Rafael Nadal now stands alongside Bjorn Borg as the only other man to win the French Open six times after defeating Roger Federer yet again Sunday. The win also gives him ten total Grand Slam Titles, fifth on the all-time list and only six behind his counterpart in historic greatness and all-time Slams leader, Federer—all for a man who’s just 25 years old. It’s more than feasible that he will surpass everyone ahead of him on the list, potentially even the quote-unquote “Greatest of All-Time,” Roger Federer.
The tendency is to want to pigeonhole Nadal, in part to compartmentalize him and in part to preserve our entrenched notion of Federer as the best ever, but Rafa is so much more than a clay court specialist. He’s won four of the last five Grand Slam championships and now leads the all-time series against Federer 17-8. Sure Nadal owns a 12-2 advantage on clay, but the series is tied 4-4 on hard courts, and Roger holds a 2-1 career edge on grass.
Federer has never beaten Nadal at the French Open, but Nadal has defeated Federer at Wimbledon, where Federer typically dominates, in what some would say was the best match ever played. The score in five sets was 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, and 9-7.
Thus, no matter where they play, Nadal is at least Federer’s equal, unless it’s on clay where Rafa is vastly superior. It’s hard to appreciate just how good Nadal is on clay, but consider the fact that Federer cruised through his French Open draw, including knocking off the hottest player in the world, Novak Djokovic, before Nadal dispatched him with relative ease. Even though this was the best Federer ever played Nadal at Roland Garros, Nadal still only gave up one set in the match.
With Federer it’s easy to see what makes him so great, especially on the faster surfaces. He’s as superb at the baseline as he is at the net, which complements a devastating serve. He also moves around the court with exquisite fluidity and is one of the very best shot-makers in tennis history. This term, “shot-maker,” means simply that Federer has a huge array of spins, angles, and variety in his arsenal. There truly is no end to the amount of shots he can create on the court.
What makes Nadal great is not as aesthetically obvious, not as artistic as Federer crafting never-before-seen shots as he glides around the court. Nadal’s greatness comes from his grit, his speed, and most of all, his mental fortitude. Federer beats players with pure skill; he has more shots, more variety, and more weapons to fire. While miraculously skilled as well, it’s Nadal’s ability to break his opponent’s spirit that leads to his continual success, especially his championship triumphs over Federer.
Nadal makes his opponent work harder than any player in men’s tennis history. He is a defensive wizard, returning shots others could only dream of. It must be frustrating to hit the best shot of your life and have Nadal not just retrieve it, but smack the line with his return. I paraphrase former Grand Slam champion John McEnroe when he remarked during a certain rally Sunday that Federer just hit five shots that win the point against anybody else, five winners, and Nadal returned every single one of those shots and eventually won the point.
Federer has more Grand Slams and might be prettier to watch, but as his and Nadal's tremendous careers continue to unfold, it’s getting more and more difficult to call Roger the Greatest of All-Time, much less the Greatest of His Own Time.
--from @AdamHocking
(image from rolandgarros.com)
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