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Is Rafa the greatest Tennis Player ever??


vamos_rafa

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I know I am starting of one more or those comparison threads. But seriously when I viewed Rafa lifting that coveted US Open trophy, the only slam missing from his kitty, this was the only thought that came to my mind. Can he be deemed as the greatest in Tennis History?? I know the connoisseurs and the purists have their own say. They would like to safeguard that title for the federers and the samprases. Or the oldies would point out Ivan Lendel or Rod Laver. Some swear by the name of Boris Becker or John McEnroe. Of the names listed above I have only seen Federer and Sampras in action. As for the other names either they had retired long back when I started off watching Tennis or were past their primes. But Of all the names I think Rafael Nadal needs a special name. Here is a pro, who made his mark by beating Andy Roddick in the Davis Cup finals in 2004, and was deemed as a clay court expert by all. After that match the reaction was that he is the next big thing in Tennis but with an added clause of a clay courtier. So in a way he was being bracketed along side Gustavo "Guga" Kuerton,who was one of the finest clay court players ever,but could never transpire that form onto other Courts. We had all sorts of reasoning like "his serve is not that strong" or "Doesn't volley that well" to show that he would not be able to match up his performances on the clay courts onto the other one's. And how well has he proved the whole world wrong. His serves,though still not the greatest have improved tremendously,his volleying has gone up by leaps and bounds. And his backhand is as potent a winner as his top spinning forehand. And the first slam that he won outside the French Open was none other than Wimbledon. Now that's a rare double to be had, a Wimbledon alongside a french Open title. Even the great Federer had to wait for a long time to acheive it and Sampras, well he could never manage it. And now his acheivements have swelled onto the hard courts as well, first down under last year and now he has the US Open. So much so for a player who was touted to be having a limited game. I think Tennis needs to move out of the shadow of the Federes and Sampras and hail this new king. A champion who always caught the compeition by the scruff of the neck and gave it the best possible punch. When Rafa was making his mark Federer was on his prime. The fact that Rafa has got the better of Federer on most of the occasions indicates the quality of this man. He was the first to make us believe that after all Roger is a human,and reduced him to tears. I think he has inspired the new generation to go out and beat the best and that can be proved by the success of the newer lot against Federer after Rafa reigned supreme against him. His style of play is something that defines a true sportsman. He's like the Steve Waugh of Lawn Tennis. He would never ever shy away from any situation and always would give a more than 100% in all points. He has overcome so many obstacles in the process. He had a career threatening knee injury. People started questioning the longevity of his game but, how well has he silenced his critics. He overcame the mental trauma of his parent's divorce last year and has won 3 out of the 4 majors this year(One of them missed out due to injury). But outside all this he still remains a shy spaniard, who knows he does not have a command over english. He speaks shyly and often his English Statements are ended with a smile as he knows it has gone awry. He might celebrate nastily after points but never does he jeer at his opponenets which is quite refreshing in this world of fake aggression. If he loses a match he does not make excuses but rather would praise the opponent. And even after a win he makes it a point to acknowledge his opponent. The way he condoled a tearful Roger after his 2009 Aus open is one of the best sporting moments in the game. Here his rivalry with Roger needs a special moments. We have seen so many sporting battles go ugly off court wherein, one would take pot shots at the other. But the rafa-Roger rivalry is like a breath of fresh air. They respect each other and never bring in a slight degree of ugliness. All in all the King of Clay has become the King of Tennis now. Rafa take a bow... :hatsoff:

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I dont thiks there is a yes or no asnwer to this. But he and Fed were the two best ever even before Rafa won his US Open, now the question is 'Is Rafa numero uno'. He is modest enough to deflect the question whenever he is asked and tells reporters to look at Feds sheer no of slams. He has a point too. However to achieve what he has at his age, and as you say beat the Fed when he was at his best, not least on grass, is something else. In Sampras defence, it was much harder to win all four slams in his day because the difference (in pace and bounce) between different types of courts was far greater. Plus he had some pretty stiff competition in his day.

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Rafa is set to break the record for most slams, he is only 24 needs 4 years at the most. If he can stay fit he can go past the 20 slam mark. The scary thing is how much is has improved on grass and hards over the last few years, his serve in partciular in this tourno. Fed is on the gradual decline and unless Djok, Murray and Del Potro (hopefully) can really up their game there is no real challenger, particularly on grass.

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No.He never will be. Nor will Fed or all the other names that you have mentioned.Long before the FedEx came along Rod Laver was arguably the greatest, then came Pistol Pete and so there will be names coming along. Rafa may beat all of Fedex records and then there will somebody that comes in and sweeps aside Rafa So essentially he is not yet the greatest player, he may go on to become 'ARGUABLY' the greatest untill such time as somebody else knocks him off his perch.

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No.He never will be. Nor will Fed or all the other names that you have mentioned.Long before the FedEx came along Rod Laver was arguably the greatest' date=' then came Pistol Pete and so there will be names coming along. Rafa may beat all of Fedex records and then there will somebody that comes in and sweeps aside Rafa So essentially he is not yet the greatest player, he may go on to become '[b']ARGUABLY' the greatest untill such time as somebody else knocks him off his perch.
That's a pretty philosophical reply :winky:
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No.He never will be. Nor will Fed or all the other names that you have mentioned.Long before the FedEx came along Rod Laver was arguably the greatest' date=' then came Pistol Pete and so there will be names coming along. Rafa may beat all of Fedex records and then there will somebody that comes in and sweeps aside Rafa So essentially he is not yet the greatest player, he may go on to become '[b']ARGUABLY' the greatest untill such time as somebody else knocks him off his perch.
Rod Laver you are joking! His little wooden rackets and 10 mph serves would get eaten up. He played in non competitive era and is bradman of tennis. You forget Bjorg! Sampras could not do jack on clay. Federer is the best imo. Nadal is awesome but he will not win as many slams as Fed, this is due to Nadals game being heavily based on his physicality and intensity on court. His physical efforts will take its toll and in around 2 to 3 years may suffer injuries and break downs(has already had injury probs which imo will sadly continue). Also the sheer intensity he puts in will take its toll as well and mentally wont be able to keep it up for 6/7 years. Fed is different all grace and timing hence can maintain it for longer and thus picked up all the slams.
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Federer is the best imo. Nadal is awesome but he will not win as many slams as Fed, this is due to Nadals game being heavily based on his physicality and intensity on court. His physical efforts will take its toll and in around 2 to 3 years may suffer injuries and break downs(has already had injury probs which imo will sadly continue). Also the sheer intensity he puts in will take its toll as well and mentally wont be able to keep it up for 6/7 years. Fed is different all grace and timing hence can maintain it for longer and thus picked up all the slams.
Completely agree. Rafa is really good and one of the best of his times but thats what he'll always be - one of the best of his era, never the best ever. Rafa has boundless energy reserves, a wide range of shots, on clay he is probably the best ever and even on other surfaces he's improved drastically in the last 2 years but you can already see that he's having injuries because of playing with such high intensity levels and this may well result in burn-out in years to come. Federer is IMO the greatest tennis player - the way he has dominated his opponents and more importantly, the manner in which he has played the game - so much grace and elegance, it looks as if he never has to make any effort to play those incredible shots and always looks like he's gliding rather than running on the court. His calm, composed, serene presence on court inspires confidence. In tennis there's no sight greater than Federer in full flow gliding from one end of the court to another while leaving his opponents perplexed and the spectators amazed. If Rafa is the King of Tennis, Roger Federer is the Emperor.:hatsoff:
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