Title could tip balance to Nadal
Date published :
28 Aug 2010 - 08:00:37
Rafael Nadal can reignite the debate about who is the greatest player of all time if he wins the forthcoming US Open at Flushing Meadows according to Andy Murray's former coach Mark Petchey.
Victory in New York would be "only" Nadal's ninth grand slam title compared to the record 16 of Roger Federer, but Petchey believes the tide could turn in favour of Nadal if he can add the US Open title to his five French Open triumphs, two Wimbledon titles and one Australian Open crown.
Petchey told Press Association Sport: "Until he wins it that 'greatest of all time' or 'greatest player of the era' tag will have to go to Federer, but he could answer it in a big way if he were to win here, get to nine majors and he's won all of them."
Nadal, who will attempt to become only the seventh man in history to win all four Grand Slam titles at Flushing Meadows, has not won a tournament since Wimbledon, losing to Britain's Murray in the semi-finals in Toronto and Marcos Baghdatis in the quarter-finals in Cincinnati.
However, Petchey added: "Rafa again struggled a little bit, but you expect him to step it up here.
"His whole preparation was about playing well in New York, not Toronto and Cincy. I expect him to come in here and hit the ground running.
"He's got an Olympic gold, he's got a dominant head to head record over Federer (Nadal leads 14-7), suddenly the argument becomes quite persuasive. Is it about quantity of majors or who is best in an era?
"Credit to Rafa, he's beaten Roger when Roger's been at his best. If he could win here the pendulum would start swinging towards Rafa. It will be interesting but it's going to be the toughest one for him to win."
Nadal's record at Flushing Meadows is relatively poor, the Spaniard reaching the semi-finals in the last two years but managing only one other quarter-final in his previous five appearances.
In contrast, Federer won the title five times in a row from 2004, and was only denied a sixth straight victory last year by an inspired Juan Martin Del Potro, who has been forced to sit out the defence of his title through injury.
