Rank Nadal level of play in Roland Garros for each year

NatF said:
Nadal fans tend to rate 2008 as his highest level as well.

But sure, it's just Fed fans.

Saying 2011 Nadal is the best at the FO is almost as bad as when you compared Federer's movement to Isner's.
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Nadal had his best clay results early in his career, it's good for them to rate his 2005-08 opposition highly.
 
Lew II said:
Never done it, you just can't understand what people write.
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You did. You compared hitting winners past Federer to hitting them past Isner - you then tried to back up your point by showing Federer's return game numbers :-D

Lew II said:
Nadal had his best clay results early in his career, it's good for them to rate his 2005-08 opposition highly.
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Maybe it's you that doesn't understand what people write. Who said anything about Nadal's opposition? I said they rate his level of play in 2008 as his highest ever - at least at the FO.

You obviously haven't seen the matches though, that's fine - just admit it.
 
NatF said:
Nadal fans tend to rate 2008 as his highest level as well.

But sure, it's just Fed fans.

Saying 2011 Nadal is the best at the FO is almost as bad as when you compared Federer's movement to Isner's.
Click to expand...

In fact 2011 Nadal could probably his worst level at RG ever, maybe better than 2018 but I'm not sure. I can't think of any other years that Nadal was nearly lost to Isner and had to save multiple set points against Andujar, not to mention that he was nearly down 0-2 against Federer in the Final.
 
TheGhostOfAgassi said:
Rafas peaks is less interesting than @125downthemiddle peaks. Peaks these days reminds me of one nice thing :whistle:
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giphy.gif
 
Older Rafa on clay would not be capable of hitting through his younger self had they hypothetically met. Clay rewards athleticism and defense more than shot making and offense tactics.
 
BGod said:
It's funny but I'd say his last 2 are at the bottom. 2017 in particular was a steaming pile. Especially when you know Wawrinka was injured. He literally beat up both years on tomato cans, mental midget Thiem and pigeons.

1. 2008
2. 2007
3. 2010
4. 2006
5. 2005
6. 2012
7. 2011
8. 2014
9. 2013
10. 2018
11. 2017

Really feeds into Nadal's immortality here as his later years clearly below he's still able to cake walk.

I think it ends this year though.
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cilic was injured last year wimbledon final and even he cried like a baby. does this discredit your crticism to federer's path to the tile?
i mean, berdych, who as we know is happy to make that far, was his biggest obstacle
is this a steaming pile to you too?
 
robthai said:
Older Rafa on clay would not be capable of hitting through his younger self had they hypothetically met. Clay rewards athleticism and defense more than shot making and offense tactics.
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He wouldn't need to hit through the younger version of himself to win.

Nadal's game has improved tremendously over the years.

He serves, returns and volleys better today than he did in the 2000s. His offensive game is light-years beyond where it was in those days.

Yes, he is older and his defensive skills have diminished over the years.

But what he has gained in terms of offensive capabilities and his ability to read the point more than makes up for that.

In my opinion, the Nadal from 2005 or '06 would not win more than one set against the Nadal of 2018.
 
Lew II said:
'10s >>> '00s in every department
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Nadal's offense has certainly improved a lot during this decade.

He plays first strike tennis more often and even comes in to volley, if the opportunity presents itself.

He was probably at his fastest during the first two years that he won Roland Garros.

Although his game lacked variety back then and Federer really should have beaten him in one of those first two meetings.

For my money, two of his best three performances (at the French Open) came during this decade.
 
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I think his highest level at RG is 2008. Honestly 2012 is probably his highest clay level overall though, even over 2008, but not at RG. His poor stretch in the middle of the final vs Djokovic makes that even more obvious.

His lowest level of his winning years is clearly 2011 and no other comes even close. His lowest level period is 2015.
 
It's time to bump this thread :happydevil::happydevil::happydevil:

Anyways here is my ranking
2008
2012
2007
2010
2017
2013
2005
2006
2019
2014
2011
2018
 
Lew II said:
Nadal had his best clay results early in his career, it's good for them to rate his 2005-08 opposition highly.
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Likewise, it's good for you to rate 2011-2016 Nadal highly since Djokovic started to beat him. It's just how you look at it.

The point is moot though, Nadal obliterates Federer and Djokovic. They have combined 1-15 in a BO5 format against Nadal on clay. Against a decent version of Nadal, it's 0-15 with both Djokovic and Federer making it to a 5th once each (RG '13 for Djoke, Rome '06 for Fred).
 
2013 is always underrated in my opinion. The semifinal was spotty but the 5th set was his most clutch clay performance ever. And outside of that, he defeated Stan, Fognini, Nishikori and Ferrer in straights.
 
Eren said:
Likewise, it's good for you to rate 2011-2016 Nadal highly since Djokovic started to beat him. It's just how you look at it.

The point is moot though, Nadal obliterates Federer and Djokovic. They have combined 1-15 in a BO5 format against Nadal on clay. Against a decent version of Nadal, it's 0-15 with both Djokovic and Federer making it to a 5th once each (RG '13 for Djoke, Rome '06 for Fred).
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7 > 2
 
I don't want to go back to his earlier years but it is interesting for me a fan to look into his recent rg performances, ie since 2013. This is how I would rate:

2013
2017
2016 (yes I know he withdrew but he was killing it that clay season till then!)
2014
2018
2019
2015 (a distant last)

In fact all those years except 2015 he should be considered as very good. Any victory against nadal in those years is well earned. 2015 has been an abomination as far as my eye test goes, losing to his regular bunnies. I know this for a fact, otherwise Lew would have unearthed some stat to prove 2015 nadal was peak.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
sanak said:
I don't want to go back to his earlier years but it is interesting for me a fan to look into his recent rg performances, ie since 2013. This is how I would rate:

2013
2017
2016 (yes I know he withdrew but he was killing it that clay season till then!)
2014
2018
2019
2015 (a distant last)

In fact all those years except 2015 he should be considered as very good. Any victory against nadal in those years is well earned. 2015 has been an abomination as far as my eye test goes, losing to his regular bunnies. I know this for a fact, otherwise Lew would have unearthed some stat to prove 2015 nadal was peak.


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Djokovic did best against Nadal in a BO3 on clay. No one is denying that. Talking about Bo5 on clay, we can conclude that no one ever has bothered a decent version of Nadal including Djokovic (unless bothered means going to five sets against decent Nadal, Fed did it in 2006 Rome, Coria in 2005 Rome, Isner RG, Djoke RG).
 
Tennis_Freak99 said:
A lot of you may not know that lighter balls were used at the 2011 RG compared to any other edition.

The play was faster hence Nadal 'struggled' more than usual
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They should have kept the lighter balls. Djoke would have done well with those against Nads I suppose (especially in 2013).
 
Eren said:
Talking about Bo5 on clay, we can conclude that no one ever has bothered a decent version of Nadal including Djokovic (unless bothered means going to five sets against decent Nadal, Fed did it in 2006 Rome, Coria in 2005 Rome, Isner RG, Djoke RG).
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Wrong because RG 2013. The last two sets of that match were unreal, Peak Ultron vs Peak Claydal on razor thin margins.

Same Fed in Rome'06, I mean he had several match points.

On the other hand, Coria in Rome 2005 had a young, pre-1st RG win Nadal struggling physically, and let's not talk about the Isner match :D
 
aldeayeah said:
Wrong because RG 2013. The last two sets of that match were unreal, Peak Ultron vs Peak Claydal on razor thin margins.
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How is Rome 2006 not on razor-thin marges then? Fraud held MPs. Fact is, if that is your definition of bothering, I am fine with it.
 
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