You're a fool if you think it's over for Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

It's reassuring to finally see a sober analysis of the Federer/Nadal etc. dynamic. Thanks for the great article.

I agree. Federer, as my idol Pete Sampras said, will probably win 18 or,19 more grand slams at least. The French tilte will most likely be amongst those. And for Nadal, as a commentator for Eurosport with a great deal of credibility, Frew McMillan said that Nadal despite having won the French 3 consecutive times and holding onto the number two spot for quite some time, is a mere 21 years of age and is a Wimbledon finalist for the last two years is capable of winning any of the the other three slams multiple times. He is a supreme talent and a great attribute to the game. These two will surely be quarrelling for the number 1 spot and every grand slam for years to come.

I agree, Federer posted a semi-final loss at the Australian and a quarter-final loss at Miami. He was hurting, missed a lot of preparation and he was certainly back in form at Miami from what I saw. The fact is, for anyone else this would be an extraordinary record.

I disagree with this article that is composed of beliefs and not facts. First at all Federer was lucky that he did not have any strong competition. Where would he be if he was playing in Lendel's, Borg’s or Sampras time? Can you, for example, compare Andy Roddick with Connors or Hass with McEnroe? Give me a break! The moment the competition becomes stronger, Federer begins to choke on all cilinders. At first, Fed claimed was eating too much chicken, and then he was ‘diagnosed’ with mononucleous. We even start getting bombarded with some new excuses of how Mirka is pregnant. For the believers it is hard to grasp the thought that their god is falling. That is why they are displaying a high degree of intolerance against any new player who is theatening to overtake ‘God’s’ throne.

Thanks Gerald for this nice article. I am a Rafa fan and I would like to see Rafa as No 1 one day. But Still have lots of respect for Federer and what he has achieveld in the past 4 years. I think even statistically it is impossible to go 4-5 years without an injury or illness and that's what unfortunately happened to Federer in AO. It is one thing if he is convincigly defeated and another if he is defeated because he has been in the hospital 6 times! What Rafa and Roger have been doing for the past 3-4 years is just unimaginable. Djoko won AO and then faltered in DC . Won IW and lost to a qualifier in Miami. Just shows what Roger has done on hard courts and Rafa on clay , year after year ( for Rafa starting at 18 ), is just magnificent. None of them are demotivated. None are thinking of leaving the competition. They are holding on to their crowns and it is up to the rest to fight.

Since so many of the articles written by professionals are as silly and mean-spirited as the comment by Gordon N (yes, if all past and present tennis "greats" were playing at the same time, everything would be different), this review has been a breath of fresh air. Thank you! Any doctor knows that any infection of mono has a long "tail," in which one symptom is impaired coordination. Of course, that fact matters only to those of us who do not believe that Federer is outright lying about his condition, a "belief" that is "unfactual," not to mention ungenerous, in the extreme. Bad luck that Federer caught the infection, and those of us who admire him can only hope he has good luck as he continues to recover. Nadal, in the meantime, is an enormous celebrity in the clay court world where his ability is unquestioned! Yet who could be so petty as to want to deny Davydenko that moment in the Miami sun, holding his trophy. As Davydenko said in his interview, Nadal has so many trophies, whereas this will be precious to a man whose honesty has been in question for too long. Rivalry I understand, just as, of course, I understand preferring one player to another, but where do these vicious attitudes in the press as well as in "fans" come from? Are they influenced by the large sums of money that are legally won and lost on every match? In any case, it is so nice to see a sober assessment such as this one float to the top of the sea of malice that has greeted Federer's difficult year. Again, thanks!

who cares?

Gerald has an admirable respect for all that Roger has accomplished, but it's been clear for a year now that the champion was losing his powers. It was, after all, a year ago that Roger lost two in a row to Canas and then was humiliated in Rome by er, what's his name. Save those DVDs of Roger from 2006 -- it's the best you'll see.

Nice to see an intelligent article. This lapse by Roger for the last few months is just that: a lapse. All sportsmen have them at some point or another. its just that over the past 3-4 years he has set the bar so ridiculously hight that anything less than near-perfection is seen as miserable failure and a sign of decline. And Paul the best of Roger is not finished yet. By the way the AO in 2007 was probably the finest art by Roger you're ever likely to see. Unless he manages to top it. Just as a matter of interest, has anyone noticed how since Roger switched from the Wilson "N-Code Tour 90" to the "K-Factor Tour 90", his game (apart from the Australian Open 2007) seems to have been less stellar than his play from 2004-2006? Coincidence? My opinion, from watching past matches, when Roger was playing with his previous racquet of 2005-06 he was unstoppable.

Although Roger lost to Rodick in Miami, we have to remember that Andy served a near perfect match! I for one strongly believe that this "slow start' to the season by Federer is exactly what he needs in order to do well in Paris.

As a Federer fan, i have to admit that I tend to be a bit bias and when Federer loses a mach I start clutching at straws and look for logical explanations for why he lost! Having said that, you have to realize that if Rodick was around in the 80's and early 90's serving as fast as he is now, i truly believe that a lot of the legends of the game would struggle to break him. When Roger's on his game he has this aura about him that makes both his fans and critics open their mouths and wonder where those shots come from. I've been a Sampras fan my entire since i fisrt saw Pistol Pete pickup a racket. And by his own admission, Sampras has branded Federer a GREAT player in the making. Someone once said, form's temporary, class is TIMELESS!! I would urge all those who've written Federer off to wait and see. he will regain his balance and when he wins one title, the rest will role.

Great article... Everyone was talking how Rafa and Roger lost their shine, but they were wrong. Roger played great tennis against Roddik, so that means ROGER IS BACK! Rafa is great player and he played great, just because he didn't win the title that doesn't mean he is losing his shine. Just wait and see who were and will be the best tennis players ever... I love you ROGER!!! GO!!!

Both Federer and Nadal will always remain champs because of their graceful conduct on as well as off-court and sportsmanship spirit they show, in wins as well as losses. Particularly, graceful is how they are always so generous in praise of the victorious players, who defeat them, once the matches are over and in this respect, set high standards for others to emulate. Really, these two all-time great athletes make tennis proud and ultimately, sports proud.

interesting analysis but please check the dictionary for the meaning of "relinquish."

...must have gotten carried away and jumbled things up.Thanks for pointing it out.x

This guy needs to get a life...

I am sick and tired of morons like Gordon who keep throwing out names like Lendl, Sampras and Borg and argue that Federer is lucky to be playing in a "weak" era. The real question is how many times have these "great" players played each other during the so called "strong" era. If you look at Sampras' run up to the Wimbledon title during the seven years he won, his opponents for the most part were people who would not even make the top twenty today. The anti-Fed gang makes it sound like Sampras met the number 2 player or a multiple GS winner every time he stepped out on the tennis court. Sampras often played against mediocre players, as did Connors (except for Borg), so please stop the nonsense about the level of competition.

Beating Federer on grass at Wimbledon is not going to be easy and I feel he is going to make it six times in a row. Nadal is the King of clay and don't be surprised if he makes a clean sweep of Monte Carlo, Rome and French Open.

I agree with you and believe that these 'wins' over the top 2 will prove to be just 'once offs'.

With regards Federer's competetion, i agree. Sampras (my idol) had to deal with Rafter, Ivanicovic, Korda etc. These are worthy oppenents. Federer has but Nadal on clay and seemingly hard. Otherwise, Federer's performance dictates whether he loses or not.

I am not sure if Fedism is a new religion! It is possible that I am stepping yours holy ground, but for me it is more then obvious that this is not sport discussion any more! You can make spit contest on anyone who does not agree with your reduced vision. I don’t care, I am more and more convinced in a statements I made. As result your single sided mind does not see how Agasi, Kofelnikov and Rafter contribute to the tennis game. And yes they will for sure be on the top of ranking list!

yeah!!!!!!!! roger is still the no 1.... and will be ..... He showed some pretty good shots last match against Arod...... he 's back

I like this article because I think it actually makes sense and comes to a good conclusion as opposed to the others written by insane Fed-haters who think he's just going to disappear this year. both Federer and Nadal are not going anywhere!