Rafael Nadal announces retirement from tennis after 22 grand slam career
Curious to see the comments from our resident tennis experts here.
End of an era.
Nadal retires
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Re: Nadal retires
Nadal has been a shell of his former self the past year+.
I had already pretty much considered him "retired," because he was having trouble winning back-to-back matches, let alone being able to make a run deep in a major.
He was a class act.
He almost never trashed a racquet or engaged in an ugly dispute with an umpire or linesperson.
He just went about his business.
His grunting was borderline, however. I could have done without that.
Whenever a legend dies or retires, people try to assess his/her standing among the all-timers.
I'll start by saying that a real case can be made that Rafael Nadal is the GOAT.
The case is something like this...
He is 2nd all-time in majors won.
He is far-and-away the greatest clay courter ever.
He won the French Open 14 friggin' times, which one of the most mind-blowing accomplishments in any sport.
Borg won 6, and at the time, that was considered incredible.
Rafa mastered all of the surfaces.
He won each of the majors at least twice.
Nadal stands up very well against his two greatest rivals.
He bested Federer 24-16, and was 10-4 against Roger in majors.
Nadal is essentially even with Djokovic, with Djoker leading 31-29, but Rafa holds an 11-7 advantage in majors.
A bit more time needs to pass to properly put Nadal's (and Roger's and Novak's) career in perspective.
There are many things to consider when comparing tennis players of different eras.
As of today, I would say Nadal is easily in the top 10 of all-time, and if I had to make a list, I would probably put him somewhere between 3 and 7.
I had already pretty much considered him "retired," because he was having trouble winning back-to-back matches, let alone being able to make a run deep in a major.
He was a class act.
He almost never trashed a racquet or engaged in an ugly dispute with an umpire or linesperson.
He just went about his business.
His grunting was borderline, however. I could have done without that.
Whenever a legend dies or retires, people try to assess his/her standing among the all-timers.
I'll start by saying that a real case can be made that Rafael Nadal is the GOAT.
The case is something like this...
He is 2nd all-time in majors won.
He is far-and-away the greatest clay courter ever.
He won the French Open 14 friggin' times, which one of the most mind-blowing accomplishments in any sport.
Borg won 6, and at the time, that was considered incredible.
Rafa mastered all of the surfaces.
He won each of the majors at least twice.
Nadal stands up very well against his two greatest rivals.
He bested Federer 24-16, and was 10-4 against Roger in majors.
Nadal is essentially even with Djokovic, with Djoker leading 31-29, but Rafa holds an 11-7 advantage in majors.
A bit more time needs to pass to properly put Nadal's (and Roger's and Novak's) career in perspective.
There are many things to consider when comparing tennis players of different eras.
As of today, I would say Nadal is easily in the top 10 of all-time, and if I had to make a list, I would probably put him somewhere between 3 and 7.
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