Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal: Confusing Rivalry at the Australian Open | Bleacher Report

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Watching the Australian Open, I am amused at the apparent confusion between players, commentators and fans over the legacies of Federer and Nadal.

The problem is this: Federer has seemingly been anointed with the greatest ever title through his past achievements, yet Nadal is the world No. 1, able to beat Federer and on his way possibly to being the greatest ever also.

It seems everyone is tip toeing when referring to these two players.

For the players at least, it seems that a lot of them are satisfied with Federer for now being the greatest ever. The respect and reverence is clear. Yet on paper, Nadal is the world No. 1 and holding a superior record against Federer.

Commentators have their own opinion, since they view everything from a bird's eye perspective.

I am amused when Jim Courier apparently winces every time someone refers to Federer as the greatest ever. He seems content to assume that he's not, considering his lack of domination against his main rival, Nadal. Courier, granted, never had to play Nadal or Federer. He is basing his arguments based on what he sees, not what he feels.

Since the players actually play Federer or Nadal, they seem to base it on the feeling they get when playing the two. This, to me, is the reason for the divergent realities between commentators and players.

For us fans, well, that causes a whole new set of problems.

We are neither experts, nor professional players. We just love the sport and base it on our emotions, our particular human biases, no different from the reason why we like certain actors or pop stars. Statistics have their place for us, but nothing could ever possibly convince a Federer fan, now or later, that Nadal is greater. And vice-versa. 

The only thing we can fully know from this rivalry of Nadal-Federer is that, collectively, they brought tennis to a whole new level, a new level of which the tiniest few can even hope to catch up to for the time being.

This is an interesting moment in tennis, but for every fantastic duo, there is a batman and a robin, a Jordan and a Pippen, the Green Hornet and Kato. Sometimes it may seem as if the right hand man is actually better than the man, but eventually the order of the universe sorts itself out. 

Actually, in this case, it's the left hand man.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com