I'm not impressed by ultra competitive dads posting up their 12 year old sons in a 'friendly' father son game of one on one in the driveway. I'm not impressed by Junior High Teachers that make 11 year old girls swoon. And I'm not impressed by Rafael Nadal.
I've grown very weary and tiresome of these one tournament, one surface wonders overshadowing true greatness. Sure Nadal is a phenomenal talent and he may one day break through at another major, but the fact that his dominance at the French, impressive as it may be, overshadows the brilliance of Roger Federer, and inspires criticism of Federer, is down right ludicrous.
Winning at the French, let alone 3-peating at Roland Garros is impressive but it is a tournament with its clay surface, that has notoriously narrowed the gap between a truly great player and a merely good one.
If the NBA, for some insane reason, played its games on a hardwood covered in gravel for a quarter of a season, making muckers like Erick Dampier and Marc Jackson look like MVP’S, would that be a true barometer of who basketball’s best players were?
In the bizzaro world of tennis, Nadal is praised for his dominance in Paris instead of being dissected for being unable to carry his magnificent play over to any of the other majors. On the flipside, Federer spends too much time answering questions about his inability to break through at the French, and not enough time being hailed as the best player of the modern era this side of Pete Sampras.
It seems that such backwards thinking is common place in the sport. The aforementioned Sampras struggled infamously at the very major that currently eludes Federer and it seems that this topic is always touched upon when discussing Sampras’ career, a career that included 14 Grand Slam titles, including a men’s record 7 Wimbledon championships. Another player on the short list for greatest of all time consideration is Ivan Lendl. Lendl has 8 Grand Slam titles to his credit and still holds the record for most weeks ranked number 1 yet Lendl will always be remembered for his failures at the All England Tennis Club.
Nadal, in all likelihood will one day add another major title to his trophy case but in sports there is a hierarchy. The Spaniard will have his day but for now, its time for all to hail King Roger and marvel at his wizardry.
Gotta go, ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ is on.
I've grown very weary and tiresome of these one tournament, one surface wonders overshadowing true greatness. Sure Nadal is a phenomenal talent and he may one day break through at another major, but the fact that his dominance at the French, impressive as it may be, overshadows the brilliance of Roger Federer, and inspires criticism of Federer, is down right ludicrous.
Winning at the French, let alone 3-peating at Roland Garros is impressive but it is a tournament with its clay surface, that has notoriously narrowed the gap between a truly great player and a merely good one.
If the NBA, for some insane reason, played its games on a hardwood covered in gravel for a quarter of a season, making muckers like Erick Dampier and Marc Jackson look like MVP’S, would that be a true barometer of who basketball’s best players were?
In the bizzaro world of tennis, Nadal is praised for his dominance in Paris instead of being dissected for being unable to carry his magnificent play over to any of the other majors. On the flipside, Federer spends too much time answering questions about his inability to break through at the French, and not enough time being hailed as the best player of the modern era this side of Pete Sampras.
It seems that such backwards thinking is common place in the sport. The aforementioned Sampras struggled infamously at the very major that currently eludes Federer and it seems that this topic is always touched upon when discussing Sampras’ career, a career that included 14 Grand Slam titles, including a men’s record 7 Wimbledon championships. Another player on the short list for greatest of all time consideration is Ivan Lendl. Lendl has 8 Grand Slam titles to his credit and still holds the record for most weeks ranked number 1 yet Lendl will always be remembered for his failures at the All England Tennis Club.
Nadal, in all likelihood will one day add another major title to his trophy case but in sports there is a hierarchy. The Spaniard will have his day but for now, its time for all to hail King Roger and marvel at his wizardry.
Gotta go, ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ is on.
posted by average john at 8:02 PM
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