Nadal versus Federer – What Does Pete Sampras think?
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have been involved in a legendary rivalry since their first match, which took place in March 2004 at the Miami Masters, where a 17 year old Nadal beat the World Number 1, Federer, in straight sets. Since then, the two professional
tennis players have been competing against each other in a well-publicised series of challenges.
Both men are exceptional tennis players. They are the only pair to finish five consecutive years as the top ranked players on the ATP list. Roger Federer was the World Number 1 for a record breaking 237 weeks consecutively, before Nadal surpassed him in
August 2008. Nadal himself had held the World Number 2 spot for 160 consecutive weeks before taking over the top rank. Nadal dropped to World Number 2 in 2009, due to Nadal’s injuries. The same injuries were to blame for Nadal’s descent to World Number 3.
He returned to Number 2 for good in May 2010, at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open against Roger Federer. He regained World Number 1 after his victory at this year’s French Open.
The greatest debate within their rivalry is whether or not Rafa will be able to defeat Federer’s record of 16 Grand Slam titles. This record has beaten the former one set by tennis legend Pete Sampras, who amassed 12 Grand Slam titles over the course of
his career. Sampras has had a lot to say on the Nadal-Federer rivalry; he sides with Rafa as far as power, determination and dedication are concerned; according to the pro, Nadal is a “beast” on the court, and he is more than capable of overtaking the FedExpress.
Rafa is the seventh man in tennis Open Era history to complete a career Grand Slam, with Federer being the sixth. Rafa and Federer have played 7 Grand Slam finals against each other, with Rafa winning five of them. Overall, he holds a 14-7 record of wins
against Federer. However, Federer holds 16 Majors titles, whereas Rafa has only just completed 9 with his victory at the 2010 US Open. Sampras stated during a conference call with reporters, “If he's smart with his schedule and the fact that he has so many
at such a young age, he could very well do it.”
One of Rafa’s major and only failings is his tendency to be injured. The 24 year old has had a problem with his knees for several years, and tends to overexert himself on hard courts. Sampras has observed this as well, commenting, “The only question with
Rafa is physically how much his body can handle the pounding with how hard he works for every point. You just watch him play, the kid is relentless. It's a huge goal, it's a lot of majors, a lot of work.”
Pete Sampras also stated that it is not necessary for Nadal to break his own record, and Federer’s, to join the league of the world’s greatest players. Sampras also added, “He's won all the majors. He's won the Olympics. He's dominated his main rival, in
Roger. I don't think his goal is 16, or 17 or 18, he's just going to try to improve as a tennis player and if it happens, great.”
In addition to this, Sampras is not discounting Federer’s chances of upping the score on his record. The legend says, “He's playing fine, I don't see any big decline. Other guys are playing better. The next two or three years is a challenging time. But Roger
is up to the task and can win more majors.”
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