Federer Nadal semi final could dictate who is the greatest

Respect: Rafa or Roger?

So nowadays Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are contesting semi finals, rather than finals, but this could perhaps be more significant than any of the previous encounters when it comes to where each will be placed in the pantheon of the greats.

With Novak Djokovic out following his surprise defeat to Stanislas Wawrinka, the winner of tomorrow's clash will be the clear favourite to take this year's Australian Open title on Sunday.

Should Federer claim his first Grand Slam in almost two years, his longest spell without one, he would gain his 18th career Slam, a seemingly unassailable lead over Nadal, who has 13, especially given the Spaniard's injury record.

However, should Rafa prevail the pendulum would swing in his direction, being just three behind his great rival and almost five years younger than the Swiss.

Both have won all four slams at one point in their career and though Rafa has the distinct advantage when it comes to their head to head record, 22-10, Federer will often have an edge in any argument over a pint given his overall number of Grand Slam titles won.

Perhaps this is a little premature as no one can tell quite what the future will hold in this unpredictable sport (who would have anticipated Djokovic breaking the aforementioned's duopoly) but this match could just give us a definitive answer to who is the sport's greatest ever player.

Federer in 7th heaven as Murray falls short once again

Roger Federer claimed his 7th Wimbledon title to disappoint Andy Murray and the raucous home support. Federer has now equalled Pete Sampras's record total of wins at SW19.

Despite a strong start from the Scot, winning the first set, new world number one Federer proved to be too strong for Murray, and has now won a remarkable 17 Grand Slam titles.

It all started perfectly for Murray. He held serve comfortably in the opening game before striking an early break to the Federer serve, albeit aided by an unusually nervous start from his opponent.

Federer responded like a multi-slam winner, breaking back immediately but the Swiss was surprisingly wayward throughout that first set with an extremely high amount of unforced errors. There was something almost strangely inevitable about what followed. And Murray duly broke the Federer serve once more in the tenth game of the set to take an early advantage in this epic match.

The man from Basel was subdued and wayward throughout the opening exchanges and he failed to convince for large parts of the second set but then as the set inexorably headed towards a tie break Federer struck, cobra-like. In the flash of a second Federer broke, decisively to win the set 7-5. The momentum had swung and the rain started to pour.

Just in time, many thought, for Murray to have a breather and collect his thoughts. It seemed like perfect timing for Murray. In that sense it probably was as something was needed to stem the tide.

Yet as the roof closed and the players returned it was Federer that seemed to have increased his powers and then came 'that' game. Both players held relatively comfortably until Federer led 3-2. An unbelievable backhand from Federer gave him two break points but Murray responded brilliantly to take the game to deuce. Nine more deuces followed with some sumptuous shots from Federer, before the Swiss finally broke, after nearly 20 minutes of play. Murray crucially slipping as he was lobbed just prior to being broken at the sixth time of asking. Unbelievable.

Federer began to open up his famous forehand, though it was still littered with unforced errors, and Murray just could not live with his opponent as a two sets to one lead became inevitable.

Murray struggled to hold on from here and when the new world number one broke mid-way through the fourth set all seemed set for Federer.

Yet Murray had one last chance. At 15-30 on the Federer serve Murray opened a forehand of his own, only to get too excited and go long. With that any last chance of glory was gone and Federer closed out for victory as Murray had nothing left in the tank.

A grand slam still seems possible for Murray, but maybe this was his best chance at Wimbledon gone. Federer showed shines of the great play of yesteryear at times here, but he was there for the taking, particularly the unforced errors gifting Murray an early lead.

Still there are question marks over the mental toughness of Murray, particularly when the going got tough. There were the petulant remarks aimed in no particular direction as the match slipped away that you never seemed to see from the top players.

When the players return here in a few weeks for the upcoming Olympics, Federer will now be looking for a gold medal to complete his remarkable collection, whilst Murray will have to wipe away the tears, re-group and respond. Good luck with that.

Federer v Nadal. Game, set, match?

The dust has long since settled and Switzerland's Roger Federer has achieved an unprecedented 16 Grand Slam titles, overtaking Pete Sampras' previous best of 14. The Swiss also holds the record for most consecutive weeks as the world's number one, 237. With all this in mind, surely he is the greatest of all time?

Ace: But Nadal has the Indian sign over Federer

Federer can also lay claim to the fact that he has won all four of the Grand Slams, something only six others have done in the history of the game.

While there are several reasons to suggest he is the greatest, there is one over-riding argument against it - Rafael Nadal is better. Until he overcomes Nadal, which now appears unlikely as Federer enters the autumn of his career, doubts will persist as to his true claim to be the best ever.

For a start, the Spaniard is one of the six who has won each of the slams on offer.

And Despite Federer’s record-breaking period as world number one, the rankings can frequently giving a false reading. Much depends on fitness as, when injured, a player accrues no points, whereas even the less talented players can gain points just by playing and winning the occasional match. This contributes towards the quirks regularly on offer in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) rankings. Take note of the Williams sisters’ bizarre rankings of 17 and 29, respectively, in the women's latest list.

It is highly unlikely we would even be talking about Federer's feats had Nadal stayed fit throughout Federer’s period of domination. Mallorca-born Nadal would undoubtedly have won last year’s French Open, something he had done for the previous four years (beating Federer en route to victory on each occasion), but for a knee injury curtailing his progress early on in the tournament. Admittedly, Federer was there to pick up the pieces to win at Roland Garros for the first time, but he has never even come close to defeating Nadal on clay, with the exception of a fortuitous win in Hamburg two years ago.

When we look at the last three years at Wimbledon, a pattern becomes clear. Remember, grass is Federer's strongest surface and therefore the courts of SW19 are ideally suited to the man from Basel.

In 2007 he came through to win the title against Nadal in somewhat fortunate circumstances. Rafa was on top until a knee injury prevented him from performing at his best for the final dozen or so games and Federer managed to take full advantage of his opponent’s disability.

In 2008 Nadal not only outplayed his opponent by putting in the performance of his life, but displayed arguably the greatest tennis performance in the history of the game to beat Federer in that memorable final.

And then to 2009, Federer had been on the wane for the previous 12 months with his record against Nadal deteriorating further still. Their current head to head in Grand Slams stands at 9-6 in the Spaniard's favour, with Nadal winning five of the last six meetings. But those statistics are put into greater perspective when you look at their head to head in Grand Slams, where Nadal leads 5-2, winning the last three in a row.

So it is difficult to imagine Federer winning another grand slam with a fully fit Nadal in opposition.

Even though Federer won Wimbledon in 2009, Nadal’s absence was without doubt the biggest contributing factor.

The competition contained some exciting matches that enthralled the crowd as much any other Wimbledon in previous years but the overall quality was probably at its lowest since 2003. Can you really imagine Andy Roddick pushing Nadal to five sets and to 14 all in the final set? The American has never come close to winning Wimbledon before or since.

Can you really imagine a fully fit Nadal only breaking the American's serve once in nearly 40 games as Federer managed in that final two years ago?

This is not to say that Federer cannot do something about it. Should he dispel the myth that Nadal has the Indian sign over him by actually beating him in a fair contest in the future, and perhaps improve his record against him, then he could definitely be regarded, unequivocally, as the greatest.

It is just that it appears extremely unlikely that he will do that.

Nadal's career, when his knees have been strong enough, has been on an upward curve (at least until the beginning of this year when Djokovic came to the fore) whilst Federer's has been in decline for about three years. And unless he can rediscover that forehand that used to be so deadly, the 16 times grand slam winner will almost certainly never win another major again.

The Guardian’s tennis journalist, Kevin Mitchell, is in no doubt where the big two’s career’s are heading. He said: “At this point in their careers, Nadal (is ahead). He is five years younger, owns
three of the Slams and still getting to finals. Federer has not won a slam since Australia 2010, although he still goes deep into nearly every tournament. I think he will retire after the Olympics.”

Much in the future, of course, depends on Nadal's long-term fitness. When asked if Nadal could eventually overtake Federer’s Grand Slam record of 16, Mitchell said: “He can if his knees hold out.”

The problem for Federer now is that Djokovic has at last found some consistency, squeezing the former world number one down to third in the latest ATP rankings.

Whichever way you look at it, any claims that Federer's is the best of all time will always be overshadowed by Nadal because how can the world's greatest ever player be dominated to such a degree by his ultimate rival?

Could Schumacher be regarded as the best if he was consistently beaten by Mika Hakkinen or Jacques Villeneuve?

Would Mohammed Ali be so revered if George Foreman or Sonny Liston had frequently demonstrated they were better than him?

The answer to all of the above is of course not.

Tears for fears

It was the summer of 1999 and after narrowly missing out on the world titles of 1997 and 98 all seemed set for Michael Schumacher to finally achieve his goal of delivering Ferrari its first Driver's World Championship in two decades. However, fate intervened and the German broke his leg at the British Grand Prix. After a remarkable set of circumstances, including a host of errors from chief rivals McLaren, Schumacher's Ferrari team-mate Eddie Irvine was suddenly propelled into the position of favourite for that year's title as the formula one circus arrived at the final race. After huge amounts of effort and tens of millions of dollars directed towards Schumacher, suddenly the bridesmaid appeared the more likely to be the one to deliver, much to Schuey's embarrassment.

Now fast forward ten years and think tennis. Think Rafael Nadal lifting last week's Australian Open title followed by Roger Federer's tears. After years of hard work and toil, narrowly missing out on the grand slam by winning all four majors, Federer can now see someone else on the horizon set to eclipse him.

In recent years, talk of Federer achieving his aim would gather momentum as the season progressed, particularly as he frequently got off to the perfect start by safely securing the opening slam in Melbourne. Then as spring would turn into summer, the French Open would arrive and so would the dark clouds, if only temporarily, over the man from Basel's season. A routine path to the final would ensue but the combination of clay and Nadal would prove to be too much. Thus, a blight on Federer's season and another year would pass by, despite continued dominance at Wimbledon and the US Open. The season finishing with three out of the four slams in the trophy cabinet. Winning three grand slams in one year occurred to Federer on three occasions (2004, 06 and 07). Last year, however, he won just one- the US Open last September. Nevertheless, this year began with some predicting a return to form and a possible clean sweep.

Nadal's victory last Sunday put paid to that notion and, as a result, it is the Spaniard who now appears most likely to achieve that clean sweep. Having been successful at the previous four French Opens he will be odds on to claim a fifth at Roland Garros this year. Wimbledon follows on quite quickly from Paris and he is the reigning champion at SW19 so will see no reason why he cannot secure a second title. That would be three out of three and the final piece of the jigsaw would arrive in the autumn in New York. This will be the hardest of the slams to win. He has never even reached the final before but after some convincing displays on the hard courts of Melbourne he will feel more confident than ever at Flushing Meadow. There will be many variables to negotiate en route for the Spaniard but perhaps it was the realisation of a dream slipping away and into someone else's hands that was the cause of Federer's tears.

Irvine blew it back in 1999 through a combination of incompetence and an inability to deal with the pressure suddenly thrust upon him, two accusations that could never be thrown the way of Nadal.