[I/O]

It's estimated Nadal ran between 9 an 10 miles in that 2 1/2 hour three set match this morning, if it went five sets, he would have run about 19 miles I'm told.

Then you have to factor in the hand/eye coordination, striking the ball in the process of running thosse 10 miles, carrying that 10 oz racquet, not to mention doing all those gymnastic type splits and what not returning the ball.

Take a look at Nadal, he's 6'1" 185 lbs, ripped, with about 8 percent body fat.

Guy has my vote as the best athlete in any sport alive right now.

[JerseyRobby]

People who don't think Nadal is on PED's are the same who were shocked when Lance got busted. The red flags are everywhere.

[shari91]

lol please go. LeBron >>>>> Nadal

Any person in a sport where they are getting a rest every 3 minutes thanks to ad breaks and play stoppages can't be compared to what a tennis player does. Get an NBA guy to play a basketball game ALONE and for 4+ hours with very limited breaks and you might be able to make a case.

[Kaabee]

Any person in a sport where they are getting a rest every 3 minutes thanks to ad breaks and play stoppages can't be compared to what a tennis player does. Get an NBA guy to play a basketball game ALONE and for 4+ hours with very limited breaks and you might be able to make a case.

i'm not saying tennis isn't tough, but they are only actually playing around 17.5% of the match time. so a 4 hour match is really only 42 minutes. still tougher than nba though.

[pavyracer]

Best athletes in the world are soccer defensive midfielders. They run 8-10 miles per game. And they play 60 games a year or more. Not just 4 Grand Slams like Nadal.

[Hench]

Don't know about Nadal being ripped. Takes his shirt off after each game and he's nowhere near defined in the torso as he is in his arms.

[I/O]

Best athletes in the world are soccer defensive midfielders. They run 8-10 miles per game. And they play 60 games a year or more. Not just 4 Grand Slams like Nadal.

No doubt. They roll on the field 40 to 50 miles per game acting like they have been shot if another player touches them.

[matt1216]

Don't know about Nadal being ripped. Takes his shirt off after each game and he's nowhere near defined in the torso as he is in his arms.

Lol, it's because he's water loaded from the night befor U have to be super hydrated from these matches. He will be even leaner between tournaments

[matt1216]

i'm not saying tennis isn't tough, but they are only actually playing around 17.5% of the match time. so a 4 hour match is really only 42 minutes. still tougher than nba though.

I have to disagree. The mental stress fatigues your body at a incredible rate.... If any of you guys have sweated out your largest wager u know afterwards your body is a bit drained

[TheMLBKing]

Any person in a sport where they are getting a rest every 3 minutes thanks to ad breaks and play stoppages can't be compared to what a tennis player does. Get an NBA guy to play a basketball game ALONE and for 4+ hours with very limited breaks and you might be able to make a case.

you are literally braindead if you think Nadal is a better athlete than LeBron. All the endurance in the world doesn't mean anything if you're completely outclassed in raw power and explosiveness.

[TheMLBKing]

No wonder why this forum is full of life-long losers if that's the case.

[face]

michael phelps for the win
all those medals;
champ.

[face]

[TheMLBKing]

Nadal honestly isn't even one of the top 10 best athletes in the world. Can name at least 10 soccer/NBA/NFL players who would literally run circles around the rat.

[InTheDrink]

Any person in a sport where they are getting a rest every 3 minutes thanks to ad breaks and play stoppages can't be compared to what a tennis player does. Get an NBA guy to play a basketball game ALONE and for 4+ hours with very limited breaks and you might be able to make a case.

so lebron is faster, stronger, bigger and jumps higher but rafa is a better athlete because he might have better endurance than lebron

interesting

so tell me why some guey in kenya isnt the best athlete in the world based on that logic

[Big Bear]

no.

Cam Newton.

[TheMoneyShot]

People who don't think Nadal is on PED's are the same who were shocked when Lance got busted. The red flags are everywhere.

Interesting post. I'm always the one thinking PED's myself. Never thought this way of Nadal. I just think the kid is in his prime. Might be just his diet. Federer looking past his prime.

[I/O]

michael phelps for the win
all those medals;
champ.

like I said earlier....wrestlers and/or swimmers

little more thinking/strategy in the wrestling than the swimming

[Optional]

That means ZERO. Swimmers get a shot at 8 or 10 golds per Olympics. Doesn't make them better than athletes that can only go for one.

In fact swimmers golds should count as a percentage of events entered if trying to create a real olympic medal ranking.

Phelps was amazing for a moment in his life. But does that really compare to someone like Steve Redgrave who won 5 golds in 5 different Olympics?

[SharkAA]

Not sure if he's the world's best athlete as how do you really measure that? So many guys are dominant in other sports. But is he the best male tennis player we'll ever see in our lifetime? Yes. If you look at who his road to Slam titles vs Fed it's a bit of a joke. And then of course if Fed is supposed to be the G.O.A.T then surely the guy who has dominated him should be given an even higher title than that. I think a guy like Usain Bolt should be taken out of the equation as sprinters have an extremely short shelf life and only dominate for a relatively short period of time. However when you look at soccer, NFL, AFL (ie Gary Ablett Jr) or NBA players it's a tough comparison. None of them have his stamina and they're all backed up by way too many teammates if they're having an off night. But for the footy players (AFL/NFL) players, they're also getting the crapped knocked out of them on a weekly basis although again their season is very short.

Ok I've talked myself around to it... yes he is.

And NoCoin, they do get tested. Usually when they leave the court in big matches but also often at home or randomly otherwise. Players complain because sometimes they're woken up at say 6am on match day for a piss test and obviously they can't refuse so their training/rest schedule is fukked up.

First of all, concerning the thread title. There can't be officially the world's best athlete, because every individual sport is a story for itself. So the answer is NO-he's not the world's best athlete.

Second of all, I've been watching tennis for 20 years and never saw anything like Federer's versatile game. Rafa is clearly more physically stronger than Federer, on which he gains his advantage over the others, but his skills are nowhere near Federer's.

[jjgold]

Raffy owns Federer
Raffy played 10x better competition to win slams

game over

First of all, concerning the thread title. There can't be officially the world's best athlete, because every individual sport is a story for itself. So the answer is NO-he's not the world's best athlete.

Second of all, I've been watching tennis for 20 years and never saw anything like Federer's versatile game. Rafa is clearly more physically stronger than Federer, on which he gains his advantage over the others, but his skills are nowhere near Federer's.

[stevenash]

Best athletes in the world are soccer defensive midfielders. They run 8-10 miles per game. And they play 60 games a year or more. Not just 4 Grand Slams like Nadal.

You make a brilliant point, a spot on point, there are several scienctific studies out there that prove soccer players tend to make the best overall athletes, but than you flush your brilliant point down the toilet with an ignorant, just stupid follow up by saying Nadal just plays 4 grand slams.

Last season, 2013, Nadal played in 17 tournament events, and he started in February.
Those 17 tournament run 1 week minimum, some two weeks plus.
Of those 17 tournaments, Nadal played 81 matches, you said soccer players play 60 matches.
16 of those tournaments Nadal was in, went four or more matched (rounds)
He was knocked out in the first round once, and the other 16 went deep.

Now, we haven't mentioned the four doubles tournament he was in last year, not to mention the exhibitions.

Does this look like just the four grand slams?

14.01.2013–27.01.2013	Australian Open	Australia	Grand Slam	Hard	F	Withdrew	1200	0
04.02.2013–10.02.2013	VTR Open	Chile	ATP World Tour 250	Clay	-	F	0	3 (150)
11.02.2013–17.02.2013	Brasil Open	Brazil	ATP World Tour 250	Clay (i)	-	W	0	250
25.02.2013–02.03.2013	Abierto Mexicano Telcel	Mexico	ATP World Tour 500	Clay	-	W	0	500
04.03.2013–18.03.2013	BNP Paribas Open	United States	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Hard	SF	W	360	1000
18.03.2013–31.03.2013	Sony Open Tennis	United States	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Hard	SF	Withdrew	360	0
13.04.2013–21.04.2013	Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters	Monaco	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Clay	W	F	1000	600
20.04.2013–28.04.2013	Barcelona Open BancSabadell	Spain	ATP World Tour 500	Clay	W	W	500	500
03.05.2013–12.05.2013	Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open	Spain	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Clay	R16	W	90	1000
13.05.2013–20.05.2013	Internazionali BNL d'Italia	Italy	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Clay	W	W	1000	1000
27.05.2013–09.06.2013	French Open	France	Grand Slam	Clay	W	W	2000	2000
08.06.2013–16.06.2013	Gerry Weber Open	Germany	ATP World Tour 250	Grass	QF	Withdrew	45	0
24.06.2013–07.07.2013	Wimbledon Championships	United Kingdom	Grand Slam	Grass	2R	1R	45	10
02.08.2013–11.08.2013	Rogers Cup	Canada	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Hard	DNS	W	0	1000
10.08.2013–18.08.2013	Western & Southern Open	United States	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Hard	DNS	W	0	1000
26.08.2013–09.09.2013	US Open	United States	Grand Slam	Hard	DNS	W	0	2000
30.09.2013–06.10.2013	China Open	China	ATP World Tour 500	Hard	DNS	F	0	300
06.10.2013–13.10.2013	Shanghai Masters	China	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Hard	DNS	SF	0	360
21.10.2013–27.10.2013	Swiss Indoors	Switzerland	ATP World Tour 500	Hard (i)	-	Withdrew	0	0
28.10.2013–03.11.2013	BNP Paribas Masters	France	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Hard (i)	DNS	SF	0	360
04.11.2013–11.11.2013	Barclays ATP World Tour Finals	United Kingdom	ATP World Tour Finals	Hard (i)	DNS	F	0	1000

[InTheDrink]

Raffy owns Federer
Raffy played 10x better competition to win slams

game over

dipshit rafa owns federer because they started playing each other as feds was coming out of his prime and rafa was entering his

they might have played ten matches while they were both in their prime

the 2008 wimbledon final is pretty much where the torch was passed

[jjgold]

Raffy is a better tennis player than Fed even in both primes

Fed still beats everybody so that prime arguement is BS

Fed was lucky to be in an era when tennis was on a lull

He could never win now..scared to fukkin death

If you want to get real technical Lendl best player ever because he played in the toughest era of all times and still got to 19 grand slam finals..yes 19

Nadal will go down as greatest ever

Its getting close to not even being a debate anymore

[shari91]

First of all, concerning the thread title. There can't be officially the world's best athlete, because every individual sport is a story for itself. So the answer is NO-he's not the world's best athlete.

Second of all, I've been watching tennis for 20 years and never saw anything like Federer's versatile game. Rafa is clearly more physically stronger than Federer, on which he gains his advantage over the others, but his skills are nowhere near Federer's.

We'll have to agree to disagree on your second point and this is coming from someone who is actually a bigger Fed fan than a Nadal one other than when it comes to gambling the past couple of years. To say his skills are nowhere near Fed's when we saw him again beat him with shot selection, amazing defence and placement is crazy to me. That's why I always like these discussions though... fun to hear different choices from every sport.

[shari91]

dipshit rafa owns federer because they started playing each other as feds was coming out of his prime and rafa was entering his

they might have played ten matches while they were both in their prime

the 2008 wimbledon final is pretty much where the torch was passed

So when Fed was 26 you're saying he was out of his prime??!! That IS a tennis player's prime. He started to lose because decent guys started to arrive.

[InTheDrink]

Raffy is a better tennis player than Fed even in both primes

Fed still beats everybody so that prime arguement is BS

Fed was lucky to be in an era when tennis was on a lull

He could never win now..scared to fukkin death

If you want to get real technical Lendl best player ever because he played in the toughest era of all times and still got to 19 grand slam finals..yes 19

Nadal will go down as greatest ever

Its getting close to not even being a debate anymore

lendl never won wimbledon so he cant be

even though feds didn't beat rafa in the french that he won he's also the only other guey who's won it since 2005

rafa is right there with the best ever and could very well be at the top by the end of this season

[jjgold]

I can see if Fed was getting whipped by mid level players but he is not

Even at 30 Fed was in his prime which does say a lot for him

Of course he is an all time great

[stevenash]

like I said earlier....wrestlers and/or swimmers

little more thinking/strategy in the wrestling than the swimming

I wrestled in college and HS

Three, three minute rounds. Nine total minutes, of which, with brief stoppages, 8 of thosee you are in combat, providing there is not a pinfall.
The back of your throat goes sandpaper dry before the 45 second mark of the first round.
Your muscles are put into dozens of postitions God did not intend them to be put in.
Extremely difficult.

[InTheDrink]

So when Fed was 26 you're saying he was out of his prime??!! That IS a tennis player's prime. He started to lose because decent guys started to arrive.

believe it or not but things arent always black and white

"coming out of his prime" is not the same as "out of his prime"

pete sampras's run of slams slowed at the exact same time as feds

so yes...THAT is what I'm saying

there will always be other examples like agassi who reach their peak later but to claim it's unheard of is just ignorant

[shari91]

believe it or not but things arent always black and white

"coming out of his prime" is not the same as "out of his prime"

pete sampras's run of slams slowed at the exact same time as feds

so yes...THAT is what I'm saying

there will always be other examples like agassi who reach their peak later but to claim it's unheard of is just ignorant

I never said it was unheard of but Sampras won 6 Slams at 26+ and made the finals of 2 more so I don't think he's the best example to use. Fed has won 8 - almost half his total Slams - after that age and has made 6 other Finals since. Again not sure he'd agree with your theory that he was coming out of his prime at 26. I'm not ignorant... Those are the facts.

[InTheDrink]

I never said it was unheard of but Sampras won 6 Slams at 26+ and made the finals of 2 more so I don't think he's the best example to use. Fed has won 8 - almost half his total Slams - after that age and has made 6 other Finals since. Again not sure he'd agree with your theory that he was coming out of his prime at 26. I'm not ignorant... Those are the facts.

sampras won 2 slams for 4 out of 5 years until he was 26 and never did again....that's the definition of prime

federer won THREE slams 3 out of 4 years until he was 26 and never did again....again, that's the definition of prime

did he win more? yes...he even won two in a season one time after....because he's the greatest player ever....just because he has won more doesnt mean thats the prime of his career

[shari91]

sampras won 2 slams for 4 out of 5 years until he was 26 and never did again....that's the definition of prime

federer won THREE slams 3 out of 4 years until he was 26 and never did again....again, that's the definition of prime

did he win more? yes...he even won two in a season one time after....because he's the greatest player ever....just because he has won more doesnt mean thats the prime of his career

Or could it be that he's now facing Nadal, Djokovic and Murray and every year now Fed stays on Tour, just like Sampras, will be one extra year to bring down that average? Again: Fed won 8 of his 17 Slams after the point you said Rafa was only beating him because he was coming out of his prime. That's not the case. Fed was winning 3 out of 4 Slams a year for the EXACT reason we've been saying: His competition was relatively shithouse for a big chunk of his early to mid career. Surely if you've been following tennis for 20 years as you said then you would know that.

[InTheDrink]

Or could it be that he's now facing Nadal, Djokovic and Murray and every year now Fed stays on Tour, just like Sampras, will be one extra year to bring down that average? Again: Fed won 8 of his 17 Slams after the point you said Rafa was only beating him because he was coming out of his prime. That's not the case. Fed was winning 3 out of 4 Slams a year for the EXACT reason we've been saying: His competition was relatively shithouse for a big chunk of his early to mid career. Surely if you've been following tennis for 20 years as you said then you would know that.

i said that was the ONLY reason why nadal was beating federer? where did i say that? lol unrael

if you paid attention i am ceding that rafa will most likely end up better than feds but im also pointing out that its not as black and white as jjer's post made it out to be

youre telling me im saying things i never said so it's not even really worth debating

would you care to tell me what your definition of prime is? i mean the funniest part is that what you're arguing about is probably the least arguable thing i've said....but then again i see that you wont touch my lebron comment because you know that's completely ridiculous to think nadal is a better athlete than lebron

[stevenash]

Drinker getting buried by Shari.

Never thought I'd see the day that Drinker gets pwnd'ed