Fed at AO 0-7 vs Rafa RG 08:who was more impressive?

[Dutch-Guy]

Rafa's run at FO 2008:

R128: def. bellucci (Brazil) 7-5,6-3,6-1
R64: def. Devilder (France) 6-4,6-0,6-1
R32: def. Nieminen (Finland) 6-1,6-3,6-1
R16: def. Verdasco (Spain) 6-1,6-0,6-2
1/4: def. Almagro (Spain) 6-1,6-1,6-1
1/2: def. Djokovic (Serbia) 6-4,6-2,7-6(3)
Final: def. Federer (Switzerland) 6-1,6-3,6-0


Fed's run at AO 2007:

R128: Bjorn Phau (Germany) 7-5,6-0,6-4
R64: Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 6-2,6-3,6-2
R32: Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 6-3,6-3,7-6(5)
R16: Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 6-2,7-5,6-3
1/4: Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-3,7-6(3),7-5
1/2: Andy Roddick (USA) 6-2,6-0,6-4
Final: Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) 7-6(2),6-4,6-4


As you can see,neither of them dropped a set in those tournaments.

Vote and discuss

 

[Cyan]

Rafa FO 2008 beat the GOAT in the finals.

 

[Messarger]

Federer AO'07. That was peak Federer in every sense of the word. Just look at his semi final vs Roddick. Although Roddick charged the net with ridiculously lousy approach shots, Federer that day was something else.

 

[asafi2]

The fact that most of the top players on tour are comfortable on hard courts coupled with the fact that a big server/big hitter can create an upset on a hard court much easier than they can on a clay court I'd say that Fed's accomplishment was more impressive.

 

[swordtennis]

Just as impressive.

 

[Babolast]

I would have to say Rafa RG 08.

 

[jamesblakefan#1]

Nadal RG 08. Dominance plain and simple.

 

[LeoR]

Nadal:

Crush 3 honest opponents during the three first rounds.
Anhilation of 2 very good top 10 clay specialists in Almagro and Verdasco while only losing 3 games
Put a clinic on number 3 Djokovic
Spank the number one Federer in the final, losing only four games.

Federer:
Wins his two first match easily against easy opponents.
Dominates without problem a game Youzhny in round 3
Easily beat the up and comer Djokovic
Do the job against Robredo
Spank a top Roddick like never before
Defeat in straigth set Gonzalez who was playing the tournament of his life.

Both are really really impressive in terms of dominations and top players met.

But I would favor Nadal 2008 RG run, because of the invincibility aura and his destruction of Federer in the final.

 

[zagor]

Nadal's 08 RG is more impressive although obviously I enjoyed Fed's 07 AO run much more.

 

[cucio]

Both were ridiculous.

It is easier to let a set slip on hard court, where there is less margin for errors, so Fed's not losing one is more impressive. On that account I'd perhaps give the slight nod to him.

On the other hand, Nadal looked positively untouchable, losing only 41 games and massacring Rog in the final.

Just Two Good (typo intended.)

 

[Mustard]

Rafael Nadal's 2008 French Open IMO, where he dropped just 41 games. Roger Federer at the 2007 Australian Open dropped 72 games.

The best ever slam performance in terms of games dropped was Bjorn Borg at the 1978 French Open, with just 32 games dropped.

R128: Bjorn Borg def. Eric Deblicker (6-1, 6-1, 6-1)
R64: Bjorn Borg def. Rick Fa gel (6-0, 6-1, 6-0)
R32: Bjorn Borg def. Paolo Bertolucci (6-0, 6-2, 6-2)
R16: Bjorn Borg def. Roscoe Tanner (6-2, 6-4, 7-6)
QF: Bjorn Borg def. Raul Ramirez (6-3, 6-3, 6-0)
SF: Bjorn Borg def. Corrado Barazzutti (6-0, 6-1, 6-0)
F: Bjorn Borg def. Guillermo Vilas (6-1, 6-1, 6-3)

 

[Justdoit10]

Completely incomparable. Federer played on a hardcourt where it is way harder to break your opponents serve. Obviously he wont win as many games.

 

[tennis08tarheels]

It's hard to say.

One one hand, Nadal beat the established #2 and #3 clay courters in the SF and the F, as if beating Federer in straights in a GS wasn't enough by itself.

On the other, Federer (with the exception of Phau) had a much tougher road to get to the SF, and I'd even say Roddick on HC and Djokovic on clay are pretty similar. We all know about Verdasco and Almagro's issues vs. Nadal on clay, and Devilder and Bellucci were just happy to be in the main draw.

All that said, I'd give the slightest of edges to Nadal, simply for dominating Federer like no one ever has, or will again.