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Much too humble to rank himself among the legends of tennis, Rafael Nadal is letting his phenomenal numbers do the talking instead. In the space of three months, Nadal has elevated his status from all-time great to sporting immortal with his brilliant hat-trick of French Open, Wimbledon and US Open triumphs.
In becoming only the seventh man in history to claim the coveted career grand slam with a 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2 victory over Novak Djokovic in Monday’s rain-delayed US Open final, Nadal also issued an almighty challenge to Roger Federer, the game’s greatest-ever player.
The chase is on.
When Federer completed his own career slam with an emotional French Open breakthrough last year, then added a record-breaking 15th major at Wimbledon and a 16th in Melbourne in January, few would have believed the Swiss superstar’s tally could come under threat so soon, if at all.
Unable to defend his 2008 Wimbledon crown because of tendonitis in both knees, Nadal faced an uncertain future, the outlook becoming even gloomier after his mid-match retirement against Andy Murray in this year’s Australian Open quarter-finals.
But with a ferocious will to win, unrivalled work ethic, amazing athleticism, the deadliest groundstrokes in tennis and a vastly improved serve, the 24-year-old Spaniard threatens to turn history on its head.
With a fifth French Open success and seventh career major in June, Nadal climbed above Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Don Budge and Jack Crawford on the all-time grand slam leaderboard.
At Wimbledon in July, he left John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, John Newcombe, Henri Cochet and Rene Lacoste behind with major No.8.
With No.9 coming in New York, now Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, Ken Rosewall and Fred Perry trail in his wake.
Only Federer, Pete Sampras (14), Roy Emerson (12), Rod Laver (11), Bjorn Borg (11) and Bill Tilden (10) have won more.
And while Nadal is embarrassed by such talk, Rosewall – the sport’s original gentleman – believes the modest Mallorcan has now entered the race to match, and possibly surpass, Federer’s benchmark haul.
“I don’t think it’s out of reach,” Rosewall told AAP after being inducted into the US Open Court of Champions at Flushing Meadows.
“It depends on his own desire and if he doesn’t have any problems physically.
“While he retains his fitness and has no particular injuries, he’s going to be tough to beat and he’ll have a lot of wins.
“I think Roger’s still got a lot of desire too, even with his other agenda of having a family.
“He enjoys the competition, he enjoys the tennis, he’s perfect for people to watch play – he’s a great sportsman on and off the court – so I think he’s still a chance to win other grand slam events.”
For now, Nadal is content celebrating joining Perry, Budge, Emerson, Laver, Agassi and Federer as the only men with the full grand slam set.
“It’s a dream to have the career grand slam, but this is more of a dream to have the US Open,” he said.
“I worked a lot all my life, in all the difficult moments to be here, but I never imagined to have the four grand slams.
“(To) talk about if I am better or worse than Roger is stupid because the titles say he’s much better than me.
“So that’s true at that moment. I think it will be the true all my life.”
Djokovic, who will rise above Federer to No.2 in the world on Tuesday, is not so sure, the Serb saying the new King of Queens could well eclipse his 29-year-old foe as the greatest now that he’s mastering all surfaces after beginning his career as a claycourt specialist.
“He has the capabilities already now to become the best player ever,” Djokovic said.
“I think he’s playing the best tennis that I ever seen him play on hard courts. He has improved his serve drastically – the speed, the accuracy – and of course his baseline is as good as ever.
“So he’s a very complete player … but, look, we cannot judge who is better on one tournament.
“At this point, there is five, six years’ difference between them and basically Federer had more years on the tour, he had more success; he has more trophies.
“He’s definitely somebody who made history in this sport. He’s still playing as one of the best players in the world.
“The other hand, you have Nadal who is just proving each day, each year that he’s getting better. That’s what’s so frustrating, a little bit. He’s getting better each time you play him.”
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