If Jannik Sinner and Rafael Nadal were born in the same era, how many Roland Garros titles would Nadal have won?

How many RG titles does Nadal win if Sinner was born in the same era as him?

  • 0-2

    Votes: 19 10.9%
  • 2-5

    Votes: 8 4.6%
  • 6-9

    Votes: 5 2.9%
  • 10-13

    Votes: 6 3.4%
  • still 14

    Votes: 137 78.3%

  • Total voters
    175

Megafanoftennis100

Professional
Seriously, after this AO, I am starting to believe that Jannik Sinner is literally unbeatable. In all my years of watching tennis, I have never seen a tennis player look this unbeatable, not even Federer in 2006, Nadal in 2010 or Djokovic during the first half of 2011.
Simply the highest level of tennis I have ever witnessed.
And I do truly mean it when I say that I think this version of Jannik is far too good to be beaten on any surface. You would have to nerf his current level of play to such an astronomical extent to enable him to get beaten by anyone, including prime Big 3.
Now, obviously, Nadal on clay is (or at least, was) considered to be by far the most unbeatable version of a tennis player ever. And especially at RG, he has a remarkable record of 112 wins and 4 losses!
Nevertheless, I do believe that the current version of Jannik Sinner can beat prime Nadal at RG, because his raw level is just far too high and I doubt that a transition from hard court to clay would be enough of a nerf.

So, what do you guys think? How many RG titles would Nadal have won if Jannik Sinner were born in the same era as him?
In my opinion, I would say definitely far less than 14: somewhere around 3-5.
 

The Blond Blur

G.O.A.T.
Also, I would happily invite @The Blond Blur and @Rafa4LifeEver to contribute to this discussion ;)
Lol, this is how concerned I’d be if The Sinner had to face no fossilized versions of RAFA at RG:
DupF.gif
 

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
Seriously, after this AO, I am starting to believe that Jannik Sinner is literally unbeatable. In all my years of watching tennis, I have never seen a tennis player look this unbeatable, not even Federer in 2006, Nadal in 2010 or Djokovic during the first half of 2011.
Simply the highest level of tennis I have ever witnessed.
And I do truly mean it when I say that I think this version of Jannik is far too good to be beaten on any surface. You would have to nerf his current level of play to such an astronomical extent to enable him to get beaten by anyone, including prime Big 3.
Now, obviously, Nadal on clay is (or at least, was) considered to be by far the most unbeatable version of a tennis player ever. And especially at RG, he has a remarkable record of 112 wins and 4 losses!
Nevertheless, I do believe that the current version of Jannik Sinner can beat prime Nadal at RG, because his raw level is just far too high and I doubt that a transition from hard court to clay would be enough of a nerf.

So, what do you guys think? How many RG titles would Nadal have won if Jannik Sinner were born in the same era as him?
In my opinion, I would say definitely far less than 14: somewhere around 3-5.

What does the price of beer in Melbourne have to do with the taste of wine in Paris?
 

The Blond Blur

G.O.A.T.
So do you think that Nadal would've won more than 0 Roland Garros titles if he had to face prime Sinner??
I mean, did you watch the AO final today?
I think you can look at my poast and how voting in the poll is trending (let me guess, you’re the only one who voted 2-5) to figure things out. Also, I didn’t realize Zedrot at the AO was some monumental benchmark compared to RAFA at RG.
 

ebar86

Rookie
There's no wrong answer in 'if questions' but the most logical is, nothing will be changed.

Based on what zverev said, sinner is resemblance of Novak. So the best model to project is how Novak fared against Rafa in RG.

Out of his 3 slams at RG, only 1 where he was going thru Rafa (2021), 2016 Rafa withdrew halfway, 2023 Rafa not playing. So the closest one was 2013 SF, where Rafa won in 5 sets, the rest were either straight sets or 4 sets with breadsticks here n there. Bear in mind, novak from 2011 till 2021 was very high level, but still couldnt really handle Rafa at RG, that's how tough playing Rafa in RG. So was prime roger against Rafa.
Also, until sinner reached 20 slams, he's not at the level of Novak/roger.

So, even suddenly tomorrow we wake up and both sinner and Rafa both 25 years old, nothing will be changed at RG.
 

TripleATeam

G.O.A.T.
Also I want to note Schoolkate and Rune are notable world-beaters. They took a set off this guy, which means they're probably gonna win a few Masters this year (of course just the ones Sinner doesn't attend).
 

ebar86

Rookie
Sinner's weakness is his recovery of position after sliding (his sliding isn't smooth too). Rafa ate those kind of players like breakfast.
 

Quaichang

Professional
Seriously, after this AO, I am starting to believe that Jannik Sinner is literally unbeatable. In all my years of watching tennis, I have never seen a tennis player look this unbeatable, not even Federer in 2006, Nadal in 2010 or Djokovic during the first half of 2011.
Simply the highest level of tennis I have ever witnessed.
And I do truly mean it when I say that I think this version of Jannik is far too good to be beaten on any surface. You would have to nerf his current level of play to such an astronomical extent to enable him to get beaten by anyone, including prime Big 3.
Now, obviously, Nadal on clay is (or at least, was) considered to be by far the most unbeatable version of a tennis player ever. And especially at RG, he has a remarkable record of 112 wins and 4 losses!
Nevertheless, I do believe that the current version of Jannik Sinner can beat prime Nadal at RG, because his raw level is just far too high and I doubt that a transition from hard court to clay would be enough of a nerf.

So, what do you guys think? How many RG titles would Nadal have won if Jannik Sinner were born in the same era as him?
In my opinion, I would say definitely far less than 14: somewhere around 3-5.
15.
 
Seriously, after this AO, I am starting to believe that Jannik Sinner is literally unbeatable. In all my years of watching tennis, I have never seen a tennis player look this unbeatable, not even Federer in 2006, Nadal in 2010 or Djokovic during the first half of 2011.
Simply the highest level of tennis I have ever witnessed.
And I do truly mean it when I say that I think this version of Jannik is far too good to be beaten on any surface. You would have to nerf his current level of play to such an astronomical extent to enable him to get beaten by anyone, including prime Big 3.
Now, obviously, Nadal on clay is (or at least, was) considered to be by far the most unbeatable version of a tennis player ever. And especially at RG, he has a remarkable record of 112 wins and 4 losses!
Nevertheless, I do believe that the current version of Jannik Sinner can beat prime Nadal at RG, because his raw level is just far too high and I doubt that a transition from hard court to clay would be enough of a nerf.

So, what do you guys think? How many RG titles would Nadal have won if Jannik Sinner were born in the same era as him?
In my opinion, I would say definitely far less than 14: somewhere around 3-5.
Given Nadal is 8-2 v Djokovic there and Sinner lost to Alcaraz last year at the FO yet Alcaraz has lost both times to Djokovic on Cahtrier, the question really is how many sets would Sinner manage to have got of Nadal over 20 years, and the answer is not more than two! He lost in straight sets to a washed up Nadal in 2020. By contrast at the age of 16 Nadal was beating washed up French Open Champions like Moya
 
Zero.

Sinner just hits too hard for Nadal on any surface. Nadal's moonballing to Sinner's backhand will have no effect because Sinner is tall and Sinner will just be redirecting Nadal's moonballs.

Only a prime Djokovic beats Sinner the way he's playing right now.
 

Mustard

Bionic Poster
Just to remind people, Nadal vs. Sinner happened 3 times:

2020 French Open QF: Rafael Nadal def. Jannik Sinner (7-6, 6-4, 6-1)
2021 Rome R32: Rafael Nadal def. Jannik Sinner (7-5, 6-4)
2021 French Open R16: Rafael Nadal def. Jannik Sinner (7-5, 6-3, 6-0)

The pattern of the French Open matches was, a very close first set which Nadal edged, Nadal tightens his grip in the second set as Sinner loses a bit of bite, and then a one-sided third set in favour of Nadal. And this is a 34-35 year old Nadal.
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Just to remind people, Nadal vs. Sinner happened 3 times:

2020 French Open QF: Rafael Nadal def. Jannik Sinner (7-6, 6-4, 6-1)
2021 Rome R32: Rafael Nadal def. Jannik Sinner (7-5, 6-4)
2021 French Open R16: Rafael Nadal def. Jannik Sinner (7-5, 6-3, 6-0)

The pattern of the French Open matches was, a very close first set which Nadal edged, Nadal tightens his grip in the second set as Sinner loses a bit of bite, and then a one-sided third set in favour of Nadal. And this is a 34-35 year old Nadal.

Nadal beating him even worse in 2021 is particularly hilarious :whistle::whistle::whistle:
 

Incognito

Legend
Given Nadal is 8-2 v Djokovic there and Sinner lost to Alcaraz last year at the FO yet Alcaraz has lost both times to Djokovic on Cahtrier, the question really is how many sets would Sinner manage to have got of Nadal over 20 years, and the answer is not more than two! He lost in straight sets to a washed up Nadal in 2020. By contrast at the age of 16 Nadal was beating washed up French Open Champions like Moya
Washed up Moya but also a reigning FO champion.
 

roysid

Legend
Nadal at 34 and 35 yrs old have beaten Sinner easily in straight sets. Of course SInner wasn't at peak. But even in last year, lost to Alcaraz

Ifs and buts are always problematic.
 

Winner Sinner

Hall of Fame
Just to remind people, Nadal vs. Sinner happened 3 times:

2020 French Open QF: Rafael Nadal def. Jannik Sinner (7-6, 6-4, 6-1)
2021 Rome R32: Rafael Nadal def. Jannik Sinner (7-5, 6-4)
2021 French Open R16: Rafael Nadal def. Jannik Sinner (7-5, 6-3, 6-0)

The pattern of the French Open matches was, a very close first set which Nadal edged, Nadal tightens his grip in the second set as Sinner loses a bit of bite, and then a one-sided third set in favour of Nadal. And this is a 34-35 year old Nadal.
Yes against a player who had not yet entered the top 15.
Nadal was 34/35 years old but was still number 1 on clay.

How those comparisons can be considered reliable remains a mystery.
The current Sinner would sweep away that version of himself 2020-2021 on every surface.

Then that even the current Sinner could have done nothing against the best versions of Nadal on clay is another matter.
 

Olli Jokinen

Hall of Fame
Also I want to note Schoolkate and Rune are notable world-beaters. They took a set off this guy, which means they're probably gonna win a few Masters this year (of course just the ones Sinner doesn't attend).
Holger Rune actually is. Beat Djokovic, Zverev, Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Ruud, Sinner on clay.
 

Olli Jokinen

Hall of Fame
Zero.

Sinner just hits too hard for Nadal on any surface. Nadal's moonballing to Sinner's backhand will have no effect because Sinner is tall and Sinner will just be redirecting Nadal's moonballs.

Only a prime Djokovic beats Sinner the way he's playing right now.
Are you talking about the guy who has won one single clay tournament (Umag 250) in his career so far? Sure thing.
 
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