When will the record be broken ? the earliest he can get to 15 slams and break the record is Wimbledon next year.
Personally I'm going for US Open 2008...I think Nadal will still remain the man to beat on the clay next spring...Federer has the ability and game plan to beat him but its yet to be seen whether he can rise to the occasion and produce anything near his best over a sustained period on the dirt. Rome 2006 and Hamburg 2007 have been the only two times he's produced decent performances against Nadal on clay
Of the other 3, I think Aussie Open will be the hardest for him to win being the second slowest...on paper Nadal should be a huge threat here but he's yet to show the ability to dominate the other players on hard...on rebound ace and the decoturf (US Open series surface) he seems vulnerable to the big hitters who can serve him off the court and hit big winners over best of 5 sets (and there's a growing number of them...Djokovic, Blake, Berdych, Youzhny, Ferrer, Roddick, possibly Baghdatis)....
have gone for uso 08, although woudl love to see him win the french.
talking of the uso did anyone else think it was a bit off the way they talked about the prize money for the event in such a big way during the cermoney, i am guessing its a american thing, as i dont remember the other slams going on about it so much, and i can bet that federer was thinkign about an extra $1m in hia bank balance when it was match point, it was winning the title surely.
-- Edited by Count Zero at 12:16, 2007-09-13
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Count Zero - Creator of the Statistical Tennis Extrapolation & Verification ENtity or, as we like to call him, that steven.
Aussie - NoDjo (though he won't beat Fed - Roger will have been knocked out by Guccione in R2) French - Rafa Wimbledon - Someone unexpected...maybe a past-his-peak superstar like Hewitt; perhaps it's A-Rod's turn US - Fed
I agree with them all apart from Wimbledon...Federer will win that again...Nadal is the only player who might trouble him there but there are plenty of players who could take him out first. Imo Djokovic doesn't have the all round game yet to beat Fed on grass.
I think Nole will win his first slam next year, will either be Aussie Open or US Open, like the cabbage I have a feeling it will be the AO, slightly slower there and so Fed is a bit more vulnerable.
I can't see Fed losing at Timbledon any time soon. You can just tell that it is his fav tourny and even though it is so close to the French Open he is really prepared for it.
I also can't see A-Rod winning there against Fed. After that match at the US Open it is hard to imagine Roddick beating Fed at a major. Man, to play that well and still lose at your grand slam, devestating.
Nadal only reached the final of Wimbledon this year because Youzhny got injured during their match, then Djokovic withdrew. Both matches Nadal lost the first set with his opponent looking in control until injury struck.
He is still the man to beat on the red stuff, though.