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Novak Djokovic sent his second serve off the line for a double fault, and match point to Rafael Nadal. The King of Clay fell to his knees, holding his head, barely able to believe that he had just won such a brutal encounter.
The Serbian who has been a constant thorn in Nadal’s garden of fame has finally been tamed, and on the stage where it really mattered to both.
As Nadal increased his record haul of French Open titles to nine and equalled Pete Sampras’s 14 major titles, it brought back the memories of scenes from five years ago.
On that occasion it was Roger Federer who fell to his knees weeping, as his only Roland Garros title also saw him draw level with Sampras’ imposing Grand Slam record.
And on both occasions, the title victories opened debate on who is the greatest tennis player of all time.
As we take on the debate, let’s first break down the number of major title wins of the two contenders.
Nadal has one twice at Wimbledown and the US Open, once in Australia, and nine times at the French Open, while Federer’s record reads seven Wimbledon titles, five US Opens, four Australian Opens and one French Open.
Clay has clearly been the foundation of Nadal’s Grand Slam tally. He has used it to pile up his chase of Federer’s record, totally neglecting the other surfaces.
Federer, on the other hand, has a decent balance of Slams, with Wimbledon leading the pack. He’s equal with Sampras as the leader on grass, while he’s taken nine combined on the hard courts of Melbourne and New York City.
There’s a lack of success on the red dirt, but, being the only man in the Nadal era to have at least won at Roland Garros is still an achievement. If only Nadal wasn’t part of the equation, his carerr Grand Slam tally may never be caught by anyone.
Another debate centres around the fact that Nadal also has an Olympic gold medal and David Cup success on top of his 14 Grand Slams. But with the Swiss team in the Davis Cup semi-finals this year, it looks like Federer will finally get to fulfill another missing trophy ambition.
Nadal was always blessed to have great Spanish players ranked in the top 20 in the world to join him at the Davis Cup, whereas Federer was always the one and only Swiss hope until the recent rise of Stanislas Wawrinka.
As for the Olympics, Federer also has medals for the doubles in 2008 and as singles runner-up in 2012. A gold in the doubles underlines Federer’s versatility, as well as his ability to work well as a team player.
Nadal has a winning record against all the players in the game, and many will look at his winning record against Federer to justify his claims as the greatest. But that’s merely because his rough, brutal style of play and leg-breaking runs to retrieve balls is the opposite of Federer’s elegant approach. He knows Federer’s backhand weakness against his top-spin play too well, and exploits it well each time.
Still, no one has the consistency of Federer in his prime: 10 straight Grand Slam finals from 2005 to 2008, a record stint of 302 weeks at No. 1, and he never misses a Grand Slam tournament.
As Nadal moves on to Wimbledon on a Cloud Nine high, you have to wonder how quickly the mood will change if he’s again knocked out in the opening round there.
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