Recent content by Thriller

By which time it was too late, Next Gen Nadal had already broken through and would humiliate Federer at the French, snatch his crown off at Wimbledon, run away with the Olympic Gold and reduce the Swiss to tears in Australia. Nadal and Djokovic have set the bar so high that 12 years later there...

I'm sorry it is just a fact. Nadal went 6-1 up in the H2H after their first 7 matches, 3 of them on hardcourts. It is just a fact that Federer hadn't set the bar high enough to hold back next gen Nadal. Nadal has set the bar high enough to hold back everybody on red clay for 15 years. So he...

There are no 'would haves' in sport either. If the current generation sets the bar incredibly high, obviously it will be much harder for the following generations to climb the mountain. That is what we have seen. Federer's standard has been nothing to worry Nadal since he was a baby in diapers...

Yeah he was like Samson and Hercules combined holding up the players ranked 79 ----------> infinity on his epic run to the FO semi final 2006. What a leg end! :-D

There are no 'shoulds' in sport. Some generations produce exceptional athletes who put the bar out of reach for their own generation and future ones. Several generations will pass before a generation produces an athlete who can get any where near Usain Bolt's great records. I feel blessed to be...

How could I forget ... :rolleyes: ... oh well, the vote is in play, next time Ljubo might get a look in!! (y)

My mistake, I must have missed the generation of players that gave Nadal anything to worry about on red clay .... during the last 15 years.

I think that probably made sense in your head when you typed it.

Then your answer is Nadal, as he is the only one who has dominated his older generation, his generation, his next generation, the next next generation and the next next next generation on clay. I think this is harsh on Djokovic he has had long periods of similar dominance on the other surfaces.

In the mid-2000s, Federer prevented his own generation (Hewitt, Roddick, Davydenko, Baghdatis, Ljubicic et al) from breaking through. He couldn't prevent the next gen Nadal from dominating on clay and he couldn't stop Nadal, Djokovic, Murray etc from eventually taking over.

Nadal on clay and Djokovic everywhere else have raised the bar so high that seemingly only a super fit, motivated, confident Roger Federer redlining his game can hang with them. The proper respect is due to all three of them, but Federer couldn't prevent the next gen taking over, so my votes...

And isn't that a sign of true greatness? Discuss.

Props to the video editor. He had such little footage to work with from the AO2021 .... thank goodness for slo mo ....

10 matches in 11 years is long enough to reach a conclusion about the relative merits of outdoor hardcourt players when the H2H is 8 - 2 in favour of one of them and really should have been 9 - 1. Murray has never held such an advantage.

Ahem, might I suggest a minor alteration.