Nadal footprint plaque permanently added to Phillipe Chatrier
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JustMy2Cents
Hall of Fame
RAFA PLAQUE has become Tennis's latest pilgrimage site
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Alcaraz
Alcaraz on taking a photo of Rafa Nadal’s footprint before his match against Musetti at Roland Garros, ‘Having a little bit of Rafa Nadal on Philippe Chatrier while I’m playing is a great inspiration’“I saw you before the match during your warm up, you went over and took a picture of Nadal’s plaque. Why was it important for you to do that today?”Carlos: “I think it was the first time I could warm up before the match here on Chatrier. So I tried to make the most of the time. Took a bit of time to take a picture of that. Having a little bit of Rafa Nadal on Philippe Chatrier while I’m playing is a great inspiration. I try not to think about it too much in the match. But in difficult matches, I think about the effort and the level of Rafa, how he’s fighting all the time. He never gives up. I try to think about it and try to do it myself. All I could do is take a memory of that plaque from Rafa Nadal.”
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Alcaraz
Alcaraz on taking a photo of Rafa Nadal’s footprint before his match against Musetti at Roland Garros, ‘Having a little bit of Rafa Nadal on Philippe Chatrier while I’m playing is a great inspiration’“I saw you before the match during your warm up, you went over and took a picture of Nadal’s plaque. Why was it important for you to do that today?”Carlos: “I think it was the first time I could warm up before the match here on Chatrier. So I tried to make the most of the time. Took a bit of time to take a picture of that. Having a little bit of Rafa Nadal on Philippe Chatrier while I’m playing is a great inspiration. I try not to think about it too much in the match. But in difficult matches, I think about the effort and the level of Rafa, how he’s fighting all the time. He never gives up. I try to think about it and try to do it myself. All I could do is take a memory of that plaque from Rafa Nadal.”
messiahrobins
G.O.A.T.
Pretty clear who this generation of players see as the greatest of the previous Era. That's amazing humility
messiahrobins
G.O.A.T.
Nadal is the greatest champion of them all. 8 Majors off clay was top 6 ATG level anyway. 14 Roland Garros, the hardest Major to win is the greatest achievement in any sport. Add the two together and you have almost certainly the greatest Athelete ever up to now. That plaque is so fitting where it is placed. I think more iconic than his statue evenHonestly I love that it's so noticeable. Every Philippe-Chatrier match you see on TV, you see that white thing by the net. They came up with a very appropriate tribute
Mustard
Bionic Poster
Nadal's win-loss record at the French Open, at different times, was 31-0, 70-1, 105-2, 112-3, and finished at 112-4. I can remember the 1990s and early 2000s, and Borg's 6 French Open titles and 49-2 win-loss record seemed other worldly.
Nadal more than doubled Borg's French Open title total, and won twice as many French Opens as Sampras won Wimbledons!
Razer
G.O.A.T.
Nadal did not double Sampras's wimbledon tally at french before his 30th birthday, he bettered 7 by a 9, so the rest is a benefit of playing in the modern era.
If Nadal instead of 2005 started his run in lets say 1989 like Michael Chang then he would turn 30 in 2000 and his run at the french would have been ended by Kuerten and he should have struggled to win more frenchs in 2000s like he did in this era, probably he could win the 2002 french open as well in place of Albert Costa. he would have been beaten by Ferrero who would be like 10 years younger and Nadal would be in worse fitness 16 years ago... So this doubling of Sampras would not happen... his FO tally would probably be limited at 10 which is 3 more than Pete's 7 but that would have been it.
Whatever it is, this is just an assumption, facts are what had happened, nothing more important.
We could say Rafa will struggle against anyone but nothing can be sure.
What we could know abit were
1. 16 y.o Rafa already beating the likes of Albert Costa and Carlos Moya in ATP event.
2. In Davis cup final 2004, Spain subbed in 18 y.o Nadal in place of Ferrero, (who was the FO champion just a year before; crazy move to digest at that time), then defeating Andy roddick (no.2 in the world)
3. He's the favourite in RG2005 despite never playing there.
The rest can't be compared; different eras, different regimes, different equipments etc.
