Wimbledon 2010!

None of them were ever owned. :costumed-smiley-047
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Well, I guess I have been served. Seven pages of records and accomplishments and firsts, and it's all out the window because of a guy who plays a lot of clay matches and, on that one surface and only on that one surface, he "owns" Fed... silly me, I should have recognized this before.

No, I don't think I can get there even with my sarcasm on maximum. It's like saying "the elephant isn't nothin' special, because it'll run from a mouse." Yes, as the mythbusters have shown, an elephant will indeed run from a mouse.

But it's still an elephant!

And you do realize that it's not just me saying Fed is the GOAT, but it's ... everybody. Here is a small list of people who have called Federer "the best player ever" or "the best player in history":

Bud Collins
John McEnroe
Jim Courier
Bjorn Borg
Pete Sampras
Billie Jean King
Robin Soderling
Andre Agassi
Fabrice Santoro
Goran Ivanisevic
Rod Laver
Nick Bollettieri
Ivan Ljubicic

...and...

Rafa Nadal.

At least a few of those might fall into the category of "experts." Now, if you want to argue with all of them, go ahead. But I think the question is pretty much settled. :D

(is this when they say "game, set, match"?) :P
 
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David Jimerson said:
In all seriousness, though, while Berdych has had a fantastic run, Nadal has to be the heavy favorite to win. I mean, Zina Garrison beat Seles in the quarters and then beat Steffi (in her prime) in the semis, but no one seriously expected she could win against Martina.
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If this tournament has taught us anything, it's that we don't have any idea what'll happen next.

Seriously, did anyone expect Berdych to PWN Djokovic like he did? It was almost comical, it was like Pironkova destroying Venus. In fact, it was pretty much exactly like that, and nobody could have predicted it.

So while there's certainly all the reasons in the world to say that Nadal should obliterate Berdych, based on past performance... as for me, I'm just gonna grab the popcorn and watch, 'cause there hasn't been one thing predictable about this tournament yet!
 
Yeah, Nadal just got lucky.


Head-to-head tallies

The following is a breakdown of their head-to-head results:[9]

  • All Matches: Nadal 14-7
  • All Finals: Nadal 12–5
  • Grand Slams: Nadal 6–2
  • Grand Slam Finals: Nadal 5–2
  • Best of 5 sets: Nadal 8-3
  • Masters Cup: Federer 2–0
  • Masters Series: Nadal 7–3
  • Masters Series Finals: Nadal 6–3
[edit] Results on each court surface


 
All my guys retired years ago. J-Mac. Connors. Becker. Edberg. Wilander. Courier. Sampras, Agassi. Flip.
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Wow, I can dig up a quote from (almost) every one of them:

J-Mac:
"He's the most gifted player that I've ever seen in my life. I've seen a lot of people play. I've seen the (Rod) Lavers, I played against some of the great players—the Samprases, Beckers, Connors', Borgs, you name it. This guy could be the greatest of all time. That, to me, says it all."

"Roger is just the greatest player of all time. He is the most beautiful player I’ve ever seen and I don’t ever get tired of watching him. Rod Laver is my idol, Pete Sampras is the greatest grass court player ever, but Roger is just the greatest player of all."

Connors:
"[In the modern game], you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist or a hard court specialist ... or you're Roger Federer. "

Wilander:
"I'd like to be in his shoes for one day to know what it feels like to play that way. "

Courier:
"We are witnessing history. This is the most dominant athlete on planet earth today. "

Sampras:
"What he’s done over the past five years has never, ever been done—and probably will never, ever happen again. Regardless if he won there or not, he goes down as the greatest ever. This just confirms it. Now that he has won in Paris, I think it just more solidifies his place in history as the greatest player that played the game, in my opinion. I’m a huge Laver fan, and he had a few years in there where he didn’t have an opportunity to win majors. But you can’t compare the eras. And in this era, the competition is much more fierce than Rod’s."

"For me, in my prime, I felt unbeatable. In Roger's days, he's unbeatable. It's really hard to put one guy over the other. Having said that, I think Roger is dominating the game much more than I ever did. I think he's going to go on and pass 14 and win 16, 17, 18 majors. I think he's going to break all records."

Agassi:
"Roger Federer will undoubtedly become the greatest tennis player to have graced the sport if he wins the French Open. It ends the discussion of where he fits in the history of the game. If it wasn't for Nadal, he probably would have won a handful of these things."
 
David Jimerson said:
Yeah, Nadal just got lucky.


Head-to-head tallies

The following is a breakdown of their head-to-head results:[9]

  • All Matches: Nadal 14-7
  • All Finals: Nadal 12–5
  • Grand Slams: Nadal 6–2
  • Grand Slam Finals: Nadal 5–2
  • Best of 5 sets: Nadal 8-3
  • Masters Cup: Federer 2–0
  • Masters Series: Nadal 7–3
  • Masters Series Finals: Nadal 6–3
[edit] Results on each court surface


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Right - now strip out clay and it looks a whole lot different, doesn't it?

Nadal is better on clay. Full stop.
 
And yes, for those of you tuning in, this little back 'n' forth between me and David is basically our 40-ish white guys "rap battle".

I feel like we've been engaging in a multi-page version of the Zoolander dance-off.
 
Wait - did they play the final already? I saw what looked like a warm-up match, but that sure wasn't a Wimbledon final...

How disappointing for Berdych. He had a chance to make history and win the greatest achievement, beating #1, #3, and #2 in a row. Instead he goes home looking like a bum. Disappointing end to an awesome tournament.

Nadal played his typical excellent game -- he's really astonishingly good. And with two Wimbledons, and on top of that two French/Wimbledon doubleheaders, he officially gets upgraded.

He's now a two-trick pony. :P

Congrats Nadal, and (if it was just nerves) then the future for Berdych looks very promising.
 
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