03 Feb 09
Originally posted by dryhumpOriginally posted by dryhump
That's 3 in a row for nadal. Can Federer beat this guy?
That's 3 in a row for nadal. Can Federer beat this guy?
the last two matches between these two have been absolute epics -- incredible tennis from both sides. But both matches went 5 sets - and while Nadal won both, it's clear that they appear to be very evenly matched (on non-clay surfaces). Nadal may be better, but if they were to play 20 matches, I'd expect Federer to win at least 7 or 8 of them.
On clay, Nadal is on a totally different planet
One of Federer's main weaknesses is that until Nadal came along, Federer went a few years where he almost never had a match in a major that was even close -- so he hasn't had much experience dealing with adversity. On the other hand, it seems like Nadal always has a tough match in there somewhere - such as the one he had vs Verdasco. I think Federer is still probably the better player, but Nadal right now is a bit tougher when the pressure is on, and that's been the difference.
I believe Federer will address this - you learn the most when you lose - and it's possible that future matchups will be even better than the last two (which would mean some absurdly amazing tennis).