Partisans of incumbent Roger Federer and challenger Rafael Nadal tend to get their backs up quickly on any Roger-Rafa rubbing point, but this subject seems particularly ripe for generating dismissive looks and acid tweets from Camp Federer.
Their still elegant man is, after all, the one who has won more Grand Slam singles titles (17) than any other, including Nadal with 13. Their still relevant man is the one who spent a record 302 weeks at No.1, set marks that may never be broken by reaching 23 Grand Slam semifinals in a row and 36 Grand Slam quarterfinals in a row and has also won a record-tying seven singles titles at the Grand Slam daddy of them all, Wimbledon.
But Nadal, that rare breed of self-depreciating alpha male, has increasingly robust arguments of his own (even if he won’t make them himself) at this still prime time in his tennis life. He is, after all, just 27 although one does wonder how old his knees might be biologically at this stage.
“It’s a fun dinner conversation,” said Jim Courier, a former No.1, of the Federer-Nadal debate. “I’m not sure you can convincingly say that one guy is the greatest right now.”
Andre Agassi, a former No.1 and fellow American who played and lost to both Federer and Nadal, was on the same conference call with Courier last week.
“I do think, without Rafa winning one more major, you could make the argument that he’s the best of all time,” said Agassi, who, like Nadal and Federer, belongs to the group of just seven men who have won all four Grand Slam singles titles during their careers.
Nadal has won a record eight French Opens on clay, a surface more widely used by tennis players — both professional and recreational — than the grass that has been so friendly to Federer. Nadal also has two important tennis box tops that the 32-year-old Federer is now unlikely to acquire: an Olympic gold medal in singles and a Davis Cup title.
Nadal, in fact, has played a leading or supporting role in four Davis Cup victories for Spain.
“Davis Cup is not what it was and I don’t really know how it’s viewed in Switzerland, but here in Spain it’s a big deal,” said Manolo Santana, tournament director at the Madrid Masters 1000 who was the greatest Spanish player in history until Nadal’s emergence.
But just as important a debating point is Nadal’s ability to crunch the best numbers in what remains the essence of tennis, a sport often referred to as boxing without the blood. In mano a mano tussles, Nadal has no equal. He holds a 21-10 record over Federer, the archrival who has gradually become something closer to cannon fodder on outdoor hard courts as well as clay. But then Nadal holds a winning record over every other Grand Slam singles champion who has crossed his path as a professional, except the former French Open winner Gastón Gaudio, with whom he split six matches before Gaudio retired.
Nadal, back at No.1 after a phenomenal comeback from knee problems, also holds a winning record over every member of the current top 30: from Novak Djokovic at No.2 to Dmitry Tursunov at No.30.
With Nadal in the mix, neither Federer nor anyone else can say the same.
“We’ve spoken for many years about the bad matchup Nadal is for Federer, but he’s a bad matchup for everybody now,” Cahill said. “It wasn’t that way early in his career, and that’s where Nadal has been able to evolve his game and solve a lot of problems he had early in his career with certain types of players. He’s become a better all-around player. We’ve seen that with him tinkering with his serve, with him moving to the net more efficiently, with creating a stronger backhand, to having a little more confidence in the big situations, to solving the Djokovic problem he had a couple years ago, to being prepared to take that forehand a little quicker down the line with more authority earlier in the point.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen another No.1 tinker with his game so much, and I think that’s a credit to him and to his uncle and coach, Toni.”
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