Word: nadal
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...best? Laver, Sampras and other greats such as Andre Agassi think so. And yet. World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is in horse-racing terms Federer's "bug boy" - so called because of the "bug," or asterisk, that he places next to Federer's achievements. Federer has a 7-13 losing record against Nadal, including losses in five of the seven Grand Slam finals the pair have contested. Federer won the French Open without having to face the Spaniard, who suffered a shock defeat in the fourth round. And when he returns to Wimbledon's grass, his favorite surface, on June...
That Federer's artistry has been thwarted by Nadal's muscular play doesn't bother Federer fans, who seem to love him all the more for his struggles. The Parisian crowds that chanted "Roger! Roger!" through the French Open fortnight understood that if Federer's ethereal game could finally triumph on the heavy red clay of Roland Garros, it would be another proof of his greatness...
...perfection paradoxically requires a career spent obsessing over one's faults. Unusually for tennis players, Federer has spent most of his career without a coach, analyzing his own game and making changes himself, such as adding a deft drop volley at the French Open that was designed to counter Nadal and other clay-court specialists. "Of all the things that make him great, perhaps the least appreciated is his ability to reflect on his game and make changes," said retired American doubles great Peter Fleming. Complacency is impossible for Federer, as he explained after his Paris victory. "I can walk...
...knows how Federer will continue to evolve, or whether he will gain the upper hand in his rivalry with Nadal, and prove himself beyond doubt the greatest of all time. Does it matter? As an athlete, Federer participates in an arena in which greatness is fleeting and in which time eventually levels all. Perhaps Laver, now 70, says it best, "I just love to watch Roger hit the shots. I just enjoy the spectacle." While it is still fresh, we should savor the memory of those beautiful shots: the ball rising from the clay to Federer's racket, the great...
...Read TIME's profile of Rafael Nadal...