Rafael Nadal withdraws from 2014 US Open

[NBAplayoffs2001]

Sorry, but showing up for the French Open every year isn't going to cut it. Part of being great is being consistent. Roger is a fukcing senior citizen and is STILL performing at a higher, more consistent level than Rafa. If Federer can win the U.S. Open, I believe there's a chance he ends the year as the World's #1 ranked player.

Which in my opinion shows how weak the current field is.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

Weak? Its a much stronger field than in Sampras/Agassi times. Sampras went up against guys like Pat Rafter, Yevgeny Kefilnikov, Safin, Hewitt, Ferriera etc. This generation has three of the best players in history + many of them cross over with stars from the last generation (Sampras/Agassi etc).

You kidding me right? 90s tennis>>> whatever competition we've seen in the past 14 years.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

How? Because you had two Americans at the top? Please explain to me how a field with the players I mentioned before is stronger than the field now. Its not.

If you were arguing 80s......maybe ide give you that.

Ok yes, the 1990s weren't that strong in terms of top talent but the top 20 were far more loaded with players who could dethrone top players more easily. Ton of the top 20 players today are such scrubs, it's actually pretty pathetic.

1980s tennis is a diff. story for sure. The 1990s also had serve and volleyers until the ATP conjoined in literally ruining the sport with homogenous surfaces that they have littered across the whole world in international tournaments post 2002.

[bdreason]

So Fed, who is supposedly the one of the greatest if not the greatest grass and hard court players ever has a losing record to Nadal on those surfaces?

If Nadal is such a clay specialist, surely he should have a losing record against the supposed GOAT Federer on other surfaces, right?

Their prime years didn't overlap. When Fed was in his physical prime (23-28), Nadal wasn't good enough to make the Finals of any major except the French. By the time Nadal started making the Finals of Majors other than the French (2008?), Federer was already on the backside of his physical prime years.

That said, I'm not denying Nadal is a great player, and also a nightmare matchup for Federer. Nadal's topspin forehand to Federer's backhand has proven time and time again to be Fed's cryptonite.

[Milbuck]

Their prime years didn't overlap. When Fed was in his physical prime (23-28), Nadal wasn't good enough to make the Finals of any major except the French. By the time Nadal started making the Finals of Majors other than the French (2008?), Federer was already on the backside of his physical prime years.

That said, I'm not denying Nadal is a great player, and also a nightmare matchup for Federer. Nadal's topspin forehand to Federer's backhand has proven time and time again to be Fed's cryptonite.

Agreed on all counts..got a bit carried away in my post, in no way was I trying to tear down Fed. He's the GOAT right now.

My only issue is when people act like Nadal is a total scrub off clay, when that reputation should've been put to bed in 2008-09 after winning his first Wimby and AO, beating a pretty damn good version of Federer in the process (Fed was 27-28). And Nadal has 5 slams off clay..Winning just one slam is no joke...winning FIVE is something else entirely. That's just one less than Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker have in total on all surfaces..and they're HOF all-time greats.

[dunksby]

Agreed on all counts..got a bit carried away in my post, in no way was I trying to tear down Fed. He's the GOAT right now.

My only issue is when people act like Nadal is a total scrub off clay, when that reputation should've been put to bed in 2008-09 after winning his first Wimby and AO, beating a pretty damn good version of Federer in the process (Fed was 27-28). And Nadal has 5 slams off clay..Winning just one slam is no joke...winning FIVE is something else entirely. That's just one less than Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker have in total on all surfaces..and they're HOF all-time greats.

Nobody should assume Nadal is a scrub on other courts, he is an all-time great tennis player and like most he is superior in a specific GS. His superiority on clay doesn't lessen his tennis skills. I dislike Nadal though, can't stand his annoying face

[enayes]

I was hoping to have a chance to see him play this year, oh well.

Nadal has been my favorite player since 2005.

[andremiller07]

Must be on his roid cycle

[ArbitraryWater]

Nadal's record against Fed is really misconstrued. Out of the 33 matches they've played, 15 have been on clay courts. Take those away and Nadal just leads 10-8. I mean he's the greatest clay court player of all time, so of course if you play him a bunch on his best surface, your head to head is going to suffer.

Anyway, this really opens the door up for Fed to win another major. Just had a great Masters 1000 in Cincinnati, and can seemingly beat everyone in the tournament, other than Djoker at his best.

He'll lock up the #2 seed for sure though, which will be great to see after such a poor 2013.

Just came by this....

so, excluding clay... you wanna prove their H2H record is skewed... and we're left with....



ONLY A 10-8 ADVANTAGE FOR RAFA!



Lol... that was anticlimatic.

You'd think after already exluding one of the biggest discreperancies between all-time greats, ever, Federer might just finally scramble at AT LEAST a tie.... but no, he's still behind.. yeah, you sure made your point there ****in trolls