re: Let's Talk About The Great Great Rafael Nadal

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Rafa is an incredible tennis player who will go down as one of the best male tennis players of all time, no question. However, in my personal opinion, Roger Federer holds the edge for career achievement and overall prowess.

Let's compare their resumes (I'm not going to include their doubles resumes because they're basically the same):

Roger Federer

-Professional Record: 1207-264 (82.1%)
-Career Prize Money: $124,293,122 (second all time)
-Career Titles: 101 (second in the Open Era)
-Grand Slam Singles: 6 Australian Opens, 1 Roland-Garros, 8 Wimbledons, 5 US Opens (for a total of 20 Singles Grand Slam Titles)
-Olympic Medals: Gold in 2008 Doubles, Silver in 2012 Singles

Rafael Nadal

-Professional Record: 951-185 (83%)
-Career Prize Money: $109,533,646 (third all time)
-Career Titles: 82 (fourth in the Open Era)
-Grand Slam Singles: 1 Australian Open, 12 French Opens, 2 Wimbledons, 3 US Opens (for a total of 18 Singles Grand Slam Titles)
-Olympic Medals: Gold in 2008 Singles, Gold in 2016 Doubles

Head-to-Head

-Rafa leads 24-15 all time

If you want a more detailed h2h breakdown, here it is

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I didn't intend for this to be a Rafa v. Fed thread, though perhaps it was unavoidable for it to go in that direction.

That being said: I'll simply offer up that the Smug v. Rafa argument is objectively very arguable. As in, notwithstanding the fact that I love me some Rafa, any adherence to intellectual honesty would dictate a conclusion that solid cases can be made on both sides.

Oh, but man if Rafa would have held on in that '17 aussie final....

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I think Fed's game is more elegant and pleasing to watch, but my youngest son who is 14 would tell you that Rafa's is more pleasing to watch, largely because it resembles his style of play.

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Yeah, it's in the eye of the beholder. I don't like conclusive statements about how Federer has the more beautiful or aesthetically pleasing game. The first time I ever saw Rafa Nadal play tennis I was pretty much instantly mesmerized. I had never seen anything like it, and didn't know how anyone was gonna beat this kid.

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Head-to-Head

-Rafa leads 24-15 all time
Worst way to judge them

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And, yeah, head-to-head results are just a terribly inadequate way to judge players in an individual sport.

Just read that sentence. Several times please. As many as it takes to sink in that it's belly-laugh funny.

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Fed and Nadal are also separated by 5 years. Thats a pretty sizable gap for tennis that nobody seems to care about when it comes to this

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You can't on one hand celebrate Fed's late-career resurgence as proof of his GOATness, and then on the other hand, use the age difference as an excuse.

Intellectual honesty, please pretty please.

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Ultimate opinion. Fed is the greatest overall player and greatest grass court player

Nadal is the greatest clay court player and third best overall player

Djok is the second greatest overall player

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For me, it's tough to make an argument that Fed at his absolute best beats Djoke at his absolute best.

I agree that these three are 1, 2, 3. I think it has become difficult to come to any other conclusion.

When evaluating how to order said 1, 2, and 3, I think the conversation is essentially meaningless unless we first agree on what questions we are attempting to answer. If we are using what I commonly refer to as "the alien test", I would actually be inclined to take both Nadal and Djoke over Fed.

Interesting graphic. Rafa entered his prime in 2008 (this would be a difficult statement to disagree with). If we look at majors won after 2007, Fed has a mere 8, while Rafa has 15.




The argument that Fed was vulturing a weak era -- winning finals against the likes of Marcos Fatdatis, Geriatric Agassi, Roddick, and some guy named Fernando Gonzalez -- and has been the third best player in his era once the two best players in his era hit their primes is not at all uncompelling.