Lately we have seen many threads debating wether Federer or Sampras is the greatest payer ever. It has been pointed out how similar the two players are statwise at a certain juncture in their career.
It lately struck me just how much ahead Nadal is of both Sampras and Federer as a teenager. Here's to put things into perspective.
Nadal has now won..
14 titles - well ahead of the likes of Rafter, Mecir and Ferrero, trailing players like Safin and Rosset by only 1 title.
5 TMS events - just insane for a teenager, already 6th on the all-time list.
a lone slam. But neither Sampras nor Federer did better as a teen.
The sole reason Nadal hasn't been number one yet is because there is a certain Swiss powerhouse in the game. Yet Nadal finished 2005 with a ranking point total which would have seen him as #1 each but one year between 1997 and 2003.
Nadal obviously posted most of his results on clay, but he has proven he can win on other surfaces too, with masters shields on carpet and hard court. In a way you can picture Nadal as an inverse Sampras. Rafa has clay as his base, can play well on carpet and hard courts too, but has one surface which might become an eternal problem... grass. It will be very interesting to see if Nadal can adept his game to become a force on grass too and if he manages to prevent the mid twenties burnout which seems to be common among clay court specialists these days.
Re: Forget the Federer-Sampras comparisons, here's Nadal!
Nadal has a lot of improvement coming up, his forehand is only just starting to be hit flat, it'll improve its new trajectory as the years go by. Think of how long he was hitting with high net clearance and max topspin, he's adjusting to hardcourt tennis but this is just the start of the transformation. And after that the serve may have some tinkering coming up me think.
Wimby 06: There was one 5 set match, but that draw was too easy.
Wimby 07: 5 set match against Söderling, 5 set match against Youzhny, 5 set match against Federer
Wimby 08: 5 set match against Federer in the final
AO 09: 5 set match against Verdasco+5 set match against Federer
I expect there will be epics against Djoke and Murray in semifinals aswell. Nadal wont be able to fight his way to one grand slam after the other, it just doesnt work that way. I am amazed he won that final against Federer after the 5 set marathon against Verdasco, I couldnt belive my eyes. But that wont happen too many times. Nadal needs to avoid 5 set match all the way to the final to have a really good shot at winning grand slams.
Re: Forget the Federer-Sampras comparisons, here's Nadal!
yeah, he didn't need to fight like hell on Wimby '07, '08 or the AO '09
who says more than 4 hours of match and five sets are fought, those titles were just a piece of cake for him
Re: Forget the Federer-Sampras comparisons, here's Nadal!
Even though he is on track or well ahead, anything can happen. Nothing is 100% for sure look at how Federer's wheels are falling off. Nadal is human his decline will come inevitably like Federer's did.
Re: Forget the Federer-Sampras comparisons, here's Nadal!
a lot of people says that nadal will retire early early because of his style of tennis that it is too physical....
well if you flip the coin nadal is more physical than the others so it fits him...
to speculate about how many slams he and roger will end with is pathetic
right now is the only thing we have
and right now Rafa has 15000 points and ranks number one. That is the only thing that matters.
Fed is 5000 points after. He has to do something.
Re: Forget the Federer-Sampras comparisons, here's Nadal!
marcRD, okay, we get it, Rafa will never be GOAT! Good! As no one will ever win this agrument definitively. I'm happy he's just in the argument to begin with.
Re: Forget the Federer-Sampras comparisons, here's Nadal!
Djokovic, Murray and Federer will retire long before Nadal. Those guys have had back and hip complaints this year, and that is an old man's injury, so imagine when they're truly old they won't last long.
Whereas tendinitis is a young man's injury or more so condition than injury that just requires rest at the end of each year. Jordan had knee and wrist tendinitis from age 28-40, Williams sisters constantly too and outlasted everyone of their generation.
3 of the top 4 players in the world are having trouble with the rigors of this tour, Nadal isn't one of them.
If Nadal only has to play 2 long matches per slam and one of them is the error-prone Federer encounters, that isn't a challenge physically for him.
Dunno about right this instant. Nadal isnt anywhere near finished with his career. However, Nadal seems destined for greatness beyond what Sampras achieved.
Dunno about right this instant. Nadal isnt anywhere near finished with his career. However, Nadal seems destined for greatness beyond what Sampras achieved.
Let me be the first to say that Sampras won Rome in 94, also worth a few of today's' slams, thus cementing his status as one of the all time greats on clay.
Let me be the first to say that Sampras won Rome in 94, also worth a few of today's' slams, thus cementing his status as one of the all time greats on clay.
Nadal needs to pass Sampras slam count to be considered greater.
Should they be tied, then all hell breaks lose. What is the tiebreaker? Weeks #1? Weeks #2? Career GS? (should Nadal achieve it) Hotness of trophy wife? Chest hair?
Looks like the male pattern baldness might be tied when Nadal retires, so we can't really use that.
Nadal needs to pass Sampras slam count to be considered greater.
Should they be tied, then all hell breaks lose. What is the tiebreaker? Weeks #1? Weeks #2? Career GS? (should Nadal achieve it) Hotness of trophy wife? Chest hair?
Looks like the male pattern baldness might be tied when Nadal retires, so we can't really use that.
This thread is soooooo premature. Bump if Nadal has 14 GS. Hopefully, more than 3 of them will be non-French Open titles.
It'll be interesting if Nadal reaches 11 and is compared to Borg. Borg won when Wimbledon grass what truly fast - not like now and whatever ball they're using to slow down play.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Mens Tennis Forums
18.5M posts
87.7K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to male tennis players and enthusiasts. Talk about everything from the ATP, NSMTA, to college Tennis and even everything about equipment. It's all here!