IMO it is a blemish on Federer but feel free to disagree. I took into account Federer nowadays in my last response. Federer is a better player off clay but that is another debate on its own but yeah that gets can be against Rafa too.
He could have done better, it's undeniable, more so with those 40-15s.With what I disagree with is using this H2H metric against Fed every time when it comes to his legacy.
2009 Roddick was peak at Wimbledon though. Only 2004 could be called better. I see Roddick prime as 2003-2009 and peak 2003-early 2005.
Ok fine. I agree he is at age disadvantage nowadays on average most of his rivals.
Nobody. I used to think it was Fedal. Then at one point I thought it was Laver. Since 2017 I have the belief nobody has done enough to set themselves apart enough and it’s a bit hard to compare eras as well.
Well, of course he did. Those guys are ATG. And in 2011-2012 he was 30-31 dealing with younger GOAT candidates, not Medvedev, Thiem and Tsitsipas.
Well, his losing slam record is inflated by playing younger Novak in the last 6 slam matches, not Thiem or Medvedev or Tsitsipas.
I agree Fed at 31 had it harder. Novak had it harder as a young player though which you omitted.
I mean wasn't Novak's record pretty bad too until Fed got worse and then Novak inflated his slam H2H by beating up on older Fed? Before 2014 it was 8 - 14 against Fedal.
So was Novak. His slam H2H vs Fedal was 8-14 before 2014.
I mean sure, he lost a lot before 2013 too, but because of his age he didn't have the luxury of fixing it. Novsk had all the luxury in the world after 2013.
Yeah that as my point. IMO he could have handled them better pre 2013 when he was young enough. I said I agreed Fed is too old nowadays.
It was not only Novak was talking generally vs both in slams and other big matches .....
I really like all of the big four
I mean in terms of accomplishments the big 3 are way ahead I just think in playing level they’re all pretty similar is all
Absolutely possible and probably likely. I think that is the number 1 biggest issue with American tennis: our best athletes don’t chose tennis. I could only imagine if some of these wide receivers or baseball players chose tennis.
Point taken, and I think hoops more mirrors tennis' footwork.
Well, I get your point and don't begrudge it. It's not an outlandish opinion.
Those 3 matches you listed are signifcant matches. He never beat Nadal once at RG or took him 5. The Wim 08 and AO 09 wins for Federer would have shut it probably. Federer would have been on at least 22 slams. Maybe more than would have shut Rafa belief down.
Ok, fair enough. But Rafa also had a bad losing streak to Novak in 2011-early 2012. Novak also had one to Rafa in 2012-2014.
Rafa losing 7 in a row in 11-early 12 is a blemish against him. And Nole losing to Murray so much in 2012-13 and the latter period.
Don’t think that’s a very unpopular opinion ‘round these parts...
A man might change an opinion once every few years.
It's just funny to see you say that considering you basically coined the term "career inflation era".
THat was early 2018, perhaps the lowest point of this era, considering Djokovic was dead, Murray was dead, cremated and scattered, and Nadal had retired with injury at the AO while Fed and just about scraped by a 5 set win over Red Hot Cilic Peppers.
Agree about 2018, but I think you're really underselling the 90s a bit. For example, 1990 had prime Edberg, Becker, Lendl, Agassi, and Sampras all in the top five. I'd say that's more top-heavy than what we've seen in recent years.
Dead Nadal buried at Chatrier is better clay competition than the 90s.
True, but tennis consists of a lot more than the clay season.
