Federer, Nadal eye eight titles at Grand Slam MyZA

Nadal vs Federer en la final de Roland Garros 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Will either Rafael Nadal (at the French Open) or Roger Federer (at Wimbledon) achieve the unthinkable of an eighth title at a single Grand Slam tournament?

Through the tennis ages, from the Dinosaur-Ball Era to the modern day, no man has ever won the same one eight times.

And yet over the next month or so, two men could do just that: if everything goes Rafa Nadal‘s way at Roland Garros he will become the champion for the eighth occasion in Paris on Sunday, and then Roger Federer has the opportunity at the All England Club to win an eighth Wimbledon title.

It is a moot point who has been a more dominant figure at ‘his’ grand slam, and what would be the greatest challenge, beating Federer at his peak on Wimbledon’s Centre Court or Nadal, when he’s at the top of his game, on Court Philippe Chatrier in Paris.

Roger Federer beating Lleyton Hewitt 6-3 6-4 7-6 in the Semi Finals of the Wimbledon Championships (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Based purely on results – given that he’s lost just once – you would pick Nadal on clay. And yet, culturally, you would probably pick Federer on a lawn – there is certainly greater warmth and affection between the Swiss and the Wimbledon tennis crowds than there is between the Majorcan and the Parisians.

Whatever your thoughts, if Nadal and Federer were both to retain their respective titles in Paris and London, it would seriously undermine the theories put forward at the beginning of the year that we are now in the Djokovic-Murray era. – wimbledon