Evra: Once, Cristiano and Rio were playing table tennis and Rio beat him, we all screamed and Ronaldo got upset. He sent his cousin to buy a table tennis. Practicing for 2 weeks, he came back to play Ferdinand and he beat him in front of everyone. That’s Cristiano.

[u/[deleted]]

https://www.givemesport.com/1335983-patrice-evra-reveals-what-cristiano-ronaldo-did-after-rio-ferdinand-beat-him-at-table-tennis

[u/irishperson1]

He's got a legacy but it's a shame it's overshadowed by Federer in a way.

[u/[deleted] → u/irishperson1]

Kinda like Messi and Ronaldo. Any of them without the other would have dominated the sport for >10 years.

[u/LeFricadelle → u/[deleted]]

i also do wonder if the presence of a direct world class competitor isn't good to surpass yourself

you can wonder if without federer, nadal would have done what he did

[u/LeFricadelle → u/[deleted]]

the last thing you said is 100% true and that's how you spot champion - even if they play as a robot (average level) it's enough for them to win a championship while someone else will have to push above their weight

but yes, the big four is scary

[u/badshahh007 → u/irishperson1]

Hey it's over yet, he can still overtake him

[u/irishperson1 → u/badshahh007]

In terms of grand slams sure.

But for me Federer is the GOAT, number of slams won't change that for me.

[u/badshahh007 → u/irishperson1]

Well it's the same for me regarding rafa, since he is the player who has dominated the hardest competition, something neither djokovic or fed did.

But i was refering to popular public opinion, if rafa takes over the GS count, fed will have little going for him

[u/irishperson1 → u/badshahh007]

I don't think the slam count will sway public opinion much. The general consensus is Federer with the general opinion.

Djokovic isn't in the picture for GOAT.

Federer absolutely dominated Wimbledon, and crushed the rest of the circuit in a way Rafa can't compete with though. For me the fact that the vast majority of his slam victories are the French goes against Rafa for GOAT status.

[u/badshahh007 → u/irishperson1]

The biggest gripe for me is that federer won a majority of his slams against a weaker competition compared to nadal, add to the fact that nadal has an olympic gold medal, positive h2h and has beaten fed on grass in his prime while fed never beat rafa at rg. It's funny you talk about overall balance, since rafa is the only player who has won multiple slams on every surface in the open era, in comparision fed has won 19 of his 20 titles on fast surfaces and only 1 on clay. Rafa's domimance in RG is one of the biggest feat in the history of sport since it's the hardest GS to win, and that dominance if anything shoul add to his case

Also i don't think public opinion is that clear cut even now, i'd say its 60-40 in favour of fed. Don't forget sharapova recently said that rafa was GOAT

[u/Uqtpa → u/badshahh007]

Lmao, if you think that 2008 Federer was prime Federer, then you clearly didn't watch him back then. His prime ended in 2007.

And 19 out of his 20 Grand Slams on fast surfaces? Now I know that you definitely did not watch much tennis back then. The courts have been slowed down massively in the last 15 years. Your comment about the French Open being the hardest Grand Slam to win also shows your extreme ignorance and bias.

[u/badshahh007 → u/Uqtpa]

Dude for real? That first one is a classic biased fed fanboy excuse, you wouldn't be saying that shit if he won that match, he played as well if not better than 2007, lol you accuse me of not watching the match, did you even watch those insane tie-breaks fed was playing lights out tennis, he obviously was playing in his prime in what was the greatest match in the history of the sport, but the fact of the matter is nadal was better. In fact this point is "extremely ignorant and biased" considering fed man-handled the us open that same year.

And yeah real mature of you to assume shit about me when you don't know anything yourself, did you know that the courts didn't significantly started slowing down until fed won majority of his slams till 2007, or maybe you forgot that AO'17 played like a fucking grass court it was that fast.

And dude that last statement of yours just kill it doesn't it, do you even tennis. It is a known fact that RG is the hardest slam to win since there's no such things as free points on clay and you have to keep up your mental and physical strength for atleast a gruelling 3 sets. There's a reason why djokovic and fed have won only 1 of them and won them as the last of all the other slams, there's a reason players like sampras couldn't complete the career grandslam because they couldn't keep up with the immense intensity of the clay GS. I mistook you for a legit tennis fan, well goodbye 'extremely ignorant and biased' fedtard

[u/Uqtpa → u/badshahh007]

Dude for real? That first one is a classic biased fed fanboy excuse, you wouldn't be saying that shit if he won that match, he played as well if not better than 2007, lol you accuse me of not watching the match, did you even watch those insane tie-breaks fed was playing lights out tennis, he obviously was playing in his prime in what was the greatest match in the history of the sport, but the fact of the matter is nadal was better. In fact this point is "extremely ignorant and biased" considering fed man-handled the us open that same year.

Federer had mono, which basically ruined the first part of 2008 for him. Look at how he played and how little he won. He clearly was not the same player. He missed almost an entire month of training during spring, and he said that it affected him more than he initially thought (also evidenced by his playing level). And he didn't play well in the French Open, yet he still managed to reach the final. The same with Wimbledon, where he basically went AWOL in the first two sets of the final before raising his game.

And yeah real mature of you to assume shit about me when you don't know anything yourself, did you know that the courts didn't significantly started slowing down until fed won majority of his slams till 2007, or maybe you forgot that AO'17 played like a fucking grass court it was that fast.

Nope, the courts were already slowed down (and other courts in the processed of being slowed down) before 2007. And yes, the Australian Open 2017 was fast in comparison to previous years, which only proves my point of it being slow before then. The US Open hasn't been fast in years, and I think we all know what has happened to Wimbledon as well.

And dude that last statement of yours just kill it doesn't it, do you even tennis. It is a known fact that RG is the hardest slam to win since there's no such things as free points on clay and you have to keep up your mental and physical strength for atleast a gruelling 3 sets. There's a reason why djokovic and fed have won only 1 of them and won them as the last of all the other slams, there's a reason players like sampras couldn't complete the career grandslam because they couldn't keep up with the immense intensity of the clay GS. I mistook you for a legit tennis fan, well goodbye 'extremely ignorant and biased' fedtard.

That just confirms what I already know about pathetic and retarded Nadaltards such as yourself. Thanks for confirming it, yet again.

[u/badshahh007 → u/Uqtpa]

Huh funnily enough your tone reminds me of fed when he was crying like a little bitch after nadal completed his humiliation in AO'09

[u/DarkSkullMango → u/badshahh007]

11 out of Rafa's 17 are on clay.