what if this is just a trick pulled off by ATP trying­ to add a little excitement to this sport. I doubt­ Federer and Nadal were having or have had injuries or­ medical problems.

And now a little bit about doping, I­ don't thing Federer's and Nadal's doping­ tests will ever be positive, regardless of what­ "performance enhancers" they might be using­ and let's admit that it takes a little bit more­ than a genius personality to sustain their amazing­ performances... If each one of them is tested positive­ then it's the end of this sport, it will be the­ worst imaginable nightmare in the history of tennis.

this ruan Z guy, can you do anything but insult d­ people you debate? that's so juvenile, learn to be­ an adult a little. You sound like djokovic a litle when­ he sounds so spikey, just try your best to get­ attention without insulting, people will still read­ your opinions. remeber the guy you love so much is the­ guy journalist claim to be so graceful, try to be­ graceful a little. good luck man!

i still believe rafa will come back better than ever i­ believe coz i know he can

I am FEDERER all the way...but u must give credit to­ Nadal and Djocov and the andys and co. The mens game­ get tougher with time and those guys are trying so­ hard.
Nadal is a fantastic player with a diff dimention­ to the game...he just has a set back and i know­ he'll be back.Federer deserves all that he gets and­ even more for his consistency and the out look he gives­ to the game . I wish his Gods blessings,good health and­ greater success.

General.

AFTER HE RECLAIMED THE TOP SPOT, THERE CAME BACK HIS­ NEMESIS NADAL.............................

I am a great Nadal fan, but I am starting to realize­ that whenever he is talked about the phrase "fully­ fit" before his name is starting to sound like­ it's his christian name. We don't say­ "Rafa Nadal can beat Federer" but "a­ fully fit Nadal can beat Federer". This sort of­ makes all these discussions pointless. I think we can­ make no predictions but just wait and see what happens,­ one tournament at a time, and hope that he can get rid­ of the knee problem once and for all.

Very well put no 200. Overall Federer is the better­ player. His 15 slams prove that. Only if Nadal beats­ that can he be called greater. My point is that now at­ this moment in time if Nadal is fully fit he is better­ than federer. Federer cannot go on and on always being­ better than others. His best years I believe are behind­ him and a fully fit Nadal is now the best player in the­ world. When Nadals superority was only on clay he­ couldn't be considfered better. But in the last­ year he's beaten Federer on grass and hard court.­ That I believe proves my point.

Nadal is a great player and I do like him for his­ humility and what seems to be a genuine kindness. The­ main problem he will face in later years will be­ physical, he has a type of tennis that can not be­ sustained for long period of times. He has a very­ unusual physique for a tennis player (you look at­ Federer and you can clearly see the difference).­ However, the way he plays puts an enormous strain on­ his body, particularly his knees and it has been a long­ time in coming but I think that the troubles will keep­ coming back.

Someone mentioned that a fully fit Nadal­ would have beaten Federer and I agree with that. He is,­ on his day, essentially unbeatable. However the­ question is more along the lines: will Nadal ever be­ fully fit again? It would truly be a shame as he is a­ fantastic addition to the sport but I can not see,­ given the way he plays tennis, how he will ever be able­ to sustain an entire season without injury...

The­ whole debate about who is the greatest is honestly­ pointless, the only thing I would say (given that I­ have been playing tennis since I was six years old) is­ that Nadal impresses me for his ability to fight a lost­ cause time and time again and his extraordinary­ physical shots and the way he manages to produce power­ from seemingly impossible positions. Federer, however,­ impresses because he makes supremely complex shots look­ like a walk in the park.

I admire one because he­ really is an athlete, I admire the other because he has­ mastered the technical aspect of the game to a degree­ that I had never seen before.

Sorry, it is a long post­ and I am neither pro or anti either of these players. I­ just think that trying to compare them is ultimately­ pointless.

All you Nadal fans, this article is about Federer and­ yes I think he is the greatest. In comparison Nadal is­ no where near as decorated. One good year does not make­ someone greatest. Being the greatest is about­ persistence and persiverence showing up the grandslam­ semis and finals and winning them even when you are­ having a rough day. I am sorry but until Nadal can rake­ up as many grandslam semis and finals and surpass­ Roger's record, he will just be Rafeal Nadal,­ perhaps the greatest claycourt player. Welldone Roger,­ truly deserve your number 1 status and the accolades to­ go with it.

Time will prove which one of us is right. And Nadal­ would have won W if he had got to the final, and was­ playing as well as he did last year. I'm afraid you­ lack serious comments to continue this discussion, as I­ say time will prove who s correct

wow ruan speaks of himself just like federer, clearly a­ fan

stuartlawrence27, im tired of hearing about a fully fit­ nadal. who is to blame for his physical state but­ himself? ive predicted this for years, its been a­ looong time coming. im sorry to burst your bubble but­ Roger is in better shape at his age then nadal and if­ you lose just one match in 4 slams you are the best.­ period. and im sooo tired of hearing nadals excuses.­ the fact his he plays a taxing game while Roger does­ not, just one of the reasons why Roger is better. Roger­ is much better then nadal right now, there is nothing­ to argue about. its irrelevant if he is fit or not,­ because he is not. and even if he was fit Roger would­ still kick his @#$%.i was sooo hoping nadal would make­ the wimby final again but the 'warrior' didnt­ even show up. you really need to get out of denial and­ face reailty. its the start of a new era and Roger will­ be number one as long as he wants to be, which means a­ looong time. nadal isnt far from burning out now. he­ could soon slip further down the rankings, in which­ case he will find it very hard to recover. you cant­ deny my infinite tennis knowledge and i think i am done­ arguing with you. you obviously lack the expertise to­ debate me.

Ruans Federer Blog

Jimmy i totally agree with you.

Ruan if you can't see that Fed played better 2 or 3­ years ago than he plays now I find it incredible. Yes­ he's won 3 of the last 4 slams but that doesn't­ mean he's as good as he was. It shows how good he­ was in my opinion. Only looking at Fed blindly can­ anyone not see that he's finding it hard to accept­ others can beat him now. Afully fit Rfa is rightfully­ world no 1 now, that is obvious, and no one was more­ pleased than me when Fed broke the record on Sunday by­ the way. But I'm honest. At nearly 28 you don't­ expect to be as good as you are at 25. The only person­ who ruined Feds year in 2008 was Rafa no one else. If­ his problems were as bad as you say he would never have­ made the finals of rg and W or won the us open. Talk­ sense and don't be like some Nadal fans who­ can't see the truth beyond their idol. You will­ soon see that Fed will make more excuses as he loses­ more from now on. Unfortunately people like you still­ won't accept the truth

Once Roger said, when he was asked about his attitude,­ that when he saw one of his matches against Safin,­ where both guys were yelling and braking rackets he­ felt embarrased and he decided not to do it anymore.­ Maybe someone told him not to, maybe his couch­ suggested him to change his attitude or maybe he­ realized his attitude wasn't going to take him far­ and he decided to change, it's harder to change­ though and you should give him credit for that. But­ it's wrong to think that someone can just create­ talents out of normal people. It all depends on the­ player, what they want, how far one wants to go, and if­ you set big goals you have to change things that­ don't suit your goals, that's called­ determination. And what's wrong with being­ spaniard? As far as i know Spain is one of the most­ lovely countries, with the most friendly people.

Once Roger said, when he was asked about his attitude,­ that when he saw one of his matches against Safin,­ where both guys were yelling and braking rackets he­ felt embarrased and he decided not to do it anymore.­ Maybe someone told him not to, maybe his couch­ suggested him to change his attitude or maybe he­ realized his attitude wasn't going to take him far­ and he decided to change, it's harder to change­ though and you should give him credit for that. But­ it's wrong to think that someone can just create­ talents out of normal people. It all depends on the­ player, what they want, how far one wants to go, and if­ you set big goals you have to change things that­ don't suit your goals, that's called­ determination. And what's wrong with being­ spaniard? As far as i know Spain is one of the most­ lovely countries, with the most friendly people.

Sorry I meant prize money.

I think there is absolutely no way that matches can be­ fixed at this high level, because what's involved­ is not only price money and points and rankings, but­ sponsors and advertising, and that's where the real­ money is coming from. Rafa would have to be out of his­ mind in order to accept to jeopardize his business with­ KIA or Roger with Rolex and Gillette and what not? How­ much money would that be worth? Maybe matches on a­ lower level can be fixed by bookies, but not with the­ top players in the Grand Slams and the Masters Series.

when roger came he acted totally different, jelling,­ arguing, breaking, dont you think someone told him not­ to do that, they could leave him that way, and he could­ be one more one slam wonder. look at murray, he changed­ his attitude. rafa didnt have to change anything, maybe­ THEY dont like it. maybe there is time for rafa to make­ money for them, and maybe he is just spaniard

I don't see why they should find great players from­ not so great countries as you say rabbit. The talent­ goes where it goes. The small or the poorer countries­ have less opportunities to make a good living in­ something else out of the sports, and than no matter­ where you come from, the dream of almost every kid is­ to become a great athlete. I really don't see your­ point here, and even though Swiss is a small country,­ it's one of the most important countries in Europe,­ just for the fact of the banks let's say.