Rafael Nadal: What Would a Win at Wimbledon 2011 Mean for His Legacy?

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at Internationaled.org

Published: June 17, 2011

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With each passing year and each Slam win, Rafael Nadal's legacy as one of the all-time great players in tennis history continues to grow.  With his most recent win at Roland Garros over Roger Federer, he has finally hit what I like to call "The Legends Plateau."  This is the moment when you amass 10 Slam titles or more.  When you reach this level of success in your career, your legacy is rock solid.

But for Nadal, continuing to climb that basalt pinnacle to the top to join or surpass Roger Federer means you have to keep winning those titles that mean more than any other.  Despite being on tour for many years now, Nadal is a newly minted 25-year-old player who is sitting pretty in the middle of the best years of a tennis player's career (ages 22-27).

At this point, Nadal has won six titles at Roland Garros, two titles at Wimbledon and one apiece at the U.S. Open and Australian Open respectively.  At some point, the number of Slam titles you have won is what really matters, regardless of how they are split up.  

Bjorn Bjorg won 11 titles for his career before abruptly retiring at 26 years old, but "only" managed to win six titles at Roland Garros and five at Wimbledon.  He rarely played Australian and was thwarted in the finals of the U.S. Open on multiple occasions.  He never won the career Slam, and today that is not held against him because what he did in his time was amazing.

But let's face it.  No matter how many slam titles you win on other surfaces, no surface or title means more to your legacy than Wimbledon.  Winning this title makes even one slam wonders far greater than the rest of their resume might indicate.  Adding multiple Wimbledon titles to an already impressive resume is like putting the cherry on the top of an amazing sundae.  In Nadal's case, that would be a couple of cherries.

Another Wimbledon title would give Nadal three titles at t...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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