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A fresh Nadal can give him a run for his money, but I see where you're coming from. Novak was supreme in the 2nd week, especially the destructions of Nishikori in the SF and Del Potro in the F
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I'm a big Rafa fan, but unless on clay, he always seems to come up short v Djoker.
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Everyone going into Aus Open fresh will be very interesting. The likes of Nadal and Federer were going into the US Open off the back of trying hard the full year. Maybe Federer less so with him skipping the clay season actually.
A Nadal v Djokovic final in Australia would be epic |
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With hopefully a different outcome to last time they met in the Aussie final.
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signs that the tank is starting to run empty for federer. another 4 months older surely massive at his age. been said before i know but think i'll be surprised if he wins another slam even given the utter hopelessness of the younger players
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Rafa seems to consistently break down over 2 weeks of a hard court Slam which I think makes Oz Open tough for him but would never discount him. French Open is going to be harder for him in next couple of years with the rise of Thiem plus Djokovic a factor again. For Rafa to get to 20 he's going to need to magic a Slam win somewhere else outside of RG & I think Wimbledon might be his best chance - I'm pretty sure he would have beaten Djokovic this year if the match was played outdoors. He was a victim of ridiculous Wimbledon scheduling & even more ridiculous rules of a match starting under the roof must end under the roof unless both players consent to playing it outdoors. Djokovic knew an indoor match gave him a crucial edge. Can't see Fed winning another Slam so if Djokovic can stay fit he may well end up with the most Slams out of the 3 imho.
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Yep, good summary.
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Djoker will overtake Nadull, but not reach Fed's 20, he would have taken the most without his 2 years off track
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Won't be easy to catch either. Nadal will surely add to his total. Djokovic isn't that young anymore, he will have to win like 2-3 slams a year for next few years to catch them, and I think that's probably unlikely. In theory it sounds plausible, but injuries will kick in at this stage of career, he won't be super dominant like 2015 anymore imo.
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and Thiem or Zverev could break through for real.
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There's also that Djokovic plays a very grinding game that relies on having super stamina to grind opponents into oblivion over his career. Much harder to do that once you start getting into your 30s consistently.
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Looks like Roger will hold on to the title of most slams won
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joko will overtake feds 20..........
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Hope he does - it would be the end the GOAT discussion - most slams and winning records against both (which presumably would be extended).
May not be the majority view - but think all playing at their pinnacle, Djokovic is actually the best imo - unbeatable - years ago I was on the wrong end of him financially and disliked him because of it. Had to come the earth-shattering conclusion in the big big games - Djoko had to be my man. |
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Fed 20, Rafa 17, Djoko 15. Only 1 winner for me from this point - Novak
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the joker will have to get his skates on
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I've said it before, and I'll say it again.
Rafael Nadal is quite possibly the most ferocious competitor in the entire history of sport, he can certainly not be excluded from the discussion. Just thank our lucky stats to have been around to witness an era of mens tennis when there have been three gladiators of sport pushing each other to greater and greater heights. |
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He's slam record is way too top heavy, take away his best slam he has 7 slams, take away Novak's best slam Australia he has 9, take away Wimbledon from Federer and he has 12.
in fact Nadal outside of the French Open has won just 2 slams in 7 years and he didn't beat either Fed/Novak in those 2. |
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True.
But can you imagine what the numbers would be if there were 2 clay court slams & 1 hard court slam? |
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yep ,he could argue there aren't enough Clay
![]() I think Djokovic will see Rafa off in atleast 3 more slams and Rafa will grab atleast one more at RG ... but I think the gap is too big now ... 22 or 23 by Rafas retirement ? ...that record will probably last decades |
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Federer - 8 grass, 11 hard court, 1 clay
Novak - 5 grass, 11 hard court, 1 clay Nadal - 2 grass, 5 hard court, 13 clay I think this shows that Federer and Djokovic are more dynamic than Nadal as they're much more accomplished across different surfaces, if there were 2 slams on clay it would further highlight Nadal's limitations. These top spin forehands are far less effective on surfaces that don't grip and shoot the ball upwards |
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has there ever been a grass court specialist ? that's something that could hold you in good stead ...just win every single Wimbledon
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Looks like Fed destined to be in 3rd spot quite soon.
At least that will quieten down the annual Federer BBC love-in called Wimbledon. |