Federer: Nadal is the tennis player to beat


From the article:

Federer continued the conservation about Nadal when asked who was the better clay court player right now. The 17-time Grand Slam champion compared Rafa and world number one Novak Djokovic, deciphering who was the best player on clay right now.

“[The] King of clay is Rafa,” Federer said. “He is the tennis player to beat. Novak's never won in Paris. Maybe now he's the favorite, but Nadal is Nadal. I am happy of what he showed to those, who did not believe that he could win in Monte Carlo.”
 
smalahove said:
From the article:

Federer continued the conservation about Nadal when asked who was the better clay court player right now. The 17-time Grand Slam champion compared Rafa and world number one Novak Djokovic, deciphering who was the best player on clay right now.

“[The] King of clay is Rafa,” Federer said. “He is the tennis player to beat. Novak's never won in Paris. Maybe now he's the favorite, but Nadal is Nadal. I am happy of what he showed to those, who did not believe that he could win in Monte Carlo.”
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The Federer Nadal relationship is great. Both have tremendous respect for each other. Great to see
 
smalahove said:
From the article:

Federer continued the conservation about Nadal when asked who was the better clay court player right now. The 17-time Grand Slam champion compared Rafa and world number one Novak Djokovic, deciphering who was the best player on clay right now.

“[The] King of clay is Rafa,” Federer said. “He is the tennis player to beat. Novak's never won in Paris. Maybe now he's the favorite, but Nadal is Nadal. I am happy of what he showed to those, who did not believe that he could win in Monte Carlo.”
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An he's perfectly right about that. Facts are facts.
 
75 63 61 tends to disagree with the GOAT.

As much as I love watching Fed play, he's way too PC. AND occasionally prone to playing these games.
 
Express said:
I think Nadal implied at one point before 2010 that he and Federer are not friends, but he respects him. Has that dynamic changed?
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Well they give the impression of being friends. At the very least they once were. Federer used to invite him for rides in his private jet/plane. Maybe their dynamic has changed since then, I am not sure. At the very least they are friendly and like each other, even if they arent friends. Nadal and Djokovic are also friendly. Federer and Djokovic have no love lost between them.
 
Big_Dangerous said:
Of course before that one match, he was 6-0 against Djoker @ RG.
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But that turned the tide. Look at a lot of H2H's - one player dominates; once the other guy wins it rarely swings back. I think you're a pretty solid poster - but if you look at their games right now, I don't know how you could think Nadal would stand much of a chance. Don't forget his quote after the Doha slaughter. Different surface - but same players.
 
clayqueen said:
Some people got offended when I said that beating Nadal has far more prestige than beating any other player irrespective of ranking and Federer has confirmed this.
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On CLAY.

Federer continued the conservation about Nadal when asked who was the better clay court player right now. The 17-time Grand Slam champion compared Rafa and world number one Novak Djokovic, deciphering who was the best player on clay right now.
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And Federer also said Djokovic is the current favorite but that Nadal is Nadal and is the King of Clay. Stop putting your own slant on things. It's obnoxious.
 
West Coast Ace said:
75 63 61 tends to disagree with the GOAT.

As much as I love watching Fed play, he's way too PC. AND occasionally prone to playing these games.
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What games is he playing here? He's saying that although Djokovic is the current favorite for the FO, Nadal is the King of Clay and you can't count him out. It's a new day, a new year.
 
West Coast Ace said:
But that turned the tide. Look at a lot of H2H's - one player dominates; once the other guy wins it rarely swings back. I think you're a pretty solid poster - but if you look at their games right now, I don't know how you could think Nadal would stand much of a chance. Don't forget his quote after the Doha slaughter. Different surface - but same players.
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Nadal is way past his clay best though, even when he wins. I like Djokovic more than Nadal, but Nadal in his prime would win the majority of encounters on clay over Djokovic.
 
mattosgrant said:
Well they give the impression of being friends. At the very least they once were. Federer used to invite him for rides in his private jet/plane. Maybe their dynamic has changed since then, I am not sure. At the very least they are friendly and like each other, even if they arent friends. Nadal and Djokovic are also friendly. Federer and Djokovic have no love lost between them.
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Just found a quote from Strokes of Genius by L. Jon Wertheim:

"Given the nature of a rivalry, there are limits to how close a friendship [Federer and Nadal] can forge. Asked if he and Federer are friends, Nadal demurs: 'My friends are from Majorca, the ones I went to school with when I was five years old. My English can improve, and so you know it can be tough to have a very close friend because of my English.' Then: 'For sure we have a good relationship. We always talk a lot.'"

Seems like the cultural boundary makes Rafa a little hesitant. Don't know about Roger himself, I wouldn't be surprised if he said they were friends.

Weird... I always thought Federer and Djokovic spent Sunday afternoons hitting at the local park together and sipping lemonade. I'm sure Federer just loves to hang out with Novak's family, too. Pretty sure they called him a "King" once. ;)
 
West Coast Ace said:
But that turned the tide. Look at a lot of H2H's - one player dominates; once the other guy wins it rarely swings back. I think you're a pretty solid poster - but if you look at their games right now, I don't know how you could think Nadal would stand much of a chance. Don't forget his quote after the Doha slaughter. Different surface - but same players.
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But Nadal has improved since Doha and as you said this is clay, a different surface. I agree with you that Djokovic is the favorite but I think we need to wait and see what happens in the next month between them to have a better idea. They have always had a back and forth rivalry.
 
West Coast Ace said:
Pumping up Nadal's chances to mess with Djokovic. Or was Fed playing with the kids when last year's beatdown was going on?
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But Nadal was sh*t last year at the FO. He looks much better on clay this year than he did last year. I wouldn't rush to judgement until we see what happens in Madrid and Rome. That should give us a better idea of where they both are NOW.
 
I do think even with Nadal's improved form Djokovic absolutely should win if he plays to his potential. However he should have won last year playing to his potential too, and I still believe that even with Wawrinka's exceptional performance in the final. Ultimately though he gave a tenative and rather average performance which spelt another RG runner up. He has to step up and deliver on the day, and forget all the pressure on him to finally win RG.
 
mattosgrant said:
I do think even with Nadal's improved form Djokovic absolutely should win if he plays to his potential. However he should have won last year playing to his potential too, and I still believe that even with Wawrinka's exceptional performance in the final. Ultimately though he gave a tenative and rather average performance which spelt another RG runner up. He has to step up and deliver on the day, and forget all the pressure on him to finally win RG.
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That's not always easy to do. Look at Sampras, Borg, Lendl, etc. players greater than or just as great as Djokovic who couldn't get it done at a particular slam. Sometimes it just isn't meant to be.
 
cc0509 said:
That's not always easy to do. Look at Sampras, Borg, Lendl, etc. players greater than or just as great as Djokovic who couldn't get it done at a particular slam. Sometimes it just isn't meant to be.
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Sampras on clay was kind of poopy though, and nowhere near as great as Djokovic is on clay. In fact his clay level wasnt such he should have won RG, and it would have been an overachievement if he did.

Borg on hard courts wasnt a great player either, and IMO inferior to Djokovic on clay as well.

Lendl on grass I would also say was clearly a weaker player than Djokovic on clay.

Djokovic's level on clay is superior to all those on those respective surfaces, and so it would be by far the worst failure if he doesnt get RG.
 
mattosgrant said:
Sampras on clay was kind of poopy though, and nowhere near as great as Djokovic is on clay. In fact his clay level wasnt such he should have won RG, and it would have been an overachievement if he did.

Borg on hard courts wasnt a great player either, and IMO inferior to Djokovic on clay as well.

Lendl on grass I would also say was clearly a weaker player than Djokovic on clay.

Djokovic's level on clay is superior to all those on those respective surfaces, and so it would be by far the worst failure if he doesnt get RG.
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This part of your paragraph I disagree with. Four USO finals isn't a great player at the USO? Come on now. That's more finals than Djokovic has made at the FO and Djokovic is already three years older than Borg when Borg retired.
 
Wonder if Stan felt slighted? Thinking they probably had a conversation before that interview was conducted... something along the lines of:

Fed: "Stan, listen... have to talk up the non-Swiss for a few, okay? If I don't make it though, you know I'm counting on you to do this thing."

Stan: "Oh, of course, Rog. #3 is for us."
 
cc0509 said:
This part of your paragraph I disagree with. Four USO finals isn't a great player at the USO? Come on now. That's more finals than Djokovic has made at the FO and Djokovic is already three years older than Borg when Borg retired.
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1 of those finals was on clay, so he has the same number of finals at the U.S Open on hard courts as Djokovic at the French on clay. However Djokovic basically lost the real final in 2013 in the semis vs Nadal, so it might as well be 4 to 3 for Djokovic. I dont think Borg has done as well winning Premier type hard court events as Djokovic on clay. McEnroe and Connors at the U.S Open, as great as they are, are nowhere near the roadblock Nadal is at RG either. He is closer on hard courts to Djokovic on clay than Sampras on clay (way way way behind) or Lendl on grass though, I will agree with that.
 
West Coast Ace said:
But that turned the tide. Look at a lot of H2H's - one player dominates; once the other guy wins it rarely swings back. I think you're a pretty solid poster - but if you look at their games right now, I don't know how you could think Nadal would stand much of a chance. Don't forget his quote after the Doha slaughter. Different surface - but same players.
Click to expand...

On clay in a best of 5 and @ Roland Garros, and Nadal has no chance against Djokovic?


I mean I'm not saying I expect Nadal to win, or that he'd be a favorite, but to say he has no chance is pretty disrespectful and idiotic.
 
Express said:
Just found a quote from Strokes of Genius by L. Jon Wertheim:

"Given the nature of a rivalry, there are limits to how close a friendship [Federer and Nadal] can forge. Asked if he and Federer are friends, Nadal demurs: 'My friends are from Majorca, the ones I went to school with when I was five years old. My English can improve, and so you know it can be tough to have a very close friend because of my English.' Then: 'For sure we have a good relationship. We always talk a lot.'"

Seems like the cultural boundary makes Rafa a little hesitant. Don't know about Roger himself, I wouldn't be surprised if he said they were friends.

Weird... I always thought Federer and Djokovic spent Sunday afternoons hitting at the local park together and sipping lemonade. I'm sure Federer just loves to hang out with Novak's family, too. Pretty sure they called him a "King" once. ;)
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mattosgrant said:
1 of those finals was on clay, so he has the same number of finals at the U.S Open on hard courts as Djokovic at the French on clay. However Djokovic basically lost the real final in 2013 in the semis vs Nadal, so it might as well be 4 to 3 for Djokovic. I dont think Borg has done as well winning Premier type hard court events as Djokovic on clay. McEnroe and Connors at the U.S Open, as great as they are, are nowhere near the roadblock Nadal is at RG either. He is closer on hard courts to Djokovic on clay than Sampras on clay (way way way behind) or Lendl on grass though, I will agree with that.
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"Real final" is the match, after which you dont have to win any other to win championchip. Therefore Djokovic has 3 finals as well as Borg on hard.

Do not forget at these times there was much less tournaments on hard. Borg played on 4 different hard masters ten times at whole. One he played just once as young boy, not even top10 player (1r). Other played twice and twice won, other twice and has one win and one final and the last five times and has final, 3 SF and QF. So he has 3 W, 2 F, 3 SF, Q and 1R from 10 hard tournament he played. Not bad, is it not?

And if you look at UO, he played it twice as a young (4R, 2R), however after 77 he played four times and has 3 finals and one QF. So he has 3 finals form 6 tournaments.

Djokovic has 7 wins and 4 finals from 26 tournaments at masters level. On FO he has 3 finals from 11 tournaments.

Borg has the same number of finals at GS in much shorter time as well as better winning percentage at Masters. His level on hard was at least the same as Djokovic's on clay, probably better.
 
OP, you are a journalist right? You interview these guys, right? You should be knowing better than anyone then that he is talking about Nadal on clay. Take those biased goggles off for a second.

Since when is Nadal the player to beat at WTF, since that is what you are suggesting. Clay yes, anywhere else, no.
 
clayqueen said:
Where did he say he meant on clay? He acknowledges that Nadal is the King of clay and he is the tennis player to beat.
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But Rafa was losing left, right and center to nobodies lately, while Djokovic is with the almost single digit number of loses in the last 2 years. How can Nadal be a player to beat everywhere. :confused:o_O
 
uliks said:
But Rafa was losing left, right and center to nobodies lately, while Djokovic is with the almost single digit number of loses in the last 2 years. How can Nadal be a player to beat everywhere. :confused:o_O
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You are asking a Vamos Briagade member AND a journalist.

I wouldn't hold my breath regarding any logical answer.

:cool:
 
cc0509 said:
This part of your paragraph I disagree with. Four USO finals isn't a great player at the USO? Come on now. That's more finals than Djokovic has made at the FO and Djokovic is already three years older than Borg when Borg retired.
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But most of his loses were to Nadal
 
mattosgrant said:
I do think even with Nadal's improved form Djokovic absolutely should win if he plays to his potential. However he should have won last year playing to his potential too, and I still believe that even with Wawrinka's exceptional performance in the final. Ultimately though he gave a tenative and rather average performance which spelt another RG runner up. He has to step up and deliver on the day, and forget all the pressure on him to finally win RG.
Click to expand...

I think if novak gets nadal in semis, murray will win RG.

Most guys here underestimate how nadal affected novak last year. Novak geared to peak in the QF instead of the final.
 
cc0509 said:
This part of your paragraph I disagree with. Four USO finals isn't a great player at the USO? Come on now. That's more finals than Djokovic has made at the FO and Djokovic is already three years older than Borg when Borg retired.
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not to mention that borg won plenty of fast hard court and the carpet WTF titles. He was good enough to win multiple USO but for whatever reason (lights, crowd, facing Americans) could never solve the USO in particular. If Borg had won 2 USO he would be neck and neck with Fed in my book
 
mattosgrant said:
Djokovic's level on clay is superior to all those on those respective surfaces, and so it would be by far the worst failure if he doesnt get RG.
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Agree with this. Before last year, it was all mental. Nadal's one big shot - the high bouncing cc FH to a righty's BH - doesn't bother Djokovic. And we'll never know if he was overconfident going into the Stan F last year and then got tight when he (like Nadal at the AO) realized Stan was on fire and wasn't going to roll over.

You guys can go on and on about Nadal and his form at any given time. If he's playing, it counts. And Djokovic has owned him for many years now.
 
Djokovic might be the slight favorite in their potential match at Roland Garros, but I don't see Nadal, in his current form, losing to anyone else but Djokovic. Novak, on the other hand, is more prone to upset and, as we've seen in the last five years, his problem at the French Open is not only Nadal.

H2H, I'll give the edge to Novak; vs field, Nadal has the advantage.
 
uliks said:
But Rafa was losing left, right and center to nobodies lately, while Djokovic is with the almost single digit number of loses in the last 2 years. How can Nadal be a player to beat everywhere. :confused:o_O
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Rafa wasn't playing like vintage Rafa, he clearly had problems as he admitted himself. Rafa was beating himself, he wasn't being beaten by hs opponents.

"This year, I was working but results weren't arriving because I was struggling against myself, I didn't have the controls I had in previous years. In the last weeks, I came back to compete against rivals and that meant much more................"

http://www.**************.org/Rafae...n-Slams-but-Im-not-Federer-articolo28507.html
 
I would love to see how Djoker would cope if he had to take over a year out in three years with injury and illness and see if he could come back firing on all cylinders. I know Rafa went straight to #1 when he came back in 2013 but it worked out well for him then; last year, with the wrist and back injuries along with appendicitis it was far more difficult for his body to return to the mould of playing tennis at a high level. He is only human.

Of course, Rafa will not win every match from here on in but he is on the way to being his vintage self.
 
clayqueen said:
I would love to see how Djoker would cope if he had to take over a year out in three years with injury and illness and see if he could come back firing on all cylinders. I know Rafa went straight to #1 when he came back in 2013 but it worked out well for him then; last year, with the wrist and back injuries along with appendicitis it was far more difficult for his body to return to the mould of playing tennis at a high level. He is only human.

Of course, Rafa will not win every match from here on in but he is on the way to being his vintage self.
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Rafa was injury free for the whole of 2015. Stop with the excuses. ;)
 
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