And there is no way that Mr. Murray will even sniff the Federer-Nadal endorsement stratosphere.
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But on the court, Federer-Nadal appears to be a rivalry in sunset.
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And perhaps the high point of the Federer-Nadal rivalry (renewed for the 29th installment on Thursday evening) was their 2008 Wimbledon final, which took four hours and 48 minutes.
Now some of these matches get called all-time because they are truly all-time (Federer-Nadal Wimbledon is indisputable I will come to your house and chase you around the front yard with a Wilson T-2000 if you disagree), but we're all probably guilty of occasionally getting gushy.
Murray could have reached second in the rankings above defending champion Roger Federer -- who lost to Nadal -- if he had made it to the final.
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The 26-year-old brushed off Fish in straight sets on Tuesday before Federer thrashed Nadal 6-3 6-0 to leave second place up for grabs.
The chair umpire at the U.S. Open has the best seat in the house--especially if there's yet another epic Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer final.
One of the problems Federer has on clay is that he has a single-handed backhand, and Nadal can get so much spin -- so Federer is trying to hit single-handed shots up around his shoulder.
That 2008 Wimbledon twilight five-setter between Federer and Nadal set a glorious standard, but since then there's been a steady stream of classics, on all surfaces, between the big three, and even Murray, too.
Injury has taken a toll, as has the misfortune of playing in an era dominated by all-timers like Federer and Rafael Nadal.
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As soon as new matches are consecrated, they're replaced. (How quickly Sunday's thriller vaporized Djokovic's five-set semi over Murray and Nadal's four-setter over Federer, not to mention Victoria Azarenka's 6-3, 6-0 rout of Maria Sharapova in the women's final.) The torrent of great tennis has undermined the old fear that the game would unravel with new technology, that it would become a tedious game of baseline heavy hitting.
Davydenko this week repeated his victories over Federer and Nadal from the 2009 season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London, where he beat Del Potro in the final.
Both men were in Montreal but fell at the quarter-final stage, Federer to Tsonga and Nadal to Del Potro.
The 19-year-old Nadal, who beat Federer to win the title in Dubai in his last tournament, struggled with the wind but was too consistent for his opponent on the day.
The 28-year-old is arguably the form player on tour after his success at the ATP World Tour Finals last November and in Doha to start the year -- where he beat both Federer and Rafael Nadal.
There was a case to be made for Djokovic going into the final, not least because he had defeated five-time champion Roger Federer in a dramatic semi-final and had a 7-3 record against Nadal on hard courts, but the world number one is a different animal in major finals.
It's a rivalry defined by strength (Nadal's left-handed forehand) versus relative weakness (Federer's one-handed backhand), and Federer knows there's little point in hanging back and rallying with Nadal for hours.
No Nadal in Flushing also means there won't be a long-awaited match between Nadal and Roger Federer, his longtime rival, in New York.
Consider the facts: Since the 2005 French Open, when Nadal won the first of his record seven French Open titles, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are a combined 443-57 at major tournaments (including Monday's wins by Djokovic and Federer).
Murray had gone into the US Open with many predicting he could win his first Grand Slam title after a superb run at the Toronto Masters in the build-up, beating Nadal and Roger Federer on his way to winning the tournament.
Federer played about as well as he could for three sets Sunday but it still was not good enough to beat Nadal, who overwhelmed a fatigued Federer 6-1 in the final set.
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"Today, you have (Roger) Federer, Nadal, Murray, (Novak) Djokovic - Berdych has been playing unbelievable tennis in the last two matches, " added Borg.
To witness the back-and-forth of their flirtation is like watching Nadal versus Federer on clay.
Despite a legion of younger stars launching an assault on the top of the sport, including the returning Rafael Nadal, Federer is comforted to see his fellow 30-something David Ferrer alongside him in the top five.
And so we arrive at the odd reality of tennis in 2013, where Federer and Nadal aren't so much rivals, but co-conspirators working toward a common goal: toppling Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, two younger, fitter players whose confidence continues to grow.
After years of dominating the game's top-drawer events and rewriting the record books, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are starting down unusual paths that they hope will lead to more Grand Slam titles.
Just two days after his 25th birthday, Nadal has 10 Grand Slam titles, six behind Federer, for the all-time lead.
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