Nadal: "if somebody says I am better than Roger..."

Sartorius

Hall of Fame
"...I think this person don't know nothing about tennis"

From his presser today:

Q. I have a different question for you. Everyone in tennis loves Roger, respects Roger. He is said to be the best of all time. Yet two out of every three times you play him, you win. You've won six of the last seven times. Who's a better player?
RAFAEL NADAL: You like this. You are focused on the Roger thing, eh? (laughter.)
Yesterday with the clay. Today with the if somebody says I am better than Roger, I think this person don't know nothing about tennis. That's my answer.

Q. How so?
RAFAEL NADAL: Why?

Q. Yeah.
RAFAEL NADAL: So you don't know nothing about tennis.
You see the titles of him and you see the titles of me? It's no comparison. So that's the answer. Is difficult to compare Roger with me now, because he has 16 Grand Slams; I have 6. Masters 1000, yeah, I have more than him. But for the rest of the things the records of Roger is very, very almost impossible to improve.

Q. Still, it is interesting when you step out on the court...
RAFAEL NADAL:
What?

Q. Still, it is interesting, Rafa, when you step out on the court...
RAFAEL NADAL:
(Through translation.)
Sorry, I interrupt you. What's the question? Sorry.

Q. The question is: Still, for the fans, it is interesting when you step on the court with him, you usually win.
RAFAEL NADAL:
Well, I am No. 2 in the world for five years, so I think I am a good player, too. Sure, I can beat him. No. 2 can beat No. 1. That's the thing. It's not a lot of difference between No. 2 and No. 1 or between No. 1 and No. 10. That's the tennis, and the tennis very close, the level, all the time.
But I can beat him, yes. The same time, the thing is I beat him a lot of times on clay. I beat him on other surfaces, too. But the most of the times I beat him on clay, so I played with him more times on clay than on the rest of the surfaces.

------

Nadal must be a *******, no?
 

fed_rulz

Hall of Fame
"...I think this person don't know nothing about tennis"

From his presser today:

Q. I have a different question for you. Everyone in tennis loves Roger, respects Roger. He is said to be the best of all time. Yet two out of every three times you play him, you win. You've won six of the last seven times. Who's a better player?
RAFAEL NADAL: You like this. You are focused on the Roger thing, eh? (laughter.)
Yesterday with the clay. Today with the if somebody says I am better than Roger, I think this person don't know nothing about tennis. That's my answer.

Q. How so?
RAFAEL NADAL: Why?

Q. Yeah.
RAFAEL NADAL: So you don't know nothing about tennis.
You see the titles of him and you see the titles of me? It's no comparison. So that's the answer. Is difficult to compare Roger with me now, because he has 16 Grand Slams; I have 6. Masters 1000, yeah, I have more than him. But for the rest of the things the records of Roger is very, very almost impossible to improve.

Q. Still, it is interesting when you step out on the court...
RAFAEL NADAL:
What?

Q. Still, it is interesting, Rafa, when you step out on the court...
RAFAEL NADAL:
(Through translation.)
Sorry, I interrupt you. What's the question? Sorry.

Q. The question is: Still, for the fans, it is interesting when you step on the court with him, you usually win.
RAFAEL NADAL:
Well, I am No. 2 in the world for five years, so I think I am a good player, too. Sure, I can beat him. No. 2 can beat No. 1. That's the thing. It's not a lot of difference between No. 2 and No. 1 or between No. 1 and No. 10. That's the tennis, and the tennis very close, the level, all the time.
But I can beat him, yes. The same time, the thing is I beat him a lot of times on clay. I beat him on other surfaces, too. But the most of the times I beat him on clay, so I played with him more times on clay than on the rest of the surfaces.

------

Nadal must be a *******, no?

LOL, he indeed is!! He even has a good perspective on their h2h (which unfortunately can't be said of most of the Pete-****s and some nad-****s).
 

namelessone

Legend
The Nadals(rafa,tony) are realists. People just think they are sugarcoating or sucking up to Fed but they know their place in tennis history. Tony wanted to put Rafa at nr.1 in the l'equipe poll but then he remembered Borg and how difficult it was to win points against him on clay so he changed his vote and put Rafa in second place.

Maybe it has something to do with Rafa's fav underdog position as well but I think he truly believes what he says about Fed.
 

Rhino

Legend
Nadal's just stating the obvious...

Exactly. It's not rocket science. Rafa is the clay King, and most of the match-ups are on clay so the H2H favours Rafa. Maybe now that Rafa has spelled it out himself, the *********s can stop fussing.
 

frisco

Banned
Haha, this must make the some of the more vociferous *********s feel really stupid, when their idol can see the truth, but they can't. Looooooooosers. LOLLLLLLLLL
 

West Coast Ace

G.O.A.T.
Nadal's just stating the obvious...
The players are fans too - they know what they're seeing.

Maybe now that Rafa has spelled it out himself, the *********s can stop fussing.
Yeah, and I'm going to win the Powerball lottery 4 drawings in a row! :)

Haha, this must make the some of the more vociferous *********s feel really stupid, when their idol can see the truth, but they can't. Looooooooosers. LOLLLLLLLLL
They're too far gone. Reason - even from their idol - won't bring them back.
 

TMF

Talk Tennis Guru
If nadal fans are really a big fan of him, then they should listen(and accept) everything Nadal has to say.
 
N

nikdom

Guest
If nadal fans are really a big fan of him, then they should listen(and accept) everything Nadal has to say.

I doubt how much he really believes that. He's just being PC. What's he going to say? This is a guy who won't even admit to his favorite status. And for once, his fans might agree with me.
 

Rippy

Hall of Fame
bizarre_opinion said:
deep down nadal knows who's better. He owns roger on any surface. He just wants roger to roger him up the arse hence the kind words.

According to NAdal, you know nothing about tennis. :p
 

jackson vile

G.O.A.T.
Yeah! The lopsided head to head means nothing... Nadal is just lucky, that is why he wins! Not because he is better, better players lose consitently right...???
 

Rippy

Hall of Fame
Yeah! The lopsided head to head means nothing... Nadal is just lucky, that is why he wins! Not because he is better, better players lose consitently right...???

Federer has been much more consistent than Nadal, hence being ranked number 1 for much longer than Nadal, for which consistency is vital.
 

zagor

Bionic Poster
"if somebody says I am better than Roger, I think this person don't know nothing about tennis"

Nadal,don't insult your fanbase like that :)

Joking aside,nice from Nadal to say that about Fed,I don't think he's faking that he respect Roger and all that he achieved.
 

Fedbelly

Rookie
I doubt how much he really believes that. He's just being PC. What's he going to say? This is a guy who won't even admit to his favorite status. And for once, his fans might agree with me.

It was very modest &humble of nadal to say such nice things to spare rogers feelings. The last thing he wants is another tear strewn hijack of his trophy presentations. LOL
 
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nikdom

Guest
It was very modest &humble of nadal to say such nice things to spare rogers feelings. The last thing he wants is another tear strewn hijack of his trophy presentations. LOL

Just goes to show that his interviews are a farce. He's no humble hombre. Can't beat someone so many times and believe they are in fact the "better" player. I used to think Nadal is humble, but now I really don't.
 
D

Deleted member 21996

Guest
"if somebody says I am better than Roger, I think this person don't know nothing about tennis"

Nadal,don't insult your fanbase like that :)

Joking aside,nice from Nadal to say that about Fed,I don't think he's faking that he respect Roger and all that he achieved.

lolz.... i wonder what guys such as THE LONE WO(GJ011)LF and those Nadaletes Veroniquem and The Truth feel when they read these words...
 

zagor

Bionic Poster
lolz.... i wonder what guys such as THE LONE WO(GJ011)LF and those Nadaletes Veroniquem and The Truth feel when they read these words...

They're gonna feel betrayed :).Nadal should read through this forum a bit,understand that the H2H is the most important statistic in tennis(Hrbaty is the man) and give a better answer next time because he's just confusing them saying stuff like this.
 

frisco

Banned
lolz.... i wonder what guys such as THE LONE WO(GJ011)LF and those Nadaletes Veroniquem and The Truth feel when they read these words...

You shouldn't wonder. They'll just put spin on it and misinterpret. They don't really want truth, but rather, just to win in order to feed their own egos.
 

Backbored

Hall of Fame
Federer has been much more consistent than Nadal, hence being ranked number 1 for much longer than Nadal, for which consistency is vital.
Also there is an age difference to take into consideration.

Rafa is just a player who never looks behind or in front. He plays in the now, one point at a time. So when he does look at the record, he has no problem with what he has done and how he did it. That’ real class.
 

Rippy

Hall of Fame
Also there is an age difference to take into consideration.

Rafa is just a player who never looks behind or in front. He plays in the now, one point at a time. So when he does look at the record, he has no problem with what he has done and how he did it. That’ real class.

To be fair, I didn't exactly try to construct a logically infallible post given the one I was replying to. :)
 

namelessone

Legend
Just goes to show that his interviews are a farce. He's no humble hombre. Can't beat someone so many times and believe they are in fact the "better" player. I used to think Nadal is humble, but now I really don't.

Hilarious post.

Maybe Nadal thinks Fed is better because he has more achievements,no?

Maybe Rafa thinks "how the hell am I beating this guy two outta three times and yet he has almost three times as many GS's as me?"

For Rafa this is not a sign of being humble,the guy is being realistic,as always.

A quick reference: When Rafa was given Spaniard of the year(or something like that) last year,a award which didn't have anything to do with tennis,in a room full of spanish reporters aching for a story or quote,he was asked if he thought he was better than Federer. His response was something along the lines of "I only have more FO's than him,he has more WB,more AO,more USO,more years at nr.1,so he is better than me". He said this in a place where he didn't need to butter Fed up,he was among his countrymen(getting praise left and right) and left all the reporters dumbfounded with this statement.

It's like some people WANT Rafa to say that he is better than Fed,but the guy knows he isn't.
 

ksbh

Banned
As obvious as night & day! Roger's vying for GOAT status with Laver and Nadal is top 15 at best. He's right, anyone who thinks he's better needs to get a big shot of reality! :)
 

Dutch-Guy

Legend
Nadal has been praising Fed since 2005...yet he keeps beating him.Just playing the underdog role as usual.Move along,nothing to see here:). Btw can the OP post the link of that presser?
 
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Outbeyond

Legend
I doubt how much he really believes that. He's just being PC. What's he going to say? This is a guy who won't even admit to his favorite status. And for once, his fans might agree with me.

Don't flatter yourself, nikdom. Nadal is, indeed, stating the obvious. And, just FYI, he's never, ever stated anything otherwise.

Fed is in a class by himself!!! But so is Nadal.:)
 

dh003i

Legend
Exactly. It's not rocket science. Rafa is the clay King, and most of the match-ups are on clay so the H2H favours Rafa. Maybe now that Rafa has spelled it out himself, the *********s can stop fussing.

Yep, I agree. However, I do think if Nadal can stay healthy, he can put himself almost in the debate about GOAT. I mean, if not for Federer, Nadal would probably have 2 more Wimbledons, 8 slams already.

I still think he can get 11 slams or so. He won't get as many as Federer, but 11 would clearly put him in Borg territory.
 
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aphex

Banned
Just goes to show that his interviews are a farce. He's no humble hombre. Can't beat someone so many times and believe they are in fact the "better" player. I used to think Nadal is humble, but now I really don't.

im sure u ll agree davydenko is a better player than nadal then.
 

35ft6

Legend
I respected Nadal a lot before this, but even more now. I think his tennis intelligence is highly underrated. Just think of all the people who would have winning records against Sampras if they continually met on clay. A dozen or more guys could have ridiculously lop sided records against Pete.
 

aceX

Hall of Fame
Here's a thought...

Rafael Nadal said:
...if somebody says I am better than Roger, I think this person don't know nothing about tennis.

But I can beat him, yes.

If you can beat someone, does that make you better?

Nadal is better than Roger on Clay. I don't think anyone would dispute this.
Roger is better than Nadal on fast grass and fast hardcourt. Roger has the fastcourt weapons which Nadal does not have.
On the slow grass and slow hardcourt, Nadal trumps Roger because Nadal is in Roger's head. Seriously, he's all up inside his head.

Actually Nadal's comment means:
doesn't know nothing = knows something
person don't know nothing about tennis = person know about tennis

Rafael Nadal said:
...if somebody says I am better than Roger, I think this person know about tennis.

I can beat him, yes.


french-open-tennis-paris.jpg

sports-news-may-2010.jpg
 
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dh003i

Legend
As Zagor said,Nadal just offended half his fan(****s) base.

But of course, if Nadal racks up 15 or 16 slams, we can start to compare. Although I think Federer will have closer to 20 by the time he retires. It is seriously possible, even though it sounds kind of ridiculous to say it. I mean, this year, he's going to be the favorite at Wimbledon and the USO, most likely. He as a chance at the FO now, although of course Nadal is the favorite. So it wouldn't be unreasonable to see him getting 2 more this year. And it wouldn't be crazy to say he could get 2 next year either.

That said, my opinion on Nadal is he is already clearly in the 2nd tier of all time greats. I think he could push himself ahead of Lendl and into first-tier territory with Borg. (that said, I think that at least for the Open Era, if we're talking about the greatest, Borg is more of an outsider and it is between Laver, Sampras, and Federer). So I think Nadal could definitely put himself on level with Borg.

However, I think that will be even more difficult for Nadal than for Federer to get 20 slams. For Nadal to get 11, he needs 5 more. Lets say he gets this FO. He will have a shot at Wimbledon, but Federer will be the favorite, and Nadal needed his best form ever to beat Federer there. (Roddick could also be a problem, as he was playing insane last year).

I think at some point, Nadal will get a USO win, although it will require things to fall his way, he'll need a little bit of luck. So that's 2 more, 3 to go. How many more FO's do we think Nadal is going to get? I mean, could he get 3 more FO's after this year? That would bring his FO total to 8, which would be pretty insane. I mean, no one has accomplished that -- it'd actually be an incredible accomplishment. I'm not saying he can't do it, but the FO is a young man's game. So it would indeed be a pretty incredible feat for Nadal to get 11 slams, when you think about how long you expect him to last.
 
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bolo

G.O.A.T.
Hilarious post.

Maybe Nadal thinks Fed is better because he has more achievements,no?

Maybe Rafa thinks "how the hell am I beating this guy two outta three times and yet he has almost three times as many GS's as me?"

For Rafa this is not a sign of being humble,the guy is being realistic,as always.

A quick reference: When Rafa was given Spaniard of the year(or something like that) last year,a award which didn't have anything to do with tennis,in a room full of spanish reporters aching for a story or quote,he was asked if he thought he was better than Federer. His response was something along the lines of "I only have more FO's than him,he has more WB,more AO,more USO,more years at nr.1,so he is better than me". He said this in a place where he didn't need to butter Fed up,he was among his countrymen(getting praise left and right) and left all the reporters dumbfounded with this statement.

It's like some people WANT Rafa to say that he is better than Fed,but the guy knows he isn't.

Yep it's the most obvious thing. Nadal had like half (3/4s?) of federer's ranking points for most of his career. It would have been crazy for him to say or think he was better than federer. But posters like nikdom, namranger, bruce38 etc. can't "believe" it.

It's just too funny. :)
 

TheTruth

G.O.A.T.
lolz.... i wonder what guys such as THE LONE WO(GJ011)LF and those Nadaletes Veroniquem and The Truth feel when they read these words...

Glad you asked...

1. I don't believe every word that's printed in an interview. That's just silly.

2. I would say the same thing, it's about PR. What kind of sense does it make to try to create controversy? Only juveniles do that.

3. I wouldn't say dumb things unless I had the record, but I would be working my butt off to get it.

4. I wouldn't care what reporters said/asked as long as I went out and kept beating him.

5. I would keep improving my hard court game so I could dent the h2h even more.

6. I don't live by the Rafa/Fed rivalry. Could care less about trophies, seeing as how they don't fill my trophy case.

7. But it is humorous how all the people who constantly call Nadal a liar and a fake, and now all of a sudden, believe every word of this interview.

8. For someone who isn't a fan of Fed or Nadal, you sure take a lot of interest in trying to stir things up, don't you?

9. Is that enough, or would you like more? ROFL at you. You really try to bother people, don't you?

10. Don't waste your time. You're just another poster on the board with an opinion as far as I'm concerned. That's why we're all here. Carry on!

You crack me up. Seriously. But, I do appreciate your interest. Thanks for asking (it's the only way I would reply to you).
 
S

Serendipitous

Guest
Glad you asked...

1. I don't believe every word that's printed in an interview. That's just silly.

2. I would say the same thing, it's about PR. What kind of sense does it make to try to create controversy? Only juveniles do that.

3. I wouldn't say dumb things unless I had the record, but I would be working my butt off to get it.

4. I wouldn't care what reporters said/asked as long as I went out and kept beating him.

5. I would keep improving my hard court game so I could dent the h2h even more.

6. I don't live by the Rafa/Fed rivalry. Could care less about trophies, seeing as how they don't fill my trophy case.

7. But it is humorous how all the people who constantly call Nadal a liar and a fake, and now all of a sudden, believe every word of this interview.

8. For someone who isn't a fan of Fed or Nadal, you sure take a lot of interest in trying to stir things up, don't you?

9. Is that enough, or would you like more? ROFL at you. You really try to bother people, don't you?

10. Don't waste your time. You're just another poster on the board with an opinion as far as I'm concerned. That's why we're all here. Carry on!

You crack me up. Seriously. But, I do appreciate your interest. Thanks for asking (it's the only way I would reply to you).

truth.gif
 

TheTruth

G.O.A.T.
[/SIZE]
They're gonna feel betrayed :).Nadal should read through this forum a bit,understand that the H2H is the most important statistic in tennis(Hrbaty is the man) and give a better answer next time because he's just confusing them saying stuff like this.

Wrong again.
Reasonable Nadal fans, or fans of any player don't live and die by their hero's words and actions. Most sane people realize that it's a game far removed from their real lives. Like me, tennis is a diversion not a lifeline. LOL!

Hilarious. You guys take this stuff way too seriously.

Oh gosh. Wiping tears from my eyes at the thought. We all know Rafa would never say he was better than anyone, not just Federer. Like someone else mentioned, 4 year champion and he still refused to call himself the favorite. Rafa is a realist, not prone to self-puffery, and concerns himself with his own career. That's why we like him, because in his case, actions speaks louder than words.
 

TheTruth

G.O.A.T.
Also there is an age difference to take into consideration.

Rafa is just a player who never looks behind or in front. He plays in the now, one point at a time. So when he does look at the record, he has no problem with what he has done and how he did it. That’ real class.

Great post!
 

svijk

Semi-Pro
Nadal is just being smart ....not generating unnecessary pressure for himself or negative PR, by staying away from trash talk.
Deep down he is always confident of beating Fed on any surface and he lets his tenis do the talking
 

TheTruth

G.O.A.T.
Nadal has been praising Fed since 2005...yet he keeps beating him.Just playing the underdog role as usual.Move along,nothing to see here:). Btw can the OP post the link of that presser?

Perfect summation. Nothing new here. When has Rafa ever said he was better than anyone? Thank goodness, he doesn't. That's why some of us are fans.
 
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ViscaB

Hall of Fame
He's trying to appease the crowd. He's playing with Fed's mind as well. It's all about the H2H. It's the only direct comparison there is.

My favorite moment at the end of a tournament is Rafa taking a bite out of a trophy and then telling the crowd Federer is the greatest.
 
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Mun

Banned
Nadal is humble and smart to please the crowd, nothing new. Unfortunately for Fed he doesn't own Nadal on hardcourts like Nadal owns him on clay. Also Nadal is 5 years younger. Journalists are annoying.
 
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