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Looks like Rafa is done.

Doubt he wins another grandslam.

Can see his ranking dropping even lower as he starts running into Murray,Novak in the quarters and earlier.

Body worn down that's for sure... Judging by his hair loss he is either super stressed as his book suggest or he's years of "juicing" is catching up to him

Rafa still looks more likely to win slams than Federer....
Federer only has a legit shot at Wimbledon.
Rafa is more of a contender at the other 3 slam events.
And Rafa has won his last 17 matches in the American summer, while Djokovic lost his last match to Nishikori, and Federer lost his last match to Cilic...

olive_triangurl wrote:Rafa still looks more likely to win slams than Federer....
Federer only has a legit shot at Wimbledon.
Rafa is more of a contender at the other 3 slam events.
And Rafa has won his last 17 matches in the American summer, while Djokovic lost his last match to Nishikori, and Federer lost his last match to Cilic...

Not sure we'll see Rafa win another major especially after the whole appendicitis issue. I see it more being 2-3 more years of Novak Djokovic with rotating players taking some of the other majors.

^ Yeah but Djokovic hasn't won the US Open since 2011, and hasn't won the French Open.....ever.
Rafa's level was actually very good at this Wimbledon anyway-

Nadal 2015 Wimbledon Round 2 vs Brown
42 winners
15 unforced errors
72% first serves in
9 aces
26/41 net points (63%)
3/5 break points

Djokovic 2015 Wimbledon Final vs Federer
46 winners
16 unforced erros
66% first serves in
13 aces
20/34 net points (59%)
4/10 break points

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soXxD2XhXlM[/youtube]

olive_triangurl wrote:^ Yeah but Djokovic hasn't won the US Open since 2011, and hasn't won the French Open.....ever.
Rafa's level was actually very good at this Wimbledon anyway-

Nadal 2015 Wimbledon Round 2 vs Brown
42 winners
15 unforced errors
72% first serves in
9 aces
26/41 net points (63%)
3/5 break points

Djokovic 2015 Wimbledon Final vs Federer
46 winners
16 unforced erros
66% first serves in
13 aces
20/34 net points (59%)
4/10 break points

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soXxD2XhXlM[/youtube]

Rafa hasn't gotten past the 4th round at Wimbledon in 4 straight years now. Do tell me more about his high level of play though.

2012 Rosol def. Rafa, but Rafa hit 41 winners and 16 unforced errors.
2014 Kyrgios def. Rafa, but Rafa hit 44 winners and 18 unforced errors.
2015 Brown def. Rafa, but Rafa hit 42 winners and 15 unforced errors.

Rafa's only bad performance was 2013 Wimbledon (his only 1st Round exit at a slam EVER), and that was also the year defending champion Federer lost in the 2nd Round.
But its true that Rafa's last 4 years at Wimbledon have been early exits.
Its the reverse of Federer somewhat - Federer lost in the 1st Round of Wimbledon THREE times, early in his career (and SIX times overall at the slams).
But the last time Rafa lost before the QF at a hardcourt slam was 2007 US Open R4, so he's been marvelously consistent.

A prerequisite to winning slams is to actually get to the finals, and not lose to 100 ranked players. Five grand slams now since Nadal's been in the finals, the longest drought since 2003-2004 when he just broke in at age 17-18. Nadal will probably retire by the end of next year if he doesn't win another slam.

Rafa has sounded happy in the interviews about his QF at the AO and QF at Roland Garros, and also happy about his victory in Stuttgart (his first grasscourt victory since 2010).
Unlike most of the world's expectations for him, Rafa did not expect to win slams this year.
I think people were tricked into believing that every comeback is the same (I know, it sounds dumb, but that's what humans are like), and compared 2013 to 2015.
The reality is, Rafa didn't expect to win slams in 2013, if you read his interviews, and again didn't expect to dominate 2015.
This is a long-term comeback, and don't be surprised of Rafa's coach Roig is correct-

Will Nadal at 33 be able to fight for all the titles as Federer is doing [now]?
Yes, I think so.

http://www.nadalnews.com/2015/04/22/translation-an-interview-with-francis-roig/

Today, Nadal tied the record for most outdoor titles ever, by winning Hamburg-
R1: Nadal def. Verdasco 36 61 61
R2: Nadal def. Vesely 64 76
QF: Nadal def. Cuevas 63 62
SF: Nadal def. Seppi 61 62
F: Nadal def. Fognini 75 75
Nadal also prevented Fognini from becoming the first man ever to beat Nadal three times on clay in a year.

Nice job

#18 for Federer.

Wish there was a forum for Tennis, not just a scattered thread.

olive_triangurl wrote:Today, Nadal tied the record for most outdoor titles ever, by winning Hamburg-
R1: Nadal def. Verdasco 36 61 61
R2: Nadal def. Vesely 64 76
QF: Nadal def. Cuevas 63 62
SF: Nadal def. Seppi 61 62
F: Nadal def. Fognini 75 75
Nadal also prevented Fognini from becoming the first man ever to beat Nadal three times on clay in a year.

Who is in the top 10 for outdoor titles?

Hero wrote:Looks like Rafa is done.

Doubt he wins another grandslam.

Can see his ranking dropping even lower as he starts running into Murray,Novak in the quarters and earlier.

He ended up bouncing back in 2017. It's been a great year, even if he lost to Muller at Wimbledon 2017.

EH15 wrote:A prerequisite to winning slams is to actually get to the finals, and not lose to 100 ranked players. Five grand slams now since Nadal's been in the finals, the longest drought since 2003-2004 when he just broke in at age 17-18. Nadal will probably retire by the end of next year if he doesn't win another slam.

He kept going and didn't retire.

With Murray and Djokovic out, Federer looks like he has a surer path to another Wimbledon and Grand Slam #19. I hope he wins again!

Roger wins grand slam # 20. Amazing.

This is just getting absurd. Roger just ending the GOAT conversation. Pretty good chance he gets another this year. World #1 is doable as well.