What is Nadal's most impressive achievement not related to clay?

jg153040

G.O.A.T.
Like it says. What overall achievement of Rafa impresses you the most and is not related to only clay.

That makes you say: OMG, this is the hardest thing to do.

For me it's his golden slam. I mean his game being less versatile and considering his competition on HC and grass, I find this the most impressive.
 

tipsa...don'tlikehim!

Talk Tennis Guru
His whole career: 2 Wimbledon + 2 US open + 1 AO that's amazing , his destiny was to be great on clay but on other surfaces opinions diverged ...
agree with Golden slam, Beijing 2008 surface was very fast, i always thought it was an indoor court when i was watching the highlights :lol:
 

jg153040

G.O.A.T.
His whole career: 2 Wimbledon + 2 US open + 1 AO that's amazing , his destiny was to be great on clay but on other surfaces opinions diverged ...
agree with Golden slam, Beijing 2008 surface was very fast, i always thought it was an indoor court when i was watching the highlights :lol:

Yeah, winning at least 2 majors on every surface is big.

Not bad for a guy who was considered just a clay courter once.
 

LazyNinja19

Banned
Winning 3 Grand Slams back to back in '10 - RG, Wimbledon & USO

Winning Olympic Gold on the Hard courts of Beijing (when he hadn't won any HC Slam at the time)

Defeating prime Fed in Wimbledon '08 & AO '09! :lol:

Coming back from injury this year to win his second USO!
 

jg153040

G.O.A.T.
Winning 3 Grand Slams back to back in '10 - RG, Wimbledon & USO

Winning Olympic Gold on the Hard courts of Beijing (when he hadn't won any HC Slam at the time)

Defeating prime Fed in Wimbledon '08 & AO '09! :lol:

Coming back from injury this year to win his second USO!

You have to pick one thing over the others. I know it's hard, but you have to chose.

Although I think beating Fed at AO09 was more impressive. Fed's level was sick that match. And Rafa was a bit tired from Verdasco. And it was 6-2 in the fifth, W could have gone either way. I mean Rafas defense was insane. Anyone else in history, and Fed wins this match.

And Fed was coming from an USO win, destroying Roddick and Delpo, full of confidence.

I rarely say this. But this is one of the matches Fed was playing really well and still lost. I think Rafa was playing way above himself in that match. Best I've seen him play on HC.

This is one of my favorite matches. Level of tennis was one of the highest. Also Fed was going for Petes record that match.

That match was destiny. Rafa doesn't have his career slam without this match. And Fed failure motivated him to win the french.

And Fed being past his prime, that doesn't mean he still can't play some matches like in 2006. It only means, he plays this less frequently. Decline is not, that now you play 100% of the matches worse.
 
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chjtennis

G.O.A.T.
Coming back after a long lay off from injury and dominating the US hard court season this year. That was massively impressive and Nadal looked more focused than ever. Maybe that time away did wonders and has given him more energy. I want to see Rafa and Nole play each other as many times as possible in the next 2 years.
 

oest10

Semi-Pro
Honestly I feel that the AO final in 2012 was one of his best plays. Hanging with a Djokovic that was playing soo well and fighting like that in set 4 was unbelievable.
 

Crisstti

Legend
You have to pick one thing over the others. I know it's hard, but you have to chose.

Although I think beating Fed at AO09 was more impressive. Fed's level was sick that match. And Rafa was a bit tired from Verdasco. And it was 6-2 in the fifth, W could have gone either way. I mean Rafas defense was insane. Anyone else in history, and Fed wins this match.

And Fed was coming from an USO win, destroying Roddick and Delpo, full of confidence.

I rarely say this. But this is one of the matches Fed was playing really well and still lost. I think Rafa was playing way above himself in that match. Best I've seen him play on HC.

This is one of my favorite matches. Level of tennis was one of the highest. Also Fed was going for Petes record that match.

That match was destiny. Rafa doesn't have his career slam without this match. And Fed failure motivated him to win the french.

And Fed being past his prime, that doesn't mean he still can't play some matches like in 2006. It only means, he plays this less frequently. Decline is not, that now you play 100% of the matches worse.

Without he doesn't have 9 consecutive years winning a slam (nor 8).

It's hard to choose really, I don't know. Maybe I'd go with coming back from a LONG injury lay off this year and winning the triple in the US hard courts. Beating Djokovic twice at that.
 

bullfan

Legend
I know, but I guess we all know that we mean career golden slam when talking about Rafa.

You still didn't give your answer yet :).

You say don't include clay, then you included clay!

I'd say 2008 Wimbledon as well as Beijing Gold, 2 surfaces where he got over the hump.
 

victorcruz

Hall of Fame
Wimbledon 2008. He should have won it in 3, 4 sets max, but he let his good friend hang around in the Final. What a nice guy :D
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Just his resilience in general and the fact that the guy constantly cranks out epic matches with everyone. Being consistently entertaining and playing unbelievable tennis with his back against the wall.
 

FrontHeadlock

Hall of Fame
Winning the career golden slam despite being a clay-courter is his greatest achievement.

The other majors all overlap with each other in terms of success, whereas RG tends to be more distinct. The fact that someone so good on clay could potentially win each of the other majors twice is mindboggling.
 
F

FedererWinsWimbledon2014

Guest
Winning the career golden slam despite being a clay-courter is his greatest achievement.

The other majors all overlap with each other in terms of success, whereas RG tends to be more distinct. The fact that someone so good on clay could potentially win each of the other majors twice is mindboggling.

In the 90s maybe but not in current conditions.
 

FrontHeadlock

Hall of Fame
In the 90s maybe but not in current conditions.

Eh, they're not as distinct as they were, but there are still distinctions. Look at how much more success Djokovic has had on hard courts. Or how Federer has had more success at W and USO.

The prototype for winning the CGS is someone who is good on fast courts or who is good on hard courts, but who has the game to "steal" a title at RG. Not someone who is good on clay courts.
 

batz

G.O.A.T.
Never being ever able to defend a non-clay title. Now that is an achievement worthy of a GOAT status.

Is there a list of defended titles somewhere and the guy at the top gets some kind of prize? Thought not.

Defending titles is an irrelevance - winning the feckers is what matters.

Back on topic - career golden slam is his biggest achievement to date - but that will be superseded if and when he wins another AO for a double career slam.
 
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D

Deleted member 77403

Guest
Like it says. What overall achievement of Rafa impresses you the most and is not related to only clay.

That makes you say: OMG, this is the hardest thing to do.

For me it's his golden slam. I mean his game being less versatile and considering his competition on HC and grass, I find this the most impressive.

Isn't the golden slam related to clay though also? No RG, no golden slam.

I think what impresses me most is that he beat Federer and Djokovic, the two best HC players of this era for his HC slam finals wins. That is most impressive, considering it is historically his worst surface imo.
 
D

Deleted member 77403

Guest
Winning 2008 Wimbledon by beating Federer in the final.

Really? I prefer his HC wins, he proved a lot people wrong with the way he won the AO and USO.

I always thought he was going to win W ever since 06.
 

President

Legend
Being undefeated on outdoor hard courts through the US Open this season and achieving the Canada/Cincy/USO triple was probably the most unexpected thing he's done in his career IMO. No one could have possibly seen it coming.
 

Kenshin

Semi-Pro
Winnig the final against the best grasscourter of his generation (2008), winnig the final against the best hard couter in history(2009), winning two USO (2010, 2013) against one of the best hard courter in history. Plus winning the single OLMPIC on hard and many master 1000 titles on hard court.
 
F

FedererWinsWimbledon2014

Guest
5 slam finals in a row (I know 2 where on clay but I still think this counts)


Pretty amazing achievement despite not winning the 3 non clay finals.

I still think it is pretty good
 

Mustard

Bionic Poster
Really? I prefer his HC wins, he proved a lot people wrong with the way he won the AO and USO.

I always thought he was going to win W ever since 06.

Winning 2008 Wimbledon changed the dynamic in the tennis world of Nadal dominates clay and Federer dominates everywhere else. Nadal beat Federer at Wimbledon, while Federer had failed to do the same to Nadal at the French Open.
 
F

FedererWinsWimbledon2014

Guest
Winning 2008 Wimbledon changed the dynamic in the tennis world of Nadal dominates clay and Federer dominates everywhere else. Nadal beat Federer at Wimbledon, while Federer had failed to do the same to Nadal at the French Open.

The height the ball bounced in 2008 is what actually changed.


I have found the very interesting video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zQWePrIl-Y
 
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D

Deleted member 77403

Guest
Winning 2008 Wimbledon changed the dynamic in the tennis world of Nadal dominates clay and Federer dominates everywhere else. Nadal beat Federer at Wimbledon, while Federer had failed to do the same to Nadal at the French Open.

I understand your perspective. But many felt that Nadal's win over Federer was inevitable, especially after the body blows he had given him on the clay in MC, and particularly Hamburg and RG. Federer was a wounded animal heading into W 08, and Nadal had all the momentum.

But AO 09, Nadal puts on one of the greatest matches of all time against Verdasco, imo his greatest ever match, then competes and beats Federer in five. He then backs it up by beating Djokovic, one of the few players who has a H2H advantage over him on HC, not once, but twice. Just giving my perspective.
 

Thriller

Hall of Fame
This

Or ... US Open 2010 .... Definitely his toughest surface, he reached the final without dropping a set and beat an in-form Djoko in the final.

I always thought he would win the other three slams but winning the US Open sealed the case that he is, at the very least, one of the greatest players of all time.
 
W

Wim

Guest
This

Or ... US Open 2010 .... Definitely his toughest surface, he reached the final without dropping a set and beat an in-form Djoko in the final.

I always thought he would win the other three slams but winning the US Open sealed the case that he is, at the very least, one of the greatest players of all time.

Yes, it is very difficult to choose between wim08 and uso10!
 

Russeljones

Talk Tennis Guru
His 2008 Wimbledon title is the most significant win in his career. Not outside of clay, the most significant of all.
 

batz

G.O.A.T.
Isn't the golden slam related to clay though also? No RG, no golden slam.

I think what impresses me most is that he beat Federer and Djokovic, the two best HC players of this era for his HC slam finals wins. That is most impressive, considering it is historically his worst surface imo.

The 'only' is an important qualifier in his original post mate.
 

Gizo

Legend
Aside from what has already been mentioned, his 11-7 h2h record in non-clay slams against his 3 main rivals Federer (3-2), Djokovic (3-3) and Murray (5-2), beating all them at Wimbledon and at least one of the hard court slams, is pretty impressive.

Obviously his most significant non-clay achievement was his 2008 Wimbledon title. He made it clear even as a junior and before he won his first slam in 2005, that his main career goal was winning Wimbledon and not RG.
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
What is Nadal's most impressive achievement not related to clay?

Two Wimbledon titles--one against the most successful Wimbledon champ of his generation (Federer's best surface) in convincing fashion. The icing on this cake is that he had been written off as nothing more than a "dirtballer," but he destroyed that lie.
 
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jg153040

G.O.A.T.
Isn't the golden slam related to clay though also? No RG, no golden slam.

I think what impresses me most is that he beat Federer and Djokovic, the two best HC players of this era for his HC slam finals wins. That is most impressive, considering it is historically his worst surface imo.

It means not related to only clay. Like only clay records, streaks and so on.

If clay is small part of overall achievements, that is ok. That is what I mean. We all know how impressive his clay streaks are. But we don't discuss a lot about his impressive overall achievements in tennis.
 

jg153040

G.O.A.T.
Two Wimbledon titles--one against the most successful Wimbledon champ of his generation (Federer's best surface) in convincing fashion. The icing on this cake is that he had been written off as nothing more than a "dirtballer," but he destroyed that lie.

True. But I find his golden career slam even more impressive. He removed the myth "dirtballer" with this even more.
 

Gizo

Legend
The Wimbledon-US Open double component of his RG-Wimbledon-US Open triple crown in 2010 is up there. He won the 3 most prestigious events in tennis, on 3 different surfaces, in about 15 weeks or so.

Historically the Wimbledon-US Open double has been an incredibly highly regarded achievement within the sport.
 
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Russeljones

Talk Tennis Guru
Two Wimbledon titles--one against the most successful Wimbledon champ of his generation (Federer's best surface) in convincing fashion. The icing on this cake is that he had been written off as nothing more than a "dirtballer," but he destroyed that lie.

Lol @ convincingly, and he won his second Wimbledon title on part clay.
 
W

Wim

Guest
Bingo!

Grass have changed considerably to tailor Nadal's style which he was able to overcome Roger in a very tight match in 2008. Unfortunately clay is the same...slow and high bounce as usual.

But they were close in 2007.
 
W

Wim

Guest
With Fed being 5 years older and the condition of the grass moves toward in favor of Nadal, eventually the match up will level it off.

But Rafa was the best player out there that evening! No excuses there. Grass is not like clay:)
Even Roger says this match was the most memorable match he has played:) try to enjoy and not find excuses.
There will always be some differences here and there.
Rafa winning 3 hc back to back was a one timer. Some times they are just on.
There is always a reason for all the losses in tennis.
 
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