Aus. Open: Rafa vs. Federer

[iwhoopedbatman]

Fuck yeah! Gotta love old-timers weekend in Melbourne.

 

[TrippleOG]

So glad I set my recording for 5 hours

 

[Buck Swope]

Hell yeah. Nice to see Fed get this one. 35 y/old.

 

[Deleted member 53199]

Lucky for them Djoković was out early in the tournament.

I thought Nadal had it, but no. Odd to see Nadal back again in fairly good form, since he was out for some time

 

[jrams]

Nadal could easily make up a two slam difference. If he continues like this and Djokovic doesn't turn his slump around, he will be the favorite at the French IMO. It's hard to image Federer winning more than one more slam. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but he usually says he will be back next year during the post match speeches. He didn't this time. I think he knows this is his last hurrah. Hope he can stay healthy this year and take a good crack at Wimbledon.

It's very unlikely to win a grand slam at 30+ years old. It's happened 9 times since 1990 (69 grand slams). If you push the age to 31 years and older, no one has won multiple since 1990 (4 have won). To win 3 would be crazy.

 

[Buck Swope]

It's very unlikely to win a grand slam at 30+ years old. It's happened 9 times since 1990 (69 grand slams). If you push the age to 31 years and older, no one has won multiple since 1990 (4 have won). To win 3 would be crazy.

Wow. Agassi on that list for sure.

 

[jrams]

Wow. Agassi on that list for sure.

30 years old:
1990 Andres Gomez - French Open
1998 Petr Korda - Australian Open
2001 Andre Agassi - Australian Open
2012 Roger Federer - Wimbledon
2015 Stan Wawrinka - French Open

31 years old:
2002 Peter Sampras - US Open
2016 San Wawrinka - US Open

32 years old:
2003 Andre Agassi - Australian Open

33 years old:
none

34 years old:
none

35 years old:
2017 Roger Federer - Australian Open

I've never seen a player as entertaining or complete as Federer. From Wimbledon in 2005 until the Australian Open in 2010 he made every grand slam final except for one, winning 12 and losing 6. Completely unprecedented.

The funny thing is I feel like 2009 US Open, 2012 Wimbledon, and 2014 Australian Open were three that people would argue he left on the table if he didn't have such an amazing career. And 2008 Wimbledon could have gone either way.

edit:
The silver lining for Nadal/Joker/Murray is that most of the best players now a days are older. Historically, the top players tend to have multiple grand slams by the time they hit 23, Djokovic being an obvious exception. Kyrgios seems like the only guy who has a chance at hitting that and he's such a headcase it seems unlikely he'll put it all together.

 

[Buck Swope]

Federer is a machine. And I like his game. Baseline the fuck out of you. I really like Rafa also.

I grew up watching Lendl and Mac battle with all sorts of fun players. Not a Conners fan.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Glad to see fed win. Has been my fav since goran. Man was he frustrating to watch.

Unlikely, but would love to see fed win another at the french.

 

[senri]

Novak is realizing what Nadal and Federer had figured out a year ago, and that as one ages it becomes very very difficult to play at the highest level year round. They have to pick and choose when to peak because playing a whole season is hard on the body.

 

[RandomUser12]

True A-level athletes.

 

[Someone88]

Yes what an epic match! Nadal did great, he's a legend. Great win for Federer, happy to see him win again. Federer is a legend and the greatest tennis player there has been!

 

[MCS]

Very impressive to get it against an engine at age 35. Also speaks to how training has changed in the last 10 years. Hope Fed keeps going as long as he can/wants.