What about the past 3 Olympics? In '08, Nadal beat Djokovic to get to the final. In '12, Djokovic, del Potro, Federer and Murray were the final 4 (Nadal who was defending was injured and didn't compete,) and in '16, Nadal was in SFs, del Potro, who beat Djokovic was in the final, and Murray defended. (Federer didn't attend.) This is pretty high quality at the end stages. No random winners.
In hindsight, Federer lost a golden opportunity in 2004, arguably his best year ever, he was the undisputed #1, had already won the AO and Wimbledon that year ( and would later go on to win the USO) , no Nadal or Djokovic around and won 11 titles that year. At the Olympics was upset in an early round by teenager Thomas Berdych.
I think even he has said as much about 2004. You could look at 2004 RG and say the same. What an opportunity, given the way it played out. He lost to Kuerten at RG, which is no shame, even though Guga was on his last legs, and to Berdych at the OG, which is just the beginning of places that Tomas skunked Roger in a few big moments. It's arguable that he saw the world stretching in front of him, and didn't anticipate tidal wave Nadal coming, or Djokovic some time down the road. It's hard to think he was complacent, but those were opportunities missed, looking back, as you say.
Again 35 year old Lebron in the NBA on any given day can play light outs, he may not have the explosiveness consistently of his 20’s but he can be still THE man. Ditto Tom Brady.
You have very selective memory and don't read posts properly or study the stats. Nadal has won 65% of his slams on just one surface. That's a very negative stat which you conveniently ignore everytime it's pointed out. The other 2 show much better diversity and are not only dominant on one surface so no chance he's 3rd because of that currently and things aren't over yet either. Federer being 5/6 years older than Nadal and Djokovic isn't their generation either, genius. His generation are all pretty much retired.
I like your take on aging elite athletes and comparisons to LeBron and Brady. I don't think it's a bell curve for really top players. They all lose something somewhere post-30, but they gain other things, too. There is certainly an "any given day," or "any given tournament" component to it. As Jon Wertheim said in his most recent Mailbag on SI, just ask Diego Schwartzman, who beat Rafa in Rome last fall and didn't take a set off of him at RG, just a couple of weeks later. What I argue with Front over (amongst other things over the years...LOL
) is the notion that Roger left his "prime years" behind in 2007. Or that you can be old and tired in 2012, but not 2017. Surely Roger and Rafa have lost a step, at this point. Maybe not yet so much Novak. But what we do see in all 3 is the inability to keep up the intensity, week in, week out, that they had in their most salad days. There are more head-scratching losses. But they have so much talent and drive that they can still summon it, and at the important moments. I watched Brady blow away Mahomes.
Please stop embarrassing yourself.
There is nothing negative about Nadal having won 13 Majors on clay. There just isn't. You can't reduce one of the greatest achievements in sports to a negative stat. Additionally, his resume off-clay is still Hall of Fame. And he had two future Hall of Famers on HC, grass and indoor HCs in his path. What he HAS done, which they have not, is limit his rivals to one clay Major each. He, on the other hand, has 2 grass Majors, and 5 HC ones, 4 of which he won beating the other 2 directly in finals. They can't say the same about him on clay. Neither ever beat him directly in a final at RG. I know that Fed fans and Nole fans like to talk about the "balance," but creating records that we will likely never see broken in our lifetime is not a bad thing. Plus, lest I have to remind you again, clay is a surface that tennis is played on.
That abdominal problem that prevented him from winning the AO? Oh, right, he did win it. What abdominal problem, seriously? 20 quid says he plays Miami.
LOL! only 20 quid that is not a high stake for the No 1 player in the world....That abdominal problem that prevented him from winning the AO? Oh, right, he did win it. What abdominal problem, seriously? 20 quid says he plays Miami.
It's what I've got...take it or leave it.LOL! only 20 quid that is not a high stake for the No 1 player in the world....
Hmmm you drive a hard bargain....I will leave it,dont spend that all at once okayIt's what I've got...take it or leave it.
We'll call it a gentlewoman's bet. When you come to NYC, debt comes paid when we have a beer together. I look forward to it.Hmmm you drive a hard bargain....I will leave it,dont spend that all at once okay
There is a reason for the trope "Wily Veteran" is used so much in sport.
Exactly. What you might lose in youthful vigor, you gain in experience and guile. But this may be where we have to leave off team sports, and talk about what these individual elites have done, as you said about their run at Majors, and including Roger. They have no one to hide behind or to count on to get it done. It's all on them. And they keep finding the mustard. There were some Novak fans trying to make much of Medvedev getting seen off by Novak, compared to going 5 sets with Rafa. As if any of that was about Medvedev, materially. I do think that Medvedev failed in a big way at the AO, as he did have opportunities to make more of a match of it. But I don't see how either match was ever going to be other than about Nadal and Djokovic. Nadal was tight, and Djokovic got tight. Why, because of the moment. Medvedev played his part, better in one, lesser in the other. But I think we all understand who is singing the tenor roles in this part of the tennis saga, and who is just coming in as the chorus. Until further notice.
Probably much the same so as the supposed knee injury Nadal had in Wimbledon 2010. Seemed to get worse after Petzschner was kicking his ass eventhough his movement was exactly the same. It was so bad he won the title just like Djokovic at the AO. If you're gonna slag Djokovic, don't forget the player you support has a pretty damn dubious history with MTOs.That abdominal problem that prevented him from winning the AO? Oh, right, he did win it. What abdominal problem, seriously? 20 quid says he plays Miami.
How could I forget that one when you bring it up every 6 months? If he has such a "dodgy" history of MTOs, how come you only have pretty much the same one or two examples from 10 years ago? As I said in a post recently ago, I think on the AO thread: I recognize that some people think the same of Nadal, but what Nadal mostly actually has is a history of injury, and his injuries have had a lot of consequences for his career. He'd already lost time to his knees by 2010. Djokovic seems not to have real ramifications from these niggles, at least since the old days when he retired a lot. (And don't forget the patented Federer gambit: "I lost the 4th set? MTO please.")
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