NADAL, thanks!

Thats all I can say. Thanks
its been an incredible career.
Greatest claycourter of all times and one of the best tennis players in history.

2024 will be his last year, and he will probably wont play anymore in 2023

I do wonder if he'll ever step on a court in competition again. Would be a shame if he doesn't get the cahnce to make a bit of a farewell tour, but his body seems to be letting him down now.

As you say, any debate about the best clay courter was put to bed a decade ago, and his dominance on the surface has remained almost as complete through to his mid-30s. It will be a long time before anyone seriously challenges his legacy at RG - I certainly don't expect to be around to see it.

Away from clay, obviously he benefited from the narrowing of playing conditions, but you have to say he ranks around the top 5-10 all time on hard courts (6 GS titles) and around top 15 grass court player. Add it all together and you have an undoubted all time great and someone seriously in the conversation as the overall GOAT.
Of course his GOAT credentials are not flawless - didn't spend THAT much time ranked #1, and his greatest strength, dominance on clay, is the greatest weakness in his overall credentials ('only' 8 slams away from his favourite venue and surface).

I think though his rivalry with Federer, and their contrasting personalities and styles / techniques made for compelling sporing drama, in particular at Wimbledon.

Yes, it would be a shame if we've seen the last of Rafa on court. He clearly thinks, and hopes, that he can have a farewell tour next year. But his fans may have to reconcile themselves to the fact that 2024 will, alas, not happen.

His legacy is assured and his RG record will probably stand for ever.

Theoretically Nadal could still play the US Open this year. For all his injury woes, he didn’t say he was closing the door on 2023. And being a 4 time champion in New York, getting a fifth there to tie with his pal
Federer could be motivation - however slim the chances are looking right now.

Additionally the 14 French Opens, 10 Italian opens and 11 Monte Carlo opens are never being matched. I know records are supposed to be broken, but those three will never be beaten.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Theoretically Nadal could still play the US Open this year. For all his injury woes, he didn’t say he was closing the door on 2023. And being a 4 time champion in New York, getting a fifth there to tie with his pal
Federer could be motivation - however slim the chances are looking right now.

Additionally the 14 French Opens, 10 Italian opens and 11 Monte Carlo opens are never being matched. I know records are supposed to be broken, but those three will never be beaten.

10 and 11 at Masters level and on clay, which still requires an amount of specialisation, may just about be challengable. Obviously, you'd need a similar career path to Rafa, in being a top player by late teens or 20, and to have a long career with relatively few injury disruptions; might also need to do some careful management of their schedule to maintain freshness in their later career. 14 at an event as competitive as a slam though is just in the realms of the absurd - it's up there with the Bradman batting average and number of bike race wins Eddy Mercks had in the unattainable stakes.

The only player who comes somewhat close to Rafa's dominance of RG is Sampras on the fast grass of Wimbledon, with 7 wins in 8 years, but even that has far less longevity; Rafa won 9 of his first 10 RGs, lost two (one due to an injury withdrawl) and then another 5 in 6 years, so is 14 championships in 18 participations. 112 match wins to 3 defeats is pretty staggering.

dummy_half wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:Theoretically Nadal could still play the US Open this year. For all his injury woes, he didn’t say he was closing the door on 2023. And being a 4 time champion in New York, getting a fifth there to tie with his pal
Federer could be motivation - however slim the chances are looking right now.

Additionally the 14 French Opens, 10 Italian opens and 11 Monte Carlo opens are never being matched. I know records are supposed to be broken, but those three will never be beaten.

10 and 11 at Masters level and on clay, which still requires an amount of specialisation, may just about be challengable. Obviously, you'd need a similar career path to Rafa, in being a top player by late teens or 20, and to have a long career with relatively few injury disruptions; might also need to do some careful management of their schedule to maintain freshness in their later career. 14 at an event as competitive as a slam though is just in the realms of the absurd - it's up there with the Bradman batting average and number of bike race wins Eddy Mercks had in the unattainable stakes.

The only player who comes somewhat close to Rafa's dominance of RG is Sampras on the fast grass of Wimbledon, with 7 wins in 8 years, but even that has far less longevity; Rafa won 9 of his first 10 RGs, lost two (one due to an injury withdrawl) and then another 5 in 6 years, so is 14 championships in 18 participations. 112 match wins to 3 defeats is pretty staggering.

I just can't see anyone winning the same ATP1000 10 or more times again.
Aside from Nadal's freakish records at Rome and Monte Carlo, I think the next two on the list are Federer 7 titles in Cincinnati and Djokovic 6 titles in Miami and Paris.

Records are made to be broken. When Sampras retired, most commentators expected his GS titles record to stand for decades, and yet we've had 3 players far surpass it within 20 years.

Yes, winning the same title for 10 or 11 years is outstanding but comprehensible - I note that by limiting yourself to MS1000 events you excluded Djokovic's 10 Australian Opens. Obviously it's not easy, because you would need to stay at or close to the top of the game for about 15 seasons, and few players manage that - indeed, to me the most remarkable thing about Rafa and Djokovic (more than Federer and Murray) is that they had success through from being teenagers right through to their later mid 30s - the only player I can think of that has had similar career longevity is Ken Rosewall, who won his first slams at 18 and his last one at 37 (and played on with some success well into his 40s)

dummy_half wrote:Records are made to be broken. When Sampras retired, most commentators expected his GS titles record to stand for decades, and yet we've had 3 players far surpass it within 20 years.

Yes, winning the same title for 10 or 11 years is outstanding but comprehensible - I note that by limiting yourself to MS1000 events you excluded Djokovic's 10 Australian Opens. Obviously it's not easy, because you would need to stay at or close to the top of the game for about 15 seasons, and few players manage that - indeed, to me the most remarkable thing about Rafa and Djokovic (more than Federer and Murray) is that they had success through from being teenagers right through to their later mid 30s - the only player I can think of that has had similar career longevity is Ken Rosewall, who won his first slams at 18 and his last one at 37 (and played on with some success well into his 40s)

No that was deliberate. Over Bo5 there's no 'lucky' wins. As such I don't see anyone else winning a HC major 10 times again either.

IMO winning a Bo3 tournament 10+ times is just crazy. We often see someone have a day out in Bo3 and can takeout the Big Boys.