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39 Comments
- spokenrope, on 08/01/2008, -0/+18God I love seeing tennis stories on the front page.
- mijelh, on 08/01/2008, -0/+10Go Nadal !!!! he deserves to achieve #1 and stay there at least couple of weeks!!! Once he reaches the top, it will be really difficult to displace him.
BTW I don't think Federer is being defeated so badly. After 235 weeks as nº1, he lost 4 matches, consequently loosing his privileged place, but he still IS a great player, one of the best of all times, and he is far from being finished. - Pramma, on 08/01/2008, -0/+10If anyone is curious about the numbers behind the rankings, it's all available at www.atptennis.com.
Basically,
The rankings are based on a 52-week block.
Before Cincinnati started, Federer had Nadal by 300 points. Federer lost in the 3rd round, only claiming 75 ATP points for this event. The winner gets 500 points.
Because Federer won last year, he needed to win this year to not lost ground in the 52-week stretch. But because he lost, his point total is effectively down 425 points.
Because of the 52-week block, there's almost no way Nadal won't take the #1 spot by the end of the US Open, he's defending against far less points.
Federer already lost 300 points from last year by taking 2nd at Wimbledon (for 700 points) *and* Nadal was boosted another 300 points by winning Wimbledon for 1000 points, making it a 600 point swing.
At the US Open 2007, Nadal lost in the 4th round for 150 points, and Federer won the tournament for 1000. Come this year, even if Federer wins, any progress beyond the 4th round for Nadal (which he is clearly favored to have as the 2nd seed) will go directly to boosting his point total, whereas Federer can only hope to not loose any ground.
W - 1000
F - 700
SF - 450
QF - 250
These are the point totals for finishing positions for the US Open, so it seems that if no more US Open Series tournaments are played until the US Open, and even if Nadal looses the next round at Cincinnati, he'd only have to make it to the semi-finals to overtake the 1 spot. - basye, on 08/01/2008, -3/+12Federer should be nervous, but he doesn't need to be so cold.
Oh wait, he's Swiss--nevermind! - Barbarino, on 08/01/2008, -0/+9I wouldn't count Roger down and out, I have a feeling come August in Queens he's going put Nadal in his place....
In other news Roddick still is an national embarrassment. - JakeyG14, on 08/01/2008, -0/+7Nadal deserves to be world number one now, but there's no denying that Federer is the more naturally technically gifted player. Nadal is technically impressive also (obviously), but his fitness gives him the edge over most players. He can keep playing at a high level well in third (or more) set tie breaks and return "no-hope" strokes after tiring rallies like no-one else.
- whoomp123, on 08/01/2008, -0/+6Karlovic is 6'10"!!!
- mrn111, on 08/01/2008, -1/+7Wow, seems like the Federer era is coming to an end.
- seamustry, on 08/01/2008, -0/+4It's just a rough patch for Federer...every athlete goes through it. He's a good competitor and he should be able to come out as a winner.
- TracerMan, on 08/01/2008, -0/+4Being unemotional = no emotional rollercosters. Tennis is very mental you know.
- DeQuinceysDiet, on 08/01/2008, -0/+3Look, tennis fans, it's wonderful to have two of the all-time greatest to be both playing in their primes right now. Akin to Borg/McEnroe c. 1980.
What Nadal has done this summer irrefutably puts him in the inner circle of tennis greatness.
He won his 4th consecutive French Open in astonishingly dominant style, not dropping a set, and finishing off the world's second best clay courter (Federer) with a stunning 6-0 3rd.
He then won Wimbledon by defeating the greatest grass-court player since Borg, maybe since Laver, maybe just greatest ever, in Federer, in a legendary five-set marathon.
He then wins the first Masters Series hard court tournament in Toronto; he's currently alive & kicking in Cincy, the very next week...if he caps all this with Olympic Gold and the US Open trophy, I would say there is almost no equal run in the history of the sport. - DeQuinceysDiet, on 08/01/2008, -0/+3Yeah well just three or four weeks ago he played that incredible match (yes I know he lost) at Wimbledon so I woudn't go burying him yet.
We'll see how he adjusts to life as #2 - whether some essential part of his competitiveness withers, as it did for Borg & McEnroe (both of whom essentially retired after they got passed up, though McEnroe later returned as only a shell of his former self), or whether he redoubles his effort to regain his status as king of the mountain (like Connors did by winning Wimbledon & the US Open in '82, then the Open again in '83).
Champ or chump, Fed...I've got a pretty good feeling he'll stick around and win a few more slams. - thomsamuels, on 08/01/2008, -0/+3Nadal will take number one with this tourney, and he deserves it. The two tournaments that will be the most interesting will be the Olympics and the US open. It'll be a great couple of months for tennis. Nadal will carry the #1 with honor and is an admirable champion, but he will always have the Fed nipping at his heels. I'm rooting for Nadal/Federer finals for the next three years.
- DeQuinceysDiet, on 08/01/2008, -0/+3Federer was also 22 when he first reached #1 (Feb 2004), so that statement makes no sense.
Look Nadal will, barring injury, still be awesome at 26 or 27...the question is whether some young buck like Gulbis becomes an even awesomer neo-Nadal in the intervening few years.
If there were no Nadal, after all, Fed would've won both the French & Wimbledon this year, and would be #1 by a long margin over Djokovic. - pitchblack16, on 08/01/2008, -0/+3federer is gonna bounce back, great players only go on a slump for so long.
- Plapper, on 08/01/2008, -0/+2Well it was an amazing 4 years from Fed. Absolute domination that hasn't happened ever before. It's sad that in tennis these days you only have a very small window. He is only 27 yet he is pretty much already past the peak of his career. Right now though, I would say he still having a gigantic letdown from Wimbledon. He would never lose to Karlovic otherwise.
Nadal has finally adjusted to the all around game that's needed to be at the top. You need to have an amazing serve, groundstrokes, volleys, and have ridiculous guts. I will say though that Nadal has an even smaller window for greatness than Fed. His game is just too rough on the body I think to survive much past 25. - nomadofthewaves, on 08/01/2008, -0/+2Seems that loss at Wimbledon has put that athletic mental block up in Federers head.
- matthewinDRO, on 08/01/2008, -0/+2I don't mind that, I just wish he would quit picking at his . . .
- JuanBSU, on 08/01/2008, -0/+2Yes, you are.
- DeQuinceysDiet, on 08/01/2008, -0/+2Roddick didn't do dick in Canada, he lost to Cilic in the 3rd round...Nadal won Canada this year.
- SirFoxx, on 08/01/2008, -1/+3What the hell are you talking about. Sampras was the #1 for over 6 years. So yes, this kind of dominance by Federer has been done before, for a longer time by others(Sampras).
- DeQuinceysDiet, on 08/01/2008, -0/+2No, Sampras never showed the kind of dominance that Federer did.
Sampras overall winnning percentage the six years he finished #1 (1993-98): 87, 82, 86, 82, 78
He lost between 11 and 17 matches each of those years.
Federer's overall winnning percentage the four years he finished #1(2004-2007): 93, 95, 95, 88
He lost between 4 and 9 matches each of those years.
Federer's worst year (2007) was better than Sampras' best (1993).
And that's not even factoring in the dramatically better results on clay that Fed has had vs Sampras.
So...what the hell are YOU talking about? - DeQuinceysDiet, on 08/01/2008, -0/+1I dunno, I think we're caught in a semantically based disagreement. I don't think Nadal ever hits volleys, like rush-the-net-like-it-owes-you-money and stand there and pick off the passing shot attempt and stab it into the opposite corner volleys.
What he does do, as he should, is go crazy on a short ball, move up and smack it silly with even-by-Nadal-standards mass topspin...like from the service line or so, and even if the ball is low. This he employs to devastating effect. Call 'em half-volleys, or swinging volleys, or just short balls, but to me they are not volleys qua volley. - steelclash84, on 08/01/2008, -0/+1When Nadal does get #1, his era will probably be much longer than Federer's considering Nadal is only 22.
- slaystench, on 08/01/2008, -0/+1“He definitely served well,” said Federer, who has won 97 of the 98 career service games he has played against Karlovic. “Maybe in the last tie breaker when I had three chances on second serves, I wasn’t able to get one when I really needed to be on even terms with him. I guess that cost me the match, which is hard to accept.”
Karlovic was long over due for a win it seems. lol
Federer has accomplished more up to this point than most athletes could even dream of doing. I think he'll be fine. - starpilot69, on 08/01/2008, -0/+1Time to move on to more product endorsements for Federer.
- DeQuinceysDiet, on 08/01/2008, -0/+1They are both preternaturally spectacular - like off-the-charts amazing- when it comes to fitness...cf. the fifth set of this year's Wimbledon.
- nextag82, on 08/01/2008, -2/+3why does Nadal always look sooooo mad
- kencurran, on 08/01/2008, -0/+1Go Nadal =D Great guy. Happy to see him doing so well.
- SirFoxx, on 08/02/2008, -1/+2Considering the quality of players was much higher during Sampras's reign, I'd say those percentages don't mean much. The only competition that Federer has had is Nadal. The entire top 10 during Sampras's time were dangerous.
- mayanks098, on 08/01/2008, -0/+1I cant see him dethroned....sad
- survivordean, on 08/23/2008, -0/+0Federer is a tennis giant, no doubt, but Nadal is still young and has this boiling passion in his eyes to conquer the tennis world.
- aside, on 08/01/2008, -1/+1Ouch.. Still, I wouldn't call world #6 a national embarrassment. Plus he just won a pretty major tourney in Canada... Jimmy Connors will help him win one more US Open before it's all over. And I can see him beating Nadal at Wimbledon in 2 years. Mark your calendar!
- DeQuinceysDiet, on 08/01/2008, -1/+1Nadal doesn't have amazing volleys, please, in the name of all that is holy. NO ONE knows what kind of volleys Nadal has since he is as wedded to the baseline as he is to his pirate shorts and Uncle Toni and his obsy-compy arrangement of his water bottles.
I would only call Nadal's serve amazingly accurate, truly amazingly accurate, but he does not hit the whompers that the big servers (and I certainly include Federer in that group) smack. - Plapper, on 08/01/2008, -0/+0While I agree Nadal does not come into the net very much, his volleys are still extremely good when he does come in. He has great touch and can dig out low volleys. If his volleys were weak the players of today would have certainly exposed that by now.
He may not have a booming serve, but his serve is what put him over the top at Wimbledon this year. He had more aces and set up his huge groundstrokes so much better this year than 2007. The rest of his game was ready last year. - Maczoos, on 08/01/2008, -2/+1he is gonna put nadal in his place alright... just you guys wait and see...
- JakeyG14, on 08/01/2008, -2/+1You're right so I dugg you, but ya gotta admit, the Nadal/Federer rivalry is more interesting than the Sampras/Agassi rivalry.
- DiggAnomalous, on 08/01/2008, -5/+0time for Sampras & Agassi to come out of retirement
- inactive, on 08/01/2008, -6/+0Am I the only one who read that as someone with a lisp saying "Federal loss clears way for Nadar to reach top"? I was wondering what Ralph was up to these days.
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