It's hard to think of a rivalry that captured the imagination of the tennis world more then the one between Roger Federer and Rafeal Nadal. Pete Sampras vs Andre Agassi and Bjorn Borg vs John Mcenroe are some of the other great rivalries that comes to mind.
Those were awesome rivalries in their own right, but may be Federer-Nadal is the best yet. The contrast in their styles and their mental make-ups are just a couple of things that makes this such an interesting and appealing rivalry.
i will give a detailed review of this rivalry and explain why it is so good.
Nadal leads Federer 13-7 in career meetings.
Federer has beaten Nadal only twice out of eleven career meetings on clay.
Nadal beat Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final in an epic match that is considered by many as the best match of all time with a score of 6-4 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(8) 9-7.
I've touched upon the contrasting styles and mental make-ups of Federer and Nadal in the introduction. If you look at all the great rivalries this was one of the key ingredients.Borg was the emotionless, calm base liner, while everyone is aware of the antics ofJohn Mcenroe, his emotional outbursts is the stuff of legend.
But not only was their psychological make-ups a stark contrast but so was their playing styles. Mcenroe was the attacking serve-and-volley player. Same thing for the Sampras-Agassi rivalry. Sampras had the big serve and the attacking serve-and-volley game, while Agassi had the best return and ground strokes maybe in the history of tennis.
Sampras was quite and calm, while Agassi was intense and flamboyant, also known as the showman from Las Vegas. Just like these great rivalries Nadal-Federer is not short of any contrast. Federer is the ultimate gentleman. He plays with a considerable amount of grace, finesse and touch. In a game that is mostly dominated by power he shows that it is still possible to outsmart opponents with skill and finesse.
Its only a player with the genius of Federer that can achieve this rare feat though. Not that he has his fair share of deadly weapons in the arsenal. Federer plays with a combination of power and grace that has probably never before been seen in tennis. The same goes for his personality, you would be hard pressed to find a more popular player among fans and opponents alike.
On the other hand Nadal is robust to the extreme. He can intimidate an opponent with the sheer desire to win that he shows out on court. Nadal is all about muscle and guts. He NEVER gives up and plays every point as though his life depended on it. He is mentally maybe the best in the game.
When it comes to sheer natural ability he is light years behind Federer, but he makes up for it with desire and physical presence. His forehand is unorthodox, with the follow through ending up over his left shoulder instead of the right! But then again Nadal never cared as much about appearances as about winning.
Both Roger and Rafa have a chance to become the GOAT(Greatest Of All Time). Roger probably has another 2-3 slams in him while Rafa is piling up grand slam titles at a fierce rate as well. Who do you think will win the most grand slam titles and how many?
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