Would 1978 Borg have any chance of defeating 2008 Nadal at Roland Garros?

[Deleted member 733170]

I guess your only knowledge of Borg was watching the movie Borg vs. McEnroe.

Thanks for confirming what I suspected: you have no idea what you are talking about. Bjorn Borg played, and lost, 3 USO finals (76, 78, 80) before retiring in 81, the year he won the FO and lost in the final of Wimbledon and the USO.

By all means continue to comment on Fed, Nadal or players you've actually seen, but by please spare us your opinions on players you don't know.

Well I stand corrected. The point still stands to the extent that when he lost his crown he jacked it all in.

But hey, if you want to pretend that, ceteris paribus, Borg still has the same mental strength, fitness and professionalism as Nadal, then be my guest.

 

[flanker2000fr]

Well I stand corrected. The point still stands to the extent that when he lost his crown he jacked it all in.

But hey, if you want to pretend that, ceteris paribus, Borg still has the same mental strength, fitness and professionalism as Nadal, then be my guest.

Yes, ceteris paribus, Borg had the same mental strength, fitness and professionalism as Nadal in my view.

 

[mental midget]

no doubt nadal would have the firepower edge, much bigger guy...but with regards to what the match might look like maybe we look to the early nadal-coria matches. i think it's fair to say 'contemporary borg' would at least play at a coria-level, skillwise, and if that's the case we have reason to think the matchups would at least be reasonably competitive.

 

[NatF]

Relative to era's:

Serve: Borg
Forehand: Nadal
Backhand: Tie?
Return: Borg
Movement: Tie
Stamina: Tie
Mental: Tie
Netgame: Tie

Tough match up, they were both physical monsters so I don't think there's much of an edge to be gained there. The key for Borg is his serve and return which, compared to his peers, was better than Nadal's in this era. Borg had a very good forehand but Nadal's forehand is probably the single greatest weapon on clay. The match up will probably be similar to the Djokodal match-up, e.g. Borg has the better serve/return and is more balanced off both wings but Nadal's forehand will be more dominant in neutral rallies. The difference between Borg and Djokovic is that Borg was made to play clay court tennis and won't get frustrated playing long grinding rallies.

Flip a coin.

P.S. I gave netgame a tie because although Borg won Wimbledon S&V'ing I don't think he was a super natural volleyer - and Nadal is quite decent there. Don't think even giving an edge to Borg there would make a difference because he ain't playing the match up at the net.

 

[RS]

Relative to era's:

Serve: Borg
Forehand: Nadal
Backhand: Tie?
Return: Borg
Movement: Tie
Stamina: Tie
Mental: Tie
Netgame: Tie

Tough match up, they were both physical monsters so I don't think there's much of an edge to be gained there. The key for Borg is his serve and return which, compared to his peers, was better than Nadal's in this era. Borg had a very good forehand but Nadal's forehand is probably the single greatest weapon on clay. The match up will probably be similar to the Djokodal match-up, e.g. Borg has the better serve/return and is more balanced off both wings but Nadal's forehand will be more dominant in neutral rallies. The difference between Borg and Djokovic is that Borg was made to play clay court tennis and won't get frustrated playing long grinding rallies.

Flip a coin.

P.S. I gave netgame a tie because although Borg won Wimbledon S&V'ing I don't think he was a super natural volleyer - and Nadal is quite decent there. Don't think even giving an edge to Borg there would make a difference because he ain't playing the match up at the net.

Nice.

 

[Fabresque]

I’m pretty certain Djokovic and Federer would take Borg to the woodshed.

People forget that if it wasn’t for Nadal, Federer and Djokovic would have atleast 4 RG titles each....

 

[mike danny]

I’m pretty certain Djokovic and Federer would take Borg to the woodshed.

People forget that if it wasn’t for Nadal, Federer and Djokovic would have atleast 4 RG titles each....

Nah, they wouldn't.

Borg was a much better clay court player than both. He was a clay court player who molded his game perfectly for HC and grass. Fedovic are the opposite. They are HC/grasscourt players (the latter in Fed's case) who adapted their games for clay. But neither of them is a natural clay court player.

With Rafa being the only elite clay court player of this era, it was easier for Fedovic to reach many RG finals with no other clay court players as obstacles.

Put both Borg and Rafa in the same era and Fedovic would need supreme luck to win RG. They would need both of them to be taken out in order to win one.

 

[malbaker86]

Borg wouldn't take a set off the 07 Nadal

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

Depends.

Is he getting there via DeLorean or Hot Tub?

Can't compare eras. Let Nadal compete against Borg with a wood racket and see how many games he would get.

can't we rather send (nb: one-way ticket) the nadal in the cretaceous to see how he fares against carnivorous dinosaurs ?

PS: dinos, please forgive me... nothing personnal.​

 

[flanker2000fr]

Relative to era's:

Serve: Borg
Forehand: Nadal
Backhand: Tie?
Return: Borg
Movement: Tie
Stamina: Tie
Mental: Tie
Netgame: Tie

Tough match up, they were both physical monsters so I don't think there's much of an edge to be gained there. The key for Borg is his serve and return which, compared to his peers, was better than Nadal's in this era. Borg had a very good forehand but Nadal's forehand is probably the single greatest weapon on clay. The match up will probably be similar to the Djokodal match-up, e.g. Borg has the better serve/return and is more balanced off both wings but Nadal's forehand will be more dominant in neutral rallies. The difference between Borg and Djokovic is that Borg was made to play clay court tennis and won't get frustrated playing long grinding rallies.

Flip a coin.

P.S. I gave netgame a tie because although Borg won Wimbledon S&V'ing I don't think he was a super natural volleyer - and Nadal is quite decent there. Don't think even giving an edge to Borg there would make a difference because he ain't playing the match up at the net.

Agree with all you say there. Doubt that the net game would be a factor if they were playing at the FO, so as you said, flip a coin. On grass, I'd give an edge to Borg given his comparatively stronger serve, return, and willingness to go to the net. USO was never Borg's cup of tea, he never liked the playing conditions (night games, crowd), so I'd give the edge to Nadal there.

 

[Deleted member 733170]

I’m pretty certain Djokovic and Federer would take Borg to the woodshed.

People forget that if it wasn’t for Nadal, Federer and Djokovic would have atleast 4 RG titles each....

That’s my subjective reality as well. I really don’t buy this romancing of past greats as to how they would compete with the current greats.

But this is a a tennis forum and people need their fun.

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

Denigrating Borg is just insanity. And those who do need to realize that the French Open ladies champion in 2032 would defeat the current version of Nadal effortlessly, because the game evolves. Osaka could beat 1969 Tony Roche pretty easily, does that mean Tony Roche was a chump?

I hope this is sarcasm, no ladies champion in the future will ever be on the level of current version of Nadal, let alone in only 12 years from now. In fact this lady wouldn’t even win a game from Nadal.

 

[arvind13]

UNTESTABLE

THEREFORE

IRRELEVANT


Stop with the untestable speculation. Serious tennis debate should never tolerate untestable scenarios, just like science does not accept untestable theories.

stop spewing ******** about science this science that. you don't know what the hell you're talking about.