OT: Rafael Nadal Loses In First Round at Last French Open

[Drew]

112-4 all time at Roland Garros. Just an ABSURD record. Maybe my favorite player to watch of all time, even more so than Fed. Truly one of a kind and hope he sticks it out to play Wimbledon/US Open assuming his body holds up.

 

[gsmooth]

112-4 all time at Roland Garros. Just an ABSURD record. Maybe my favorite player to watch of all time, even more so than Fed. Truly one of a kind and hope he sticks it out to play Wimbledon/US Open assuming his body holds up.

He really is one of a kind. Djokovic will most likely go down as the #1 player of all time with the 24 grand slams (Nadal has 22) , 6 ATP Championships (Nadal has none), and most Masters series tournament wins (I think Nadal was second). However, take any player throughout history and combine them with their best grand slam tournament (i.e. Djokovic-Australian Open, Federer-Wimbledon, Sampras-Wimbledon, etc.) and Nadal-French Open is clearly #1 by a mile, I mean 112-3 before yesterday is unbelievable. Take any player in history and their best surface (Djokovic-hard surface, Federer-grass, Sampras-grass, etc.) and Nadal-clay is clearly #1.

Don't get me wrong, Nadal is very good on all surfaces, but his dominance of the French Open and playing on clay was remarkable. In 2021, when Nadal was down 2 sets to 1 set in the French Open semifinal, the live betting lines still had Nadal as the favorite. I don't think any live betting line in history would have a player who is trailing 1 set to 2 sets as a favorite. It speaks to the dominance of his French Open.

 

[Chin Diesel]

However, take any player throughout history and combine them with their best grand slam tournament (i.e. Djokovic-Australian Open, Federer-Wimbledon, Sampras-Wimbledon, etc.) and Nadal-French Open is clearly #1 by a mile, I mean 112-3 before yesterday is unbelievable. Take any player in history and their best surface (Djokovic-hard surface, Federer-grass, Sampras-grass, etc.) and Nadal-clay is clearly #1.

Don't get me wrong, Nadal is very good on all surfaces, but his dominance of the French Open and playing on clay was remarkable. In 2021, when Nadal was down 2 sets to 1 set in the French Open semifinal, the live betting lines still had Nadal as the favorite. I don't think any live betting line in history would have a player who is trailing 1 set to 2 sets as a favorite. It speaks to the dominance of his French Open.

Bunch of ways to look at the Big 3 and their dominance and their Achilles' heel.

Nadal
Australian Open- 2
French Open-14
Wimbledon- 2
US Open-4

Djokovic
Australian Open- 10
French Open- 3
Wimbledon- 7
US Open- 4

Federer
Australian Open- 6
French Open- 1
Wimbledon- 8
US Open- 5

Federer has won 5 or more titles in the 3 of the grand slams but he's the only one who has only one win in one of the gland slams.
Djokovic has at least 3 wins in each of the grand slam events.

Head to Head
Nadal vs Federer- 24-10 overall; 14-10 in Finals; 10-4 in GS; 6-3 GS Finals
Nadal vs Djokovic- 29-30; 13-15 in Finals; 11-7 in GS; 5-4 GS Finals
Federer vs Djokovic- 23-27; 6-13 in Finals; 6-11 in GS; 1-4 GS Finals

Federer born in 1981
Nadal born in 1986
Djokovic born in 1987
I think history is settling down on 1. Djokovic 2. Nadal 3. Federer. As much as I appreciate Federer's all around game which excelled more consistently on more surfaces than Nadal's, he gets hurt by his head to head against Nadal.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The one thing that gets overlooked about Nadal's career is that there was never a moment during his prime that at least one of two players who could be argued as being best ever (Federer, Djokovic) wasn't also in his prime.

Each of the three is without question an alltime great and the dominance they collectively had over the past two decades is almost incomprehensible.

 

[superjohn]

Djokovic is the best tennis player ever.

Nadal and Federer were amazing but Novak basically has all the records.

 

[husky429]

I have a feeling the 2000s and 2010s will be thought of as a golden-age of tennis when we look back at it in 30 years.

 

[brihman]

Djokovic is the best tennis player ever.

Nadal and Federer were amazing but Novak basically has all the records.

Accurate it’s hard to argue against Novak at this point. The joker will never get an ovation like that however!

 

[IndyLives]

I'm on Nadal's side in terms of GOAT history/legacy. It's too bad Nadal's body gave out to injury the last 2 years. In my opinion, in his prime and healthy, Nadal was an absolute machine and I would take him over anyone else.

The way I look at it is this - if all 3 were healthy and in their prime, who would win head-to head.

French Open:
Nadal vs Federer: Nadal
Nadal vs Novak: Nadal
Federer vs Novak: Federer

U.S. Open:
Nadal vs Federer: Nadal
Nadal vs Novak: Nadal
Federer vs Novak: Federer

Wimbledon:
Nadal vs Federer: Federer
Nadal vs Novak: Novak
Federer vs Novak: Novak

Australian Open:
Nadal vs Federer: Nadal
Nadal vs Novak: Novak
Federer vs Novak: Novak

TOTAL:
Nadal: 5
Novak: 4
Federer: 3

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'm on Nadal's side in terms of GOAT history/legacy. It's too bad Nadal's body gave out to injury the last 2 years. In my opinion, in his prime and healthy, Nadal was an absolute machine and I would take him over anyone else.

The way I look at it is this - if all 3 were healthy and in their prime, who would win head-to head.

French Open:
Nadal vs Federer: Nadal
Nadal vs Novak: Nadal
Federer vs Novak: Federer

U.S. Open:
Nadal vs Federer: Nadal
Nadal vs Novak: Nadal
Federer vs Novak: Federer

Wimbledon:
Nadal vs Federer: Federer
Nadal vs Novak: Novak
Federer vs Novak: Novak

Australian Open:
Nadal vs Federer: Nadal
Nadal vs Novak: Novak
Federer vs Novak: Novak

TOTAL:
Nadal: 5
Novak: 4
Federer: 3

Head to head Federer beats Nadal on 3 out of 4 surfaces.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Head to head Federer beats Nadal on 3 out of 4 surfaces.

View attachment 101083

12 of Federer's 20 slams came by the end of 2007, before Nadal and Djokovic were in their prime. He's obviously an all time great by any metric, but he had a big advantage in being able to beat up on a relatively weaker era of tennis than Nadal and Djokovic.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Head to head Federer beats Nadal on 3 out of 4 surfaces.

View attachment 101083

Nadal eclipsed Federer a couple years prior to Nadal reaching his (for men's tennis) prime while Federer was in his prime, on the surface (grass) where Federer should have had the greatest advantage.

Unfortunately for Nadal (and yes, this is always a part of the equation when ranking someone historically) an injury took out some of his mid 20's seasons which would have given him a few additional majors while taking a couple from Federer and Djokovic. Additionally, his style of play (also part of the equation) led him to break down earlier than the other two.

I hate discussions like this as they normally lead to someone belittling an elite athlete in an attempt to prove the one they prefer was better. These three men were very likely the three greatest ever (order them as you will) and if they didn't have the other two in the way for many years, the dominance from any one of them would have been monumental.
If you were to place any one of the three, beginning his career in for example 1985, we would have seen a half dozen grand slams and overall numbers that would be difficult to imagine. Other than Sampras once he hit his stride at Wimbledon, nobody would have been consistently competitive against any of the three.

 

[superjohn]

Nadal eclipsed Federer a couple years prior to Nadal reaching his (for men's tennis) prime while Federer was in his prime, on the surface (grass) where Federer should have had the greatest advantage.

Unfortunately for Nadal (and yes, this is always a part of the equation when ranking someone historically) an injury took out some of his mid 20's seasons which would have given him a few additional majors while taking a couple from Federer and Djokovic. Additionally, his style of play (also part of the equation) led him to break down earlier than the other two.

I hate discussions like this as they normally lead to someone belittling an elite athlete in an attempt to prove the one they prefer was better. These three men were very likely the three greatest ever (order them as you will) and if they didn't have the other two in the way for many years, the dominance from any one of them would have been monumental.
If you were to place any one of the three, beginning his career in for example 1985, we would have seen a half dozen grand slams and overall numbers that would be difficult to imagine. Other than Sampras once he hit his stride at Wimbledon, nobody would have been consistently competitive against any of the three.

Djokovic missed three grand slams he would've been the heavy favorite to win because of Covid/vaccination. He would've won the Australian which he wins every year. Nadal got that additional grand slam, he hadn't even taken a set off Djokovic on a hardcourt since 2013 and only won two non-clay matches against Djokovic since 2011.

Djokovic is the best ever, Nadal #2, Federer #3.

 

[IndyLives]

Head to head Federer beats Nadal on 3 out of 4 surfaces.

View attachment 101083

I'm not going strictly by numbers. In a hypothetical where all 3 are in their prime and healthy, I think Nadal beats Federer on the hard surface Slams.

 

[LIuconn]

Hip labrum tear took out Andy Murray. Looks like it’s doing the same with Nadal. Plus age, but that injury is a death sentence to high performing athletes

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'm not going strictly by numbers. In a hypothetical where all 3 are in their prime and healthy, I think Nadal beats Federer on the hard surface Slams.

Welp, that obviously can't be proven or disproven.

 

[Drew]

Carlos has a chance to be the if he keeps this up

 

[Drew]

This is somewhat promising for the American men in tennis… Kaylan Bigun wins the Boy’s Singles title at Roland Garros. He is 18 and set to enroll to play for UCLA next year- American winning on the red clay at any level is mightily impressive:

 

[Drew]

And lastly.. Iga is the women’s Nadal at the French Open:

 

[TheChamps990411]

112-4 all time at Roland Garros. Just an ABSURD record. Maybe my favorite player to watch of all time, even more so than Fed. Truly one of a kind and hope he sticks it out to play Wimbledon/US Open assuming his body holds up.

Sucks to let go of something you love but you have to come to the realization that youve lost what you once had and its not coming back. Enjoy the greatness and look back on it fondly but its time for him to shave his head.

 

[Drew]

Alcaraz breaks Zverev to open the Men’s Final…. Only for Zverev to immediately break back and tie it up at 1 game a piece

Last ever French Open Final on NBC. Hope we get a good one

 

[temery]

Alcaraz breaks Zverev to open the Men’s Final…. Only for Zverev to immediately break back and tie it up at 1 game a piece

Last ever French Open Final on NBC. Hope we get a good one

Alcaraz won in five.

 

[Drew]

Alcaraz win in five.

Match was phenomenal.. 4 and a half hours of back and forth and some huge hitting from both players

Zverev is mentally weak, but he got absolutely hosed on the double fault no-call in the fifth set that would’ve given him the break of Alcaraz’s serve. Beyond crazy that the French Open is allowed to get away with not using the Hawkeye technology for reviews in this day and age

 

[Dove]

And this affects Hurley how?

 

[temery]

Alcaraz breaks Zverev to open the Men’s Final…. Only for Zverev to immediately break back and tie it up at 1 game a piece

Last ever French Open Final on NBC. Hope we get a good one

I stopped watching when they let Bud Collins go.

 

[Drew]

I stopped watching when they let Bud Collins go.

I can’t say I blame you, although Noah Eagle was fantastic today.

Sadly, NBC’s level of coverage had gone down hill significantly the last 10 or so years… ESPN made a bid for the entire tournament’s coverage last contract similar to how they have first to last ball coverage for the other three Slams and the French Open people refused to move off NBC at the time due to the longstanding relationship… now TNT will start a ten year deal which hopefully means ESPN’s tennis team can be on the coverage due to the shared streaming service starting next year (which is what I imagine ESPN will also do with the CFP games they sub-licensed to TNT recently)