Players after winning a 6th Roland Garros title

I was doing some research and this is what happened to tennis players after they won a 6th RG title:

Decugis won 2 more RG titles

Lenglen won zero slams

Borg won zero slams

Evert won 1 more RG title

Graf won zero slams

Nadal?


Looking at history, if Nadal wins another slam it will be at RG. No more slams at any other place, according to history. That's if he wins another slam. His best bet would be winning 1 more RG like Evert or 2 more RG like Decugis.

Well I don't know about Suzanne Lenglen, or Decugis, but there were a whole host of young talented players waiting in the wings when Borg retired in '81. The great Swede may well have won some more had he not chosen to go in any case.

There were younger players than Graf and Evert ready to share the spoils too, in Evert's case, Graf was the main one of these young players.

Just who is it that is going to be challenging Novak and Nadal atm? Fed has to be on the way down, Murray doesn't seem to have quite as much talent as the other three and I don't have much faith in him to be in the zone at the exact time the top two might both have an off slam together.

Who is going to succeed Nadal in the short term? It's completely different from the examples you give. Novak may well win at RG, but by his own estimation that one will 'take time'.

Winning 3 slams this year has taken its toll on Novak and while I hope very much that he will add to his total next year, I don't think his body will do 3 in one calendar year in 2012 as well. In any event, Nole is only a year younger than Rafa so, barring accidents, their respective careers will probably end roughly at the same time?

Also, if you look at Decugis and Evert, they won their 7th RG the following year after they won their 6th RG... If Nadal does not win a 7th RG next year then he could very well end up following the path of Lenglen, Borg and Graf, that is no more slams.

I meant to say it's a really interesting bit of research eraldeen, and normally one would expect a brutally physical player like Rafa who has amassed 10 slams from the age of 19 to be beginning to just fall off a bit and out run by younger, faster guys with less mileage as you predict with the stats.

The sad thing is that it's so hard to see where the next generation is coming from this time. At least Nole stepping up to the plate has added a bit of surprise to this season!

Del Potro and Murray might step up in the near future, I suppose.

You do realise the majority of those wins (bar maybe Graf) were well before the advances in physiotherapy and medical science; also the surfaces today are all playing in tangent... Nadull won't be finished if he wins RG next year, mark it

History says he will only win RGs from now on, that's if he wins any slam.

Sure it does, but i don't know many knowledgable tennis fans who would bet on Nadull not adding to his achievements after his next RG win...

eraldeen wrote:History says he will only win RGs from now on, that's if he wins any slam.

Interesting article eraldeen. This is based on only 5 players though, a small sample from which to conclude anything really. Also, players who have won multiple times at any slam must be a fair way through their careers, i.e. Sampras won one more slam after his 7th Wimbledon, thereby reducing their chances of winning a lot more.

Nadal was a fool not to let Federer beat him in this years FO. He has only himself to blame. It will be all downhill from now on.

I think Nadal might win 1 more RG title.

Retiring with 11 slams like Laver and Borg would be very impressive.

Interesting article.

In order to win the highest honour in the sport, one must forgo everything else. One must prioritise this epic battlefield of sport over the rest of the rubbish that lays strewn from July to March, hence the lack of 'success' (if you can call winning the tournaments of clowns that) elsewhere.

Nadal's focus has recently turned from the clay season, and he is being rightly punished. I hope he adds to his 6 titles, but if he continues to let his mind wander from what is truly important, I fear for the future....

Why do you think Nadal's focus has changed? Is it money, a self challenge or has he been lead astray by critcism he has recieved from some (so called) tennis experts?

I think it's a mixture of those 3 factors.

The devil's gold has clearly tainted his soul - he's in Japan this week and has even played Doha (?!) this year, all for money - why else would one bother? It is corroding his soul. It rather deprives from this alleged strike talk as well to play these worthless tinpot tournaments.

He definetly wanted the hugely over-rated 'career slam' (if you can win at Roland Garros, then if you think it's a worthwhile pursuit you can win anywhere to be honest), but a lot of this desire surely came from the clowns who attempted a character assassination on him purely because he did what the great players did before him - concentrate on clay.

Federer could've easily won 6 RG's himself, sadly on the first Sunday of June he has to attend an ice cream parlour conference, as we all know, can't keep Feddy off the ice creams.

eraldeen wrote:History says he will only win RGs from now on, that's if he wins any slam.

The only thing that has stopped Nadal winning more slams this year is Djokovic who has played superbly. If Novak dips next year or he has physical problems Nadal is still best placed to win.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Federer could've easily won 6 RG's himself, sadly on the first Sunday of June he has to attend an ice cream parlour conference, as we all know, can't keep Feddy off the ice creams.

Had he concentrated on the clay season rather than playing in farmyards then yes, he could well have done so. I can't claim to have known about the ice-cream parlour - is it good there?

Federer will be remembered purely for what could have been, which is a shame - I happen to appreciate his efforts that saw him get to many a Roland Garros/Masters final.

Nadal will only win titles on clay from now on.

He is done winning titles outside of clay. Fact.

Nadal looks to only be capable of winning the RG in his older days, now that is and in 2011. Who knows in 2013. But off clay he can't win slams anymore.