I disagree. Rafa's strength is his topspin forehand, which he would hit to Rosewall's backhand. Rosewall will do his amazing slice to Rafa's forehand or any other corner, Rafa will struggle with the low skidding ball and give weak return, Rosewall puts away from the net.
that being said, we really need to specify surface, so let's just say it's between them, so 1985 AO (to comply with Chopin's thread, as this is a comparison of that)
Guys,
Both players are incredible players and you cannot underestimate either one of them. Also both are amazing athletes with incredible skills and coordination.
Nadal would be fabulous in any era but frankly if he played in Rosewall's era with his current technique of hitting the ball, he would have problems beating Rosewall on any surface in my opinion. Nadal would have to adjust his technique because of the small wood frames and the old style tennis strings. If Nadal did this he would give up some of his great advantages, namely his heavy topspin shots that bounce very high.
However I would think Nadal would adjust and be one of the great players if he played in Rosewall's time.
Too much has been made of technique. I believe Rosewall would have adjusted his game if he played in today's era and the same for Nadal if the situation was reversed. Frankly Rosewall's flat game is very similar to Agassi's and Jimmy Connors' game and no one questions whether they can play today.
Rosewall played at a top level from the 1950's to the late 1970's. In that time he defeated greats like Jack Kramer, Pancho Gonzalez, Lew Hoad, Pancho Segura, Arthur Ashe, Ashley Cooper, Gimeno, Emerson, Laver, Stolle, Newcombe, Vitas Gerulaitis and yes even Jimmy Connors. Connors was to dominate Rosewall later when Rosewall was about 40 and over. Connors was the only one to dominate Rosewall.
Around 1980 I read that Rosewall played Ivan Lendl in a practice set. I understand that the people viewing the set said the rallies were magnificent. I believe Lendl won but in a very close set around 6-4. Rosewall was 46 that year and Lendl was one of the top ten player in the world.
What some of you may not realize is that a lot of Rosewall's greatness trancends simple tennis technique. Rosewall had an almost magical understanding of when to position himself on the tennis court so he could hit the perfect shot. I just don't see that today, even from Federer and Nadal. Players would describe Rosewall as almost appearing out of nowhere to hit a shot. So many times I see points from guys like a Roddick for example in which Roddick hits a shot in which his opponent can barely reach and they have to float the ball back slowly. Well a Rosewall would be in position to put the ball away but Roddick lets the ball bounce on the baseline and essentially the rally is now even. Roddick gave up his advantage. Rosewall didn't do things like that.
Rosewall's footwork and anticipation has been rarely if ever matched in the history of tennis. I do think that Nadal may be one of the few who is on Rosewall's level in this aspect of the game.
Rosewall's concentration on hitting the ball is unbelievable. He is one of the greatest pure ball strikers ever, like a Jimmy Connors and an Andre Agassi. From a pure ball striking point of view he is superior to Nadal. Does anyone think he was call "The Doomsday Stroking Machine" for nothing? He was the best clay court playing in the world for over a decade. He won the French in 1953 and he won the French again when Open tennis started in 1968. This is not some ordinary player we are talking about here.
Another about Rosewall's game is how early he prepared and how on balance he was. This is something way out of the ordinary compared to even greats of the game. Connors was a great example in recent times of this. Because Rosewall seemed to get to the shot with decades to spare, he could be on balance and hit his shots with great power and disguise. This wouldn't be any different if Rosewall changed his technique and hit with different style.
Rosewall's hand speed is quite incredible and his volleying skills were off the charts. No one today in my opinion can come close to matching Rosewall at the net. Some may argue that Rosewall was smaller and therefore didn't have as much reach but his great speed and anticipation let him cover the net like a blanket.
Rosewall's won 136 tournaments in his great career and dominated all surfaces, especially clay. I sincerely doubt if Nadal would defeat Rosewall a huge majority of the time on clay. I can see Nadal winning the majority of course but 8 out of 10 seems a bit much.
As far as fast surfaces are concerned, Rosewall used to dominate on fast surfaces as grass, hard court and wood. Yes he won on wood. In fact Rosewall used to win Pro Majors on clay and then win Pro Majors on wood I believe in just the next week! To switch from a super slow surface as clay and then a surface faster than the old fast grass in such a short time is another one of Rosewall's great achievements.
Nadal is in many ways similar to Rosewall. His concentration is great. His speed and footwork to my mind is the best in tennis and perhaps the best since Borg. He, like Rosewall rarely makes unforced errors. I believe both are geniuses of the sport.
Nadal's peak may be now or perhaps in the future. But Nadal has won 43 tournament to Rosewall's 136 and 9 majors to Rosewall's 23. Right now for pure accomplishments Nadal is not close to Rosewall at this point in time. I do believe that Nadal has a chance to surpass Rosewall. It'll be tough but you figure it would have to be since Rosewall is a GOAT candidate and any GOAT candidate would have to have a fabulous record.
In Rosewall's prime he would be competitive with Nadal on any surface.
Oh yeah I also forgot to mention that in 1976, Rosewall in a year he would be 42 played Guillermo Vilas, a lefty with super heavy topspin strokes on grass and Rosewall defeated Vilas in three straight sets, with the loss of only four games. Rosewall had absolutely no problems with Vilas' heavy lefty topspin strokes. Vilas played a style very similar to Nadal, not as good as Nadal in my opinion but he wasn't chopped liver either. Rosewall who was way pass his prime was able to handle the heavy topspin of Vilas and beat him easily.
So yes I believe Rosewall, with his timeless assets would do very very well today.
Here's Rosewall in 1970 against Tony Roche in the US Open final. Notice the great volleying skills, hand speed, movement and anticipation as well as his great backhand. Also consider that Rosewall is 35 about to be 36 and way past his prime. He was a lot better.
Ask yourself who would be able to hit some of the volleys Rosewall hit in this match today, even with today's rackets. I can tell you from watching Rosewall that he volleyed like that all the time. It's not just highlights, it was his norm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJubuKDN7Fk
Incidentally, does anyone lob as well as Rosewall does today? Just asking.