For me, individual sport gets me more tense than a team sport. Tennis players come and go, the team is there forever, always competing. Nadal matches are ten times more nervy for me than any United matches.
As a Nadal fan, I always want Federer to crash out of Slams so he can close the gap. Don't know why people are acting surprised.Yeah, Djoko is a slight favorite for me as well. He's been the best player in the tournament so far imo. He's also faced a tougher path than Nadal.
I think it is surprising, but more because I don’t really get the being an obsessive fan of one player thing. My favourite player to watch/the player who has given me most joy over the years is Federer, but I can honestly say I’m more into there being a great match, regardless of the winner, than seeing him just swat people aside.For me, individual sport gets me more tense than a team sport. Tennis players come and go, the team is there forever, always competing. Nadal matches are ten times more nervy for me than any United matches.
And as for wanting Nadal to lose, that's fairly obvious
Never go on a tennis forum. Tennis fans are a really weird bunch and they end up giving strange nicknames to rival players like Olderer, Nadull, Chokovic etc.
Tennis rivalries, if you frequent forums or even social media like Twitter, are a lot like the Ronaldo Messi debates. I think it's pretty easy to get obsessed with an individual imo. I respect and admire Federer for the amazing player he is but I always want Nadal to win and Federer to lose because it's a rivalry at the end of the day and as a Nadal fan, I want him to leapfrog Federer or atleast finish within a Slam or two. Who doesn't want their favorite to be the GOAT eh (unless you support Andy Murray)?
One of the reasons I can't ever stay on Tennis Talk forum too long. The amount of trolling, immaturity and bitterness is worse than anything I've seen in Ronaldo vs Messi debates. Their is clearly a lot of knowledge and it's not all bad, but some of the Federer - Nadal rivalry brings the worst out of some fans. I'll back one of Federer's opponents as a Nadal fan, but I don't get upset when he wins or ecstatic when he loses. I'm a tennis fan first so try not to get caught up in all the fandom.
Australian Open 2012.
Roger losing = more chances of Nadal winning so yeah I 'm delighted he lost.
Screwed him over? He's had the luxury of being on CC for every match since 2015 or something.
If he wins here it'll help a lot. 20-18 and with 3 titles on Fed's surface would be huge. Can expect him to another RG or two down the line as well and maybe luck out at a USO/Aussie. Still don't see him winning here though.
The last set was tense and phenomenal tennis.
Why is it unfair? Just because it's Roger Federer? He's played 19 matches in a row on CC which is just ridiculous. Nadal and Djoko played 2 matches off CC last year, Djoko has even played on C2 this year so why should Federer face any special treatment? Besides, Novak Kei and Nadal Del Po were supposed to be the better matches anyway. Everyone should play off the main courts at every Slam and Wimledon is one which shows a heavy bias in favor of Federer and CC so it's only fair he finally was made to play there and only fair that Djoko got a match on CC.
Injury has screwed him out of a lot of Slams when he was at his best but that's how sport is.
Most of those stats won't matter in GOAT debate. It is individual sport and h2h matters. The field was really weak before Nadal-Djokovic-Murray came on scene and all those 'weeks at no. 1', 'consecutive weeks at no. 1' Federer has accumulated with that field is not same when it became 'big 4' and along with that, having other top players like Stan and Del Potro around in last decade. Federer has losing record in slams vs both Nadal and Djokovic. He has losing record overall vs both. If Nadal is tied with Federer on title or if even 1 behind, with those titles coming from surface other than clay, Nadal has better claim to GOAT. Say if Nadal wins 1 more Wimbledon and one more AO, then he will have minimum 2 at each slams, 3 on his weakest surface and then, even with his skewed count with RG, that will better all round performance in slams.
Those are not hypotheticals. Elo ratings can prove that and Elo ratings are significant in an individual sport. As a Federer fan you just want to avoid that point but given amount of tennis you follow, you can't possibly think that the field from 2004-2007 and what was there in last decade is same.
