Sky Sports - Sporting Greats - Tennis Players at last

Not sure how many of you have Sky, but since March they have been doing a series called 'Sporting Greats' this has covered sports like Football, Athletics, American Sports, Tennis, Cricket, Rugby, just everything.

At long last they got round to tennis.

Last night featured Rafael Nadal. Now I know he is like Marmite on these boards, but I implore you to watch it. It is such good watching and listening to players like Federer, Nastase, Becker, Moya, Djokovic speak so highly of him gives you a rough idea how respected he is. It did put into contrast his achievements and impact on the game. Oddly enough Petchey said that Federer winning everything made tennis a bit 'boring' which does make you wonder how much did Federer need in Nadal coming along.

There will be one of Federer and I do hope that other players are given a worthy mention too.

Nadal is on tonight on Sky Sports 2 at 6pm

Cheers LK - mentally bookmarked!

Ta for that. Rafa should always be respected for his achievements in the game. You don't have to love him. Personally, I'm not a big fan but there's no doubt his rivalry with first, Rog, and then Nole has really added something to the sport.

BTW, it was 11am this morning...

The programme can be seen here on YouTube: Sporting Great: Nadal

Anybody who questions Rafa's achivement just haven't achived anything in life n simply jealous of him.

I am not a Rafa fan, but this guy is a legend of the sport and worth every penny of praise he gets.

Only the legends get flagged, no wonder he and Fed get flagged so often.

I will be watching if for sure.

Wonderful 25+ minutes. Looking forward to Federer and many others.

Being a fan of Laver, a bit upset that such documentaries seem to have a very narrow historical perspective and seem to cater to short public memories.

Nonetheless, Nadal is a fantastic player to start the current Tennis series with.

Did anyone else get to see this?

Yes, great video.
Thanks LK (for posting the article) and LF (for posting the link).

Even Federer respects the boy

IMBL... Lydian posted the UTube link, he deserves the credit, not I.

Ah! Then thank-you to Lydian.

Have it taped and plan to watch on forthcoming very lazy Sunday afternoon!

Speaking of greats I hadn't watched Laver much before...there isn't much footage of him...but here he is at 35 yo vs 22 yo Connors:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcRNZeo70P4

Have to say the quality of tennis is outstanding and quick too, the speed of Laver's serve surprised me - and has there ever been anyone as good around the net? I think we forget these guys of old could play a little

Awesome volleying. I love these pieces, they show bridges between the sport I knew (Connors, Borg, onwards) and the pre-history.

Great fun tracing h2hs of Laver, Rosewall etc vs Borg, Connors. They gave them matches when close to 40.

Yep same for me re: bridging. Makes you realise Laver wasn't "half" bad at all...in that match vs Connors he's almost impassable at the net, amazing hands.

Here's a clip of Laver vs Borg, Rod is nearly 40! Borg is 18.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMfBpkUJeKE

What's striking is a) the diversity of Laver's play and b) the sheer speed of Borg's feet! Best ever athlete in tennis...? Too hard to say but can't be many better. Funny to hear the commentator describe Borg's amazing ability at the back of the court as "scramble, scramble, scramble"...kind of the way they described Nadal when he burst onto the scene. Interesting to see how Borg frustrated a touch and variety player like Laver too with constant retrieval just like Nadal did/does to others..some things don't change in tennis! Perhaps Borg and Nadal aren't that different after all.

The first clip is the now famous 'Get me Laver' after Connors won 1974 Forest Hills win at Caesar's Palace (the sign is visible in the clip).

Laver got $60K, Connors got $100K, for what Laver calls - 'punching tennis balls'. - Page 242, 'The Education of a Tennis Player'. Connors won 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

The crowd was with me, and that displeased Jimmy ,who raised the well-known finger toward one sector.

A very good match for Laver. Some amazing passing shots, and remember he was 5ft 8 and amazing foot speed to cover the net with his volleys. I love that CC BH pass and those slices. Fantastic athleticism. Connors was out of breath in some of those rallies.

The racquet heads were tiny compared to todays game, and they swished and swayed their racquets around like chevaliers.

Nore Staat wrote:The racquet heads were tiny compared to todays game, and they swished and swayed their racquets around like chevaliers.

6-7 inch rounds, of wood, and natural gut. More like fencers swishing blades in an eternal graceful dance.