All hail the new king of tennis

shawn1122

shawn1122

Professional
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If the calculations are correct, Nadal will be number one at the end of this week if he wins Cincinatti. If that doesn't happen, then he will be number 1 as soon as the points from 2007 Canada come off, which should be the week of August 7th. Either way, Nadal deserves it for his hard work, though Federer most certainly helped him with his disappointing losses to Simon and Karlovic. Federer is apparently all out of magic, he needs to take a break to replenish his resources. Or, for all we know, he could be done for good. Or he's still feeling the effects of losing at Wimbledon.

Federer will have to really lift his game if he wants to stay in the top 2. When Djokovic gets his mojo back, he'll smell the blood and go for Federer's number 2 spot. From there on, I think it'll be a fight between Djokovic and Nadal for #1, with Djokovic owning hard courts and Nadal owning clay and sorta owning grass (I think Fed still has a few more wimbledons in him.)
 
This is premature. No one is happier than I am to see Rafa doing well, and if he gets to No. 1, it will be well deserved, but Fed is great champion. Even if he loses the No. 1 ranking, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets it back again fairly soon. I have a feeling this rivalry is just getting started (although it actually has been going on for a whle now). But it's now becoming serious, and I look forward to seeing how many more salad bowls are up Rafa's sleeve. Vamos!
 
Congrats to Rafael...

With the Federer drama out of the way, I think 2009 is going to be a lot of fun - a lot of young players will believe they can test Rafa for the #1 spot.

I hope Rafa, Djokovic, Gulbis, Murray and Gasquet all give us a great 2009 and beyond...
 
He's not #1 yet, but it's pretty much inevitable. Congrats to him...he's been #2 for much too long. It's finally his time to hold the top spot. Now the question is just how long can he stay there?
 
VamosRafa said:
This is premature. No one is happier than I am to see Rafa doing well, and if he gets to No. 1, it will be well deserved, but Fed is great champion. Even if he loses the No. 1 ranking, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets it back again fairly soon. I have a feeling this rivalry is just getting started (although it actually has been going on for a whle now). But it's now becoming serious, and I look forward to seeing how many more salad bowls are up Rafa's sleeve. Vamos!
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Federer is having enormous problems at this point, and they go beyond Nadal in fact. He has won only 2 dinky tournaments this year. He has lost to 3 or 4 obscure opponents and nearly lost to a horde of others. Federer has a long way of improving from his current state to provide any rivalry with Nadal.
 
fed will go beast in 09 and just rape them (no not literally)
i don't know why i think this, i just get the idea that this will happen
even though rafa isn't one of my fav players on the tour, i still havve to give him props for getting to #1
 
anointedone said:
Federer is having enormous problems at this point, and they go beyond Nadal in fact. He has won only 2 dinky tournaments this year. He has lost to 3 or 4 obscure opponents and nearly lost to a horde of others. Federer has a long way of improving from his current state to provide any rivalry with Nadal.
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I still wouldn't bet against him. All it would take is one good tournament and then "he's baaaacccckkkkk!"
 
sad day for me and all Fed fans.
Nadal deservs it but there is no was he will be like Fed was in his best.
 
VamosRafa said:
I still wouldn't bet against him. All it would take is one good tournament and then "he's baaaacccckkkkk!"
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I think Fed's peak is behind him. He had a great career and still has a few slams left I bet, but he'll never have a run like he has had in the past years again. It's not a bad thing...it's just the lifecycle of a tennis player. He can't be #1 forever.

I'm more concerned about whether Nadal can keep up his level of play. The only way Fed gets back that top spot is if Nadal just collapses.
 
Challenger said:
He had a great career and still has a few slams left I bet ...
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Well, that's all he needs for GOAT, so he'll be happy with that !!!

He basically has the next 4-5 post-peak years of his career to accomplish it, so it is possible. He'll likely concentrate on that rather than the grind of getting back to #1 and holding it...that's for young players, Federer just needs slams...throw in the French Open, and you would have a Grade A GOAT.

Also, winning in the next 4-5 years will demonstrate that he can win against the new crop of players, and not just against the so-called "weak era" players of his prime playing days.
 
nutzguy16 said:
fed will go beast in 09 and just rape them (no not literally)
i don't know why i think this, i just get the idea that this will happen
even though rafa isn't one of my fav players on the tour, i still havve to give him props for getting to #1
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Wishful thinkin'
 
KRFLegal said:
Well, that's all he needs for GOAT, so he'll be happy with that !!!

He basically has the next 4-5 post-peak years of his career to accomplish it, so it is possible. He'll likely concentrate on that rather than the grind of getting back to #1 and holding it...that's for young players, Federer just needs slams...throw in the French Open, and you would have a Grade A GOAT.

Also, winning in the next 4-5 years will demonstrate that he can win against the new crop of players, and not just against the so-called "weak era" players of his prime playing days.
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No, his GOAT is out chewing grass somewhere. I don't think he has a chance of winning the FO unless Nadal in injured... and no one is the GOAT without the FO title.
 
Federer needs confidence from being the Wimby champ which is gone. Already having a bad year from catching mono then loosing like a chump at the French again...it has all snowballed. It won't be until next year that he'll be back to his winning ways. Or at least win a masters title.
 
Congrats to Nadal, and is the best thing that could happen to Fed. Been saying that for months. He needs to get all that pressure off of him and get back to basics.
I agree he's not done and well benefit greatly from playing the underdog role for awhile. Let Rafa deal with all that crap for while. People are already anointing him as the new GOAT and a taste of that kind of pressure will be interesting.
 
As much as i am a *******, I don't think that he will be motivated enough to get it back by the end of this year. I think he's just totally burnt out. I just hope it won't be another 26 months before he wins another title (i.e. Sampras). But good for Rafa, and good for tennis around the world.
 
I'm not a fan of Federer but he will be longer at the top than Nadal. Fed is never injured and his style of play is not based on strength like Nadal as his game is much more physical demanding.
Nadal has already tendonitis in both knees and when his speed starts slowing down much of his game will fall apart but at this moment he's at his peak and he deserves the number one spot.
 
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It's very sad that in the end it took Federer playing crap for this to happen. I would rather have seen Nadal develop all-court game etc etc.
 
IvanAndreevich said:
It's very sad that in the end it took Federer playing crap for this to happen. I would rather have seen Nadal develop all-court game etc etc.
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Oh c'mon Nadal's game has improved by quite a bit since last year. He rips both his forehand and backhand now, his serve is no longer a liabilty and his volleying is very very solid. Yeah Fed isn't beating him and Fed isn't playing his best right now, but nobody else on the tour has been beating him either and I'm not talking just clay. Nadal has been taking his opponents to the wood shed on clay, grass and hard. So whether he has an all court game or not, what he is doing right now is better then what anyone else has brought to the table since the AO.
 
My theory is that Nadal will be #1, but not at the end of the year. He'll gain it here, but then he'll have sub-par results the rest of the year. Then next year, he will get injured one way or another and/or his foot problems will catch up to him. He, in all honestly, can't keep up this level of play, I don't think that it is physically possible.
 
KRFLegal said:
Congrats to Rafael...

With the Federer drama out of the way, I think 2009 is going to be a lot of fun - a lot of young players will believe they can test Rafa for the #1 spot.

I hope Rafa, Djokovic, Gulbis, Murray and Gasquet all give us a great 2009 and beyond...
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Why would they believe they could beat Rafa? There is a major difference between Nadal and every other player on tour both physically and mentally.
 
Humblest number one ever, yet charismatic at the same time.
 
I'm glad my first post here is to hail the just about to be officially -he is already in any non *******ed mind- new number one in world tennis...

Hope Fed, Djoko, Murray and Co. will stay there for a while to make this sport even more fun.

Hi all, by the way
 
KRFLegal said:
Congrats to Rafael...

With the Federer drama out of the way, I think 2009 is going to be a lot of fun - a lot of young players will believe they can test Rafa for the #1 spot.

I hope Rafa, Djokovic, Gulbis, Murray and Gasquet all give us a great 2009 and beyond...
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You're writing Federer off for Gulbis, Murray, and Gasquet? Are you kidding me?
 
Leon22 said:
Oh c'mon Nadal's game has improved by quite a bit since last year. He rips both his forehand and backhand now, his serve is no longer a liabilty and his volleying is very very solid. Yeah Fed isn't beating him and Fed isn't playing his best right now, but nobody else on the tour has been beating him either and I'm not talking just clay. Nadal has been taking his opponents to the wood shed on clay, grass and hard. So whether he has an all court game or not, what he is doing right now is better then what anyone else has brought to the table since the AO.
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I completely agree. But this would not have been good enough to be number 1 last year which is why it's sad that Fed is heading south quickly.
 
IvanAndreevich said:
I completely agree. But this would not have been good enough to be number 1 last year which is why it's sad that Fed is heading south quickly.
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How would we know? Nadal's season after the 4th set in Wimbledon 2007 wasn't much different then Feder's. Nadal's knees were giving him a lot of trouble and his game went south from there.

His knees this year aren't bothering him anymore it appears and I think that is one of the big differences between last season and this season.

One could easily say Federer took the fifth set away from Nadal at Wimby 2007 because of Nadal's injury. Does that take away from the fact that Federer won his fifth Wimby? It took Nadal getting injured to defend his title? No. I think the same applies in the current situation.
 
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NADALwonWIMBLEDONagain said:
Why would they believe they could beat Rafa? There is a major difference between Nadal and every other player on tour both physically and mentally.
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There is a reason I have not been posting as much on this board, and it is because of idiots like "NADALwonWIMBLEDONagain." Physically, Tsonga and Monfils are his match. Mentally, Djoker can match him. And, I'm pretty sure that Nadal has only won Wimbledon once, so he can't have won it AGAIN.

sillymonkey said:
now that's a much more positive post than johnny s&v.
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I'm writing what I think are just facts about the human body. Nadal plays the most physical tennis game EVER. He takes good care of himself, but he is going to break down sooner or later, more likely sooner if he keeps playing all these hard court tourneys in a row.
 
Congratulations to Nadal on this, he truly deserves it. He started as a clay court player, but got better on other surfaces, and that can be accomplished only with lots of hard work and talent.
For the record, I hate Nadal`s type of game. But he really deserved this.
 
Jonny S&V said:
There is a reason I have not been posting as much on this board, and it is because of idiots like "NADALwonWIMBLEDONagain." Physically, Tsonga and Monfils are his match. Mentally, Djoker can match him. And, I'm pretty sure that Nadal has only won Wimbledon once, so he can't have won it AGAIN.
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Djoker is known for being weak mentally and giving up on more matches than any player on tour (even in a Wimbledon semi-final). Tsonga is known for being injured. Monfils rarely wins a tennis match. So are you posting your message on opposite day? Your claim of me being an idiot works well on opposite day. Otherwise it's just classless.

My username is pointing out the obvious - Nadal is the favorite to win Wimbledon.
 
NADALwonWIMBLEDONagain said:
Djoker is known for being weak mentally and giving up on more matches than any player on tour (even in a Wimbledon semi-final). Tsonga is known for being injured. Monfils rarely wins a tennis match. So are you posting your message on opposite day? Your claim of me being an idiot works well on opposite day. Otherwise it's just classless.

My username is pointing out the obvious - Nadal is the favorite to win Wimbledon.
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I don't think he is. No one is. You have to have played the rest of the season before you can be a favorite at a tournament 11 months away. Djoker is DEFINITELY not weak mentally. Tsonga may get injured, but I don't think he has gotten a serious injury lately (like all year, although I haven't really followed him that closely). I will agree with you about Monfils though, although I think is better athletically then Nadal. I'll bet you anything that the Wimbledon bookies will give Federer better odds to win then Nadal.
 
KRFLegal said:
Congrats to Rafael...

With the Federer drama out of the way, I think 2009 is going to be a lot of fun - a lot of young players will believe they can test Rafa for the #1 spot.

I hope Rafa, Djokovic, Gulbis, Murray and Gasquet all give us a great 2009 and beyond...
Click to expand...

Surely you're kidding. You don't even think Federer will be in the mix in 2009. Unreal, just a question, when was the last time Fed lost a best of 5 set slam match to someone not named Nadal or Djok ?? I thought so, you probably have to look it up.
 
As much as I'm disappointed to witness Federer's decline, I think that will open the door for some exciting race for #1 in the near future. Once Nadal is crown #1 (sooner or later), he'll be everyone's target, especially by the top-20, the likes of Murray, Gasquet and Djoko. It is psychological and natural that opponents will try to test the new Top Dog, not to mention the former King will undoubtedly try to retake his throne.

It'll be exciting.
 
I don't think there will be an exciting race for number1 until Nadal is well past his prime(which he hasn't reached yet). The difference between Nadal and everyone else this year is the widest margin I've ever seen on the tour.
 
If he wins Cinc then he is number 1 now. If he loses the Final he will be number 1 on aug11. If he loses the semi-final he will be number 1 aug18.
 
Leon22 said:
Oh c'mon Nadal's game has improved by quite a bit since last year. He rips both his forehand and backhand now, his serve is no longer a liabilty and his volleying is very very solid. Yeah Fed isn't beating him and Fed isn't playing his best right now, but nobody else on the tour has been beating him either and I'm not talking just clay. Nadal has been taking his opponents to the wood shed on clay, grass and hard. So whether he has an all court game or not, what he is doing right now is better then what anyone else has brought to the table since the AO.
Click to expand...

Your post is 100% accurate.
 
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