Who will be Nadal's main rival at Roland Garros over next 5 years?

[nadal_slam_king]

Djokovic doesn't look much better than the Tsonga at Roland Garros, so who else is there? Maybe Almagro will be Nadal's main rival at Roland Garros. Nadal beat Almagro in 2008 and 2010. The 2010 meeting was Nadal's tightest match of the tournament - 7-6 7-6 6-4. Almagro seemingly has improved since then. Nadal may have improved too however. We'll see.

[joeri888]

Nobody in sight if it wouldn't be Djokovic. Djokovic is not having a great claycourt season, but if he can somehow refind 2011 form, he's your man.

Nadal will always have a matchup issue with Djokovic like Fed has with Nadal. However, whilst Federer and Nadal are close to each other in consistency, Nadal is just been more consistent over the course of his career than Djokovic. I think the matchup still favours Djokovic a ton though. If Fed and Nadal and Djokovic play equally well (measured against the field for instance), Nadal will always beat Federer, Federer will always beat Novak, Novak will always beat Rafa.

[nadal_slam_king]

Originally Posted by joeri888

Nobody in sight if it wouldn't be Djokovic. Djokovic is not having a great claycourt season, but if he can somehow refind 2011 form, he's your man.

Nadal will always have a matchup issue with Djokovic like Fed has with Nadal. However, whilst Federer and Nadal are close to each other in consistency, Nadal is just been more consistent over the course of his career than Djokovic. I think the matchup still favours Djokovic a ton though. If Fed and Nadal and Djokovic play equally well (measured against the field for instance), Nadal will always beat Federer, Federer will always beat Novak, Novak will always beat Rafa.

LOL that is hilarious. Nadal leads Djokovic 18-14 and 5-3 at the slams. Soon it will be in Sampras-Agassi territory (Sampras leads Agassi 20-14). Nadal's level slipped in 2011, Djokovic's level improved, and that allowed Djokovic to have his first successful year vs Nadal. So far in 2012, Nadal leads 2-1 and both of Nadal's wins were in straight sets, while Djokovic's win was in 6 hours (on Djokovic's favorite slam surface). A match-up problem? In which direction?

[Magnus]

Hopefully Nadal loses so early we can sett two other guys comepte against each other. FO 2009 FTW.

[roysid]

Nadal's main rivals for the next 5 years at RG would be

1) Novak
2) Murray
3) Tsonga
4) Del Potro
5) Isner

[Magnus]

Originally Posted by nadal_slam_king

LOL that is hilarious. Nadal leads Djokovic 18-14 and 5-3 at the slams. Soon it will be in Sampras-Agassi territory (Sampras leads Agassi 20-14). Nadal's level slipped in 2011, Djokovic's level improved, and that allowed Djokovic to have his first successful year vs Nadal. So far in 2012, Nadal leads 2-1 and both of Nadal's wins were in straight sets, while Djokovic's win was in 6 hours (on Djokovic's favorite slam surface). A match-up problem? In which direction?

I thought "numbers don't matter". I guess they only matter when they favor your argument.

[nadal_slam_king]

I can see Murray being there. He had 18 breakpoints on Nadal at last year's Roland Garros. Nadal didn't play with any confidence that year, but still I see Murray being in the ballpark.

[nadal_slam_king]

Originally Posted by Magnus

I thought "numbers don't matter". I guess they only matter when they favor your argument.

Do you have a direct quote?

[joeri888]

Originally Posted by nadal_slam_king

LOL that is hilarious. Nadal leads Djokovic 18-14 and 5-3 at the slams. Soon it will be in Sampras-Agassi territory (Sampras leads Agassi 20-14). Nadal's level slipped in 2011, Djokovic's level improved, and that allowed Djokovic to have his first successful year vs Nadal. So far in 2012, Nadal leads 2-1 and both of Nadal's wins were in straight sets, while Djokovic's win was in 6 hours (on Djokovic's favorite slam surface). A match-up problem? In which direction?

A matchup problem, for Nadal. He is probably always gonna be the better claycourter, and maybe even better player, but the MATCHUP doesn't favour him. That's not an insult, but actually a compliment. Nadal, over the course of his career, has played so much better than Djokovic, that if it wasn't for the bad matchup he is for Rafa, Djokovic would have something like 8 wins.

[nadal_slam_king]

Originally Posted by joeri888

A matchup problem, for Nadal. He is probably always gonna be the better claycourter, and maybe even better player, but the MATCHUP doesn't favour him. That's not an insult, but actually a compliment. Nadal, over the course of his career, has played so much better than Djokovic, that if it wasn't for the bad matchup he is for Rafa, Djokovic would have something like 8 wins.

Wow that is a sweet matchup problem to have. When I saw Nadal stretch a 3-time AO champion to 6 hours, made me believe in Nadal for the first time on the AO surface (even when Nadal won it in 2009 he all but lost to Verdasco, and lost more points than Federer in the final). I never forecast Nadal to win the AO again. But watching that 2012 final, changed my mind.

[joeri888]

Originally Posted by nadal_slam_king

Wow that is a sweet matchup problem to have. When I saw Nadal stretch a 3-time AO champion to 6 hours, made me believe in Nadal for the first time on the AO surface (even when Nadal won it in 2009 he all but lost to Verdasco, and lost more points than Federer in the final). I never forecast Nadal to win the AO again. But watching that 2012 final, changed my mind.

Yeah, Nadal played great, he played a far better tournament than Nole, still lost due to matchup.

But maybe "that's because I understand tennis, while you just look at numbers"

[nadal_slam_king]

Originally Posted by joeri888

Yeah, Nadal played great, he played a far better tournament than Nole, still lost due to matchup.

But maybe "that's because I understand tennis, while you just look at numbers"

Maybe you should look at number for a change. Not everything is subjective.

Your extremely vague use of the term "the matchup" is what's hurting your argument here.

[Hood_Man]

Father Time.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

His knees.

[nadal_slam_king]

Originally Posted by Hood_Man

Father Time.

Nadal is no Federer. The level of commitment Agassi found in his 30s is more comparable to Nadal's regular level of commitment, than to Federer's 2 year slam drought. Agassi became the fitness fanatic that Nadal always has been and always will be. And that is what will keep Nadal at a high level for a long, long time.

[nadal_slam_king]

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

His knees.

You think he will stop receiving platelet treatment?

[joeri888]

Originally Posted by nadal_slam_king

Maybe you should look at number for a change. Not everything is subjective.

Your extremely vague use of the term "the matchup" is what's hurting your argument here.

It's not extremely vague. If both have the same form against every other top 100 player under the same conditions. Djokovic beats Nadal. Nadal beats Federer. Federer beats Djokovic. Davydenko beats Nadal on HC (maybe also on clay, but they've never been equally good on the surface so can't say, it's certainly not a problem for Nadal there).

[nadal_slam_king]

Originally Posted by joeri888

It's not extremely vague. If both have the same form against every other top 100 player under the same conditions. Djokovic beats Nadal. Nadal beats Federer. Federer beats Djokovic. Davydenko beats Nadal on HC (maybe also on clay, but they've never been equally good on the surface so can't say, it's certainly not a problem for Nadal there).

So you think Nadal had a matchup problem in the 2010 US Open final and 2010 World Tour Finals? Nadal beat Djokovic in both, rather convincingly. And how about the 2008 Olympics? And btw, I have no doubt Nadal 2010 would have beaten Djokovic 2011 too. The only reason why Djokovic had some early victories over Nadal on hardcourt, is because Nadal has had a patchy career on hardcourt. He's a late-bloomer on hardcourt. And when Nadal is low on confidence, his hardcourt form suffers the most (2011).

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by nadal_slam_king

You think he will stop receiving platelet treatment?

I'm not here to speculate what pros do and don't do, and act like we know the individuals as if they're siblings. I'll leave that to the fanboys and fangirls, otherwise these forums will become very boring to them .

I do know that platelet-rich treatments and its variations can only replenish damaged soft tissue so much. It won't ever be 100%. That said, looks like Nadal's hurt knees are still better than most at 100%.

[TennisLovaLova]

Originally Posted by nadal_slam_king

And btw, I have no doubt Nadal 2010 would have beaten Djokovic 2011 too