How much are people joking when they say Nadal is a GOAT contender?

[underground]

It's funny how people go like 'OMG if Nadal hasn't lost to Djokovic he would have an extra 3 slams!'

Then how about this:

If Federer hadn't lost to Nadal he would have 22 slams by now.

If Roddick hadn't lost to Federer he would have 3 Wimbledons and an extra USO.

These 'If' statements are just invalid. The runner up wasn't the better player and didn't win the slam, simple as that.

Originally Posted by nadal_slam_king

Has there ever been a 25-year-old closer to being GOAT than Nadal? Career Grand Slam, 10 slams, 20 Masters Shields, 102 weeks ranked number one, 3 straight slams in a Calendar Year. Surface GOAT already. No 25-year-old has ever been closer.

True his achievements at 25 years old is amazing. BUT one thing to note, Nadal's 'ascend and decline' graph is one of the steepest ones. By the time he gets to 30 he'll have so many injuries + running out of steam he would retire by then. Nadal's playing style can't last him that long. On the other hand Federer can play up to 35 yrs or possible even more.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by underground

If Roddick hadn't lost to Federer he would have 3 Wimbledons.

I think you're forgetting a certain Lleyton Hewitt, certainly in regards to 2005 Wimbledon, and maybe 2004 as well.

[NadalAgassi]

Originally Posted by underground

True his achievements at 25 years old is amazing. BUT one thing to note, Nadal's 'ascend and decline' graph is one of the steepest ones. By the time he gets to 30 he'll have so many injuries + running out of steam he would retire by then. Nadal's playing style can't last him that long. On the other hand Federer can play up to 35 yrs or possible even more.

I fail to see what point you are attempting. Federer hasnt won a slam in over 2 years, when he was only 28. He can play until he is 35 if he wants but he sure as hell wont be wining anything. It is doubtful at this point that he will win even 1 more slam.

While Nadal might never reach 16 slams his chances of winning future slams and adding to his current achievements are still 5x more than Federer. So what if he is retired at 30, he still has a real shot to win more majors the next 2-3 years, the aging Federer does not.

[NadalAgassi]

Originally Posted by Mustard

I think you're forgetting a certain Lleyton Hewitt, certainly in regards to 2005 Wimbledon, and maybe 2004 as well.

Roddick fans say he would have won both 2004 and 2005.

Hewitt fans say he would have won both 2004 and 2005

All objective people who arent a major fan of either will say Roddick would have won in 2004 and Hewitt in 2005. Which is what would have happened.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by NadalAgassi

Roddick fans say he would have won both 2004 and 2005.

Hewitt fans say he would have won both 2004 and 2005

All objective people who arent a major fan of either will say Roddick would have won in 2004 and Hewitt in 2005. Which is what would have happened.

We don't know that, and will never know, but we have our opinions.

[NadalAgassi]

Originally Posted by Mustard

We don't know that, and will never know, but we have our opinions.

The more likely result is the bottom line though. It is just like how we dont know what would have happened without the Seles stabbing but the most likely turn of events is their Roland Garros records would be drastically impacted, but Graf would have continued to dominate Wimbledon. We dont know what would have happened if Maureen Connolly hadnt had a crippling horse back accident but most likely is she would have continued to dominate on all surfaces the next 8 years or more and been the runaway GOAT today. We dont know whether Henin would have won the 2003 U.S Open and 2004 Australian Open titles without Serena's injury but the most likely answer is no. And so on.

[DjokovicForTheWin]

After 2002, I'm sure the most likely thing to happen in most people's eyes was that Federer would win 16 slams. LOL Some people are just

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by DjokovicForTheWin

After 2002, I'm sure the most likely thing to happen in most people's eyes was that Federer would win 16 slams. LOL Some people are just

A certain former Wimbledon champion said at 2002 Wimbledon after Federer lost to Ancic that he didn't think Federer would ever win Wimbledon. It was hard to disagree with him at the time as Federer seemed to be going backwards in the majors in 2002, losing in the first round in straight sets at both the 2002 French Open and 2002 Wimbledon, whereas he had reached the quarter finals of the same tournaments in 2001.

[underground]

Originally Posted by NadalAgassi

I fail to see what point you are attempting. Federer hasnt won a slam in over 2 years, when he was only 28. He can play until he is 35 if he wants but he sure as hell wont be wining anything. It is doubtful at this point that he will win even 1 more slam.

While Nadal might never reach 16 slams his chances of winning future slams and adding to his current achievements are still 5x more than Federer. So what if he is retired at 30, he still has a real shot to win more majors the next 2-3 years, the aging Federer does not.

Both players have shots at winning majors. Federer is in great form IMO. Fed 2012 definitely > Fed 2011. People are writing him off too early. He's still consistently making QFs and regularly appearing in SFs. A year ago I thought he couldn't beat anyone else in the Top 4, but now he's showing that he can beat Nadal, and not once every 2 years. He still needs to prove that he isn't going to choke against Djoker though, but they haven't played for 6 months already. Who knows Federer might get a cupcake draw like Nadal always does and he can have a shot?

Also, Federer has much more records than Nadal has. Nadal's achievements will not be 5x what Federer has.

[DjokovicForTheWin]

Originally Posted by Mustard

A certain former Wimbledon champion said at 2002 Wimbledon after Federer lost to Ancic that he didn't think Federer would ever win Wimbledon. It was hard to disagree with him at the time as Federer seemed to be going backwards in the majors in 2002, losing in the first round in straight sets at both the 2002 French Open and 2002 Wimbledon, whereas he had reached the quarter finals of the same tournaments in 2001.

I agree with you. You'd have to be pretty stupid to just go off of most likely things, which are often inane opinions themselves.

[volleynets]

Originally Posted by nadal_slam_king

Has there ever been a 25-year-old closer to being GOAT than Nadal? Career Grand Slam, 10 slams, 20 Masters Shields, 102 weeks ranked number one, 3 straight slams in a Calendar Year. Surface GOAT already. No 25-year-old has ever been closer.

Surface GOAT? Not even close! How many hard court slams does he have?

[Evan77]

Originally Posted by volleynets

Surface GOAT? Not even close! How many hard court slams does he have?

well, why even bother, *** is a bit challenged. we need more characters like him ... lol

[DjokovicForTheWin]

Originally Posted by Evan77

well, why even bother, *** is a bit challenged. we need more characters like him ... lol

Yeah it's fun to poke at him a little now and then .

[TMF]

It's about time to put nadal_slam_king on your ignore list. I had Volley King on my ignore list and it's quite a relief. No more having to run into so many BS posts everyday.

[DeShaun]

Originally Posted by WhiskeyEE

they're referring to his tournament drawing ability. he's gotten more cake walk draws than any other player in the open era. GOAT drawer.

Subtle understatement

[DeShaun]

Originally Posted by nadal_slam_king

Has there ever been a 25-year-old closer to being GOAT than Nadal? Career Grand Slam, 10 slams, 20 Masters Shields, 102 weeks ranked number one, 3 straight slams in a Calendar Year. Surface GOAT already. No 25-year-old has ever been closer.

One problem is that records aside, Rafa might have been remembered as the game's greatest innovator of playing style if Federer had not dominated the (arguably weaker or not) era immediately prior and partly overlapping Rafa's emergence. So, the question needs to be asked, who came along and better tamed/exploited his own era, Rafa or Roger? In revisiting the records, we may ask ourselves: how did Roger do that and where was anybody for so many years with tennis enough to stand up to him? Not unlike nobody on tour having figured out Rafa on clay after all these years. Has there ever been a young clay bull with he guts and game for winning slams that Rafa has ever had to deal with all these years? No, there hasn't. The weak era argument runs both ways if you like.

[DeShaun]

Originally Posted by NadalAgassi

I fail to see what point you are attempting. Federer hasnt won a slam in over 2 years, when he was only 28. He can play until he is 35 if he wants but he sure as hell wont be wining anything. It is doubtful at this point that he will win even 1 more slam.

While Nadal might never reach 16 slams his chances of winning future slams and adding to his current achievements are still 5x more than Federer. So what if he is retired at 30, he still has a real shot to win more majors the next 2-3 years, the aging Federer does not.

Rafa's got three slams left in him, IMO. 2 FOs and one hardcourt. I do not see him making the finals of Wimbledon this year--he is finished winning there. I see him winning two of the next three French Championships.

[Alchemy-Z]

I see Rafa at wimbledon before i see him at another hard court slam.

I hope to see him get atleast one more channel slam before he's done.

[Chyeaah]

I would consider him a GOAT dirtballer if he gets this years RG.

[TopFH]

Originally Posted by nadal_slam_king

Has there ever been a 25-year-old closer to being GOAT than Nadal? Career Grand Slam, 10 slams, 20 Masters Shields, 102 weeks ranked number one, 3 straight slams in a Calendar Year. Surface GOAT already. No 25-year-old has ever been closer.

Federer at 26 (the age Nadal is in 5 weeks) had: 11 slams, 4 Masters Cups, plus 200 weeks at No.1, 3 3-slam winning seasons, and 14 Master shields. He was already considered Overall GOAT by many, so his achievements match Nadal's (except the MS1000s) and better them.