Is Nadal a great hard courts player?

[TennisSprout]

First of all, congratulate Nadal for his third winning at USO. The draw might be weak but he was healthy and played brilliantly during the whole tournament. I believe Nadal is a great player on HC. He has 4 titles combined on AO and USO and also made extra 4 finals there.

However, for ATG standard or even GOAT standard, is he as good as other candidates such as Connors, Lendl, Agassi, Sampras, Federer, Djokovic?

Considering nowadays HC is the most common in tennis, what kind of performance would be sufficient enough to contend for GOAT? I know many would think there is not GOAT, but for the sake of argument, if we do try to pick one, what do you think?

 

[BringBackSV]

In best of 5 ? Certainly

 

[Charlie]

He is worse than all the other candidates you mentioned.

 

[ibbi]

He's great, yes, but is he one of the greatest? When someone wins 3 US Opens it's tough to say no, but I kind of feel like while the success that he has had on hard courts is enough to contribute significantly towards his overall legacy, it's not quite enough for me to say the guy is specifically one of the best hard court players ever.

He inarguably is behind Federer, Djokovic, Petros, and the double A. Going back further it's tougher to argue given there was less significant hard court tennis, but he's definitely behind Lendl too, and it's pretty close between him and Mac. Does 6th at best make you an all time great on a surface? Probably not at this stage with the relatively small history that tennis on this surface has.

 

[octogon]

He is. I think he'd also have more hardcourt slams were it not for injury.

You also have to factor that he's competing against TWO HARDCOURT GOATS (Djokovic and Federer) in his era. Nadal has done far better against them on their preferred surfaces, than they have on his.

Nadal is a level below being a Hardcourt GOAT, but he is an all-time great on the surface.

 

[mike danny]

Yes, he is. 6th all time on HC probably.

 

[Waspsting]

Yes, he is

However, for ATG standard or even GOAT standard, is he as good (on hard courts) as other candidates such as Connors, Lendl, Agassi, Sampras, Federer, Djokovic?

No, he isn't

Considering nowadays HC is the most common in tennis, what kind of performance would be sufficient enough to contend for GOAT?

Depends on how well a given player does on clay and grass - given concept "GOAT" encompasses all the surfaces

In light of Nadal’s clay record in particular and grass also.... he's done more than enough on hard to place himself in GOAT discussion

 

[MichaelNadal]

Nadal is only punished for being the god of clay. If he had 5FO's, an AO title, 2 WImbledons, and 3USO's everyone would say he was great. Yeah, he shouldn't have won those 5 extra slams on his best surface

 

[Antonio Puente]

Yes.

4 HC slams, 4 HC finals, 1 HC gold medal, 8 HC Masters

Look at it like this - with one more HC slam, you could completely subtract clay and grass and Nadal would be an ATG from HCs alone.
With one more USO, he is 2nd in the open era.

 

[Sport]

Yes.

He is one of the 10 greatest Hard Court players in the Open Era.

 

[Antonio Puente]

Nadal is only punished for being the god of clay. If he had 5FO's, an AO title, 2 WImbledons, and 3USO's everyone would say he was great. Yeah, he shouldn't have won those 5 extra slams on his best surface

You can take that a step further. If Nadal sucked on clay and had 0 FOs, with his HC record he would be called a HC specialist and the answer to this question would be of course.

 

[Rafa the King]

Yes, he is. 6th all time on HC probably.

Behind Fed, Djokovic, Sampras, Agassi and Lendl?

 

[mike danny]

Behind Fed, Djokovic, Sampras, Agassi and Lendl?

Yes.

But I'm jut going on a limb here as Connors and Mac also have their arguments.

 

[K-H]

Definitely a great hard court player. He's not an ATG on that surface but still up there at his best. His 10 FO shouldn't overshadow his 4 HC slams.

 

[JasonZ]

He is a great outdoor hard court player. No doubt about it. Even though i think he overachieved at the us open. He had really easy draws all 3 times he won.
I really would like to see how peak hard court Nadal would do at the us open against a draw Federer faced in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007. These were tough draws.

 

[borg25]

First of all, congratulate Nadal for his third winning at USO. The draw might be weak but he was healthy and played brilliantly during the whole tournament. I believe Nadal is a great player on HC. He has 4 titles combined on AO and USO and also made extra 4 finals there.

However, for ATG standard or even GOAT standard, is he as good as other candidates such as Connors, Lendl, Agassi, Sampras, Federer, Djokovic?

Considering nowadays HC is the most common in tennis, what kind of performance would be sufficient enough to contend for GOAT? I know many would think there is not GOAT, but for the sake of argument, if we do try to pick one, what do you think?

Nadal got the greatest gift ever with this US Open given to him. He did not play at top 20 player the whole tournament. What joke!!

He is a clay court moonballer who can win a few very slow hard courts, like this years US open. Most boring player to watch.

 

[TahoeTennis]

Nadal got the greatest gift ever with this US Open given to him. He did not play at top 20 player the whole tournament. What joke!!

He is a clay court moonballer who can win a few very slow hard courts, like this years US open. Most boring player to watch.

6 days later, stay salty my friend!

 

[Xemi666]

Are Edberg and Becker great Hard Court players? I think most people would say yes, and Nadal is certainly on that level.

 

[deacsyoga]

Yes.

But I'm jut going on a limb here as Connors and Mac also have their arguments.

Connors has to be ahead IMO. I know I have said it before but Connors has either 6 or 7 U.S Opens had it not been for the 3 year period it was on clay. McEnroe probably too since achievements are close to equal, and McEnroe's peak level play is superior. If Nadal wins another hard court slam though I would put him over Lendl and McEnroe, still not sure about Connors.

Connors absolutely should be over Lend on hard courts btw. So if Nadal is over Connors he would be over Lendl, and conversely if he were behind Lendl he would for sure be behind Connors. Connors and Lendl are easier to compare as they were the same era, and no way is Lendl ahead on hard courts.

He is already over Edberg and Becker now, even if I think Edberg's best on hard courts is better (and better than a lot of people, including many of the hard court GOATs, Edberg at his peak, alot like McEnroe, was almost unplayable).

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Yes.

4 HC slams, 4 HC finals, 1 HC gold medal, 8 HC Masters

Look at it like this - with one more HC slam, you could completely subtract clay and grass and Nadal would be an ATG from HCs alone.
With one more USO, he is 2nd in the open era.

Agreed, there are all but probably 6 players in the history of tennis that would love to be as "bad" as Rafa on hard courts

Sent from my E6853 using Tapatalk

 

[Druss]

Nadal is not a HC ATG. He is definitely The Clay GOAT, no doubt, but in terms of HC greatness in Open Era he is behind the likes of:
Federer
Sampras
Djokovic
Connors
McEnroe
Agassi
Lendl

 

[mike danny]

Nadal is not a HC ATG. He is definitely The Clay GOAT, no doubt, but in terms of HC greatness in Open Era he is behind the likes of:
Federer
Sampras
Djokovic
Connors
McEnroe
Agassi
Lendl
Safin

Why Safin?

 

[octogon]

Nadal is not a HC ATG. He is definitely The Clay GOAT, no doubt, but in terms of HC greatness in Open Era he is behind the likes of:
Federer
Sampras
Djokovic
Connors
McEnroe
Agassi
Lendl
Safin

Safin!?!LOL!

Hater.Detected.

 

[Spider]

Of course he is. He has 4 slam titles and multiple runner up trophies too. I wouldn't put it past him to add to this already impressive list.

Just a handful of tennis players above him on this surface. His results speak for itself.

 

[Druss]

Why Safin?

Fixed it! It's more like 'he should have been in that list' - wishful thinking on my part

Nadal fans would think I'm hating on him, not realising I was a Safin fan.

 

[Xavier G]

Nadal's a very good HC player and he's formidable over 5 sets at the Slams when 100%. You don't win three USO and an AO, plus his other titles, without being a very good/great HC player.

Federer. Djokovic, Sampras are/were generally better overall though, I think, and McEnroe, Connors, Lendl and Agassi are at least on the same level as Rafa and probably as strong or stronger.

Even though Borg didn't win a Slam on HC, he was a very good player on hards too...

 

[VolleyHelena]

He's not an ATG on the surface.
His USO draws have been a joke

 

[Bukmeikara]

Is Becker a great grass court player .....

 

[Backspin1183]

Fixed it! It's more like 'he should have been in that list' - wishful thinking on my part

Nadal fans would think I'm hating on him, not realising I was a Safin fan.

It's fine. Safin was awesome. I think he was as good as Berdych at his best. Powerful player.

 

[mike danny]

It's fine. Safin was awesome. I think he was as good as Berdych at his best. Powerful player.

Better than Berdych. Berdych would have never done what Safin did at the 2005 AO.

 

[Backspin1183]

Better than Berdych. Berdych would have never done what Safin did at the 2005 AO.

You are taking the fun out of it.

 

[Sport]

He is a great outdoor hard court player. No doubt about it. Even though i think he overachieved at the us open. He had really easy draws all 3 times he won.
I really would like to see how peak hard court Nadal would do at the us open against a draw Federer faced in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007. These were tough draws.

Yes, because facing Djokovic is easier than facing Roddick, Hewitt or a 35 years old Agassi. What a joke.

 

[Druss]

It's fine. Safin was awesome. I think he was as good as Berdych at his best. Powerful player.

At his best as good as Berdych?

It's like saying Nadal at his best is as good as Hewitt! Lol

 

[KINGROGER]

He's been quite fortunate with his draws at the USO, so I'd rank him:

1. Federer
2. Djokovic
3. Sampras
4. Agassi
5. Lendl
6. Connors
7. Nadal

 

[Tiki-Taka]

Just for what he did at 2009 Australian Open Nadal should be in discussion for a great hard courts player. He's had a great career at the US Open, Indian Wells, Canada and made deep runs at every important tournament so this is not worthy of a discussion any further.