The whole goat stuff may be exciting for some, but better to sit back and enjoy and appreciate the achievements by those great tennis players. Its certainly correct, that some players transcended their own era by setting great individual records, like Tilden with his utter dominance and a 950 % or what record over 10 years, Budge with his great peak run at ams and pros, Gonzalez with his long reign as king of the pro hill, Rosewall with his longevity, Laver with his true Grand Slams and 211 and counting tournament wins, Borg with his reign at RG and Wim, Sampras with his great fastcourt record. Now Nadal has set a record, which is among the most amazing in tennis, one of the very few records, where the men did better than the women. The dirty dozen at the most tough major is sensational. One aspect i find especially interessant, is that Nadal is facing now at RG with Thiem a genuine tough challenger of the new generation, who has the right work ethic. While at Wim and on hc some of the old folks like Anderson, Cilic or Isner are making runs to the final, but do freeze, when it really matters. I hope that Zverev or Tsitsipas can learn from him and make a move now at Wim or USO.
RG is not about grinding. Following a New York Times article of today, the majority of exchanges at RG have only 2-3 strokes, way less than the exchanges at the USO lately Obviously Nadal finds it easier to land and dictate with his big forehand at the faster conditions at RG, than on the slower courts at Flushing. If i see it right, most of the last 8 at RG this year were pretty big hitters.
Nadal and Moya expressed, that he had a tough time, especially mentally, after his Indian Wells injury and his lackluster performances earlier in the clay season. But he regrouped mentally, with Rome giving him a big boost. Now i expect him to do well at Wim, he came close last year, and on the slow courts of Flushing, he is at least co-favorite, when healthy.