Best of All Times

The imaginary conversation between Federer(Fed) and Nadal(Rafa) about who is the best of all times.

Fed : Hi Rafa, How are you. ?

Rafa: Hi Roger. am fine. thx. hope u r doing good too.

Fed : ya am fine. So how does it feel, being world #1. ?

Rafa: ya it feels gr8. But i sometimes admire you that how did you handle the pressure of being #1 for such a long time.

Fed : It comes by experience. Hope you are doing ok.

Rafa: Hmm but i somehow felt bad that am yet to reach any finals after becoming world #1.
Even olympic win was just a day before me becoming world #1. Missed it by a day.

Fed : But it is only two months since u have been world #1. Give sometime to settle down.

Rafa: yeah but the pressure i felt, when i was facing Murray in US open semis, whom i had beaten easily earlier, was just too big for me to handle.
I really admire you. You are the best i have ever seen.

Fed : But u r just 23, @ your age i didn't even win any master and u have 5 Grand Slams under your belt. Its just awesome.
And you the best clay courter in the history of tennis.

Rafa: Yeah the only place where am comfortable against u was Roland Garros. And out of that 5 slams, 4 were only on clay. And am yet to reach hard court slam finals.
Sometime i do feel if i really deserve #1, when we have soo many clay court masters when compared to grass or hard court.
I may be a good clay courter but in the end, its all you and its just you, who could be the best of all times.

A Sampras fan listening to this conversation peeps out and says. 'How can u forget Sampras when talking about the best of all times. ?'

Rafa: Dude we are discussing about Clay Courts. Roger @least reached 3 finals and 1 semis there and I Guess Sampras's best was just 4th round.
Though they(Fedex and Pete) were from different era. Pete never had to face any tough clay court opponents like me in his era. Still he couldn't reach semis even once there.

That fan kept quiet.

Rafa: Where are we. ? haa yeah u r the simply the best of all times.

Fed : But people do say that i never faced opponents like Borg or Sampras faced in their era. So i really doubt if am really the best of all times.

Rafa: Just ignore those people who says that. They probably don't even know the spelling of word tennis.
You thrashed 3 former world #1s(Safin , Hewitt and Roddick) to become #1. The way you are dominating opponents is just awesome.
The way you thrashed Djokovic in US Open 2008 semis. And the way you played Murray, who really kicked me in semis, to win ur 5th straight US Open was too big.
You took tennis to next level where others could just dream about. And the win against biggies like Pete, Agassi is nothing lesser than winning a Grand Slam.

That Sampras Fan(SF) who was humiliated by Rafa's comment earlier came closer to Rafa.

SF: And the day is not too far for u to be thrashed by Roger.
Pete rightly said after Wimbly 2008 that it was just not Rogers day and he could easily win 7 out of 10 times in Wimbly Center Court against you.

Rafa: Dude it was considered one of the best finals in Tennis History.

SF: Yeah it was, because apart from players like Federer no one would have stretched that game to a five setter. Probably thats your first victory apart from Clay.
So it looks special for you. Remember Roger, out of 6 Finals, he lost only once. Pete never lost in finals there. And you jus won once out of 3 times.
This itself is very much clear enough to say u r simply not in the league of Roger or Pete.
If you really wanna prove a point win consistently like Roger or Pete did for 3, 4 years, which am sure you never gonna do.

Rafa: I will surely.

SF: Its not that easy, first just try reaching a hard court slam final. Then we will have a discussion later. And remember 2009 is gonna be a payback from Federer.

Rafa: We will meet after 2009 AO.

SF: Ya sure, even though this doest gonna help you, am just for name sake saying this "All The Best".

Rafa thinks himself lemme reach the finals then we will meet that guy.

As the challenge between Rafa and SF was just about reaching finals in AO, its not about winning it.
Because everybody knows wats gonna happen there.

Let Only Experts talk abt Roger Federer

Pete Sampras, Winner of 14 Grand Slams.
For me, in my prime, I felt unbeatable. In Roger's days, he's unbeatable.
It's really hard to put one guy over the other. Having said that,
I think Roger is dominating the game much more than I ever did.
I think he's going to go on and pass 14 and win 16, 17, 18 majors.
I think he's going to break all records.



Rod Laver, Winner of 11 Grand Slams.
The best way to beat him would be to hit him over the head with a racquet.
Roger could win the Grand Slam if he keeps playing the way he is and, if he does that,it will equate to the two Grand Slams that I won because standards are much higher these days.



Bjorn Borg, Winner of 11 Grand Slams.
He's an artist on this surface. He can stay back. He can come in. No weaknesses. Federer could win Wimbledon six, seven, eight times.
He can play on any kind of surface, he is so complete.
And if he continues the way he has been doing and stays away from injuries and still has the motivation, he will be the greatest player ever.
I think the motivation is the key thing and he has the motivation to continue to play for another three or five years.



Andre Agassi, winner of 8 Grand Slams.
He's the best I've ever played against. There's nowhere to go. There's nothing to do except hit fairways, hit greens and make putts. Every shot has that sort of urgency on it.
I've played a lot of them (other players), so many years, there's a safety zone, there's a place to get to, there's something to focus on, there's a way.
Anything you try to do, he potentially has an answer for and it's just a function of when he starts pulling the triggers necessary to get you to change to that decision.



Jimmy Connors, winner of 8 Grand Slams.
In the modern game, you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist or a hard court specialist ... or you're Roger Federer.



Ivan Lendl, winner of 8 Grand Slams.
He is capable of hitting shots which other players don't even think about trying. He has so many skills.



John McEnroe, winner of 7 Grand Slams.
He's probably the greatest player that ever lived. He can beat half the guys with his eyes closed!



Boris Becker, winner of 6 Grand Slams.
We have a guy from Switzerland who is just playing the game a way I haven't seen anyone—and I mean anyone—play before.
How fortunate we are to be able to see that. If he stays healthy and motivated—and the wonderful feel he has stays with him—he is the kind of guy who can overtake the greatest.



Rafael Nadal, Winner of 5 Grand Slams.
If he is playing very good, I have to play unbelievable. If not, it’s impossible, especially if he’s playing with good confidence.
When he’s 100 percent, he’s playing in another league. It’s impossible to stop him. I fight. I fight. I fight. Nothing to say. Just congratulate him.



Andy Roddick, Winner of 2003 US Open.
Roger is at the top, and he's the only person at the top, regardless of how much people want to make rivalry comparisons and this, that and the other.
He's the best player in the game. There's no question in my mind.