Famous Court Cases

Geoff B asked:


It is without a doubt that Spaniard and world No.2 Rafael Nadal will overtake Roger Federer of Switzerland in the ATP Rankings in the coming weeks. It is probable that this change will take place this Sunday. In case you don’t realize how monumental this is, let me put it in perspective. The last time someone not named Roger Federer sat atop the world of tennis I was enjoying myself as a junior high student, there were some who still believed we would find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and Lindsay Lohan was just a cute up-and-coming redhead, famous for her role in “Mean Girls”. Get the point? Roger Federer has held the world’s #1 ranking in tennis for almost five years, 235 consecutive weeks. His tumble from untouchable to unpredictable was inevitable, but who thought that the tumble would go into free fall so quickly?

As the chief benefactor to the decline of Federer’s game (Not to discredit the outstanding improvements Nadal has made over just the past year), Rafael Nadal will soon see an unusual number beside his name in box scores. Nadal has a record of his own, sitting as the world’s #2 for nearly three years. Some would say that the transition began as early as last year’s Wimbledon, a five set classic that showed the world that Roger Federer was in fact human on his favorite surface. Others might claim that the real and definitive shift in power came a year later, after this summer’s final at the All-England Club, a five set epic match that will go down as not only one of the greatest tennis matches of all time, not only the greatest Wimbledon final of all time, but one of the greatest sporting competitions in history. Whether Federer’s decline and Nadal’s ascent began in 2007, a year later, or somewhere in between, this much is without debate, Rafael Nadal has proven himself to be the best player in the world right now, the question is, how long will it last?

I joked with myself this afternoon, still stunned at the latest derailing of the Fed Express. I imagined Nadal’s press conference after a potential victory on Sunday, earning the top spot in the rankings. His charming accent and charismatic personality coming through as, in response to the generic sure-to-be-asked question about becoming the world’s #1, he would say something along the lines of “One week down, two-hundred and thirty-five more to beat Roger, no?”

The question that swirls around my brain when considering this shift in rankings is how long will the name Rafael Nadal be able to remain on top? Nadal has made a steady climb from being a great clay court player to being a great clay and grass player and now has extended his game onto hard courts. The Spaniard has won thirty-one straight matches over the summer and counting, becoming the first man since Bjorn Borg to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles in the same year. However, one image remains fresh in my mind more than any other when it comes to Rafa. In the midst of Wimbledon 2007, on his way to a dominating fourth set victory that would set the stage for a grand fifth, Nadal came up lame. The wraps on his knees had failed to protect his fragile axels. Then, this year in Wimbledon when he was up two sets to none and possibly on his way to an unfathomable straight set victory, Nadal took a tumble behind the baseline. There he lay for a few moments before cautiously jogging back to his chair and stretching. Kirk Gibson was able to knock the most famous home run in the history of baseball on a gimp leg. Michael Jordan was able to score fifty points in the NBA Finals while under the effects of food poisoning. But the vast difference is that Gibson didn’t use his legs to swing the bat and Jordan didn’t shoot with his stomach. Asking Rafael Nadal to be a top-10 player, forget being the best player in the world, without the keys to his game, his legs, his speed and defense, would be like asking Kirk Gibson to have hit that homerun without a bat, asking Michael Jordan to score fifty without hands.

As recently as after Roland Garros this year I made the bold prediction that Roger Federer would hold onto his world No.1 ranking, perhaps only by the skin of his teeth, for the rest of the season, predicting that 2009 would put on a dazzling menage a trois of tennis between Federer, Nadal and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, the world’s No.3, in a tooth and nail battle for the top ranking. With these recent events, being the upset at Wimbledon and now the two early round exits of Federer in Masters Series’ events, it is safe to say that the first of my predictions will be incorrect. The second remains quite plausible.
Who will be the person who will end Rafa Nadal’s reign as the world’s #1? The answer may surprise you. Personally, I believe it will be the man more used to the spot than anyone else in history, Mr. Federer. For awhile, Roger Federer will be the only one near Nadal in points and if he spends the offseason getting back to his game, away from the fashion statements, away from the $10000 haircuts and away from the five star hotels, he may be able to catch Nadal snoozing a bit in the early parts of the 2009 season which consist of hardcourt play, still without a doubt Nadal’s weakest surface.

Djokovic cannot be counted out either as the hardcourt season is his time. Novak is the one person who can be single-handedly credited with the fall of Roger Federer. It was Djokovic who shocked the world with a semi-final victory way back at the Australian Open over Federer in straight sets that began the buzz around Federer’s potential decline. Buzz that has become all too real for Federer and his fans.

As for Rafa, no one should expect the kind of reign atop the rankings that Roger Federer enjoyed. To me, Nadal seems to be a time bomb. A grenade, you might say actually, the pin dangling out, just waiting to be brushed, bumped or shaken in the wrong way. If Nadal were Andy Roddick (who couldn’t run if there was a Chainsaw murderer behind him) or even Federer or Djokovic who use more of an all-court game than Rafa, you might say he could hang around if he loses some of hie quickness, but alas, that is not the case. With the way Nadal plays the game, recklessly stretching for balls 10 feet off the court, attempting to slide on hard surfaces as if they were the inviting clay of Paris, enjoying running the baseline for rallies as long as twenty to thirty shots, any problem with any part of his legs, especially a knee and its fragile parts, would be devastating to him, to his number one ranking, and to his career. The clock is ticking, the knees are grinding, the pin is trembling for Rafael Nadal. His time is now; however, the way things seem, it won’t be for long.

As quickly as Rafa has risen, so could Rafa fall. And should that happen, this time, he may not get back up.
It’s possible that I’m a jealous Federer fan but I do really love Nadal as well, it’s very difficult to dislike someone as charismatic as him. I don’t mean to sound bias, but I guess since it is an opinion piece it’s supposed to, it’s just my honest opinion based on what I’ve seen and read. Rafa is young and strong yes but he has had more problems with his knees than most players do. I’ve never heard about Federer or Djokovic or other guys like say Ferrer, Davydenko and Blake having knee problems and definitely not re-occurring ones. Look at say Sharapova. The gal is the best women’s player on tour probably when she’s playing at her top level but her injuries just keep screwing her up. I could see that happening to Rafa.