything comes together almost miraculously for him is Wimbledon. No jet lag, relatively effortless grass court game (i.e. less running and grinding), less time needed for regeneration which gets more and more tricky deeper in the tournament as harder and longer matches against more advanced opponents start piling up, especially in one's older age... And he will be, crazy as it reads, 40 next year.

Next Wimbledon at best.

Yeah, now it projects better for Nadal going forward than Federer. But maybe better for Novak than Nadal long-term. It's such an intriguing time to watch men's tennis. I can't imagine what we'll need when all these guys are done. Not sure this magic will come around again anytime soon in one player, much less 3.

 

[Jussi]

Rafa GOAT.

 

[kihei]

Rafa GOAT.

Do we HAVE to disagree on EVERYTHING?

 

[Panteras]

name me a more dominant athlete on a particular event

 

[kihei]

name me a more dominant athlete on a particular event

Short term: Usain Bolt over a four year period. Long term: no athlete in this galaxy is close to Rafa.

 

[Maestro84]

Short term: Usain Bolt over a four year period. Long term: no athlete in this galaxy is close to Rafa.

Bolt from 2008-2012/13 ish at the 100m was simply not human with 2009 Berlin and 2012 London being the peak of his powers.

Phelps from 2003-2009 in 200m butterfly and freestyle was simply unbeatable as well with 2008 Beijing being his zenith.

But yeah Rafa at RG from 2005 onward has been an unstoppable machine.

 

[Maestro84]

Also, because we have to bring this up, my take is that Rafa's primary competition in the GOAT debate is now Djokovic. Federer is still active but I sadly think he's won his last major already, while Nadal/Djoker being a lot younger look likely to continue adding to their totals for at least a couple more years.

Novak imo has had the most "complete" and "dominant" career among any player in history but Fedal still holds a 3-slam edge over him which is a big enough gap at the moment to stop any serious discussions (I mean that's Murray's career slam total right there).

Now that he's officially caught up to Fed, I think Rafa certainly has enough arguments to be ranked above Fed even now and getting to 21 (and possibly more) would leave very little doubt, especially if he can win another non-RG title as well.

Nole on the other hand would be very tough to argue against if/when he equals Fedal in the slam category.

 

[Panteras]

Short term: Usain Bolt over a four year period. Long term: no athlete in this galaxy is close to Rafa.

yeah I mean, considering the fact that you have to win 3 sets, and that his record now stands at 100-2....in a sport like tennis, that's just disgustingly unrivaled dominiance.

imagine if tennis had more than 1 clay GS...LULZZZ