CAMELOT FANTASIES

Quote from: Clay Death on December 09, 2013, 05:41:07 pm

manolo Santana:

rafa can hit 17 slams:


http://www.stevegtennis.com/2013/12/manolo-santana-nadal-can-equal-federer-in-grand-slam-titles/

I'll bet some people on other tennis boards are spitting mad.

This is one "expert" that don't want to hear from.

Rafa is chasing history. I think he will do it.


I have lost most of my friends who were massive roger Federer fans.


can you believe that? I supported some of these people for years and now they are no where to be found.


I even asked them to help us initially to get our Camelot off the ground and up and running. well they not only ran, they did not even have the guts to wish us good luck.



it does not matter now. we did it.


you, me, and the others here did it all by ourselves.


we made it happen and now there will be no stopping us ever.

we have Camelot and it is ours to share with the world.


we have a home while all those I counted on are running like dogs on the street with no place to turn to.

CD,

I really hope Rafa does it, because I think he's had a much harder road to glory.

CD,

I really hope Rafa does it, because I think he's had a much harder road to glory.

Hi TT, I don't necessarily think so. Mainly because, as I see it, Nadal only had to deal one opponent at a time. For example, from 2005 to 2010 it was Federer and Federer's best years were from 2003 to 2007 in the sense of peak time, so by the time Nadal finally started exploring outside clay, Federer already had his best years behind him. In those years, he pretty much dominated all surfaces other than clay. It's to only Federer's credit that he continued to play very well even after 2008 and stayed very, very consistent.

And Nole didn't peak until 2011 and Murray until 2012. In those years, Nadal only had one true rival and that was Nole. Murray had always been a mental midget - reason why he had to go and get Lendl so that he could finally take that quantum leap and these two haven't met since then. For example, in 2012 Nadal didn't play USO. In 2013, Nadal didn't play AO and Murray didn't play FO and while Nadal went out quite early at Wimbledon, Murray too followed suit at USO, so Nadal never had to play against Murray. He was still left with to deal with one rival only. So while his best years are definitely 2008, 2010 and 2013, he didn't necessarily face more competition than Federer.
 
It's actually Nole and Murray who have much tougher roads than both Federer and Nadal as they had to face both Nadal and Federer not to mention each other since 2008.

Emma,

I disagree. Nadal is one of the few champions who has had to deal with two primary foes at the same time. Although Federer’s peak years were from 2003-2007, I don’t think Federer’s peak years impacted Nadal too negatively since Nadal has never had a particularly difficult time with Federer, on any surface besides indoors.  Novak, OTOH  has always been the primary foe of Nadal’s and the opponent Toni most feared from the beginning.
 
If Federer’s peak years were from 2003-2007, that gives Fed five years of peak performance. Nadal is such that people have a hard time determining his prime since he began winning so early. Traditionally, those that peak early, burn out early. So, Nadal has the distinction of beating Federer before his prime, before going on to deal with his most difficult opponent in Novak soon after his own prime began. This has resulted in a ten year period of playing at an extremely high level for an extended period of time. 

Federer's best years were from 2003 to 2007 in the sense of peak time, so by the time Nadal finally started exploring outside clay, Federer already had his best years behind him.   

I don’t agree that Federer's best years were behind him, because although Federer’s results have tapered off, he still had mastery over Novak and Andy (Andy, particularly in the key matches). Nadal was the only threat to Federer, IMO, during his entire career. I also think part of Federer’s “issues” can be directly attributed to the psychological damage that Nadal has inflicted upon him over the years and has nothing to do with his level of play.

I think Nadal faced more competition than Federer, because Federer was the ATP poster boy and you had professionals being too intimidated to actually play him based on his status in the game. Meanwhile, they came after Nadal like rabid dogs. Roddick, Berdych, Wawrinka, del Potro, amongst others regularly did not give their best against Federer, although with the exception of Roddick, they had the tools to do so.

I don’t give Novak and Andy a pass for their mental shortcomings, because both were equipped with the necessary tools from the onset. The fact that they did not take advantage of some of their prime years lies solely on them.