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Australian Open 2017 OT

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RedAssedApe

RedAssedApe

Banned
Damn...was hoping that dmitrov was going to pull it out...but nadal as he always does gutted out a win somehow.

I wouldn't be surprised if its a straight set loss for either side at this point but I'm leaning nadal just because of past history. Crossing my fingers that Fed can just play his game and not let that get into his head.
 
N

Nabae

Unconfirmed Member
What a time to be alive. I'm just hoping Federer can be relaxed on the court on Sunday. Either way I don't feel so good about his chances at #18.
 
L

Lone_Prodigy

Member
Does Nadal winning really re-open the GOAT debate? When he won his 14th slam at the 2014 French, it only seemed like a matter of time before Nadal was passing Federer.

Similarly, after winning his 16th GS at the 2010 AO, I bet people thought Federer could hit 20.

But here we are almost 3 years later, and it's still 17-14.
 
R

Reckless Abandon

Member
Nabae said:
What a time to be alive. I'm just hoping Federer can be relaxed on the court on Sunday. Either way I don't feel so good about his chances at #18.
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Yeah I'm pulling for him but I agree that his chances aren't good. There was a piece on ESPN about Agassi's comments on the (at the time potential) match and he made a good point that if Rafa gets this then the French is next and if he wins that he's only 1 away from Fed's record.

Either way, hopefully it makes for a good year for tennis. I feel like last year was a little meh.
 
P

perfectchaos007

Member
Lone_Prodigy said:
Does Nadal winning really re-open the GOAT debate? When he won his 14th slam at the 2014 French, it only seemed like a matter of time before Nadal was passing Federer.

Similarly, after winning his 16th GS at the 2010 AO, I bet people thought Federer could hit 20.

But here we are almost 3 years later, and it's still 17-14.
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Yes. If Nadal wins Sunday and then goes on to win a couple more French Opens, he will be tied with Fed in slams. Slams are like gold medals, they are the first factor in determining the GOAT. If there's a tie in gold medals, then you look at H2H (if they played in the same era, and they did ), which Nadal dominates. If Nadal is able to tie fed in slams, he's the new GOAT for sure. If Federer wins Sunday, then Nadal pretty much has no chance at catching Fed.
 
D

Deleted member 231381

Unconfirmed Member
Honestly, Nadal has a good case even at just 15 - two less in exchange for a double career grand slam is a tough call to make. It's a case of diversity vs. quantity there are persuasive arguments on both sides for.
 
J

Jisgsaw

Member
Crab said:
Honestly, Nadal has a good case even at just 15 - two less in exchange for a double career grand slam is a tough call to make. It's a case of diversity vs. quantity there are persuasive arguments on both sides for.
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Well, speaking about diversity, 3/4 of Nadal's wins are in RG, compared to Federer's almost even repartition between US/AUS/Wimbledon. RG was pretty much denied to Federer by the single best player on clay ever, but his wins are more diverse than said player.
 
D

Deku Tree

Member
Rod Laver won all four majors in 1962, then he went Pro and was ineligible to compete, then he came back and again won all four majors in 1969.

He won a lot of Pro tournaments in the middle, and he won 11 regular Majors. If you combine (which you can't do) then you can try to argue that he won more "Majors" than Roger.

You can say lol "1962" lol "1969" and people like to talk about the best athletes of today.

But if Laver's whole career was during the "open era" then there is a high probability that Fed would not have the most major mens singles championships right now.
 
P

perfectchaos007

Member
Deku Tree said:
Rod Laver won all four majors in 1962, then he went Pro and was ineligible to compete, then he came back and again won all four majors in 1969.

He won a lot of Pro tournaments in the middle, and he won 11 regular Majors. If you combine (which you can't do) then you can try to argue that he won more "Majors" than Roger.

You can say lol "1962" lol "1969" and people like to talk about the best athletes of today.

But if Laver's whole career was during the "open era" then there is a high probability that Fed would not have the most major mens championships right now.
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How many of those were Australian Opens though? Back then the AO wasn't anything like it is today and didn't always attract the best players in the world. Margaret Court racked up a ton of AO titles, which is why she has the most slams of any woman.
 
S

Slaythe

Member
I mean, Fed beat Wawrinka, who is pretty strong. This Wawrinka had his chances against Nadal.

So it's really 50 50 right now. Or let's say 45 65 in Nadal's favor.
 
P

Parch

Member
Classic matchups in the finals, but so much for tennis being a young person's sport. At least for now. Veteran winners remain winners.
 
D

Deku Tree

Member
perfectchaos007 said:
How many of those were Australian Opens though? Back then the AO wasn't anything like it is today and didn't always attract the best players in the world. Margaret Court racked up a ton of AO titles, which is why she has the most slams of any woman.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Laver

3x AO
2x FO
3x W
2x US Open

Australian Open W (1960, 1962, 1969)
French Open W (1962, 1969)
Wimbledon W (1961, 1962, 1968, 1969)
US Open W (1962, 1969)
 
D

Dispatch

Member
PhantomZone said:
Hope Nadal wins, can't stand Federer's persona today nor that of the public that fawn over him despite his drop in quality.
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I feel exactly the same way about Nadal's stalling tactics. I used to (poorly) coach high school tennis, Nadal's pace of play crosses a line for me. Watching him slowly towel himself off after every point, forcing the server to slow down, breaks the rules. USTA and ITF rules clearly state that you play to the reasonable pace of the server, and both use the time of 20 seconds maximum between points. Nadal pushes it.

He's a class act off the court, but I can't overlook what I see as cheating.

At least he's not Sharapova. She not only cheated by taking drugs, she actually turns her back on the server to force the server to wait.
 
Head of Vengarl

Head of Vengarl

Banned
RastaMentality said:
HOLD ME

BN-JF786_willia_J_20150705152007.jpg

afp-524526031.jpg
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Click to expand...

BO7rmKK.jpg


hyped
 
P

PhantomZone

Member
Dispatch said:
I feel exactly the same way about Nadal's stalling tactics. I used to (poorly) coach high school tennis, Nadal's pace of play crosses a line for me. Watching him slowly towel himself off after every point, forcing the server to slow down, breaks the rules. USTA and ITF rules clearly state that you play to the reasonable pace of the server, and both use the time of 20 seconds maximum between points. Nadal pushes it.

He's a class act off the court, but I can't overlook what I see as cheating.

At least he's not Sharapova. She not only cheated by taking drugs, she actually turns her back on the server to force the server to wait.
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Love and hate the little superstitions, I think bouncing the ball so many times is the point of overkill though (same with Djokovic), just serve the darn thing haha.
 
T

T-0800

Member
I'm a massive Federer. Now I wish he had lost to Stan so I didn't have to see him lose again. Of course there is a chance he can win. The Xbox also has a chance to sell out in Japan too.
 
I

inm8num2

Member
I'm pulling for Venus but figure Serena is going to dismantle her. It's amazing how the two of them have been such a fixture in the tennis world for about 20 years, especially with Serena's dominance.

Regarding the Nadal/Federer debate, if Nadal wins his case will improve a bit since it's not a FO title. Still, while the King of Clay bested Fed en route to his reign as #1, he doesn't have as well-rounded a GS resume. Either way, I expect in five years Djokovic will have solidified his case as all-time #1 and there'll be little argument otherwise. He's won his titles by beating Fed, Rafa, and Murray. If he gets a few more there's no debate.

hmcESpM.png
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J

JBwB

Member
The match will be in the bag for the first player that wins 2 sets.

Despite thinking Nadal is likely to win it I do think Fed does have a genuine chance at winning this as well. His body is in top form, he's playing relatively well, the court conditions are right up his alley and it helps that Rafa is noticeably a lot more error prone these days.

Just gotta keep those first serves rolling in for those easy holds.
 
S

Skii

Member
I'm a massive Nadal fan but I wouldn't mind Federer winning this GS. I absolutely despise Djokovic and would hate for him to be regarded as the GOAT tennis player. He has nothing on Nadal/Federer and I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if he's been heavily doping since he "switched to a gluten-free diet".
 
J

JBwB

Member
Skii said:
I'm a massive Nadal fan but I wouldn't mind Federer winning this GS. I absolutely despise Djokovic and would hate for him to be regarded as the GOAT tennis player. He has nothing on Nadal/Federer and I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if he's been heavily doping since he "switched to a gluten-free diet".
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Same here.

To be honest, whilst I kinda like him as a person (though he does try a little too hard to get people to like him) his playing style is just so utterly boring to watch, especially when he's dominating his opponents.
 
I

Irishonion

Member
Hoping for a Federer win.

Unfortunately havnt been able to watch tennis in past 5 years. But heard that his backhand was a bit improved. Hopefully because when I watched these 2 go it all the time, Nadal did nothing but run around the ball to attack feds backhand and took him down quite a bit.
 
IISANDERII

IISANDERII

Member
I'm favouring Federer for the championship. Nadal was struggling vs Dimitrov while Fedora cruised through Stan. And Fed's got the new backhand which helps with higher bounces. And he seems ready to slay his Goliath.
 
B

BorkBork

The Legend of BorkBork: BorkBorkity Borking
Just watched the Dimitrov/Nadal 5th set. Amazing high quality stuff. Grigor's backhand was rock solid all night too. If Fed can match that consistency he has a shot.
 
M

mordecaii83

Member
I want Nadal to win, but he hasn't been hitting the ball nearly as well as he used to. I could see Federer winning even with the lopsided record vs Nadal.
 
S

Speevy

Banned
Nadal could easily win 3 more French Opens before he retires. This could be Federer's last slam final, so I see no reason to root for anyone else.
 
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