Who is Greater - Nadal or Federer?

They're undoubtedly the two best tennis players in the world at the moment.

They're undoubtedly two of the best tennis players of all time. Whether they are the best ever, greater than the likes of Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Rod Laver, etc. you decide.

The other question to ponder upon now - who is the better tennis player, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer?

This has come to light given Nadal's record against Federer after last night's Australian Open semifinal win is now 8-2 in Grand Slams, 18-9 in all matches. The Spaniard is at least double the ledger on the Swiss maestro.



The thing is though, you might beat this one player/team all the time but are you still better than that player/team when you're not playing him/them?

Take this season's La Liga: Barcelona have beaten Real Madrid in the league this season but are 5 points behind them on the table. Is Barcelona a better team than Real Madrid this season?

Another thing to consider, Nadal is 5 years younger than Federer meaning he is on paper, 5 years behind Federer in terms of the race to reach his peak - of course it might be less or even more depending on players.

There is no doubt that Federer's best days were between 2003 and 2008 while Nadal is still right in his own element. The one thing that has somewhat stymied Nadal are his knees which have been weakened considerably due to his abrasive playing style on clay; one reason why Djokovic has definitely come into play and taken the world no. 1 ranking.

Let's not forget that outside of Paris, Federer was consistently beating Nadal until 2008 when Nadal finally got one over Federer at Wimbledon. This was probably down to Nadal's comparative inexperience on other surfaces and the fact that Federer was playing at his peak.

The big question really should be: is the Federer of 2006 better than the Nadal of 2008? You could even debate how Djokovic of 2011 compares to those two.

Whatever happens, the Nadal v Federer rivalry is probably the greatest the tennis world or indeed sport has ever witnessed and one that will continue to captivate people even when they hang up their rackets.