ESPN’s Chris Fowler calls Rafael Nadal ‘most admired athlete’ he’s ever covered

[TennisFan3]

ESPN’s Chris Fowler calls Rafael Nadal ‘most admired athlete’ he’s ever covere

Chris Fowler may be known most for anchoring ESPN’s College GameDay or being the voice of EA Sports’ College Football 25, but the veteran announcer has found the most wisdom from the tennis athletes he covers calling the Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open finals for the worldwide leader.

For Fowler, those lessons are embodied best by the legendary Rafael Nadal, who Fowler recently called “the most admired athlete” he’s gotten to cover in his three-plus decades as a broadcaster.

Fowler was at Roland Garros in Paris for Nadal’s first French Open win at age 19, and has carried that memory with him while covering Nadal for the rest of his career.

Fowler believes Nadal is the embodiment of what makes a great tennis player and a great athlete. The 22-time major tournament winner has spectacular endurance and focus, fighting through countless injuries to become one of the best to ever play his sport.

Asked what makes Nadal special, Fowler said, “what he has brought to every performance he’s given on the court. The grit, the competitive spirit, the fight, the willingness to suffer, to dig deep within himself to do whatever it takes, the humility. He’s grounded, he’s a family guy. He practices the way you’re supposed to practice. He’s done a lot to grow the sport by the way he’s acted off the court. Just all of those things … everybody who’s covered him would say that.”

 

[inflation_era]

Fowler's is completely clueless about tennis so this is not surprising.

 

[Mainad]

Fowler's is completely clueless about tennis so this is not surprising.

If he had said that about Federer or Djokovic would he still be completely clueless?

 

[Djumhur]

Nobody likes Djokovic the pusher

 

[GabeT]

Nobody likes Djokovic the pusher

Welcome “new” user! Make yourself at home. It’s great to see “new” faces join this wonderful site

 

[TennisFan3]

Fowler's is completely clueless about tennis so this is not surprising.

Not really. He has been commentating for a long time.

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Nobody likes Djokovic the pusher

You mean you jealous of the GOAT?

 

[Better_Call_Raul]

The Djoker can counterpunch or what the ill-informed call "push" and he can also attack with the best of them. Alcaraz hits harder than anyone in history and Djoker mostly defended those shots but he also blew the speedy Alcaraz off the court in the tiebreaker with angled forehands.

It was just beautiful to watch the master at work.

 

[inflation_era]

Not really. He has been commentating for a long time.

So what? Doesn't mean he learned anything. He still asks naive questions during the commentary.

 

[TearTheRoofOff]

If he had said that about Federer or Djokovic would he still be completely clueless?

It would be more surprising.

 

[inflation_era]

If he had said that about Federer or Djokovic would he still be completely clueless?

Possibly, but especially if he said it about Murray.

 

[pirhaksar]

Thats his opinion and is a reasonable one too. Rafa is indeed well respected and admired, not really a shocking idea. One could argue that on global reach and iconic stature, RF would likely be the obvious most admired tennis player.

 

[Razer]

The most admired player is Federer.

 

[FedForGOAT]

If he had said that about Federer or Djokovic would he still be completely clueless?

I feel like these posts (the original post of this thread, that is), are basically designed to rile up people and create sh*t storms.

If any figure with any name, recognition said something similar about any of the big three, someone would post it here and you would get similar reactions.

I don’t know much about Fowler, but my general sense prior to this thread was that he is seen as rather clueless about tennis in general.

That said, when does it need to know much about Tennis to get a sense of which athlete is considered admirable?

That said… I really don’t take much of what these media personalities say very seriously. It is literally part of their job to create headlines.
Even someone like McEnroe, who clearly knows a lot about tennis, will say something one day and completely contradict himself the next day.

I believe sometimes these people do actually say things they believe, but it’s hard to separate the signal from the noise, given how often they’re just shooting their mouth randomly

TLDR: Fowler is probably clueless, but not because of this

 

[FedForGOAT]

Thats his opinion and is a reasonable one too. Rafa is indeed well respected and admired, not really a shocking idea. One could argue that on global reach and iconic stature, RF would likely be the obvious most admired tennis player.

I am a big Federer fan, but Rafa has my respect and even admiration for many qualities

That said headlines, which include “most/highest/greatest/best” almost always Clickbait in design to generate reactions in discussion

 

[Deleted member 806402]

Chris who?

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

Novak die-hard fans attitude more and more seems to be: "not only must Novak succeed, but everyone else must fail too."

 

[jmacdaununder2]

ESPN’s Chris Fowler calls Rafael Nadal ‘most admired athlete’ he’s ever covere

Chris Fowler may be known most for anchoring ESPN’s College GameDay or being the voice of EA Sports’ College Football 25, but the veteran announcer has found the most wisdom from the tennis athletes he covers calling the Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open finals for the worldwide leader.

For Fowler, those lessons are embodied best by the legendary Rafael Nadal, who Fowler recently called “the most admired athlete” he’s gotten to cover in his three-plus decades as a broadcaster.

Fowler was at Roland Garros in Paris for Nadal’s first French Open win at age 19, and has carried that memory with him while covering Nadal for the rest of his career.

Fowler believes Nadal is the embodiment of what makes a great tennis player and a great athlete. The 22-time major tournament winner has spectacular endurance and focus, fighting through countless injuries to become one of the best to ever play his sport.

Asked what makes Nadal special, Fowler said, “what he has brought to every performance he’s given on the court. The grit, the competitive spirit, the fight, the willingness to suffer, to dig deep within himself to do whatever it takes, the humility. He’s grounded, he’s a family guy. He practices the way you’re supposed to practice. He’s done a lot to grow the sport by the way he’s acted off the court. Just all of those things … everybody who’s covered him would say that.”

To be fair the ‘admiration’ bar is set pretty low after all; you just have to avoid hitting lines people or smashing the Olympic rings or the Wimbledon net post like a petulant child - how hard could that be?

 

[Bartelby]

The more you sweat, the more you are a champion.

 

[timmyy]

Saw the title of this thread and knew it'd be populated by insecure Djokovic fans

 

[MeatTornado]

Timestamped source if anyone cares for more context.

 

[TennisFan3]

To be fair the ‘admiration’ bar is set pretty low after all; you just have to avoid hitting lines people or smashing the Olympic rings or the Wimbledon net post like a petulant child - how hard could that be?

Huh? Of all the players including Fedovic, Fowler has liked Nadal most.
There is something to be said of Nadal's fight and humility.
Characteristics which anyone would do well to emulate.

 

[TennisFan3]

Timestamped source if anyone cares for more context.

Wow. This is great. Thanks for finding the source. Much appreciated.

 

[TennisFan3]

Thats his opinion and is a reasonable one too. Rafa is indeed well respected and admired, not really a shocking idea. One could argue that on global reach and iconic stature, RF would likely be the obvious most admired tennis player.

This is not a competition. Fowler says that he personally admires Nadal the most. And it is not hard to see.
Fed, was a tremendous talent, however his arrogance didn't go well with everyone. There is something to be said of Nadal's humility.

 

[pirhaksar]

I am a big Federer fan, but Rafa has my respect and even admiration for many qualities

That said headlines, which include “most/highest/greatest/best” almost always Clickbait in design to generate reactions in discussion

Agree. I support Novak but it would be petty and silly to not admire either of Fedal and their role in the sport.

 

[dapchai]

If he had said that about Federer or Djokovic would he still be completely clueless?

ofc yes, to be less clueless he gotta say that about the knighted olympian winner in men's singles tennis

 

[SonnyT]

Nobody likes Djokovic the pusher

Djokovic the pusher was only 9-2 slams against Federer, and 5-1 slams outside of RG against Nadal, since start of 2011!

 

[weakera]

Novak die-hard fans attitude more and more seems to be: "not only must Novak succeed, but everyone else must fail too."

 

[mental midget]

Not really. He has been commentating for a long time.

agree. fowler takes a lot of heat for some reason, not sure why...not a former player or anything, but his commentary's pretty solid, clearly likes the game, and if he brings maybe just a few fans from other sports over, that's a good thing.

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

It isn't a new saying. I first heard it in 1983 on the 20th anniversary show of Doctor Who.

 

[SonnyT]

Nadal, by far, is the most admired No 2!