falstaff78
Hall of Fame
This is a follow-up to a thread I made recently, which compared Federer's career at the end of 2009 to Nadal's career to-date.
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=515647&page=4
Russeljones suggested it would be good to see the same breakdown for the two players' periods of dominance. His point was that the previous analysis was only useful to understand whether Nadal is on pace to match Federer's achievements. But not as an apples-to-apples comparison of their times at the top.
There was some debate about the comparison period. I ended up doing the numbers 4 ways:
(i) Major-winning span - i.e. 2003-2012 for Federer, 2005-2014 for Nadal
(ii) Peaks - i.e. 2004-2009 for Federer, 2008-2013 for Nadal
(iii) Overlap of major-winning span - i.e. 2005-2012 (i.e. same competition)
(iv) Absolute peaks - i.e. 2005-2006 for Federer, 2008 & 2010 for Nadal - see post 15
There are three main conclusions to be drawn from these data:
1) No one has ever played on Clay like Nadal. 80% of tournaments won over almost a decade. 90% of RGs won lifetime. Only lost 1 match at RG. Highest ever win pct 318-24.
2) No one has ever had a peak like Federer. over a 6 year period he: won 58% of majors, reached 83% of major finals, won 90% of tournaments on grass, won 52% of tournaments on hard, held number 1 for ~84% of the weeks
3) The weak era argument does not hold. The trends we see are exactly the same whether we look at their peaks, their career major winning spans, or just the overlap of their major winning spans.
(i) Major-winning span - i.e. 2003-2012 for Federer, 2005-2014 for Nadal
Majors (won / played / total - participation strike rate / overall strike rate)
Nadal 14 / 35 / 40 = 40% / 35%
Federer 17 / 40 / 40 = 43% / 43%
Weeks at no 1
Nadal 141
Federer 302
WTF (won / played / total - participation strike rate / overall strike rate)
Nadal 0 / 6 / 9 = 0% / 0% (not yet counting 2014 although Rafa not playing)
Federer 6 / 10 / 10 = 60% / 60%
MS1000s (won / played - strike rate)
Nadal 27 / 75 = 36%
Federer 20 / 74 = 27%
Here's the break-down of MS1000 by surface:
MS 1000s on Clay (won / played - strike rate):
Nadal 19 / 28 = 68%
Federer 5 / 24 = 21%
MS 1000s on Hard (won / played - strike rate):
Nadal 8 / 47 = 17%
Federer 15 / 50 = 30%
Overall titles: (won / played - strike rate)
Nadal 63 / 169 = 37%
Federer 72 / 173 = 42%
Following Clayqueen's suggestion, breakdown of titles by level. (RN / RF)
Majors: 14 / 17
WTF: 0 / 6
Olympics: 1 / 0
MS1000: 27 / 20
250&500: 21 / 29
Total: 63 / 72
Break down of all titles by surface. (Leaving out carpet, which accounts for 1 of Federer's titles)
Overall titles on clay (won / played - strike rate):
Nadal 44 / 58 = 76%
Federer 9 / 41 = 22%
(Obligatory gushing at Nadal on clay - 76%! Insane!!!)
Overall titles on hard
Nadal 16 / 94 = 17%
Federer 50 / 110 = 45%
Overall titles on grass
Nadal 3 / 17 = 18%
Federer 12 / 18 = 67%
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=515647&page=4
Russeljones suggested it would be good to see the same breakdown for the two players' periods of dominance. His point was that the previous analysis was only useful to understand whether Nadal is on pace to match Federer's achievements. But not as an apples-to-apples comparison of their times at the top.
There was some debate about the comparison period. I ended up doing the numbers 4 ways:
(i) Major-winning span - i.e. 2003-2012 for Federer, 2005-2014 for Nadal
(ii) Peaks - i.e. 2004-2009 for Federer, 2008-2013 for Nadal
(iii) Overlap of major-winning span - i.e. 2005-2012 (i.e. same competition)
(iv) Absolute peaks - i.e. 2005-2006 for Federer, 2008 & 2010 for Nadal - see post 15
There are three main conclusions to be drawn from these data:
1) No one has ever played on Clay like Nadal. 80% of tournaments won over almost a decade. 90% of RGs won lifetime. Only lost 1 match at RG. Highest ever win pct 318-24.
2) No one has ever had a peak like Federer. over a 6 year period he: won 58% of majors, reached 83% of major finals, won 90% of tournaments on grass, won 52% of tournaments on hard, held number 1 for ~84% of the weeks
3) The weak era argument does not hold. The trends we see are exactly the same whether we look at their peaks, their career major winning spans, or just the overlap of their major winning spans.
(i) Major-winning span - i.e. 2003-2012 for Federer, 2005-2014 for Nadal
Majors (won / played / total - participation strike rate / overall strike rate)
Nadal 14 / 35 / 40 = 40% / 35%
Federer 17 / 40 / 40 = 43% / 43%
Weeks at no 1
Nadal 141
Federer 302
WTF (won / played / total - participation strike rate / overall strike rate)
Nadal 0 / 6 / 9 = 0% / 0% (not yet counting 2014 although Rafa not playing)
Federer 6 / 10 / 10 = 60% / 60%
MS1000s (won / played - strike rate)
Nadal 27 / 75 = 36%
Federer 20 / 74 = 27%
Here's the break-down of MS1000 by surface:
MS 1000s on Clay (won / played - strike rate):
Nadal 19 / 28 = 68%
Federer 5 / 24 = 21%
MS 1000s on Hard (won / played - strike rate):
Nadal 8 / 47 = 17%
Federer 15 / 50 = 30%
Overall titles: (won / played - strike rate)
Nadal 63 / 169 = 37%
Federer 72 / 173 = 42%
Following Clayqueen's suggestion, breakdown of titles by level. (RN / RF)
Majors: 14 / 17
WTF: 0 / 6
Olympics: 1 / 0
MS1000: 27 / 20
250&500: 21 / 29
Total: 63 / 72
Break down of all titles by surface. (Leaving out carpet, which accounts for 1 of Federer's titles)
Overall titles on clay (won / played - strike rate):
Nadal 44 / 58 = 76%
Federer 9 / 41 = 22%
(Obligatory gushing at Nadal on clay - 76%! Insane!!!)
Overall titles on hard
Nadal 16 / 94 = 17%
Federer 50 / 110 = 45%
Overall titles on grass
Nadal 3 / 17 = 18%
Federer 12 / 18 = 67%
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