Martina Navratilova convinced Nadal will be the GOAT

[octogon]

Martina Navratilova, widely considered by many to be the greatest female tennis player of all time, has said in a new interview that she believes Nadal will comfortably surpass Federer's grand slam total and end his career as the greatest tennis player of all time. Also sounds like she prefers Nadal to Federer in general , and thinks Fed's reign as GOAT will be short lived (Jonas Bjorkman won't be pleased with Martina)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/te...-shut-stop-whingeing-Martina-Navratilova.html

 

[Cesc Fabregas]

Martina's opinion holds more weight than a nobody like Bjorkman.

 

[Trillus]

Martina is not the greatest women player ever. Steffi Graf clearly is. I agree with Martina though.

 

[DragonBlaze]

Sounds like a bandwagon jumper to me :lol:

I have nothing against Martina but some of the things she said are a joke.

'He has nine Slams already to his name and the French Open is pretty much a gimme for him for the next few years unless, like last year when he lost to Robin Soderling, he gets injured.

'You can be pretty safe in predicting Nadal will claim two Slams a year for the next five years, so that puts him on 19 Slams and I'd be confident in saying he should get to 20 at least. Having won already on all four surfaces, he will be the greatest tennis player of all time.'

ARE YOU KIDDING WITH ME??!?! Hey, newsflash Martina, the ATP tour IS NOT the WTA tour (where slams may be "gimme's" and you can be "safe in predicting").

I mean, what a joke, she thinks she can safely predicts Nadal getting two slams at the age of TWENTY NINE!!!! Really?! And saying FO is a "gimme" is so disrespectful to what Nadal has achieved (and I bet you he wholeheartedly disagrees with her). He worked his ass off for those slams and she makes it sounds as if he just has to turn up. I mean I agree he has a good shot at the next few FO, heck even great shots at it, but a "gimme"? Yea, I dont think so.

Anyways, to clarify things, I think Nadal has a great shot to become the slam record holder and all the rest of the jazz (GOAThood etc etc). But the way Martina has phrased it is just laughable.

Sounds exactly like when people were jumping on Fed's bandwagon a couple of years ago. I guess, some things never change!

 

[Sentinel]

Martina's opinion holds more weight than a nobody like Bjorkman.

oh don't bother with her, she's just trying to get into the news somehow.
Nice try, martina.

 

[Trillus]

Actually I do agree some of the things Martina said were well over the top. 2 slams a year a gimme 5 years from now, LOL! Nadal will be turning 29 that year.

And Martina saying she felt her motivation wane at 26 and 27 is kind of laughable too considering she had her greatest years ever at age 26 and 27. It is probably another attempt to difuse from the reality Steffi Graf kicked her off the top while still in her prime.

 

[sonicare]

She thinks rafa will win 11 more slams.

WTF

 

[DragonBlaze]

oh don't bother with her, she's just trying to get into the news somehow.
Nice try, martina.

This

Actually I do agree some of the things Martina said were well over the top. 2 slams a year a gimme 5 years from now, LOL! Nadal will be turning 29 that year.

And Martina saying she felt her motivation wane at 26 and 27 is kind of laughable too considering she had her greatest years ever at age 26 and 27. It is probably another attempt to difuse from the reality Steffi Graf kicked her off the top while still in her prime.

And this. And I cant believe she is just forgetting about this guy called Laver :shock:

 

[octogon]

oh don't bother with her, she's just trying to get into the news somehow.
Nice try, martina.

To be fair, Nav was at a press conference to promote a charity trek for the Laureus foundation, and she was asked her opinions on the current tennis scene, ATP and WTA. I don't think she's looking for attention like that (unlike Bjorkman trying to promote his tournament that Federer is attending, by deliberately taking shots at Nadal). She's just answering the questions put to her.

 

[Sentinel]

Ack, i agree with her but that's ignoring the possibility of another player stepping it up in the next couple years.

There's the possibility of another "nadal" coming in and spoiling his party.

Luckily the #2 is 5 years older than him, and tends to clean up the other half at slams (not so much this year). The #3 and #4 are mental midgets -- possibly partly due to Nadal's and Fed's domination.

If Federer fades away, these guys (and Delpo ?) could start giving him heat.

Octo, i was just kidding. I am a huge Martina fan.

 

[Trillus]

Steffi Graff was only successful because of Monica Seles got stabbed

You are right. That is why Graf won the Golden Slam, nearly another Calendar Slam, defended every slam title atleast once (some more than once) atleast 1 slam for 6 years in a row already, a record 186 consecutive weeks ranked #1, and won 2 Olympic Golds, all before Seles was stabbed. And that is why when Seles returned the only slam she won was one Graf didnt play, why she was 2-3 vs Graf even while ranked #1, was 1-2 vs a way past her prime nearly retired Graf in late 98/99 while failing to conquer the new generation players Graf was able to. And why Seles averaged 1 game per set in their 2 grass meetings (one while Seles was ranked #1), and why she is 5-10 vs Graf lifetime and hasnt beaten her on any surface except clay and rebound ace (while taking many losses on clay as well). Nice try.

 

[Fedace]

Martina Navratilova, widely considered by many to be the greatest female tennis player of all time, has said in a new interview that she believes Nadal will comfortably surpass Federer's grand slam total and end his career as the greatest tennis player of all time. Also sounds like she prefers Nadal to Federer in general , and thinks Fed's reign as GOAT will be short lived (Jonas Bjorkman won't be pleased with Martina)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/te...-shut-stop-whingeing-Martina-Navratilova.html

not so sure. Nadal's injury seem to go in Cycles. 1 year he is great and next year he is struggling with injuries. so he may have a off year next year. That is why i said he should have skipped this Sep and Oct.

 

[Warriorroger]

Respect her as a tennisplayer, but as far as her comments are concerned, she always sounds like a bitter lunatic, she always puts down the player/person who for many are the real number one Greats in Tennis: Roger and Steffi. Martina was the one who was the biggest opponent against Seles'grunts, yet when Steffi collected slam after slam, she was Seles's biggest fan. Too bad such a great player is such a bitter, insecure person. Know she had a hard life when she was young, but come on, give respect where it's due, neither Roger or Rafa are done playing, but so is Martina and so is Steffi and 22 still wins over 18 and be proud that you are tied with the greatest female singles player of all time in head to head encounters.

 

[P_Agony]

Nadal WILL be the GOAT? He already is.

Just ask veroniquem. Slams mean nothing, its all about MS titles and ATP 500 titles. Slams are for the minor leagues.

 

[TennisandMusic]

I think in terms of quality of play, Nadal already is the so called "GOAT", though I realize not everyone will agree with that. But Nadal playing at his absolute top level beats everyone. So there you go. No other combination of power, angles, speed, movement and tenacity in the history of the game.

 

[ClubHoUno]

I think Rafa will win 16 slams and Fed 17

Rafa will not be able to compete at the highest level 3-4 years from now because of his fragile knees.

 

[ClubHoUno]

I think in terms of quality of play, Nadal already is the so called "GOAT", though I realize not everyone will agree with that. But Nadal playing at his absolute top level beats everyone. So there you go. No other combination of power, angles, speed, movement and tenacity in the history of the game.

Sorry but Fed at his best equals or better Rafa at his best.

 

[TACOSRULE]

Sorry but Rafa at his best equals or better Fed at his best.

 

[ClubHoUno]

Sorry but Rafa at his best equals or better Fed at his best.

WoWZaa :shock:

You got that quote wrong, I think :lol:

It was and is:

Sorry but Fed at his best equals or better Rafa at his best.

And on top of that Fed has the best looking tennis game, style wise, ever...yeahhhhh

:lol:

 

[ClubHoUno]

We have geniuses like P_Agony and Breakpoint who say Nadal is a talentless chump who will never amount to anything. How dare the female GOAT disagree with such experts!

I agree, if Rafa had stronger knees, he would surpass Fed as the best ever for sure - but as it is, Rafa will suffer from constant knee pain and he will most likely be out of at least 4 of the next 12 majors because of this injury.

This leaves him with fewer majors to compete and win in, which means he will have to win close to 80% of the rest of the majors he will participate in for the rest of his career to surpass Fed's record.

I'm sure he will come close - as said, I guess he will end at 16 majors, while Fed will win one more before he retires (either a Wimby or an Aussie)

 

[Nadalfan89]

I agree, if Rafa had stronger knees, he would surpass Fed as the best ever for sure - but as it is, Rafa will suffer from constant knee pain and he will most likely be out of at least 4 of the next 12 majors because of this injury.

This leaves him with fewer majors to compete and win in, which means he will have to win close to 80% of the rest of the majors he will participate in for the rest of his career to surpass Fed's record.

I'm sure he will come close - as said, I guess he will end at 16 majors, while Fed will win one more before he retires (either a Wimby or an Aussie)

Where do you get this from? Just a guess?

 

[Jchurch]

Imagine if Federer was a lefty..... WOW

I like her as a player, but as a commentator/analyst she is lacking.

 

[Nadalfan89]

Imagine if Federer was a lefty..... WOW

I like her as a player, but as a commentator/analyst she is lacking.

Imagine if Nadal was a lefty.....WOW. His forehand would be insane!

 

[Xemi666]

Her predictions are too optimistic. If Nadal tied Roger's 16 slams I would be thrilled. Winning 20 is just unrealistic.

 

[Jchurch]

Imagine if Nadal was a lefty.....WOW. His forehand would be insane!

He plays with his left no? In tennis he lefty no?

 

[Nadalfan89]

He plays with his left no? In tennis he lefty no?

He's right handed though so he handicapped himself by playing with his weaker hand. He would have 25 slams right now if he decided to play with his actual good hand.

 

[Trillus]

How dare the female GOAT disagree with such experts!

I never noticed Steffi Graf give any comments in this link one way or the other.

 

[big bang]

He's right handed though so he handicapped himself by playing with his weaker hand. He would have 25 slams right now if he decided to play with his actual good hand.

I bet he will win FO next year playing right handed. Would that prove his dominance being able to win slams using either hand

 

[big bang]

We have geniuses like P_Agony and Breakpoint who say Nadal is a talentless chump who will never amount to anything. How dare the female GOAT disagree with such experts!

yeah but thats just because its Roger and Mirka "incognito" you didnt know that did you?

 

[Jchurch]

I bet he will win FO next year playing right handed. Would that prove his dominance being able to win slams using either hand

You're thinking far too small.... he will win by playing with TWO hands.

 

[big bang]

You're thinking far too small.... he will win by playing with TWO hands.

no no you must be talking about FO 2012 now

 

[pound cat]

I hate to disagree with the opinion of people who really know a lot about tennis...eg Martina. Of course her comments depend on no unforseen circumstances happening. (And lots of smart future scheduling from Uncle T and his nephew).

 

[Talker]

I'm not sure how Martina could say that.
There's so many areas that Federer has records that Nadal can't match them all.
Nadal would have to have at least a couple more majors than Federer to compensate.
Even Nadal's best year will probably have double digit losses, we'll see.

 

[Jchurch]

no no you must be talking about FO 2012 now

My apologies..... I thought that was what we were talking about. So what about 2013...... Just using his teeth?

 

[flyinghippos101]

I think in terms of quality of play, Nadal already is the so called "GOAT", though I realize not everyone will agree with that. But Nadal playing at his absolute top level beats everyone. So there you go. No other combination of power, angles, speed, movement and tenacity in the history of the game.

Kinda a cop out don't you think? Anybody on top of his game is virtually unbeatable. Safin on top of his game was unbeatable, Djokovic or Murray playing their absolute best are practically unbeatable. Hell we can't forget Fed, who had the longest sustained period of being "on top of his game" and look what happened, he cleaned up for three years. It's easy to say "x-player" is unbeatable when he's on, but it doesn't make him the greatest. Nadal may very well surpass Fed's record but it's premature at the moment. Let's see him get to 12-14 first then maybe we can talk

 

[octogon]

Kinda a cop out don't you think? Anybody on top of his game is virtually unbeatable. Safin on top of his game was unbeatable, Djokovic or Murray playing their absolute best are practically unbeatable. Hell we can't forget Fed, who had the longest sustained period of being "on top of his game" and look what happened, he cleaned up for three years. It's easy to say "x-player" is unbeatable when he's on, but it doesn't make him the greatest. Nadal may very well surpass Fed's record but it's premature at the moment. Let's see him get to 12-14 first then maybe we can talk

I'm not sure it's that much of a cop-out. Djokovic and Murray at the top of their games are clearly not unbeatable (Murray played as well as he possibly could in the Wimbledon 2010 semi-final, and Nadal still took him in straights), as their relative lack of Grand Slam success suggests. Murray may be able to perform great in Masters under less pressure, but in the ultimate pressure cooker of slams, it's Nadal and Federer that repeatdly perform. And Nadal has Federer's number in slams...which sort of gives him the edge.

People sometimes like to play the game of "if you had to have one player play a game of tennis for your life in the Open era, whom would you choose?" or similar variations. Nadal usually ends up getting the most votes in these parlour games, because the feeling is that his level matches up against anyone who has ever played the game, and that he'd stand the best chance of beating anybody, regardless of match-up. He'd find a way to win.

 

[slice bh compliment]

oh don't bother with her, she's just trying to get into the news somehow.
Nice try, martina.

Martina, who clearly knows the game, betrays her struggle to remain relevant....

Respect her as a tennisplayer, but as far as her comments are concerned, she always sounds like a bitter lunatic,......

with her penis envy on display, as well as her lefty love.

Go Martina!

 

[ledwix]

Nadal WILL be the GOAT? He already is.

Just ask veroniquem. Slams mean nothing, its all about MS titles and ATP 500 titles. Slams are for the minor leagues.

Yeah it's all about who can be the best at age 24. Federer has NO CHANCE of being the best 24 year old anymore, so he's no longer GOAT.

 

[wangs78]

All this talk will just motivate Federer more. Good to seem Federer come in and play well at Shanghai despite the disappointing final. But it's good to seem him make it through the draw of a major tournament without any scares / hiccups. Hope he wins the year-end master's cup

 

[Nadalfan89]

What post have you been reading. I said Nadal is already the GOAT and slams are meaningless.

I should hope slams are meaningless for Federer's sake! At 24, Federer had a couple less slams than Nadal does.

 

[veroniquem]

Martina's opinion holds more weight than a nobody like Bjorkman.

Definitely. Personally, that's what I've predicted since Miami 2005. I feel very flattered to be joined by Martina. Graf has also said in an interview that Rafa brings everything that tennis needs. Girls are smart!
Let the boys cling onto their Fedgod. Us girls can tell a great man when we see one

 

[veroniquem]

I should hope slams are meaningless for Federer's sake! At 24, Federer had a couple less slams than Nadal does.

Yeah it's hard to believe that even if Rafa won 0 slam next year, Fed would still not pass him in # of slams. Quite impressive.

 

[Trillus]

^^^ This is what happens when you take that bong hit before you post!

And you would know all about that as I imagine you do it before every post.

 

[veroniquem]

I agree, if Rafa had stronger knees, he would surpass Fed as the best ever for sure - but as it is, Rafa will suffer from constant knee pain and he will most likely be out of at least 4 of the next 12 majors because of this injury.

This leaves him with fewer majors to compete and win in, which means he will have to win close to 80% of the rest of the majors he will participate in for the rest of his career to surpass Fed's record.

I'm sure he will come close - as said, I guess he will end at 16 majors, while Fed will win one more before he retires (either a Wimby or an Aussie)

Whatever problems his knees have, it's never prevented Rafa from winning at least 5 tournaments every year including last year (that's already 6 consecutive). It is almost impossible to comprehend how a genius like Fed with 0 knee issue and a career over 10 years old has only found a way to win that many titles 5 years total.
One has to believe that without the tendinitis, Rafa would have trampled Fed's records in no time.

 

[Trillus]

Whatever problems his knees have, it's never prevented Rafa from winning at least 5 tournaments every year including last year (that's already 6 consecutive). It is almost impossible to comprehend how a genius like Fed with 0 knee issue and a career over 10 years old has only found a way to win that many titles 5 years total.
One has to believe that without the tendinitis, Rafa would have trampled Fed's records in no time.

I firmly believe Nadal would have won both the French Open and Wimbledon last year had he not gotten injured. That would leave him with 11 slams and Federer with 14, already alot closer. Quite possibly he could have won the 2006 Australian Open as well had he been able to play.

 

[ledwix]

Whatever problems his knees have, it's never prevented Rafa from winning at least 5 tournaments every year including last year (that's already 6 consecutive). It is almost impossible to comprehend how a genius like Fed with 0 knee issue and a career over 10 years old has only found a way to win that many titles 5 years total.
One has to believe that without the tendinitis, Rafa would have trampled Fed's records in no time.

For Nadal, that's how he plays (and wins). If he never got injured, it would ultimately mean that he followed a smoother, less tough on the knees gameplan. But his success depends heavily on playing like he does right now. Therefore we can't even discuss how things would have been if he had a completely different gameplan that didn't get him hurt all the time.

 

[TheFifthSet]

Definitely. Personally, that's what I've predicted since Miami 2005. I feel very flattered to be joined by Martina. Graf has also said in an interview that Rafa brings everything that tennis needs. Girls are smart!
Let the boys cling onto their Fedgod. Us girls can tell a great man when we see one

You predicted Nadal would win double digit slams since his breakout tournament? Really now?

 

[danielrios]

Who cares who is the GOAT man. You think they cant sleep for that? who cares.... both are wonderful players and that's all. The actual domination of Nadal has nothing to do with the 4 years domination of Federer, but who knows whats gonna happen. Time will tell. Stop being like ****s and fighting everyday- There's tons of things more important than a 15 years old discussion everyday

 

[JoelDali]

Quite possibly he could have won the 2006 Australian Open as well had he been able to play.

 

[Jchurch]

I firmly believe Nadal would have won both the French Open and Wimbledon last year had he not gotten injured. That would leave him with 11 slams and Federer with 14, already alot closer. Quite possibly he could have won the 2006 Australian Open as well had he been able to play.

He could have won a hard court slam when he wasn't decent on the surface? I don't get how people can say it takes time for Rafa's game to evolve on other surfaces, but Federer's game, one which takes much longer to develop than a baseline counterpunching one, is routinely criticized for not blossoming early.