We don't have 2 clay courts for grand slams, so your point is irrelevant...That's like saying if there was another grass Slam Federer would be winning more
Fed, reduced his calendar and allowed him to focus more on the Slams rather than all the tours .
You say is more likely he did dope, have you evidence of this or is it just something you made up?
Being fitter as you get older isn't a strange one, I was doing triathlon's in my early 40 and marathons in my late 40's, whereas in my 20's I wouldn't be as fit as I was in my later life, people just manage their fitness better.
Nadal has won nearly double his Slams on one court , his spread of slam's is poor, 1 Aussie 2 Grass and seems to like the USA having won more there that the other Slams bar French Open..
He's very good and I'd say on a par with Federer, plus his head to head with him is far better also
We have two hard court slams, one grass and one clay. It's relevant that 75% of the tennis season is tilted towards big servers and 25% of it towards all rounders. There really should be a second clay slam in place of one of the hard courts and had we a more even split in the season then Nadal would likely be way ahead.
Nadal's spread of slams are also not poor. Only Djokovic, Federer and Sampras have won more slams on hard and grass courts than Nadal in the modern era.
His renaissance in 2017 was very strange though, 6 years without a slam and then suddenly he starts outlasting younger players in 5 setters at 35 years of age, after knee surgery. As Simon said, given the baseless innuendo put around about Nadal for years, it's strange that no scrutiny was placed on Federer here - instead he was lauded for it.
Federer didn't win a US Open since 08. He did 5IAR US Open titles in a weakish era (04-08), he did similar at Wimbledon (03-07). He was able to pick up a French Open and Wimbledon in 2009 when Rafa who was reigning champ had to succumb to knee injuries. Since then in over a decade he has added just 5 slams, 3 Australian Opens and 2 Wimbledons. Nadal has won the same amount of hard and grass slams in that time.
Feds the best, your weakish ear thing means nothing..
Did Rafa ever have knee surgery? Did he preform better? and lets say Rafa wins more titles as he gets older will people think he's on the juice?
Strange one
Nope, Rafa has suffered from tendonitis in his knees, rest and a course of anti-inflammatories are his usual treatment for this. It flares up primarily on hard courts which is why Nadal has always been very selective about the tournaments he chooses.
Rafa has changed his game, he can't do the time on court he did when he was 24/25. He doesn't win the long rallies anymore like he used to, he plays his points shorter, more aggressively. His serve has improved dramatically under Moya. The 2015/16 era for Nadal was him playing a game that his body was no longer capable of. Many people had wrote him off at that time but he readapted his game and certain elements of his game are better than they ever were before.
I don't think he has the game anymore to do it with Djokovic on a hard court, the prime Nadal could have gone toe to toe with Djokovic on hard courts but he doesn't have the physical levels to match him anymore in that regard.
Nadal's time on court in slams in the past 4 seasons will tell you all you need to know about the difference in his game.
I'm not saying Federer is a doper but when you think of the narrative and innuendo out there, it makes much more logical sense to be more suspicious of Federer than Nadal and I think that's the point Simon was making in his book. People have used slurs and innuendo all through Nadal's career because he was bettering Federer and there was no way some elements could accept that Nadal was better.
