Fed Says Nadal & Djokovic Will Pass Him

He just realises that in the unprecedented void in the young ATG talent pool it is highly unlikely that they won't win more, and "more" in Nadal's case almost certainly means that he will equal/pass him. Not sure about what his thinking is about Djokovic, as he is still too far behind, but, again, unless a sudden rise of many high quality players happen immediately (i.e. within a year) that is also a gap that can be bridged.

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ADuck

Legend
I remember Fed said this years ago aswell about Nadal. Something like "Honestly, I thought he would have passed me by now" or "I always expected it." Then Nadal had a bad period and it stopped looking likely. It might have been around Apr-Jun of 2014 or 2015 when he said that originally.
 

TheIntrovert

Hall of Fame
Pretending hes ok with it, when really deep down hes in bits at the thought.
No one loves and craves tennis history like Federer IMO. And theres nothing wrong with that.
But I think he will be devastated if he ends up 3rd on the slam record list.
What’s your opinion based upon?
 
The odds suggest it will happen. Fed speaking the truth. They are 5-6 years younger than him. It all depends on them staying fit and when the next generation step up to beat djokodal in majors. At the moment, the next gen players still don’t appear ready in best of 5. However, we will see what 2020 brings.
 

irishnadalfan1983

Hall of Fame
The odds suggest it will happen. Fed speaking the truth. They are 5-6 years younger than him. It all depends on them staying fit and when the next generation step up to beat djokodal in majors. At the moment, the next gen players still don’t appear ready in best of 5. However, we will see what 2020 brings.

Ummmmmmm....Feel like Med/Tsitsipas and Thiem in FO are very close.....
 
Fed is being realistic, though nothing is certain. It might sting his ego and the mental sanity of some of his fans initially, but I don't think that would impact his status amongst the greatest in tennis. Better to be 3rd in the era of the Top 3 than to be remembered for an era where your greatest contenders were Roddick, Safin, Hewitt, and Outofgassi, no?
 

DSH

Talk Tennis Guru
If Djokovic does not win at least 2 Majors this year, he is out of the pursuing.
 

DSH

Talk Tennis Guru
For the contrary, Nadal only has to win a Major this season, to be just one step away from establishing a new mark of Grand Slam tournaments won.
 

Wilsonpro

Rookie
Nadal probably will get at least 2 FOs over next 4 years as other than Djokovic and Thiem nobody is remotely close to him on clay and even Djokovic now seems to be way behind on clay.

Djokovic needs this AO. Its his best event and if he wins it then he probably wins wimbledon again and you have to think he then has enough time to get past 20.

I half expect an early exit for Nadal in Melbourne as im pretty sure he will already be thinking clay court season. He could after Melbourne just focus on clay to maximise his chances and go back to his roots so to speak.

Big event for Djokovic in Melbourne. Federer i suspect already thinking about grass as he will be burning to put last year right.
 

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
He should have added that had he not _ucked up at last year's Wim he'd figure that only Rafa will pass him.
Rafa would've passed Federer in 2012 if Novak Djokovic hadn't emerged out of the blue and started on his rampage which nobody saw coming.
 

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
Nadal probably will get at least 2 FOs over next 4 years as other than Djokovic and Thiem nobody is remotely close to him on clay and even Djokovic now seems to be way behind on clay.

Djokovic needs this AO. Its his best event and if he wins it then he probably wins wimbledon again and you have to think he then has enough time to get past 20.

I half expect an early exit for Nadal in Melbourne as im pretty sure he will already be thinking clay court season. He could after Melbourne just focus on clay to maximise his chances and go back to his roots so to speak.

Big event for Djokovic in Melbourne. Federer i suspect already thinking about grass as he will be burning to put last year right.
Nadal might have some more trouble than he bargained for if he gets the night matches at RG with the roof closed. I just read that RG is going to be running matches through the day and evening now that they have the roof over Phillip Chatrier. So that could be ideal for the likes of Djokovic, Thiem and others.
 

Pheasant

Legend
Fed has suspected that the writing has been on the wall(Rafa passing Fed) for at least 6 years now. I don't think that he'll be devastated at all when it happens; at least with Rafa anyway.

I do think that Federer would be upset if Djoker passed him, however.
 

myth

Professional
Pretending hes ok with it, when really deep down hes in bits at the thought.
No one loves and craves tennis history like Federer IMO. And theres nothing wrong with that.
But I think he will be devastated if he ends up 3rd on the slam record list.

Slams are the most important tournaments in tennis but Nadal overtaking Fed 20 slam's win won't make him the GOAT.

1/ Too many early rounds losses to more than average players.
2/ Lack of distribution of his GS titles. Not being able to defend a GS title outside the FO
3/ no World Tour finals.
4 has never dominated the tour the way Novak and Fed did. 173 wins 9 losses in 2005 2006 and 2015 2016 4 slams in a row for Novak.

In my opinion, Novak is already ahead of Nadal.
 

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
If Djokovic does not win at least 2 Majors this year, he is out of the pursuing.
You think so? He's only 32. He could play another 3-4 years at an exceptional level. Everything really depends on the NextGen and whether they can put up some real resistance.
 

kishnabe

Talk Tennis Guru
Fed is being realistic, though nothing is certain. It might sting his ego and the mental sanity of some of his fans initially, but I don't think that would impact his status amongst the greatest in tennis. Better to be 3rd in the era of the Top 3 than to be remembered for an era where your greatest contenders were Roddick, Safin, Hewitt, and Outofgassi, no?
Miles better competition than 2015+. Prime Roddick, Safin, Hewitt would be winning slams in this era.
 

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
Slams are the most important tournaments in tennis but Nadal overtaking Fed 20 slam's win won't make him the GOAT.

1/ Too many early rounds losses to more than average players.
2/ Lack of distribution of his GS titles. Not being able to defend a GS title outside the FO
3/ no World Tour finals.
4 has never dominated the tour the way Novak and Fed did. 173 wins 9 losses in 2005 2006 and 2015 2016 4 slams in a row for Novak.

In my opinion, Novak is already ahead of Nadal.
I don't think most people see it that way. They just look at the Slam count. It's always been that way.
 
Fed can say what he wants publicly but on the inside I bet he'll absolutely hate it if Nadal and/or Djokovic passes him. Don't get me wrong, it's not like he'd feel like it's the end of the world. After all, he'd still be regarded as a top 3 player of all time (with some still holding him as the GOAT), and have so much fame and money it's not even funny, along with a loving family, good health, etc etc etc. But to believe that he'll simply think "meh" if he gets passed...I'd call that being naïve.
And the same would be true if it were the other way around btw. If Nadal/Djokovic were the current record holder and someone passed them, they'll hate that too but won't say that publicly (obviously).
 

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
Seems to me that the more money Federer makes, the less he cares about his tennis records. I guess money does make people happier after all. :-D
$10 million for playing a couple of exhibitions whereas winning a Slam only pays $3 million? LMAO!!!
 

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
Fed can say what he wants publicly but on the inside I bet he'll absolutely hate it if Nadal and/or Djokovic passes him. Don't get me wrong, it's not like he'd feel like it's the end of the world. After all, he'd still be regarded as a top 3 player of all time (with some still holding him as the GOAT), and have so much fame and money it's not even funny, along with a loving family, good health, etc etc etc. But to believe that he'll simply think "meh" if he gets passed...I'd call that being naïve.
And the same would be true if it were the other way around btw. If Nadal/Djokovic were the current record holder and someone passed them, they'll hate that too but won't say that publicly (obviously).
Anyone would hate their records getting passed. But it's life. You accept it and move on. And besides, let's be realistic. If not for Djokovic, Federer's Slam count would've been passed 7-8 years ago. Nobody had answers for Nadal until Djokovic came along.
 

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
It seems for some Nadal and Djokovic fans it’s not enough just for the two aforementioned players to pass Federer in slams, but Federer also needs to be miserable when it happens.
Yeah but these people are irrelevant. How many people actually follow tennis genuinely? Like 0.1% of America?
 
Miles better competition than 2015+. Prime Roddick, Safin, Hewitt would be winning slams in this era.
This is wishful thinking IMO, unless you want to say Roddick is equivalent to Djokovic and Nadal to Hewitt. The reason there is "less competition" now is because there are 3 ATG players active at the moment. In any case, to think that "one hit wonder" Roddick, "headcase" Safin and a guy that spent most of his career injured were the best of that stronk era is quite telling, don't you think?
 

myth

Professional
I don't think most people see it that way. They just look at the Slam count. It's always been that way.

I mean 19 sets won in a row on hard courts against Nadal having won the 4 slams in a row including the WTF back in 2015 2016. On top of that winning all MS1000 titles....
 

Hitman

Bionic Poster
Fed has suspected that the writing has been on the wall(Rafa passing Fed) for at least 6 years now. I don't think that he'll be devastated at all when it happens; at least with Rafa anyway.

I do think that Federer would be upset if Djoker passed him, however.

I don't think so, because the way Djokovic was dominating back in 2015-2016, he probably had already started to see that Novak was on his way to catching him.
 

Sport

G.O.A.T.
I don't think so, because the way Djokovic was dominating back in 2015-2016, he probably had already started to see that Novak was on his way to catching him.
After Federer won AO 2018, he was sitting in 20 Slams and Djokovic in 12. Djokovic was almost 31 years old, and would start RG 2018 aged 31. Djokovic had also spent almost 2 years without winning Slams. Not many believed Djokovic aged 31 had a chance to win 9 Grand Slams or more.

Even after Nole's comeback at Wimbledon 2018, most still found that 13 Slams was too far behind 20 for a 31 years old.
 
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Hitman

Bionic Poster
After Federer won AO 2018, he was sitting in 20 Slams and Djokovic in 12. Djokovic was almost 31 years old, and would start RG 2018 aged 31. Djokovic had also spent almost 2 years without winning Slams. Not many believed Djokovic aged 31 had a chance to win 9 Grand Slams or more.

Even after Nole's come back at Wimbledon 2018, most still found that 13 Slams was too far behind 20 for a 31 years old.

And that is a dangerous assumption to make with what we have seen in recent times.
 

Pheasant

Legend
I don't think so, because the way Djokovic was dominating back in 2015-2016, he probably had already started to see that Novak was on his way to catching him.

I agree with that. Federer felt footsteps after the 2015 season. I was referring to their relationship. I don't think that they like each other. But I could be wrong.
 

Wilsonpro

Rookie
Nadal might have some more trouble than he bargained for if he gets the night matches at RG with the roof closed. I just read that RG is going to be running matches through the day and evening now that they have the roof over Phillip Chatrier. So that could be ideal for the likes of Djokovic, Thiem and others.
Interesting. Roof will change many things and that would be huge for Federer.
 
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