First of all, before some people get their knickers in a twist because I often talk about the GOAT, let me make it clear that I always said I don’t really believe in a GOAT but that I liked the debate and speculation.

Now I’m not even sure about that part anymore. Why? Because it has become clearer than ever to me that the GOAT argument is used as a phony marketing tool and that there are far too many variables to determine a GOAT, some of which I will look at in this post. Other variables have also become apparent to me at this Wimbledon like the biased scheduling and the influence of the media which is considerable.

But let’s start with the following:

Click image to enlarge

As you know, Spain won the Fifa World Cup yesterday for the very first time in the history of the World Cup. Congrats to Spain! You may also know that Nadal came to my country to watch his country play in the final against Holland. It was a tense final as neither of the teams was able to take advantage of several great scoring opportunities. But that is what you would expect of a match of such importance. Spain finally scored the winner when Andres Iniesta blasted the ball past the Dutch goal keeper in the second half of extra time. Nadal said the following after his country’s historic win:

“I cried like a little boy. We have to celebrate for a whole year, because this is unbelievable. It is very difficult to repeat this,” Nadal told Marca.

http://www.mmail.com.my/content/42730-nadal-cries-joy-after-historic-glory

This win clearly means a huge amount to him. What does this all have to do with the Fedal rivalry? Last year Federer won the French Open and Wimbledon double, and after Wimbledon his wife gave birth to twin daughters. It is becoming uncanny how similar Rafa’s 2010 is to Roger’s 2009. Both had a bad year the previous year and had bad starts to the year, both got their act together in the clay court season, and both won the French Open/Wimbledon double. And now both had a significant event happening in their lives after Wimbledon. For both these players 2009 and 2010 must be the best year of their lives respectively so far. Nadal is obviously a huge football fanatic who played football before he took up tennis, and winning the world cup is basically on par with Federer having children.

Roger’s 2009 was amazing tennis wise because he completed the career slam and won the most major titles in history. And then he had children as well. Everything just seemed to be happening for him, just as everything is happening for Nadal this year. The reverse is also true. In 2009 Nadal had his worst year, while Federer has hit an all time low himself now. It is obvious that these two’s destinies are very much intertwined. All of this is just part of the ongoing ebb and flow of the Fedal rivalry, and Fedfanatics can take heart from it because as sure as Rafa is the one on top now, so will Roger be on top again. Does this give us a clue of what is to come for the rest of 2010 as well? Maybe. In 2009, after Roger had all the success during the middle part of the year, his form fell of somewhat towards the end of the year.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904787404576532854267519860.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop

Well there you have it. No, it’s not doping. Everyone who said Djokovic is doping can now eat their words. The effect that the pressurized egg has is very similar than the effect of doping as far as I’m concerned. The egg is twice as effective as blood doping, which is illegal, in helping the body to absorb oxygen. So at least the doping accusations have been accurate in that regard. But the pressurized egg is 100% legal. So you have to say Djokovic was smart for finding a legal way to get ahead of the other athletes. I have always thought that his gluten free diet does not quite explain the significant improvements his been able to make this year. I mean since when does a gluten free diet transform an athlete like that? For me it is clear that this egg is what made the big difference. You can read all about the benefits of using it in the article.

The main thing that is does is help with recovery time. You can see this very clearly in Djokovic’s game. He used to become out of breath very easily and retired from matches due to fatigue. I have read some people’s reactions to this article and some people say it nonsense or a placebo effect blah blah blah. Well the facts are there. I don’t know how much more obvious can it get. The gluten diet does not explain why Djokovic is all of a sudden in supreme shape and never gets tired anymore. The egg works. I have no doubt about that. The question is now what the reaction of the other players will be. I mean the effects of the egg is similar than doping, so other players are gonna want to use it, or Djokovic will have an unfair advantage over them. But it is one thing to buy one, and another to carry it around with you.

For that you would need a private jet. I’m not sure how Djokovic does it, but while in New York he is staying with someone who has an egg. The top players may be able to gain an advantage if they can afford private jets. Should Roger use one of these? Clearly he can afford it and and he even rents a private jet from Netjets. Using one of these things could extend Roger’s career. It is clearly beneficial and could help him to win one or two more slams. At this point he has to try whatever it takes to stay ahead, since the rest is catching up with him fast. And he has the money after all. But knowing Roger, there is no way he would do it. I mean he can hardly stomach the idea of hawkeye, how would he stomach a pressurized egg from the future? He is just too stubborn. This type of technology may help players to extend their careers in the future, but sadly I don’t see Roger taking advantage of it.

Today Roger plays his first round match in the US Open against Giraldo. The two have never met before. I think Giraldo is more of a clay court player and Roger should be OK. Other matches that may be interesting on day one is Cilic vs Harrison and Dimitrov vs Monfils. It seems that hurricane Irene was not too brutal in the end and that it won’t interrupt the US Open. My thoughts go out to the families who lost loves ones in the hurricane.

http://awfulannouncing.com/2014/nbc-showed-novak-djokovic-throwing-up-during-the-french-open.html

I don’t feel like making a long post tonight, but I just found the above link on twitter after receiving another comment about Djokovic vomiting during the final. I ignored the first comment about it because I missed the incident during the match where Djokovic vomited and I thought it was just excuses. I actually switched off the match at some point because I knew Nadal was winning. I think it was at the beginning of the fourth set, so it must have happened then. I was talking yesterday about a twist in the tale(or tail) when Novak seemed to come back at the end of the fourth set. It turns out there is a twist in the tale after all. This illness of Djokovic already started in the semis against Gulbis. I didn’t pay it much attention because I thought a day off would be enough for Djokovic to recover. So this is quite interesting and surprising to me.

Before we think of making any excuses for Djokovic we must ask the question whether this illness did not have a mental cause, because I hate excuses. No, I despise excuses. Did Djokovic get sick at the prospect of having to face the monster on clay again? I don’t think we can say that with any certainty. Why? Because Djokovic is generally mentally strong and has after all beaten Nadal in very tough matches. Yes, another five set match with Nadal on clay would have been a daunting prospect after what happened last year, but knowing Djokovic he would have relished the challenge. He was coming closer every year to beating Nadal after all, and he had just beaten him in the Rome final. This is getting absurd folks. Does Nadal employ black magic? How on earth is it that luck always seem to be on his side?

First he gets the cakewalk draw and then Djokovic gets sick. I remember my readers making quite a big deal about Novak’s illness after the semis, but I downplayed it because I really hate excuses. But they were obviously right since vomiting on the court is a clear indication of illness. Unbelievable. Surely if he wasn’t feeling sick he would have had enough in the tank to come back in the fourth set and win the match. I noticed Nadal was getting shaky at that point, but if Djokovic was sick he obviously didn’t quite have the physical and mental reserves to take advantage. This is a big twist in the tale as far as I’m concerned folks. It is also possible that Djokovic’s brutal draw caused this. I don’t get it. Why does luck always seem to favor Nadal? You know I am a realistic and honest person. I would rather say Nadal makes his own luck than use it as an excuse for his opponents.

But this is getting ridiculous. All of a sudden I feel like my prediction about Djokovic winning the French Open was no so unrealistic after all, and that Nadal may have stolen another slam here. I still feel like Djokovic was destined to win this thing, but as fate would have it he became ill. This is something I don’t understand. The universe always seems to conspire in favor of Nadal, bar the final in Melbourne this year. That was a very rare exception. But I believe the universe conspires in favor of goodness and progress. So if it should conspire in favor of anyone it should be Roger since he is a fair player and a force of good. We all know by now that Nadal is not a fair player and he uses gamesmanship at every turn. He also breaks the rules all the time. So why would the universe conspire in his favor?

// (Sorry that my blog was offline. Out of my hands)Thanks to those of you who sent nice and insightful comments on my last post and to the butthurt haters: Enjoy!!! I have replied to most of the comments so check it out. I think I will activate the comment notifier plugin again after this post so people can see when they get replies to their comments. I disabled it because there were some problems but if you don’t want to keep getting emails you must unsubscribe in the emails. To the ones I have not replied in my last post, I will as soon as I am finished here.

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