Longing for the days of McEnroe vs Connors? How about McEnroe vs Borg? Sampras vs Agassi?Men’s tennis has been lacking a buzz-worthy duel in recent years, and No. 1-ranked Roger Federer vs No. 2 Rafael Nadal has most of the makings of just such a match-up.“There’s a great rivalry going,” said Federer’s coach, Tony Roche. “That’s great for tennis.” Well, not so fast. Here’s one apparent problem: One guy keeps winning (Nadal holds a 6-1 edge after Sunday’s French Open final).Here’s the real problem: They’ve only played each other at one Grand Slam tournament so far, the French Open. That’s not to say that, over time, Roger and Rafa can’t eventually turn their showdowns into something that matters in the mainstream. They present contrasting personalities, styles of play, and they’ve separated themselves from the pack.Wimbledon and the US Open mean more to most casual fans, and it’s that latter group that needs to become interested for a rivalry to really register. Those are the stages where it has to happen. And it has to happen in finals, with a major title at stake. That’s what gets everyone excited.No one says, “Hey, remember Andre Agassi’s 1992 French Open quarterfinal victory over Sampras?” People do talk about Agassi-Sampras in the 2001 US Open quarters, though, a four-tiebreaker thriller. Those two played 34 times as pros, and the significance of their rivalry isn’t diminished by the fact that Sampras held a 20-14 edge, including 4-1 in major finals. What’s key is that they played four times for the Wimbledon or US Open title.Similarly, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg met four times with one of those trophies on the line. It helps, too, that they produced one of tennis’ seminal moments: the 1980 Wimbledon final, with an 18-16 tie-breaker in the fourth set and an 8-6 fifth set.Nadal says he wants to improve on grass and figure out how to translate his game to the slick surface. There’s a stronger chance, it seems, that Nadal becomes a factor at the US Open; two of his wins over Federer came on hard courts.After dropping to 0-4 against the Spaniard in 2006 - remember, Federer is 44-0 against everyone else . Federer thinks Nadal doesn’t produce sublime tennis “where you have absolutely no chance. With me and maybe other players, like (Marat) Safin, Roddick, it’s different. We can play a much higher level.” Nadal, Federer also said, is “tough to beat, but he’s not impossible to beat. That’s a big difference. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have to play.” Here’s hoping they do keep playing, on the biggest stages, for the biggest stakes.HOWARD FENDRICH
