Is Kieran now writing under the name "Joe...

[Tennis Miller]

Posnanski"? Kieran, enjoy this article on Rafa. I think you'll say, "I couldn't have said it better myself" My apologies if this was posted already in the forums, but I just saw it now. http://m.nbcsports.com/content/rafa-takes-tennis-another-level-some-help

Cheers
TM

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Good read.

 

[Moxie]

Very interesting, though it would have been more colorful if Kieran had written it.

 

[Kieran]

Thanks TM, excellent article, but if I could write like that I'd be happily employed to write about Rafa even more times in the day than I already do!

I agree with this article, however, and funny enough, I think I read it yesterday. Did he do a follow up article? I think what's particularly interesting is how he describes tennis from the past: it looks ridiculously slow. Borg against Mac would probably hit softer than Serena Williams, and yet they were the top men. The fact is, however, at that time, that's how well the game could be played, it couldn't be played better.

There's a growing case for Rafa but really, I think to select one man over the whole of the past is unfair on the old greats who were combative and tough and greatest of their time - and would love to get a peak Rafa into their fast old fashioned surfaces, heavy wooden rackets and short shorts, and see how he's made of.

Great article, though, very balanced and a good read. Thanks again! :hug

 

[Kieran]

Ah, this is where I remembered some of the article from, it was quoted in another article. Yeah, I Googled Rafa and read almost every bit of news there is since he won Paris... :snigger

 

[tented]

Ah, this is where I remembered some of the article from, it was quoted in another article. Yeah, I Googled Rafa and read almost every bit of news there is since he won Paris... :snigger

I found this odd:

"Safin and Nalbandian gave up on their talent in the second half of their careers in part because they recognized that they simply could not stay with Federer."

 

[Kieran]

Ah, this is where I remembered some of the article from, it was quoted in another article. Yeah, I Googled Rafa and read almost every bit of news there is since he won Paris... :snigger

I found this odd:

"Safin and Nalbandian gave up on their talent in the second half of their careers in part because they recognized that they simply could not stay with Federer."

Yeah, he stretches a lot in that article. Safin burst through in 2000, but he had already faded into puzzling inconsistency and under-achievement long before Federer won his first major...

 

[Moxie]

^ I read that, and found it a total stretch. The fact that Safin and Nalbandian were two of the great underachievers in their, or any, era had far more to do with them than with Federer, imo.

 

[tented]

And what does "gave up on their talent" mean? Why didn't he write "gave up trying"?

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

One thing I don't get. He says " You give servers like John Isner and Milos Raonic and Ernests Gulbis and others the old Wimbledon surface, it's hard to see how Nadal competes against the blur"

Well, Andre did have the old surface and he did compete against the blur and won. Doesn't that make him a better player?

Overall a nice read, but I don't obviously agree with the conclusion.

 

[brokenshoelace]

To be honest I really dislike this sort of articles as they reveal nothing, are ultimately way too subjective, and rely on a little bit of twisting -- or even making up -- narratives. I'm not saying it's a bad article, even though I disagree with much of it, including that Nadal might be the greatest play ever already.