Who is the next Nadal in golf?

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about Tiger and I called him "Super Human." Shrike made a comment about not showing the love for Federer. I didn't really have a response at the time because I wasn't sure if I agreed or not. I had to think about the effect that Federer has had on the world of tennis and how much of a standout "icon" he really was becoming. Obviously Federer's record speaks for itself, especially at Wimbledon.

He is the King of the grass court, and still should be considered that way until Nadal comes back again next year and defends his 2008 title. If Nadal wins again and continues to dominate, then Federer probably isn't the Tiger Woods of Tennis in my mind. Sure he could still be called the best ever, but it wouldn't be until after his career finished that I would be willing to call him the best player to ever play professional tennis.

Tiger - well, you know how I feel about that. He's the best ever, and he still has a good 6, maybe even 10 years of total domination.

If any of you caught the men's final yesterday on the tube, then you will agree with me when I say how ridiculously entertaining, although exhausting to watch, the match was between Federer and Nadal. Some are already calling it the greatest Wimbledon final of ALL time. Almost 5 hours of tennis. Federer came back(7-6, 7-6) from 2 sets down (4-6,4-6) to Nadal and forced a final 5th set that ended in a 9-7 (no tie breaker) win for Nadal.

It amazes me that they can grind it out that long and hard and not even grab a sandwich half way through...

So I started to think. If Nadal has now knocked off the world's #1 ranked player at the tournament that is considered the games most coveted title, then is that the end for Federer? Is he done? Has the torch just been passed? Time will tell.

This brought me to my next question: Who is the next Nadal in golf?

Two weeks and one 15 foot birdie putt ago, I could have said that it was Rocco Mediate... but we all know that "he gave it to Tiger" right?

So who is it going to be? Right now I am struggling with coming up with a reasonable answer at all. I mean its not like Tiger got beat in a Major and has passed the torch. No, he won his last major on one leg and had to take the rest of the year off.

So will it be Phil? Nope.
Scott? Nope.
Ogilvy? Nope.
Conk? Nope.
Els? Nope.
Garcia? Nope.

The answer is: no one. No one will be coming along anytime soon to pull off what Nadal did yesterday. The only upset that will ever take place is when Tiger comes to the mike and says that he is retiring because of injury... not bloody likely!

Tiger will be back stronger and better than ever, only time will tell when Tiger finally gets knocked off and fades... I just think we've got a long ways to go before we start reading about that one.