Lol, be more disingenuous.

Anyone who knows anything about tennis knows that 05-07 (Nadal 18-21) Nadal was a clay courter. In fact you're making my point for me, in 2006 Nadal, a 20 yo clay court specialist was the number 2 player in the world. Brutal!! Exactly the same as the big 4 era, exactly the same.

For all the talk of Fed's longevity, there is still the exact same size gap for him and Nadal between their first and last Grand Slam wins. Wimb 03 -> 12 and RG 05 -> 14. For Novak to match it he would need to win the Aus Open in 2018. That's 18 months from now. Surely not out of the question.

Sure that's only wins, which doesn't count for the fact that Fed has still been very good these last few years without being able to break through, but Nadal would just have to make the RG final next year to match him in that too, which isn't out of the question either.

EDIT: Sorry, Novak would need to win next year! He'll almost certainly start favourite. The point is Federer really wasn't "up" for THAT long. It just seems that way because he was a late bloomer age-wise, and his wins are more front loaded than others.

fed might not be done winning GSs tho. especially if novak makes a habit of crashing out early to unknown tennis players

Fed not being able to win this wimbledon, IMO, means he doesn't have another one in him. He'll never get a better shot or be any younger.

I think the top 2 players in 2017/18 could be what we just saw a preview of. Murray and Raonic.

murray is older than djokovic

What I like about that Fed versus Nadal infographic is that at least 6 of the 9 losses of Federer in a GS were due to Nadal (five were finals Nadal won and another was a semifinal on Nadal's 19th birthday on Nadal's first French Open).

Not necessarily. He had played very little tennis, was off knee surgery, then was sick that wiped him out for two weeks and then his back went out. Getting to the SF and pushing Milos like he did while trying to figure it out and shake the rust was pretty good and shows how great he is...that he can play very little tennis, be hurt all year and be a couple break points away from the Wimbledon final, pretty amazing at that age.

Doubt seriously he's any more doped than Federer. Unusual longevity and playing at a high level at an advanced age are at least as suggestive as abnormal physique.

his health isn't likely to get any better though. and his skill will likely continue to decline

this, plus the fact he's now in dogfights with the likes of Raonic and Cilic, probably makes him a dog to win another slam.

I do agree it's very impressive, what he's been able to sustain for so long.

also agree that a 20 year old being the #2 player in the world doesn't speak super well to Fed's early competition.

I never said he would or should be a favorite to win another slam, he as well as Rafa will never be again...unless some crazy injury plague happens ha.

His health will be better, his movement and stamina will continue to digress which in the end is what will prevent him from finishing a slam. His skill won't decline, in fact I would argue that Roger today is far more skillful than peak Roger and there is a pretty good interview that he does explaining this if you can dig it up. He has way more shots, and tools in the toolbox today than he ever had and it was born out of necessity as his age took away some of the movement and power that allowed him to win without learning anything new.

This is a roundabout argument about who the greatest ever is, pretty tough to know tbh but Roger's game the last few years should be lauded despite not winning a major.

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Speaks more to the dearth of good young players in the last decade. Players breaking through in their early 20s used to be the norm.

Rafa was #2 because of his sensational clay court season record in his early days

I think Rafa has a chance of being a favorite at the French Open next year. He had a good clay season this time and then got a wrist injury. It's possible he has another good season next year. Federer and Sampras had their swan song Wimbledon (although Fed somehow keeps playing and competing since then), maybe Nadal will have his.

The only way Rafa is favored in next year's French is if Novak is hurt. He still may not be favored.

well, Roger now out for the season. freak injury, but that stuff is more serious (and likely) the older you get

I really feel like The Fed and Rafa are going to win -0- majors from here on out. Not that ground breaking I know.


Novak will probably win 3-4 more. Murray will probably win 1-2 more.

And finally the young guys will start to take over in 4-5 years.

Would be the over on 3.5 for sure for Novak

Ya, that seems about right. Although Rafa still has a good chance at the French I think.

Over on 8 for Novak doesn't look bad at all

The corpse of Nadal had been bad for the last few years. He's not winning another GS.


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The thing is, one day he'll just be Federer good but not quite good enough to win slams anymore. That day is very likely in the next 2-3 years.

u3.5 is a huge favorite compared to o6.5 let alone 8.5

so who is gonna start winning all the slams then?

Peak Murray.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/tennis/meet-...ger-aliassime/

no way Novak wins 8 more. Just no way.

3-5 seems the most likely result for him.

Winning GS past 30 is not easy.