What's your favorite player's crowning jewel?

[brokenshoelace]

This is inspired by the @britbox thread regarding your favorite player's missing piece. So, let's look at the positives. What's your favorite player's crowning achievement? It could be a slam win, some record, a level of tennis hit during a particular stretch, some rankings related feat of dominance, or perhaps improving a particular shot, etc...

 

[brokenshoelace]

For Nadal, there's obviously a lot to choose from, but for the sake of originality, I'm not going to list anything resume related. Instead, I think my favorite part of his career is his evolution into a well-rounded tennis genius (I realize 14 French Opens isn't bad either).

When he first hit the scene, he was all forehand, movement, and athleticism. Obviously, most people immediately picked up on his talent and thought he'd be something special, but 22 slams would have been a prediction that got you banned on tennis forums for pure lunacy, and that's not touching on the rest of his achievements. Beyond the longevity and dominance this required, two propositions that looked simply impossible at the time, I don't think anyone thought he'd have the all around game for the career he ended up having.

It was gradual, but very tangible. Yes, between 2008 and 2014 he added so much to his game, and it compensated for the gradual decline in speed, explosiveness, movement/athleticism, etc... But between 2017 and 2022, he'd turned into an all court tennis savant, who for my money, produced the most pleasing and versatile game behind Federer.

His combination of touch (again, best on tour outside of Federer IMO), improvisational ability, and tennis IQ (the absolute smartest player I've ever seen) made it a real treat to watch him problem solve in real time, when he couldn't rely on running and defending as much as he used to.

 

[britbox]

Cool thread broken.

I’ve had a few faves over the years, starting with Borg at the tail-end of his career, then Edberg, Safin, Federer in chronological order - but Edberg is the one at the top of the pile, so I'll go with him.

I first noticed Edberg at Junior Wimbledon, and then followed his emergence alongside a cluster of Swedes who came through in the mid-to-late 80s. Wilander had already broken through, but suddenly there was a mob of them - Edberg, Anders Jarryd, Joakim Nystrom, Mikael Pernfors, plus a few other lesser fringe contenders knocking on the door.

However, in the UK where I grew up, tennis coverage was pretty sparse outside of Queens and Wimbledon, maybe the French Open final if you were lucky. Occasionally there’d be highlights tucked away on World of Sport or Grandstand. Wimbledon was the tournament - everything else was random and rare.

So when Edberg won the Australian Open in 85 and 87 on grass it's like it somehow didn’t register properly (at the time). The AO was still rebuilding its credibility. It was the Swedes and Lendl who started to drag it back into relevance by going to play it, but for the mainstream UK general public, Wimbledon was still the only show in town.

Edberg’s straight-sets loss to Miroslav Mecir in 86 was infuriating. How was this grass court great in the making losing in straight sets? In ’87 he finally made the semis - only to run into an Ivan Lendl who had geared his entire season to winning Wimbledon (he never managed it either).

It wasn’t until 1988 that he broke through to the final and standing in the way was Boris Becker. By then, Becker was already Wimbledon royalty, twice a champion in his teens, and adored by the British crowd.

Edberg lost the first set. Play was halted. The match rolled into Monday.

But, I had hope - Edberg had played well in that first set. Composed. Calm. Unruffled. Even in that pressure cooker, he didn’t shrink. For the first time, I genuinely believed he could win, not just play a beautiful match, but win when it mattered most under the greatest of pressure.

So I choose this match not because it was his best performance (for me, the Courier win at the US Open and a number of others surpass it), but because it legitimised him.

I always thought Edberg carried an air of vulnerability - the sense that he could be rushed, overpowered, unsettled. Tony Pickard, his coach knew he was mentally vulnerable. That Wimbledon final proved he could handle the biggest stage, the heaviest pressure, and come out the other side holding the trophy,

 

[Moxie]

For Nadal, there's obviously a lot to choose from, but for the sake of originality, I'm not going to list anything resume related. Instead, I think my favorite part of his career is his evolution into a well-rounded tennis genius (I realize 14 French Opens isn't bad either).

When he first hit the scene, he was all forehand, movement, and athleticism. Obviously, most people immediately picked up on his talent and thought he'd be something special, but 22 slams would have been a prediction that got you banned on tennis forums for pure lunacy, and that's not touching on the rest of his achievements. Beyond the longevity and dominance this required, two propositions that looked simply impossible at the time, I don't think anyone thought he'd have the all around game for the career he ended up having.

It was gradual, but very tangible. Yes, between 2008 and 2014 he added so much to his game, and it compensated for the gradual decline in speed, explosiveness, movement/athleticism, etc... But between 2017 and 2022, he'd turned into an all court tennis savant, who for my money, produced the most pleasing and versatile game behind Federer.

His combination of touch (again, best on tour outside of Federer IMO), improvisational ability, and tennis IQ (the absolute smartest player I've ever seen) made it a real treat to watch him problem solve in real time, when he couldn't rely on running and defending as much as he used to.

As a fellow Nadal fan, I think this is a terrific post, and summary of his career. And, while I didn't comment on Baron's companion thread, as to what you would have most wanted of your favorite, I agree with your posts. That, at this altitude, there's nothing more to have wanted. All of their records are gaudy.

So, without thinking about it too much, and letting the FO and clay records speak for themselves, I would add to your above and say the 2022 final v. Medvedev was definitely a jewel in Nadal's crown. Because it finally gave him that 2nd AO title (and double-career Slam,) because it was his penultimate Major, and on hards, and because it basically encapsulated everything you said above about the player he became. It also highlighted the features of him that were always there, which you didn't mention, and that was his competitiveness, his focus, his dogged commitment to every point. Medvedev wasn't his most storied opponent, but this come-from-2-sets down win, at 35, said everything about Nadal in one match, IMO. I loved that win.

 

[brokenshoelace]

As a fellow Nadal fan, I think this is a terrific post, and summary of his career. And, while I didn't comment on Baron's companion thread, as to what you would have most wanted of your favorite, I agree with your posts. That, at this altitude, there's nothing more to have wanted. All of their records are gaudy.

So, without thinking about it too much, and letting the FO and clay records speak for themselves, I would add to your above and say the 2022 final v. Medvedev was definitely a jewel in Nadal's crown. Because it finally gave him that 2nd AO title (and double-career Slam,) because it was his penultimate Major, and on hards, and because it basically encapsulated everything you said above about the player he became. It also highlighted the features of him that were always there, which you didn't mention, and that was his competitiveness, his focus, his dogged commitment to every point. Medvedev wasn't his most storied opponent, but this come-from-2-sets down win, at 35, said everything about Nadal in one match, IMO. I loved that win.

The Medvedev win is a definitely a top 5 all time Nadal moment for me. Everything about it was special. The Australian Open had been my favorite slam in terms of vibes since they changed the colors of the court in 2008, and the atmosphere on Rod Laver Arena is my favorite out of all 4 majors. The crowd willed him to that win. Being away from the forums has perhaps influenced my view on this match, in that it felt like the world wanted Nadal to win, especially in light of the Novak vaccine fiasco (regardless of where you stand on how he was treated).

 

[El Dude]

For Roger, my favorite win was 2017 AO - not only because it was over Rafa, but that he hadn't won a Slam in almost five years, and at 35 years old, to boot. His level of play that year was just absurd, especially for a 35-year old.

His most impressive record is probably 237 consecutive weeks at #1, over a year's worth more than anyone else (Connors with 160). The other side of this is just the crazy dominance of 2004-07, which surpasses any other span of similar length.

 

[brokenshoelace]

I do think Roger's 2017 return and the subsequent 2 years were some of the most important of his career. In a lot of ways, "reminding" everyone who he was. As mentioned in El Dude's post, he hadn't won a slam in a long time and not only that, but his 2017 year was reminiscent of some of his prime mid 2000's years. The way he played Nadal following that AO win showed just how important that tournament was, as I don't think Federer had ever dominated Nadal as badly as he did that year, not just in terms of results, but it felt like there was nothing Rafa could do to hang with him.