Official Tennis thread

The final is at 2:30 am my time, which means it likely won't end until well past 6:00 am. Oh well, sleeping is overrated, anyway. :p
 
I'm debating if I want to try to get a nap in beforehand, but I'll probably just end up staying up straight through the night.
 
It was solidified long ago.
Well the head to head record is hugely in Nadal's favor, and if he would have won tonight, it would be 17 Slams for Federer compared to to 15 for Nadal. With the French Open still looming. Not to mention the fact that Nadal is 5 years younger than Federer, and could have the chance to catch up after Roger retires.

It's hard to be the greatest of all time when you're not even the greatest of your own generation.
 
Hard for me to consider Nadal the greatest of his generation when he has a total of 5 GS titles outside of French Open. Head-to-head record doesn't really mean anything, that's more about a clash of two players' strengths and weaknesses, not their greatness relative to every player that ever played.

Nadal is clearly the greatest clay player of all time. Not really that close to being the greatest of all time. The age argument doesn't mean anything either, that speaks about potential. Of course he could surpass Federer sometime in the future, but until that happens, there's no conversation as to who the GOAT is.
 
Last edited:
My favourite piece of meaningless tennis trivia today:

Djokovic has played against Istomin three times in the Australian Open - and a Swiss player has ended up winning the tournament every time: Federer in 2010 and 2017, Wawrinka in 2014.
 
Nice to see Federer improved his backhand.

Cool that he wins a Grand Slam after five years (Wimbledon 2012)! I couldn't find a stat about time in between Grand Slam victories but I am sure this was rare. Ken Rosewall won the French Open in 1968, twelve(!) years after winning Wimbledon in 1956. That's probably the record for male players in Grand Slam singles. Federer could be second.
 
Yes. But I mean something else. Years between two Grand Slam wins. Not between first and last. Just between one and the next one.

Five years is rare. I would be interested in knowing if another man besides Rosewall (twelve!) had ever experienced such a period (five years or more) in between such victories. It's not easy to find out.
 
Last edited:
Marat Safin: 2000 US Open/2005 Australian Open. Only other one I can think of.
 
Upon searching: internet says Arthur Ashe went more than (just over) five years between Australian Open in 1970 & winning Wimbledon in 1975. Longest gap in Open Era on the men's side. Virginia Wade did the same: Aust. 1972 > Wimb. 1977 (just over five years). If you count doubles, Martina Hingis went almost a decade: Aust. 2006 > Aust. 2015.

I haven't checked any of these.
 
Back
Top