Is Nadal the greatest prodigy in tennis?

Who is the greatest prodigy in tennis?

  • Total voters
    55
Im pretty sure doctors cant make you a great tennis player. Im sure no matter how much of whatever people are implying Nadal got, was given to me, id still never become a pro....
 
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Nah, that title goes to Chang.

Winning a GS as a 17 year old is an unmatched feat in tennis.
 
I would probably say yes he was. He's not the GOAT, but certainly an ATG who had a dream start to his career.
 
Mustard said:
He did, yes. He also beat Moya at 2003 Hamburg.
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Nadal was just born to be a champion. I remember watching him in US Open 2003, on an outside court, and took an instant liking to him, I knew he was going to be destined for great things. The passion and fight was there from the start.
 
Nadal is undoubtedly a prodigy. One big thing that worked for him is that he achieved physical maturity at a very early age. He looked like The Hulk when he was barely 18. That contributed to his instant success in a big way.
 
Krish0608 said:
Nadal is undoubtedly a prodigy. One big thing that worked for him is that he achieved physical maturity at a very early age. He looked like The Hulk when he was barely 18. That contributed to his instant success in a big way.
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PED's can make all the difference If surreptitiously used! :rolleyes: :p :eek:
 
Mustard said:
Wilander was 17 too when winning the 1982 French Open.
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At least Borg, Wilander, Sampras, and Becker backed up their early wins with many more majors, Masters, and other big finals! Chang is nowhere near the top of my list even though a huge win at '89 FO! :p
 
FedTheMan said:
I believe that Nadal is the greatest prodigy in tennis as he demonstrated throughout the early years of his illustrious career.

He was playing the likes of Moya during his teenage years while other kids around the world were playing against players near their own age.

His career just speaks volume about how talented he was as a kid and how he fulfilled the potential where so many others failed in tennis.

The highlights of his career which prove his prodigious talent are shown below:
  • At 14 years old, he beat a 36 year old, Pat Cash in a clay court exhibition match.
  • At 15 years old, he turned professional and by the end of 2001, he was ranked 811 in the world.
  • At 16 years old, he was ranked 75 in the world.
  • At 17 years old, he was ranked 49 in the world.
    • He beat the number 1 player in the world: Roger Federer at a masters 1000 tournament.
    • He won his first ATP tournament
  • At 18 years old, he broke the Top10 in rankings and won 2 masters 1000 tournaments.
  • At 19 years old, won a Grand slam.
    • This GS win included beating the number 1 player in the semis.
    • Won 4 more masters 1000s including hard court and indoor.
    • He became number 2 in the world and held that spot for the record number of weeks.
  • By 20 years old, he won 2 GS and 8 Masters 1000 titles.
    • He made a GS final off clay at the 2006 Wimbledon.
  • By 21 years old, he won 3 GS and 10 Masters 1000 titles.
    • He made 2 GS finals that year for the second time, narrowly losing to Federer.
  • By 22 years old, he won 6 GS and 14 Masters 1000 titles and became No 1 in the world.
    • This included his thrilling win in 5 sets over Federer at Wimbledon.
    • He won the Olympic Gold in singles.
    • He beat Federer at the AO in another 5 sets to have beaten him on all surfaces in GS tournaments.
    • He won a slam without dropping a set.
  • By 23 years old, he won 17 Masters 1000 titles.
  • By 24 years old, he won all the slams.
    • He won 3 GS in one year, on all surfaces.
    • He returned to Number 1 in the world.
    • He had a total of 9 GS and 18 Masters 1000 titles.

Nadal is definitely a special talent in the open era and of all time in singles tennis.

nadalreu_1714984c.jpg
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LOL before even turning 19, Becker had won twice the most prestigious Slam :rolleyes:
 
The difference between some of the other teenage winners and Nadal is that (1) He had to do it against Federer in his peak, whom many of you consider to be the GOAT, (2) He did not stop after winning one slam, he kept winning them. So yes Nadal is definitely one of the greatest prodigies, if not the greatest.
 
Becker was great prodigy but at his time, around similar age, many guys started winning slams. Chang, Wilander, Edberg, Graf, Seles, Agassi, Sampras. Everyone was from the same era, between racket change was happening at that time so younger guys had start with Graphite rackets.

Only other players who kind of won earlier than others in their era then would be Hingis, Hewitt and Nadal. All won bucketful of championships before turning 20. Hingis even was no.1 for extender period. But by the stats he achieved by 24 I am inclined to say Nadal.
 
Gary20 said:
Nadal for me is the GOAT. However greatest prodigy i would say is Becker. Wimbledon is by far the biggest tournament in the world, he won it at 17, then backed it up at 18!! Agassi was a great prodigy albeit kept failing in finals.

Becker must look at Nadal with envy as Becker could have had the career nadal had albeit at W rather than FO. Ive always thought Becker's best on grass was unbeatable. In the 1995 W final for 1 set Becker and sampras were at their best at the same time and Becker just nudged him. Becker for me should have had 9 Majors which would have fulfilled that prodigious talent he had.

Sampras was also a prodigy...and also a gret veteran.

Problem with all these threads, it is Sampras who starts to remind us how brilliant that guy was.
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And how does he compare to Capriati?
 
tennistim said:
Good point but Capriati beat Navratilova at only 15 yrs old and at Wimbledon. Trump card?
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Martina had other things on her mind! I heard she was served with "legal papers" from Judy Nelson's attorney as she boarded the plane for Wimbledon! That was a rotten thing to do and it'll catch up with all concerned one day! ;-(
 
I don't know if he's the best prodigy, but he sure was an amazing teen. The real question, is he the last great prodigy?

Such little success amongst teens lately and the players these days seem bigger and stronger than in the past, is it just harder for the teens to compete?
 
xFedal said:
By the age of 24 Nadal 9 Slam champion with Golden Slam this encircles everybody else's achievement in close proximity.
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Yeah this is ridiculous. I'm not sure if even the greatest prodigy since Rafa himself would be sitting on those numbers.
 
Nachiket Nolefam said:
Becker was great prodigy but at his time, around similar age, many guys started winning slams. Chang, Wilander, Edberg, Graf, Seles, Agassi, Sampras. Everyone was from the same era, between racket change was happening at that time so younger guys had start with Graphite rackets.

Only other players who kind of won earlier than others in their era then would be Hingis, Hewitt and Nadal. All won bucketful of championships before turning 20. Hingis even was no.1 for extender period. But by the stats he achieved by 24 I am inclined to say Nadal.
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feel like becker gets left out of a lot of these discussions (atp only.) guy won the biggest tournament in the sport at 17...and then repeated at 18! two wimbledons at 18, man...he might be #1 for me.
 
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