Which player (in the last 25 or so years) played the highest level ever in a particular match?

Which player played the highest level ever in a particular match?

  • Federer

    Votes: 37 33.9%
  • Nadal

    Votes: 25 22.9%
  • Djokovic

    Votes: 29 26.6%
  • Davydenko

    Votes: 2 1.8%
  • Wawrinka

    Votes: 6 5.5%
  • Agassi

    Votes: 1 0.9%
  • Sampras

    Votes: 3 2.8%
  • Del Potro

    Votes: 2 1.8%
  • Safin

    Votes: 4 3.7%
  • Tsonga

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    109

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Must be the early hours of the morning for you because you're still dreaming lol.

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MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
It was ridiculous. We just can't prove whether it was more ridiculous than other GOATS on their preferred surfaces.

We don't have to prove it lol its a more than valid opinion and constantly brushing things off bc Nadal did them on clay on this forum is tired af. The post above is a perfect example lol, oh but Fed beat Hewitt, hide ya kids, hide ya wife!! :X3::cool:
 

ForehandCross

G.O.A.T.
I am not a Rafael fan but cmon, the dude hits heights on clay that are almost impossible for others to dream of on any surface.

Pick any great match of his on clay.


Federer USO 2004 F first and third set is great but his second set level had a dip,and honestly Hewitt was flat. 2007 AO Roddick one is way more Roddick playing absolutely stupid then Federer playing great . Djokovic's 2016 AO SF had a dip too and it even became competitive in the 4th.Doha 2016 Nadal was hitting 3-4 short balls in a row.
 

RS

Bionic Poster
The debate that Federer on fast surfaces might have peaked as high or higher as Nadal on clay is getting me thinking.
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
I am not a Rafael fan but cmon, the dude hits heights on clay that are almost impossible for others to dream of on any surface.

Pick any great match of his on clay.


Federer USO 2004 F first and third set is great but his second set level had a dip,and honestly Hewitt was flat. 2007 AO Roddick one is way more Roddick playing absolutely stupid then Federer playing great . Djokovic's 2016 AO SF had a dip too and it even became competitive in the 4th.Doha 2016 Nadal was hitting 3-4 short balls in a row.

Shhh with all that sense.
 

Nadal_King

Hall of Fame
For big 3
Rafa- Rg 2008 final, Rg 2017 final(was pretty high level)
Federer- Some of 2004-07 slam matches against Roddick maybe were very high level or recently Berdych 2017 Ao was amazing.
Djokovic- Doha final 2016, Ao final 2019 and first 2 sets of Ao sf 2016
 

mike danny

Bionic Poster
We don't have to prove it lol its a more than valid opinion and constantly brushing things off bc Nadal did them on clay on this forum is tired af.
No one was invalidating clay though.

The surfaces being different does matter in this debate though. Yes, what Nadal did on clay was ridiculous, but others on HC and grass also had ridiculous performances. The absurdity of those performances is just harder to replicate than on clay because all 3 surfaces have different traits.
 

sredna42

Hall of Fame

I think this match is every bit as good as Safin's mythical peak at the AO but this opinion will get me tarred and feathered on TTW.

Extreme candidate. I love watching this match highlights from time to time,and not just because Nadal loses. Tsonga played such epic sublime attacking tennis in this match, that it was god tier. He should have received the Nobel Prize. This match is how I wish I could play tennis. God I wish Tsonga kept playing like this, and didn't go all fat & bloated like Elvis
 

mike danny

Bionic Poster
I am not a Rafael fan but cmon, the dude hits heights on clay that are almost impossible for others to dream of on any surface.

Pick any great match of his on clay.


Federer USO 2004 F first and third set is great but his second set level had a dip,and honestly Hewitt was flat. 2007 AO Roddick one is way more Roddick playing absolutely stupid then Federer playing great . Djokovic's 2016 AO SF had a dip too and it even became competitive in the 4th.Doha 2016 Nadal was hitting 3-4 short balls in a row.
I agree with the idea of pointing out these shortcomings from the dominated players, but let's do the same for 2008 RG F Fed too. He played clueless and toothless tennis that day with zero strategy. He kamikaze-approached like Roddick LOL.
 

NatF

Bionic Poster
No one was invalidating clay though.

The surfaces being different does matter in this debate though. Yes, what Nadal did on clay was ridiculous, but others on HC and grass also had ridiculous performances. The absurdity of those performances is just harder to replicate than on clay because all 3 surfaces have different traits.

Yeah, it was just a comment on getting more dominant scorelines on clay. But sadly that goes over the heads of some people, that guy cupping Rafa's cheeks 24/7 is probably why the Golden Bull needs to adjust his shorts so much...
 
You said earlier in Nadal's most impressive 2008 match he had a dip right? The opponents ability to hang with you and the help they get from the surface also help.
A slight dip in intensity against a Djokovic playing lights out tennis.

1st set of 2003 Wimb semi was just plain worse from both Fed and Roddick levelwise. Same for the 1st set of AO 07 semi or 2nd set of USO 04 final.

I guess the match against Ancic at Wimb 06 was Fed's most consistent performance.

Flip side on grass against a good server, to an extent, the game is not totally in your hands even if you're playing GOAT'ing tennis
I am not disputing that for 2003 F. Scud was kinda treeing, but Fed was stellar in the 2nd, when he got a look on his opponent's serve.

Anyway, the argument it's probably semantics at this point, so I will leave it there. You think it's a bit fuzzy, I think it's a bit more clear who played the best match, neither are outlandish opinions.
 

mike danny

Bionic Poster
Yeah, it was just a comment on getting more dominant scorelines on clay. But sadly that goes over the heads of some people, that guy cupping Rafa's cheeks 24/7 is probably why the Golden Bull needs to adjust his shorts so much...
I like MN. But yeah, the guy overreacted for no reason here.
 

NatF

Bionic Poster
A slight dip in intensity against a Djokovic playing lights out tennis.

1st set of 2003 Wimb semi was just plain worse from both Fed and Roddick levelwise. Same for the 1st set of AO 07 semi or 2nd set of USO 04 final.

I guess the match against Ancic at Wimb 06 was Fed's most consistent performance.

Two breaks is quite significant IMO. But perhaps I'm underselling Djokovic here. Sure in those cases only 2/3 sets were Godly from Fed.

I am not disputing that for 2003 F. Scud was kinda treeing, but Fed was stellar in the 2nd, when he got a look on his opponent's serve.

Anyway, the argument it's probably semantics at this point, so I will leave it there. You think it's a bit fuzzy, I think it's a bit more clear who played the best match, neither are outlandish opinions.

Fair enough. I'm not saying you're wrong here, just challenging commonly accepted notion that it's Nadal and there's no debate lol. Got no problem with anyone picking Nadal, gun to my head I'd probably do the same.
 

Sunny014

Legend
Top 5 Slam finals with most points scored by players

01. Fed-Roddick wimbledon final 09 223 points for Fed, 213 Points for Roddick
02. Fed-Novak wimbledon final 19 218 points for Fed, 204 Points for Novak
03. Federer-Nadal final 2008 209 Points for Nadal, 204 points for Federer
04. Sampras-Goran final 1998 204 points for Sampras, 200 points for Goran
05. Agassi-Goran final 1992 195 points for Ivanisevic, 179 points for Agassi
 

skaj

Legend
And which match was it? Let’s say any surface. So if a surface ‘encourages’ higher level of tennis then so be it.

Davydenko but no Nalbandian?

More importantly, you should always have "someone else" option in the poll.
 

Pheasant

Legend
1. MuryGOAT during all of his victories. He's the goat and it's in his name, duh!

2. Tommy Haas beat peak Fed in Halle in 2017, a tourney that Fed has won 10 times. That was Fed's only loss during the grass court season(12-1 record). As a matter of fact, Federer didn't lost a single set against any of the other opponents on grass that year. Summing up, Federer was 31-0 in sets vs all of his other opponents on grass, but only 1-2 vs the very-evolved 39 year old Tommy Haas. Practice makes perfect.

3. Donskoy beat peak Fed in Dubai in 2017, a tourney that Fed has won 8 times. But Donskoy was far too evolved That was Fed's only loss during the Winter hard court season of 2017(19-1 record).

4. Istomin beat the AO goat at the 2017 AO. That's the GOAT AO performance for sure(excuding MuryGOAT when he tried). Most experts have placed Istomin at #2 on this exclusive list. I think it's worthy of a top-5 for sure.
 
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