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

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
Lendl's backhand pass was the best ever.

His forehand pass wasn't too bad either. It's all about commitment:

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rafael-nadal-backhand.gif
 

zagor

Bionic Poster
That's Federer in a hypothetical 2nd clay slam.
Eh Fed's was never fully suited for clay, he lost his first 10 matchee on it IIRC. He did play some amazing tennis on the surface at times but that's because he was such a great player overall.

His biggest missed opportunity was 2004 when it comes to the FO IMO. He was such a beast from the backcourt that year, but went down tamely to the shadow of Guga in straights.
 

RS

Bionic Poster
Eh Fed's was never fully suited for clay, he lost his first 10 matchee on it IIRC. He did play some amazing tennis on the surface at times but that's because he was such a great player overall.

His biggest missed opportunity was 2004 when it comes to the FO IMO. He was such a beast from the backcourt that year, but went down tamely to the shadow of Guga in straights.
Lol I was messing.
 
His biggest missed opportunity was 2004 when it comes to the FO IMO. He was such a beast from the backcourt that year, but went down tamely to the shadow of Guga in straights.
Yes, and speaking of big missed opportunities, slight tangent as it was hard courts but another was the 2014 uso when he would have had to beat cilic and nishikori.

As for op question on Nadal at rg, it's a moot point. Many pros have said that's the hardest challenge in tennis, even when playing their best tennis.
 

Dropshot777

Rookie
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.
Sinner is better than Nadal on every surface except clay. I think Nadal would have 12 RG titles and about 15 GS titles if they both went pro at the same time.
 

Dropshot777

Rookie
I have a feeling that Sinner is going to become a great clay player very soon. He injured his hip last year, yet still took Alcaraz to 5 sets.

That said, it’s ridiculous to compare him to Rafa. Rafa is from a different planet on clay. Let’s worry about Sinner passing Federer first on clay. That seems like a legit target for now. And if that happens, then he can target Djokovic on clay(lofty goal; maybe too lofty).
I think Sinner might be a bit better than Fed on clay. Fed is much better on grass. They are equal on hard court. Sinner is better than Novak on grass, worse on clay, and equal on hard. Rafa is better than sinner on clay while sinner is better on every other surface.
 

Olli Jokinen

Hall of Fame
I think Sinner might be a bit better than Fed on clay. Fed is much better on grass. They are equal on hard court. Sinner is better than Novak on grass, worse on clay, and equal on hard. Rafa is better than sinner on clay while sinner is better on every other surface.
How has Sinner in any way proven himself as better on grass than Djokovic?
 

Dropshot777

Rookie
How has Sinner in any way proven himself as better on grass than Djokovic?
Not any, except that Djokovic couldn't win any Wimbledons until Federer and Nadal were past their peak. Alcaraz defeated Djoker in the past two wimbledon finals. Sinner lost in 2024 to Medvedev while he was sick. In 2023, Sinner lost to Novak, but that was before he had even won a grand slam or made the top five. I feel like now, he will start playing better tennis on grass than Novak ever really did.
 

bnjkn

Professional
Yes, Sinner is the real clay king. I think Nadal would win only a couple. And, if you add Fonseca, zero RGs for Nadal.
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
Jannik can beat raph a couple of times like Djokovic from what I saw the young sinner do. Their 2020 rg qf was on slow clay in winter and he was able to hit through nadal.

So I say 13.

Nadal is not god he can be beaten.
 

Olli Jokinen

Hall of Fame
Nope. On clay both Nadal and Djok's were better.

Overall, Djok is #1... never been anyone better at hitting the bh. That's not an insult to any past great, it's just a fact.
Those other two never had to hit as many backhand passes as Lendl did. He was better if you ask me. Probably Wilander and Borg were too.
 

The_Order

G.O.A.T.
Those other two never had to hit as many backhand passes as Lendl did. He was better if you ask me. Probably Wilander and Borg were too.

Quality over quantity.

Need to get over your nostalgia... as great as they were, they weren't better than Nadal or Djok at hitting the bh pass on clay.
 

Winner Sinner

Hall of Fame
Haha, he won one more game after that :-D
No, from that moment he collapsed physically and mentally.
But in the first set and a half a puny 19-year-old number 70 in the world put the God of clay in his temple in serious difficulty.
In fact, in that specific edition the puny 19-year-old was the player who came closest to taking a set from him.
 

The_Order

G.O.A.T.
No, from that moment he collapsed physically and mentally.
But in the first set and a half a puny 19-year-old number 70 in the world put the God of clay in his temple in serious difficulty.
In fact, in that specific edition the puny 19-year-old was the player who came closest to taking a set from him.

What do you mean no?

Lol it's a fact :-D

Oh and when Nadal was a "puny 19-year-old"... he won the whole event... including beating peak Federer and a cheating doper on the way...
 

Dropshot777

Rookie
Jannik can beat raph a couple of times like Djokovic from what I saw the young sinner do. Their 2020 rg qf was on slow clay in winter and he was able to hit through nadal.

So I say 13.

Nadal is not god he can be beaten.
As someone from reddit said:
"Everyone has a plan, until they get high topspin balls to their backhand"
 

The Blond Blur

G.O.A.T.
The Sinner never even won a set vs Ancientdal, let alone prime or Peakdal, and people are talking about him taking RG titles away from RAFA? :-D :-D :-D

If anything, RAFA would have more RGs in this joke of a field.
 

The Blond Blur

G.O.A.T.
Jannik can beat raph a couple of times like Djokovic from what I saw the young sinner do. Their 2020 rg qf was on slow clay in winter and he was able to hit through nadal.

So I say 13.

Nadal is not god he can be beaten.
He got wiped out in straight sets…and then lost even easier the following year :X3:
 

Winner Sinner

Hall of Fame
What do you mean no?

Lol it's a fact :-D

Oh and when Nadal was a "puny 19-year-old"... he won the whole event... including beating peak Federer and a cheating doper on the way...
You had written sarcastically if he had won another game after that point in the Gif and I answered no.

That said, everyone has their own development times.
Being much more advanced at 19 years old does not necessarily mean being more advanced at the end of the journey.
Between Nadal and Djokovic who was the real prodigy kid
?
Between the two who was the one who at the end of 2010 boasted 9 slam titles against only one for the other?
And yet today with both of their careers almost over who boasts the most successful career between the 2?

If I wanted to be as easy as you, I could tell you that at just 23 years old Sinner boasts more ATP Finals than Nadal has won in his entire career, as well as indoor titles in general.
That at 23 years old he already boasted more titles in the Miami Masters 1000 than Nadal has at the end of his career.
Who, still at just 23, won the same number of Australian Opens as a Nadal at the end of his career.

But I try to stay humble. :)
 

Rovesciarete

Hall of Fame
Beating Nadal in RG has been the most difficult thing in tennis. Nobody had a greater margin over the competition.

Still introducing another ATG complicates winning, at least one less is pretty likely. That one might not go to Sinner, but things would be harder even for the mighty Nadal.

A lot of the discussion here has fossilised.
 
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Olli Jokinen

Hall of Fame
Quality over quantity.

Need to get over your nostalgia... as great as they were, they weren't better than Nadal or Djok at hitting the bh pass on clay.
Sure, whatever. I've actually watched all of them play. Never seen anyone hit better passing shots than Lendl. Look, a guy like Lendl probably hit more passing shots in a month than Djokovic or Nadal did in a year. You know, practice makes perfect.
 

Olli Jokinen

Hall of Fame
Not any, except that Djokovic couldn't win any Wimbledons until Federer and Nadal were past their peak. Alcaraz defeated Djoker in the past two wimbledon finals. Sinner lost in 2024 to Medvedev while he was sick. In 2023, Sinner lost to Novak, but that was before he had even won a grand slam or made the top five. I feel like now, he will start playing better tennis on grass than Novak ever really did.
You still don't have anything to base that on.
 
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