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Hats off to Rafa!


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  • 11 months later...

I'll be shocked if it turns out differently tomorrow but Roger has had a very nice run to the French Semis. Too bad Rafa is waiting for him.

Does anyone else suspect that Roger decided to play the French because this is going to be it for him, so he's getting the final farewell tour in without announcing it yet?

BTW, oldest men's semi-finalist since Pancho Gonzalez in 1968.

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  • 2 months later...

Fourth US Open for Rafa. One of the most incredible tennis matches I have ever watched. Top-notch playing by Daniil Medvedev; in my view, he is the future, alongside Thiem and a few others. Not too many, actually.

19 Grand Slams... and counting!!!

https://www.elmundo.es/deportes/tenis/us-open/2019/09/09/5d75a78efdddff57608b45c9.html

 

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And now barring injury, I would have to predict that if Roger doesn't somehow win the Australian in January, next May Rafa will tie him atop the leader board for Slams (if he doesn't pull ahead if he happens to win the Australian himself).  Is there any easier prediction than Rafa at the French?

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  • 1 year later...

Great performance by Rafa, Novak overmatched, to say the least. Shaking my head over the abysmal state of American men's tennis. You know it's bad when John Isner is still the top ranked USA player with Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka being the top "young" players.

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30 minutes ago, Matthew said:

Great performance by Rafa, Novak overmatched, to say the least. Shaking my head over the abysmal state of American men's tennis. You know it's bad when John Isner is still the top ranked USA player with Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka being the top "young" players.

The women’s side is where the exciting tennis is. The men’s is basically the big three. 

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49 minutes ago, Brad said:

The women’s side is where the exciting tennis is. The men’s is basically the big three. 

I cannot agree, Brad. Zverev, Tsitsipas, Thiem and Medvedev are all great players, and would very likely be owners of several Grand Slams each... in any other era. Same for Murray and others, years ago.

But they are unlucky to be coetaneous of the three greatest players ever. And yes, I was a big fan of Bjorg, McEnroe, Lendl... not so much of Sampras. However, there is a huge difference with the big three. Federer would own 30+ Grand Slams if Nadal or Djokovic would have not been there. And same the other way around.

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They are all good players but when it comes to titles it’s still the big three.  Thiem only won the US Open because of Djokovick’s stupid mistake.  On the other hand the women’s game is wide open, with so much talent.  There really is no comparison. 

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I hadn't realized until late in the match that Rafa was going to tie Roger with the win, so I realized I should always root for whoever is third at the time of the final. Anyway tremendous performance and he is basically unbeatable on clay. Nevertheless I have to point out that Bjorn Borg won six French Opens by the age of 26 when he shockingly retired.  If he had the drive to keep going, Rafa might only now be beating his record, because Borg was as unbeatable on clay then as Rafa is now.

Interesting to ponder a prime vs prime match, especially using 1970s racquet technology.  I suspect though that Rafa might still have the upper hand based on physical strength differences.  But tennis is very different today than it was then.

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