Let’s face it. Nadal is five years younger than Federer. Federer’s games are descending after he turned 26 in 2008. People like to throw Roger’s loss to Nadal in 2008 Wimbledon (Federer was 26) and 2009 Australian Open (Roger at 27) into the discussion of Nadal’s dominance over Federer. Roger had also lost to Nadal in 2008 French final in three straight sets (the last set was bageled by Nadal). Ok. Federer had lost all these 3 finals to Nadal at the Majors, but Nadal barely edged him out in 2008 Wimbledon and Federer had pushed him to five sets in 2009 Australian Open. It seems like Nadal is a better player than Federer when we look at their H2H records. It is a pretty easy way to figure out who has been outplayed by who, but you have to take into consideration the age difference between Fed and Rafa. Federer was 26 in 2008 and Nadal was a very young and top athlete at 21 in 2008. Roger was 27 in the first eight months in 2009 and Nadal was still only 21 in the first five months of 2009. It was a difference of five years and 3 months. It is more than a tennis generation apart. I know that Nadal beat Fed in 2004 Indian Wells and 2006 Dubai final, but still when a much younger top-notch tennis player plays against the best and young player who is 5 years older, you have to give the physicality-edge to the younger. Furthermore, it isn’t like Federer didn’t beat Nadal after he had turned 26. Fed beat him 3 more times at ATP final, one at 2009 Madrid Open, 3 or 4 times at other hard court tournaments (one in 2012 Indiana Wells semifinals where Fed defeated him easily in straight sets). So it is not all that dismal on Federer’s part. And, most of the victories notched by Nadal in their early stage’s rivalry were on clay. I have to admit that Nadal has a perfect clay-court game with his moon-balling, heavy topspin, and never-say-die attitude (he plays with his left hand also which works to the disadvantage of an one-handed backhand tennis player). But Federer had beat Nadal in every meeting in his prime except the 2006 Dubai final (Fed lost to him in 3 sets). What do you make of it? Federer lost to Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Tommy Hass, etc. in 2008. What do you think the reason behind that? If Federer had started using the wide-body racket (which adds more power to his games and it is a much lighter one) that he is still testing now 11 years ago, but not stubbornly sticking to using that conventional Wilson Pro-Staff 6.0 90 sq.inch racket, do you think Rafa could have been able to win those significant GS meetings on clay and at other Majors? Nadal is using the Babalot wide-body tennis racket which is one of the lightest and easiest-to-play-with racket available at any sports outlet and tennis shops. Federer’s old conventional racket is obviously more difficult to play with. We have to take these factors into the discussions like: “Who is the real GOAT?” and “Can Rafa catch Federer?” One more thing, the courts nowadays have been slowed down by at 30%. Do the analysis.
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 16:57:48 +0000
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