*Official* Tennis Thread

[Spark]

Nadal took all of 2 games to break his serve after Federer failed to do it in the entire match.

Meh.

Not for a lack of opportunities for Federer tbh

 

[Anil]

i think nadal will crush him...

as i was saying...

 

[Anil]

Nadal's going to have a very strong case for GOAT if he gets another Australian Open.

Seems like he and Djokovic will chase down all of Federer's numbers.

if he wins, he will be the 1st male player to win all the majors at least two times...and yes i agree, i think he will pass federer's slam count...djokovic is a strong bet to do both as well...

 

[Anil]

yeah i hope it is osaka vs kvitova...

should be a good final...

 

[vcs]

This could be one of the ATG chokes from Osaka. Haven't been watching but apparently missed 3 matchpoints at 5-3 on Kvitova's serve. Loses the 2nd set 5-7. Complete meltdown in that last game.

 

[vcs]

Another chance for Osaka to serve it out. That must have been quite challenging mentally, she's recomposed herself pretty well TBF to her.

 

[vcs]

Gets to World No. 1 as well. Finally a worthy World No. 1 in the WTA with two successive Slams.

 

[Anil]

well done osaka! the wta finally has a worthy successor to serena, she along with kvitova, serena, muguruza and halep to a lesser extent should carry women's tennis over the next few years, some brilliant young players coming up as well that should challenge them...

 

[harsh.ag]

Djokovic looking excellent.

 

[Cow]

Nadal’s game doesn’t stack up well to Novak as Novak moves just as well and loves someone targeting his backhand.

 

[OverratedSanity]

This is an absolute pasting so far. I expected djokovic to win but this has been a bit ridiculous.

 

[vcs]

Seems to be terminator mode Djokovic today.

 

[vcs]

I'm expecting some kind of fightback from Nadal in this set though. Nadal just doesn't lose Slam finals without a scrap.

 

[vcs]

Hating myself for cheering for Djokovic.

Nadal will catch Federer up eventually just by winning French Opens alone.

Djokovic in this kind of form could catch up by early next year.

There are no good outcomes here.

 

[social]

The GOAT

 

[vcs]

If he wins 4 on the bounce for the 2nd time at the French, there won't be much to argue about.

And this time last year, I thought his career was coming to an end when he was losing in straight sets to the likes of Paire, Taro Daniel etc. **** me.

 

[social]

If he wins 4 on the bounce for the 2nd time at the French, there won't be much to argue about.

And this time last year, I thought his career was coming to an end when he was losing in straight sets to the likes of Paire, Taro Daniel etc. **** me.

It’s Djoker or Laver for mine

Impossible to be Federer when he’s got a losing record against the 2 best players of his generation

 

[vcs]

Federer was only going to win this argument if he kept the statistical gap to maybe 3 or more. Since that's not going to happen, you're probably right. Nadal is more invincible on his preferred surface. Djokovic beats Federer on all surfaces since 2012.

I can't be too unhappy, Federer did everything in his power to protect his record. Came back after surgery to win 3 Slams and get to 20. These two are just two relentless and the younger ones aren't good enough to stop them.

 

[Anil]

It’s Djoker or Laver for mine

Impossible to be Federer when he’s got a losing record against the 2 best players of his generation

it will be djokovic or nadal by the time they are done...i think federer, nadal and djokovic have all passed laver and sampras at this point...

for me (note, my rankings are based mainly on results in majors...if you take the masters 1000 and 500 titles, federer will probably be lower than djokovic on hard courts as well):

grass

federer
sampras
borg/djokovic

clay

nadal
-
-
-
-
-
borg
maybe vilas but i think djokovic will break into the top 3 by the time he is done

hard court

federer
djokovic will surpass federer by the end of his career
sampras

indoors

djokovic
federer
sampras

all-court

djokovic
federer
nadal

overall it is most likely going to djokovic provided he stays healthy and motivated...

 

[Bahnz]

Federer was only going to win this argument if he kept the statistical gap to maybe 3 or more. Since that's not going to happen, you're probably right. Nadal is more invincible on his preferred surface. Djokovic beats Federer on all surfaces since 2012.

I can't be too unhappy, Federer did everything in his power to protect his record. Came back after surgery to win 3 Slams and get to 20. These two are just two relentless and the younger ones aren't good enough to stop them.

i.e. since Federer started to really decline. I won't get in to the debate about who's the best player (I think, yeah it's probably Djokovic at this point, he likely would've passed Federer already if it hadn't been for his 2017-18 injury struggles). But I think H2H is a pretty average way to measure who is the better player, even if they're pretty much precise contemporaries (which Djokovic and Federer aren't, Federer is 6 years older, and surprise, Djokovic has only really had it all his own way since Federer hit 30). Tennis is game of styles, and different styles suit different surfaces (e.g. Nadal's impervious clay court record) and opponents. Total career grand slam wins is a better indicator of overall greatness for me, and yeah, there's no reason why Federer couldn't be the GOAT even with a losing record against Djokovic and Nadal (especially because against the later Federer has a winning record on 2 of the 3 surfaces).