There was also an overrule that went against Djokovic in the 2nd or 3rd set...whichever one he lost 6-1. That is Chico's favorite one to moan about.Some Djokovic fans like to moan about Pascal Maria refusing to agree to Djokovic's request that the court get watered at 6-6 in the fifth set.
Trying to compare Nadal's slam final opponents against Federer's is a losing battle for you mate. I can't even comprehend the level of delusion that would be required in order to think Federer comes out on top here.Yeah, beating a 32 years old Federer.
Funny how Federer gets little(if any) credit after beating a 29 years old Sampras at Wimbledon, which is his pet slam while Federer's worst surface is clay.
Nice pun, which would be 20 years after Muster himself dominated on clay
Nadal will want his La Decima, a 10th French Open title.
Why is RG a factor? Why is Wimbledon not a factor, or AO, or the USO?
Truth be told, that was unintentional
But yes, that would be quite apt - I, for one, will not forget the force that was Thomas Muster.
A little known fact is that he is still one of only 3 players to win Masters Series titles on 3 different surfaces.
Muster was extremely overrated on clay and only did so well because he played dozens of mickey mouse tournaments every year. And he couldn't play on grass to save his life.
This thread is best described as Nadal News 2.1.
So you'll be hanging around here for the foreseeable future, then.
Look at the tournaments he won during his February 1995 - March 1997 peak.
Tournaments won in 1995
1. Mexico City (equivalent to a 250)
2. Estoril (equivalent to a 250)
3. Barcelona (equivalent to a 500)
4. Monte Carlo (equivalent to a 1,000)
5. Rome (equivalent to a 1,000)
6. French Open (equivalent to a 2,000)
7. St. Poelten (equivalent to a 250)
8. Stuttgart Outdoor (equivalent to a 500)
9. San Marino (equivalent to a 250)
10. Umag (equivalent to a 250)
11. Bucharest (equivalent to a 250)
12. Essen Indoors (equivalent to a 1,000)
Tournaments won in 1996
1. Mexico City (equivalent to a 250)
2. Estoril (equivalent to a 250)
3. Barcelona (equivalent to a 500)
4. Monte Carlo (equivalent to a 1,000)
5. Rome (equivalent to a 1,000)
6. Stuttgart Outdoor (equivalent to a 500)
7. Bogota (equivalent to a 250)
Tournaments won in 1997
1. Dubai (equivalent to a 500)
2. Miami (equivalent to a 1,000)
So, of the 21 tournaments won during his 25 month peak, Muster won 1 major, 6 masters series, 5 equivalents of a 500, and 10 equivalents of a 250. As for grass, he was in the semi finals of Queen's Club in 1996.
So 15 of his 21 titles were mickey mouse ones(250/500 level) therefore you haven't really done anything to disprove what I originally wrote. Face it, he was a clay vulture although you have to give him credit for being opportunistic.
1 major and 6 Super 9, so that's 7 titles of 1,000 or 2,000 in just over 2 years. And you think 500 titles are mickey mouse? Barcelona and Stuttgart Outdoor were prestigious clay court events in the 1990s, a LOT more than today. This is because in the 1990s, no tournaments were compulsory and the polarisation between the different surfaces was at its greatest in the mid 1990s, so players could choose to play predominantly on surfaces where they felt the most comfortable, because there were plenty of clay, carpet and hardcourt tournaments for most of the year.
But Nadal never skipped his pet slam but avoid other slams by either losing in the early round or not play at all. The streak would be meaningful had he was consistently face them in all 4 slam events. The stat is skewed just like his H2H against other players. Not to mention he's facing a 33 years old Federer.
Rafael hasn't lost to Novak in a grand slam event since January 2012.
Rafael hasn't lost to Roger in a grand slam event since July 2008.
Rafael is 23-10 vs. Roger all-time -and- 9-2 vs Roger in grand slam events
Rafael #majors in #majors
Roger Federer isn't the greatest tennis player of all-time. Not by a long shot.
#PTL #JC4Ever #GrannyIlluminati
AngieB
Well for someone so great on clay it's amazing how he only won 1 French Open. And it's not like he had a Nadal type player as his main competition either.
That's a grass issue, not a "field issue".
Apart from the Wawrinka AO loss, the losses to Rosol, Darcis, and Kyrgios were all in recent Wimbledons.
And Nadal has explained several times how much harder it is to bend his knees on grass (especially lower bounce on week one grass) in the last few years.
All that we can really say is that Nadal is injury-prone. And that's a compliment, because only one man in history has more slam titles despite Nadal being injury-prone.
In non-clay slam matches Nadal has a 4-2 record against Federer (winning the last 4 matches) a 3-3 record against Djokovic (winning the last match) and a 5-2 record against Murray (winning the last 3 matches). So overall that's a 12-7 record (a 63.2% success rate).
Very impressive stuff from Nadal there, even before we get into his perfect 13-0 record against those 3 players at RG.
Oh no, it's definitely a field issue. I'm pretty sure tennis is played on grass and always has been.
Besides that, if you go back to the last time Federer beat Nadal at a slam (Wimbledon 2007) he has losses to Murray and Djokovic (and others) in between beating Federer 6 times in a row after that Wimbledon, so the streak is far from consecutive, it's just arbitrarily picked to suit the making of a thread.
After Wimbledon in 2007, he then lost to Ferrer and Tsonga in between beating Federer again (twice). Then he lost to Murray himself so the consecutive streak stops there at 2 matches. The only one that keeps going is consecutive wins over Federer.
Then he beat Federer again, lost to Soderling and skipped Wimbledon. Lost to JMDP and then to Murray, so again the consecutive streak over all the players in the OP as a whole is non existent. The only one still going is over Federer and only Federer. Then his next loss was to Ferrer and then Djokovic 3 times in a row.
His best consecutive streak over all of them is from 2012 RG and still counting, but it again glosses over defeats to Rosol, Darcis, Wawrinka, and Krygios, along with 3 slams that he missed entirely.
Come on people, let's admit it's a very impressive H2H stat, albeit a very surprising one. It is a fact (whether you like it or not) - can't diminish a fact.
Let's hope he can muster enough energy/spirit to stage one final comeback in 2015!
Rafael hasn't lost to Novak in a grand slam event since January 2012.
Rafael hasn't lost to Roger in a grand slam event since July 2007.
Rafael is 23-10 vs. Roger all-time -and- 9-2 vs Roger in grand slam events
Rafael #majors in #majors
Roger Federer isn't the greatest tennis player of all-time. Not by a long shot.
#PTL #JC4Ever #GrannyIlluminati
AngieB
Fixed it for you Angela
Rafael hasn't lost to Novak in a grand slam event since January 2012.
Rafael hasn't lost to Roger in a grand slam event since July 2008.
Rafael is 23-10 vs. Roger all-time -and- 9-2 vs Roger in grand slam events
Rafael #majors in #majors
Roger Federer isn't the greatest tennis player of all-time. Not by a long shot.
#PTL #JC4Ever #GrannyIlluminati
AngieB
Well for someone so great on clay it's amazing how he only won 1 French Open. And it's not like he had a Nadal type player as his main competition either.
Ooh you just had to rub more salt in the wounds didn't you!
Ya, it was a good thing he won that French before the accident.... ohh wait
You = FDA!
What does FDA mean?
I agree. Ferrer, like many others was unlucky to be in the same era as Nadal.You don't think Ferrer would have won Roland Garros in the 90s?
I do, and perhaps more than one of them.
Players are fitter now than they were in the 90s, and clay was all about fitness back then.
And it may not seem like it compared to others today, but Ferrer hits hard on clay.
US Food and Drug Administration.
Google it.
#PTL #JC4Ever #GrannyIlluminati
AngieB
Well for someone so great on clay it's amazing how he only won 1 French Open. And it's not like he had a Nadal type player as his main competition either.
More to the point, he only ever made one final at RG where he faced and beat the 1989 champion Chang, another one time Slam champion!
Getting past the quarter-finals only once in his entire career at the supreme venue for claycourt tennis must always carry a biggish asterisk against any claims for Muster being some kind of clay Goat!
Two words. Pascal Maria.
This thread would not be possible if it was not for Pascal Maria's robbery on RG 2013.
Will not talk about other factors like sickness, rain, easy draws or favorable schedules now.
One of the rare times you and I agree on anything. Muster was overrated; his performance at the French Open was underwhelming compared to how he dominated the rest of the clay court circuit. Besides his lone title, he only ever reached the QF one time in his career!
So 15 of his 21 titles were mickey mouse ones(250/500 level) therefore you haven't really done anything to disprove what I originally wrote. Face it, he was a clay vulture although you have to give him credit for being opportunistic.
Why don't you to tell Djokovic that his Beijing and Basel titles are Mickey Mouse?
Because no one except Nadal fans care one bit about clay.
Because HC competition will always be tougher than clay court competition.
Exactly! Chico once again shows his blatant ignorance in his attempt to undermine Nadal whenever he can. Or perhaps he just made a simple assumption without bothering to fact-check it.
Yeah clay comp so weak. Tell me how many RG titles for sir Novak who grew up training on outdoor clay?
Yeah clay comp so weak. Tell me how many RG titles for sir Novak who grew up training on outdoor clay?
Weak era for clay and, in fact, Nadal is probably the last true clay court specialist
Two words. Pascal Maria.
This thread would not be possible if it was not for Pascal Maria's robbery on RG 2013.
Will not talk about other factors like sickness, rain, easy draws or favorable schedules now.
Although clay courts are predominant in Serbia indeed, Novak grew up and was raised on HC courts on mountain resort Kopaonik where his father had restaurant business.