Will a Nadal victory be the greatest comeback in tennis history?

Spencer Gore

Spencer Gore

Legend
All but confined to a wheelchair, ready to say goodbye to the game, Nadal has dragged his ageing, injury-ravaged body through to the final -on his worst surface- of a tournament that has been horribly cruel and unjust to him over the years.

If he somehow manages to take the crown to become not only the slam leader, but only the fourth man in history to achieve the double career slam, it will be one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history. Perhaps the greatest?
 
He can thank Alex Hawke for this comeback, because in the presence of Novak he wasn't even playing the final, let alone make comebacks to win.

This tournament's legacy has been polluted with the Novak episode.

Winning the tournament in his presence would have been good, but now this looks hollow, for the sake of Tennis hope Medvedev wins, at least Daniel has a case by saying he beat Novak the last time they faced in a slam.
 
He has won 5 HC majors. How is that his worst surface ?

And Nadal has won 2 of the last 4 USO. He won the lead tournament and beating the next gen mugs like Shapo, Berretini and Khachanov is no big deal . His h2H is 3-1 against Medy.

And a win will be somehow greatest comeback ? I don’t think so.
 
Nah, it would be historic because it would give him the lead in the slam race but it's nowhere near as impressive as Fed's 2017 AO run.

Considering Fed actually had a surgery (unlike Nadal) and had to beat a younger ATG to do it, not to mention had a tougher draw overall.
 
Adam Copeland said:
He can thank Alex Hawke for this comeback, because in the presence of Novak he wasn't even playing the final, let alone make comebacks to win.

This tournament's legacy has been polluted with the Novak episode.

Winning the tournament in his presence would have been good, but now this looks hollow, for the sake of Tennis hope Medvedev wins, at least Daniel has a case by saying he beat Novak the last time they faced in a slam.
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Djokovic is the only person who kept Djokovic from playing in this tournament. The rules were clear, and he was the only one who thought he was above the rules (Tennys stayed home).
 
Comeback in terms of how long it's been since he last won here, yes. Definitely not greatest outright. Federer' AO17 victory is the 1 out of 60 major wins by the big 3 with 4 top 10 wins in it. Add on all those 5 setters, and the way he had to totally overcome the status quo in the final, and it's him all the way.

Even Djoko at Wimbledon. That dude fell out of the top TWENTY.
 
Adam Copeland said:
He can thank Alex Hawke for this comeback, because in the presence of Novak he wasn't even playing the final, let alone make comebacks to win.

This tournament's legacy has been polluted with the Novak episode.

Winning the tournament in his presence would have been good, but now this looks hollow, for the sake of Tennis hope Medvedev wins, at least Daniel has a case by saying he beat Novak the last time they faced in a slam.
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He wouldn't win more than 8 games against Novak. Probably get destroyed in final if Medvedev remains solid throughout..
 
zagor said:
Nah, it would be historic because it would give him the lead in the slam race but it's nowhere near as impressive as Fed's 2017 AO run.

Considering Fed actually had a surgery (unlike Nadal) and had to beat a younger ATG to do it, not to mention had a tougher draw overall.
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Nadal did have a minor surgery in the foot in late 2021 and Medvedev is 10 years younger than Rafa, not merely 5 years younger (age difference between Rafa and Roger). Federer has never won a Slam final against an opponent 10 years younger than him.
 
Sport said:
Nadal did have a minor surgery in the foot in late 2021
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Treatment from what I've read, not surgery. Fed had knee surgery.

Sport said:
Medvedev is 10 years younger than Rafa, not merely 5 years younger (age difference between Rafa and Roger).
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Yes, but he's not an ATG. He'll be 26 soon with one slam to his name "only".

Also, Fed had to beat a multiple slam winner Stan in the semis. Nadal beat a guy who has no top 10 wins in a slam.
 
ibbi said:
Comeback in terms of how long it's been since he last won here, yes. Definitely not greatest outright. Federer' AO17 victory is the 1 out of 60 major wins by the big 3 with 4 top 10 wins in it. Add on all those 5 setters, and the way he had to totally overcome the status quo in the final, and it's him all the way.

Even Djoko at Wimbledon. That dude fell out of the top TWENTY.
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Federer was facing a player coming back from injury who hadn't even made a final in the previous 12 slams, and who had a days less rest.

Nadal is facing the guy who won the last slam. Big difference.
 
Spencer Gore said:
Federer was facing a player coming back from injury who hadn't even made a final in the previous 12 slams, and who had a days less rest.

Nadal is facing the guy who won the last slam. Big difference.
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Yes, you're right on that, but by the time that Nadal has made it to the final, and taken it to five, the history book says he's going to beat Federer's ass. Regardless of how he was playing in the moment, you know he's in the guys head.

This would (emphasis on would, why are we discussing something that hasn't even happened?) be huge, I'm not saying otherwise, but I don't think it's the most huge, that's all.
 
zagor said:
I also would stay Stan is a bit more challenging than no-BH chicken legs walking meme that is Berr.
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There are actually people who will claim Berrettini is a better player than Wawrinka to serve the agenda.

Some Djokovic fans claim top 10 has never been stronger than now. Laugh or cry? Laugh :D
 
zagor said:
Treatment from what I've read, not surgery. Fed had knee surgery.



Yes, but he's not an ATG. He'll be 26 soon with one slam to his name "only".

Also, Fed had to beat a multiple slam winner Stan in the semis. Nadal beat a guy who has no top 10 wins in a slam.
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Nadal beat Shapovalov in the QF, an opponent 13 years than him who just beat the #3 in the world the previous round. Federer beat nobody 13 years younger than him at the AO 2017 from the QF to the F.
 
Adam Copeland said:
He can thank Alex Hawke for this comeback, because in the presence of Novak he wasn't even playing the final, let alone make comebacks to win.

This tournament's legacy has been polluted with the Novak episode.

Winning the tournament in his presence would have been good, but now this looks hollow, for the sake of Tennis hope Medvedev wins, at least Daniel has a case by saying he beat Novak the last time they faced in a slam.
Click to expand...
Tennis is played against the whole field, not against one particular player. There is no rule stating "you have to beat Novak Djokovic to win a Grand Slam". If Nadal were to win his 21th Slam tomorrow (which I know is extremely dificult), he would have proven to be the best player in history at Slams. Only player in history to win 21 Slams.
 
zagor said:
And? Shapo is supposedly tough now?

Fed beat Berdman and Nishikori so there.



Zverev is notoriously bad at slams, his record against top 20 in slams is abysmal. He's not a big scalp in slams, never was.
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And Nishikori is supposedly tough now? He is like 0-500 vs the top 10.

I agree Wawrinka is undoubtedly tougher than Nishikori.
 
Sport said:
Nadal beat Shapovalov in the QF, an opponent 13 years than him who just beat the #3 in the world the previous round. Federer beat nobody 13 years younger than him at the AO 2017 from the QF to the F.
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So the younger, the stronger? That's a new one.

Keep in mind that #3 player in the world has NEVER beaten a top10 player in a slam match in his entire career... Embarrassing.
 
junior74 said:
So the younger, the stronger? That's a new one.

Keep in mind that #3 player in the world has NEVER beaten a top10 player in a slam match in his entire career... Embarrassing.
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It's very commonly used when discussing the finals Federer lost. "Djokovic was yougner, therefore stronger" is what I read here.
 
ibbi said:
Yes, you're right on that, but by the time that Nadal has made it to the final, and taken it to five, the history book says he's going to beat Federer's ass. Regardless of how he was playing in the moment, you know he's in the guys head.
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No. Once it went to five sets you knew the extra day's rest meant Rafa was facing an almost impossible task. The fact he almost pulled it off was remarkable.
 
Sport said:
Tennis is played against the whole field, not against one particular player. There is no rule stating "you have to beat Novak Djokovic to win a Grand Slam". If Nadal were to win his 21th Slam tomorrow (which I know is extremely dificult), he would have proven to be the best player in history at Slams. Only player in history to win 21 Slams.
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Novak is the field.
Removing him makes the slam useless...

lol @ best player in history, his performance outside clay is not goat worthy.
 
Spencer Gore said:
No. Once it went to five sets you knew the extra day's rest meant Rafa was facing an almost impossible task. The fact he almost pulled it off was remarkable.
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He played a 35 year old who was fresh of a knee rehab who was involved in multiple 5 setters and had a tougher SF opponent (Stan). And he was up a break in the 5th set lol.

The fact that he lost is embarrassing.
 
Spencer Gore said:
Just shows what Nadal could do on a level playing field, without the "extra day's rest for Roger" rule.

We don't know how many Mad Lad will win in the next 4 years so can't look at that metric till 2026.
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How did the "Roger and Novak in the same half" rule work out for poor, poor Rafa?
 
I'm not sure. He's the sixth seed and just won a tournament coming in. It's pretty customary for him to take long stretches out of the game with all his injury issues. It would be top ten comebacks, though.
 
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