what needs nadal to do to become the GOAT from now?

[swizzy]

a few more slams and his head to head record will cement him as sharing the top position with roger.. I don't think surpassing roger is necessary.

 

[Brett UK]

Nadal would need more total slams than Federer. There will still be a debate but this is what it would take to convince the majority.

 

[dominikk1985]

the 4 guys who voted fed stays GOAT no matter what:

does that mean Fed stays GOAT even if Rafa wins 20 slams and wins 100 tournaments?

of course the chance of that happening is about zero but I can't see how one can justify such an opinion. because of rogers "sexier play"?

or do you just mean there is no likely scenario in what rafa becomes the GOAT? with that I would agree, since it is not likely that rafa will win 3 or more non clay slams which is about the minimum he would need to do to become the GOAT (likely more).

 

[McEnroeisanartist]

Three titles for Nadal at the two biggest tournaments in tennis is weak. There is a reason why a guy like Wilander is underrated. Yes, he had seven slams, the same number as McEnroe. But McEnroe had 7 at the two biggest tennis tournaments and Wilander had one.

 

[monfed]

the 4 guys who voted fed stays GOAT no matter what:

does that mean Fed stays GOAT even if Rafa wins 20 slams and wins 100 tournaments?

of course the chance of that happening is about zero but I can't see how one can justify such an opinion. because of rogers "sexier play"?

or do you just mean there is no likely scenario in what rafa becomes the GOAT? with that I would agree, since it is not likely that rafa will win 3 or more non clay slams which is about the minimum he would need to do to become the GOAT (likely more).

I don't care how much Ralph wins he can never be GOAT since he's primarily a defensive player when 2/3 surfaces reward shotmaking(atleast they have historically, now the ATP is slowing everything down for business and some other clandestine reasons which I'm not gonna get into), are you kidding me? The guy wins by extracting UEs from his opponent and since all the surfaces are slow as hell he's had major success, but what is so great about that? It's a negative playing style which can never be truly lauded, effective yes but not GOATworthy. Ralph's rather overly physical game is not something coaches around the world would try to get their students to learn, heck the coach would probably fire the kid from their coaching camp if they tried that.

Also because of Ralph's 1D playing style his cross-era versatility is a serious question mark apart from his clay skewed resume. How would he do in the 90s without all the polyester and lesser fitness regimens(assuming Ralph is indeed clean)? Put Ralph in the wooden era,how would he perform when he wouldn't be able to generate the topspin he does now? The GOAT debate doesn't just end with winning the most slams. Fed is considered by most qualified experts as the GOAT not only because of his 17 slams, but because of what he displays on a tennis court and ofcourse being the most complete player of all time. Noone can take that away from him!

 

[CoachSubway]

Anyone that calls Fed the GOAT is delusional. You're not the GOAT if there's one particular player who's consistently beat you over a decade. That doesn't make any sense. Winning GS is huge, but there's nothing more determinative in sports than head to head competition. As they say (in other sports), that's why they play the game.

If Ralph can surpass Fed's GS count, with at least 2-3 of those being non-French Open titles, and maintain his head-to-head dominance over everyone as he's currently doing, then he's the GOAT in my book. How could you argue otherwise?

 

[FrontHeadlock]

Three titles for Nadal at the two biggest tournaments in tennis is weak. There is a reason why a guy like Wilander is underrated. Yes, he had seven slams, the same number as McEnroe. But McEnroe had 7 at the two biggest tennis tournaments and Wilander had one.

This is conjecture.

I'll give you that, historically, the AO was less prestigious, but that has changed. They are all more or less equally prestigious. In fact, if any major has lost some prestige of late, it's the US Open.

 

[monfed]

Anyone that calls Fed the GOAT is delusional. You're not the GOAT if there's one particular player who's consistently beat you over a decade. That doesn't make any sense. Winning GS is huge, but there's nothing more determinative in sports than head to head competition. As they say (in other sports), that's why they play the game.

If Ralph can surpass Fed's GS count, with at least 2-3 of those being non-French Open titles, and maintain his head-to-head dominance over everyone as he's currently doing, then he's the GOAT in my book. How could you argue otherwise?

There are no points/trophies/medals for H2H so IDK where this notion stems from other than attempting to bring down Fed's GOAT status.

 

[TMF]

Three titles for Nadal at the two biggest tournaments in tennis is weak. There is a reason why a guy like Wilander is underrated. Yes, he had seven slams, the same number as McEnroe. But McEnroe had 7 at the two biggest tennis tournaments and Wilander had one.

Assuming that Nadal tie Federer 17 and both retire, people will compare their slam distributions. I think Fed gets the nod because Wimbledon is the most prestigious slam which Fed has 7.

 

[monfed]

don't forget to mention how scheming and cheap he is. that's another few black marks against him don't forget that.

Well like I told you before , Ralph is not a schemer rather more a programmed robot. Tio does the scheming for him, Ralph is basically a spoilt child in a man's body, an eternal opportunist.
Also, Ralph does flout the rules on a regular basis, abusing the 25 sec time limit b/w points on a regular basis, oncourt coaching, suspect MTOs a suspect doper as well, a self-serving manchild. I just thought of leaving this out to cut Nadal fans some slack but since you brought it up...

BTW what did you think of his suggestion for a 2 year ranking system? :lol:

 

[TMF]

There are no points/trophies/medals for H2H so IDK where this notion stems from other than attempting to bring down Fed's GOAT status.

I know, it's ridiculous how they constantly bringing up irrelevant h2h when achievements is the deciding factor. If h2h is important, Davydenko deserve a few slams for owning Nadal 6-1 on hard court.

 

[monfed]

I know, it's ridiculous how they constantly bringing up irrelevant h2h when achievements is the deciding factor. If h2h is important, Davydenko deserve a few slams for owning Nadal 6-1 on hard court.

Well what else can you knock down Fed with? His resume is the most complete out there, so from that POV it's quite understandable. :lol:

 

[TheTruth]

that is the new offense

You are so right on both post, enough with this attacking, error strewn tennis. Times have changed.

 

[cjlufc]

Laughable how Fed groupies dismiss Rafa owning Fed because of 'backhand abuse.' How about the all-conquering genius adjusts to this challenge. Murray, Djokovic and Nadal have all made significant adjustments in their games to attain success where they were previously unable. What excuse does your beloved Fed have for getting beat by the same strategy year after year?

 

[Deleted member 542803]

what needs nadal to do to become the GOAT from now?


Nothing he's already GOAT

 

[90's Clay]

Its very hard to compare across an 80 year span. Hell its hard to compare across just a 20 years span.

How many top guys played the Australian Open for instance prior to the mid 90s?

Did winning the most number of slams even seem important until Sampras broke Emerson?

Then you take into effect how much conditions have been homogenized, oh it gets even more difficult to figure out there