Will Nadal overshadow Federer by 2015?

From Laver to Nadal?

Men's tennis however has been a totally different story. "All-time great" is a title that usually doesn't last as long as the above-mentioned cases.

The open era in tennis began in 1968, when professionals were allowed into the game. In 1969, Laver recorded a calendar Grand Slam by winning all four titles in a single year.

This is a feat which is yet to have been achieved even after 40 years. It is all the more remarkable considering Laver did exactly the same thing in the non-open era in 1962.

But he was soon overshadowed by Bjorn Borg.

Borg's achievements were so great at the time that people thought he would be "the" all-time great for quite a long time.

"Ice cool" Borg in his brief career won five Wimbledon titles and six French Opens. That's like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal rolled into one! It was a time when the French Open champion never won Wimbledon and vice versa.

He did all that and retired at the age of 25!

Of course his Achilles heel was the fact that he failed to win both the US Open (runner-up four times) and the Australian Open.

The end of the century saw Borg being relegated to third place thanks to Pete Sampras and Roy Stanley Emerson. Sampras ultimately won 14 Grand Slam titles, 3 more than Borg and missed out on just the French Open while Emerson won 12 Grand Slam titles.

Sampras was also the year-end World No. 1 for a record six years from 1993 to 1998, something which hasn't been bettered be even Federer.

When Sampras retired in 2002, little would anyone have realized that his all-time great honour would be shattered within a decade!

Today Federer is undisputedly the greatest men's tennis player of all time.

Statistics: Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal

He has 16 Grand Slam titles, 285 weeks as world No.1 and a career Grand Slam.

Nobody is even close...

...yet!

Can Nadal power last till 2015?

So who is the greater of the two? Federer or Nadal?

Of course Nadal doesn’t stand a chance.

But there is one crucial difference.

Federer is 29. Nadal is 25.

Nadal has a chance of playing tennis for 4-5 years after Federer retires. He may also become more dominant after the exit of his No. 1 rival.

With 10 grand slam titles, Nadal has won at least one title every year in the last seven years. If he does so in the future too, then there's a chance that he could come close to or equal Federer's Grand Slam tally.

How would history view the two with tied Grand Slam titles?

One would have to say that here at least Nadal has an edge.

For one, while Federer has a Career Grand Slam, Nadal has a Career Gold Slam, for that includes an individual Olympic gold medal too.

While Federer has six Wimbledon titles, Nadal could have 7-8 French Opens.

But the most crucial factor would be the direct Federer-Nadal rivalry.

Head to head: Nadal leads 17-8.

The most killing factor for Federer's case is Grand Slam finals. The two have met eight times in such a situation with Nadal winning a whopping 6 against Federer's mere two.

Nadal would win hands down in the final battle.

The writing is on the wall.

Federer has drawn a blank in six straight Grand Slams.

Wimbledon 2011

Nadal, may have lost both the Wimbledon title and No. 1 status to Novak Djokovic, but he still has won four titles in the 2010-11 period. He can go at 1-2 titles a year till 2015.

Federer fans must be praying that their idol plays for at least long enough to pick up a couple more titles.

Otherwise, he could well be toppled just the way he knocked down Sampras not too long ago!

The author is a Bengaluru-based journalist and blogger.

He blogs at http://sunilrajguru.com/