Say, that was some beatdown (as Patrick McEnroe labeled it) Rafael Nadal laid on Roger Federer in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson bakeoff, yeah?

From the Los Angeles Times:

Rafael Nadal easily beats Roger Federer

The top-ranked Spaniard defeats the former world No. 1 Swiss, 6-3, 6-2, in a Sony Ericsson Open semifinal.

That’s a serious gutcheck for Federer, a.k.a. The Greatest of All Time.

The hardwatching staff has always been uneasy with that designation, largely because for most of his 16 Grand Slam titles, Federer lacked a worthy archrival to truly test him.

No Agassi to his Sampras, for instance. No Connors to his McEnroe (John, that is).

Federer’s Grand Slam finals history (via espn.com):

2010	Australian Open	Roger Federer	Andy Murray
2009	U.S. Open	Juan Martin del Potro	Roger Federer
2009	Wimbledon	Roger Federer	Andy Roddick
2009	French Open	Roger Federer	Robin Soderling
2009	Australian Open	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer
2008	U.S. Open	Roger Federer	Andy Murray
2008	Wimbledon	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer
2008	French Open	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer
2008	Australian Open	Novak Djokovic	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
2007	U.S. Open	Roger Federer	Novak Djokovic
2007	Wimbledon	Roger Federer	Rafael Nadal
2007	French Open	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer
2007	Australian Open	Roger Federer	Fernando Gonzalez
2006	U.S. Open	Roger Federer	Andy Roddick
2006	Wimbledon	Roger Federer	Rafael Nadal
2006	French Open	Rafael Nadal	Roger Federer
2006	Australian Open	Roger Federer	Marcos Baghdatis
2005	U.S. Open	Roger Federer	Andre Agassi
2005	Wimbledon	Roger Federer	Andy Roddick
2005	French Open	Rafael Nadal	Mariano Puerta
2005	Australian Open	Marat Safin	Lleyton Hewitt
2004	U.S. Open	Roger Federer	Lleyton Hewitt
2004	Wimbledon	Roger Federer	Andy Roddick
2004	French Open	Gaston Gaudio	Guillermo Coria
2004	Australian Open	Roger Federer	Marat Safin
2003	U.S. Open	Andy Roddick	Juan Carlos Ferrero
2003	Wimbledon	Roger Federer	Mark Philippoussis

Roddick, Soderling, Gonzalez, Hewitt, Safin, Baghdatis, Philippoussis?

Sure, he beat Andy Murray and Nadal twice (mostly when they were green) and Andre Agassi once (well past his prime), but really, wasn’t Federer in the end a product of his opponents?

That’s not to detract from his overall achievements.

Just to put them in context.