Is Nadal's HC success overrated?

[WhiskeyEE]

A few years ago, especially after his AO win, people were talking about how Rafa has learned to play on HC. But really, outside of his 2 slam wins, what success has he had on hard courts? He won almost as many HC masters titles in 2005 as he has in the last 6.5 years. And he fails at the WTF every year.

I mean his HC resume is barely better than Andy Roddick's. And if it weren't for Fed choking in 2009, they would be identical. Yeah, he won the gold medal, when Novak was still extremely inconsistent and Federer was playing the worst tennis of his career. So anyway, is his HC success overrated?

Rafa:
Slams: 2 (1 in the last 3 years)
Masters: 5 (3 since 2005)
WT Finals: 0

Fed:
Slams: 9
Masters: 13 (maybe 14 in a few hours)
WT Finals: 6

Novak:
Slams: 4
Masters: 7
WT Finals: 1

Roddick:
Slams: 1
Masters: 5
WT Finals: 0

[Rock Strongo]

I don't know, but judging from your username you have excellent taste.

[monfed]

Obviously. Ralph still hasn't won a title on a legit HC.

Quite frankly, I consider him an average HCer who successfully uses his clay game on it because the majority of the HCs are abominably slow.

[billnepill]

People put him behind Fed and Novak. That is how is rated.

Now, is that overrated?

[OverratedIvanovic]

2 slams and 2 GS finals is fairly decent imo. Had it not been for Djokovic, he would have won IW, Miami and USO last year. I think he is still the second best HC player especially in grandslams.

[Gorecki]

Nadal is not overated in HC. he is however in Clay... a lot!!

[boredone3456]

Yes and so is Federers on clay there are we all happy now

[tacou]

rate him however you want objectively, but an Olympic gold, 2 slams, 5masters and a WTF final is a pretty solid career, let alone just a hard court record

[Mike Sams]

Originally Posted by OverratedIvanovic

2 slams and 2 GS finals is fairly decent imo. Had it not been for Djokovic, he would have won IW, Miami and USO last year. I think he is still the second best HC player especially in grandslams.

Had it not been for Nadal, Federer would have probably 6 more Slams and several clay Masters.
You can't use Djokovic as an excuse for Nadal's shortcomings on hardcourts. The final is where the real test is.

[Mike Sams]

Originally Posted by tacou

rate him however you want objectively, but an Olympic gold, 2 slams, 5masters and a WTF final is a pretty solid career, let alone just a hard court record

This is true. Even though USO 2010 saw the biggest joke of a draw ever for Nadal, he still won it so deserves the accolades.

[ZeroSkid]

Rafa is so underrated

[BeHappy]

Who is rating everyone's thread 1 star?

It's just one person because if I rate it 5 stars the thread moves to 3 stars (average of 5 and 1)

[zagor]

Not his fan but personally I think he's underrated on HC, for a supposed CC specialist he had some tremendous results on HC.

[The-Champ]

Yes, everyone is overrated in this era. It's a weak era.

[Polaris]

Not overrated at all. He has 2 HC Slams. He has earned his HC success.