Your prediction: Does Rafa's RG streak end with a bang or a whimper?
- Thread starter King No1e
- Start date
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
Probably an injury causing either a default or a loss in an early round. If he is healthy enough to make it to the semis, he will be biting the trophy at the end. I also think it will not be a 5-set loss.
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MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
I doubt it will look like 2015, but it will probably end up a hard fought 4 set loss like 09.
Interesting question.
Thrilling showdown with a younger player? If so, then a few years from now against a young player of then. I think nobody from today’s next gen will beat him at RG for a few more years.
An unceremonious 2015-style exit? Well, "unceremonious" is a correct description for his own level but also had something to do with a really great Djokovic that year.
A walkover? Always possible of course. And it says a lot about his clay domination that this even sounds somewhat more likely than a loss.
Simply retiring at the top? No way, he isn’t an idiot. He would never know if he wouldn’t have just won like 5 more RG titles then.
I think he will lose to a random hardhitter (in Söderling style) on a day he is subpar and maybe injured while the opponent plays one of the best clay matches of his life.
Thrilling showdown with a younger player? If so, then a few years from now against a young player of then. I think nobody from today’s next gen will beat him at RG for a few more years.
An unceremonious 2015-style exit? Well, "unceremonious" is a correct description for his own level but also had something to do with a really great Djokovic that year.
A walkover? Always possible of course. And it says a lot about his clay domination that this even sounds somewhat more likely than a loss.
Simply retiring at the top? No way, he isn’t an idiot. He would never know if he wouldn’t have just won like 5 more RG titles then.
I think he will lose to a random hardhitter (in Söderling style) on a day he is subpar and maybe injured while the opponent plays one of the best clay matches of his life.
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Hitman
Bionic Poster
Yall are a trip
16 RG before Rafa gets bored and moves on to focus on family.
TripleATeam
G.O.A.T.
Bang. There will be some epic showdown where Nadal will be playing relatively well (obviously not the same level as young Nadal, but well for his age), and a young player that's playing lights out tennis.
TripleATeam
G.O.A.T.
If I had to guess now given what I've seen, Sinner? Could be any number of people, we probably won't be expecting them.
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Exactly. It will be a decent match but it'll be annoying bc I'll know younger Rafa would have just murdered whoever it is.
ibbi
G.O.A.T.
Dominic & Andrey
Legend
It ends this year dude
D
Deleted member 771911
Guest
Could be a whimper. The guy is human and eventually is going to get usurped. But not till about 2024.
Poisoned Slice
Bionic Poster
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
RaulRamirez
Legend
What if he loses a hard-fought match (4 or 5 sets), regains the title the following year and then retires. Possible?
Very much possible apart from the retiring thing. If he regains his title he is on top again, so why should he retire? If so he would feel he missed out on more possible RG titles. I think Nadal will retire when he had no chance at winning the RG title for at least 2 straight years (like 2 exits in QF or earlier).
RaulRamirez
Legend
I can certainly see that.
It's a dilemma (in all sports, and perhaps other pursuits as well): Retire too soon or stick around too long? It's hard to get it just right, and not everyone has the same definition of "just right".
DIMI_D
Hall of Fame
SKYPADQ GOAT
The most rational moment would be if a player feels to 100 % that he has no chance to win a big title anymore in the future (or for a lesser player that he has no chance to come close to his best past results).
But even if he doesn’t retire then and only plays on for fun, there is nothing to lose with it. There isn’t a "too late", apart from maybe for someone who doesn’t care about the sport and only wants to make some money to just enjoy his life as early as possible.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
Oh look a fan waiting for Rafa's autograph.
RaulRamirez
Legend
I'm not adamant about how I look at this. I understand your point of view, but also acknowledge that different players (and fans) have different thresholds for this.
Way back when, Borg shocked a lot of people with his early retirement. At any point in the future, Rafa retiring will not be all that early, but...so much goes into their preparation, that a lot of options all seem somewhat plausible to me.
Back to my hatched scenario of Rafa losing then regaining the title. At that point, will he want to endure another year of training and competing to vie for one more title? Hard to predict.
vive le beau jeu !
Talk Tennis Guru
anything... just make it end ASAP.
(we'll even give him a disappearance fee, if needed)
(we'll even give him a disappearance fee, if needed)
DENADALIZATION DISAPPEARANCE FEE
thank you for your generosity: keep donating to save tennis from the topspin plague!
thank you for your generosity: keep donating to save tennis from the topspin plague!
#ABTN
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Phoenix1983
G.O.A.T.
Because he'll be (at least) in his late 30s, probably the GOAT of the game, and wanting to start a family.
Duh.
airchallenge2
Hall of Fame
Aslan will beat Rafa at this year's RG.
He could still be overtaken by Djokovic then. And of course he could start a family while still playing tennis. If he is even interested in that, I don’t know how he sees it. I don’t care that much about players’ private life.
Krish872007
Talk Tennis Guru
I think the time for Rafa potentially losing an epic, high-quality match at RG has probably passed.
If / when he does lose next, it may be in 3 or 4 sets with his level having dropped off significantly
If / when he does lose next, it may be in 3 or 4 sets with his level having dropped off significantly
MadariKatu
Hall of Fame
I came here to say this.
Also, I had thought it was gonna be this year, but then the pandemic hit, and Thiem had his slump... Since winning this year and also next would mean having 6 RG in a row, I'm gonna go and say that Thiem beats him in 2022 in a thight final either to 4 or 5 sets.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
The likely scenario is that some young, strong guy just blows him off the court. A game like Soderling, just blasting winners from everywhere. There's a few players right now who can play a similar style, but not as good as Soderling: Karatsev and Basilashvilli come to mind, even Khachanov. The issue isn't play style, it's mentality. Serving out a match against Rafa in an RG final has to be the most difficult feat in tennis. Nobody's ever done it!
skypadq
Hall of Fame
only karatsev can do this
RelentlessAttack
Hall of Fame
A whimper. If Nadal loses on clay, he won’t be in top form, so we won’t get an epic
Phoenix1983
G.O.A.T.
Point is he's not going to play indefinitely. I think he'll probably want to go out on top.
StrongRule
Talk Tennis Guru
So far Basilashvili played 5 sets against Nadal on clay, and won just 2 (!!!) games. Nadal will really have to play bad in order to lose to him in RG. It's likely Nadal will play bad though, because he turns 35 soon.
The Blond Blur
G.O.A.T.
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
Dominic has a son? Because Dominic's window is closed. He is too old and not good enough.
Let's think about which kind of player Rafa is most vulnerable against. Big power players who find the zone against him.
A likely candidate is Karatsev.
King No1e
G.O.A.T.
Imagine if Thiem beats Nadal at RG, then comes up to the handshake, pulls out a pen and a tennis ball, and asks Rafa to sign it?
JaoSousa
Hall of Fame
He's won four in a row. Rafa needs two more to get the record of most consecutive wins at one slam, which he shares with Federer, who has two streaks of 5 in a row at Wimbledon and the US Open. Federer also made the final the sixth year, which Rafa wasn't able to do in 2015.
I think he'll definitely win this year, but may lose in the SF or F next year.
I think he'll definitely win this year, but may lose in the SF or F next year.
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Imagine Nadal getting 5 in a row on his third attempt at doing so
