The real slam race is between Federer and Djokovic for 2nd & 3rd

O

octogon

Hall of Fame
Forget about Rafa. With his virtual stranglehold on Roland Garros, and the fact that he is still a strong contender at other slams (especially US Open), it's unlikely at this stage that he doesn't end his career as the slam leader.

The race for 2nd and 3rd may be more intriguing now. Can Federer pick up 1 more Wimbledon to get to 21 to make things tougher for Novak? Is Djokovic going to face a decline and struggle with the younger players now, even at his home turf in Australia? Questions, questions.

If Federer can retire with even 1 more slam than Djokovic when they both hang up their rackets, it will be a hell of an escape act, as common wisdom for some time has been that Djokovic will pass Roger's slam count.
 
clayqueen

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
The way I see it, it's not so much who of the Big3 beats who in a final or SF it's which of the Big3 is more likely to be upset by the incoming YoungGen who are fearless and not at all star struck to take it to the top guys. Players like Altmaier, Gaston, Musetti, Sinner are eager to get going and I'm sure there are more. If the Big3 don't take them seriously and bring their x-number of titles and rankings on court it won't work.
 
O

octogon

Hall of Fame
clayqueen said:
The way I see it, it's not so much who of the Big3 beats who in a final or SF it's which of the Big3 is more likely to be upset by the incoming YoungGen who are fearless and not at all star struck to take it to the top guys. Players like Altmaier, Gaston, Musetti, Sinner are eager to get going and I'm sure there are more. If the Big3 don't take them seriously and bring their x-number of titles and rankings on court it won't work.
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Rublev is looking very dangerous as well. If he starts cooking in slams, glory days for the Big 3 may be coming to a sudden end.
 
clayqueen

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
octogon said:
Rublev is looking very dangerous as well. If he starts cooking in slams, glory days for the Big 3 may be coming to a sudden end.
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Medvedev was the all conquering player last year after a good run in the autumn, set to get to the top and commentators' perennial favourite at every tournament but he hasn't lived up to it. Rublev has won a lot of titles this autumn beating, mainly, players outside the top 60. He needs to serially beat the top 10/15 to convince me.
 
O

octogon

Hall of Fame
clayqueen said:
Medvedev was the all conquering player last year after a good run in the autumn, set to get to the top and commentators' perennial favourite at every tournament but he hasn't lived up to it. Rublev has won a lot of titles this autumn beating, mainly, players outside the top 60. He needs to serially beat the top 10/15 to convince me.
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True, true. Good reminder not to get too caught up in the Rublev hype.
 
Z

zuluzazu

Hall of Fame
octogon said:
Forget about Rafa. With his virtual stranglehold on Roland Garros, and the fact that he is still a strong contender at other slams (especially US Open), it's unlikely at this stage that he doesn't end his career as the slam leader.

The race for 2nd and 3rd may be more intriguing now. Can Federer pick up 1 more Wimbledon to get to 21 to make things tougher for Novak? Is Djokovic going to face a decline and struggle with the younger players now, even at his home turf in Australia? Questions, questions.

If Federer can retire with even 1 more slam than Djokovic when they both hang up their rackets, it will be a hell of an escape act, as common wisdom for some time has been that Djokovic will pass Roger's slam count.
Click to expand...
As mich as I want rafa to finish with most slams I dont think it is certain. After 2014 RG who couldve predict nadal will not win a slam for next 3 years. Any player can go into slump. Please dont count your chickens before they hatch.
 
O

octogon

Hall of Fame
zuluzazu said:
As mich as I want rafa to finish with most slams I dont think it is certain. After 2014 RG who couldve predict nadal will not win a slam for next 3 years. Any player can go into slump. Please dont count your chickens before they hatch.
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Never said it was certain. Just that it looked likely. Anything can happen of course, but I'm choosing to be optimistic.
 
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clayqueen

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
zuluzazu said:
As mich as I want rafa to finish with most slams I dont think it is certain. After 2014 RG who couldve predict nadal will not win a slam for next 3 years. Any player can go into slump. Please don't count your chickens before they hatch.
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Wut?
We know Rafa was out of form in 2015. In 2016, he withdrew from RG after the 2nd round with wrist injury which plagued him for the rest of the year causing him to pull out of the Olympics. Saying he didn't win a slam in 2017 is laughable.

 
Backspin1183

Backspin1183

Talk Tennis Guru
Hold your horses, matey!
images


Still too early to decide on the Slam race.
 
T

TheNachoMan

Guest
It’s funny because after AO 19 I thought Rafa would finish 3rd.
 
Z

zuluzazu

Hall of Fame
clayqueen said:
Wut?
We know Rafa was out of form in 2015. In 2016, he withdrew from RG after the 2nd round with wrist injury which plagued him for the rest of the year causing him to pull out of the Olympics. Saying he didn't win a slam in 2017 is laughable.

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2014 RG to 2017RG the wait was 3 years and I want rafa to get the record. Just dont jinx it
 
O

octogon

Hall of Fame
BeatlesFan said:
In Serbia maybe. It’s not been ‘common wisdom’ anywhere else.
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BeatlesFan said:
In Serbia maybe. It’s not been ‘common wisdom’ anywhere else.
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Nah. A lot of the GOAT talk around Djokovic in the tennis media was based on them projecting him to get the slam record. They even expected him to win more slams than Rafa. Problem is Rafa is not co-operating by letting anyone else win RG, and also being pretty reliable at the US Open.

Especially after the most recent French Open, reality is starting to set in that if Nadal keeps this up, odds of Djokovic getting past him in slams are low. And we are seeing signs of a potential decline from Djokovic that the field and young hungry players may be able to take advantage of.
 
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Third Serve

Third Serve

Talk Tennis Guru
PilotPete said:
Interesting how the Nadal fans are sounding like Djokovic fans from a few months ago :)
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Happens every time one of the Big 3 wins a Slam. But the Ned fans weren't so bad when he won the USO last year. This time is a special case...

It's funny because the place was surprisingly peaceful for about a week after the RG final. But then new trolls came in, old trolls returned, and it's become near-intolerable since then. I'm just laying low for a little bit till it blows over.
 
Adv. Edberg

Adv. Edberg

Legend
Nadal will probably end his career with most slams. But then with Fedal retired there will be nobody to even remotely challenge Djoko. He should win most of the slams after that.
 
GabeT

GabeT

G.O.A.T.
octogon said:
Forget about Rafa. With his virtual stranglehold on Roland Garros, and the fact that he is still a strong contender at other slams (especially US Open), it's unlikely at this stage that he doesn't end his career as the slam leader.

The race for 2nd and 3rd may be more intriguing now. Can Federer pick up 1 more Wimbledon to get to 21 to make things tougher for Novak? Is Djokovic going to face a decline and struggle with the younger players now, even at his home turf in Australia? Questions, questions.

If Federer can retire with even 1 more slam than Djokovic when they both hang up their rackets, it will be a hell of an escape act, as common wisdom for some time has been that Djokovic will pass Roger's slam count.
Click to expand...
How are you? We haven’t seen you in a long time ;)
 
O

octogon

Hall of Fame
GabeT said:
How are you? We haven’t seen you in a long time ;)
Click to expand...

I lose interest when Rafa isn't playing. I congratulated Novak when he beat Rafa at the French and congratulated him for winning Wimbledon again yesterday (search for my post. It's there). Otherwise if Rafa ain't playing, I got no need to hang on this board.

Or did you want me around to watch you suck off Novak 24/7. LOL!

When Rafa is back, you'll see me more regularly again. That's how it goes.
 
GabeT

GabeT

G.O.A.T.
octogon said:
I lose interest when Rafa isn't playing. I congratulated Novak when he beat Rafa at the French and congratulated him for winning Wimbledon again yesterday (search for my post. It's there). Otherwise if Rafa ain't playing, I got no need to hang on this board.

Or did you want me around to watch you suck off Novak 24/7. LOL!

When Rafa is back, you'll see me more regularly again. That's how it goes.
Click to expand...
Well, we’ll always be here, maybe even reminding posters of their prior hubris ;)
 
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