Nadal has had a remarkable career so early in life. There are very few parallels in the history of the game, for what he has accomplished so quickly. Is this an indication of what is in store for us? Or will some tennis experts, who predict an early burn out due to injuries, be proven right.
However you slice it, there is no denying he is a huge talent, and can only get better, with so many areas still not up-to par, specially his showing on faster courts. Will he be able to shirk off the ‘clay court specialist’ label and master other surfaces? We have seen some glimpses of that, in the early part of last year, when he won three hard court titles, overcoming the master himself, Federer.
Here is a comparison with other legends in the game. The stats are up-to the last month, when the players turned 21. So Nadal still has about 3 months, to add to his total.
| Age | Name | Country | Titles | Majors | Ranking | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Roger Federer | Switzerland | 4 | 0 | 13 | ||
| Pete Sampras | USA | 10 | 1 | 8 | |||
| Björn Borg | Sweden | 23 | 3 | 4 | |||
| Rafael Nadal | Spain | 18 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Mats Wilander | Sweden | 20 | 4 | 4 | |||
| Andre Agassi | USA | 9 | 0 | 4 | |||
| Ivan Lendl | USA & Czech | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||
| John McEnroe | United States | 17 | 0 | 4 | |||
Also check out Federer vs Tennis legends at 26 years, here.
