2018 AO: Second Career Slam AND No. 17
2018 Roland Garros: No. 18 AND No. 11.
2017 Shanghai or Paris Masters: All-time leader for most Masters 1000 titles.
4th year as year-end No. 1.
Heck, if Nadal gets to No. 18 before 2018 ends AND Federer is done winning Slams, Nadal may VERY realistically have a shot at passing Federer on the Slam pole with No. 20 - forget matching No. 19.
Add that with above 'gathering' frenzy and Federer may be left holding JUST the weeks @ No. 1 piece as his SOLE claim to fame contraption.
Nadal will then lead @ Slams, Masters 1000, Career Slams, Davis Cup, Olympics, 10 FO titles, heck most career titles.....................
How pathetic is it that Federer had to win TWO Slams @ nearly age 36 to barely stay ahead on the Slam pole - for a few more months? I mean, 2017 AO and Wimbledon were a must win for him - in retrospect. AND both were won - BARELY - given Nadal @ AO and Cilic blister @ Wimbledon. Can you imagine where Federer would have been today without them?
Irony? He is STILL not done. He HAS to win at least one more if not two - past age 36 - to stay ahead by a nose that luckily happens to be abnormally long.
That's like you being lowered in the grave for your final moments but getting pulled up at the last moment because your dead beat kid needs money for rent and you need to go back to work one last time.
Additionally isn't Federer where Djokovic was sometime ago? There's a WIDE open field begging to get milked but you have run out of physical juice - for good.
With respect to Nadal's No. 16 it has snapped him free of Djokovic and Sampras once for all - WTF and other stats notwithstanding - on one hand, while on the other allowed Nadal to realistically hope for No. 20.
Not enough?
How about if Nadal ends up with 20 Slam titles BUT seven (eight?) of them are on surfaces not called clay? That dampens the clay court pony label - somewhat - don't you think? Specially when hard court ponies have done JACK on clay.
The next generation Federers will have to add more slam and make it 30 40 or 50 slams, then Nadal will have zero chance to catch up?
Posted by: O | 09/11/2017 at 07:48 PM
Whatever Nadal's numbers end up being, he will not take the GOAT status from Federer. It's not just the numbers it's also how you did it and more importantly how people felt while you were doing it. One of the lessons in parenting is that kids don't remember what happened but how they felt when it happened. Similarly, for GOAT status, it matters how people felt about it. For this reason Ali and Jordan are GOATs even though they don't have the best numbers overall.
Having said that, Nadal has a very strong chance to become the BRAT - Best Results of All Time.
Posted by: Veglia | 09/12/2017 at 07:53 AM
Federer needs to do these to avoid Rafa overtaking him. First he needs to stay healthy for some years and never play on clay again. Second he needs to add several slams. Third during these years, he needs to keep beating Rafa and pull even the overall H2H and the H2H in slams.
The only way Rafa's form could dip is that he is beaten by Federer many times. That way Federer pulls away in number of slams, and Rafa will reach 20 on FOs alone.
Posted by: O | 09/12/2017 at 10:43 AM
We always make the same mistake. . . assuming everything will stay as it is now. Unknown variables are key----i.e. Djokovic's level when he returns and maybe one of the new guys stepping it up (I laugh as I type that second one)
Posted by: Bettyjane | 09/12/2017 at 11:41 AM
It is not pathetic for Federer to win slams at 36.
What is pathetic is your attempt to make Nadal a GOAT; he is so only in your mind. Even if Nadal wins 30 majors (more accurate description than 30 slams) he will not be GOAT. Nadal will never attain the love and the status Federer enjoys world over for his elegant style and class !
A underwear pulling, finger smelling, grunting sweaty mess is Nadal! The only stroke he knows is to push the ball to the backhand of all the right-hand opponents. His followers are as pathetic as he is after playing one set of Tennis.
Posted by: Paul | 09/12/2017 at 12:56 PM
This is pathetic actually, from you.
Posted by: Bella | 09/12/2017 at 02:08 PM
Go back to the start of this year and ask what has changed. Federer's lead in slams is still where it was as is Rafa's lead in Masters. What has changed is the H2H where Federer has gone 3-0 thereby giving him the lead on all surfaces except clay. I'm not a huge fan of the H2h as a criteria but for those who were using it before to make a case for Nadal as the GOAT they have even less of a case now.
Posted by: Alpha | 09/12/2017 at 03:47 PM
When did majors become the criteria for GOATNESS? Certainly not in the Borg-Connors era when players regularly skipped the AO. McEnroe admitted during a broadcast once that players didn't care about accumulating majors back then.
Posted by: Bettyjane | 09/12/2017 at 04:08 PM