[tenismac]

Long interview with Rafa Nadal coach in spanish. Some interesting stuff about the Fedal rivalry and how it changed after the AO 2017. Roig sees Shapovalov as the youngster with more potential: https://juanmamunoz.com/francis-roig-nadal-favorito-federer/

 

[Unbiased]

I thought Fed keeps playing just because he loves tennis.

 

[Kat_YYZ]

I thought Fed keeps playing just because he loves tennis.

Yeah, he does. Roig's opinion doesn't change that. He and Federer have probably not exchanged more words than "Good morning."

 

[Johnny Groove]

Great interview, thanks for posting!

 

[NADALalot]

I agree, Denis is the most talented of the young stars, no doubt about that.
Plus his body size is less prone to injury than the others.

 

[Manu_ser]

Ruins?

 

[JohnClarke]

Roig is right and not just Federer, even Nadal and Djokovic would be thinking about retirement now if the other two didn't exist. I don't buy the "love for tennis" BS. There's no proof that Federer loves tennis more than everyone else lol. You can't measure love.

 

[leng jai]

If I was The Great Man I too would want to play forever so I could listen back to commentators calling my regulation forehand putaways "majestic" and every half decent drop shot "genius" every match.

 

[guitarra]

Nadal and Djokovic will keep on playing too until they are fairly competitive that is until 36-37 at least. And it's not just them, there's many others. It's amazing how the new medicine and science makes it possible to prolong those top careers. Like Lendl said: today's 33 is their 27. On one hand it's good, if you are a fan of a player and find the slam race exciting, on the other hand it's frustrating how we've been waiting for a younger slam winner for so many years. But hell, at the end of the day they've got no-one else but themselves to blame for the lack of this ultimate breakthrough.

 

[sheep85]

tsitsipas is more talented tho.

 

[Pirao666]

Well, that applies to Djokovic and Nadal too. If the other two weren't playing they would be retired or close to it.

 

[Bella&Mirka]

Nadal and Djokovic will keep on playing too until they are fairly competitive that is until 36-37 at least. And it's not just them, there's many others. It's amazing how the new medicine and science makes it possible to prolong those top careers. Like Lendl said: today's 33 is their 27

Who are the many others? Fed, Nadal and Agassi alone have won Slams >33 in the 21st century. No other current professional has reached a Slam semi older than 32.

 

[guitarra]

Who are the many others? Fed, Nadal and Agassi alone have won Slams >33 in the 21st century. No other current professional has reached a Slam semi older than 32.

My comment was about sticking around at a high level not about reaching slam semis. There's many who keep on playing well into their 30-ties and still are ranked pretty high:

1) Monfils (33 yo, rank: 10)
2) Fognini (32 yo, rank: 12)
3) Wawrinka (34 yo, rank: 16)
4) Isner (34 yo, rank: 19)
5) Tsonga (34 yo, rank: 29 and growing)
6) Cuevas (33 yo, rank: 45)
7) Verdasco (36 yo, rank: 49)
8) Simon (34 yo, rank: 55)
9) Gasquet (33 yo, rank: 61)
10) Andujar (33 yo, rank: 64)
11) Seppi (35 yo, rank: 75)
12) Kohlschreiber (36 yo, rank: 79)
13 Anderson (33 yo, rank: 91)
14) Karlovic (40 yo, rank 95)

This is just TOP100. They are all gatekeepers too. Many more in 100-200.

 

[Roxitova]

True.

 

[Roxitova]

tsitsipas is more talented tho.

I don't think Tsitsi is more talented, if anything--the opposite.
But TSitsi has had better results, is one year older, but definitely has taken his game to a more consistent level than Shap.
I would argue it's Shap's huge talent that is standing in the way of consistency--he has so many choices of what he can do, that it will take longer to assemble a consistent game.

 

[SetPointDown]

False

 

[Maestro99]

Why on earth would you retire if your job is playing the game you love and you're winning, healthy, and live in the top 10? Don't worry, Federer/Djokovic/Nadal will retire once they're forced out of the top 10.

 

[just1ce]

LOL it is obv.Poor 40-15rer scared of his vultured tally being shattered by more talented partners from BIG 2

 

[doubletrollt]

Well, that applies to Djokovic and Nadal too. If the other two weren't playing they would be retired or close to it.

I very much doubt that any of Fedalovic would've granted the majors to Murray & co. that way, and without the other two, or just without one of them, it would've been even easier physically to win slams, e.g. HC slams for Djokovic and Federer, considering they've played so many consecutive HC semifinals after their USO'07 final.

 

[Bella&Mirka]

My comment was about sticking around at a high level not about reaching slam semis. There's many who keep on playing well into their 30-ties and still are ranked pretty high:

1) Monfils (33 yo, rank: 10)
2) Fognini (32 yo, rank: 12)
3) Wawrinka (34 yo, rank: 16)
4) Isner (34 yo, rank: 19)
5) Tsonga (34 yo, rank: 29 and growing)
6) Cuevas (33 yo, rank: 45)
7) Verdasco (36 yo, rank: 49)
8) Simon (34 yo, rank: 55)
9) Gasquet (33 yo, rank: 61)
10) Andujar (33 yo, rank: 64)
11) Seppi (35 yo, rank: 75)
12) Kohlschreiber (36 yo, rank: 79)
13 Anderson (33 yo, rank: 91)
14) Karlovic (40 yo, rank 95)

This is just TOP100. They are all gatekeepers too. Many more in 100-200.

Meh, the lower 10 of those guys are no threat to the big names and 3 of the other 4 never reached a Slam final. Not my definition of 'top level'. The Big 3 are a law unto themselves and we shouldn't fool ourselves that it's any easier to succeed in pro tennis >32 than it used to be.