Courting Greatness

Rafael Nadal’s place in the pantheon of all time tennis greats was secured even before he won the 2010 US Open.  Now, with the career grand slam under his belt—and nine total slam titles—he is perhaps the only man who can be discussed in Roger Federer’s historical universe.

Rafa Rising

I realize Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, Bill Tilden, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, and of course Federer all have more career slams than Nadal.  However, at age 24, Nadal is three slam titles ahead of where the all-time leader, Federer, was at the same age.  Additionally, Nadal completed the career slam at 24; Federer did not accomplish that feat until age 28.

Another factoid to chew on is the all-time head-to-head matchup of Federer and Nadal.  The two have met twenty-one total times with Nadal winning fourteen of those matchups.  In all tournament finals, Nadal leads Federer 12-5.  In grand slam finals, Nadal leads 5-2.

One further note: Nadal joins Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi as the only players in tennis history to achieve the career slam and win a gold medal in the Olympics.

When Nadal first hit the tennis scene, he was viewed as another Spanish dirt-baller who would dominate on clay but could not translate his game to the faster surfaces.  He now has dominated on grass and hard courts and is as ingenious a shot-maker as any player in tennis history.  His mental toughness is unparalleled, his conditioning sets the standard for all other players, and his grace in victory and rare defeat is admirable.  He may be the fastest player on tour, likely is the strongest, and has recovered from serious injuries to regain top form.  The scary thing is he keeps getting better.  His serve has improved dramatically over the past two years, and his net game has become a veritable weapon.

Overcoming Tennis Royalty

Federer has owned the past decade of tennis, but since Nadal has emerged, he has owned Federer, and the two have shared dominance of the tennis landscape.  Nadal need not win another match to secure his legacy, but if he can come close to duplicating his success of the past four years over the next four, he could easily replace Federer as the best player of all time.  Keep in mind that Federer is ancient in tennis terms at age 29.  Although he is still as good as ever, he likely can only maintain his top form for two or three more years.

I urge you to appreciate what we are seeing, because it is nothing short of historic greatness in a refreshingly likable package. We may well be watching the best player in tennis history at the height of his powers in Nadal.  Even better, we get to see him try to take the label of “best ever” from Federer while Federer is still playing.  Watching these two set the bar for each other is a wonderful privilege, akin to a fantasy in which Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods could have shared the same era.  As fans of sport, we are truly lucky to witness this golden era of tennis, and it ain’t over just yet.

--from Adam

(First and third images from zimbio.com, second image from telegraph.co.uk)