First off, congrats to Fed; 20 GS titles is out of this world amazing. With that said, I disagree that Fed is playing at or very close to his highest level of tennis ever. He is still playing incredible tennis and is using his experience to his utmost advantage. This years AO felt a lot like last years US Open to me. Rafa/Fed played very well, but were both were aided by friendly paths to the title and took full advantage. For instance, Rafa didn’t face a player in the top 20 player in the USO last year, pretty crazy. Questions: do you think the last year has been one of the easier periods to win slams? If so, when will the level of competition increase? Trust me, I’m not trying to take anything away from Fed or Rafa. They are amazing players that have both paid their dues and it’s impressive how they are using their skills and experience to rack up more slam titles.
Nadal 2017 USO - Fed 2018 AO
- Thread starter Rjtennis
- Start date
SLD76
G.O.A.T.
The last 4 years its been pretty weak field for slams
The difference is it went from Djoker and Murray dominating to resurrected Fedal resuming their dominance
Aside from a Wawa or Cilic crashing the party, there has been little resistance from the field , especially from Lost Boys and Next Gen.
At least when Nole and Murray were healthy, you likely had to beat 2 of the big for plus a player such as Stan in the quarters. That’s a pretty big difference don’t you think?
Tennisanity
Legend
Fed's win at AO18 was way more impressive than USO17. Nadal faced a bunch of nobodies. Fed faced in form Berdych where he really thought he might lose and Cilic who destroyed Nadal in the process.
SLD76
G.O.A.T.
that's pretty much what I said
Also, Fedal weren't much of a threat 14-16, so no, it's pretty much the same
I agree that he had a much tougher path.
D
Deleted member 77403
Guest
Federer was only really being stopped by one man in 2014-2016, he was good enough to beat everyone else. Nadal dropped off after Kyrgios saw him off at W 2014.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
And so does anyone else with two brain cells to rub together. The Fed of 2004-2007 would have beaten Cilic 6-1, 6-4, 6-1. He did not have these inexplicable dips in form or concentration then because his confidence was impregnable, his movement sublime and his FH lethal. Fed's FH was completely absent last night and he served 36% in the fourth set. Peak Fed almost never, ever have that happen to him.
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
This is true. It was still a weak era though
CentreCourt
Rookie
Of course Federer isn't playing close to his best. That's what's most impressive, is it not? He is still the best player on the tour all these years later, despite being maybe 60-70% of the player he was. He has adapted his game to achieve this too.
