Photo courtesy of Yann Caradec's Flickr Page - Rafael Nadal: https://www.flickr.com/photos/la_bretagne_a_paris/5756335239
As most people expected, Rafael Nadal dominated South African Kevin Anderson in the men's final at the U.S. Open yesterday. The Spaniard took advantage of Anderson's inexperience, looking cool himself in the process. Nadal is known as the "King of Clay," having famously specialized on the clay court surface throughout his entire career, although he looked comfortable on the hard court surface throughout the U.S. Open this year. He is no stranger to winning in Flushing Meadows, either, having won it three times now - in 2010, 2013, and now again 2017. He won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, and did so without really being tested overly seriously at any point.
This was Nadal's 23rd overall career Grand Slam final, second only to Roger Federer, who has been to 29 Grand Slam finals (and owns a 19-10 record in those). Nadal owns a 16-7 record in those finals, and once again, he has pulled to within three Grand Slam championship victories of Federer. It once seemed almost unthinkable that Nadal could catch Federer's record. Now, with the success that both men enjoyed this year, it would seem foolish to underestimate what either man could still do.
By adding this latest Grand Slam title to his list of achievements, Nadal very well may have re-opened the debate of whether or not he is the greatest tennis player of all time, even though most people still regularly say that of Roger Federer. Perhaps what is most remarkable about this unconventional tennis year is that the end result of the four Grand Slam titles were won by only two men, who split the slams between them. This may seem deceptively conventional, yet it is not. When this year started, Federer had 17 Grand Slam titles to his name, while Nadal was tied with Pate Sampras for second most ever, with 14. Yet, Nadal had not won a Grand Slam title since capturing his 9th overall French Open championship in 2014. For Federer, it had been even longer, as he had not won a Grand Slam title since winning Wimbledon in 2012. In both cases, many people had openly suggested that the two men had reached that point where they were likely beyond winning more Grand Slam titles, or seriously competing for the number one ranking.
The question of who is better might not be as easy to answer as it seems, although it usually revolves around Nadal and Federer. First of all, it is clear that it is too soon to write either of these men off, as they both enjoyed far more success than most people could have possibly imagined. Also, when examining this debate, it is important to note that probably Novak Djokovic warrants some consideration in this debate, as he also has enjoyed comparable success to these two men, and has enjoyed considerable success against both men, as well. There are only four players in the history of men's tennis who regained the year end number one ranking after having lost it, and these three men are among those (the only other one having been Ivan Lendl).
Nadal's unbelievable success, however, has made the arguments for his being considered the Greatest of All-Time quite compelling in numerous ways. The only one of the so-called "Big Four" men (Nadal, Federer, Murray, and Djokovic) who have dominated Men's tennis since Federer took over the numer one ranking in 2004 that Nadal does not have the overall edge against is Novak Djokovic. The two men have, to date, played in 50 matches, and Djokovic has a 26-24 overall record against Nadal in those matches. Nadal has played Roger Federer 37 times, and Nadal owns an impressive 23-14 record overall against Federer, including a 9-3 record overall in Grand Slam matches. Nadal also enjoy a 17-7 record overall against Andy Murray, including a 7-2 record at Grand Slams matches, and a 16-3 advantage over Stan Wawrinka.
So, Nadal is one of the very few players who owns a winning record against Federer. He also has the distinction of being only the second men's tennis player to have achieved the career "Golden Slam," which is having won all four Grand Slam titles in his career, as well as having won an Olympic Gold Medal, in 2008. He became the second man in history to have done this, with Andre Agassi being the first. Federer came close to doing this himself, but he lost the Olympic Gold Medal match to Murray in 2012. Finally, Nadal stands alone as the only man to have won three Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces in one calendar year, as well as consecutive Grand Slam titles in a calendar year.
Federer has obviously held the number one ranking longer than any other man in tennis history, with 302 weeks overall as the top men's player, including that incredible stretch of 237 consecutive weeks on top from 2004 until 2008. It should be noted that Djokovic is fifth on the list for most time spent as number one with 223 weeks overall (behind Sampras with 286, Lendl with 270, and Connors with 268). Nadal is seventh on the list with 145 weeks, although the number of weeks for him is currently growing. However, even though Nadal does not come close to either Federer or Djokovic in terms of amount of time spent as world number one, he has nevertheless shown some longevity achievements of his own, having become the only male player in history to have won at least one Grand Slam even in ten straight years, eclipsing the previous record of eight straight years held by three men - Federer, Pete Sampras, and Björn Borg. Nadal also enjoys the distinction of being one of only two men in tennis history to have won multiple Grand Slams on the the three different surfaces (clay, grass, and hard courts), which he shares with Mats Wilander.
Together, Nadal and Federer held the the top two spots in the men's ranking for over four consecutive years, from July of 2005 until August of 2009, and that is easily a record in men's tennis. Federer holds the record for longest straight shot as men's number one ranking, as he did it from February of 2004 until shortly after Nadal defeated him in that epic Wimbledon Final of 2008. Federer was the year end number one from 2004 - 2007, and again in 2009. Nadal has finished with the year end number one ranking in 2008, 2010, 2013, and he has an excellent chance of finishing with the number one ranking at the end of this year. Right now, he is comfortably ahead of the number two ranked player, who is not surprisingly, Roger Federer.
Some critics have questioned Nadal's longevity. Indeed, he has been seriously hampered by injuries throughout his career. Still, with his incredible success this year, Nadal is back on top once again, and by capturing the number one ranking a few weeks ago (in late August), he became the ATP men's player with the longest span of time elapsed since the first time that he reached the number one ranking (back in July of 2008) and the most recent time that he achieved it (again, a few weeks ago, in August). But clearly, Nadal is back on top again.
Now, both men have seen enjoyed a career resurgence in 2017. Roger Federer won the enormous showdown between them at the Australian Open in January, the first of the Grand Slam championships, and then enjoyed some more smaller tournament wins from the momentum. But in late May and early June, Nadal re-captured his own brilliant style of play, dominating on the clay court surface like very few have ever done.
Together, they have won all the calendar Grand Slams between them in four different calendar years - in 2006, 2007, 2010, and now again in 2017. Plus, they have won at least three combined slams between them in 2005, 2008 and 2009, as well. Those are some incredible numbers between the two men, both of whom are well over 30 years of age right now.
Yet, as impressive as those numbers are, the fact that they are still both competing on such a high level is a testament to the fact of their longevity and greatness. Clearly, neither man is done yet, and despite most thinking this an unlikely scenario when the year began, one of them will surely be the number one ranked man at the end of 2017!
I got much of the information used in this article from Wikepedia pages (these three specifically):
This was Nadal's 23rd overall career Grand Slam final, second only to Roger Federer, who has been to 29 Grand Slam finals (and owns a 19-10 record in those). Nadal owns a 16-7 record in those finals, and once again, he has pulled to within three Grand Slam championship victories of Federer. It once seemed almost unthinkable that Nadal could catch Federer's record. Now, with the success that both men enjoyed this year, it would seem foolish to underestimate what either man could still do.
By adding this latest Grand Slam title to his list of achievements, Nadal very well may have re-opened the debate of whether or not he is the greatest tennis player of all time, even though most people still regularly say that of Roger Federer. Perhaps what is most remarkable about this unconventional tennis year is that the end result of the four Grand Slam titles were won by only two men, who split the slams between them. This may seem deceptively conventional, yet it is not. When this year started, Federer had 17 Grand Slam titles to his name, while Nadal was tied with Pate Sampras for second most ever, with 14. Yet, Nadal had not won a Grand Slam title since capturing his 9th overall French Open championship in 2014. For Federer, it had been even longer, as he had not won a Grand Slam title since winning Wimbledon in 2012. In both cases, many people had openly suggested that the two men had reached that point where they were likely beyond winning more Grand Slam titles, or seriously competing for the number one ranking.
The question of who is better might not be as easy to answer as it seems, although it usually revolves around Nadal and Federer. First of all, it is clear that it is too soon to write either of these men off, as they both enjoyed far more success than most people could have possibly imagined. Also, when examining this debate, it is important to note that probably Novak Djokovic warrants some consideration in this debate, as he also has enjoyed comparable success to these two men, and has enjoyed considerable success against both men, as well. There are only four players in the history of men's tennis who regained the year end number one ranking after having lost it, and these three men are among those (the only other one having been Ivan Lendl).
Nadal's unbelievable success, however, has made the arguments for his being considered the Greatest of All-Time quite compelling in numerous ways. The only one of the so-called "Big Four" men (Nadal, Federer, Murray, and Djokovic) who have dominated Men's tennis since Federer took over the numer one ranking in 2004 that Nadal does not have the overall edge against is Novak Djokovic. The two men have, to date, played in 50 matches, and Djokovic has a 26-24 overall record against Nadal in those matches. Nadal has played Roger Federer 37 times, and Nadal owns an impressive 23-14 record overall against Federer, including a 9-3 record overall in Grand Slam matches. Nadal also enjoy a 17-7 record overall against Andy Murray, including a 7-2 record at Grand Slams matches, and a 16-3 advantage over Stan Wawrinka.
So, Nadal is one of the very few players who owns a winning record against Federer. He also has the distinction of being only the second men's tennis player to have achieved the career "Golden Slam," which is having won all four Grand Slam titles in his career, as well as having won an Olympic Gold Medal, in 2008. He became the second man in history to have done this, with Andre Agassi being the first. Federer came close to doing this himself, but he lost the Olympic Gold Medal match to Murray in 2012. Finally, Nadal stands alone as the only man to have won three Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces in one calendar year, as well as consecutive Grand Slam titles in a calendar year.
Federer has obviously held the number one ranking longer than any other man in tennis history, with 302 weeks overall as the top men's player, including that incredible stretch of 237 consecutive weeks on top from 2004 until 2008. It should be noted that Djokovic is fifth on the list for most time spent as number one with 223 weeks overall (behind Sampras with 286, Lendl with 270, and Connors with 268). Nadal is seventh on the list with 145 weeks, although the number of weeks for him is currently growing. However, even though Nadal does not come close to either Federer or Djokovic in terms of amount of time spent as world number one, he has nevertheless shown some longevity achievements of his own, having become the only male player in history to have won at least one Grand Slam even in ten straight years, eclipsing the previous record of eight straight years held by three men - Federer, Pete Sampras, and Björn Borg. Nadal also enjoys the distinction of being one of only two men in tennis history to have won multiple Grand Slams on the the three different surfaces (clay, grass, and hard courts), which he shares with Mats Wilander.
Together, Nadal and Federer held the the top two spots in the men's ranking for over four consecutive years, from July of 2005 until August of 2009, and that is easily a record in men's tennis. Federer holds the record for longest straight shot as men's number one ranking, as he did it from February of 2004 until shortly after Nadal defeated him in that epic Wimbledon Final of 2008. Federer was the year end number one from 2004 - 2007, and again in 2009. Nadal has finished with the year end number one ranking in 2008, 2010, 2013, and he has an excellent chance of finishing with the number one ranking at the end of this year. Right now, he is comfortably ahead of the number two ranked player, who is not surprisingly, Roger Federer.
Some critics have questioned Nadal's longevity. Indeed, he has been seriously hampered by injuries throughout his career. Still, with his incredible success this year, Nadal is back on top once again, and by capturing the number one ranking a few weeks ago (in late August), he became the ATP men's player with the longest span of time elapsed since the first time that he reached the number one ranking (back in July of 2008) and the most recent time that he achieved it (again, a few weeks ago, in August). But clearly, Nadal is back on top again.
Now, both men have seen enjoyed a career resurgence in 2017. Roger Federer won the enormous showdown between them at the Australian Open in January, the first of the Grand Slam championships, and then enjoyed some more smaller tournament wins from the momentum. But in late May and early June, Nadal re-captured his own brilliant style of play, dominating on the clay court surface like very few have ever done.
Together, they have won all the calendar Grand Slams between them in four different calendar years - in 2006, 2007, 2010, and now again in 2017. Plus, they have won at least three combined slams between them in 2005, 2008 and 2009, as well. Those are some incredible numbers between the two men, both of whom are well over 30 years of age right now.
Yet, as impressive as those numbers are, the fact that they are still both competing on such a high level is a testament to the fact of their longevity and greatness. Clearly, neither man is done yet, and despite most thinking this an unlikely scenario when the year began, one of them will surely be the number one ranked man at the end of 2017!
I got much of the information used in this article from Wikepedia pages (these three specifically):
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