Jump to content

Hats off to Rafa!


Recommended Posts

Well, in line with my "who is third on the Men's Grand Slam list" approach, I have to be pleased that Rafa will stay tied with Roger for a little while longer. And there is more tennis to come, maybe the guy who vanquished Rafa can take care of Djokovic too.  This match sounds absolutely epic by the write up in the Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/sports/tennis/rafael-nadal-loses-australian-open.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

(And while not germane to Rafa's dedicated thread, I am not exactly upset about Serena staying stuck behind Margaret Court. And not only because they won't have any more Serena matches to prioritize on ESPN. It was ridiculous this week, every time I tuned in at 9 pm, "up next, Serena Williams".)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 66
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

The way Serena had been playing so far, I thought this might be the one but it could be age is just catching up. Her first serve percentage has been going since her first match.

R1 v Siegemund 59% (80% points won)
R2 v Stojanovic 57% (86%)
R3 v Potapova 63% (77%)
R4 v Sabalenka 58% (72%)
QF v Halep 55%  (77%)
SF v Osaka 46% (65%)

Courtesy of Christopher Clary of The NY Times. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...
  • 4 months later...
On 6/5/2022 at 3:52 PM, EKE BBB said:

14th Roland Garros; 22th major. There will never be anyone like him.

And I'll start I am a Roger fan through and through, but Rafa now has as many French titles as Sampras total...and Pistol Pete doesn't even have a French tucked in there; in fact, never even got near it! Why I bring up Fed? He got one, but if it wasn't for Soderling taking out Rafa in the quarters, he could've maybe never had one either. But in terms of greatness, I'm willing to concede, Rafa is perhaps the greatest tennis player (open era) of all time. I mean 14 major French titles alone?!?!?! Sick! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/5/2022 at 3:52 PM, EKE BBB said:

14th Roland Garros; 22th major. There will never be anyone like him.

22 titles says it all but Roger and Djokovic each have 20 so I don’t know that we can say that Rafa is unique. Djokovic will be favored at Wimbledon where he has won six times and if he’s allowed to compete at the US Open, he will be favored there too. Hopefully, Rafa can play at Wimbledon. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Brad said:

22 titles says it all but Roger and Djokovic each have 20 so I don’t know that we can say that Rafa is unique. Djokovic will be favored at Wimbledon where he has won six times and if he’s allowed to compete at the US Open, he will be favored there too. Hopefully, Rafa can play at Wimbledon. 

" I don’t know that we can say that Rafa is unique" Sure about that??? What's unique to you? Who has 14 majors at one event? 

 

Roger has effectively retired. Joker may get lucky since Wimby is banning Russian players, including his biggest contender, Medvedev. But no one will ever get close (in the open era) to having that many majors at one event alone. Like even 8 seemed impossible (to the average player.)  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Holy Ghost said:

" I don’t know that we can say that Rafa is unique" Sure about that??? What's unique to you? Who has 14 majors at one event? 

 

Roger has effectively retired. Joker may get lucky since Wimby is banning Russian players, including his biggest contender, Medvedev. But no one will ever get close (in the open era) to having that many majors at one event alone. Like even 8 seemed impossible (to the average player.)  

Yes, I’m sure. Setting aside his domination at Paris, they each have 20 or more, plus let’s not forget that 14 of Nadal’s 22 are at one tournament (which is pretty impressive) whereas Djokovic’s are pretty spread out.  I’m not a Djokovic fan but he’s a fantastic player and whether Medvedev was there or not wouldn’t matter. He’s won the last two Wimbledons and he’ll be rightly favored here. 

Edited by Brad
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Brad said:

Yes, I’m sure. Setting aside his domination at Paris, they each have 20 or more, plus let’s not forget that 14 of Nadal’s 22 are at one tournament (which is pretty impressive) whereas Djokovic’s are pretty spread out.  I’m not a Djokovic fan but he’s a fantastic player and whether Medvedev was there or not wouldn’t matter. He’s won the last two Wimbledons and he’ll be rightly favored here. 

" whereas Djokovic’s are pretty spread out. "

Pretty spread out how? Out of those 20, Joker's got 2 French out of 20! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Holy Ghost said:

" whereas Djokovic’s are pretty spread out. "

Pretty spread out how? Out of those 20, Joker's got 2 French out of 20! 

Out of the four majors. I don’t what we’re even arguing about honestly.  I like Rafa and have followed him for years; I lived in Spain years ago and follow Spanish athletics. We are both Real fans!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Brad said:

Out of the four majors. I don’t what we’re even arguing about honestly.  I like Rafa and have followed him for years; I lived in Spain years ago and follow Spanish athletics. We are both Real fans!

You're cool Brad, it's all good, maybe I just don't have the opportunity to talk tennis much. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Holy Ghost said:

" whereas Djokovic’s are pretty spread out. "

Pretty spread out how? Out of those 20, Joker's got 2 French out of 20! 

And Rafa has 2 Wimbledons only and hasn't even made the final in 11 years. (And btw, if Borg played as long as Rafa has, Rafa would still be chasing him for French wins, and of course be trailing on Wimbledon titles, to boot.)

Facts:

Djokovich is the better all-court player.  Roger has problems on clay, Rafa on grass. Djokovich is dangerous everywhere.

And for the record, my rooting interest is:  Roger > Rafa, and Djokovich under no circumstances ever. But I do recognize facts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

And Rafa has 2 Wimbledons only and hasn't even made the final in 11 years. (And btw, if Borg played as long as Rafa has, Rafa would still be chasing him for French wins, and of course be trailing on Wimbledon titles, to boot.)

Facts:

Djokovich is the better all-court player.  Roger has problems on clay, Rafa on grass. Djokovich is dangerous everywhere.

And for the record, my rooting interest is:  Roger > Rafa, and Djokovich under no circumstances ever. But I do recognize facts.

That's swell. Roger is second best, Joker (like Roger, got lucky with the French). Period. None of those dudes got what they got, because Rafa wasted them in the finals...and when he was in the finals, he wins.   14-14. Stan the Man is the only other one to walk away with two. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/9/2022 at 3:47 PM, Dan Gould said:

And Rafa has 2 Wimbledons only and hasn't even made the final in 11 years. (And btw, if Borg played as long as Rafa has, Rafa would still be chasing him for French wins, and of course be trailing on Wimbledon titles, to boot.)

Facts:

Djokovich is the better all-court player.  Roger has problems on clay, Rafa on grass. Djokovich is dangerous everywhere.

And for the record, my rooting interest is:  Roger > Rafa, and Djokovich under no circumstances ever. But I do recognize facts.

You're right about that, I see the facts, and I agree about Joker being an all-around, all-surface player. But different eras though too. Rafa squaring against Borg? Love to see that. Hey, we got to see Pete square against Fed at Madison Square Garden, so nothing is impossible. I don't think there's an argument that Roger is the second best (in this era) clay court player. Rafa and Fed have squared off in the French finals many times. The McEnroe, Bjorg, Connors era is one for sure, later, the Pete v. Agassi era. Andre got that French title in at the best time (late in his career '92) whereas Pete never got it.  Now we're seeing the end of another great rivalry. Roger will probably never play a major again (maybe Aussie) and Rafa's "literal" Achilles' heel may end his career too. Will Joker get another major?  Probably, if he can control himself, probably more.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Now we in Winby, nothing seems straight, and this is

On 2/17/2021 at 9:08 AM, Dan Gould said:

Well, in line with my "who is third on the Men's Grand Slam list" approach, I have to be pleased that Rafa will stay tied with Roger for a little while longer. And there is more tennis to come, maybe the guy who vanquished Rafa can take care of Djokovic too.  This match sounds absolutely epic by the write up in the Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/sports/tennis/rafael-nadal-loses-australian-open.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

(And while not germane to Rafa's dedicated thread, I am not exactly upset about Serena staying stuck behind Margaret Court. And not only because they won't have any more Serena matches to prioritize on ESPN. It was ridiculous this week, every time I tuned in at 9 pm, "up next, Serena Williams".)

 

Its been a pleasure to talk tennis on this forum; and largely I agree with everything being said here. Now how about this potential match: Rafa v. Joker. Thoughts. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...