Mali

I arrived in Mali last night after an excruciating journey through airports and the pain of sitting on a jet for 3 hours, then 8 hours, then 6 hours. We got to circle Bamako for about 1/2 hour while they tried to get the landing gear to go down, which it finally did (obviously). Fun stuff. Also, apparently the blogger is in french, and I can't figure out how to change it, so we'll see. Anyway, the reason I'm blogging is I'm still in Bamako waiting for a ride out to the village. I guess the two cars were full, so they had to go and come back. They decided to leave the guy who doesn't speak French, so I just went and sat at a bar for a couple hours. It was air conditioned and glorious. I drank a couple beers while watching some golf on tv. I tried to leave a tip at the end and the guy ran after me to give me my money back. So then I went onward to the internet cafe to kill some more time. I wandered around the city for awhile today also, but it's hard to find your way around a city when there are no street signs. So while I was wandering, I decided to get on a green truck that piles people in the back and drives them around. It cost me 125 cfa, which is less than 20 cents. I had no idea where it was going, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. So I rode for about 5 minutes, then got off and then took one going the opposite direction. I guess it worked out since I ended up back to an area that I recognized. Alright, thats about all I have for now. I'll post an in depth Africa blog when I get back.

Rafael Nadal - the greatest ever?

If Roger Federer were not around, would Nadal be considered the best ever? Or at least on the verge of it? It seems as though Nadal and Federer have been meeting each other often in the finals of tournaments. As Federer displayed today, he still owns the grass, and Nadal owns the clay, but what about other surfaces? How many times, exactly, has Nadal lost to Federer in the finals of grand slam events? How many grand slam titles would Nadal have if he didn't have to play Federer?

Federer and Nadal have combined to win the previous 8 grand slam championships and 11 out of the last 15. I was surprised to find out that Nadal is 3-2 against Federer in head-to-head matches in grand slam events. The three wins have been at the French Open and the two losses have been at Wimbledon. Four of the matches occurred in the finals, one in the semis. Even if we assume Nadal wins the two Wimbledons, that puts him at 5, still a long way from the 11 that Federer has.

Considering Nadal has not won a grand slam event other than the French Open, even if we give him a couple Wimbledons. Winning all four of the grand slam tournaments seems to be a prerequisite for being part of the greatest ever debate. That's the knock on Federer and that would be a knock on Nadal as well. Nadal would be good, but not nearly as dominant as Federer has been over the past five years. He'd easily be number one (Federer and Nadal have been 1 and 2 for more than 100 weeks) but there wouldn't be a debate quite yet.

That said, Nadal is only 21 - Federer is 26. Unless Federer can get lucky, Nadal should continue his dominance on clay and continue to get better on grass. It was evident today that Nadal is playing much better on grass and is gaining on Federer. Nadal has been able to combine his athleticism with a more strategic game. As Federer slows down and Nadal picks up, it isn't unreasonable to think of Federer catching Sampras at 14 grand slam titles and Nadal closing in on Federer.