Is Rafael Nadal the Greatest of All Time?

U. S. — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:31:25 -0400

Like Jefferson, Washington, Roosevelt, and Lincoln were carved into the granite of the symbolic national structures, Mt. Rushmore, in the summer of 2009, there was an addition to its counterpart in tennis.

Late into the gentle Wimbledon night, Roger Federer was crowned champion and was personally carved into the pantheon by his neighbors on that mythic mount.

But now Federer, that impeccably elegant, divinely perfect Swiss genius, was proclaimed the grandest champion of all, better than everybody else, the first face on the tennis mountain that all eyes will be drawn to.

For those of us who were raised on the relatively monotonous, monochrome, and mundane but distinctly appreciable court exploits of Pete Sampras and the power serve and quick volley era of the 90's, Federer became an acquired taste.

Well worth the time that it may have taken to acquire it though.

But wait, late into the dusk of endless platitudes, the always peculiar and offbeat Bud Collins was asked the question, already answered by almost all the great champions in the greatest of tennis temples.

"I would say, one of them, one of the greatest players with Laver, Borg, and Pete. You know, I'd also wait to see Nadal's career, because he should be in that conversation"

The forgotten man in the conversation. The undefeated champion. Unable to defend his title because of the ill-fated injustice of injury.

Could Bud Collins be right?

Could the muscular Nadal, be the best, when it's all said and done?

Could he still be underrated, while being considered the best player in the world?

For there is an allusion, that is the one flailing, flogging flaw in the most magnificent and majestic combination of skill and success that tennis has ever seen.

13-7.

The head-to-head record.

Against his main rival.

How can the greatest be not greater than a supposedly less skilled contemporary on 13 out of 20 occasions?

The Swiss genius is greater than all who came before, and yet, the Spanish bullfighter has tamed him.

Does it diminish Federer's status from "of all time" to "one of", or does it maybe make Nadal the greatest?

Domination of a rivalry cannot be sufficient substantiation. He would have to have a similarly awe-inspiring list of accomplishments at the end of his career.

The answer would have become evident in the next three years, but that was before the inauspicious knee impairment.

Now the prominent school of thought is uncertainty and an inescapable early decline due to an extensive history of knee injuries at 23, or maybe because of a bruising and burdensome style of play.

But an opening, an opportunity, an option is there, to end a career as the greatest of his profession.

Very few people even dream of it.

The tale is yet to be told.

Juan Martin Del Potro: The Rafa Killer?

U. S. — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:26:58 -0400

Imagine building a player with the perfect repertoire of weapons and attributes. You come more or less to Roger Federer.

Now, for the sake of intellectual pursuit, build a player with the attributes to beat the perfect player and you have Rafael Nadal, the best player in the world.

The player against whom you can have no game plan, other than the hard, brutal work necessary to win every point; and at the big points, trying to out-compete the player with the mental toughness and the fire of a Spanish bull.

Tennis isn't objective. They thought the same of Mr. Federer before the kid from Mallorca arrived.

There is another kid, who has arrived, from the clay courts of Tandil, Argentina.

At barely 20, he has reached the No. 5 ranking in the world. He also has shown the underrated ability to make tennis writers and commentators, non discreetly, notice how much he improved from his last tournament.

This quality is consistent with most up and coming young players but it is not what makes the young Argentinian special. He has been known as a future Grand Slam winner since he was 14.

What makes young Palito singular is the type of game he has.

If you were to ask the same question asked of Mr.Federer, above, about Mr. Mallorca, you would get Juan Martin Del Potro, the youngest player in the top 5 in the world.

Among the most powerful first serves in the game: Check.

The third most powerful second serve in the game, after Karlovic and Roddick: Check.

Enough power of both Forehand and Backhand to overpower Nadal: Check.

An offensive baseline game with an instinctive ability to come to net and finish: Check.

One of the best most efficient movers on tour: Check.

Very underrated ability to punish returns of serve, especially the second serve: Check.

And most importantly, one of the tallest players on tour at 6'6", and not bothered by the high Nadal topspin: Big Check.

Mental toughness: Maybe.

Rafa Killer: Maybe.

Bleacher Report - Articles by U. S.

Is Rafael Nadal the Greatest of All Time?

Juan Martin Del Potro: The Rafa Killer?