Nadal is twenty with a resume Pete and Fed would envy at that age.
Primarily he played on clay, has three TMS hardcourt shields.
Yeah, true. His resume is envious for someone his age. Let's see how many slam titles he has at 25 (I don't think it will be 10), and see if Nadal is jealous of Pete and Roger's resumes at that moment in time.
Is 5-0 against Federere on clay. Tied 2-2 on hard court, and one loss to Federer on clay. So, let's see. 5+2=7 and 2+1=3. How dare you FedFans diss Nadal who is still gaining experience? What kind of logic is that?
I think we both know that if Nadal had actually made some HC finals last summer the h2h would look different. Based on the Wimbledon result and the straight setting at TMC Shanghai it seems as though Federer has emerged with the fast court advantage. But then again, who am I to say such a thing?
Federer grew up on the same clay as Nadal. Who's fooling who? He just hasn't made the same strides. Before last year he never did particularly well on the red stuff.
Federer did indeed grow up on clay, but his game was never suited for it. Look at his style of play: The absence of an extreme forehand grip, one handed backhand and all court game is hardly the baseline bashing we see from MOST (notice I didn't say all) clay specialists. As for Federer not doing well before 2006 on clay, I suppose 3 clay titles, a QF appearance at RG in 2001 and SF in 2005 don't count as success? Interesting.
Pete was ten years older than Federer and cheated on a set and a breakpoint. With decent officiating who knows how that match would have ended up? And how can you all actually try to make a case over one match? I guess Sharapova's Wimbledon win signified she was better than Serena. Oh yeah, plenty of people thought so, fans and pundits alike. Was it true? No.
Pete was indeed 10 years older. 29, with the #1 seed and a winning streak at Wimbledon. Was Pete cheated? Who knows? Bad calls happen, it's part of the game. It surely wasn't Fed's presence that swayed lines calls, he was 19 at the time. I hope you haven't been crying conspiracy for that long.
Here's a newsflash. Fed hasn't played well all year. He was fortunate to still have the last vestiges of his "aura." He was outplayed by Canas in two consecutive tourneys, taken to 7-6, 7-6 by Seppi who? Yeah, that's what I thought, and looked like a frightened little girl Sunday in his match up against Nadal.
Do you consider the Australian Open this year? I do, and I saw Roger win that tournament without losing a set. He also won in Dubai...Nadal couldn't make either of those finals, much like Toronto and The U.S Open. Sure, Canas got Federer in March. It wasn't Fed's best month. Can't a player have an off month? I mean, Nadal had 9 bad months in between Wimbledon and Indian Wells. Two tiebreaks against Seppi? Who cares? Roger won and moved on. He got to play the next day, Seppi didn't. It's interesting that you note his "close call" against Seppi, but you don't mention the beatdowns he put on Ferrer and Ferrero, two noted clay specialists. As for the final, you're right. Nadal beat him soundly. After Roger wasted those first set break chances, the match was over. A frightened little girl? That might be a little much, but that's your opinion and you're entitled to it.
Soon you will see that with just a little more competition from the ATP tour, Fed's "magic" will evaporate like smoke. He's talented, but like Mats said, "the tour has allowed Fed to run away with it." He's not that good, folks. Truly.
Haven't you been saying this for a year now? Keep in mind that Nadal beat Federer 4 times in a row last year. Fed's world was over...he should retire...these results will translate to other surfaces. Oops, there went Wimbly, Toronto, The U.S Open, Masters Cup Shanghai, The Australian Open and Dubai, all won by Fed. By the way, when Nadal makes the final of a HC/Grass tourney, you laud him and praise him and say that it's a sign of things to come..."Look at Nadal! Grass is his weakest surface! What a Champion!" Has it occurred to you that Roger has CONSISTENTLY made finals on his weakest surface, further weakening his h2h with Nadal? This is something that Nadal hasn't shown the ability to do on a consistent basis. You can hide behind this h2h all you want, and put down the man with who has won 6 out of the last 7 slams, say his magic is over, etc. Or you can come to grips with the fact that Roger is the clear favorite on any non-clay surface, and try as the field might, they haven't been able to catch up with him yet.