***Re-watching the Serbia Open final. Djokovic def. felt something or sick/tired b/c when he won the 2nd set, he had a discomfort look on his face like he was sick or something. Something to keep an eye on during the Clay season. Let’s see if this illness will affect his conditioning going forward.***
I saw him doubled over just B4 the TB! I was hoping he was just "gassed" from playing 3 sets all the way thru the tourn.! He got his work in that's for sure! M/b this unfortunate X taken off will benefit his run to a 3rd FO Chp. & really set himself up over Federer! At least he defeated Rafa a couple X's in Paris! Nole was hitting the ball quite confidently by the end of the match! He got the max out of the tourn. playing 3 sets in all the matches! It finally caught up w/ him in the final!
***He looked very gassed. He was hardly able to move in the 3rd set, thus the bagel. He needs to address the physical aspects of his game. The rest w/b fine. It was a good start to take off the rust by playing a lot of sets. He was not there yet, but now he knows what needs t/b worked on. I think he'll do well @ Madrid & Rome to prepare for RG.***
We can only hope this unfortunate loss of match play & conditioning will benefit him in the end @ RG where he'll get a day off here & there!
***I'd think Novak's best best this Spring/Summer isn’t the FO but Wimbledon.***
I'll take either or both! He'll drop off the ranking charts un< he wins @ least one of them this Summer!
***No rest for Barcelona champion Carlos Alcaraz as he quickly had to jet off to Greece to fufil a commitment to his agency, IMG. Alcaraz along w/ Hubert Hurkacz had committed to an exh. match @ the Tatoi Club today.***
Hope we don't see the early burnout! W/ success, you not only play > matches, commitments double & triple! IMG like any business say they look out for players, but their main job is to promote & earn $$! "Better watch out Carlos!"
***Let's see down the track if this'll affect Carlos w/ IMG, a bit early to overreact @ present.***
I've heard that B4! They thought they'd protected Jen. Capriati back in '90, but her parents were so Narcissistic ...to tell them what to do w/ their 13 yo! The WTA relented w/ a clause called the "Capriati Rule!" If you became 14 w/i a month or 2, "you can play tournaments!" Well we know all about her rise, the spiral & subsequent "rise from the ashes!" It's happened a lot > we know w/ parents who are out of control when it comes to their kid becoming a tennis phenom! I go back to the days of Austin & Jeager as a few others out here who will remain name<!
***Hold on...thank goodness the WTA has adjusted their rules for youngsters to play a limited amt. of tennis tournaments now. Lets live in the present okay :) ***
I kept hearing about "so called" limitations, but I seemed to see Coco Gauff pret' near every wk.! She's not only wowing the sports' networks in singles, she's been doing well in doubles! They were = being featured in the coverage! IDK if it's done all that much for her to overplay like this the last 2 yrs! Thinking of Chris Evert who said once that she hadn't ever gone snorkeling until her 1st husband John took her out in the Great Barrier Reef! She was raised in Fla! How could that happen outside of being very single-minded as a kid? Chris has given no indication she felt pushed & her parents seemed genuinely nice, but ya never know! Who knew about Joan Crawford?
***12. Serena Williams – 73 Wms has won 23 Grand Slams, putting her 2nd on the all-X list behind Court.
Somewhat surprisingly, however, the 40-yo has not won as many career titles as a # of other women.
Nonethe<, Wms has won the YEC Finals on 5 X's, OG @ London '12 & 23 Premier Mand. victories.
11. John McEnroe – 77 McEnroe won 77 career titles, incl. 7 majors, 5 YEC Finals & 19 GP Super Series finals.
The best single-season match rec. for any male player in the OE, w/ a win-loss rec. of 82-3 (96.5%) set in '84.
10. Billie Jean King - 78 King won > 100 career titles, 78 in the OE ('68 onwards.)
This incl. 8 GS victories, 4 over Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
9. Novak Djokovic – 86 Djokovic has 20 major singles titles, 1 of 2 players, w/ Nadal, to have won each of the 4 Slams @ least twice.
He's the only male player to have won all 9 of the Masters tourns. &'s done so twice. DGM.
8. Rafael Nadal – 91 Nadal won his 21st Slam title @ AO this yr., 1 over both Djokr & Fed.
The 35-yo won 2 OGM's representing Spain the the only Spanish player, male or female, to win all 4 GS's.
7. Margaret Court – 92 Court won 92 career titles in the OE & remains 1 ahead of Wms in the all-X list of GS victories.
The Australian won > 90% of her matches & emerged victorious in > 1/2 of the GS's entered (24 of 47.)
6. Ivan Lendl – 94 Lendl ...still had an outstanding career.
He won 8 GS singles titles, 22 GP Super Series titles & 94 career titles overall.
5. Roger Federer – 103 While Nadal has now overtaken Fed in terms of major victories, the Swiss star still leads his Spanish rival when it comes to career titles.
The 40-yo has won 20 GS's, 28 ATP Masters titles, one OGM & a rec. 6 ATP Finals.
4. Steffi Graf – 107 Graf's 1 of 4 players in the OE to have > 100 career titles.
This includes 26 major wins, 5 WTA Tour Chps, 1 OG & 18 Tier I tournament victories.
3. Jimmy Connors – 109 While Connors lost the h2h battle w/ arch-rival McEnroe, he > eclipsed him in terms of overall titles.
The American has > singles titles > any other male tennis player ever, having won 8 GS's & a remarkable 81 GP events.
2. Chris Evert – 157 The top 2 on this list are some way clear of the chasing pack, w/ Evert having won 48 > titles > Connors.
These titles came over a span of 17 yrs & featured 18 GS victories.
1. Martina Navratilova – 167 Navratilova tops the list w/ 167 career titles, includ. 18 GS wins.
The now-commentator also won 177 doubles titles, meaning she won > 350 tournaments across her distinguished career. ---
People are forgetting that Djokovic was woeful outside slams last yr. & excellent in them. Alcaraz's great, but beating Nole in BO3 vs BO5 is night & day.***
Novak's biggest adversary continues t/b himself! He missed a major & wasn't allowed in the States to play 2 Masters events! He looked a lit'l scratchy early on, but I think he's finally gotten to a winning attitude & place! When he loses, a lot of the X he's made an UFE that was huge or stayed in lockdown mode allowing offensive play from a good player like Carlos! There was a combo of that in the last match w/ Alcaraz! Nole missed a few easy FH's & didn't "take it" to Carlos allowing dropshots to beat him! Normally Novak gets to them! A # of X's he didn't = make a move until too late! Novak prob. should've won that BO3, but he has a much >er chance in BO5!
***Other than during the slams I don't much follow women's tennis. Even during slams I might catch the tail end of a ladies match b/c the next match on the same court is men's game I want to watch. I used to like women's tennis. Now I don't care. ---
I don't = care about the slams, so you aren't alone. Didn't care about WTA ever since Justin Henin retired.***
That's how it's been for me! The WTA has been a joke IMO allowing Serena to come & go as she pleased & steal away their thunder! The inconsistency of their tour has the #1 ranking in flux until Swiatek's come along! She's been great & I hope she can keep it up & stabilize the WTA! The rankings have been crazy since the days of Hingis & Henin w/ only a bright light coming from Osaka & she was run off for a while!
***Can you believe I have never seen a red clay court in the US. @Fiero425 Have you seen or played on any in the US that was red?***
As far as I know, the only true red clay is down in TX.! I've only played on that greenish, dirty Har-Tru clay yrs ago! I lived just a few blocks from one of the biggie "Jr. Nat'l events" in River Forest just outside of Chgo! Just walked by, but never played on it! I'll take cement/HC anyX = though it's supposedly hard on the body! I played from early morning into the night for yrs!
***I played on the courts in RF. They're great courts & extremely slow. That's where I played my clay court match from Hell. I haven't seen the red clay in TX. yet. Thanks! ---
I hear they got rid of the red clay in the Houston tourn. a few yrs back. As a young adult I played on red clay courts in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Goodness, I couldn't hit a winner, the ball kept coming back, so unnerving for a kid raised on Cal. HC's.*** ---
...Novak's still the 2nd best clay courter of this era! He's done the most damage to stop Rafa from winning all clay events; someX's in str. sets believe it or not!
***How can you EVER say anything about Novak's clay court meetings vs Rafa on clay the way Rafa destroyed him @ RG'20. Rafa did the same thing to Roger @ RG'08.***
I still don't know "what's the point?" You saying Novak has had no success vs Nadal? Is that it b/c I don't have a clue WTF you're talking about!
***He has played Nadal on clay prob. > anyone. Novak has lost @ > tournaments > anyone. I don't get what your pt. was saying he's done most damage Nadal on clay.***
...Novak has def. Nadal on clay > anyone else! R U drunk?
***Dude. Novak has lost to Rafa > anyone else that he has played. Are U drunk or high? ---
What he said was that Novak had "done the > damage to stop Rafa winning all clay events." You have to say that is true. Even if it took him playing a damage" He's played Rafa on clay > anyone. Rafa H2H has twice as many victories on clay over Novak. I know what Fiero's trying to say. ---
Rafa has lost very lit'l on clay & to very few players. The guy he's lost the most to, & most importantly is Novak. He's not wrong. Has Rafa capped him far more on clay? Yes he has. Has he beaten him comprehensively on clay? Yes he has. But has any one player been more dangerous on clay to Nadal than Djokovic? No. I'm just being fair to what he stated.***
Some people like to play dumb trying to gaslight me & I'm not having it! I'll move on!
***Fiero,.Novak's played Rafa > anyone. Wouldn't it make logical sense that he has more wins on clay than anyone else? Can someone other than Moxie please tell me what I am missing? I bet Roger m/b the next closest w/ clay court victories vs Nadal. WHY? B/c they've played over 20 X's .Duh?***
Honey, you're delusional! M/b both of us are missing something! At least a detractor has my back understanding me! I "undermine," you inflate!
***All credit to Novak that he’s the only player we ever really feared on clay. His results vs Rafa - including 2 victories @ RG - are a constant worry.***
Even Uncle Tony has admitted there's no game plan when it comes to competing against Novak! Nadal just has to grind it out the best he can! ...Novak's still the 2nd best clay courter of this era! He's done the most damage to stop Rafa from winning all clay events!
***Unfortunately true, & since '11 Novak has always been the only player we ever worried about on clay & for good reason. It used t/b we were certain that the most difficult thing in sport was to beat Rafa over 5 sets on clay, b/c it was true, but now we’re @ the last days of Rafa & he’s not guaranteed to win over 5 vs Novak, = if he’s fit. It just is what it is, a trajectory, a steady progress vs a slow decline, but Novaks professionalism, honesty & determination to succeed @ the very highest level vs the very best players, anywhere in the world, have gotten him in the position where. Since '10 he’s only 10-8 behind in H2H matches vs Rafa on clay, including those 2 victories over him in Paris. He hasn’t been a thorn in Rafa’s side, he’s been a spear! ---
You’re correct in what you’re saying about Novak vs Rafa on clay, > esp. since '11, but none of us forget that great match they had in '09 in Madrid, which surely proved to Novak that he could get to Rafa on the dirt…***
Tell AP! THE child's delusional AF! Tried to gaslight me on my statements about the subject! Like other crabby old men, I'd tell him "I've forgotten > about tennis history than you'll ever know!" I couldn't believe the dispute! It made no sense! The record's online if he didn't believe it!
***I think he knows brother. It’s just hard truth for us to swallow right now. It w/b easier for us if Rafa was on form heading into Paris. We’d be < concerned, we’d actually be confident, but now everything's uncertain, mainly b/c Rafa has once > fk'd himself over w/ stupid scheduling, & it seems it’s too late in the day for him to learn. Novak has peaked @ the right X & Carlos w/b a huge threat to everyone if he makes the 2nd wk… Since Novak peaked after '10, the H2H is only 10-8 to Rafa, w/ 4 victories & 2 defeats @ RG… ---
...Some here really dislike Djokovic. Any analysis of his game boils down to "I hope he loses." Other than a healthy Nadal & perhaps a surging Alcaraz, & Medvedev on HC, as of now I don't genuinely see any other legit challengers to his throne. Let's face it, the crown princes (Zverev & Tsitsipas) don't exactly inspire confidence, FAA's the eternal "Potential," & the rest of the top 20 lack consistency, much < mental heft. ---
Well, Novak must be pretty thrifty. I wonder if Becker asked him for a large loan?***
I thought that was one of the reasons for Becker's dismissal; his financial problems along w/ him being a bad influence on NOVAK when he cheated!
***You're correct. Becker's the Bad Influence himself. - W/b nice to get a cupcake draw for Rafa & let the #1 player in the world prove to the ATP that he feels invincible.***
Nadal's had enough cupcake draws w/ inferior comp. in finals; esp. on clay over the yrs! You can count on one hand how many easy finals Nole's gotten in Majors like Del Po @'18 USO, Anderson @'18 Wimbledon, & Tsonga for his 1st AO in'08 after def. Fed earlier!
***...It isn't so easy returning from a hernia repair injury in your mid to lower core. It may take a while B4 Daniil can trust his body.***
How much were you guys commiserating w/ Novak upon 2 or 3 returns after injury or en oui trying to get back into form? It was non-existent!
***Which returns from injury are we talking about? He's not so often injured.***
Are U fk'n kidding? The delusional memories of some are just too frustrating w/ a few here! It's truly > gaslighting going on!
***You don't have an answer if you can't provide one. ...The only Major that Novak has missed until his UFE @ Oz this yr. was USO'17. He shut down his yr. after W, & had surgery in early'18!***
***I just heard some talking heads on ESPN say Harden will get the "Super Max" contract & that he deserves it. I guess if an owner wants to throw away $$, he will.***
I'm about done w/ some sports! Giving all this $$ to players who don't "bring it," give attitude, & make trade demands; I'm about DONE! Harden doesn't deserve anything but his ass t/b kicked!
***The rich privileged athletes who want to get paid but don't want to put in the effort need t/b told they're nothing but leaches on our society. Harden is @ the top of the list. ---
Boy, it seems pretty obvious to you & me he's not worth a long term contract. IMO, if I were the owners, I'd give offers like this. I'll pay you $10 M for next yr. ---
Don't hate the employees for getting what they are worth. If the owners are willing to pay then they're worth every penny. Would you be happier if the owner could cut every employees pay in 1/2 & keep that $$ for themselves? I bet a lot of Republicans w/b happy if the owners could do that. They'd argue that James Harden makes $44 M a yr. & $22 M s/b plenty.
But don't ask to talk about how much the owners make. That's out of bounds for any Rep. They'll never call the owners privileged or say they are leaches on our society, = though they prob. don't pay any taxes. ---
The 76ers w/b fools to resign Harden. The league cut "the process" a few yrs ago w/ it 80% complete & a succession of GM's enabled by Adam Silver has given this team its 2nd Rd. & out status. The NBA sucks for comp. Philly fans don't apprec. athletes doing their jobs half-assed. ---
They were saying Harden's still a top 10 player. M/b not worth what they're going to pay him but they don't have an alt. I hope they make a good deal where Harden can go to a team that can use him. Who'd that be? They have t/b a contender who doesn't have a Harden type. According to The Athletic, the Rockets have "made it clear" to Harden that they w/b open to a reunion.
To connect the dots, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta alluded to the team making a "big move" by the '23-24 season, the next X the Rockets don't hold control of their 1st Rd. pick. That '24 1st pick is only protected 1-4, otherwise it goes to the OC Thunder as part of the infamous Russell Westbrook-Chris Paul trade.
...This guy says pay him the Super-Max. ...22 pts, 9 assists & 8 rebounds? Not a Super-Max player. This idiot is saying pay him for what he once was, not what he'll give you in the future. He says if Philly won't pay him, someone else will. So do you want to lose him? Stephen A. Smith says no one else will pay him that much. Anyone who pays him after his playoff performance is an idiot. I just hope it's not the Pistons.***
***Graf's rec.'s somewhat inflated due to Seles' stabbing. Seles had won 8 of the last 9 majors she played B4 being stabbed @ age 19, her absolute peak. It's hard to imagine Seles wouldn't have been #1 for @ least another yr. otherwise, if not much longer.***
To this day it's hard for me to see Graf go about her business as if nothing happened; regard< of Monica not holding her responsible for her crazed fan!
***I agree and understand. Take Nadal out earlier in the event if possible?***
That w/b nice! Hard to believe the tour has allowed this man who's supposedly hobbled to win 13 FO's much < make SF yr. in & yr. out! Soderling's a hero!
***Even if Djokovic loses, he'll not go down B4 giving Hell. Hundreds of rallies + 4 hr. marathon. - I've a feeling that Novak will not let Nadal win this whole thing. He'll tire out Nadal B4 finals. Either Novak wins QF or Nadal wins QF in tough 5 sets. ---
Honestly I'm comfortable w/ the idea of a Djokodal match; not b/c I'm 100% sure Djoko would win, but b/c of the historical wt. of the rivalry & Djokovic's chances of beating him yet again @ RG. But when it comes to Alcaraz, I really don't want him to reach Djokovic. He makes me too nervous. Hopefully someone can take him down earlier. ---
I understand your pt. The Djokodal match on its own is fine, but having Alcaraz str. after is the big problem here. - I've been confident Novak had what it took to win the FO after his Madrid loss. I've been ultra confident since Rome. ---
M/b some of these guys lose early, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Luck's rarely on his side. If he gets stuck w/ the best poss. player every Rd., he has to play @ a level of consistency (no dips) we haven't seen since '16. ---
Man, this is a brutal draw for Novak. How on Earth is he gonna come thru, honestly IDK. - I think Nadal Djokovic QRT w/b the blockbuster match of the tournament & it's def. headed to evening session. I'm afraid he won't have legs to get past Alcaraz & eventually City bus. this is a tough...very tough draw both for Nadal & Djokovic. ---
Yes, horrible draw. Then again if anyone can make it it's Novak. Pretty sure he'll beat Rafa if that QF happens. The rest we'll see. I've a good feeling though.***
Nadal's draw looks a lit'l tough w/ old man Wawrinka in the 2nd Rd. (if he makes it), Fognini, & FAA potentially! Upsets will happen though!
***Remember a draw is on paper only upsets can happen to anyone including the #1 player.***
More than likely one or both Nadovic might get upset B4 QF! A few yrs ago I'd think it unfathomable, but anything's possible as they age out!
***Ukrainian players have largely supported Wimbl.’s ban, & Stakhovsky who retired earlier this yr. has since joined the Ukrainian army to defend his homeland condemned Nadal’s stance. ...“Please tell me how it is fair that Ukrainian players cannot return home? How it is fair that Ukrainian kids cannot play tennis? How is it fair that Ukrainians are dying?”***
Love the commentary from "just retired" Ukrainian player, Sergiy Stakhovsky! Fine, it's unfair to Russian & Belarusian players t/b banned from Wimbl., but it's = > unfair that a country is being bombarded & their citizens killed! THANK YOU! It's as if I never hear this! It's been such a one-sided argument!
***...What is "unbiased?" Does it exist? The Baltic states joined NATO when Russia was still reeling from their 1990s humiliation under Yeltsin.***
Putin has t/b delusional AF thinking he can bring back the expansion & glory of the USSR! Besides having the world vs him, his people are starving to death w/ all the sanctions out there to punish his every move! Bad leadership is nothing new; heaven knows here in the States it's still a fk'n mess, but something needs t/b done w/ that madman! The "Ides of March" comes to mind! Unfortunately, like N.K.'s Kim Jong Un, Putin's prob. murdered or imprisoned all dissenters!
***Tsarist Russia is what Putin is thinking of. Finland was a part of Tsarist Russia, & the Reds lost in Finland in the Russian Civil War. As for starving people, have you taken a look @ western countries lately, w/ rising food & utility bills while billionaires increase their wealth by something like 62% since the 1st lockdown?***
Again, that's the decision of the people to allow the inequities to go on & to get worse as X goes on! Since I'm a Senior, I just don't GAF anymore! People are idiots!
***Putin discovered his fake "love" for the Church fairly late in the game, when he realized that nationalism works best when combined w/ the help of an institution as corrupt as the Russian Orthodox Church, which is = > mafia-like than the Vatican.***
Even Trump tried to coop the church holding up a Bible, upside down several yrs ago! Tyrants do that sort of thing!
***...Rafa's silent b/c he hates being involved in politics. Shows his maturity. He knows it's a filthy game & he wants as lit'l of it as possible.***
Rafa stays quiet b/c he doesn't want the world to know he's an imbecile! He just wants to play in peace! This is his chance to extend his Majors' lead & he doesn't GAF about those Ukrainians being murdered!
***But isn't that same of Novak too?***
True, but it seemed as if Novak should've taken > of a stance by boycotting while few if any are telling Rafa as the season's defacto #1 to skip Wimbl.! Double standard?
***I find it strange that the exact same comments made by 2 players, Sergiy chooses to attack Rafa. It only means that he's biased.***
Why can't someone dislike Rafa w/o bias? I've never cared for him since being a rookie on the tour! It's well known that Nole's > personable & befriends players > most top players! Medvedev commented on how Novak asked "how he was" early on & offered to practice w/ him! Rafa's not like that & it makes a diff. = if the same words are utilized by the 2 players!
***It really is about slams now for Djokovic. He has every other rec. wrapped up now. He really doesn't need > X @ #1. He's so far out in front that he might as well be in another X zone if this was a race.***
I keep thinking that, but some hard-asses decided to make a big deal out of Graf being @ 377 wks! Not sure it matters since a huge ** s/b behind her name!
***If Djokovic had one of Fedal taken down during their heyday, he'd prob. have gotten over 400 wks @ #1 already, so it doesn't really matter. Graf's #'s have a dark cloud over them. Despite her being an excellent champ., the #'s she has aren't a true reflection.***
It's why Rafa can never be my GOAT! Both Fedovic have a > bal. resume w/ plenty of wins on grass & HC! Nadal's just a clay specialist for the > part! He has no YEC, barely acquired his Dub/ CGS (banished from "down under") earlier this yr., while his tenure @ #1 isn't = close to other greats! Owning Paris alone didn't do it for Borg! He needed those 5 str. Wimbls. t/b a legend while Rafa's still scratching for it!
***This rec.'s something which s/b his only considering Rafa's the >est player @ a single slam. ...I see him taking it to > 120 wins B4 he retires.***
"120" tourn. "wins?" That an opinion or wishful thinking? The upsets will start happening > as X goes on! How can he perform = > > his "hey day" when he was > healthy?
***Nadal's prob. GOAT now (Or CO-GOAT W/ Djokovic @ least due to the 1 slam diff.) but what really hurts Nadal is the amt. of X he spent in the #2 pos. He never truly dom. ...His peak did come along @ a crappy X though.***
I was just thinking about that unfort. X'ing of Rafa's peak! He had had such a great '10 after a LOST '09 thru injury, family drama, etc! Shame that Novak had one of the "GREAT" seasons ever by winning 3 Majors & 5 Masters to blunt Rafa's ascension! Djoker did it by def. Nadal in final after final incl. 2 Masters final on clay (Madrid & Rome)! If not for Novak that yr., = I'd've bow'd to Nadal's >ness! He had another chance in '12, but Roger decided to have a resurrection yr. achieving #1 for a while! It's amazing that the Big 3 have been able to keep each other in check to keep the recs close, but unfort. for Roger, Nadovic can only pull away from him except wks @ #1 where IMO Nadal has no chance to catch up to them!
***The injuries took their toll on his ability to remain #1. After AO'09 he was clear #1 having def. Fed in 3/4 slams. Sod played lights out to beat him @ RG, but there were things going on mentally & physically @ that stage w/ his parents divorce & knee troubles keeping him out of Wimbl. & unable to defend his pts... couldn't really recapture his form til RG'10. '12-13 was out for 7 months.
Regained form & took ascendency over Djokovic again... then he injures his back in AO'14 final... wasn't the same player since. Then X injuries throughout '18... early '19... Djokovic OTOH has pretty much had smooth sailing majority of his career... Fed has had > injury struggles by the same age... ---
Fed fans claim Djokovic hitting the levels he did cost Fed so much & while this is true they forget that if Djokovic didn’t Nadal would of cleaned up '10-13. Starting w/ W'11 he'd of done NCYGS as US'11 Djokovic stopped him too then AO'12 where he played incredible, but Djokovic just wouldn’t lose. On paper Nadal’s '11 whb >er > '10 if not for Djokovic.***
Who would've thought Novak'd surpass his '11 w/ an = >er one in '15? He +ed an extra Masters & the YEC to a stellar yr. where only '21 can =; 3 sets from a CYGS!
***W/ Nole's 2R win today ...won > matches @ RG(83) > @ any of the other majors, & The FO's his weakest slam! Just extraordinary consistency from Earth's Mightiest.***
Upsets have always been rare w/ Djokovic! He gets thru somehow = though undermined!
***...Did you notice that Novak doesn't try to solicit a hug from Rafa or Roger after they battle, but he does everyone else? I'm quite sure Fedal truly could give a shit about him. Sorry, but I change my thoughts on Novak. I was a fan & I finally saw thru his BS the past 8-9 yrs.***
Rafa's FOS! He's always used injury as a poss. career-ender, but has conned the whole world into believing that BS as he runs like a deer! Others prob. feel the same; Novak has just been the only one willing to call him out! I'm not saying this b/c I'm a fan of either! Most of their matches are unwatchable due to both of them taking too long to actually "get it on" w/ Rafa = taking forever btwn 1st & 2nd serves! The officials need to speed both of them up! I'm not watching any> 4-5 hr. contest w/ them or anyone else!
***...Rafa has had this defect ever since he was a teenager. There's No Cure. There is an option which is radical, remove the bone which is rooting in his foot. Rafa then could not run.***
So what? Everyone has a fk'n story! His camp & Rafa have used this BS to beat up his detractors for yrs making excuses for EVERY loss! I was over it in '09 when he had a horrendous yr., but in their minds he lost thru injury & family drama behind the scenes! No one cares; esp. me! Try growing up in a war torn country dodging bullets & playing hopscotch w/ landmines! I'm almost shaking seeing this hypocrisy & not giving Novak the smallest brk or bit of adulation for his accomplishments vs heavy odds! Fedal & their fans can KMA!
***Monaco's a “war torn“ country? I didn't know!***
That isn't funny! Please don't make me cut you off! You're one of my fave posters! I'm very angry for some reason & easily triggered over this BS!
***So folks are saying this is Rafa's last RG...***
Such BS! Rafa's running game on people! He's FOS & has no shame playing this "IDK" simp who can barely hold a conversation in English!
***IDK, everyX I see Rafa, he seems a bit > like he's wearing the wt. of his tennis for the worse w/ each tourn. he plays. I think sooner or later you ask yourself 'do I want to potentially injure myself to the pt. where my body doesn’t = allow me to enjoy retirement.' ---
No, he said that he plans on returning next yr to RG.***
As I said, he's FOS poor-mouthing it as if he can barely make it around the court! IMO he's already extended his tenure too long! I assure you retirement's gonna be challenging! I can see a hip replacement in his future & inevitable need to take care of that "heel!" He's pushed himself to the limit so I have absolutely no sympathy for the guy!
***Wimbl. just might look like an exh. It w/b a prime op. for someone to step up & breakthru it seems.***
Sir Andy's taking severe umbrage @ such a statement! He says, "Wimbledon will never be just an exh.!" The penalty was steep & will cost Novak his #1 ranking! Wimbl. has taken a stance which may not be fair, but there's a reason! Observing a war going on, they want to show support for Ukraine & its people!
***I think Wimbl.'s wrong that excl. them makes any useful pt. London/the UK has much > useful work to do by freezing the assets of the Russian oligarchs they have been sheltering for the past decade+.***
Now that w/b a magnanimous gesture if they had agreed to just WD volunt.! I couldn't see it happening since = if you don't win, there's a boat-load of $$ t/b shared/split!
***All the Big 3 have had incredible results after 30, @ an age > prior ATGs whb long retired. But how do they compare?
Looking @ the results starting on the yr. after they turned 30 ('12 for Fed, '17 for Nadal, '18 for Novak) gives us the following results:
- - - - - - - Federer Nadal Djokr
Slams played 31 18 16 Finals reached 8 10 10 Slams won 4 8 8 Masters won 10 8 8 YE #1 - - 0 2 3 @ diff. slams 2 3 4
Yes, they faced diff. comp. Yes, they are diff. ages so some had > slam opps after the cut off pt. Yes, for @ least 2 of them there's > to come. ---
...It's why I don't like when experts say that Djokovic will surpass Nadal in Slam ct. due to Djokovic > poised to play longer > Nadal @ this pt. of their career. In sports (& someX's in life), playing > yrs doesn't automatically make the player win A LOT > titles > a player who played fewer yrs.***
You'd be in denial not agreeing w/ those statements! It all balances out when Novak has a super season like '11, '15, & '21, there's nowhere else to go but down after winning 3 Majors! Most experts believe when all the dust settles, Novak will own all the recs. w/ Rafa only having the advantage of 2 majors @ this moment & not much else! He's behind in Masters, wks @ #1, & so many others recs.! Rafa shouldn't hint @ leaving due to injury if he's still able to compete! He does this to himself & looks like a tool IMO!
***Great pt. I hasn’t noticed this that Novak suffered a let down the season after. The rest of it is open to dispute, though I agree to a degree about Rafa & all the yapping about his injury. SomeX's it feels like he uses them as a comfort blanket in the press to deflect the pressure = though they're obviously a serious thing. I get bored hearing about them too…***
That's saying something as Novak broke all kinds of recs. in '15 winning 3 majors, 6 Masters, & the YEC! His best "down yr." was a career achievement for many as he defended his AO, won his 1st FO (compl. CGS), & took 4 Masters titles only t/b YE #2 behind Murray who won Wimbl., a bunch of 500 level events, & The YEC! How does that happen? Novak's had 2 YE #1's taken away by flukes that seem to happen when he's had a great season like '11, '15, & '18!
***And it isn't like I do not believe Djokovic can't surpass Nadal in the slam titles ct. (I won't be surprised if he does), it w/b extremely hard for him to accomplish the feat. Winning those 3 slams only allowed him to tie Fedal @ 20 slams apiece. Now, he has to win another 3 slams @ age 35/36+ just to surpass Nadal. He has to contend w/ Med, Alcaraz, FAA, & other young players that can potentially defeat him.***
Only tying? Why is it no one can seem to credit Novak for not only surpassing Fedal in many catagorical recs., he did it in < X/age?
***You’re overlooking Rafa having 22 slams out of only 64 played. Out of only 30 finals. Novak has played 67 slams and got to 20 on his 65th. Roger has played 81 slams & got to 20 on his 72nd. At the end of the day, MS titles recs. mean diddly. No player prioritizes them over the slams. The slams are the big deal. The rest of everything revolves around them…***
The slams have become the big deal, but only > later in the Open Era! If all majors were that important "way back when," Connors, McEnroe, & Borg whg "down under" >! They didn't since the only 2 majors that mattered were Wimbl. & The USO! Borg made The FO relevant by owning it in his day winning 6 of 8 chps.! ...Nole's won the Double GM's & a Nole-Slam! Rafa's claim to glory is winning the FO for the > part & not > else besides the rivalries w/ Fedovic! Nuff said!
***...If the slams weren’t important back in the day, then what was? The GS Cup? The WCT? Shanghai? Of course the slams are important. Now, we all know that Australia fk'd up by situating it’s slam @ the > inhospitable X of the yr., so players didn’t want to travel, but once they corrected that, it retrieved its previous status.***
In those early days of Open Tennis, it was a mess where importance of events went all over the place! You meantioned the WCT where it was > highly regarded b/c of the $$ Lamar Hunt threw @ the sport of tennis! His tournaments started giving away $50 K to $100 K when the majors barely paid expenses! The WCT final was bigger than the actual YE Masters way back when! The GS Cup was a joke and never got any respectability IMO! One yr. ('04), The Tennis Masters bumped Agassi out of the event due to the FO champ., Gaston Gaudio dropping out of the top 8 by yr.'s end his results outside of clay were so bad!
***The thing I think you’re referring to is what was a priority if a player wanted t/b considered “great?” I always cite Bjorn Borg on this one: when I was young he always said he wanted to win the CYGS, so he c/b considered the BOAT. This in itself implies that all the slams were important. He’d have travelled "down under" if he bagged the other 3 1st. Another stupid reason for Australia holding its slam last.
It was Pete Sampras who changed the criteria for measuring things when he started to chase Emerson, then everyone talked about Roger chasing Pete. The CYGS seemed out of reach (though I agree that Novak was dumb to play the Olympics & use up his battery B4 the USO last yr.). This gen. are getting slams too easily so m/b the CYGS became > accessible.***
Roger appeared t/b the concensus GOAT until these last sev. yrs of embarrassment! I wrote ages ago, he could prob. continue t/b thought the BOAT if he had retired in '12, but hanging on for over 5 yrs B4 +ing those final 3 majors has really hurt his legacy as Nadovic have abused him on all surfaces! Novak's comebacks vs Fed in sev. matches alone like the '11 USO SF & Wimbl. final of '19 is enough to bring him down a peg or 3! Rafa owning him on clay also hurts b/c it happened so often in finals!
***Would 5 sets actually make it harder for the women’s game to attract viewers? If the quality of play is 35-40 min. b/c she was destroying the tour w/ her athletic, attacking game! Chris couldn't take a set off of Navratilova so it went relatively quickly anyway! Evert gave up after dropping a close 2nd set knowing she had no chance, 1-6! Martina was lit. showing off, running down the best shots of Evert! It was painful to watch Graf/Hingis, Graf/Huber, & Seles/Sabatini going 5 sets w/ the matches going 3-4 hrs! Fortunately they got away from those marathons going back to BO3 in '99!
***I try to watch the WTA, but I just can’t get into it any>.***
I haven't been a serious watcher of women's tennis since the days of Hingis & Henin! It's been a mess w/ Serena coming & going! It was looking good for a while w/ Osaka & Barty, but it didn't last! The rankings have been so out of whack! It looks as if Swiatek's the real deal & could stabalize the tour!
***Swiatek is the real deal & what she’s done is phenomenal in a 50-50 roulette sport, i.e., women’s tennis, but she’s not marketable b/c she‘s not good looking. Female athletes are marketed for their looks TO OTHER WOMEN b/c that’s what draws attn.***
***ITA w/ you except that I'd not call Venus a class act @ all; I just think she's less unhinged. Serena's act at the USO was over the top; twice.***
I truly hope we're done w/ the Williams sisters! I'm so tired of people parting the Red Sea for them when they come & go from the tour as they please!
***...For me it was when Serena bullied & threatened the tiny Asian lines person & sweared by Jehovah she'd shove a tennis ball down her throat. Tennis will miss such a + role model. Not! Ditto on Venus.***
She didn't consider that a real threat that's what was so delusional! The whole fk'n world heard her & she was incredulous after it all came out! My mouth went agape!
***Venus will prob. play on & off until she’s 50.***
Someone's gotta say "I tried my best to match Navratilova" who won her last major in '06 @ the USO in MxD's w/ Bob Bryan, just 1 month short of her 50th BD!
***Any tennis, ATP or WTA in the Chi this Summer?***
They've tried their best since the 70's, but only the ladies had a winning event w/ the VA. Slims starting in '71! I saw Court def. Navratilova in '75! The men weren't as successful & events came & went! In '75 I watched Tanner def. Alexander on a court built on the surface of Soldier's Field! The biggest event for men was an exh. of McEnroe & Connors that went 5 sets & took forever w/ both players walking off the court in a huff due to the officiating back in '81! GAWD, I'm old AF!
***IS there a chance that Wimbl. will change their stance. McEnroe feels that they may.***
You can forget it! When Wimbl. takes a stance, it's a done deal! They'll allow the tourney to fail B4 ever caving to pressure! It just doesn't register as if they're in another reality! When they went to the yellow tennis ball in '86, they had the gall to announce "the rest of the world should follow our lead!" They're delusional AF in so many way! The only X they allowed something out of the norm was a 'John McEnroe!' He abused the linespeople & chair umpires! Any other player whb not only "defaulted," but banned for life! When McEnroe actually won his 1st title in '81, his honorary membership to the club was withheld! I think they subsequently gave it to him after he lost the marathon final vs Connors in '82! All you have to do is look back to '73 when they banned Nikki Pilic from playing in the tourney; 81 of ATP players in solidarity to him withdrew! The tournament went on as scheduled, seeding a lit'l known Bjorn Borg to #6 behind #5 Jimmy Connors unexpectedly!
***Weakest era of all X. Tennis is a freaking joke right now. Been this way for yrs now.***
Weak in the results anyway w/ the Big 3 owning the last 20+ yrs! The players are good enough; > a mental block since the adulation is so loud for Fedalovic! The NG'rs have come close many X's w/ leads in finals to win their 1st major, but failed in the end! It's = happened amongst the Big 3 w/ Novak overccoming MP's sev. X's to steal chps from Fed! IMO, Djokovic was the last & greatest of "kids" when he def. Fed on his way to winning his 1st major @ '08 AO over Tsonga! Del Po was a yr. younger, but has barely made another major final since '09 USO; 2018 USO!
***...Strong era indeed. In fact, tennis has become so tough that you dont peak B4 30. But wait, didn't Alcaraz win 2 Masters @ 18? M/b its been a weak era after all.***
He needed the Big 3 to wane just a bit in energy & loss of competitiveness to achieve those 2 Masters so early leaving the NG'rs of Tsitsipas & Zverev in the dust!
***Almost all ATGs won their 1st slam @ an early age, 20-22. Alcaraz just showed the age excuse is BS by winning 2 Masters @ 18.***
We've been spoiled by the excellence & consistency of Fedalovic! Unfortunately we may never see their kind again; arriving early & sustaining their high level of skills well into their 30's when > w/b breaking down!
***What were you taught about cheating in sports when you were in school or Lit'l League?***
Back in the day you didn't have to # it into athlete's heads about sportsmanship! IMO that's "out the window" where it's expected "to game the system" & take advantage whenever you can! I watch BasketBall & the acting going on is obscene! I've seen LaBron snap his head back like he's been shot when the guy he was guarding didn't lay a glove on him as he crashes to the floor! It's total BS! SomeX's the referees catch it & admonish him, but it doesn't happen enough! I've seen some incredible ex. of cheating w/ football receivers dropping a catch, pull the ball into them, then produce it as if it was caught! I'm embarrassed for anyone that desperate for accolades!
***...Yeah, Father X is undefeated. But there don’t seem t/b major signs of decline in Tom Brady.***
It depends on who you play! He still got "worked" by a few teams! I always give the "side-eye" to some stats & usually ask "who did they play that season?"
***He played 17 NFL teams just like the other 31 starting QB's, his #'s were just >er > theirs doing it. There isn't a QB in the league who doesn't "get worked" a game or 2 every yr. Pat Mahomes didn't have a bad game in '21? Aaron Rodgers the league MVP didn't? I get that your schedule can determine some of your success, but it ='s out over 17 games IMO.***
"Thank you Howard Cosell" from the grave! I apprec. your thinking! Too bad Brady's shown his arrogance & ego mania so late in his career after conning us that he's this nice, amiable dude! I was a huge fan until I found out how much cheating was going on to get him those chps. (deflate-gate, spy-gate, cell phone-gate)! That won't change!
***Take a deep breath. It’s not life or death.***
Tell that to the losing teams who prob. should've won but for the unscrupulous characters & lack thereof of Brady & Belichick!
***Geezus...U still have to beat some pretty good teams to win 7 SB's....cheating...lol.***
That's what's so disturbing about sports! Integrity & character in gen. is on the wane! Look @ someone like basketball's, Durant! The team all but begged the guy to join & stay w/ the Golden St. Warriors! His ego couldn't handle that the team truly belongs to Curry & he left after winning 2 Chp. to embarrass himself in NJ! He had teammates he selected & they disappointed him by either quitting or being kept from playing due to avoidance of Covid shots! There are ex. like this all over the place where it's just gotten too hard to = watch! I don't watch Baseball @ all, basketball is fading away as I limit myself to teams I like, & football, = though very comp., you see things like huge contracts given to sex offenders & wife beaters! M/b I'm just too fk'n old, but sport's just not worth watching as it was yrs ago = though athletically superior to the past!
***I read Phil Mickelson was given nearly $200 M just to join the LIV tour. Being 51 or so, he was wise to take it as he isn't likely to win anything near that on the PGA tour any>. The winner of this wk's tourn. in London gets $4 M for playing just 3 Rds. Last place gets over $100 K. Get the Saudi's into Tennis? If the ATP doesn't change its ranking pts policy @ this yr's Wimbl., then players should consider starting another tour or get rid of the those running it now.***
I guess it's like that movie, "Indecent Proposal!" It's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation! These guys aren't broke, but obscene amts of $$ corrupts the best of them! I personally never felt compelled to attain wealth over & above living expenses needed in my old age! IMO it shortens your life = w/ the extra healthcare assoc. w/ being in the elites! All you end up doing is comforting the family left behind to fight over the spoils! I thought they got a taste of this w/ that E. Indian Exh. League!" May have watched 20 min. in total here!
***You know what really irritates me w/ the ATP rankings is....Rafa is 30-3 so far this yr. & won AO & RG. Still stuck @ #4, meanwhile Med & Zverev who both have still not won a tourn. so far this yr. are now #1 & #2 respectively. ---
M/b it's X for the ATP to really do a 'review system' on their overall ranking system. - That's a darn shame about how the rankings is currently.***
It's happened B4 & it'll happen again! I still recall back in '11 when Novak was undef. early on, & on a 40+ match winning streak until FO SF, but didn't overcome Nadal's #1 ranking until Wimbl. SF! We all know this is a CY ranking system so if you had a great season, it keeps you on top for a long X; = for Navratilova back in '87 when she hadn't won anything until Wimbl. didn't relent the #1 ranking to Graf until that Summer! Peter Graf was threatening to start his own tour! Such idiocy when we all know how the fk'n system works & act stupid thru emotions due to a "want" of change @ the top! It took a while, but Novak's given it up for the season & w/b the > dangerous floater in history when allowed to play wherever he wants again!
***Med losing 6-4 in the 2nd set in Halle final to Hurkacz; 0-3 in finals this yr.***
Some #1 we have here! I wonder how long this embarrassment will go on? Hubert played great & deserved the win BTW!
***Since Daniil can’t play Wimbl., he’s asked kindly if the coach minds if he uses up his Wimbledon quota of savage abuse, at Halle.***
He can always play that game of "what if?!" I just wonder has Med deluded himself into making himself a poss. fave @ Wimbl.!
***He’s a #1 w/o an identity really, isn’t he? He struggles to assert himself @ the top. It was quite revealing after the final in Oz that he complained about the lack of support from the crowd. His bathetic whine about the lit'l boy who no longer dreams b/c the nasty, nasty people in the crowd didn’t hoist him up on their shoulders & proclaim him “King.” For those of us who like him, it was a let down. But it told us something too: Daniil isn’t bully enough yet t/b strong #1. He’s too self-conscious. He’s got a ways to go. Pity about that. Meanwhile, tennis moves rapidly forward… ---
I think y’all are being a bit hard on him. I understand last wk. going after him, but Hurkacz is no slouch. I’d say if he doesn’t find his way to a title B4 the USO, then we should worry. ---
Pretty = w/Fedalovic. Nadal ruined both Fed & Djokos clay careers.
...And Fedovic ruined Nadal's grass & HC career! It all =ed out until recently! I expected Fed to drop behind, but I think his mystique would've endured > if he'd retired after '12 Wimbl. win! IMO it just wasn't worth waiting 5+ yrs to + 3 > Majors to his resume! He'll wind up behind 2 players in the end regard to the field. For Nole & Fed it was only Nadal who stood in the way for winning 5-6 FOs each. ---
I think the current ranking system is fine except the WTF's overrated & should have only 1,000 pts. I'd support the Slam winner getting 2,500 pts as long as the pts for other Rds (Final, SF, QF etc.) in Slams remains the same as it is now. This'd increase the importance of the Slam in the rankings for only the title winner & not for the other players.***
Normally I'd agree, but we've had instances where it just wasn't enough to separate the elite players from the "also-rans!" I just didn't think it right that back in '16, Novak defended his AO, won his 1st FO, made the final of the USO & YEC, & took 4 Masters! Somehow by Murray playing a # of 500's & stole the YEC Final, overtaking Novak as #1 by that 1 match! Andy held the #1 ranking over the "dead period" over the Winter which kept Novak from putting the wks @ #1 out of reach & well over 400 wks by now! Novak's '15 ends up being the problem as it's hard to defend an almost perfect season of winning 3 Majors, 6 Masters (making 8 finals), & the YEC! There's no place else to go but down!
***Nadal stopped Fed from winning the CYGS X X's. The GOAT debate w/b over.***
I realize the logic, just 1 match away, but in the overall scheme of things, it doesn't wash! Only Novak has come close to a CYGS & he was in the final of the 4th event in '21! You can't assume Roger's success in Paris would carryover to take the top 2 tourneys remaining in the season @ Wimbl. & USO! Fed barely got by Roddick in '09 after winning Paris where Nadal was upset by Soderling!
***...Once Nadal started trying to grind on grass ('12-17) he wasn't able to get very far.***
I just never thought Nadal wanted t/b there in London! We've noticed, if he missed a major, Wimbledon's @ the top of his list! It's always been easy to fain injury or just say "I'm exhausted after such a grueling FO!" He's had truly lame results in the last decade that haven't been acknowledged much for some reason! It's been an embarrassment to = drop that SF to Fed in '19!
***...Djokovic made the final in '11 w/ Rafa losing to the new & improved Djokovic, then the nightmare '12-15. In '18 he lost that close 5-setter to Djokr in the SF & in '19 he lost to Fed in the SF in 4 sets. That's the last X he played Wimbl. ---
Federer Fans: Has Nadal or Djokovic caused us > pain in Fed's career?
Total Losses Djokovic - 27, Nadal - 24
Total GS Match Losses Djokovic - 11, Nadal - 10
GS Final Losses Nadal - 6, Djokovic - 4
Masters Series/YE Final Losses Nadal - 7, Djokovic - 7
5 Set Losses Djokovic - 4, Nadal - 3
Matches Lost in Deciding Set Djokovic - 14, Nadal - 7
Yrs Prevented from Being YE #1 Nadal - 3, Djokovic - 2
Nadal prevented = > dom. from Fed
Djokovic prevented = >er longevity from Fed ---
In '18, Fed's resume was simply untouchable when stacked vs everyone else in history.
He had 20 slams (4 > Nadal & 8 > Djokovic)
He had 310 wks @ #1 (90 ahead of Djokovic)
He had 5 YE #1's (ahead of 4 from Nadal & Djokovic)
He had became the oldest ever #1 (still his rec...for now)
He was leader/joint-leader @ 3 of the 4 majors (Nole passed him @ AO, Nole may catch him @ WI, & Rafa may catch him @ USO)
He was longevity GOAT (won a major 14.5 yrs after his 1st)
He was only 3 Masters titles behind Djokodal (which is really not "that" much)
He had an = career win % w/ Djokodal @ 82% despite playing > matches (both Djokodal have since brought this % to over 83)
He had won the CGS which had yet t/b topped by Djokodal
He was = making up ground in H2H as he was 4-0 vs Rafa & only 22-23 H2H vs Novak (had Nole met him during this X, Fed would've won)
He had won 3 of 4 slams he played in an incredible 12-month stretch, he began '18 on a 17-0 streak, while Rafa/Djoker were rehabbing
Was this the most untouchable Fed's GOAT claim was ever?***
***The > I think about this yr's champ., the < enthused I feel about watching it. Apart from Novak & Rafa, I don’t see where a real contender's coming from. Novak is fave @ Wimbl., & if Rafa makes wk. 2, he’s a challenger. The challenger. But the rest? Impossible to see any of them as champion this yr.***
The same thing's happened to me w/ women's tennis ages ago! After Hingis & Henin retired I lost interest! It looked like the WTA might get my attn. back w/ Osaka & Barty, but 1's gone & the other a part X player due to physical or emotional reasons! IDK so many of these players! The rankings have been all over the place w/ injuries & inconsistant results! Not sure how much I'll care after Novak retires = if I'm not that big a fan! Alcaraz m/b the new blood to get me interested in tennis later, but we'll see!
***You are a lit'l bit of a Novak fan, though, aren’t you? ...I agree to an extent, but I think the nature of the men’s game is that a vacuum gets filled rapidly, = if only temp. We’ll get an alpha of sorts to dom. in a lukewarm way until the next great champion rises. Hopefully we don’t = have to wait & Carlos takes over in a huge way, rapidly. He’s the most charismatic & dynamic. Wet dishrags like Tsitsipas winning free interim slams like Courier w/b bad for the men’s game. I just hope you’re not right that the men’s game goes into a morbid decline. It’s not impossible, but it’s gen. been far too comp. for that to happen for too long…***
I keep telling you guys, I apprec. Novak brk'n up the Fedal mythos that tennis began & ended w/ them! I'm no fan of his game except if he's eviscerating Nadal as in '16 Dubai and '19 AO! Those matches saved w/ MP's vs him w/ Fed are the best; esp. remembering that British bitch putting up the 1 finger thinking the match was over @ Wimbl. in '19! His rise from the ashes in '18 was very satisfying, but again it only helped me seeing he stopped the run of Fedal when they each had a 2nd life while he was injured & dealing w/ family issues in '17!
***But Nole has 3 extraordinary wins vs Roger from 2 MP's down. One of them, '11 SF in NY, cost Rafa a Slam. And he did it the right way, on Roger's serve each X, ramming the ball down his throat & grinning like a young De Niro while he did it… ---
...Absol. the only reason Novak has won 6 Wimbl. Djoker w/b spitting tennis balls from btwn. his teeth if he faced Pete on fast grass. It’s no contest!***
Fed wouldn't have won 8 if the grass had remained choppy & slick! He whb upset by someone just like Sampras in '96; Krajicek!
***If Novak doesn’t win Wimbl., > likely thru his own actions he can’t play until ‘23 RG. So = if Rafa doesn't win Wimbl. this yr. I like his chances to pickup @ least one Major > by ‘23 Wimbl. At that pt. Novak w/b 3 behind, tough row to hoe.***
Remember, = @ this age, Novak still has the ability to win majors in bunches! He was counted out B4, it can happen again! AO might relent!
***Everyone has been saying this about him since he achieved 2.0. He's 35 now, & m/b 36 B4 he plays his next one after this Wimbl. He's showing signs that the pressure & age do wear. However, if the youngsters don't step up to the plate, he may just keep going for some X. The AO might relent, & it might not. I don't think you'll see it in '23.***
***The Underrated! I still haven’t seen a better performance on a tennis court than Sampras' '99 Wimbl. final win…***
Pete's serve saved him again & again if he wasn't @ his best! He was the last > player who used his serve as a real weapon! McEnroe won his chps. the same way; esp. w/ what Bud Collins called his lefty delivery, "the can-opener!" Martina had the same advantage = though Evert was >er from the ground!
***...Djokovic is shit vs prime Fed. He only started vulturing titles much later, after Fedal had decimated each other @ the X when Djokovic was retiring from matches b/c he couldn't breathe.***
That is such sour grapes BS! Hilarious really! You can pt. out individual instances all you like, but in 100 yrs no one'll GAF! All they'll see is that 2 players out performed Fed well B4 his own efforts, have obliterated > of his recs, & both have outdone his best; esp. Novak who has 373 wks @ #1 so far!
***Epic win for Fed full credit there. Shame he never got W'19. He deserved it. Djokovic sold his soul.***
That's hilarious! If anyone's sold their soul it was Fed who had that miraculous rise from the ashes a few yrs ago, got back to #1 & +ed 3 > majors to his resume! He lost those heartbreakers @ '10 & '11 USO SF & '19 Wimbl. final to balance it out! Novak was just quite lucky to win his majors in bunches to catch up & surpass the so called GOAT! What a joke w/ a losing rec. to 2 players, not just one!
***While tied @ 20 majors there's an argument Fed's 2nd on all X list as he has > WTFs > Djokovic, > titles, & a better Olympic rec. Djokovic gets 21 then he's surely 2nd w/o debate.***
Nyah! As far as I'm concerned Nole's still #1 w/ being #1 for 373 wks., has a Nole-Slam, 2 GM's, & so many other recs. neither Fedal has & that's a fact!
***Trying t/b as objective as possible, the Weightage s/b > or < something like this-
5 Pts for GS 3 Pts for OG 2 Pts for WTF 1 Pt for Masters 1000 1 Pt for GS Finalist 1 Pt for Olympics Silver
Hmmm, Big 3 have to rank really close to each other…….so I am content w/ the outcome. ---
To be GOAT @ a single surface 7-8 titles aren't enough, a player needs 11+ titles. That's why Nadal's Clay GOAT b/c we won't see another player win 10+ slams @ RG in our lifeX's.
People hating on Djokovic need to understand that 8 Wimbl. titles are 2 < to remain as Standalone Rec. Even Djokovic's 9 AO titles isn't a safe rec. He'll need to win 2-3 > to keep it safe.
If not Djokovic, someone else in future will win 8+ WB titles.
To end the Grass Goat debate, Fed had to win these matches: Vs Berdych In '10 Vs Tsonga in '11 Vs Anderson in '18 Vs Djokovic in '19
Had he won vs Tsonga, Anderson, & Djokovic which were very winnable matches, Fed w/b Grass GOAT.
It is debatable but I'd say Fed should have won at least one among WB,'08 & '14 Finals. He lost by few in. there. If you're the Grass Goat, you need to win those close matches which are decided by 1-2 pts.***
...Fed's still done many things no other player will ever do again including 5 str. Chp. @ the 2 top Major events of the season! That's BORG-like! Unfortunately the other 2 >'s have accomp. = > B4 he had a chance to retire in the # of Majors, Masters, & Wks @ #1! That's one of the reasons I thought his legacy would've looked >er today if he had retired after winning Wimbl. in '12! IMO it just wasn't worth hanging on for 5+ yrs to + 3 > Majors to his list, only to have it surpassed by players anyway! We could have debated for yrs. "what if" if he actually left the game earlier! He'll still be in 3rd place in the catagories of Majors & Masters events!
***I disagree w/ this @Fiero425. Fed benefitted a lot by not running away 10 yrs earlier. He became the 1st person to win 20 slams.***
***Just had a feeling Golden State wouldn't lose tonight (G6).***
I'm glad it's over so KD can wallow in it that he left a dynastic club to toil in obsurity during the off season w/ thoughts of "what chb!" What an idiot! He hand picks Irving & Harden who disappointed his sensibilities & NJ fans! Good riddance!
***I kind of like keeping the # of people who have an NBA Chp. low. If it was Lebron v Boston, I'd want Jayson Tatum to win his 1st Chp. of course, but I don't mind seeing a dynasty like Golden State win it all. If it wasn't Yianni or the Piston's, I don't care who wins really, but there are some people I don't want to see win; Kyrie, Durant, Harden, Westbrook. It whb nice to see Chris Paul get one. Poor lit'l guy. ...Kevin Durant's one of the best in the NBA, arguably the best player in the world right now, but until he leads his own team to a chp., he won't be in the same league as LeBron & Curry, = though he has 2 rings.***
Funny, that A-Hole, Skip Bayless of Fox Sports, "Undisputed" poo-poos & undermines Curry while giving KD all kinds of credit for those 2 Chps. while in The Bay! He sounds like a fool trying to pick apart instances where Curry was "saved" or inconsequential to the wins, but getting all the blame for losses in GS! He's such a tool & have no idea why I allow him to get to me! If CP3 hadn't been such a dick over the yrs I'd commiserate w/ you! W/ his Nat'l comms., your sympathy should go elsewhere! He's no poor lit'l guy! He's had his chances & blew them; esp. this yr.!
***I thought he was a good guy. Quiet. I didn’t know he’s a dick. What Nat'l commercials? State Farm? I don’t really feel sorry for him. He’s a millionaire from playing a game.***
It's the "quiet" ones you have t/b on guard against! Way back when the dirtiest player was John Stockton of the Utah Jazz! For some reason the players knew > the lying eyes of fans who thought he was humble & a great guy!
***Magic Johnson, in an interview, said to Stockton, "John, from one assist man to another, you are the greatest team leader I have ever played against.***
What else was he going to say? Call him out for a particular series back in '89?
***Golden State now has t/b talked about w/ the great teams in NBA history. The Boston dynasty, the Lakers/Celtics of the 80s, the Bulls of the 90s. And Wiseman didn’t = play due to injury this yr. so there’s > coming. The core 3 likely have 3 or 4 > yrs @ a high level. ---
i was a Laker fan until they signed LeBron...***
I wouldn't say I was a fan of Lakers, but I respected them from the beginning in '79 when Magic was drafted! The team was quite impressive; esp. the way they passed the ball around like they were the Globe-Trotters! The 1st crack occurred w/ the way they treated "The Logo," refusing to pay Jerry West as GM saying "the talent should make the $$!" They became hypocrites when they hired Phil Jackson as coach > quadrupling the amt. paid to him! I loved how they floundered w/ Kobe & Shaq before Phil brought in! All that talent & they were elim. early again & again by champ. for the Lakers, but I lost some respect for them & decisions they started to make under Jennie Buss! I was done by the X they took on the traveling gypsy teammate, LeBron James! They became total jokes in the league picking up Russell Westbrook!
***Hey, the serve’s a shot! Counts = > other shots if it’s a > one, b/c it notches up games. Credit where it’s due, bro. But Martina had a > net game. Her & Chrissy were like Borg & McEnroe, > contrasting stylists & diff. tempers. Martina was as > in the forecourt as anyone…***
W/o a doubt, Martina was the best in the forecourt! Her stab volleys were >er > other players who were set & ready @ the net! I recall matches vs Graf & Seles where she had to deal w/ missiles coming @ her & she flicked them away most of the X defeating both @ one X or another until '93 vs Seles indoors when she was approaching 40! No one else can say that = though Serena's trying to match it! I doubt she'll come back to win a double's major @ 50 though!
***If Nole doesn't win this yr's Wimbl., then he's done. If Nadal beats Djoker to win 23rd slam, the race is pretty much over.***
Hmmm, where have I heard that B4? Oh, a few yrs ago when Roger rose from the ashes & +ed 3 majors to go up 20-12 on Novak! Famous last words?
***Last yr. I too heard from Djoko dudes "Djokovic will become GOAT by winning 21st slam @ NYC." Famous last words.***
That wasn't me! I said B4 the tourn. that Novak needed Med t/b upset! It was enough to get past Sascha Z., but after that wasted trip to Japan, Nole wasn't on top of his game or playing well enough to def. Daniil! I didn't think he'd win over Rafa in Paris earlier this month either! He needs t/b his sharpest to get past the best & he can't poss. win much of anything the rest of the season w/ such intermittant play!
***That's so true. Even if Nadal wins 26 Slams & Djokovic's stuck @ 20, he'd still be the >er player. - I've long said Nadal winning > FO doesn't change anything. Winning a 3rd Wimbl. does. Even I'd put Rafa ahead of Fed if that happens (lol, no but I'd think about it).***
For me t/b "turned" it'd take Nadal completing the CYGS; nothing short of it! He has too many "holes" in his resume; way behind in Wks. @ #1, no WTF's, & missing Masters' victories while Novak has 2 GM's! Rafa has his best chance w/o Fed, the NG'rs still mentally vuln., & Novak not in the best frame of mind being a partX player, sans vac.!
***Nadal isn't >er > Fedovic? As I see it, these are the main arguments in favor of each:
Nadal-
2 Xtra slams >er longevity (17 yrs btw 1st & last slam compared to 13.5 for Djokovic) >er single surface dom. Olympic Gold
Djokovic-
> YE #1 Many > wks @ #1 H2H Dominates 2 diff. surfaces, > consistent across all 3 surfaces. NCGYS & indeed the rest of the super dom. '14-16 run. 5 YECs to 0 for Nadal
There are other arguments, but to me, these are the biggest. I personally have found it difficult to think of Nadal as the GOAT given all of the arguments in favor of Djokovic, but ultimately, 2 slams w/ the other arguments is too much to ignore.***
IMO, Nadal just has too many holes in his resume in comparison to Fedovic! He's dom. clay for the > part & the rest of his recs have to do w/ longevity! Novak won his majors in bunches & caught up to Fedal @ 20 majors when it wasn't thought possible back in '17 when Roger & Rafa started owning the men's tour again! It didn't last w/ Novak winning 2 majors in '18, def. Rafa @ FO in '21, & stole '19 Wimbl. over Roger who had 2 MP's!
***H2H's a mark vs Djokovic as he trails 11 > 7 in slams to Nadal. No one cares about wins @ Doha & Beijing.***
Novak'll take his meager wins over Nadal @ '12 &'19 AO, '15 &'21 FO, '11 &'18 Wimbl., & '11 USO & be quite satisfied w/ himself! Fedovic still won 3 majors in a season 3 X's while Rafa only did it once! Djokovic was also 1 match from completing a CYGS; Rafa's never come close! Nole-Slam '15-16!
***Nadal won the surface slam 3 in a row '10 which just about surpassed the 3 Djokovic won in '21; incl. AO rather > USO which is the premier HC tourn. ---
I find it hard to care much about wks @ #1 & YEC when he's winning > slams > the other 2 for the X being.***
Well that's one way to deflect from having so many holes in a resume, it's not important anyway! Wks @ #1 is so very important along w/ YE #1's!
Nadal has so many holes in his resume! His Wks @ #1 is an embarrassment along w/ YE #1's!
***So many holes? No YEC's & < Wks @ #1 aren't that big of a deal when you consider everything Nadal's achieved.
He had to WD from 7 YEC events & then one he entered he had to WD from as well... so 8 opps totally ruined by injury.
I wouldn't bet on him not winning @ least 1 of those given who some of the champs ended up being.
Less wks @ #1, < total wins @ majors. This is mainly down to his many injuries forcing him out for extended periods of X.
Look @ '09, forced to WD from Wimbl. Had he played, he potentially would've ended up YE #1 or would've been super close... not to mention the wks would have likely been >.
Same deal in '12. He was playing top form tennis & damaged his knee after RG forcing him to miss 7 months... he was #1 in the race heading into Wimbl. IIRC... had 3 injection marks on his knee in that match vs Rosol.
'14 had to skip USO which whb very winnable.
'18 he missed 5 Masters tournaments as well as the WTF... yet only finished the yr. w/ 1500 pts behind Novak.
You can troll & brush it off as excuses or he WD b/c he knew he wasn't going to win anyway, but outside troll fantasyland & steeped in reality, he most likely whh many > wks @ #1 as well as total wins @ majors if not for the injury battles he's faced throughout his career.***
The delusion is real! You're giving Rafa titles b/c he either didn't enter the event or WD due to injury! Too delusional for words! I bet you won't give Novak back this season's AO since he was deported & couldn't play "down under!" Will you give Med credit for Wimbl. b/c he was banned? We can do this all night if you like!
***Oh yeah? Which title did I give him? There's a diff. btw saying he'd def. have won & they would've been winnable.***
The implication was there where you're giving Rafa titles, YE #1's, & > wks @ #1! Seek serious help babe! The projection, deflection, & delusion is written all over your post!
***Roger couldn't really dom. a match vs Nadal anywhere. Even losing in Dubai on a rather fast HC B4 the '06 clay season mhb devastating for him, who dom. anyone else everywhere back then. But what if a carpet match in-btw had shown him that he can totally crush Nadal either, & = while rusty after injury?***
I stopped watching ...Fedal rivalry was so great! It never really was w/ Nadal owning Roger from day one! We like to fool ourselves that if Roger had grass, a fast HC, or indoor court he would win convincingly! It was utter BS w/ Roger lucky to bring the H2H rec. close due to a resurgence where he won 5 ot 6 matches in a row over Rafa in '17!
***...Fed's out of the equation coz result-wise he's already behind the other 2. Since Rafa's leading @ slam race while Djoker of course enjoys > overall success, the ult. ?? is. ...a subjective choice, but @ least u can have an objective basis to choose. If u think GS's > valuable, choose Rafa, otherwise, pick Djoker. ...No need to compare majors w/ other titles coz their importance can't be quantified. ---
...'11 happened buddy.***
Rafa may have cemented his >ness but for Novak having such a magnificent '11! Rafa had owned '10 winning 3 majors, but Nole def. him 7 str. X's thru '12 AO, including 2 clay finals in Madrd & Rome! Rafa might've ridden a winning streak unmatched today, but thank goodness for Nole!
***You can find comfort in the fact that Djokovic is still very much in the race. - Even if Nadal were to end up as the >est, he'll never overshadow neither Novak nor Roger. Future gens will always remember these decades as the Big 3 era, no matter how many Slams one of them takes in the lead. They are like the Beethoven (Nadal), Mozart (Federer) & Bach (Djokovic) of tennis. Beethoven, Mozart & Bach do not overshadow each other. They're nearly univerally considered the 3 best composers to ever exist, analogous to what will happen in tennis w/ the Big 3.***
***If we had listened to Hillary & Anita, we'd be in a >er place.***
It's typical! Women don't listen to other women! It's envy/jealousy in just about every category; intel., beauty, etc.! It's pathetic, but I'm over it! After these fools voted for Trump over Hillary, I threw away my feminist card! Now you WOMEN can wallow in your own stupidity! It's not like cons. weren't threatening your rights every election cycle, but you still supported those MF'rs over the yrs.! KARMA!
***The Supreme Court has handed the Democrats a gift. Even they won't be incompetent enough not to exploit it. In one fell swoop the passion of the anti-abortionists has been sated, so many of the Rep. voters were one issue voters, what incentive will they have now to vote? OTOH, Dems & Independents who feel strongly about abortion rights suddenly have a target to aim for. And from the sounds of it Clarence Thomas wants to abolish gay marriage. And I haven't even mentioned the NY gun thing. The mid-terms are going t/b fascinating to watch. I don't think the stock market will matter on Main Street, but inflation is a bitch of a problem. ...But... this whole abortion thing is so counter to the prevailing mood of the American voter this just m/b enough to finally provoke a backlash against Reps. I've got my popcorn out. Since the departure of Trump from Penn. Ave. I've been uninterested in US politics, but this looks like fun!***
Unfortunately, a great many people in this country are fk'n idiots, not caring that our very democracy has been @ stake w/ the willfull treachery of cons., bigoted, & just plain evil Reps! They can justify every thing they do, & the weak-minded followers eat it up b/c they want to! It doesn't matter the detriment to the country! Their hate for the other side is so great, they just don't GAF! I finally had to give up & stop watching the news as criminal behavior is being ignored & goes unpunished! It's not like women haven't been told what anti-abortionist have been doing, but the patriarchal society has been supported to our detriment, so it's hard to feel sorry for them! Women have screwed themselves, hence me throwing away my feminist card after '16 election! I'm slowly turning into a misogynist so PO'd w/ how things have gone w/ the likes of TRUMP! I'm too disgusted to = care any>! It's possible to not know what's going on & it appears the truly ignorant are allowing the malfeasance of cons. who're slowly taking us "back" instead of forward!
***O.J. Simpson is facing > legal trouble after new court docs filed by the father of Ron Goldman. He's seeking nearly $100 M in $$ owed from their original civil lawsuit vs the former NFL player.***
Well it was hard for me t/b that sympathetic unfortunately! There were so many lies thrown around about Ron, his potential, & the love of his family! Facts were he had gone bankrupt, was working menial jobs, & estranged from his family, esp. his mother who was in Ohio he hadn't seen in over 13 yrs! Murder's a nasty business, but it happens all the X! I can't get emotional about it, esp. after how the country showed their asses after the verdict! The resentment of a black man getting away w/ it blew their minds w/ other rich white folks routinely getting away w/ crime! Goldman fighting this fight after all this X is not moving me; SORRY! Go ahead, I'll take the beating!
***This man has not moved on yet! Didn't OJ already do his X for something they couldn't = prove? My sister was murdered in '81, but my family had to move on. This is sad & ridiculous @ the same X.***
I've said the agony is fake for that reason! Ron was estranged from his family, esp. his mother for over a decade who lived in the Midwest! They're up there talking about his potential when he had already filed for bankruptcy & he was just a kid in his 20's! What potential was supposed to occur? I saw him briefly in some TV show about dating & he sounded like a real loser, dumb, & probably a druggie!
...Trump = got involved in NFL business, then having Pence make a show of arriving & leaving a game! Our country's been set back so far, I'm not sure it'll recover! Since Bush v Gore, there's been a div. of the country only outmatched by this abortion debate going on for 50 yrs! They got their change in the law, NOW WHAT? How else will you cons. further divide us; m/b resend Gay Marriage? ...It's all about "it's our way or the fk'n highway!" As "W" so proudly & shamelessly said, "your either w/ us or 'agin'! us" During his days in office, official free speech zones had t/b a mile away from his dest.! I knew we were in trouble when this man couldn't = handle the bad press of "flag-draped coffins" of fallen soldiers returned from his war fraudulently started w/ a LIE! That's what Reps do, LIE & not GAF when busted!
@sealybobo, we're wasting our X trying to rationally speak to people who believe their actions are justified to save the country when they're undermining the very foundations of our democracy! They don't = pretend to care, still trying to justify Jan. 6th; a stain that'll last forever! ...As a Senior my only consolation is I won't have to deal w/ these a-holes > longer! Women screwed themselves as there are > of them voting! They chose these pols that told them what they were going to do! It took 50 yrs, but they accomplished their goal & now "back-alley abortions" will become all the rage in the SOUTH! What a bunch of idiots! Have mercy on their pathetic souls! Too bad I gave up caring!
***Yup! I'm 51. I've got $$. I went to school when it was cheap. I don't have a mortgage or kids going to school. I'm not a woman or gay. Literally none of the bad things Reps are doing will hurt me until they start going after Soc. Sec. & pre existing conditions. These are why I will NEVER vote Rep. I'm sort of counting on that SS & Medicare so I can retire @ 62. ...Just like they say they "don't want to make abortion illegal." Fucking liars.***
That's what I did after the country went w/ Trump! Same as you, I told myself, "why should I do us any favors & wait?" Filed @ 62! I really wasn't = going to take the benefits, but my resentment sent me to an office a wk. after I turned 62! I was so done! I can't = watch the news as we "slow roll" justice for Jan. 6th & all who supported it!
***What bad things are Reps doing that hurt gay people or women? ...We can't just cut it off, but @ some pt. we're going to have to say "if you're born after X day X month X yr., you're not going to get SS." ---
Nothing yet. Maybe the SC will rule gay marriage unconstitutional. They are a bunch of Reps legislating from the bench now.***
Yeah, the same Newbies that said they "had no opinion on Roe v Wade! Never even discussed it in college!" LIARS all & prob. s/b impeached, but it won't happen!
***They're Heritage Foundation Judges. This Foundation's hell bent on banning abortion. AG's in nearly a dozen states & the Distr. of Columbia have joined locally elected prosecutors from states across the country in pledging not to prosecute those who provide or receive abortions if their state legislature criminalizes the procedure. ---
Guess who gets screwed by SS "disproportionally?" Black people.***
SS has been gutted by the wealthy, but they paid into it so feel entitled! Even Reagan & his wife filed for benefits w/ that huge gift of a house from Hollywood & severance for being President! Of course he didn't do it personally as he was senile during his 2nd term, but his disgusting handlers had no shame putting thru paperwork for him & that old bitch!
***Boy are you naive. Have you noticed lately the Supreme Court has been overturning set precedent? ...I wonder if the current SC believes SS's constitutional? - I dont think you understand how SS works. It's not supposed t/b a welfare program.***
Initially it was supposed t/b a benefit for "the coal miners" of the country IIRC! It was extended to help our economy by retiring people too old to work everyday who had no savings!
***In order for Nadal to pass Djokovic IMB, he'll need to spend a lot > X @ world #1. The 373-209 advantage for Djokovic is a grand canyon of a diff. Also, the 5-0 lead in WTF's is massive. People forget that this event is worth 1500 pts & pays nearly as much as a slam does. An undef. winner of the WTF bags around $2.7 M in prize $$. And these draws are always tough. You have to earn the title in this event.
And here's another one. Keep in mind that Djokovic and Nadal are only a year apart in age. So obviously, Djoker s/b way ahead of Fed in this metric (prize $$ was much smaller from '03-05; around $1.4 M for slams), However, I don't expect Djokovic to lead Nadal. This again is a massive difference.
Career ATP prize $$ Djokovic $156.5 M Nadal $130.6 M Federer $130.5 M
IMB, Djoker still holds a pretty big lead over Nadal. ---
Federer & Djokovic do have a lot of concentrated dominance of 2 slam yrs & 3 slam yrs, but they couldn't play @ the top of the game for as long as Nadal did, that is 15 > 11 & 11. ---
Any sport in which the spectators have t/b quiet when the player is “up,” is a bullshit sport. Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. Imagine if the fans had to be quiet when the batter was up.***
Back in the 90's they tried to make the sport > fan friendly w/ music being played btw pts & games, being allowed to walk around during games, etc., but it was nixed by complaints from the players like Agassi! I played in a public park down the street from my place & had to deal w/ cars, fire trucks, ambulances, volleyball playing behind the courts, basketball, baseball, & kids in a playground! I didn't need silence, but obviously spoiled tennis players need the peace & quiet of a church!
***What happened to Shapo? He seems very angry & it's affecting his game.***
"Expectations;" his, his family, the management, the sponsors, all of Canada! As a child, Shapo had t/b pulled from all directions! We heap so much onto their shoulders @ such a young age! Agassi really resented it all from family to Bolleteiri during those early yrs.! They're told they're special & if results don't match up, there's pressure to bare! Denis got to the Wimbl. SF last yr! I wouldn't have expected him to defend that regard<, but...! It's hard & = harder to replicate; hense what makes Fedalovic absolute "freaks of nature!" This kind of sustained excellence wasn't possible in the pros B4! It was easier w/ lit'l comp. back in those early Am. days! I'm in awe of the resilience of the "Big 3!" Everyone else will always fall woefully SHORT!
***He's rarely talked about here in Canada. No one cares for him like that. Canadians love their hockey & tennis is an afterthought.*** ---
As I said a few wks ago, Novak's ranking may continue to plummet, then next season he w/b the most dangerous WC/Floater in history of tennis!
***After Wimbl. & the dropping of his 2000 Chp. pts Novak w/b 7th in the rankings w/ 4770 pts. Losing USO SF will bring him down to 3570 pts, still good for 9th place. At best if he can defend other pts what w/ Zverev injured Novak could conceivably still be seeded top 8 in Oz if they allow him to play there. At worst he c/b seeded btw 12 & 16 @ Oz. However to start '23, his pts won't have dipped so down that he wouldn't be seeded in most tournaments.***
So you think he might still have a chance to make the YEC in Nov.? I wasn't sure thinking w/o defending USO pts & prob. not motivated enough to win Paris Indoor again, I thought Novak might drop out of sight in the rankings! I really haven't looked @ it that closely!
***Fiero, that's a tough one. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if Novak wins Wimbl., doesn't that give him an automatic entry into the YEC @ Turin? Now regarding defending Paris Masters, I would hope not losing yet another 1000 pts w/b motivation enough.***
W/ the bannning of pts, I'm not sure if it matters if Novak wins Wimbl.! That's one of those ??'s few if any have asked!
***...It's what everyone (part. @Fiero425) has been complaining about for ages. Novak's 35 yo, a 20 yo had him on the ropes & couldn't close the deal. Sinner shb >er than that in QF Wimbl. match. Yes, Novak & Nadal are way above everyone else, as Roger was. But still, where's the brass from the younguns? It's not unfair that we bemoan them missing opps.***
It's an old argument, NG'rs can finish the deal!
***7th comeback from 2 sets to love down in a Slam. Can he win a 7th Wimbl.? We'll have to wait & see.***
26 str. wins in a row! I doubt he can get to Fed/Borg level of victories, but he's gonna try! He's just plain great to do this @ his age w/ his def. game!
***No, he won't reach 40 or 41 wins, but m/b a poss. can reach Sampras' 31 in a row @ Wimbl. - ...Alcaraz had recently beaten Novak, & Novak was looking tight. Also, Alcaraz has significant Top 10 wins. That's why I wanted him to face Novak in this QF. ...Op. squandered by Sinner up 2-0 is all. He's young, and he'll learn from it.***
Novak almost had a flying carpet to the Final after Alcaraz was upset! If Goffin had completed the deal, it would've helped his cause! Norrie's no slouch & c/b dangerous if he keeps his head! Novak'll need some "brain farts" from him which are indeed poss.! Nadal'll have to work harder!
***Who stole your acct. & got you all sanguine? But yes, Goffin, however clever, has nothing to debate w/ Novak. Norrie, on the other had, might have. I see in H2H, they played ATP finals to a 2, 1 demolition of Norrie. But that was a long X ago, in Norrie's evolution, & indoors. And they w/b playing on CC Wimbl., & Norrie is a Brit. I don't expect Cam to win, but he could cause damage. The other fair thing you said is that Nadal will have to work harder. All but certainly true. Fritz, then likely Kyrgios. Given what is on offer, a harder road.***
I'm a realist & have no illusions that Novak or for that matter Rafa can keep this going 4ever! I need Nole to eclipse Nadal who's only real rec. that matters is the "Major's lead" @ 22! Novak won't = have a chance @ USO so he needs to win this tourn. to remain in the race & get past Fed!
***W/ Novak's rise while both suffered, I think Fed suffered >. Fed would > likely have ended ahead of Rafa in slam ct. if not for Novak. Rafa may end up 2nd b/c of Novak, but he'd've prob. ended up 2nd = w/o Novak.***
ITA! Fed suffered a lot > over the yrs w/ Novak stopping him in sev. major SF's, saving MP's, then actual finals @ Wimbledon 3 X's! Novak stopped Rafa from having a nice 2 or 3 season run back in '11! After owning '10, Rafa was still @ the top of his game, but Novak stopped him 7 str. X's in finals incl, Wimbl., then the AO of '12! Novak was the only one to tame Rafa during that period, dropping matches on all surfaces, includ. clay! Roger was barely testing him & was no real rivalry as they tried to make it! All those FO finals & it was > an embarrassment > a contest!
***True.. Novak has been a pain for both. The really big damage Novak caused Rafa was the 3 slams from Wimb '11 - AO '12. Rafa did comeback @ him & beat him @ FO '12, FO '13, USO '13 & FO '14. Though w/ Fed the damage has been > consistent & over a larger per. w/ Fed never getting any revenge, not = @ his fave slam. Feel sad about the Wimb '19 whenever I think of Fed. ---
Djokovic stopped Fed from poss. winning the title @ 7 Slam matches: 1. USO '15 2. AO '11 3. USO '11 4. WB '14 5. WB '15 6. AO '16 7. WB '19
Djokovic stopped Nadal from poss. winning the title @ 6 Slam matches: 1. WB '11 2. USO '11 3. AO '12 4. WB '18 5. AO '19 6. RG '21
A hypothetical, Fedal USO final was 50/50, so I won't + that title to either. If we + 6 Slams to Fed, & 5 Slams to Nadal, he'd lead the Slam race 27 > 26, & could expand that diff. considering Nadal's still winning Slams. So your claim that "Fed would have most likely ended up w/ the Slam race w/o Djokovic" is incompatible w/ empirical evidence.***
***...Wimbl. is supposed t/b an outdoor tourn. Are they too excited about their new roof & lights? Should they start the Centre Court matches earlier in future?***
Over the yrs Wimbl. has tried to exploit the tourn. for = > $$! There was a X of no matches on Sun., = the Finals were a day earlier on Fri. for the ladies & Sat. for the men early on in Pro tennis! Now there's this thing w/ the lights & the roof, they're abusing that suburb of Wimbl.; m/b paying them off! Most w/b smart to just rent their homes to the players & get away! We were bidding for the Olympics of '16 in Chgo! I was so glad we failed & it went to Rio! I didn't want the World descending on us! We could've made a pretty penny w/ our Lakeshore condo loc., but I didn't or want my life turned upside down w/ those masses of people swarming over 2 or 3 states!
***Taylor Fritz not being in the SF here, as I have said, is on him after blowing lead w/ Rafa. I know Nick's controversial & polarizing, but I DO like him, & hope he gets the win. ...I do honestly believe that he's a great talent, & I find his game both thrilling & hilariously irreverent. I don't always agree w/ him, but I'd love to see him win Wimbl; particularly this yr.***
Novak needs it > to stay close to Rafa, but I can accept Nick taking his 1st major! A.B.N. I always say! (Anybody But Nadal)
***Wait...I thought you were ABTB3. You're hard to peg on that.***
It changes each era! Way back when it was Anybody But (Connors, then McEnroe, Becker, turned to Agassi), ending w/ Nadal today! Some players just rub me the wrong way! Nadal got on my bad side very early! Even @ 18 I thought he was a jerk! There was an arrogance, matches to go @ his pace, abusing the clock toweling off, arranging his bottles, & challenging any close ball; usually wrong! Overall I just don't particularly care to watch him play! ...I said "Fritz is going to lose this!" It'was nothing Rafa did except hit balls that remarkably went right to him b/c Taylor wasn't smart enough to play "behind" him >! I really felt I could have stepped in "from my hey day" to finish that match off!
Taylor missed too many 1st serves & didn't take advantage of Rafa's 2nd serves! He blew this called a serious "choke job!" If he had too much X to hit the ball, it became an adventure to see if he = kept the ball in the court! Korda's disintegration up 2 brks in the 3rd back @ IW was one thing, but Fritz has a lot > exper. & had def. Nadal there! His hands mhb shaking to miss some of those sitters! This match will haunt him for yrs, m/b forever! How much did he lose in $$; $200 K @ least? His wife is going to smack him when he gets home!
***If Fritz's girlfriend smacks him, rest assured she'll post it on instagram or Tic toc...***
It still hasn't sunk in that he's divorced! I just don't watch enough tennis to hear the gossip! It mhg in one ear & out the other!
***Would it be a huge upset if Kyrgios wins tomorrow in the final over Nole @ Wimbl.?"""
Being unseeded, Kyrgios w/b the >est upset if able to win! I'm not going to dismiss him b/c he has the ability, but over 5 sets I think Nole wins!
***Wawrinka vs. Nadal & Del Potro vs. Federer prob. the >est upsets finals.***
For a while Stan was thought t/b part of the elites making him a member of the "Big 5," but couldn't keep it up! His real prob. was in the head where his only real success was vs Nole @ 3 of the 4 majors @ least once! He had all the shots, but was a true mental midget going up against his countryman, Fed & Nadal!
***Margaret Court & the word lovely are mutually exclusive.***
She's a legend & I was so much in her corner = though her AO record's inflated due to many skipping the tourn. over those Am. yrs! She had to get religious & start mouthing off about Martina & her lifestyle! What an idiot; esp. since she made a name for herself vs BJK!
***Nalby was my fave tennis player, though the most overrated. Davydenko OTOH's somewhat underrated. He had >er career results. However, Nalby was > lazy. I consider their talent being really =.***
As good as Nalby c/b, it was obvious he was lazy & a headcase! He played in one major final (Wimbl.) & lost to Hewitt IIRC! His only other significant footnotes are coming back to def. Fed @ the YEC in 5 sets, then being DQ'd in the Queens' final vs Cilic due to injuring a linesman kicking his chair! Never seen anything like it; = w/ psychos like Nastase on court back in the day!
***Even aside from the slam race, I want Kyrgios to win this. I think it w/b an amazing triumph for him. He's been pegged as talented for so many yrs. He admits to his struggles w/ mental health & motivation. ...He's beaten the Big 3 > everyone, I think, by which I mean Next Gen. Margaret said he might retire if he wins tmrw. Wouldn't it j/b Nick to go out in a blaze of glory. Well, we'll see what happens.***
Many have retired just after Wimbl. regard< if they win or not! OTTH, BJK retired the 1st X after '75 triumph over Goolagong! Graf won the FO, then retired after Wimbl. final loss to Davenporte in '99 asking t/b taken off the computer! Marion Bartoli threw everyone for a loop when she won then retired after Wimbl. in '13!
***I think the best chance for a barn-burner of a final is still Kyrgios. But the best final whb Nadal v. Djokovic, let's not forget.***
Like I said the other day, "A.B.N.!" I can live w/ a Nick win, but I'm hoping Novak can cut major race to one again! I'm gonna be greedy afterall!
***Congrats to Novak winning his 7th Wimbl. title. ---
...I agree w/ you that Fed's > talented > Djokovic & Nadal overall. And yes, serve has to do w/ talent too, not just ht. ...Murray's a mental midget compared to the rest of the Big 3 & was his main problem. Also his FH's too weak & passive, and his 2nd serve was a disaster (again this has to do w/ nerves), so he isn't among the > complete payers. He indeed does have a great weapon in his BH like Djokovic, + a big 1st serve BTW. No goaty FH/serve, but neither does Djokovic. So your comparison doesn't work here.
...Djokovic doesn't have a great serve (Sampras, Ivanisevic, Karlovic...) or a great FH (Fed, Nadal, Del Potro, Gonzalez...), yet he won quite a lot of matches & titles. His serve/FH are very good, but not great shots that bring him tons of free pts. (like in case of Soderling, Tsonga etc.). Elite stamina to me is just that - Nadal, Djokovic, Borg, Ferrer... ---
Wimbledon Titles:
1. Federer - 8 (best streak - 5 in a row) 2. Sampras - 7 (best streak - 4 in a row) 2. Djokovic - 7 (best streak - 4 in a row)***
Amazing! Pretty soon, Fed's rec. m/b erased from the rec.bks! Novak has the > prominent recs already! Nole doing the "longevity" thing now!
***Fed's rec. will never be erased, but it could potentially be caught & surpassed. There's a strong chance Djokovic reaches 8 next yr. - Slow grass yet Nick seems t/b a God on grass & sucks on clay… same for many others… and all those aces flying around. Where’s Norrie on clay?***
***Sampras was my fave player, but Agassi once took him to 5 & Djokovic is superior to Andre in almost every category, including basline game & way superior on ROS. Nick served like a machine today, in fact ala Sampras in his heyday - 30 aces, 130 mph 1st serve avg., 110+ 2nd serve avg. This is eerily similiar to Sampras stats & Novak handled the serve quite well, putting so many in play. I don’t like Sampras on baseline exhanges w/ Djokovic, heck = Fed seemed @ a disadvantage vs him on grass from baseline. Fed also had a similar game to Pete's & lost in 3 finals to Novak. Whb an interesting match for sure... ---
You lost it completely from the start when you said “Nick seems t/b a God on grass…” I think you suffer from 'recency bias.' To put it gently, Nick isn't a God on any court. ...But the notion of Pete having baseline exchanges on grass… As far as GOAT on grass… I said IF Nole gets 8... right now I’d say Fed-Sampras-Nole.***
I've noted this in the past, but as good as Sampras was, we should all be embarrassed trying to elevate him to GOAT status w/o = appearing in a FO final! We all were so enamoured w/ witnessing history, we forgot standards! We've been spoiled by Fedalovic the last 2 decades, but unfort. for future >s, they can prob. forget coming close to their excellence! I'm sure Novak's detractors will have plenty to justify Fedal being their BOAT, but it'll look rather ridiculous as their names are slowly being erased out of the rec.bks!
***Different days, bro, you know this. The tour was made up of dirtballers & grasscourters. They were miles apart. So much so that Sampras switched from a 2-hander to a single BH b/c he knew he wouldn’t win Wimbl. otherwise. The game changed & rewarded the monocultural style that suits baseliners. + there are genuine ??s t/b asked about the gut< field, certainly when compared to the field in the 80’s & 90’s... ---
Hehe...feel worse for Roger, Novak may erase all his recs - slams, wks @ #1 & m/b = 8 Wimbl. titles. BRUTAL!
Rafa sits @ 22, but trails Novak in wks @ #1 & Masters titles. Rafa, I feel needs to end his career w/ 1 slam ahead of Novak t/b in convers., if not, he’s autom. 3rd in list. Rafa needs pols & gov'ts to help him as they did @ AO. He may get their help @ USO this yr. & AO next yr. That’s what he needs to stay in front of Djokovic, countries & gov'ts to help him stop Nole. ---
People need to remember Borg was dom. on fast grass for 5 yrs & Connors won Wimbl., so did Agassi. Even Courier & Lendl were making finals. Novak's >er > all these guys, heck, put Novak in 80s, 90s.. and you never know.. could’ve won many Wimbl. If Borg could win 5, Novak's simply >er.
Federer was asked about speed of grass & he called it BS, said grass was still fast. The issue is that w/ >er tech. & >er athletes, it has helped baseliners return & neutralize serves. I can see Nadal & Djokovic wreaking havoc in 80s & 90s… Borg did & he wasn’t as good. Connors was nowhere near as good as Rafa or Nole either, he won Wimbl. ---
Borg dom. on grass in a hiatus btw > grasscourters. His biggest rival for the 1st 4 of those yrs was Connors, & it wasn’t until the next grasscourt, S & V maestro McEnroe began to reach his peak in the early 80’s that Bjorn knew that the game had changed. ---
A lot of the criticism of him comes from people who just have a problem w/ him surpassing Fedal’s achievements. Little to do w/ who he is as a person. Fed fans used to treat Nadal in similar manner yrs ago by accusing him of cheating (coaching during match), gamesmanship, & >. In the end, Novak's a > champion who's his own person and doesn’t have to do what everyone tells him to do in order to gain acceptance.***
Hard to believe Novak has been a part X player this season, but as a senior star in the twilite of his career, was still favored to win his 7th Wimbl.! Even being down 0-2 to Sinner in the QF's, there was lit'l doubt he wouldn't come back to win in 5 sets! It was rel, breeze after that dropping early set in the SF & final! Novak will eventually be regarded as the BOAT, so far just 1 Major behind Nadal who took #22 last month @ the FO!
***I don't think one needs a PhD to see that immediately after Novak won Wimbl., the anti ND crowd started in on the ill-fated tour he organized, the USO default incident, etc. Neither admirable on his part IMB. But it w/b nice if folks could focus on the performance > & the character assassinations <. ...I admire Roger for playing the > aesthetic tennis we have seen to date, & a natural "genius" that allowed him to dom. until Nadal came along. And apprec. Novak for his tenacity, mental strength, & defense on another planet. I might root for one or the other to win, but it doesn't fill me w/ vitriol when someone else does. ---
The careers of the Big 3 is insame; esp. Djoker's. - Djokovic's #'s across the boards & the versatility. It's jaw dropping what this guy has achieved in what's a short X per. rel. to the #'s. We do praise Nadal & Fed's longevity & how they have won since early 00s & mid 00s, but what about the utter dom. by Djokovic @ the biggest stages in what is a X per. of 11 & 1/2 yrs? It's absurd what this guy has done during this X frame. One of the > dom. athletes ever IMO. Get this, btwn. them.
17 AO titles 17 RG titles 17 W titles 12 USO titles 13 IW titles 10 Miami titles 13 MC titles 14 Hamburg/Madrid titles 16 Rome titles 11 Canada titles 10 Cinci titles 8 Shanghai/Madrid titles 7 Paris titles 11 WTF titles 1 SOG 17 YE #1's 892 wks @ World #1 ---
He'll never beat Sampras' rec. for cons. YE #1's.***
Federer was the last one w/ a chance w/ such a weak field after Sampras, Agassi, Hewitt, & Safin fell off the tour! If not for Rafa, Roger might've set recs unmatched in any sport! Novak coming along sealed his fate t/b considered #3 all X! His recs are falling one by one w/ Djokovic hoarding quite a few! Nole set himself up nicely w/ a stranglehold on > of the big recs & only has to outlast Rafa where The Major ct. is the 1st & last decider to many! IMO it's hard to ignore Djokr's list of accomplishments incl. 7 YE #1's, 373 Wks @ #1, 9 AO's (3 in a row twice), Double GM's, Nole-Slam, & 3 seasons winning 3 majors w/ 1 match to get CYGS in '21!
***Novak has won 9 of the last 15 majors & 4 of the last 6 slams he has played. You think that will end all of a sudden? His slam win % since he came back after FO'18 over 15 slams is > anything Nadal ever did over a similar # of slams & you have to go to peak '03-07 Fed to find >er results. And = then they are only marginally >er. That‘s 60% of the slams played. Particularly if you think this was all after turning 31. And of the other 6 slams played he reached finals in 2 of them. As a pt. of ref. Fed won 10 of the 15 slams he played starting w/ his '03 W win. And that was ultra peak Fed. And of the other 5 slams the >est he reached was SF. Nadal, in his own late resurgence, played 18 or 19 slams (depending on whether you start counting @ AO'17 or FO'17) & won 8 of them plus 1-2 > final(s). And he only won @ 3 of the 4 slams (no win @ Wimby). At no pt. in his career did Nadal ever win 9 of 15 slams played consec. ---
Novak's the youngest of the Big 3 to reach 20 slams & w/ his win @ Wimbl. became the youngest to reach 21 slams.
Fed's the youngest of the Big 3 (w/ Sampras) to reach 14 slams. Fed's the youngest of the Big 3 to reach 15 slams. Fed's the youngest of the Big 3 to reach 16 slams. Fed's the youngest of the Big 3 to reach 17 slams. Nadal's the youngest of the Big 3 to reach 18 slams. Nadal's the youngest of the Big 3 to reach 19 slams.***
Djokovic as a part X player has a Masters & Major! I can't be > surprised & pleased!
***...Rafa’s been a full X player compared to Novak, who’s missed a single tennis event in Jan. I saw one Djoker fan on FB moaning that Novak would have 23 slams by now but for all his vax-related issues.***
What's your pt.? Rafa's been a part X player himself for yrs; coming & going as he pleases! Facts are he normally wins @ least 1 Masters event B4 FO! It didn't happen on HC or clay (his fave) w/ 4/5 attempts/chances! Novak wasn't = allowed in the States to play IW or Miami, but still squeaked out a Rome victory very rusty!
***Novak has lost finals to lesser opps.***
You can't win them all! We've put so much pressure on the Big 3 to never drop a match to a vuln. in big moments to Murray, Wawrinka, & Del Po! The reason we wt. > on his losses is b/c over the last 10+ yrs, he's been "pret' near" perfect, winning majors in bunches! He hasn't been able to pull off another YEC when it mattered like in '16! The YE #1 was t/b determined w/ that single final vs Murray! Del Po's hurt him the > deeply IMO b/c of those 2 defeats in the Olympics! Novak cried after that Rio 1st Rd. def. to his pigeon JMDP for the > part! You'd think Murray could sneak one of those AO's, but had his best results @ '12 USO & '13 Wimbl.! Wawrinka's a headcase, but = though unbalanced losses to Novak, he got him @ 3 majors; 2 in a final (FO & USO)! It's not like I"m a superfan of his or his game, but I like him being "just there" to keep Fedal & their fans in check concerning the BOAT race! Nole's really put a dent in their recs surpassing them in every catagory earlier in his career > them!
***This is one of the WTA’s motivations to merge w/ the ATP: it'd assure = prize $$ if everyone's grouped together. ...the debate as to why women s/b paid the same as men @ GS's, when men play BO5, but not women.***
Pipe dream IMO! IMO Europe has never made it =table btw the men & ladies! The 2 Majors finally relented IIRC! The interest just isn't there IMO! The star draws aren't around! The Wms' come & go, Osaka run off, Barty retired, & inconsistency throughout the tour! I'm hoping Iga can bring stability to the WTA ranks! Her run stopped @ Wimbl., but it was very impressive w/ 6 str. event wins includ. the FO! In the past the women's game had a stronger following in Asia & No. Amer. IIRC! I don't pay as much attn. & haven't in yrs! I recall the early yrs. of trying to have dual events! Way back when, it was only Martina or Chris for a while in the early to mid 80's! They were being spread thin by making sure @ least one of them was playing the lone event of the wk.! They finally got some help w/ Graf, Sabatini, & Seles! Graf c/b playing Gabby in FLA., while Martina was battling Seles @ Paris Indoor! Now it's no big deal to have X events every wk. like the men, but the $$ hasn't caught up; esp. in Europe!
***I find the women’s game t/b very easily avoidable, tbh. Iga's a breath of fresh air, & Naomi-Me-Me! looked interesting until she began trolling the sport & its fans, captured by modish “causes” & victim narratives. Really not a person I'd cheer for, & it seems I don’t = have to root vs her.
But womens tennis has never really been the main act for me, & the idea of them taking up court X by playing BO5 would cause me to shiver. They need stability & commitment to excel. to win over the fans. It’s a pity Ash retired b/c a rivalry btw her & Iga w/b a lifeline. A basic straw poll of every forum I’ve ever been on shows that the men’s game is the big draw, & that’s the way it was during the heyday of women’s tennis when Chrissy & Martina were bossing the game. ---
We have to move on from Chrissy & Martina. Those days have gone. The WTA has really good depth & there are some good players. Serena &d Venus of course are in the twlight of their careers. Agree they need stability. Remember too nothing ever stays stat in our game. I also can find men's tennis boring when the top 2 players seem t/b winning all the majors.***
***Medvedev has 1000 pts. to defend in Canada. So if he loses early & Rafa has a good tourn., #1 ranking switch could happen soon. ---
The boys from Canada have def. disappointed this season after starting so well by winning the ATP Cup. They both prob. need a swift kick to the … that says stop messing up some of these prime opps.***
That's the prob. of any players after experiencing the excellence of the Big 3! No other players w/b able to keep that going! Most w/b inconsisent after being "on a roll!" It can't be sustained & we shouldn't be surprised! It's a wonder if tennis w/b watchable after they retire! ---
It's amazing that Nadal's gone this long w/o winning a Masters; going back to last season! Novak was prevented from playing 2, but still took one on clay! That's so bizarre to see! Has HELL frozen over? Djokovic as a part X player has a Masters & Major! I can't be > surprised & pleased!
***The USO is really a tough tourney to win. - Agree w/ all of this. The USO's underrated in terms of how physically & mentally hard it is to win. Everything about it….. the range of extreme weather conditions, the crowd (it c/b +, neg., or downright distracting, but it’s always a factor), the position on the tennis cal., the last chance to win a major that season…..That run of Fed winning 5 in a row is unlikely to ever happen again imo. ---
The USO final used t/b in the dayX & no brk of a day after the SF's - this made it > physically demanding > the AO for instance. You have to deal w/ dayX heat, NY’s high humidity & wind vs quality opps. For European players, they have been away from home on a long business trip of 2 months in Canada/US by the X they play the USO final & m/b they're not as emotionally or mentally fresh either. The USO's just tough to win & no one has defended their title there since the days of Fed’s 5-title streak. ---
If Djokovic fans suggest that his boy underachieved @ the USO, then let's not forget that he's overcheived @ Wimbl. & AO.***
Well that's ridiculous on both sides! For one, the USO is tech. the toughest major over the yrs due to incompetent mnmt., venue, surface changes, etc.! It's always been a POS event in NY w/ rowdy crowds, planes flying overhead, & the wafting of food too close to the courts! It's a wonder top pros like Sampras, Lendl, & Federer did so well = though Roger's been outside the winner's circle since '08! Djokovic winning so many Wimbledons & AO's is on the other players who couldn't keep up w/ his excellence! Nuff said!
***Fedr has > losses @ USO > Djokovic. His W% is 0.2 higher > Djokos. CONNORS has > losses @ USO & Djoko.
Djokovic has 81 wins @ USO, 3rd highest. 86.2 Winning %. Nadal in contrast has 64 wins & USO finals in Open Era.
Stat wise Djoko's arguably the best @ USO. ---
Novak has played exceptionally well in the USO except for the Finals. He has reached 9 finals which's a rec. in itself, so of course his win% & stats w/b good.***
***If Djokovic finished his career just 1 Slam behind Nadal as they are currently, an argument cbm for him still t/b GOAT over Nadal b/c of his many other accomplishments. However, if he ties Nadal in Slams when they retire, Djokovic would likely be the undisputed GOAT for > unbiased tennis observers. So, let’s see how they finish their careers as I feel like they both have a few > Slams to win. They clearly seem like the 2 best players in the world having won all the Slams except 2 since RG'18. ---
I’m a 2000’s kid. Always grew up w/ Djokovic & Nadal-like tennis. It saddens me too. Regard< of how baseline huggers played, they still had a viable net game & the confidence w/ it. Nowadays, nobody comes to net. They just hug the baseline til they hit the perfect FH angled winner or their opp. misses. No putting balls away; nothing. Djokovic was an avg. volleyer back in the day & while he has improved, still says a lot that he’s prob. one of the best volleyers on tour.***
I go back to the early 70's playing & teaching! I've had this feeling of en oui about tennis for yrs! I almost gave up on the women's game after Hingis & Henin retired as the rankings have been a mess for well over a decade! I thought Osaka & Barty could bring stability back w/ a real rivalry! Instead we've had to deal w/ tons of inconsistency due to injury, mental exhaustion, or in gen. apathy! I'm hopeful w/ Iga Swiatek as she was on a great run of 6 tourneys including her 2nd FO! The men got t/b rather boring for me until Novak stepped up to chip @ Fedal's pedestal! Nole won his majors in bunches & unexpectedly caught up & surpassed > of their recs making them his own; 38 Masters, 2 Double GM's, YE #1 7 X's, 373 wks @ #1, a Nole-Slam, won 3 majors 3 X's, & a Double CGS! IDK what the men's tour will do after they all retire! The NG'rs of men are just like the women playing w/ mind< aggression, mental deficiencies, & oft injured in some way!
***W/ Summer warm-ups & USO looming, Nadal looks pretty vuln. to Zedzilla on HC's. Just look at H2H history. Zed also nearly had Rafa on clay in FO'22.
Med - plays Nadal close obviously & has beaten him on HC's.
Tsitsipas - beat Nadal on HC's @ slam level.
Sinner - always causes headaches to Nadal. And right now Sinner's in the form of his life.
Alcaraz: Rapidly improving. Caused Nadal fits in IW. Could easily beat Nadal in B05. ---
All this is NOT even counting Novak. Coz if Novak plays USO'22 - then everyone else is playing for 2nd place.
Nadal is only fave in RG - no other slam. And next yr., @ 37, = that may not be true.
Zedzilla's injured though. He's not a threat to anyone w/ a bum ankle so there's a big ?? on him. He's the > dangerous though for sure on HC right now.
Medvedev imploded while up 2 sets to love w/ 0-40. Nadal isn't the least bit afraid of him. Lol.
Tsitsipas did beat Nadal in Australia but he has regressed. As of now, I wouldn't put him as a main threat.
Sinner c/b dangerous for sure, but he also can turn into a brain< ball basher. No one knows what form he'll bring.
Alcaraz is potentially the 2nd > dangerous after an 'in form' Zverev, but he's the new kid on the block, & may not be ready for prime X. ---
It's not stupidity. In a free world everyone s/b able to decide about his own vax status. In a free world.***
Well the morality of a position comes into play when the person travels a lot! It seems vaccines are being pushed, but people are still getting sick! I've been lucky compared to many who've had C-19 twice! It's a shame Novak has to miss 2 of the 4 majors over a pol. view over common sense & choice!
***The Aust. issue wasn't a pol. view on COVID. It was a missread pol. action. Morrison was failing in the polls & data showed he was "weak" over COVID period. Morrison's only of the dodgies PM Aust. has seen in the OE. ...His excuse for blatant lying if believed indicates he's not fit to govern.***
***Djokovic's great for sport. He has dom. tennis in the past 10-11 yrs, winning 20 of his slams during this per. Meanwhile, Nadal has won 11 slams in same per. & Fed 7? Tennis has been in great shape w/ him as the clear dom. player in past decade. He has produced many classics, like the wars vs Stan, the 5 hr. final vs Rafa @ AO, the classic 5 set thrillers vs Fed in Wimbl. finals, classics @ FO vs Nadal, 5 set classic vs Rafa @ Wimbl., titanic battles vs Murray & >. ...Fed's stylish, but erratic & keeps pts too short @ X's. Nadal @ X's produces snooze-fests on some courts (indoors) w/ his loopy balls.
Novak's always attacking, ala Agassi, but @ same X defending ala Hewitt. He’s also the least boring of the 3. Fedal act the script of ‘perfect humans’ & are like robots, cyborgs, too safe. Djokovic shows emotions, entertains, goofs around is > joyful, playful. He’s > of a normal guy. At the same X he shows us how t/b mentally strong, never give up, not let others get us down - the haters & trolls. His tennis story is inspirational. He had to fight his way thru Fedal & surpassing their achievements. I'd rather be a fan of Djokovic > the other 2… When he retires, it w/b a bigger hole > Rafa & Fed retiring. I believe Nole's > important to tennis > Fedal… yea, that’s right. ---
Djokovic has overachieved @ both AO & Wimbl. in particular. But has underachieved @ USO & = FO (due to Nadal).***
Tech. it all bal. out & Novak's right around where he s/b in the # of Majors won! He had the +ed stress of having to overcome the skill & determination of Fedal or he might have 5-8 > Majors! He was still able to surpass them both in Masters, YE #1's, Wks @ #1, & winning 3 Majors 3 X's ('11, '15, & '21)! He has tons of other recs Fedal aren't = close to achieving & may last for many yrs as the NG'rs can't seem to have any real consistency!
***I was sure Nadal was BS'ing during the match @ Wimbl. vs Fritz. Then I gave him some credit when he pulled out. But after I saw him dancing, then the golfing recently, I'm back to being skeptical.***
I've been listening to Rafa & his camp for yrs w/ this same BS going way back! If he loses, it has t/b an injury = though he says he's "not injured, but living w/ an injury!" Real double-talk IMO! No player in the history of the game is > FOS as far as I'm concerned!
***...The Olympics isn't the 5th Slam. There's no 5th Slam. Both WTF & Olympics are important for diff. reasons, but can't be compared to a Slam.***
...esp. since the Olympics & YEC have gone to BO3 events! IMO, it's an embarrassment to think of either =valent to a MAJOR! We tried to make The Lipton a 5th major back in '85, going almost 2 wks w/ all the events includ. Mx. Dubs. (Navr. wins Inaug. events), but it lost some luster when it also went to BO3 final & IW's expanded! The Olympics was initially an exh. in '84 & that hasn't changed in my mind = though Novak wants to win it badly for his country! It cost him his CYGS last yr. flying to Japan for nothing!
***Olympics actually included Tennis as far back as 1896. It was routinely included in the Olympics until 1924. Manuel Santana would win Gold in the Mex. Olympics in '68 as a "Demonstration" as Edberg did in '84. The '88 Olympics had Bo5 for every Rd., then the following Olympics only the Final was Bo5. It wasn't until the > recent Olympics that the Bo5 Final format was elim. Keep in mind that = the ATP Finals has no Bo5 format since the '07 final. ---
Obviously, Olympics, M1000, & ATP Finals have been watered down, but since the Olympics are every 4 yrs this is the >est prize after winning a slam. As = Zverev said, "you're representing your country & playing not just for yourself, but millions of people back home." Agassi won the Olympics in '96 w/ a 250 draw & this is supposed t/b the >est prize after a Slam? Massu won in '04, a guy who never made a QF of a Slam.***
***B/c in SS's current form it’s unsustainable ya dope. “At some pt. you run out of other people's $$.”***
Well it would help if we didn't have so many stealing it! Fake claims, wealthy takers, benefits sent to dead bodies, etc.! That's the American way so it w/b "on the people" if it fails! Pols should also get a dishonorable mention as they play football w/ the system! At my age, I just don't GAF any>! We're going to "burn it all down" eventually; might as well do it sooner rather > later! You w/b happier I'm sure!
***Derek Chauvin sentenced to 21 yrs in fed. civil rights case - Already serving a separate, 22.5-yr. sentence for murder & manslaughter charges for the murder of George Floyd.***
What's your pt.? We've thrown people in jail for yrs abusing animals! He knelt on the neck of a guy for almost 10 min. IIRC! The rest of the cops watching are just as culpable IMO! A human being treated like a dog deserves severe penalties! Shooting Floyd like a wounded horse whb > humane!
***Notice how this guy doesn't condemn George Floyd who passed a fake $20 bill, while so high on drugs, that he kept saying "I can't breathe," resisted getting into the squad car 3 X's, then when placed on the ground tried to resist again. Then the knee to the back of the shoulder blades happened. Floyd was dead when he resisted arrest while being put in the squad car.***
So typically someone like you assumes a Black life is only worth $20! It's getting >er all the X!
***Obviously Chauvin was following procedure if neither he nor the other cops w/ him were @ all concerned about being videoed.***
If he was following procedure, why has he been convicted by 2 diff. court proceedings? Cops get off all the X w/ a reprimand if supported by the cops & their unions! Even they could't defend these actions! Get off the pipe babe! You're embarrassing yourself!
***B/c the case was under duress; threat of mob rule. Duh. - Sentences run concurrently....Next to meaningless.***
M/b not in this instance since the sentence from Fed case keeps him inside for 90% of 21 yrs! Normally if a person is repentant, they have a chance of a reduced sentence to run concurrently w/ other offences! He fk'd up along w/ his support! IDIOTS; esp. the lawyers who didn't explain well enough that he was Fk'd! Justice has been served for once!
***So other > for parole reasons (and his ass was never getting paroled) the conviction served what purpose? And are we going to see all murderers brought up on federal civil rights charges in the future? ---
...That was the whole pt., stopping this cocksucka from EVER getting parole.***
Seeing as Chauvin routinely railroaded guys into jail thru unfortunate circumstances & no fault of their own, I hope he's getting the treatment he's subjected so many others! GP prob. isn't in his future!
***I'm extreme right-wing & I don't lament Floyd's passing. But I strongly resent Chauvin's wholly unnec. action b/c of the predictable shit-storm it caused. Aside from the obvious personal satisfaction he derived from it there was absolutely no rational purpose for what he did. ...I'm thoroughly convinced that he was suspended in a state of compulsive, hypnotic insanity & I'm surprised his lawyers didn't follow that path. - If by justice you mean travesty.***
A travesty is the father of this a-hole here in Chgo area who shot up a parade recently, killing so many people in Highland Park & not taking respons. for authorizing/signing & supporting his collecting of guns & knives! Jerk off! You obviously don't know what you're talking about!
***That’s a separate issue. Don’t crush that dwarf, hand me the pliers.***
***The man deserves t/b in jail. A lot of peasants & those who you back have done hard X for a smidgen of what this dolt has done. Trump has had a lifeX free pass. That is incredible in this world. And there are others also. He has indicted himself for crying out loud. And the corrupted system up to now..."no, no we won't put you in jai...Now get out of here & keep violating most of the 10 Commandments & the 7 deadly sins."
I think some in gov't & Justice hope Trump passes on B4 going thru the indignity of being prosecuted! SDNY had offenses set t/b tried in Trump's 1st yr. as Prez, but for some reason they're dragging their Fk'n feet! The man supported an insurrection against his own gov't, allowing threats of death to his own VP! How low do you have to go to get prosecuted in this country if you're rich, white, & insane?
***It's pathetic the way you stupid uneducated lowlife Moon Bats try to defend Joe Potato=head. The most corrupt & incompetent POS that was ever President. That's saying a lot w/ the likes of Slick Willy & The Worth< Negro B4 him. Our country's in terrible shape b/c of the POS you Moon Bats let steal an election from the American people. ---
Hunter isn't an issue no matter how much you wanted to make him one. Try harder next X.***
The real hypocritical thing is if anyone = mentions the Trump kids who were in the WHITE House conspiring, they w/b up in arms w/ FNC losing their fk'n minds! Going after Hunter has been fruitl< & they can't stand it! It's so sad & pathetic that we have people out there w/ complicity to overthrow our own gov't! ---
Women are still holding onto the patriarchal society! It's > their own fault now; esp. losing rights to determining their own bodies recently! They have been told that Reps & cons. were after their "right to choose," but they helped to elect them anyway! I threw out my feminist card when women found no reason to elect one of their own in Hillary, choosing a delusional pig instead! Any misery perpetrated from here on is on them as they've locked cons. on the Supreme Court who may start going after other minorities! Gay marriage is on their hit list I'm sure! Affirmative action m/b next! We're screwed for years to come! Lucky I'm too old to GAF anymore!
***Kick that ass Jamie. Kick it. I have to wonder about a female Trumpians. Worse than a plantation house nigger.***
We shouldn't have been surprised! I've been saying & asking the same ??, "why do women hate other women so much?" It's hard to have sympathy for their plight when they contribute to it all the X! There are > women out there working & voting, but still pt. fingers @ men! I yawn now! I'm done!
***It's the same w/ ignorant, uneducated ass "I don't vote cause it don't make no diff. who wins," niggas. And yes, I'm done w/ them too.***
What's next? The main issue of abortion has been settled for now! The right to bear arms hasn't been curtailed = w/ school shootings becoming so common! I guess the "race war" will begin seeing as "the majority" think they're losing power as the minority pop. grows! How do we look @ other countries w/ disdain when we're so fk'd up?
***Sucks, doesn't it? I'm trying to recover my lost pension, until then, "I'm working in a coal mine, going downtown ..."***
***The WNBA isn't very popular. They really s/b following the lead of the Legends Football League or the WWE's Diva Div. & make the product a lit'l bit racier. Right now, dames can't play basketball nearly as well as the guys. However, if fans think there m/b a wardrobe malfunction, they'd be > likely to tune in.***
The so called experts of basketball extol the women's game saying "this is how it s/b played," but few are actually watching it! I know I've never watched > highlites on ESPN = though we have a team here in Chgo: & they won it all last season! No one cares; hence that poor woman risking her very freedom by going into Russia! It caught up w/ her b/c she wasn't making enough in the WNBA > likely!
***She makes over 200k for 36 games over basically 3 months. May 6 - August 14 th. At that rate she’s being paid a higher % of the profit the WNBA makes than LeBron make of the NBA profits.***
News to me! So she's being greedy by going to Russia &'s now wallowing in a jail cell? Sympathy gone!
***Brittney Griner sentenced to 9 yrs in penal colony.***
Sounds awful, but all I can ask is, "why TF was she going over to a country we're @ odds w/?" Due to whatever reason, we'll have to give up an arm's dealer & murderer for a trade we promised not to get into! We overlook these minor details! Regardless if she broke the law or not, why = go to Russia while they're bombing TF out of Ukraine where lives are being lost! Her family needs to look @ the big picture! Typical of the USA we can't see the forest for the trees!
***To answer why she was in Russia. Women's basketball is popular there & so the players can make > $$ than in the WNBA. - Griner has been playing basketball in Russia for yrs now. She was arrested on Feb. 17, 2022, which was B4 the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. She prob. had a pretty good life in Russia - up until now being a popular basketball player making much > $$ there > she ever did playing in the USA. She might not have paid any attn. to world politics & had no expectation that she w/b swept up in this mess after yrs of playing in Russia w/o incident.***
I figured that, but it's obvious we're @ odds w/ Russia! Why = go there for $$ if this could happen? I was told she made the lion's share of the WNBA budget, so I can only assume greed involved! Call me cold, but we've been put in a terrible position where public opinion makes no diff. to Russia! They couldn't GAF what we think & will use her as a political pawn that chb avoided! Cry me a river!
***Also, the oligarchs own the teams & there was a tacit understanding that this offered some protection to the players from being a target. - I'm guessing Brittney regularly brought her vape pens into Russia (corrupt) w/o incident. Russia invades the Ukraine, relations turn sour, & they get a bargaining chip. The, "I didn't mean to put the vape-pen in my luggage," is B.S. ---
...We pay athletes way too much for simply playing a game.***
I'm getting there! Athletic greed is really pushing me away! It's like they're never satisfied = w/ their $$, fame, & adulation! All we need to do is look @ that huge a-hole in basketball, Kevin Durant! Won 2 Chps w/ Golden State & couldn't wait to leave so he could find "his team" other than being "the man" on "Curry's team!" He was wanted, paid, & stroked, but he was never happy enough! I'm almost done!
In the Golden Era of Tennis (> of the fans recognize '08-12 as the GE) Slams won: 1.Nadal-8 2.Djokovic/Fed-5 ---
Greatest & the > accomp. player ever... > like '07-12(w/ excep. of '10)
Fed: 7 slams Nadal: 6 slams Djokovic: 5 slams ---
Nadal & esp. Djokovic evolved their games, having =ly distrib. titles from their 20s & 30s.
This reflects their ability to adapt & have 'X' prime periods, keeping up w/ the continuously rising standards of tennis.
Fed OTOH, vultured a weak era & was unable to cope as the level of tennis increased. ---
How can any other conclusion be reached?
- if Rafa was def. better > Fed, Fed would never have forced a 5th set, dug out from that brk., & won AO’17.
- If Rafa was def. better > Djoker, no way should he have 2 RG losses to him, or that ridiculous since-13 losing streak off clay.
- If Djoker was def. better > Rafa, no way Rafa should have pushed him to 5 @ AO’12, or nearly beat him @ Wimby’18, or beat him @ USO’13.
- If Djokovic was def. better > Fed, no way Fed should have beat him 3 X's in '15, or come so close to winning W’19, or upset him @ RG’11.
- If Fed was def. better > Rafa, no way Rafa should have ever beat him @ Wimby or won > of anything off clay vs him.
- If Fed was def. better > Djokovic, no way should he have lost to him @ '10/11 USO, or AO’08 have happened, or W’14/15 have happened, or '11 have happened @ all.
They’re all really transcended talents. They’re so much better > anyone else. In some ways they have a weird Rafa beats Fed beats Djokovic beats Rafa cyclical relationship. Gotta give them their respect. ---
Fed came along @ the perfect X to amass slams. During a BLACKHOLE transitional era when the old guys were finishing &/or already ret. (Sampras, Agassi) & @ a X when it was a talent< vacuum when complete MUGS were winning slams. (Gaudio, Johansson, etc.)
Fed's "Peak" coincided w/ OLD cripples like Agassi & Kuerten, & BUMS like Roddick, Hewitt, Baghaditis, Gonzales, Ljubicic, Davydenko, etc.
To only have a field of Roddick, Hewitt, Davydenko, underachieving Safin & Nalbandian, Agassi sub-ret.-home, & a pre-puberty Nadal is luck in itself. It's a > opport. to amass a CRAPLOAD of slams (like Fed did).***
***It does not look good when you exclude the #1 player in the World w/ an amazing HC rec. from competing.***
I guess the USO wants t/b on par w/ the other HC major in embarrassing themselves Int'lly by not having the future GOAT participating!
***Top #25 ATGs:
#1 Novak Djokovic #2 Roger Federer #3 Rafael Nadal #4 Pete Sampras #5 Ivan Lendl #6 Jimmy Connors #7 Bjorn Borg #8 John McEnroe #9 Andre Agassi #10 Boris Becker #11 Rod Laver #12 Andy Murray #13 Stefan Edberg #14 Mats Wilander #15 Ilie Nastase #16 Guillermo Vilas #17 Ken Rosewall #18 Gustavo Kuerten #19 Lleyton Hewitt #20 John Newcombe #21 Arthur Ashe #22 Jim Courier #23 Andy Roddick #24 Michael Stich #25 Thomas Muster ---
Talks include upgrading Halle or Queens Club or poss. Hamburg becoming a grass court event to have a grass Masters 1000. Remove one of those clay court events happening after Wimbl. to clay court season & move Wimbl. back a wk.***
I guess they can't upgrade The HOF event giving the USA 4 Masters 1000 events w/ Canadian Open making it 5 in No. America!
***There are ways to make it happen if the tour is really serious about it. They prob. need to take a good look @ their sched. anyway & restructure it. ---
Murray just had the misfortune of playing the 3 greatest players of all X. If those 3 never existed we w/b talking about, "dang look @ Murray w/ 16 slams."***
Prob. not! The only reason Andy got t/b as good as he got was b/c of the Big 3! You only play to the level of your comp.! He was successful early w/ Fed, got a few good wins over Novak, but wasted his X trying to overcome the dogged play of Nadal! I'll give him 5 or 6! By you giving him 16, you're saying that stupid, def. game of his was supposed t/b >er Laver, Borg, McEnroe, Agassi, Edberg, Becker, Lendl, & Connors which is ridiculous!
***Federer may never officially retire - just play Laver Cup & the odd tourn.. here & there until he gradually fades away. He can prob. bank WC's until he's a pensioner - Navratilova kept going in one form or another until she was like 50.***
Martina was accomplishing things in her return to comp. play in 2000! She won doubles' majors, including completing her "Box Set" @ the '03 USO! She's so great she didn't = realize it; "just another win under my belt!" Her last comp. match was winning '06 MxD's @ the USO approaching 50 in Oct.! Fed's literally embarrassing himself thinking he c/b comp. @ 40+ vs these kids who # the ball & take X away from him = if taking balls "on the rise!" Hurkacz really made him look bad @ Wmbl. last yr.! IMO he shouldn't have been anywhere near a major QF after his awful play in the 1st Rd. barely surviving the likes of a Mannarino! WTF? If not for the guy twisting his ankle, Roger whb out then! Glorified exhs like the Laver Cup is about Fed's speed these days! "Stick to correographed matches babe!" ---
Times change; esp. when a player is on the way out! I had to go thru it w/ Borg, Martina, Goolagong, Henin, Hingis, Edberg, Lendl, Sampras, & now Federer! Greatness doesn't last forever! As I said, I'm not = that much a fan of Nole's! I just apprec. him knocking Fedal off their pedestals! I've said this B4! ---
Fed fans prob. think it isn't worth watching tennis w/o him! It's looked empty @ both IW's & Miami when Novak couldn't play after winning so many titles! The only thing entertaining was watching Rafa struggle & miss out on winning Miami 1 > X! So close. but yet so far!
***I wouldn't shed a tear for the ATP/WTA if a LIV type tour came about. They've been Fk'n over the lower level players FOREVER. So top heavy it's ridiculous. Only the top 120 players are = brk'n = much < making a living.***
A lit'l bit of $$ has trickled down the ranks w/ Challengers getting a bump, but it's been disappointing & sad as the rich get richer! Blame Fed & Nole who were past Presidents of the ATP! Novak advocated for > $$ for the dregs of the rankings; not sure about Roger!
***Oh, please. I'm giving Med a bit of leeway from having been pushed out of the whole of June for being Russian. He won in Mexico, but he's not quite as match-tough as Kyrgios, is that fair to say? Lost in 3 sets to Nick.***
Hypcrisy here? Where was this soft spot for Novak Djokovic who's been excluded for a lot > events including 2 Majors & 4 Masters!
***That was his decision not to get vaccinated. The Real & Correct reason he couldn't play @ those tourns! 2 Majors? He missed Australia. Did he also miss RG? I can't remember 100%, but I'm sure he played RG?***
So far The US has forbidden Novak entry into the country to play the USO or Masters = though he played last yr. to attempt a CYGS!
***B/c Novak isn't allowed into the USA. He is NOT Vaccinated. Stop playing the Victim Card! Novak's not playing this tourn. in Montreal due to him not being vax'd? ...Here's the bottom line: Novak made his choice & has to live by it--100% At the same X. His situation has brought up the absurdity of the US policy---it used t/b (last US OPEN) you had to have a neg. test which makes the > sense; having been vax'd (the current policy) doesn't mean you're neg. We've actually moved in the opposite direction as the disease has become more manageable.***
I don't watch the news much, but I think I heard Millman was overcome by C-19, but he's already here! Make it make sense!
***Policies change. Novak knows the rules & what it'll take him to play in the US. He has known this since IW. At least Novak, to his credit, accepts the consequences of his decisions. His fans, like you, do not. Get over it.***
I personally don't care! Novak's accomplished a ton already! Knocking him out for the 2nd X over some BS will make them look as clownish as the Aussies! I think they'll have to live w/ that shameful Int'l performance for a very long X! Someone in authority told him to come "down under!"
***Frankly, you DO care, b/c you keep whining about it. You can complain about the confusion in Oz, but there's no confusion in the US. By "them" looking clownish, do you mean the USTA? B/c they don't. They are conforming to US immigration policy.***
It matters not after all this X! Novak's come a long way to catch & overtake both Fedal in many recs out there! That's my only motive!
***...I'd want either Fed or Nadal t/b king of a country I lived in. But Djokovic is prob. the best tennis player.***
Some delusional fans need serious mental help! Fed's out of the GOAT race & that's that! Record-wise he's fallen behind 2 other players who have his #! It's been embarrassing to think back on how we tried to make excuses for him; esp when he was going down to Nadal again & again! It only got worse for him as Nole came of age & started destroying him @ the AO yr. after yr. in the SF, then devastating losses put on him @ the USO & Wimbl.! Fed's no GOAT since he's the one who benefitted from a "weak era!" It was pathetic IMO w/ his major rival being his personal pigeon, A-Rod!
***Fed's '11 RG win vs Djokovic. That's Djokovic best yr. ever.***
Well 1 of Novak's best yrs! Even though in '11 he had gone for about 7 months w/o a loss ('10 DC to '11 FO QF), winning 40+ ATP matches, all the lasting recs were in '15! Djokovic won the same 3 Majors, but stole an extra Masters (6)! He was in the final of the other 2 played & finished season w/ another YEC! That set pts over 16K! I just can't see anyone getting anywhere near that kind of brilliance un< Carlos Alcaraz goes on a tear now!
***His recs & accomplishments speak for themselves.***
If speaking of Fed, the rec. is being re-written every yr! He's been near the top for so long, it's almost ingrained that he's the GOAT = though his recs have been falling for yrs! Novak has > of the top ones, while Rafa holds 22 Majors! Poor Roger w/b just a footnote in a few very short decades! The devotees will slowly drift off & w/b totally forgotten; sorta like Emerson who held the rec. for so many yrs!
***...They’re itching & gotta try extra hard to bury Fed cause he’s still a legend in the game & that irks them a lit'l.***
I was a devotee very early on & apprec. the beauty of Roger's game! You had no choice but to acknowledge his obvious talent, grace, & consistency! Unfort. 2 players came along to step on the coronation gown for GOAT-dom! All the programs produced B4 '11 made out he was so "above the rest!" It's almost embarr. to watch since his recs are being eviscerated faster > he did to Sampras! He's in 3rd pl. already! I'm not trying to bury him, but I can't give Fed as much credit for his accomps w/ such a weak era of players who just didn't challenge him!
***Sure. Will you “not try to bury” Rafa like this if & when Novak passes him faster > either passed Fed? Who of this incredible gen. of ATG these poor men have to face is going to stop him? Lol.***
Sorry, but I'm no fan of Rafa's either! Never have been! I'll always have reservations about Nadal who really only excelled on clay! Fedovic have a > bal. game & rec.! That's nothing new being bandied about! Nadal holds one top rec. w/ 22 Majors, but he's way behind both Roger & Novak in the others includ. wks @ #1, YE #1's, YEC's, & Masters!
***Agree w/ all of this. And = though it’s not just about the #'s w/ Fed, I think we can all agree he still has pretty damn good #'s. :-D
His triple crown of 5 x USO / WI / AO is very freaky & he prob. still has the best consistency stats to go w/ the periods of dom. he had. ---
Nadal was robbed of Miami '05.***
Nadal needed that title! He's still lacking that Masters' event after so many yrs! He can't get to a GM's like Novak (2) w/o it!
***Nadal never winning Miami is the > ridiculous thing ever. I take it personally. Everything about that match's iconic. It's pretty weird that he hasn’t won it. He's had his chances, but IDT he likes those humid conditions > @ all. ---
Back in the day I was keen for him to win it, but nowadays it’s not the event it once was. Honestly I’m > happy to see him resting after IW's to prepare for the clay swing.***
Being legendary comes w/ noteworthy accomplishments like that! It's what keeps Borg's name in our mouths; his run of FO's & Wimbledons! Novak might officially eclipse his AO & Wimbl. recs by a lot! He still has X!
***It wasn’t fair that old man Roddick was facing peak Fed. You need to remember that Roger has always been @ his peak; regard< of age or injuries. That match had 0 meaning. And nobody = bothered to show up. No recs were broken. It was played in front of an empty crowd; < = the '20 USO. It turns out that every single match that Fed won during his entire career was when he was @ his peak & his opp. was either old or injured. Fed's 0-200 for his career in matches where his opps were in their prime while healthy.***
Peek Fed? I thought he was about washed up until Soderling took Nadal out of '09 FO allowing Roger to win his one & only! Then @ Wmbl. he survived Roddick instead of actually beating him! That missed high BH volley in the 2nd set TB cost A-Rod his best chance! Then @ the USO, Del Po took Nadal out in the SF, & w/ a 2-1 set lead, Roger lost out on his 6th str. USO! Roger was always good, but he needed things to fall into place w/ upsets to win majors; esp. after '07!
Novak had that issue of being a chatterbox on the court to a comebacks "from the dead" vs Fedal & others! That list's a lot longer! Get over yourself! Invoking Roddick is only used to belit'l Djokovic's achievements; sorta like Soderling upsetting Rafa @ the FO! In the grand scheme of things, it mattered lit'l to anyone except Roger who was fortunate enough to take advantage of the upset! ---
Pls name any top player who isn't deeply a narcissist? It's part of the make-up & fabric of >ness! Michael Jordan truly was the biggest A-hole out there, but he's still thought of as the GOAT! Same w/ Tiger Woods! Fedal aren't immune to the pathology! They just allow their camps & fans to bang the drum proclaiming "they're the best ever!" It's all in the POV IMO; sorry!
***Well, Rafa’s humble. I don’t need to explain. But there’s one thing being arrogant & believing in yourself & abilities, then another thing being a narcissist. A narcissist is a more precious creature, focussed not on achievement, but on themselves & gaining attn. for themselves. The Jordans & Rafas of this world are focused on gaining the >est achievements - & they’re arrogant enough to believe they can succeed >er > anyone else. They’re not overly concerned about whether you like them or not, or think they’re virtuous.***
If you say so! ;-) As for Rafa, he's just not very bright & tries not to speak on himself much @ all if he can help it! ;-)
***I disagree w/ that. No player who has won multiple grand slams has a low IQ.
No one more a Borg fan than me and IMO he was probably an idiot too! He was made into a Pro player before he turned 15! I heard he read comic books more than anything! He wasn't exposed to women as much so was easiy manipulated by them as well! Rafa's no brain surgeon; believe it! I see the confusion in his answers to the simplest questions! Novak OTOH is probably one of the more intelligent players in the history of the game, speaking 11 languages at least including Chinese! They aren't just quick comments made either! He gives long, drawn out acceptance speeches as if he's a native; esp. in Paris as he speaks French fluently! Rafa's a moron who can barely get thru Spanish inquisitons! In English, he falls inside out and it's hard to take!
***Good to see some objective analysis. Novak invented penicillin too, you forgot that. That main intelligence tennis players need is how to do what they do btwn the lines. Occasionally, reading ability comes in handy too, esp. words written in a foreign language. Often legal words, like say, the list of conditions that aren’t included in vaccine medical exemptions written in Australian.***
Agassi was so overrated early on! His campaign of "Image Is Everything" took him over! He had so many opps in the late 80's & early 90's; esp. in Paris! He blew it! At '90 USO, I was so sure he'd def. Sampras! It took just over an hr. & 1/2 for Pete to destroy Andre! How does Agassi refer to those late losses to Sampras @ the USO 2000-02 final? I call him Pete's personal pigeon until he retired!
Honestly, Nadal was playing great @ AO '19 prior to the final. I think he had '12 on his mind. I’m not saying Nadal is >er on HC's > Andre, but I think the Spaniard has had it tougher. Also, I believe the best AO & best USO Rafas beat the resp. best Andres. Not @ AO. Agassi AO '95 beats Nadal '09. AO '12 was 7 yrs ago. ---
Agassi had it tougher w/ prime level Sampras + Fed 9 X's in HC slams. Nadal got prime level Djoko + Fed like 6 or 7 X's. Sampras + Fed were playing @ >er levels too. Worst among them was AO '95 final, which was still pretty good. Certainly >er > USO '10 Djoko or USO '13 Djoko.
USO '90, USO '95, AO '00, USO '01, USO '02, USO '04, AO '05, USO '05 all out of the top drawer, nothing <. That's 8 X's.
Contrast to only AO '09, USO '11, AO '12 final, AO '19 final out of the top drawer. That's only 4 X's.***
I watched the entire tourn. back in '19 & the comms were lauding Rafa for holding serve 60+ X's in a row! I thought this final was going t/b a war like '12, but Novak was in Gawd-mode & wasn't missing anything; = changing the dir, of the ball @ will! He annihilated Rafa in quick order making him look BAD = though playing well himself! Rafa wa help AO, but blew it in '17 & '18! How'd he lose another final & SF to Roger? Well he was able to vulture an Xtra 1 this season w/ Novak being deported! That's 1 way to win!
***But your logic's flawed b/c it doesn’t acct. for the fact that Nadal's in his own planet when it comes to clay.***
Well my logic is Fed whb held in >er regard > both Nadal & Djokovic if he'd gotten out & retired earlier! Every yr. he hung on in the last dec. hurt his legacy IMO since his 2 main rivals were allowed to overtake him in every catagory except # of YEC's! People say you can't tell an athlete when to retire, but from ;12, he went 5+ yrs w/o winning a major! He acquired 3 >, but in that X, Nadal extended his H2H lead, while Novak caught up & blew past him in just about every meaningful catagory includ. wks. @ #1, YE #1's, & Masters (2 GM's)!
***Even 3-3 vs Nadal in his worst yrs is pathetic for a player who was supposed t/b in his prime back then. Playing on clay is really not an excuse when it comes to '14-16.***
I wonder will those die-hard Nadal fans continue throwing it in our faces that Roddick has a winning rec. over Djokovic now that Coric owns Rafa 3-2? At least A-Rod actually got to #1 for a few mins.! Coric's nowhere near the top!
***Djokovic is owned 2-0 by Vesely though, & on 2 diff. surfaces. - Actually, I don't see a major advantage btwn Roddick & Djokovic. Yes, Roddick leads 5-4, but Nole leads 3-1 in the >gest matches (Slams, Olympics, & ATP Finals). I think Safin going 2-0 & winning all 6 sets vs Nole did > damage > Roddick. Obviously their 1st match had a teenage Nole, but the '08 Wimbl. match had a GS winning Nole. I think +2 in slams is >er > +1 mainly due to M1000 wins.***
All players have someone they have trouble w/! Believe it or not Sampras lost 2 or 3 matches vs some German guy I still have never seen; Ulrich IIRC!
***Gen'ly deeper pos. in return games, those other guys hugged the baseline allowing them to cut off the angles from the Nadal FH, whereas Medvedev ends up getting pushing out wide & doing > running.***
It's hard for me to watch Med @ X's, but the few pts I do see shows him a mile behind the baseline! He's so vulnverable to dropshots which Rafa exploits!
***Like many, he's part of the Rafa school of thought in returning from the stands. W/B interesting to see how he approaches playing Nadal if he meets him @ the USO?***
At 20 or so I w/b coming to the net on most BP's! Even the best passing "shotters" miss; Borg & Evert! It's what I picked up very early on watching the women's game believe it or not! The best players attacked the net relenter matches this season, but made ugly w/ brk failures by Alvaraz! His FH is a lit'l wild; someX's failing him in a rally while not under pressure! He's pulling a "RAFA" pounding his chest & pumping himself up = on a DF! Not classy!
***Well, he's only 19, so he's got X to mature. Fed @ 19 wasn't 'The Mighty Fed' that we know now. - His footwork's too tentative when in neutral rallies. He tries to cover his footwork by his athleticism, but it's a very risky strategy & will fail quite often vs top 10 quality players. Now that he has been exposed, it's X to work on it a bit too. Any player who can hit consistently deep will hurt him b/c of this. ---
Coric has just beaten RBA. Finally a couple of great results in a row from him.***
I saw Coric had won the 1st set! Good to see he finished off RBA! It's so easy to go down in flames the next day affer a great win like that over Rafa! "Congrats Borna!" He wins Cincy d Tsitsipas!
1 SRB Djokovic* Active 2 SUI Federer* Active 3 ESP Nadal* Active 4 USA Jimmy Connors 5 USA Ivan Lendl 6 USA Pete Sampras 7 USA John McEnroe 8 SWE Bjorn Borg 9 USA Andre Agassi 10 AUS Rod Laver ---
The OP's SPECIFICALLY about who w/b #1 directly after the USO.
But the thing is Rafa pretty much becomes a spectator after the USO; if he actually gets there! It's as if he thinks his season is done & complete after winning the FO; hence only 2 Wimbls ('08 & '10)! Wow; how does the GOAT go so long btw Wimbls & AO Chps.? W/O the FO, Nadal w/b an 'also ran' like McEnroe, Lendl, & Connors! Fedovic had a much > bal. rec. which is why I respect them being the true GOAT's, not Fedal!
***J/b Nadal absolutely owns RG it doesn’t mean it s/b discredited. - Last I checked USO's after FO & last I checked Nadal has more USOs than the so-called "HC GOAT." At this pt. w/ DCGS the distrib. agenda of Djokobots is a complete & utter joke. Djoko leads Nadal @ 2 slams & Nadal leads Djoko @ 2 slams.***
Poor thing! I'd rather have dom. @ events I lead! Djokovic has 7 Wimbls. to Nadal's 2! AO Djokovic's 9 > Nadal's 2! Nadal's claim to clay fame's his unimaginable lead he has in Paris w/ 14 FO's compared to Djokovic's 2! USO's negligable 4 to 3! Wow, such a disparity!
***Now we talk about negligible? You said Nadal does nothing after FO & I proved you wrong.***
Well I prob. shouldn't say NOTHING, but you tell me! Rafa has NO Paris Masters or a YEC! What does that say after so many yrs. on the tour? Says almost "NOTHING!"
***He just completely deserves it this yr.***
Well, IDK about deserves it! He got a free pass back in Feb. w/o Djokovic to step over to finally complete his DCGS! Wow, from '09 AO to 2022 AO! That's a very long X! Novak did his in 5 yrs; from '16 FO to his 2nd CGS @ '21 FO! DJokovic will eventally own all the recs!
***You know that it took Novak 12 yrs. to win his 1st RG. Thats a very long X. Nadal winning AO 14 yrs. apart shows his longevity. Grasping @ straws & coping. ROFLMAO***
Just not a Nadal fan; never was! I have to humble him to make myself feel >er! Lucky I can go "below the belt" w/ wks @ #1 & YE #1 rec.! He's so far behind Roger & Novak he'll never catch them! Only in his dreams b/c he couldn't stay on the court but for a few months a season!
***Nadal will surpass Roger this yr. in YE #1 rec. hopefully, but wks @1 w/b a hole.***
***The US can't leave a Black female gay athlete to rot in Russia, & we won't, I feel confident. I really don't care who they give back. ---
And of course it matters who they give back in exchange. The US has some dangerous Russians in their prisons.***
Watched a lit'l news programming & the commentators parrot that sentiment! In their opinions, supposedly the support of Black women put Biden in office! They helped I'm sure, but IMO it's BS! Reps w/ common sense put Biden in his chair! Who else were they supposed to support, psycho TRUMP?
***Hopefully in the next election you’ll have @ least one decent candidate from either party for people w/ common sense to vote for, though who knows where they’ll come from? If people stopped thinking of themselves in terms of the party their mammy voted for, & instead judged pol. issues w/o bias, pols might = bother to try. ---
In a country this big, w/ an electorate this disparate, there's no one group that got Biden elected, but Black women deserve > a lit'l credit. I agree that Reps who couldn't stomach any > of Trump helped too, but I wouldn't give them that much credit, as there were still plenty out there drinking the Kool-Aid. You can read the data on the breakdown here from Pew. It's interesting, but it was a lot of things that put Joe over the top. ---
Let's imagine that she wasn't set up. I still think there's more nuance in here than just Crime and Punishment. (Sorry...I couldn't resist that.) As @Federberg pointed out, farther up this chain, Griner doesn't make enough money as an WNBA player not to have to play in a foreign country in the off-season, & therefore, Russia. ...No athlete wants to be a political football. (Ask Novak.) But some situations are more dire than others. I think Griner deserves what the US can do to get her out of there.***
It's not that I don't care about this woman or others that get caught up w/ shit in Russia! I keep asking "why do these morons go to such a repressed place?" Griner went to play basketball, thinking since the Oligarchs own the teams over there, she'd be ok! She obviously isn't paying attn. to news where Oligarchs have been undersiege since Obama who started tying up their $$'s in foreign countries! Griner supposedly makes the lion's share of WNBA $$ so it's just a cash grab! So everyone thinks we should have a revolving door & allow mass, serial killers t/b let go so we can get her back here in the STATES safe & sound! She was already safe & sound here, but decided to take her chances going abroad! I just don't think it's right t/b blackmailed into ignoring real criminals locked up here just for her freedom!
***I'd never wanna live in Russia. They are so pompous about nonsensical things.***
...Putin has delusions of grandeur &'s been trying to expand his influence, but due to overreach they're being > isolated! This thing w/ the Ukraine's been simmering since Crimea snatched back during the Obama yrs! Behind the borders I see Russia as oppresed by their own gov't like any dictatorship! The man has never reliquished power since he arrived back in '99, = though allowing a hand-picked cronnie t/b president as he played PM! Now he's in there for life as he's elim. his opp.; = w/ assassination! Anyone who covorts w/ this sick man is auto. tainted for all X! I can still see our idiot president saying he "looked into his eyes & saw into his soul!" Trump really pumped him up taking Putin's word over our own "Intel" agencies! Things would turn around for Russia if they ever get from under the yoke of corruption!
***Trump's place in FLA. was finally raided to retrieve WH docs he illegally took w/him. He's t/b deposed, but promises to take the 5th. When a party invokes the Fifth Amend. privilege vs self-incrimination in a civil case, the court's permitted to instruct the jury that it may draw an adverse inference that the answer whb against the party’s interest. Mitchell v. United States, 526 U.S. 314, 119 S. Ct. 1307, 143 L. Ed. 2d 424 (1999); Baxter v. Palmigiano, 425 U.S. 308, 318, 96 S.Ct. 1551, 47 L.Ed.2d 810 (1976); Farace v. Independent Fire Insurance Co., 699 F.2d 204, 210 (5th Cir.1983).***
Who doesn't believe Trump isn't guilty of any # of crimes? Taking the 5th will def. impart neg. vibes, but not sure it'll matter!
***Methinks Trump has miscalculated by making so much noise about the search of Mar-a-lago. Now the FBI has filed a motion to unseal the warrant. I've a feeling Trump wouldn't want that info. out.***
OCO, you have to have a brain to miscalculate ANYTHING! Trump, w/o a doubt is the > impulsive person living today, thinking he can get away w/ anything! So far that's been the case! To this day I'm still wondering why charges that shb dropped on his ass B4 he became president are still pending after all these yrs? Judges & officials he installed haven't given him the smallest brk., but for some reason he hasn't been brought to justice! I think > are hoping he just croaks so he can't embarrass the country any longer > necess.!
***If The USA did say "Novak, you're welcome my friend." These anti-USA people on here wouldn’t change their minds for a sec.***
I'm from the States & don't blame anyone for being PO'd w/ us! We deserve any & all criticisms! I do it enough w/i; no shame in knowing it's happening w/o!
***Like I said, I got no prob. w/ ripping on the USA. I get suspicious when that’s all some do.***
We're an easy target; esp. w/ our history of late! This whole new century has been a fk'n nightmare except for passing Nat'l healthcare back in '10! We're a mess outside of that & I c/b totally honest about it! We don't look much >er > Russia or China = w/ their civil rights violations of their own people!
***Yeaaa, no. Sorry. You couldn’t = be typing this in a Chinese board or Russian board being critical of either. Not everything's relative. - You can say whatever you want about the USA here. Go to Russia & type anything similar about Russia over there & you might change your mind.***
I know how oppressive it is; believe me! Yrs ago during the Olympics, it was demonstrated that a new computer freshly taken out of the box is hacked w/i mins of being turned on when in Russia! Must have been back in '14 Sochi Games that it was shown privacy was not t/b had there!
***Jordan's prob. the > well known athlete of all X. He has a billion $$ empire built on his name. His shoes are some of the most sought after on the market, some selling for 1000's of $$'s on the aftermarket. If you think Jordan is < well known > those people on your list you mhb living under a rock for the last 40 yrs.***
Back in my cay WW-Fame was had by a handful of athletes: Ali, Borg, Pele, Maradona, Woods, Beckham, & Jordan!
***If Serena loses in the 1st Rd. of the US Open & ends up w/ 23 Majors? - Here's Martina's take:
“If you just go on majors, then you have Serena,” Nav'ova said recently, according to Forbes. “If you go a diff. way, then it w/b me or Graf, perhaps Margaret. It just depends how you want to measure that.”
The 63-yo Czech-born star raises the issue of how difficult it is to measure tennis players from diff. eras.
“There's a lot of diff. measuring sticks,” Nav'ova said. “It’s hard for me to talk about it completely objectively b/c we were playing under a diff. measuring stick, so to speak, during my X w/ Chris & myself. Not = playing the FO or the AO b/c we were playing WTT. The AO wasn’t = important enough, & $$ was so bad, we'd make > $$ playing reg. tourns. > going down to Australia. The majors became a huge measuring stick in the 90s forward.”***
No man or woman will come close to her rec. no matter what people thought of her comp.! She had to deal w/ other HOF'rs like BJK, Goolagong, Evert, Wade, Graf, Seles, Sabatini, Austin, Sanchez-V., OTTH! They couldn't stop her from winning 167 Singles & 177 doubles' Champs! She has 2 CGS, a Box Set, 332 wks @ #1, 9 Wimbls., & 59 total Majors! These recs can't be matched in the Open Era! We can give Serena the moniker of GOAT if you like, but this rec. of excel. ending w/ a USO MxD crown closing in on her 50th yr., is out of reach for anyone in this era of players! ---
Wimbledon's still "The Chp." & was eventually molded into an event a baseliner/grinder could win on! IMO it's sad that Rafa has so many holes in his resume, but his fandom brag about how elite he is! Until he gets @ least 1 YEC & edges up his wks @ #1, he should have lit'l to nothing to say when it comes to GOAT-dom!
***Nobody w/ sense actually claimed that the US Open prevented Novak from playing. I’ve said it many X's. They wanted the guy there as a former champ., #1, one of the GOATs. Why wouldn’t they want him there?***
This is on the city & state as well! I know, but overall it's going to inevitiably be a situation of conflating issues & jurisdictions! It was noted in the news by Biden! It can't get any >er up > the President! It was well known nothing would happen = though Novak didn't WD until the last moment! It's an embarrassment that we'll have to deal w/ this along w/ Austr.! This becomes an Int'l incident due to the precedent in our country of banning a GOAT player from playing in their top event of the season! I wonder if he had been going for his CYGS; would they have said "sorry, we can't help you!" A waiver might have come down from the mount!
***Lendl, like Djokovic didn't do enough during the peaks of his rivals t/b considered >er. Their careers are in some ways similar. By the X Lendl got t/b top man in '85, he'd suffered that many big defeats to McEnroe & Connors, he was always seen as being below them. It's similar for Djokovic. He was #3 for so long until '11 & had suffered that many big losses that by the X he got to #1 he was never perceived as #1. There's a lesson there for young players. Getting big results early on vs rivals does matter. Alcaraz has done that. ---
Nadal hasn't beat Djokovic off clay since '13. - Who cares? ...Djokovic will never get his name on a list like that, he just doesn't have the transcendence, the cut thru.***
It won't matter if he owns every important rec. in Tennis! He w/b perfectly fine while allowing a myth/fraud t/b perpetrated that tennis begins & ends w/ Fedal!
***Who would you like to see win USO this year?***
***...I really think Sinner & Tsitsipas have a good chance of reaching the final.***
'Kiss of Death!' They might go out in their openers now! WOW! Ya never know these days! W/o Fedovic, it's another empty major! I felt the same way a few yrs ago w/o Fedal, but for their fans Novak was DQ'd in the Qtr's! Wimbl. win saved his whole season!
***I do know about the "kiss of death," but actually I'm not expecting the whole sha-bang for Shelton & Korda. I just want them to make a good run in the tournament. ...Sinner's weird. He can look > for a per. of X & then collapse hard. If he can keep it together for a good run, he can get there. It w/b interesting to see a SF btw him & Nadal. Yep, I saw Tsitsipas & he's another w/ major talent, but his mental side flies out the window really quickly. He looked really tough when he beat Medvedev in the SF & then just the complete collapse in the 2nd set in the final vs Coric. It doesn't make sense w/ him b/c he has tremendous talent.***
Stefanos def. Daniil may have > to do w/ their respective match-ups! I hate to use the term "pigeon," but it does exist! Going back to the 70's, Laver aging still had no trouble def. his pigeon, Ashe! Novak has many considered pigeons, but has surrendered a few important events to them (Del Po, Wawr., & Murr.) over the yrs! A few others (Cilic, Berdych, & Monfils) he barely drops sets to!
***Novax fans constantly crying on Twitter. They now want the slam race cancelled. Novax has missed 3 slams his whole career. Rafa's missed 13. There wouldn't = be a "slam race" if Rafa had < injuries. They cry about AO '22, but are silent about RG '16.***
Call me confused! Conflation's prevalent these days I guess! Why'd FO '16 be any diff. > FO '15? Rafa was still out "in the wilderness" w/ his play dropping matches to players outside the top 50-100 in 250 events! Novak had his down per. 2 yrs later so Rafa had a pass & only needed to def. an old man in Roger! Unfort. he had a 5-6 match run of bad luck dropping matches he had leads in to Fed! We can go round this circle as many X's as you like babe!
***...If they're going to say AO '22 shouldn't count, they're just asking for RG '16 t/b mentioned... - OMG, now Patrick McEnroe's being a total a-hole & idiot talking about Fed being grouped w/ Nadovic to come back to win a major! ---
I watched a docu. about Martina & Chris & how they're really close friends now.***
There was only a breakdown of their friendship in the early 80's due to the changing of the guard! Martina was being trained by N. Lieberman, an ex-basketball player who drilled into Martina that Chris was the enemy! It worked where MN went on a winning run/streak unmatched by any player since! She was annihilating her comp., dropping only 1 match in '83 & 2 in '84! She changed the way tennis was competed by way of working out, eating right, & mentally fortifying her game! Lendl did it for the men! Martina began owning Evert in '83, winning 13-14 str. matches thru early '85, including toying w/ her on clay in '84! It balanced out later resulting in their H2H having a diff. of only 3 matches, 43-37!
***"...Yes, Mary Carillo; we know Serena hasn't played a lot of matches. Now Shut Up!" This may or may not be her LAST match here @ the USO.***
Wow! That's one way to support Serena; applaud Kovinic's DF's! In polite, civilized society, when's that OK? Serena's last match perhaps? I'll never understand the delusion! It's on Kovinic racket if she can keep her nerve & ignore the idiot fans who'll cheer her mistakes! She didn't & blew it! ;-)
***Emma has to win one of the smaller events to build up her resume. At the moment her win at the Open comes off like a fluke. Right now she is complaining about her wrist. It looks like just B4 a slam she becomes "injured." M/b she's struggling w/ anxiety & the burden of expectation from the British media.***
Well, no one thought she'd defend her title! That's a bit of a joke on the women's tour to allow such lowly players to = make a major final!
***They said yesterday that this tourn. is talking the least about the defending Ladies Champ. & Rner-Up than anyX in its history. Also, w/ the whole Serena thing going on that overshadows it.***
That's what makes the ladies' tour a joke! Most of their press depends on 2 players about to retire while the top echelon's the > anonymous in history! I certainly recall when Evert, Navratilova, & Graf aged out! It just wasn't this bad w/ replacement stars to fill the void unlike today! Sad!
***In some ways I like it that each tournament there's this not having a clue who is going to win. Yeah, there's Iga @ the top, but there's a huge amt. of players on the WTA tour that could pop up & win a major. Take Caroline Garcia, she's a real threat to winning this thing. I picked Amanda Anisimova to win it all & yeah, that's a long shot, but not really out of the ??. - Danielle Collins trying to serve for the match over Osaka.***
Was there any doubt? I had such high hopes for the ladies w/ Osaka & Barty leading the charge thru this decade! Supporting them was t/b Andreescu, Sabalenka, Plíšková, Sakkari, & Halep & it just isn't happening! The rankings are all over the place w/ X major winners due to injury & inconsistent play! We have a chance w/ Swiatek, but she needs to @ least get to the SF's!
***I've told you & Kskate has backed me up; "Stay off this women's post, U don't watch the current tour. All U do is make rude comments abt current st. of women's tennis okay! You cant stand to watch them these days? Don't Watch It & Go Away." ---
Safin was so inconsistent due to his injuries & lack of motivation, but still outclassed Wawrinka.***
He still got to #1 in the world! As a matter of fact so did his sister for a few mins. w/o winning a major; D. Safina! Wawrinka won 1 extra major, but he woefully underachieved allowing Fedal to own him! Safin destroyed Sampras in a USO Final & upset Fed during his early runs @ the AO! Wawrinka just never came close to success outside of stealing 3 majors from Djokovic!
***I wanna be a horrible tennis player like Wawrinka . Just 3 slams.***
All the talent in the world, but it didn't do him much good! He played too long to just have 3 majors w/ 1 Masters event! That's called underachieving!
***To me, being a #1 player carries a certain class & prestige that Kafelnikov’s game & style didn’t have.***
Well he did win 2 majors which is 1 > most of these guys! I can't see kicking him out = though his game wasn't the strongest! He did knock Sampras out of the '96 FO when Pete had his best chance to win! He overcame 2 past champs in Courier & Bruguera in 5 sets to make his only SF berth!
I had such high hopes for the ladies with Osaka & Barty leading the charge thru this decade!...
***I actually like that diff. ladies are winning all these tournaments & players like Garcia are popping up & making things exciting & challenging these other players. I'd much rather have that than what the men tour have had w/ Rafa, Fed, & Novak for so long. Yeah, they're great players & that's all good, but I love seeing the new players mix in there. ...We just don't need Iga dominating the game on the women's side. We need a bunch of ladies playing great tennis winning tournaments like Garcia is doing right now. ---
The issue I take w/ the women right now is none of them seem t/b able to sustain any consistent greatness; it comes in spurts. It w/b one thing if we had 10 diff. women playing great tennis over the entire yr. contending for titles. Instead you have Iga looking like a force for 3 months & then that stops, & someone else has a good run for a month & falls apart. Then someone else for 3 months & then nothing. None of these players can sustain any type of run for a yr. The womens game really changed where in 1 yr. you had Venus, Henin, Serena, Capriati, Kuznetsova, & others who all could put together incredibly solid yrs simultaneously to now where none of these women c/b great together simultaneously. ---
I think it's b/c they're currently beating up on each other when they play each other. There is no one like Serena that can go out there pretty much everyday & beat anyone when she was in her prime. ...Players like Coco, Amanda, Iga, Emma, Leylah, Bianca, Tauson, & the other really young girls on the tour are the ones I have really followed.***
I guess it's ok to talk about inconsistent play if others join in! That's all I was saying! You have nice runs like Iga, then her play falls off a cliff! In the old days the top players were so much better, it wasn't uncommon for them to relax & let the match come to them! Upsets were rare & @ the biggest tourn. like Wimbl., all top 8 seeds made it to the QF's! They weren't concerned about upsets! Now, on day one, it's damned likely if a player comes out unprepared, hurt, or allowing their minds to wander! It happened just now; Sakkari is out!
***The thing is you s/b prepared as a top player or any player. ...I wasn't the one to say anything about you bringing up inconsistent play. I don't really care what is talked about on this thread if it relates to women's tennis. My stance on the whole thing is I think it is exciting a fun to have all these players having a fighting chance in every match than just the same old player winning everything all the X. ---
Back in the 70s & 80s when we Boomers were young, we played a lot of tennis. Now that we're old gezzers, we need something a lit'l slower like Pickleball & not so much running around.***
Exactly! I started playing tennis in '71, just B4 the boom w/ wins of Evert & Connors! The courts were swamped after that! Lucky I was someone others liked to play against, so had plenty of opps to get on court! It was crazy back then! I still remember getting up at 5 AM to make "early-bird" special to play indoors @ a club miles away!
***I started playing pickleball 3 yrs ago. Great game that c/b played socially by beginners & old-X'rs, but also competitively & professionally. My wife plays semi-comp. (she’s “ranked” at level 4) 5 X's a wk. It’s big here in Fla. The court is about a 4th the size of a tennis court, & today they're converting tennis courts into pickleball courts all over, & building new special courts too. I expect it'll become an Olympic Sport one day.***
***Serena's so unlikeable. Venus' very quiet & m/b shy. Coco c/b the > popular Women's tennis player in decades. She just needs to win a few majors.***
They got off to a bad start w/ me when both sisters & their father appeared t/b bullying Hingis! It looked & sounded stupid on all sides since she was just a child! Venus'd say things on occasion like "she didn't beat me, I beat myself!" I was so done w/ the entire family!
***Talking of hatred about tennis players, Djokovic has prob. got much > Serena from all kinds of people, > of that undeservedly so, despite being a "white man." ...The Western world has, for the > part, grown out of it. The victimhood cards are just used to instigate inter-community conflicts & suppress = the > truthful of voices by false accusations.***
The world used to promote +vity, but these last 2 or 3 decades it's been > about -vity & trying to divide! It's quite prominent in USA politics where we used to find our similarities, but today it's all about "us vs them!" It's so sickening, but lucky me as a Sr., I won't have to deal w/ the BS for > longer!
***Yeah, it's nauseating. As a non-Sr. I get mad @ older gens for dumping this problem on mine. - Seeded players prove that the modern game is NOT better than 10-15 yrs ago, in fact, it PROVES that it's worse. Nalbandian, Hewitt, DelPotro, Berdych & Davydenko would run rough-shot thru the draw these days. The fact that Cam Norrie & FAA are top 10 furthur proves this pt. It's sad to watch the level drop, = Milos Raonic & Kei Nishikori'd still cruise if they were @ their peak. Cilic too.
The GOAT race, or at least the All-X GS rec. is now ruined beyond repair. We have been treated to the greatest hts. in the game's history over the last 20 yrs w/ Roger, Rafa & Novak, but now thanks to the insanity of modern pols, which is essentially medical tyranny, the race is ruined, = > so if Rafa wins this tourn. Sad > of you don't speak up vs it. At least for the tennis of not for social justice. What a joke.***
I've been railing about how tennis is unwatchable w/ today's players trying to take the cover off the ball instead of playing a skilled game! These people come into the net so incompetently! It's a shit show > of the X & the top 10 is a huge joke after yrs of Fedalovic!
***You should've watched Alcaraz today if you like some nice volleys. IDK how many X's he went to the net, but A LOT, & made like 90% of them. That kid is diff. Not many players have an all around game like that any>. ---
How could Martina not be looked @ as a great doubles player if she won that much?***
The problem is as X goes along, she's forgotten! Her #'s don't mean anything to the tennis fans out there who favor Serena over Graf! Martina's #'s are out of sight, but she's rarely brought as the GOAT = w/ 167 singles & 177 doubles titles, & twice as many majors @ 59!
***I certainly don't think Martina has been forgotten. When a kid like myself @ 14 yrs old knows about her & IDK about many of the older players, but I do know about the likes of her & Evert, McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Connors, Graf, Sampras, Agassi, & Seles.***
I held onto Rod Laver as being the GOAT; giving him credit for tournaments missed due to separation of Am/Pro Tennis eras! Gave way to Sampras which wound up being silly as his recs were eclipsed in < a decade! Fed was head & shoulders above everyone early on, but 2 whipper-snappers came along & destoyed his recs & legacy, dropping him to #3 all X!
***Of course I never got to see any of them play other than Federer, Rafa, & Djokovic & to me what they have all done has been amazing for the game of tennis. IDK if there will ever be 3 players on the tour @ that level @ the same X ever again. Sure the stats are really important & the majors & slams are the > important, b/c they're the biggest challenges in the game.***
***If Nadal had comp. relative to his level like Serena did (No Fed and Djokr around), Nadal would have 40-45 slams & somehow Serena would have to make up the diff.***
But that didn't happen so he's only up 22 Majors to Novak's 21 after he won Wimbl. for a 7th X while Nadal has 2; the last back in '10!
***...It's an opinion based on a fine sense of aesthetics - and a common sense thing we scientists like to call THE BLEEDIN' OBVIOUS.***
After all these yrs, I still feel that both Serena & Venus played some ugly tennis! They just weren't as graceful as someone like Evert or = Martina who strutted > sashayed! It bothered me when Serena would have her legs & arms out of control like a Raggedy Ann Doll w/ no style or grace to her game! It was all about power & taking the cover off the ball; whack & pray! The most lady-like & beautiful playing by a woman has to go to Goolagong! Go watch her; just mesmerizing!
***Serena's movements are just ridiculously ungraceful & unelegant. She's all about power, using those huge muscles to out-muscle her much skinnier opps. Venus was also unelegant. Both played ugly in that sense. ---
Here are the players Serena beat in finals to win her majors (with * for those who have won @ least one major):
No "walkovers" that's for sure! These were all top women; most w/ least 1 major, but sev. w/ X Chps! Venus was her pigeon though; along w/ Sharapova who was never a real rival! She won that Wimbl. title over Serena & people have imagined their H2H was close, but it never was!
***I'll say that Graf has as good a claim as GOAT as anyone, just not an undisputable claim. So that said, Evert did not really start to decline until '87. Evert's 6 slam wins, 13 slam finals, & 90% win % from '82-'86 would make the rec. of an ATG's alone, so it's not a mark against Navratilova that she continued to beat Evert after '81. Martina also proved every bit as good as Graf no matter what you think of their resp. comp. They were 9-9 vs each other w/ a few > of those matches played outside of Navratilova's prime than outside of Graf's prime. They = went 2-2 in their final 4 matches from '91-94 when Navratilova was well past her prime @ ages 34-37 includ. Martina winning the only match @ a major they played during that X, the '91 US Open SF. Graf had just won Wimbl. < 2 months earlier & was cruising thru her draw until she ran into Martina. Navratilova lead the H2H vs Steffi w/ 5-1 until '86, B4 Steffi = had made 1 slam final. Navratilova in her absolute peak prime, Steffi still a baby.
Then Steffi caught up to =ize @ 7-7 in '87-89. In '89 Martina had the 6th-best winning % of her whole career ('88 was 7th-best). Late-bloomer Navratilova still in her prime, Steffi in peak prime. And they ended their rivalry @ 9-9. Martina‘s USO '91 win coming in one of Steffi‘s worst yrs, only her 11th-best in winning %'s.
And yet another important factor:
16 of their 18 matches were played on grass, indoor carpet or fast HC's, favoring Martina (whereas in the Graf-Seles rivalry the majority of matches were played on clay or slow HC's). Had Steffi been born 5 yrs earlier & had they played 50% of their matches on slower surfaces, their H2H whb overwhelmingly in Steffi‘s favor w/o any doubt.***
But as Bette Davis said to Joan Crawford in "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane," "but you are in a wheelchair Blanche!" What sense does it make to muse about what chb? lol!
***Steffi fans are the 1st to admit that. But it's far > the fans of other ATG players who resort to *what chb“ scenarios.***
***Watching Sinner & Alcaraz. These 2 are frighteningly good. And w/b better next yr. Going t/b hard for Nadal = on clay v these 2. ---
Beating Rafa in BO5 on clay is another monster though. They prob. beat Djokovic @ slams B4 they beat Nadal @ RG.***
It has to happen sooner or later! I was hoping the end was @ '15 FO when Djokovic took his ## of flesh during Nadal's down per.! Who'd think Fedal'd rear up to take over the tour for 2 seasons when Novak in a malaise! Novak's return in '18 couldn't have been predicted stealing 2 Majors (Wimb./USO)! His rec. can't be surpassed w/ how he's grabbed majors in bunches to catch up & threaten the lead earlier than Fedal! So far Nadovic have still held them off @ bay! I've no doubt Novak was ready to defend his title "down under," while Rafa got back to the mt. in Paris! Playing part-X Djokovic stole another Wimbl. w/ no Medvedev due to ban & Nadal injured! He really never looked like losing = though down to Sinner 0-2!
***The full list w/ date(s) of the title defenders in the Open Era:
1. Court ('70) 2. King ('72) 3. Evert ('76-78, only player to defend on 2 surfaces) 4. Navratilova ('84,'87) 5. Graf ('89,'96) 6. Seles ('92) 7. Venus ('01) 8. Clijsters ('10) 9. Serena ('13-14) ---
The young guys are going to start taking over the HC slams from here. It'll >ly be Nadal @ RG vs Djokovic @ Wimbl. If Djokovic can steal a RG from Nadal, or Nadal a Wimbl. from Djokovic, it's doubly huge.***
Nadovic have proved anything's possible! Hard to believe my ilk had put Sampras on a pedestal w/ 14 Majors just 20 yrs ago! His rec. was eclipsed in just 8.5 yrs by Fed! He ascended the throne of GOAT-dom, only t/b surpassed by 2 >er tennis players in Nadovic! How lucky are we?
***If it goes to 22-22, it'll in effect neutralize the slam lead & they'll cancel one another out. lol!***
The defintive thinking is if majors cancel each other out, Novak already owns the alt. top recs of 7 YE #1's. 373 Wks. @ #1, Double GM's, Nole-Slam, etc.!
***So when would you like H2H to ct. from? '15?
In '06 Djokovic said he can beat Nadal @ the FO & knew how to do it. Still waiting for that H2H to have some respectablity.
Also, you make all these stats up but Nadal played Djokovic 7 X's '15/'16 which was Nadal's worse ever per. They never played once when Djokovic was poor. Facts are there for all to see. Nadal was better when both in form.***
Weren't they in form B4 '15? Why not look @ the 1st "7 match winning streak" of Novak over Rafa? They were all finals! Funny, Novak's toughest encounters vs Rafa were on HC; '11 IW's & Miami, '11 USO, finishing w/ '12 AO in 5! The 2 clay finals were str.-setters; Madrid & Rome, then + on '11 Wimbl.! If not for one of the best seasons ever by Novak, the Majors race mhb out of hand in Rafa's favor a lot earlier!
***Fed'05 or '06 can't win 3 slams in '11, m/b 2. The AO & FO are not going his way, similarly if you sent '11 Novak to '06 then Fed isn't winning the AO & if Nadal's removed from the picture, then Djokovic clearly takes AO & FO in '06 right under the nose of Fed in his own peak. '11 Fed was playing >er on clay than he did in mid 2000s. Fed could've beaten Novak in 2010s on quite a few occasions w/ his experience, but he failed due to choking. ...We saw Fed have too many 3 slam yrs in his peak due to the absence of a consistent ATG in his age group. If we start to disregard 3 slams yrs on the basis of mid 20s, ATGs being in pairs, then except '11 there's prob. no 3 slam yr. in history where 2 ATGs were physically @ their mid 20s making X GS finals.***
***Buff. QB Josh Allen's salary cap hit w/b $16 M this yr. It w/b $40 M in '23. They have to win it this yr. for an easier way to a Chp.***
I was a big fan of the old team back in the 90's! They had a real cast of charaters; Kelly, Thomas, Bennet, Smith, Reed, & Tasker! It was made to run like a well-oiled machine by Coach Levy! I was around exorting w/ the rest a "Strive For 5" = though I was living out in Cal. at the X! I still can't believe they came back from the dead in that Houston playoff game in '93! They were down by 30+ pts & in the 2nd half sent in the back up QB, Reich to steal the game 41-38! KC had a chance to make 4 SBs, but blew that Patriot game w/ a penalty on Brady interception! The AFC West's going t/b tough this yr.!
***Tom Brady was clearly the best QB of all X. Peyton was really good, but still behind Joe Montana as far as ATG.
What made Brady great was the way he dissected a game, it was unparalleled.
He was the ult. game manager that could take what a defense gave him & move the ball against them all, but he excelled in crunch X.
He knew when to throw the fast ball or put touch on it to lay it over a defender.
He was careful w/ the ball & didn't turn it over @ a high rate.
He took 10 teams to the Super Bowl & won 7 & 3 > teams to the Div. Chp. Game.
That's 13 teams to Chp. Games & Super Bowl victories w/ 2 diff. teams in 20 seasons. ---
I disagree. Manning was @ the helm of >er offenses than Brady's > seasons. Manning was > dangerous. He just had far worse defenses > Brady did, so Brady could win avg. or bad games while Manning would lose.
Throughout Brady's career, the avg. defense of his team was 7th best in the league. Manning's was 17th. Manning often had to do way > to win games > Brady, who was gifted X Chps. by happenstance (tuck rule, Butler interc., his horrible game vs the Rams).
Brady's an all-X great, but w/o all the help he got w/ a solid stable org. in the Patriots & great defenses. He wouldn't have been as successful. If Manning had all the privilege Brady did, he'd have won a LOT > SB's. ---
Can't compare eras. QBs in the 60s & 70s called their own plays & there was not as much emphasis on passing, + the rules favored the defenders > back then. In that group were many greats like Unitas, Tarkenton, Lamonica, Jurgenson, Brodie, Meredith, Hadl, others. In the 80s & 90s superstars like Marino, Montana, Fouts, etc. had awesome offenses to watch.
Brady c/b the >est ever, but I think those QBs who enjoyed fantastic pass protection & had > X to throw surely benef. their passing production. So take that > adv. away & it's a diff. ball game. Marino c/b the >est too. ---
I didn't compare eras. This is comparing 2 QB's in >ly the same era.
What you can compare btw eras is how > above the rest of the pack someone is. Guys like Tarkenton, Marino, & Manning were guys who distanced themselves from everyone else during their eras. Those are the guys who were the > dangerous QB's.***
***Marino was >er than Brady, but surrounded by idiots.***
How does that happen; makes SB early like Mahomes, then never gets back? I guesss Buffalo Bills had a lit'l to do w/ it, owning Dan! Rodgers lost yrs w/ Favre playing Hamlet every season, but slowly I lost sympathy for the guy w/ his arrogance!
***Your #1 former QB who you think is >er > Brady. ...When you say 'XXX,' does everyone auto. agree he’s >er > Tom? Nope. Who’s currently >er? We'll see how many Chps. Mahomes, Allen, & Rogers have when it’s all said & done. I bet combined in the end, Brady will have > Chps > all 3 combined. He’s the GOAT.***
Rodgers has all the skills & the #'s, but his gravitas has fallen off due to his ego & bad attitude!
***Mahomes does look really good so far. He could have 3 SB rings right now. If he did, we’d be having a diff. convo.***
Mahomes had his chances, losing out on 2 SB's; giving him hope of catching up to Brady's 5/6 @ the X! Now I don't think it'll happen w/ 7! Blame an "off-side penalty" in a Chp. Game vs Brady's NE, then the SB vs TB 2 yrs ago! It was KC's best chance to change the course of history but for one play! Brady's the luckiest player in the history of the game going back to the "Tuck Rule!" Sounds like a soul has been sold; esp. after that ATL reprieve!
***It's crazy how history can change w/ one game or = one play. Piston's could have repeated in '05. Brady did come back to beat Atl. in the SB. He's lucky the Atlanta coach sucks balls & didn't know how to milk a clock. LOL. I do recall Mahomes 2 yrs ago got screwed out of going to the SB. Even if he had 2 right now, I'd say he has a CHANCE of catching Brady. But a chance is a long way from doing it. ---
I'm not sure that was his decision as much as it was Belichick's concerning the offensive power used. Mahomes has > pure talent than Brady, but you can say that about a # of QB's who haven't had near the success as TB12. ...But he worked the Patriot system to perfection. I think on any other team, Brady w/b a lit'l known backup. ---
Didn't someone say Russell Wilson was >er > Brady? Brady goes to a new team, wins a SB. Russell goes to a new team & loses to his old one wk. 1.***
Wilson didn't lose that MNF game to Seattle! He was sabotaged by his own teammates & coach! Fumbling the ball twice near the Goal Line & then his coach sending the punter out to make such a longshot made FG proves "they didn't want it!" Russell may have wanted it, but his whole team blew it! No matter how badly he may have played, he didn't lose it, they did!
***Well, if you remember how great the '85 Bears were, only lost one game all season....to Marino.***
True enuf, but Miami was lucky the backup QB, Fuller played the game! McMahon was injured & out! There were so many tipped balls that ended up completed to another receiver for Dolphins! Bears were hexed that night! ;-)
***I know that Serena got inspired by the Tom Brady comebk., but here's the >est diff.:
Brady won the SB w/ a diff. team 2 yrs ago & still is in contention to win 1 > perhaps.
Serena needs an ultra lucky draw @ this stage of the game to = win 1 > Major.
So many players that's a crafty aggressive counter puncher can move her around & beat her no prob. Also so many aggr. players can blow her off the court if they're having a good day.***
Even Navratillova, w/ all her gifts of power & grace on the court knew when to hang up the single's racket in '94! A few yrs later she got the itch to return, but = on grass, she was limited to one win! It just wasn't worth it! Lucky for us her doubles kept her in the game for another 5-6 yrs taking sev. > doubles' majors & completing her Box Set w/ Paez for the '03 AO MxD. title! She was almost 50 taking her last Chp. @ the '06 USO w/Bryan! M/b that kind of thinking is going on in her head! Heaven knows it'd bring a lot of exposure to women's dbls. & MxD! I doubt she has the X w/ the kids, endorsements, red carpet events, business, & shopping for cutsy dresses & hats!
***She could easily hang on for a few > yrs, picking up massive guarantees & app. fees. It w/b hard for her to turn down those mil. $$ checks just to come & play a Rd. or 2. Plus I doubt she w/b able to tolerate being out of the spotlight for > a few wks. I never bought into her retirement act. She w/b back. ---
Grass isn't Djokovic's best surface though & Wimbl. isn't his best Slam. He won his best one earlier that yr. in '08.
Fed was 28 & 29 in '10 &'11, not 32, 34 & 35 when Djokovic won in those yrs. Besides '10 Djokovic, was nowhere near as good as his '11 version.***
For some reason Fed's thrown 'under the bus' for being old, but fans never seem to bring up SF win over Nadal in 4 sets getting to '19 Wimb. Final he lost to Nole!
***Fed's the superior player to Djokovic. OTOH, Roger was too old to stop Djokovic, but not too old to stop everyone else including Nadal. ---
The classic argument by most Fed Fans is that an athlete is supposed t/b @ his peak in 20s & 30s. The next great players are supposed to bring him down. So when anyone is compared w/ Fed, you're directly looking @ a 20s vs 20s comparison where Fed will win for sure & 30s vs 30s when the argument is he had 2 ATGs below him while others have none. So here, if you win lot of slams in 30s & did not dom. as much in 20s due to tough comp., then it w/b regarded as vulturing in old age.*** ---
I feel like I'm missing something b/c the TV announcers have gotten into the routine of ??ing players' hts. for some reason! I can't believe they're as vain as women when they might not only adjust their ht., it was guaranteed their wts. were imaginary!
***Ht. has become the > important attribute of tennis players. Like we're watching the NBA.***
What I'm surprised about the > is how thin some guys are these days! There were only a handful of "stick thin" guys like old man KORDA, Ivanisovic, & m/b Isner! Now I can't believe legs just don't snap like twigs w/ today's players; oppps, it already did w/ Zverev in Paris! The other malnourished players are Sinner, Tsitsipas, Fritz, Medvedev, FAA, & Rune OTTH!
***What are the odds that Sinner’s knees snap off B4 he reaches a slam final? Fortunately, we’ll never have those shortcomings w/ Sascha.***
***Roger Federer Announces That '22 Laver Cup W/B His Final Event - I'll always believe that had Fed won the '19 Wimbl. final over Djokovic, he'd have retired on top immed. following the match. Fed had very lit'l left in the tank after that, & I think he even knew that (= if he's reluctant to admit it).***
I wanted him to have that kind of glorious exit in '12 after winning Wimbl.! Unfortunately he toiled for 5+ yrs to + 3 > majors! He had another chance to leave the tour on top after winning '17 Wimbl., but his ego wouldn't permit it! Now he's lit. "limping out" & w/ not so glorious an exit! He could've solidiifed his legacy & greatness if he had left earlier!
***Just the 3 extra majors! That's > most players win their whole career. It's a shame he couldn't retire on a pos. note, but he had an incredible career.***
Standards are diff. & elevated for the Big 3! Taking 3 > majors over 10 yrs sounds like it's being undermined, but considering he won 3 in a season 3 X's, it stands out as a lit'l weak! If he wants t/b thought the GOAT, Fed & his fans have to acknowledge this past decade has been a failure in comparison! If Djokovic did this, we all know how it would go for him since he's so unlikeable by "the haters!" When it comes to Roger, his prob. is he started being "great" a lit'l later! He upset Sampras @ Wimbl., but he'd been around for a few yrs already! His GOAT run didn't start until '03! Both Nadovic impressed as kids taking their 1st major a lot earlier! I was on board thinking him the best ever, but his recs are being demolished by Rafa & Djoker & there's nothing he can do about it! He prob. thought those 3 extra majors won would save his legacy! It only postponed the inevitable!
***Getting older + stronger opps. was always going to make it difficult for him to keep winning everything! Even if Nadovic are brk'n some of his recs, his #'s are still incredible! M/b he should have won a few > slams in his older yrs, he had chances. Even if Fed doesn't hold all the recs when it's all said & done he'll still likely be the Goat in many people's eyes j/b of his effort< style of play & popularity!***
I wish people would start making sense! Blaming knee surgery is "an out" & not acknowledging Roger has "aged out"of the tour! He's too freakin' old to keep up! That's it!
***After the last few yrs, it's pretty clear that he's running a high risk of further injuries if he keeps playing. He still has the skill set to play great tennis, but stringing matches is just going to end w/ him being forced to retire after forfeiting a 2nd Rd. match or something like that.***
If that desperate to stay in the game, pull a Navratilova & start playing doubles exclusively! The problem is his ego of course so "it ain't happening!" "Exhib. tour, here we come!"
***M/b Fed has given all he can & wants to enjoy life w/ his family @ this pt.***
Doubtful! If he thought he could + to his #'s, he'd try! He's just not able! Another GOAT, Tom Brady in the NFL is testing fate @ 45 & Giselle isn't happy!
***Fed couldn't figure out a way to put a serious scare into Rafa @ RG. M/b it was a match-up nightmare & he was fated to lose, but I wish he had either red-lined or implemented a ridiculously radical tactic = if it was just for the sake of doing something radically diff.***
Prob. shd an "Edberg" & just played one of those finals as if it were on grass/Wimbl. & just S/V'd his ass off! May not have won, but it would @ least be a change of wearing himself out trying to outdo Nadal on clay from the baseline!
Which is why Navratilova is the real GOAT w/ 59 Majors; all in the Open Era! Court's 64 is a cheat winning 11 AO's when few actually went "down under!"
***Navratilova over Court of course, there’s no debate there. But people are lumping MxD's slams w/ Singles which I don’t think are anywhere on the same level. Graf won 22 & 1 Dubs. Navratilova & Court are in the 50s & 60s for slams, but that’s includ. both types. Don’t get me wrong it’s impressive, but Graf has 4 > Navratilova & Court had to play only 3 doubles matches to win some of her titles so let’s take that “total” slam count w/ a grain of salt.***
That shouldn't take away from Navratilova who had to play her draws in full going all the way to her last major win being '06 USO MxD. w/ Bryan closing in on 50!
***The USO was always traditionally considered t/b hardest to win, b/c it never was an extreme surface like grass or clay. It was > neutral, & so dirtballers & grass courters could compete on neutral ground. It was never a given that the FO champ might struggle vs the Wimbl. Champ. in NY, & vice versa. The last 3 USO’s have given us a healthy change of winners too. And Stan, Cilic, Murray, Del Potro have all won it. I think it’s the best slam for this reason, it’s just much > unpredictable, among its many other virtues.
History says the USO is prob. the toughest event no matter the surface! It was amazing that Fed successfully took 5 in a row; = Sampras couldn't defend it but once ('95-96)! It was quite impressive of Rafter & Edberg to defend their titles as well! Borg tried his best on all 3 surfaces & he just couldn't get over the hump = when on that slippery Har-Tru clay! His main prob. really was playing @ night! He hated it & his coach Lenard B. constantly lobbied for Borg to get dayX matches! He had to play @ least one so he got it out of the way one yr. in the 1st Rd. vs Hewitt! Bjorn's worst upset was vs Tanner in a night match in '79 w/ aces haunting Borg to this day! Borg's inability to pull this one tourn. out still drags me down! I was glad Roger stole a FO in '09! His resume would have had a huge hole after being in so many finals! A Career GS became all the rage to elevate Agassi after he completed the task in Paris! Now it's almost common w/ the Big 3! Too bad for Wawrinka! He had no hope of winning Wimbl.! Murray will have a lot of regrets w/ his many chances to join the club; esp. all those AO final losses to Djokovic! In Paris he wore himself out early by getting into 4-5 set battles from Day 1 in '16! By the X he got to the final vs Novak, "he was done!" Djokovic got his 1st to complete his CGS; now w/ 2 after '21 win in Paris! End Rant!
***Nice rant & very true about Borg. And it was always interesting to me that the players he beat in Wimbl. from '78-80 all got their revenge vs him @ the USO that same yr., the Tanner match being the most shocking, though Connors gave him a real hiding in '78. There were often mentions of the high bounce affecting his shot-making, the floodlights, & injuries in '77 & '78. In this sense, he’s a lot in common w/ Rafa.***
The 3 yrs it was on clay, Connors beat him in the '76 final. When people whine that Laver did his CYGS on only two surfaces, I often remind them that the grass played diff. from place to place, prob. = > the diff. btw the courts in Austr. & NY now. The evidence here being Mats diff. recs @ the AO on grass, where he = beat McEnroe, & his single QF @ Wimbl. Likewise, the clay they used in the USO wasn’t red clay like Paris. I think Borg would eventually have won it, had they kept the clay surface, but they didn’t. It’s often a disc. here, how many slams would the Big 3 have if 2 surfaces favored Rafa instead of favoring Roger & Novak?***
European & So. Americans flourished on the USO clay as they upset our top players includ. Orantes in '75 & Vilas in '77 over Connors! ,,,
***We get it that Carlos is being respectful. He’s being polite. It doesn’t mean that anyone has to think that Novak's absence has any place in a discussion about his USO victory, which unfort. a lot of dolts on social media think it does.***
No doubt Carlos c/b scary good, but IMO he plays too hard believe it or not! SomeX's you just have to say "good shot" & turn your back! He hustles for everything & it's going to shorten his career! I expected it from Nadal, but somehow he's hung on to stay w/ Novak who's the > fit player out there! Carlos isn't a lock as seen in DC this past wk! He's still deserving of #1 = w/ just 1 Major to Rafa's 2! I hope he can hold onto it!
***One > diff. btwn Carlos & Rafa is that Carlos is > self confident. He has swagger. He grins & plays to the crowd. You can see he enjoys himself out there, whereas Rafa is a tough sumbitch w/ a burning intensity = in the warm up. As for being #1 w/ < slams than another player, I wonder when was the last X a player finished the season #1 but w/ fewer slams than an opp.? Murray, in '16, I think?***
It's happened a few X's which is why I think majors should get a few > ATP pts; esp. after '16 travesty w/ Novak winning 2 majors & in the final of a 3rd! That was obscene to allow Murray to take over #1 on the last day of the season @ the YEC!
***Murray made 3 slams finals too. He also won like 5 tourns. in a row @ the end to take #1. It was an incredible winning streak tbf; 25 matches won 2 masters titles, & the WTF. ITA on the self-confidence of CA, but Rafa has always had the swagger, just that his is, as you say, > intense, & > serious, I'd say. No smiling or laughing until the match is over.***
It wasn't that simple! Novak not only had 3 major finals winning 2, he also +ed 4 > Masters 1000 events to his tally to close in on Fedal & take over the rec. eventually! I say I'm not a Djokovic fan as much as a "Devil's Adv." since he's demonized so much! Love how he's taken the luster out of that Fedal rivalry that didn't really exist! Rafa owned Roger early & often! Fed was saved by Wimbl. grass & fast indoor surfaces or the H2H would look > obscene! I still don't understand Roger's resurgence & winning 5 or 6 str. over Rafa! I barely watched while Novak wandered the wilderness & was "all @ sea" w/ injury & issues behind the scenes! I just heard about it > watching any of those wins by Fed!
***It's a pt. system. I'm pretty sure it existed & will stand the test of X. So you didn't watch Fedal change in fortunes? I guess that makes you an expert on the Federer-Nadal rivalry, then.***:
I go thru per. of apathy when it comes to watching tennis! I just wasn't interested w/ the glorification of Fedal making it seem "tennis begins & ends" w/ them! Djokovic came along & broke things up getting my interest back! When he went down in '17, I lost interest again w/ deja vu of Fedal sharing the spoils like it's "1999!" :face-with-tears-of-joy: I never cared for the rivalry; the lionization of their matches! Novak's miraculous return in 2018 brought me back! It seems to work best with all 3! Nadovic is a real rivalry, but I don't enjoy the matches that drag on with sets going an hour and a half! Novak's masterpiece over Rafa at 2019 AO is a keeper! I can watch that slaughter over and over! Carlos might take me into the next era, but remains to be seen to keep my interest!
***I dont like baseball, but the FOD game's amazing.***
It's amazing BB's still shown! It's just part of basic TV I guess & these cable contracts subsidize the insane salaries! I haven't watched BB seriously in well over a decade! I didn't = know my city's beloved Cubs had won the World Series in '16! It was much > entertaining watching them give away their chance in '03 to the Marlins! I did watch the Sox win it all in '05 over Houston w/ Roger Clemens! That was the last X I was truly entertained by the > boring of major sports!
***Benchmarks of Greatness:
Age 18 (B4 turning 19): Top 100 ranking Age 19: Top 50 ranking Age 20: Top 20 & 10 ranking, 1st title, Slam QF Age 21: Top 5 ranking, 1st Big title Age 24: #1 ranking, GS title
As you can see, most of that is quite young - w/ 8 of 10 benchmarks B4 turning 22. The age 24 benchmarks are the hardest to reach, & thus the > rare - but also give promising young players a bit of breathing room. Those benchmarks have been reached by every ATG in the OE which I'm defining as a player who won @ least 6 Slams, so: Connors, Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, Wilander, Edberg, Becker, Agassi, Sampras, Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic (exclud. tweeners Rosewall, Laver, & Newcombe, b/c Pre-OE tours, both pro & Amateur, ...B4 the ATP rankings in '73, but both Connors & Borg whb in the top 100 B4 turning 19 - & Borg as a 16 yo).
...TLDR: The benchmarks represent early career accomplishments that every OE All-X Great (ATG), or 6+ Slam winner has met. Further>, of the 16 players who reached every benchmark, 12 (or 75%) went on to become ATGs. The Benchmarks & the Lost (b. '89-93), Next (b. '94-98), & Mill. Gens. (b. '99-03) ---
Wow, it's very disturbing that Thiem has fallen down so far.***
Not surprised in the least that he's having issues! Thiem's stroke production is exhausting to watch! Everything's going on, all across his body to hit the simplest BH! His wrist is lucky that's the only real prob. he has right now! I couldn't imagine him w/o wrist issues, esp. after the long 5 set battles he's had over the yrs. vs Nadal, Djokovic, Zverev, Del Po, & Tsitsipas! That '18 USO thriller vs Nadal was almost as bad as AO 5:53 w/ Djokovic! It drained the whole stadium w/ a 4th & 5th set TB! Nadal had to retire vs Del Po in the next Rd.! That helped facilitate Novak winning his last USO! His old coach, Becker, broke his wrist w/ the way he'd try to abuse it w/ overworked ROS, I was surprised he made it all the way back getting to a few > Wimbl. finals!
***Even though Fed has made Nadal his piñata virtually every X for the last 8 yrs.? Ok :-D***
I'll never understand those losses to Roger by Rafa when they both took advantage of Novak's absence in '17-early'18! It seemed m/b that Rafa was near the end of his career, but he's still winning unlike Roger who really fell off after that '19 Wimbl. choke! We can talk about injuries, but the fact is that he's just plain OLD!
***It's close btw the Big 3. Yes, the stats clearly favor Nadal & DJoker now, so I'll put him @ #3. The fact that all 3 of them were able to win slams for so long is crazy. Previous gens, guys w/b challenged to get 5. New gen. guys are struggling to get 1, let alone 2. Just shows you how hard it is to get one slam. To get 20 & to have had chances for > slams, = numerous SF appearances, + numerous Masters titles is crazy.***
***Sampras didn't face other multi-major winners. He stopped them all from becoming them. Agassi easily chh > 10. Pete stopped Becker from winning poss. 3 Wimbls. Stopped Courier from winning @ least 2, poss. 3 majors. Once these guys get those slams, they keep getting >. This is as impressive as the inflated slam ct. of the Big 3 Era since careers were @ least 5 yrs shorter.***
...The real Golden Age of tennis was back in the 90's! At any given tourn., you could come across 6-12 winners of majors! The comp. was fierce w/ not only the best players, you had surface specialist which made it poss. t/b > comp. w/ the top echelon of players! Sampras, as great as he was never got to the final of FO! There were too many others who expertly knocked him out b/c his serve wasn't going to dom. matches! He played well a couple X's, actually beating a RG Champ. along the way. An eventual champion comes to mind; Kafelnikov in '96! Comp. was stiff! Along w/ Sampras in the US, McEnroe & Connors around, w/ the Newbies of Agassi, Courier, & Chang! Been slim pickin's since! Abroad was loaded w/ Edberg, Becker, Kueten, Krajicek, Stich, ...I can go on! We had players that could take elites out early if they weren't careful! The Big 4 owned the tour unlike anyX in the PRO Era! You can say they were just better, but there was a mindset that allowed them > dom. than deserved IMO!
***If Krajicek was > consistent, Pete whb in big, big trouble. - This is a projection b/c clearly that didn't happen. Pete was made for >ness whereas Krajicek was not. Richard was to Pete what Stan was to Novak. These are anomalies. - How many 9+ Slam winning champions did Sampras face again? How many won > 6 other > Agassi who was MIA 70% of the X? ---
Pete made sure no one was winning > slams > him so his rivals were kept @ bay by the Great Pete. ---
Last decade? It's just Djokodal. Fed's closer to Murray & Wawrinka in the last decade > he is to those 2.***
Strange, but that's how I feel too! Fed almost wasted his X this last decade! He won 3 > Majors, but it still didn't keep him ahead of Nadovic! His legacy whb > secure IMO if he had retired after Wimbl.'12 & had gotten back to #1 for a few mins.! It whb just like Laver, given > credit for being great! Now he allowed his rep. t/b damaged by allowing Nadovic to own him for the > part! He had a H2H advantage over Novak @ least, now he's behind them both!
***I think his rep. is fine. Folks who like the other guys better aren’t disposed to care about his rep. anyway. Judging by the response his retirement has gotten across the world, his add'l yrs only +ed to the sense of his humanity & never quit attitude. His comeback vs Rafa in '17 is cited by many as one of >est moments & almost beating Novak & Rafa in a heartbrkr. @ near 38 is the kind of pain - heartbrk. that actually +s to his legend. Not everything's about #'s. ---
I never shy away from saying him retiring after '12 whb fine by me if not preferable. Although I loved '17 AO & seeing him live sev. > X's it certainly in the grand scheme didn't + much to his legacy really. He was undoubtedly the player of the 00s &'ll remain as such, but like you said would have kept his Slam rec. for sev. yrs & m/b the Big 2 would've won < w/o him there. Interesting perspective:
'14 WMB: Wawrinka/Raonic '15 WMB: Murray vs Novak '15 USO: Wawrinka vs Novak '16 WMB: Plausible Cilic vs Murray Final '17 AO: Wawrinka vs Nadal '17 WMB: Berdych wins '18 AO: Cilic wins '19 FO: Wawrinka on Nadal SF B4 Thiem?? '19 WMB: Nadal vs Novak***
That's entirely too shortsighted! If Roger had left sooner, it might've changed the development of the NG'rs he had a mental edge over! Kei, Raonic, & Dimitrov may have actually accomp. something if not for Fed in the way!
***His pigeon, Wawrinka's the >est ??; esp. USO '15 & AO '17.***
***Murray's not > >er > Safin, Hewitt, or Roddick peak for peak. I know Murray has 3 slams which is > what these men have, but taking into acct. the playing levels of Murray, he really wasn't in a >er tier > these people. B/c if he was then, he w/b having a career like Agassi.
If you quickly classify tennis into 5 tiers, then it'd look like this:
1 - 'Big 3,' Pete, Borg 2 - Agassi, Connors, Becker, Lendl, McEnroe 3 - Murray, Hewitt, Safin, Courier, Roddick 4 - Gaudio & others who won a fluke slam or reached some finals only, like Nalby, Berdych
5 - The ones below who've never been close to winning a slam
So Murray & Agassi clearly had some gap btw them which was impossible to bridge. The gap btwn 'Big 3' & Murray is bigger > 1 tier. That's what the media never highlights & Andy's always clubbed w/ them. ---
Djokodal rec. since '13 USO vs each other.
9-0 on HC 19-0 in sets Djokovic 1-0 in grass; Rarely Meet 7-4 Clay. Nadal near his best always wins
Bar '21 RG, has any match been surprising? Their last 4 meetings have been on clay &'s 3-1 to Nadal.
Minus '15, it's obvious Nadal wins on clay, Djokovic wins on HC, & while W'18 was close, it was Djokovic only back to his decent level. If they met again he'd easily win. ---
Djokovic dominates the H2H in best of 3 matches. Djokovic Slam rec. vs Nadal:
2-0 AO 2-8 RG 2-1 W 1-2 USO
While Nadal still has better rec. & > titles > Djokovic @ USO. The lop-sided slam meetings obviously helps Nadal. Nadal on clay's just the >est Level in tennis history so Djokovic rec. isn't bad on him. ---
I think 22 of the 50 Nole-Fed matches were str. sets (15 Fed, 7 Nole) so there was plenty of one-way traffic in those matches as well. However, there were also plenty of gems as Nadal-Fed & Djoker-Nadal. ---
Despite Roddick having 0 Wimbls., Goran has 1 & Murray having 2. We know that all of them are same level players. Somebody was lucky, somebody was unlucky, but end of the day in ability they are same. Murray has achieved >, that we can agree.***
Luck is involved in the grand scheme of things no matter how much we want to deny it! In '19, Roger had MP, serving for Wimbl.! Again @ 40-15, the 1st serve just hit the top of the tape & fell back! As good as Djokovic is known for his 'return' prowess, he was moving toward the FH when all Roger had to do was get the ball in play down the middle to take his 21st Major! Damage w/b done to Novak's prospects if he had lost that match! It was a terr. amt. of luck utilized by Djokovic to pull that out & + 4-6 > Majors to = Roger @ 20! He went on to surpass him @ 21, stealing another Wimbl. until able to play the next major, 1 behind Nadal's 22!
***In '06/07 Murray was touted to have a >er career > Djokovic. ...Britain was grooming Djokovic to potentially play for Britain. Djokovic stayed loyal to the then Serbia & Montenegro, but B4 Djokovic rose around the 1st half of '07, Murray was considered the >er player. Djokovic broke thru in '07. Murray was in the top 10 either B4 Hamburg '07 or afterwards. He injured his wrist vs Volandri in a match @ Hamburg which put him out of Wimbl. Djokovic got to the Qtrs of the FO in '06. ...Where did it go wrong for Murray? I believe that Djokovic is just superior mentally. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you're a headcase you're going to get nowhere. Murray in his youth was a talented player, but he lacked that killer instinct Djokovic had. Their development showed this when Murray would continually lose to Djokovic thru '14 to Montreal '15 when Murray finally beat him for the 1st X since Wimbl.'15.***
***I thought the Bears got fk'd twice by the refs on that one drive last nite on MNF. Not that it would've changed the outcome.***
GB's always owned The Bears! Going back to the "Magic Man," Majkowski back in the late 80's, the ball just bounced their way! The only X Chgo overcame GB was during their SB per. where the defense was elite & top notch! Minn. was like that for many yrs. as well! Controversially bad calls go w/ the entire package includ. lineman downfield during a pass or the QB going past the line of scrimmage completing a pass! Getting regrets from officials later didn't help! It never seems to matter, winds up being another "L" for my team on the lake!
***Things will prob. turn around for da Bearsus when Rodgers hangs up the cleats in a yr. or 2. The div. will prob. be up for grabs & hopefully the Pukers w/b in for a long per. of suckitude.***
I'll almost feel sorry for them! The team as a whole has been a shell of itself for yrs.! Favre & Rodgers won those games on their own! The defense was always overrated or they wouldn't lose games 51-45 in the playoffs! Now, = Rodgers' fallen back to the pack allowing SF to def. him scoring only 10 pts.! Wow!
***...You KNEW they were HOF material so in their case, it'd make sense to bench Jimmy G.(SF) as just a bk.up for them as they did & develop one of them if they had drafted one of big QB's, but Trey Lance? He had so many ??'s that many people were like "WTF?" Jimmy won't want to stay w/ them after this yr. the way they fk'd him over. The 9'rs just fk'd themselves in the ass BTW they handeled it all.***
He won't be the last QB fk'd over by his team or league! Like you I understand wanting to move on, but why do it this way? Even if Lance is their future, it's a lit'l soon t/b pushing him out there! There's something about Franchise QB's where things might start slow, but it truly was inevitable they w/b winners! I don't get that vibe yet as he's oft injured! You can't develop on the bench un< you're supposed t/b there early on! I suppose it could have something to do w/ other contracts where they're promised change! Big mistake! Mayfield was another casualty of bad team management!
***What happened to Mayfield? He seems t/b heading down the same path Cam Newton; gone from a sure thing to being a 'has been' although unlike Newton, he's younger & still has X to turn things around. It was thought Trey needed one > yr. on the bench B4 he w/b ready. it’s turning out though it was wise for the 9'rs to start Trey to find out he's a bust. He's obviously injury prone. OMG, I'm totally sold the Bills are going to win the SB. First, they beat the SB Champs, my LA Rams; now they blew out the Titans 41 -7 on MNF. This team's going to win it all.***
We'll just have to see if they can squeak by the KC Chiefs! They usually find a way! No team's been better of late, winning a SB, defending AFC West Div. Titles, & making Conf. Finals!
***Yeah, but Mahomes has his meltdowns in big games. He did in the SB vs the 9'rs ONLY winning cause they had a QB that has meltdowns as well. He got scared or something when he faced Brady in the SB knowing he was facing a real HOF QB w/ some MAJOR meltdown & of course last yr. in the AFC title game he had meltdown #3. I think this is the Bills' yr. as long as they have home field advantage as I believe they will & w/b unstoppable.***
***I thought the Bears got fk'd twice by the refs on that one drive last nite on MNF. Not that it would've changed the outcome.***
GB's always owned The Bears! Going back to the "Magic Man," Majkowski back in the late 80's, the ball just bounced their way! The only X Chgo overcame GB was during their SB per. where the defense was elite & top notch! Minn. was like that for many yrs. as well! Controversially bad calls go w/ the entire package includ. lineman downfield during a pass or the QB going past the line of scrimmage completing a pass! Getting regrets from officials later didn't help! It never seems to matter, winds up being another "L" for my team on the lake!
***Things will prob. turn around for da Bearsus when Rodgers hangs up the cleats in a yr. or 2. The div. will prob. be up for grabs & hopefully the Pukers w/b in for a long per. of suckitude.***
I'll almost feel sorry for them! The team as a whole has been a shell of itself for yrs.! Favre & Rodgers won those games on their own! The defense was always overrated or they wouldn't lose games 51-45 in the playoffs! Now, = Rodgers' fallen back to the pack allowing SF to def. him scoring only 10 pts.! Wow!
***...You KNEW they were HOF material so in their case, it'd make sense to bench Jimmy G.(SF) as just a bk.up for them as they did & develop one of them if they had drafted one of big QB's, but Trey Lance? He had so many ??'s that many people were like "WTF?" Jimmy won't want to stay w/ them after this yr. the way they fk'd him over. The 9'rs just fk'd themselves in the ass BTW they handeled it all.***
He won't be the last QB fk'd over by his team or league! Like you I understand wanting to move on, but why do it this way? Even if Lance is their future, it's a lit'l soon t/b pushing him out there! There's something about Franchise QB's where things might start slow, but it truly was inevitable they w/b winners! I don't get that vibe yet as he's oft injured! You can't develop on the bench un< you're supposed t/b there early on! I suppose it could have something to do w/ other contracts where they're promised change! Big mistake! Mayfield was another casualty of bad team management!
***What happened to Mayfield? He seems t/b heading down the same path Cam Newton; gone from a sure thing to being a 'has been' although unlike Newton, he's younger & still has X to turn things around. It was thought Trey needed one > yr. on the bench B4 he w/b ready. it’s turning out though it was wise for the 9'rs to start Trey to find out he's a bust. He's obviously injury prone. OMG, I'm totally sold the Bills are going to win the SB. First, they beat the SB Champs, my LA Rams; now they blew out the Titans 41 -7 on MNF. This team's going to win it all.***
We'll just have to see if they can squeak by the KC Chiefs! They usually find a way! No team's been better of late, winning a SB, defending AFC West Div. Titles, & making Conf. Finals!
***Yeah, but Mahomes has his meltdowns in big games. He did in the SB vs the 9'rs ONLY winning cause they had a QB that has meltdowns as well. He got scared or something when he faced Brady in the SB knowing he was facing a real HOF QB w/ some MAJOR meltdown & of course last yr. in the AFC title game he had meltdown #3. I think this is the Bills' yr. as long as they have home field advantage as I believe they will & w/b unstoppable. ---
Do you agree the Dolphins/Bills rivalry from the past btw Dan Marino & Jim Kelly is on its way to being back in form again.***
I loved those games back in the 90's! Marino got so many accolades, but Kelly and the Bills owned him!
***Rafa had a chance to hit Tiafoe in the 2nd set of that LC dubs match, but hit the worst FH I ever seen him attempt. Yes, it was an exh. for Rafa, yet Frances was playing like it was DC.***
It seems "to be on" this yr.! Every X I surf by, the play seems t/b serious stuff! Novak was "in the zone" dusting Tiafoe in the 1st set 6-1! He was relent< trying not to give up pts! Frances was lucky to get some "helping luck" w// 2 "dribblers" over the net Nole couldn't run down! Djokovic's 1st serve % was over 90%! People were feeling sorry for The World and Tiafoe alike! FAA & Frtiz were sitting there in stunned silence!
***Nice post. Yeah IDK if Novak would say it, but I think part of him playing so comp. against Tiafoe & Sock/Minaur was to avenge Fedal's def. from yesterday. Tiafoe has a great career ahead of him. I think he'll manage. ---
Honorary mention for Jack Sock who could've 'tech.' achieved this in dubs v Djokovic/Berrettini, but I guess he'll settle for being the last player to face all Big 3 in < 24 hrs.***
Sock has been the anchor of the WT! Alex de M. was just awful! Ya hate to blame a player in dubs, but his play sux'd! Defensive volleying vs Top 10 players won't work! As Martina saw it, his stationary volleying isn't being attacked, & prod. UFE! Coming into the net he was marginally >er, but not by >! He was the weak link!
***Fed’d be great @ commentary. He was always a sharp analyst of his own game. Can imagine someday him & Rafa in the booth together. They’d be constantly giggling while the match is being played.***
Sorry! Pass! i get lit''l out of them playing! Listening to them "harking back" w/b = < entertaining; esp. from a bore like Rafa!
***They’re 2 of the >est ever! Even though I hated Agassi, McEnroe & Connors w/ a feeling, I still found something to (grudgingly) admire in their tennis.***
I can appreciate any player, but that doesn't mean they can entertain me w/ their play! Fed's the best! He's the complete package of skill, grace, & humility that we crave from our stars! Even though I thought his early reign was assisted by weak comp., he did get fat off personal pigeons; esp. A-Rod!
History will realistically believe Fedalovic t/b on the same level! I feel fortunate enough to live thru the 90's when comp. was still comp.! No top player; = Sampras could take other players for granted! Court specialists could take him out! ...Looks like things are opening up w/ Carlos getting to #1 so early! Who'd of thunk it? A true changing of the guard! Ruud came out of nowhere! He's the most annonymous #2 in world history of ATP rankings OTTH!
***Don't forget about Magnus Norman & Tommy Haas. Not "anonymous," but I wouldn't be surprised if Ruud ends up w/ a >er career > either of those 2. Norman only reached one Slam Final, reached a Slam QF only 3 X's, won a single Masters (12 titles overall). Haas was around forever, but only won a single Masters, 15 titles overall, & never reached a Slam Final, but did reach 8 Slam QFs (& 4 SFs). Meanwhile, Ruud's still only 23 (24 in Dec.) & has already reached 2 Slam Finals & won 9 titles, though hasn't won a Masters. ---
Ruud's getting a bit of the 'Rodney Dangerfield.' M/b he did sneak in a bit w/ the RG final, but he's looking like everyone's pick t/b the next RG new winner, at least someday. Passing Thiem. He's got a lot of upside, & just has yet to find his way on HCs. I like him. Plus, the rankings are weird right now.***
***Fed 40-15, Wimbl. Final, drops match to Novak! ...Only prob. is that Pete Sampras would never be having a MP @ 38 yrs. of age to hit that ace down the middle which I'm sure he's capable of hitting w/o fail, but then he has t/b there to hit it, no?***
People forget Sampras was dragging his carcass around for 2 yrs. btw not just a major win, but any kind of tourn. victory! He took his last Wimbl. over Rafter in 2000 & didn't come close to winning much of anything until he got into a serving groove @ his last USO in '02, def. his personal pigeon, Andre Agassi! His ranking was spiraling down & was barely in the top 20! Pete was done @ 31, so Fed gets > credit since he still was able to get to #1 @ 36! Very impressive = for a few months!
***...We're going to have to return to grading on a normal curve, pretty soon. Fed has retired, Rafa has one foot out, & Novak, other-worldly tennis yesterday, merely mortal & beatable today. We're about to go back to a place where, yes, Ruud has a lot of up-side. ---
Ok, fair enough - so it is mostly semantics, & pt. taken re: “a normal curve.” I’ve kind of made a similar pt. to our dear hyperbolic friend, @Fiero425 when trashing everyone for not being Borg or Roger, etc. I just see a 1/2 dozen young(ish) guys who I see as having >her upside. Doesn’t mean Ruud isn’t really good or won’t win some big titles, though.***
I thought I've been saying for yrs that we've been spoiled by the excellence, resilience, & consistency of the Big 3! No champions of the past measure up; hence their #'s are 2 & 3 X's >er! Their recs should hold for decades; = if Carlos is the "real deal!" The comp. won't allow him to just win everything!
***At his peak, Nadal beat a peak Federer in what was touted t/b the Greatest Match of all X.***
The masses don't know what they're looking at! The tennis intelligentsia believe the sport begins & ends w/ Fedal so they can't be taken seriously by me after being a part of the game since 1970! I've seen them all, apprec. the ATG's, but that list s/b a lot longer > just Roger & Rafa prominently displayed at the top!
***I wish there were a way to see what Kieran, Moxie, Britbox, El Dude, Fiero425 and others predicted on where the Big 3'd wind up in terms of majors won; see back in '14-16. That w/b entertaining to revisit. ---
I'm not sure about the specific per. mentioned, but I def. remember predicting around 8 majors tops for Rafa on the old tennis.com boards due to his knees. It mhb around '08/09. I don't recall anyone back in the day, talking in terms of 19/20/21 etc... those kind of figures were unheard of in tennis history. Rafa's longevity in the sport surprises me > anything else.***
I can't rememeber if I came up w/ a final major ct. for Fedal, but I well know I thought Roger should retire on top after '12 Wimbl.! He had another chance after '17 Wimbl. win, but his ego wouldn't allow it! Now he's been overtaken by 2 players while staggering to the finish line! All I can recall is jumping on the bandwagon that Novak'd inevitably be the GOAT after winning his FO in '16! He only had the 12, but after such a nice stretch of wins from '15 to the Summer of '16, there didn't appear anyway for him not to jump into the lead eventually! All the so called experts started commentating & writing that Djokr w/b the GOAT, includ. Wilander, Becker, McEnroe, & others! That's when I produced a blog to chronolog his ascension to >ness! Again, it's not that I'm a fan as much as he satisfied my desire to bring Fedal down a peg or 3 after so many yrs. of the tennis intelligentsia slobbering over how great they were & "The Rivalry" which wasn't IMO!
***I tend to give Novak the singular GOAT crown if I have to pick just one, or @ least give him a tiny sliver of an edge as "1st among ='s." But my preference is otherwise - that taking all factors into act., history's best served by seeing them as a "3-headed GOAT" - or, >er yet, jettison the whole idea of GOAT.
But I'm going to put on my Fedfan hat for a moment - to defend this idea that he "should've retired" in '12 or '17, or @ any given pt.
For one, = after '12, Roger was still 1 of the 3 best players for another 6 or 7 yrs, @ least > of the X. He struggled @ X's w/ injury, but when healthy he was right there & still going deep in Slams, including 3 Finals in '14-15, & a last one in '19. To say he should've retired in '12 after Wimbl., well, it fits the Sampras mold, but part of the legend of Roger (Big 3 as a whole)--and what sets them apart from Sampras & others--is that they came back, & returned to the top when it seemed like they were done. And of course by suggesting that he "should've" retired after Wimbl. in '17 ignores his '18 AO victory, or the fact that he reached & almost won '19 Wimbl.
My sense is that you like the narrative of going out on top or @ least after a big victory. And yeah, it's a nice one. Who knows, m/b if he had won that '19 Wimbl. he'd've retired, & it whb a beautiful moment. Instead we got the limping anguish of '20-22. But I don't think that tarnishes his legacy @ all. Sampras' retirement is singular, as is Borg's. Everyone else retired in a > conventional way: decline & eventual retirement. Such is life (& tennis).
...Murray had to face 3 guys who were >er > any player that those 4 (Edberg, Becker, Sampras, & Borg) ever had to play, w/ the poss. exception of Borg & Sampras @ the tail-end & start of their careers, respectively. The mid-to-late 80s was arguably the > difficult context to win a Slam in, w/ > ATGs in or near their primes > in any other part of the Open Era IMO.
...By the end of '12, Roger had 17 Slams, Rafa 11, Novak 5. W/ 2 new, & younger guys of similar ability starting to peak around then, there's no way those 3 get to 20+. Imagining 2 such players gives us a sense of the context of Roger's career, from '12 on.
...We're possibly looking @ a gap of 15 yrs ('88-02) w/o any ATG's being born. Even if Sinner ('01) or FAA ('00) get there, we're still talking 12+ yrs. And even if Daniil Medvedev resurges & improbably wins 5 > Slams to claim his place among ATGs, we're talking about a pretty significant gap ('87-96).
It c/b said that part of the weakness of those gens. is due to the >ness of the Big 3, esp. Novak & Rafa. Their >ness & longevity was like a massive concrete wall that younger players couldn't get by. ...I don't see any player born from '88-02 that I'd say would've definitely or = likely been an ATG if the Big 3 weren't around, or = just declined @ historically typical rates. It's reciprocal, & neither Rafa nor Novak ever had to deal w/ anything like Roger did: 2 =ly talented players that were 1/2 a dec. or > younger.
...As far as Slam totals are concerned, not only are they part (if a major part) of the overall statistical picture of any given player, but context's hugely important: in this case, the lack of not = a single truly > player born after Novak in '87 for poss. as much as 16 yrs.***
I apprec. everything you had to say & wrote in this "The Iliad," but it's full of "what if?!" All those suppositions of age, other comp. & maybes didn't happen! Numbers are #'s; cold & hard! No one 100 yrs. from now is going t/b making up "outside possibilities" to justify a change in thinking when it comes to the GOAT race! ...They're all about to exit the stage! We'll apprec. them, but like the "Highlander," "there can be only one!"
***That's actually a nice 'box set,' his "Dub.GM's," though I don't see what makes it "Golden?" There's no ?? that Novak has a nicely-rounded resume. He's a great all-around player, but he did get some bonus yrs.***
***I think people are forgetting just how > it looked like Rafa was approaching the end, in '15 &, > so, in '16. The fact that he rebounded & won 8 > Slams' just crazy. Even his > diehard fans, IIRC, had gotten to the pt. of hoping for 1 > RG win. His (& Roger's) resurgence in '17 is 1 of the > amazing tennis phenomena that I've ever seen.***
I was hoping anyway! Then Djokovic had a walkabout for 1 1/2 yrs. allowing Fedal Redux w/ Rafa & Roger splitting the spoils in '17! I blamed the other top players allowing grandpas to rule the tour! Novak's return to the top in the Summer of '18 squashed it & he reasserted his dom. thank GAWD!
***I've gotta give it to you, Fiero: your hyperbole never comes across as malicious. Love the humor of it, = if you frequently veer into ridiculosity & "Old Man Yells @ Clouds."***
I get that a lot! I try to back up my commentary w/ reasons & stats unlike > who just say "he's a bum" or "fake" & leaves it @ that! Some here don't like fans ??ing or bemoaning Rafa's broken body & need to "not make a big deal" of his injuries! Novak's been 1 of the luckiest players who's held up pretty well for 20 yrs on the tour! He had a lit'l problem w/ the elbow sev. yrs ago & now he's mentioned "his wrist!"
***...I'm just saying there doesn't really need t/b a debate except for those who feel they need to claim their guy as singular GOAT &/or those who feel there has t/b 1 GOAT. I've already thrown my "gun to head" pick for Novak getting a pubic-hair's-edge...a better answer is > nuanced apprec. of their variations on >ness.
... Alcaraz's now arguably the best player on tour, @ least among the younger players having @ least =led the best of the prev. gen., & surpassed the best of the one B4 who're now on their way out (whither Milos?). But it makes me think in terms of Rafa in '05 as Alcaraz's '22 is =valent in terms of both age & reaching Slam-winning form. In '05, Roger's gen. was in their prime, = though Roger had pushed everyone else aside. But it wasn't for another 2 yrs. until anyone younger than Rafa'd win a big title; Novak in '07, & then Andy joining him in '08.
If history plays out in a similar fashion, we might not see Alcaraz's closest younger peers emerge til '24 or '25. I'd expect guys like Sinner & FAA to win big titles well B4 then; prob. next yr. @ least for Sinner who feels a bit past-due. But it just shows us how young Alcaraz is (& Rafa was in '05). And who knows, Holger Rune might win a Masters next yr. (prob. not, but who knows? M/b he has an epiphany while hunting trolls in Lappland). ---
Rafa was stuck @ 14 from '14 for 3 yrs, Roger stuck @ 17 for = longer, which I honestly thought for a long X w/b enough to keep him on top. I really hoped that Rafa'd @ least get the 1 > to pass Pete. Hoping for >, despite whatever bluster I may've presented around here, seemed a bit of a pipe dream. That all 3 hit/passed 20 seems crazy to me. It wasn't until Rafa got #18 (w/ Roger @ 20) that I thought he might just tie him B4 he quit. ---
Yes, #'s are #'s - there's no refuting them, regardless of what "What If" scenarios one entertains. But again, that's not my pt. It's about context & how we determine non-factual determinations like "GOAT." I'll use wks @ #1 as an ex. Novak has 373 & may get >. Roger ends w/ 310, & Rafa's unlikely to + to his 209. We can factually say that Novak is +63 wks over Roger & +164 wks over Rafa. That's impressive. But what conclusions we draw from that are subjective. Meaning, the "cold & hard" #'s (obj.facts) don't auto. =te to subjective characterizations (e.g. GOAT).
Again, I think Novak has the best overall career resume already, &'s likely to = to it or @ least distance himself further from Roger & solidify his lead over Rafa in > ways. But my pt. about context is that as factual & "cold & hard" #'s are, they don't arise w/i an all-=lizing context.***
***Some USO-related stats of the men who won 3 or > X's in the OE:
Pete Sampras - Winner x5
Runner-up x3 SF x9 W-L: 71-9 (88.7%) Won 1st US Open: age 19, 3rd entry Cons. overall wins: 2 ('95-96) Wins vs top 10 players: 16 Pre-SF elims after winning 1st USO: 3 (vs Courier, Yzaga & Korda)
Jimmy Connors - Winner x5
Runner-up x2 SF x14 W-L: 98-17 (85.2%) Won 1st US Open: age 22, 6th entry Cons. overall wins: 2 ('82-83) Wins vs top 10 players: 13 Pre-SF elims after winning 1st USO: 2 (vs Witsken & Lendl)
Roger Federer - Winner x5 Runner-up x2 SF x10 W-L: 89-14 (86.4%) Won 1st US Open: age 23, 6th entry Cons. overall wins: 5 ('04-08) Wins vs top 10 players: 16 Pre-SF eliminations after winning 1st USO: 5 (vs. Berdych, Robredo, Del Potro, Millman & Dimitrov)
John McEnroe - Winner x4
Runner-up x1 SF x8 W-L: 65-12 (84.4%) Won 1st US Open: age 20, 3rd entry Cons. overall wins: 3 ('79-81) Wins vs top 10 players: 15 Pre-SF elims after winning 1st USO: 7 (vs Scanlon, Annacone, Lendl, Woodforde, Haarhuis, Chang & Courier)
Rafael Nadal - Winner x4
Runner-up x1 SF x8 W-L: 67-12 (84.8%) Won 1st US Open: age 24, 8th entry Cons. overall wins: 0 Wins vs top 10 players: 7 Pre-SF elims after winning 1st USO: 3 (vs. Fognini, Pouille & Tiafoe)
Novak Djokovic - Winner x3
Runner-up x6 SF x12 W-L: 81-13 (86.2%) Won 1st US Open: age 24, 7th entry Cons. overall wins: 0 Wins vs. top 10 players: 14 Pre-SF elims after winning 1st USO: 0
Ivan Lendl - Winner x3
Runner-up x5 SF x9 W-L: 73-13 (84.8%) Won 1st US Open: age 25, 7th entry Cons. overall wins: 3 ('85-87) Wins vs. top 10 players: 18 Pre-SF elims after winning 1st USO: 2 (vs Sampras & Edberg) ---
In a world w/o Big 3:
Murray wins AO '10, AO '11, W '11, USO '11, AO '12, W '12, AO '13, W '15, AO '16, & FO '16 + 3 Slams which he already won.
So that's around 13 Slams
Roddick wins '03 W, '04 W, '05 W, '06 USO, '07 AO, USO '08, AO '09? Would Verdasco beat him? '09 W for sure, + 1 which he already won.
So that's around 8-9 Slams
Murray and Roddick would be the Big 2 in this Vacuum.
For some reasons w/o Big 3, the 2010s looks weaker > 2000s which still has powerful players. This means Big 3 is what made the 2010s powerful. Murray remains overrated for sure. ---
There are about 13 players in the OE that deserve t/b placed above him: Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Sampras, Borg, Laver, Lendl, Agassi, McEnroe, Connors, Wilander, Edberg, & Becker.
He's clear of Vilas & Courier IMO despite having one < slam, b/c his body of work outside the slams & his overall slam consistency's > >er. Higher win %'s, > titles, > T1 titles, > OGs, > YEC's, > slam finals, > slam SFS, > slam QFs. Plus, playing in the most difficult era of all X & still achieving what he did gives him bonus pts. ---
I def. need Casper to focus & take the Paris Masters or the ATP Finals. I'd say grabbing a big title B4 this YE's over is crucial to the start of next yr.***
This s/b a very highly contested Masters & YEC when normally players are brk'n down or just plain tired! Novak will go in fresher > ever since he hasn't played much in the last 3 months! Nadal'll prob. be the only one who doesn't show up as he's never come close to winning! Rafa's best chance in Paris was back in '07 where everyone upset includ. Roger by Nalbandien def. Nadal in the final! Murray & Djokovic were barely a blip on the ATG list!
All I know is any good bud of mines wouldn't have to deal w/ the humiliation of what Rafa's put Roger thru over those early yrs! We complain about the "weak era" commentary, but back in '06-09, few others > Rafa were making Roger work for it! Nole snuck in 2 or 3 X's, but overall, the comp. was sad & pathetic! Fed'd personal pigeons like A-Rod that suffered loss after loss in major finals! Those Wimbl. finals will haunt Andy for all X! X & X again, esp. on clay, Rafa "used & abused" Roger, picking apart that beautiful game of his! Nadal served Fed plenty of breadsticks & bagels to go along w/ those beatings! No friend would do that un< very insecure & thinking to themselves, "if any weakness shown, it could cost me the match!" Total BS! They had to hate each other's guts no matter the front portraying them as a Legendary Rivals & friends! All of it is a misnomer/fraud! ;-)
***You think they were friends in '06-09? They respected each other, but they didn't become friendly until > later in the rivalry. - Sure, they competed hard, & yes, Rafa roughed up Roger a bit > the reverse, but it became clear earlier > later that they had an amiable relationship off-court. ...Martina & Chrissy had an amazing rivalry, & were friends, = though someX's they weren't. McEnroe has spoken of how much he missed his great rival in Borg, when he quit, & they remain close. Roger and Rafa lived a great rivalry together, when they were #1 & #2 for 6 full yrs. They were carrying men's tennis on their shoulders.***
It didn't matter if they were buds or not! I wouldn't abuse a stranger the way Rafa did Roger in embarrassing him unnec.! I used to choreograph my matches of ops. depending on their level of play! My dentist was good, but never a threat! We played in the 2nd Rd. of a club tourn. & I got to a 5-2 lead in the 1st set, let him get to 5 all, then closed it out 7-5! In the 2nd set I let him get to a 5-2 lead B4 storming back to win that set 7-5! No harm, no foul! The score looked good on the draw sheet & he could puff his chest out telling people how he made me work for it! Rafa's 1 of those comp. types that if desp. enough, he'd dropshot an old lady in a wheelchair!
***Prob. the lack of killer instinct is why you were never > a club player, & Rafa has 22 Majors. And Roger 20. Tell me 1 X you ever saw either of them give qtr. out of sympathy. Roger used to razorblade thru ops. Did it bother him that it embarrassed them? Rafa & Novak likewise. Should they pull their punches to make a match > comp.? I don't remember Rafa ever drop-shotting an old-lady in a wheelchair, or anyone who didn't deserve one, but you're acting like being comp. is a bad thing. Or somehow "unseemly." You're comparing club play to world class tennis. Being comp. & yes, ruthless, is exactly what got Fed, Nadal, & Djokovic to where they are. I don't see the complaint. ---
Glad Nadal has won > double Borg's titles @ RG?***
Borg took on all comers w/ lit. a stick & strings strung to the feel of a glass pane! Rafa has had the benefits of "the X's" w/ superior training, tech improvements of rackets & strings, w/ homogenous courts! It'll continue t/b w/ > people & a brain to know Borg's huge & will cont. t/b so b/c of his diverse winning from the slowest of clay in Paris to the slickness of choppy grass w/i a wk. @ Wimbl.! That'll set him apart from all players now & into the foreseeable future due to the greedy Big 3 who sucked up > of the major events for the >er part of 20 yrs! It w/b impossible for their feats t/b surpassed in anyone's lifeX today! Nadal can vulture all the FO's he wants, having just 2 split Wimbl. Chps. on grass, = his Chan'l Slam of '10 can't compare to Borg's who took FO & Wimbl. 3 str. yrs alone surpassing Rafa for the X! ...Bjorn did so much in those 8 yrs while Nadal's still toiling the fields trying to catch up after 15+! Borg still has > YEC's & Wimbl. which w/b a great career alone!
***...Graf reached only 1 SF in her 1st 3 yrs on the tour & was able to make up so much ground w/ phenomenal #'s from '86 on.***
The reversals of fortune comes into play w/ Graf & Navratilova! Steffi took out Martina 2 of 3 X's @ Wimbl., while MN def. SG 4 of 5 @ the USO! Strange; esp. their meeting in '91 when Martina was all but done! She hadn't played any WTA matches all Summer doing WTT after dropping QF to Capriati @ Wimbl.! It was a wonder she = got to that SF, but prevailed magnificently over Graf!
***Part of that was simply the luck of the draw & age. At USO, Steffi happened to meet Martina 2 X's B4 she gained her adult physique 15-16 yrs., but she never met MN @ Wimbl. B4 17. Young Steffi still had enough exper. on HC's to get into the SF's despite her youth, but on grass this petite girl wasn't grass ready enough to get into SF's. As for '91, Martina was by then a very rare anamoly. She was virtually the only S/V left in the game. Steffi whg sev. tourns. w/o ever having to hit > a dozen passing shots/lobs w/ Martina out of comm. for months. When you + those lefty serves & spins to the mix, Martina had a HUGE advantage. Nobody played like her & if her 1st serve was going in, by the X a player in the 90's got a groove on their dipping return & passing shots/lobs she had the set. ---
The rel. importance of doubles in the era ...***
Only us "oldsters" recall how important dubs was "way back when!" All the top players competed; esp. the women! Evert got down & dirty partnering w/ the best to keep her from embarrassment! I can recall seeing her w/ Casal, Durr, Navratilova, & Morozova! Her teaming w/ Martina broke down when she started losing to her & admits it half-heartedly! Martina never seemed to have a prob. playing w/ anyone; = when Shriver beat her twice @ the USO!
***Sukova was actually the kind of player that troubled Martina > Chris. Martina took a long X to get her passing shots & return grooved. Her BH pass was 'readable' so the tall, heavy hitting serve/ volleyers like Shriver, Sukova, & Mandlikova always got victories over Navratilova B4 they got 1 over Chris. Matter of fact, I looked @ all the players who were 5'9" or taller to see when they got their 1st victory/last victory over Evert. There was only 1 I'm sure of, btw the X during her prime yrs, June '74 thru June '86 by Lisa Bonder (5'10") in '83. None for Court, Sukova, Shriver, Silvia Hanika w/i those X frames. Graf's 1st victory may fit the parameters, depending on whether she had reached her full adult ht. @ 16 in April of '86. ...Court's last win was B4 Evert's RG. Sukova's 1st was 6 months after Evert's last. Shriver got her's in '87 as did Hanika after they got any vs Martina.***
That Sukova match still makes me SMH! IIRC Martina took the 1st set 6-1, though it was highly contested! M. Court = said she left after the 1st set thinking "it's all over!" That ruined Martina's run of 6 Majors in a row & a comp. of her CYGS unfort.! Martina lost on that court many X's! Btw the choppy courts, trains, bugs, & wind, I guess she was lucky to win 3 X's! ---
Going back to '87 hurts! After Borg's retirement @ the end of '81, thinking of Martina going out so soon was disturbing! After a sensational run from the end of '81 thru'86, in '87 she was only getting to finals, but wasn't able to close them out! She finally won Wimbl. over Graf! It was so bizarre! ...Grass was no guarantee of sucess as she dropped a 1st set lead of 5-1, @ Eastborne losing to Sukova 6-7, 3-6! It could't be explained! Her season was salvaged by def. Graf again @ the USO, but was never the same player!
***MN was getting on in yrs. It’s always hard to watch these old warriors lose something in themselves. Martina once said that as players get older, they become > nervous. She said she found that strange, as if the opp. s/b the case & a players exper. should boost them, but as always, she was right. Only took her game t/b off a smidge, < assertive & sure, < athletic too, & players exploited it.***
13: Djokovic 12: Nadal 7 : Federer 3 : Murray, Wawrinka 1 : Del Potro, Cilic ------
'19-28
7: Djokovic 5: Nadal 1: Thiem, Medvedev, Alcaraz ---
This clearly shows that Djokovic was the > dom. player @ GS in the last decade. So in OE since its start, we have 5 decades each belonging to these dom. players respectively: Borg, McEnroe & Wilander, Sampras, Fed & Djokovic. - There are 24 GS's left to play by '28 & Alcaraz needs to win 1/2 of them t/b @ the same level as the Big 3. ---
Djokovic v Fed (End '10 -'11 ):
So we all know how > '11 became for Djokovic. One of the best seasons ever no doubt. But what really changed btw '10 & '11?
...Onto '11, he beats Fed @ the AO, Dubai, & IW's, where Fed only takes 1 set btw the 3 matches.
He got tired of being the perennial #3 guy, having been #3 from '07-10 I believe.
He also won a DC after that USO, which was big for him that he'd actually win big again. Then he also became gluten-free / plant based / way > conscious of his diet. The retirements stopped, & he started to become that fighter we know him as today.
The 41 match win streak was epic. That's sort of when I became a fan of his, when he got like 17 wins in a row & U realized, ...Instead he became the GOAT. ---
Djokovic did grow a bit into his build by '11, but overall he looked grown. He’s posture on court, his fight, & his overall looks. He improved in so many aspects, but what sums up for me is he suddenly grown into a man.***
I watched that stretch from The '10 DC win to '11 FO loss to Fed in the SF! It was like Nole was a diff. guy! I didn't know this person! He was strutting around as if he owned the place! He was embarassing both Fedal! Nadal had come off a > '10 & was poised to take over a signif. per. as #1 but for Novak! They seemed to meet in every final from HC, then CLAY, to grass! Djokovic won 7 str. finals over Nadal incl. Wimbl., USO, & '12 AO! I didn't think it poss. to repeat that performance, but to do it one >er in '15 +ing the YEC! '21 was just the cherry on top being 1 match from a CYGS @ 34!
***Well, yeah. If not for him, Nadal'd prob. have made it to 5 str. Slam wins. That’s part of what makes these 3 guys the undeniable GOATs (for me Nadal the > of them): they’re 3 ATGs playing @ insane level, creating tons of epics & holding each other off all the X in the process.***
***Well, the Cowpies came thru. Cooper Rush is 3-0 as a starter. Pretty dull game though def. Giants. Did not imagine the Chiefs would lose to the Colts or that Jimmy G would step out the back of the Endzone & lose the game for the 9'rs.***
That's why they play the games! KC will inexplicably drop a game here & there, but should still win 12-13 games & take the AFC West = though supposedly the toughest Div.! The Chargers & Raiders have looked bad & Denver isn't much >er w/ Russell! Mahomes can relax a lit'l!
***Wilson has lost his confidence ever sinse he was a fk'n moron to listen to Pete "the cheat" & throw the ball down the mid'l costing them b2b SB's. He lost his >ness thst day. A... QB would know that call made no sense & ignored Carrol & give the ball to Lynch, esp. sinse the "Cheatriots" had worn down in the final QTR. & were getting run all over by him, help< to stop him.***
It happens! A player or coach trying to choreograph a win & it's amazing how often it blows up in their faces! He wanted Wilson to star in the Disney comm.; not Lynch! That's what it was all about!
***Reminds me of Matt Ryan. He has never been the same since Brady came back & beat him in the SB.***
Just proves the coach c/b "everything" when it comes to winning & losing! Bad coaches have poor clock mgmt. & screw it up when it comes to play calls @ crucial X's!
***Agreed. But, also someX's a coach calls a risky play & it pays off. Suddenly he's brilliant. Or it doesn't work & he's a loser. Let's not forget the players have to execute. ...That Wilson SB woke me up how these coachs & some of the players are involved along w/ the refs in rigging these games. ...There's big $$ involved in these playoff games. I guarantee if anybody had chk'd Carrols bank acct. after the SB. He got MUCH richer. ---
Funny, the Dallas QB's undef. in the NFL. He has NEVER lost.***
Totally making Jerry's contract for Dax look malfeasant! Isn't it always the way? Give a huge contract to some clown, then they get hurt while a backup barely scraping by does the job! DP will sit on the sidelines for the foreseeable future if Rush keeps winning! I doubt Dax w/b traded away since CP's not that great!
***If that guy keeps going undef., I may start rooting for him & Dallas. Until he loses, then fk. him.***
Watching "Undisputed" w/ Sharp & Scum Bagless! He's found a new way to frustrate fans looking for solid, impartial comm. concerning wk. 4 games; TB vs KC in particular! Scum just can't help himself! He's resorting to not only undermining Mahomes, he's now making fun of his name calling him Patty! He's like a child rather > senile old man! He'll go down Brady's history of 7 SB's, all his empty calorie yds when game out of reach, & pts that weren't enough to win just to piss off people! What a douche!
The Right are just as bad! You aren't allowed to speak up against them @ all! Instant traitor to the country! Both sides eat their young & old no matter their age or political persuasion! It's been that way for decades, we just keep imagining something like free speech is permissible in this country! The problem is the court of public opinion! The Judiciary can only save people when a case is brought forth! Social Media can destroy a person in mins.! That's on all of us to allow it!
***The Left controls 90% of the media. So free speech is only threatened from Liberals.***
You saying FNC & cons. radio only makes up 10% of the Media? You poor babies! Bullshit!
***Fox News is middle Left @ best.***
Oh please! I don't watch them any>, but up until last yr. they were still performing fellatio on Trump! He could do no wrong & for some reason actually have to endure his ire if they so much as concede a single pt. in opposition of his commentary!
***Yes, FNC is small compared to the lib news media. Then there's social media, Twitter, FB, & Google which are entirely ruled by liberals.***
So Trump went to Twitter so he could bore the Dems & Libs to death throughout the day & night? And friends scold me for thinking of IQ's when it comes to choices made by people w/ such logic! Twitter's where cons. got their marching orders to undermine every institution we hold dear! Unfortunately it took voting for an octogeneric to bring back order after Reps tried to overthrow our Democracy & Gov't! There are some people in this world just about irredeemable!
***...How long does Britain keep playing for Team Europe? - Britain…….is in Europe? So as long as they have players who are good enough? ---
Is this where the confusion lies? Do some Americans think Brexit meant the UK left Europe? Switz. isn’t in Europe either, so... ---
I'm not sure. But I have heard people ?? why England were playing in the Euro's football last yr. after Brexit.***
Brexit not a physical brk. w/ Europe; > economic when it comes to mutal contributions to Euro. Union! Trade was disrupted the >!
***It’s incredible how often it was framed by some people as a physical brk. from Europe. Hysterical headlines: “The UK is leaving Europe!”
“The UK is now flying over the Med!”
“The UK has now joined Asia!”
“The UK is leaving Asia!” ---
...That’s like saying Hawaii's US-adjacent. The UK's in Europe, we don’t use terms like adj. over here. Ireland's in Euro. too!***
***Anyone old enough to remember '92 & '93 Jays?***
Being a native of Chgo w/ 2 teams w/o a WS victory in my lifeX in '93, I was a lit'l disgusted that an expan. club won B4 they finally stole 1 each in the coming decades! The Marlins = won 2!
***Yeah, I recall the Wh. Sox for some of those yrs having some strong teams, but you either missed the pennant by 2 games or lost playoffs. The "Big Hurt," Frank Thomas has some spectacular yrs & Ventura was a great 3B man.***
They almost gave it away in '05 ...Cleve. went on a tear & caught up; 1 1/2 games! The playoffs saw the WS explode & roll the opp.!
***...I'm going to focus somewhat on people brk'n or setting long standing recs.
- Feb. 22nd, '80, The "Miracle on Ice" when the USA Hockey team of am. def. the mighty prof. USSR squad.
- Apr. 8th, '74, Aaron hits #715 & passes Babe Ruth for the all X HR rec., a rec. that stood for 39 yrs.
- Sept. 8th, '98, McGwire hits his 62nd HR passing Roger Maris' notorius rec. of 61 in 61, a rec. which stood for 37 yrs.
- Mar. 2nd, '62, Chamberlain scores 100 pts in a game.
- Mar. 8th, '71, the "Fight of the century;" in boxing as the undef. Joe Frazier def. the undef. Muhammad Ali by unan. decision.
- May 15th, '41, DiMaggio slaps a hit in his 56th str. game. The closest since is Jimmy Rollins in '05-06 @ 38 cons. games.
- Aug. 3rd, '36, Owens wins the 100 meter dash in front of Hitler to prove that the Aryan race wasn't so dom. It was the 1st of 4 OGM's Owens earned.
- Apr. 15th, '47, Jackie Robinson brks. the color barrier & plays in the MLB for the Br'lyn Dodgers.
- Jan. 14th, '73, the Miami Dolphins def. the Wash'ton Redskins in SB VII to go 17-0 for the season, the only perfect season in NFL History.
- June 14th, '98, Michael Jordan hits a jumper w/ 5.2 secs left to ice game 6 of the NBA finals vs the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals. The game peaked NBA viewership @ 29 M viewers, while in comparison the 2020 NBA Finals avg. 7.5 M.
- Apr. 18th, '99, Gretzky plays his final game @ age 38 finishing w/ all-X recs in pts, goals & assists. What's notable is how far ahead of everyone he is. Gretzky goals 894, 2nd pl. 801. Gretzky assists 1,963, 2nd pl. 1249. Gretzky all-X pts 2,857, 2nd pl. 1,921.
I have X tennis options, such as BJK def. Bobby Riggs (prob. fixed), Steffi Graf's GS, etc. ---
Ages @ a which an ATG was no longer 1st, 2nd & 3rd in the Slams Race?
Age @ which a player was no longer the OE Slams Leader
Borg - 43, this was Borg's age when Sampras reached 12 in '99 Fed - 40, this was Fed's age in '22 when Nadal reached 21 Sampras - 37, Sampras was still short of his 38th BD when Fed reached 15 in '09
Age @ which a player was no longer in the Top 2 OE Slams Leaders
Borg - 51, this was Borg's age in '07 when Fed reached 12 slams & pushed Borg to 3rd Sampras - 45, this was Sampras's age in '17 when Nadal reached 15 & pushed Sampras to 3rd in Slam ct. Fed - 41, this is Fed's age when Djokovic reached 21 & pushed Fed to 3rd in slam ct.
Age @ which a player was no longer in the Top 3 Slams winners of the OE
Borg : When he was 56, Nadal won his 12th slam to become the 3rd >est in the OE Connors : When he was 54, Fed won his 9th slam to become the 3rd >est in OE Sampras : When he was 47, Djokovic won his 15th slam to become the 3rd >est in the OE
Fed's 41 now, if Alcaraz/someone else doesn't reach 21 in the next 15 yrs then Fed would've lived longer > Borg to see himself not being pushed to 4.
History also seems to have been much kinder to Borg > it has been to Sampras. Remember he was still on 14 slams when 3 ladies were on 22, 18 & 18 resp.
Borg too might've reached 15+ had he played AOs & a longer career that does not end @ age 25. Then Sampras' 14 was beaten by Roger in a span of 8 yrs; '02 til '09. Looks like history has been the least kind to Pete.***
***I'm over Jason Brown. I think he's a lovely skater & seems like a very nice person, but his skating doesn't excite me anymore.***
Excitement wasn't going to get the job done anyway! Jason doesn't have the tech. ability to compete these days! Our own FS Assoc. is doing a deservice to him & the team when they pump him up w/ scores that aren't nearly in line w/ what he laid out on the ice! Other countries do the same, but it was almost embarrassing seeing his scores making him 4th w/ 1 missed quad while others are spinning out of their minds! Reminds me of Kwan getting extra credit for just showing up @ Nat'ls! ---
Nathan Chen crushed the field for the OG Medal in FS! "Congrats Nathen!" Jason Brown brought back "Schindler's List" for LP!
***We can't really know what Hanyu's thinking was. I think it's very hard to put ourselves in the minds of high-profile champions who are under tremendous pressure & high expectations from themselves & from others.***
I think if he had gotten over the obsession of that silly 4A, he would've @ least made the podium! He blew it!
***I dont think champions are happy just to make a podium. A Silver or Bronze would still be yet another defeat by Nathan. He said he knew his tech content was not enough to beat Nathan, so what was left to him was the chance to break a new barrier. M/b he still will. I remember viscerally how many hard falls Mirai had to take B4 she could land a clean 3A (which she only did a few X's in comp.). I'd think that not his age, but the beating he put himself through to get the 4A could acct. for his not seeming t/b in peak form this wk. I can't even imagine. ---
I often wondered, after his mistake on the 4S in the SP & again in the LP if the 4A had become a distraction. Also, when he said in the past (after the Nat'ls) that his current layout was not enough to win. I assume he meant to beat Nathan. It almost sounds like he didn't believe that he could beat Nathan. He didn't = try to change that Layout. That's very unusual for Yuzuru b/c I always saw him as a very confident person.***
'22 FS World Chp. on! I wonder how relevant they'll end up being as Russians & Belarusians weren't allowed to compete? The USA won a GOLD in Pairs; 1st since '75 so it appears t/b tainted! The US women are doing very well today w/o the best in the WORLD being there! Alysa Lui took Bronze Medal w/ Mariah Bell in 4th! UNO won the men's event! Zhou took Bronze!
***Hi everyone, new to the website but have been a fig. skating fan since I 1st saw Dorothy Hamill. ...b/c of Nathan winning the OGM, my interest has picked up again. I love Mariah too!***
Welcome! As an old geezer of 65, I apprec. skating still, but haven't been as emotionally invested as I was back in the 90's! You had so many "real characters" out there to spice it up! It's quite vanilla these days w/ lit'l to no talk about what's going on behind the scenes! In my day you had Surya Bonaly doing backflips, Oksana Baiul being dramatic, Nancy Kerrigan getting knee-capped, animus btwn Plushenko & Yagudin, scandalous investigations, & countless TV exhs. & comps.! Again, welcome & hope you get all you can out of the site & watching skating!
***Omg, how could you forget the Goddess that was Pasha Grishuk & the whole Usova/Zhulin/Navka/Platov/partner-& coach-switching malarkey.***
Who said I forgot? I can't name everyone of interest; w/b here all day! Skating had so much going on, but we don't hear much any>! There's no entertainment value about how Zhulin cheated or abused Maya! I prefer to forget!
Rune must've WD @ Astana! He was sched. to play Alcaraz in the 1st Rd.! LL Goffin has taken his place!
***Goffin, out of the dustbin! TBH, Goffin v. Alcaraz m/ > interesting.***
Carlos better be careful! Goffin was in the top 10 not that long ago! He has no real power, but cagey! He can work a pt. just like CA! ...This is Borg territory IMO not w/standing the X's & level of comp.! Is it hyperbole? He's done what sev. gens of stars havent been able to do the last 20 yrs! He's beat Nadovic, took a USO, & became #1 B4 20 yo! True enough, Fedal near the end, but the others haven't! - Upset: Goffin def. CA in str. sets!
***So far Ruud & Alcaraz have been duds since their new rankings & expectations. Do better guys!***
They're like the last wave of NG'rs that can't handle the pressure like The Big 3! Consistency just isn't something they possess! Unbelievably both lost early in their respective tournaments! Ruud went out to Munar in Japan & Alcaraz dropped his 1st Rd. match to Goffin in Astana!
***That's why I don't expect Alcaraz to start his dom. next yr. For sure he w/b very hard to beat when he plays his best, but when his level drops, he w/b anybody's prey.
It's no cakewalk to get past Karen Kh. in QF. Astana since he upset Djoker in the Paris Masters' Final a few yrs ago! There's a distinct poss. of Daniil might obliterate Novak as done in the USO last season! DJ's defin. vuln. to a very creative & powerul player! I admitted he prob. couldn't complete his CYGS un< Med was upset! Only Carlos & Medvedev worry me when it comes to Djokovic the rest of the season! He appears t/b playing quite well though his comp. hasn't been the best so far! Khachanov will test him! ---
Well I guess Djokovic totally embarrassed himself winning his 90th title & his 1st 500 event of the season! He's the 1st to win on grass, clay, & HC! ND's auto. qual. for the YEC w/ this win in Astana keeping him in the top 20! He's hopeful of a successful winning kick to '22 in Paris & YEC!
***Novak w/b the stats GOAT. But he never had a winning rec. vs a rival @ their peaks & vultured slams for 1/2 of his career. Those m/b called blemishes.***
A 100 yrs from now, no one's going t/b that partisan as to use the word "vulture" when it comes to winning @ a pro level for almost 20 yrs by any of the Big 3! You can only def. the players in front of you! If they're old or injured, it all cts! The rec.bks w/b owned by Djokovic = if he fails to win another major! Rafa will have the Majors, 2 OGM's, & 15 FO's to rest his laurels, but the rests are all favor of Novak & Roger!
***I think Djokovic messed up for sure. 0 wins for Prime Djokovic out of '12 vs Murray...***
The way I see it, after '11 where Novak won just about everything in sight, it's perfectly normal to come back to Earth! The same thing happened after '15, started out '16 good, but fell off precipitously thru '17! He got back to the top in the Summer of '18 w/ Wimbl. & USO wins! Been consistent since! Right on schedule = w/ injury, vaccine drama, & DQ @ USO 2 yrs ago! He still got to 20 Majors faster > Fedal & still leads in Masters events!
***Isner says Djokovic the best & toughest to face out of the Big 3:
"Even though I played Rafa on clay OTTH, I played him on clay like 4 X's. I think, once @ the FO, you know that's 1 of the toughest tasks in our sport. ...But I'd say it's Novak, when he's locked, dialed in & taking my serve standing on the baseline, returning my 1st serve & just anticipating where my serve is going. I've felt help< on the court, prob. on 1 hand where I knew I had no shot & I wasn't = playing bad. I was having huge trouble holding serve & 3 of those X's have been vs Novak. I played him in Beijing yrs ago. In the QF's, a big tourn. & I was fired up to play him. We were playing @ night the next day. ...It's 48 degrees & heavy conditions vs Novak, who never loses this tourn., there's no shot it. I went out there, It was freezing. Freezing cold, 0 free pts & it was 2 & 2. So to answer your ??, it's Novak."***
***Novak's supposed to have a 3 yr. ban from Australia after what happened this yr.***
I'd hope they would get over their stupidity! If these Koala Bear burger eating MF'rs try to sustain a 3 yr. ban on Djokr like this, they're done IMO!
***Yeah, it's stupid. It was stupid then & now looks = > stupid. But = so, IDK why that w/b a "slap in the face" of the vaccinated? - Novak wanted t/b exempted from the vaccine for no other reason than that he doesn't want to take it. ...The decision came down against him, & it included a 3-year ban. Now he's (presumably) appealing that part of the decision, though there were meant t/b no appeals. If it gets lifted, it could very well look like special treatment. ...He was deported for something like being a public nuisance, a threat to good order. ...IMO, it w/b a "slap" to the vac'd for the very reason that they did what was right for the public good. ---
This is not about vacc. It's about immigration; completely diff. & a lot > serious. Careful what you say about the Australians or they may send the Koala Bears after you. ---
Contrary to the myth that Djokovic has the > complete game... Fed's bane is simply his single-handed BH which is unreliable & causes consistency issues or breakdown under pressure. 2 handed-BH's are much > reliable & consistent w/ another arm to help the racquet.
Fed's >er @ lit. every type of stroke except flat/topspin BH.
No one would = disagree w/ any of that right? So the only thing Djokovic's >er @ is BH & b/c of that > better @ ROS. He's also just a super-consistent reliable player in gen. which gets you > results in tennis. But Fed clearly has the > complete game. ---
I do also think Fed's the > complete player, but that's not why he beat Djokovic when he did. Fed had the game to blast Djokovic off the court. Fed had the FH & serve to simply blow Djokovic away. Once Fed slowed down, he couldn't run around his BH as often, & not only hit too many shots w/ the BH. he also didn't hit enough FH's.***
The rivalry started in '08 w/ Novak upseting a prime Fed in one of his fave tourns. "down under!" Paris just not to his liking only by the results! Had enough finals though!
***# of X' a player faced 3 or > Top 10 Seeds in a Single Slam:
Federer - 12 X's (Won 6 X's, lost 6 X's ) Djokovic - 11 X's (Won 6 X's, lost 5 X's) Nadal - 7 X's ( Won 5 X's, lost 2 X's ) Lendl - 6 X's ( Won 3, Lost 3) Sampras - 3 X's ( Won 2 X's, lost 1 X) McEnroe - 4 X's ( Won 1, lost 3) ---
Novak had it the toughest to brk thru, in '03 Fed had to go thru Philippoussis & Roddick as his obstacles to win his 1st slam & gain confidence. When Nadal arrived in '05, Fed was @ his peak, but other > that, players weren't strong enough, so he rose to 2. When Novak had reached his 1st slam finals, there was Fedal firm, a wall of 2 GOATs to brk. Most people wouldn't have broken thru, but Djokovic did hang in & eventually in '11 he announced that his era's beginning. Going by the draws, Fed did face a lot of top 10 & so did Novak to win his slams. Fed whb the winner of the race, but he choked his chances away, really sad. Nadal bene. from Corona & Novak lost a lot, no doubt on this. ...If Fedalovic were of the same age, then Nadal would find it very tough to win non-clay slams since he w/b the 3rd seed. He'd have to beat both the 1st & 2nd seeds b2b in SF & F to lift the non-clay slams, that's Peak Fed & Novak. This way luck has shined on Nadal that Fed's older & Novak himself matured a bit late.***
***Djokovic either faked his test result or he saw people while knowingly having Covid. He s/b banned from Australia for the rest of his life, not only 3 yrs.***
Well I guess the You-Tube videos I've seen prove the pt. that Nadal's a gutless turd who avoided Fedovic on grass & HC if he could in the last decade! They showed 10 instances where he suspiciously WD or retired just B4 playing them! During that same per. of injuries, he WD'd only once on clay! He allowed Fed to beat him 5 or 6 str. X's 5 yrs ago & hasn't beaten Novak since '13 USO on HC or grass! Let's put an '*' next to that '22 AO victory! Banning's 1 way to control the situation; esp. w/ his fans! Yep; GUTLESS!
***No asterisk. The tourn. was played w/ all eligible players. A few have pt.'d out that no tourn. gets an '*' when, say, Rafa's injured & can't play. Get over it. Rafa won the AO. ---
I have no clue what you are talking about buddy. This thread's about Djokovic & the way the topic of vaccines/pandemic has been handled by him & by the countries he wants to enter. It has nothing to do w/ Nadal, clay, HC, injuries, etc.***
Well @ least you know you're "clueless!" I don't have to say it then! You invoke Nadal's name when any subject's being discussed so spare me! Skip my comm. about Nadal avoiding Fedovic; scared to play them off clay! He's done it too many X's to ignore! He's well enough to come back vs Taylor @ Wimbl., but avoids Djokovic by giving "walkover" to another dangerous player in Kyrgios! Same thing @ '18 USO, down to Del Po retires mid-match, but's really avoiding final vs Novak! If y'all want to use that vs him, I can use it vs Nadal! I have > evidence though!
***Gutless = a 35 yo tennis player who's scared of needles.***
Oh yeah, that makes sense! Novak's scared of the needle so he gives up tourn. opps. & millions of $$'s! Yep, m/b it! - We can ct. on one hand the # of seasons where Nadal totally went all out to win > anything poss.! It's been almost a decade ('13) w/ plenty of instances where he's obviously avoiding a loss! Many X's he's totally shut it down after stealing another FO! He's a DIVA & every one knows it! It's terribly frustrating for Rafa t/b as popular when he's running game on all of us!
***You could ct. it on the fingers of 1 finger the seasons where he’s won Austr., Paris, proceeded into the SF's of Wimbl. He’d hardly WD to avoid facing Novak, the form he was in brother! ---
The real solution is to change the scheduling of the GS's to make the season > manageable. The # of top tournaments that get crammed btw May & August to fit around the 3 northern hemisphere Slams is ridiculous. It's no wonder that the top players pack it in after the USO. It'd mean giving a 2nd Slam to the southern hemisphere (or putting it indoors) which will never happen.***
They've already altered the sched. too much over the decades! There are > people who can't fathom that Wimbl. was just a wk. after FO! That makes Borg's achievements winning 5 Wimbledons = > amazing since he never played "Queens" warm-up!
***They need to make the late season per. > interesting again. Make it all indoors, hype it up.***
I used to love the Winter swing of Men's tour going back to the 80s! The sport could go anywhere & not worry about the weather! The Chgo event was never very big = w/ Lendl in the draw! Stockholm got McEnroe & Borg! The YE Masters settled in NY after many yrs. on the rode w/ diff. surfaces! The early > match was Connors over Borg in '77! The Event got t/b huge w/ Sampras, Agassi, Edberg, Becker, & Lendl!
***Bring back wood racquets & wood courts. Parquet's indestructible.***
I gave tennis lessons on a varnished hardwood basketball court during the Winter in the 70's! If I had X we'd try to play, but like grass, anticip. was required! One false move & the pt. was over the court was so fast! There also wasn't a lot of backcourt so easy to run into padded walls!
***The Browns are 2-3, & the combined total pts of the 3 losses is 8 pts. We yet again snatch def. from the jaws of victory. Truly incredible to watch.***
The Browns are cursed! No other exp. club has taken this long to turn around their fortunes! I go back to SeaHawks, then Carolina & Jacksonville! The old Cleveland team didn't adjust to merger & the expansion club sucks as they have always sucked! They had a chance w/ Bernie Kosar, but the team was jinxed & had the worst luck poss. when on the cusp of = making a SB! ---
Brady gives > reasons to hate his guts! ATL was coming all the way back from a 21-0 deficit! The Falcons mhg too close @ 21-15 so the refs stepped in & "faux called" an "unnec. roughing" on a sack of Brady who rolled comfortably to the ground! His head wasn't slammed, but you'd think he was lifted into the air & slug down like a bag of potatoes! BS! Brady, the chronic whiner he is was imploring for a call that shouldn't have been made!
***We’re heading into wk. 6 & Geno Smith leads the NFL in QBR & completion %. Who the Hell could have predicted that?***
No one! I wasn't = a Jets fan, but heard Gino was awful! What happened? Now he's a game manager?
***The funny thing is, he’s not just a game manager. He ranks 3rd in deep ball attempts. He’s = 7th in TD’s. He’s been legit. 1 of the best QBs in the NFL this yr. ---
Whoa! Looks like the Raiders are ON tonight. Up 17-0 over the Chiefs in the 2nd Qtr. of MNF.***
Still have a whole 1/2 to go! Let's see if they can complete the upset! Haven't seen so many punts in a while! Update: KC wins 30-29!
***Dumb. Raiders should've kicked the extra pt. At least would have had a chance in OT.***
The 2-pt. chart suggests going for the win if on the road! Yrs ago Minn. had the same opp. vs The Cowboys in Dallas! Went for the tie, then lost the game after KO of OT! The 1st play from scrimmage had Emmitt Smith running for a TD, 60+ yards!
***Not when you're 1 & 3, playing a div. rival. - ! did you have hopes of actually beating the Chiefs. I've been a Chiefs fan since the Schottenheimer era. ***
Those were some > teams B4 Derrick Thomas was killed! The Chiefs were just unlucky t/b good @ the same X, other teams were > like Buffalo, Indianapolis, & Denver! They had the players w/ Montana QB'n & Marcus Allen running majestically thru the lines! Their regular season recs defied the playoff results! They were just terribly unlucky @ X's!
***The Steelers have some serious rebuilding to do. Tomlin has been around a long X & the Rooneys don't like to change coaches. Don't know if he's part of the prob. or part of the solution.***
It's not as much a coaching issue as they need a QB! All the teams failing now have a QB issue from Pittsburg to Denver! The Rams have a QB, but no O-line to protect Strafford so he's barely surviving on life-support w/18 sacks on him so far this season!
***I don't think so. Pickett looks good. He's only played one game, but my $$'s that he'll turn out > >er > Roethlisberger. Pittsburgh lucked into the best QB that they could find this yr., now all they need is to find competent coaching to light a fire under the rest of the team. ...Mike Tomlin's bluffing his way thru games & has never once in countless yrs had his team up & ready, prepared for a single game. Each wk. they come out playing like the players just met on the street 30 mins. ago. Other than that, the Steelers are a force t/b reckoned w/! If an asteroid hits the planet, they might = make it to the mid-season bye B4 fans stop = showing up for the games.***
***Fed also lost an OGM match to Murray on Wimbl. Centre Court. Some say he's the best Wimbl. player ever.***
Another rec. to go down in flames w/i 2 yrs! Novak's on his way to owning AO & Wimbl.! That was another reason to believe Fed was the GOAT winning 5 str. Wimbls. & the USO, but only intermittantly +ed to his totals since! His USO feat will last the longest it seems!
***Winning an OGM meant so much to Novak, he forgot that the CYGS was slipping away.***
Djokovic blew it! Was too greedy! Going to Tokyo for the Olympics was a huge mistake; his father argued vs him going! A real shame!
***Massive mistake. I suppose he saw the GCGS as a given w/ Rafa missing. Who could stop him but himself? - Djokovic blew it or Medvedev won it?***
Both IMO! I mentioned B4 the USO began that for Novak to have a chance to win, Medvedev had t/b upset! Going to Japan only made the job harder for him! BO3 matches on a slow or fast HC was only going to test his nerves = > while holding 3 other majors in '21! He had a target on his back & was blown away 3 X's; 2 in Tokyo & 1 in USO final! Mentally Novak had a >er chance in NY w/o dropping unncess. matches in Japan! I was shocked he recovered enough to take Paris Masters over Daniil!
***Novak currently holds the rec. for > defeats in a slam final there!***
Djokovic's rec. @ Majors shows he owns AO, "down under," taking 3 in a row twice, w/ 9 Chps. overall! Wimbl. m/b his as well soon holding 7 titles & def. the "so called" grass GOAT 3 X's in finals! As for the USO, IDK what else he can do to show his dom. sans winning the title >? He's been in the final 9 X's, winning 3! The FO > Fed who had > opps.! After this Wimbl. we find out Novak's the only player w/ 80+ match wins @ all 4 Majors, well ahead of Fedal who own > USO's & FO Chps. respectively! His Nole-Slam stands alone along w/ sev. occasions he won 3 majors in a row to m/b complete 2 or 3 >! So many of Novak's accomplishments standalone in the rec.bk.! - ...Weak? Novak only made 9 finals, 1 > anyone else like Lendl who made all his in a row! How weak could he be if he's making all these finals from '07-21? How many has Nadal made; 5? When was the last X Fed made a final; 2015? ND Weak? I think not!
***Impressive! But they all have recs. that standalone e.g Nadal 14 RG titles. ...I think Nadal has faced either Fedovic or both on route to 11 out of the 14 titles which makes it = > astounding. - Fed's old now. He was 35 in '15? Djokovic didn't make the final @ the USO this yr. @ the same age. ---
Rafa has 4 USO's; 4 out of 9 tries in the last 15 yrs. @ a tourn. many said he'd never win.***
It looked bleak for Nadal in NY w/ so many bad losses early on in his career! He never got to a final until '11! He seemed tired after winning those FO's so it was understandable the doubt he'd ever win, but after all this X he's still no king of HC's that's for sure! That moniker belongs to Novak w/ 12 Major HC wins to Nadal's 6!
***Likewise Novak's no "King of Clay;" 14 to 2.***
Novak's @ least a "Prince" w/ many wins over Nadal on clay; > anyone else; esp. Roger who s/b embarrassed AF w/ so many opps! ---
Djokovic has redefined the standards of excel. If & when he wins 8 Wimbls., he w/b grass court GOAT given he has beaten Fed 3 X's in finals!
***TBF Fed’s master's win in Paris was super susp. ...When shit went down w/ the tourn. dir. admitting that he wanted Fed to win it. They lit. asked Fed what surface he wanted it t/b & then made it that (& changed it delib. to help him win).***
A lot >'s suspect during Fed's early yrs.! I just watched a You-Tube video showing evidence w/ "statistics" that major draws were fixed to give an advantage to Fedal! It's amazing how sleazy it's been & never really discussed! Nole seemed t/b in Fed's 1/2 while Murray in Nadal's! It worked for a few yrs. until Novak came into his own & started beating Roger like a drum, esp. "down under" in Austr.! So after all's said & done, = w/ the help of tourn. dir., Fed's inflated #'s won't be enough! He'll still wind up in 3rd place behind Djokovic & Nadal!
***9 USO Finals for Novak is nice for the stat sheet, but only 3 wins amongst them. For a HC specialist is pretty poor. Remember, it's sport, & the main thing is holding up the trophy. Sure, Rafa took some X to get his legs on HC in a bigger way. And he was often pretty beat up from front-loading his season by the X the USO rolled around. A lot of people thought he'd never win the USO. Still, he did by '10, becoming the youngest player in the OE to have the CGS. And he won 2 of 4 titles directly @ the hands of Novak. Keep trying to downplay his success there. He's still got 1 > Novak, & likely always will.***
I'm trying not to downplay Nadal's accomp. believe it or not! I'm just saying in comparison to Novak & Fed's quality, it w/b hard to ever think of him as the Ult. GOAT due to his resume being so "clay heavy!" In the end, = if he wins 2 or 3 > majors > Djokovic, he'd still wind up only 2nd "all X" on my list! Every yr. Novak's acquiring another stand-alone rec. that Fedal aren't = close to accomplishing & he did it sooner; @ 34 getting close to immortality w/ a CYGS! I know I couldn't imagine such a thing when 1st watching, playing, & teaching the game in the 70's! By 35, > Sr. players are lucky to make 1 major final, much < 3 or 4 in a season as Novak's done on numerous occasions! Again, it's not like he's a fave of mines! The #'s just say he's superior to all others w/ 3 or 4 of his seasons that overwhelm past >'s entire careers! I could go on, but you know the rec. already!
***Given how hard you have tried over the yrs., believe it or not, I don't believe the undermining/downplay. I think we've all begun to agree there w/b no "Ult. GOAT" amongst the 3. But again w/ the "clay heavy?" Rafa has 8 Majors off of clay, which puts him in Connors, Lendl & Agassi terr. for their total haul. Take off HCs, Novak's best surface, & he lands @ 9.
Plenty will still argue that he did all of that as his two main rivals got 'longer in the tooth.' And almost getting the CYGS is sort of like your argument that he's made 9 finals @ the USO, while only winning 3. Sure, he's been plenty dom., but it took some X to develop. Did he just get to form late, or is it that he couldn't compete w/ Fedal well-enough B4 they'd beaten each other up pretty good? Chicken or egg? Prob. > a lit'l of both. You can put Novak wherever you like, but I think the 3 will always be inextricably intertwined, w/ no real answer.***
The "long in the tooth" argument can't be taken seriously for Nadal who's only a yr. older > Novak! Come on! Why do that? If Fed wants to use his age as an excuse, that's up to him, not me who thinks if he's out there on court, he's ready to compete & win! He did beat Nadal 5-6 X's in a row a few yrs. ago! No one talked about his age or the poss. of some kind of PE help! "M/b the racket!"
***Bro @Fiero425's a fave poster of mine, but he has a blind spot that makes him forget that not only is clay a slam surface & so titles there ct. the same as slams won off clay. It’s actually the hardest surface to win on & yet Rafa does it routinely every yr. His 14 FO's stand w/ Rogers’ 5 in a row Wimbos & USOs, & Novaks “Nole Slam” as the 3 imperial crowns in this era. So it’s really unfair & impossible to separate them in >ness…***
The FO's on par w/ all the other majors, but it's not really thought of > if you look @ the history of tennis comp.! Borg won 6 & it was a marvelous accomp. @ the X, but > people bring up his Wimbl. efforts & frustration of not winning "what I consider" the hardest slam to win in the USO! Lendl went thru the same fruit< efforts, making 8 str. finals, but only winning 3 USO's! It happens! Luck or a lack thereof comes into play! Like I said, Med's nowhere near the >est player, but @ this moment, he's giving Djokovic trouble & he put an end to his hopes of a CYGS last yr.!
***...In terms of the history of tennis the AO is BY FAR the least prestigious one, like not = close.***
The same c/b said about Novak, yr. in / yr. out making SF & Finals in every tourn. he played! That has to take something out of him!
***No one says Djokr hasn't been amazing, but it did come after the best of the Fedal era. It made it a bit easier.***
Pandering to Fedal & fans by undermining Novak's achievements; surprise! You're saying he had no comp. out there during his dec. long reign! I thought all 3 are inextricably linked, but so > love using that trope of Fedal 'was done' while still winning majors in that same truncated dec. of excel. from NDj! So you're in essense saying to the world, "if not for Novak, Fedal'd cont. trading #1 ranking btw them!" BTW that's what actually happened when Novak was 'in the weeds' from '17-early '18! You've elev. Novak! I'm being stubborn since I grew up w/ #'s ruling sports! For some reason "passions run high" w/ this tennis argument! B/c Fed made it look effort<, many think he's the Ult. GOAT! IMO it's a > irrational w/ Nadal who's excelled on 1 surface! Then there's Novak w/ > of the #'s in his favor & only popularity seems to keep him from being anointed the Ult. GOAT!
***It doesn't matter Nadal records will last longer > Fedovic records, specifically 14 RG titles basically he's the Goat of Big 3 @ least. ...Greatest feat in sports history.***
Go ahead & hang your hat on that! It'll work for the die-hard Nadal fans, but true tennis historians will only give credit for the feat; not affirm GOAT-dom b/c of it! It's just the way it is! Wimbledon is "The Championship" w/ the USO a close 2nd in relevance! The FO is a major, but not quite as reputable as the others! IMO it's still in front of the AO which took it's X becoming relevant in the major race! B4 Sampras, 'The Ranks" were > about a season, how many W's & USO's, not a whole career! No one seemed to care about the major's race until it was broken by Pete in 2000! Lit'l did we know that those early #'s w/b blown out of the water by the Big 3 that have owned the tour like no others in the past & m/b the future! The games so fast, it's brk'n down these kids B4 their X!
***Sorry, but slams all same value & been this way long X now mate. Stop living in the past; not '80s any>.
I'd rank slams in this order-
1. AO 2. RG 3. Wimbledon 4. USO
Wimbledon Grass is barely surface these days, been a joke recently w/ 0 ranking pts., & being closed tourn. It's just a tourn. hanging onto old history, not any >er > the other slams IMO.
AO players are @ their freshest & has highest quality of matches; 3 Roofs, def. best slam.
RG close 2nd w/ having best surface in tennis & Paris is just dream to.
Wimbledon barely 3rd having 0 Masters or other big tournaments leading into it.
The other slam's a close 4th.
Not to mention U.K. people are horrible & clue< fans. They're @ Wimbl. cheering players DF'S.***
The delusion is real around here! The reason Wimbl. has no major lead in event is b/c there never was one "way back when!" It initially started a wk. after FO w/ Queens the only warm-up tourn.! People have mused about making it a Masters event since the sched. has been updated so much over the yrs! Borg winning Wimbl. so soon after FO victory is what made him a LEGEND! Taking the "Chan'l-Slam" of FO & Wimbl. 3 str. yrs. will keep his name on historians' lips! Nadal needed a few wks brk taking it in '08 & '10 while Fedovic got 1 each; '09 & '21 respectively!
***Grass is use< surface that only makes up 5% of the Tour w/ 0 big Tournaments apart from Wimbl.
Djokovic not the Goat, won too many AO's titles.
I fully expect you to never mention your '18 wrong prediction again of Nadal surpassing Fed in majors seeing as you lost it & I won.
22-21 is all > people care about @ end of day mate.***
Oh, so I'm the only one in the world who didn't think Nadal would surpass Roger's major total? Hmmm! Really? And you of course are the only one in the world who knew he would? I bet you thought Novak would never come close as well! Fortunately I'm much too busy to scower old posts from 4-5 yrs ago! I feel for you! Why arent you talking about the weak comp. of Nadal's when pumping him up so much about those FO wins?
It's what happened to Sampras when surpassed it seems! Even w/o a FO final, he was proclaimed the GOAT! Now that his #'s have been obliterated, he's now dropped below Laver again! Poor Roger seemed to have it all after acquiring the major's rec. in '09, but his reign was short when Nadal & Djokovic took over the tour!
***Nadovic would've fared < well > Fed playing w/ wood racquets. Their strange 2-handed BH grips were dependent on the lighter current racquets. Djokovic attempted to play w/ wood & found it impossible. I rate Fed w/i the top 4 all-X, but he w/b the only current player in that supreme group. ---
Nadal can finish #1 if he does well in Paris Masters. Therefore, he might as well give it a shot. ---
Have you seen the pt. diff. in their race rankings? For Nadal to dethrone Alcaraz, he'll have to win in Paris for the 1st X ever & that's w/o Alcaraz himself advancing into 3rd Rd. But = then, he'd need to outperform Alcaraz @ ATP finale. Yeah right...good luck w/ that! LOL ---
Yeah, but who knows in this weak era. Alcaraz could lose early again. He seems to struggle indoors; as does Nadal, but if he gets a decent draw, then he might as well give it a shot. ---
You don't get it...do you? He has to WIN the whole thing...you know...while Djokovic is playing & in the draw. In other words, he'll need to beat Djokovic for the title. Now let's chk when was the last X he beat Djokovic on HC's? Right,'13. And when was the last X he beat him indoors? oops...never happened = in his prime. You gonna make me believe he can do it now? Or you really think someone's gonna take Djokovic out, when Nadal's in the draw? Gimme a brk. ---
Paris has probably produced more Masters > any other Masters tourn.***
So many reasons why Paris was so beneficial to the "also rans" of the tour, hungry for a big "scalp" & chp. win possibility! It's the end of the season, top players are tired, so no amt. of accom. was going to help him un< they were on their game! Novak's been the > durable, winning 6 w/ another final! He owns all the recs. @ that Masters! "Back in the day," players like Sampras c/b gone in his 1st match! I recall in Pete's waning yrs, he asked Becker to drop out so he could take his place in the draw for the pts! He lost anyway, but somehow held onto his #1 ranking; hence capping his run of YE #1's @ 6! The court's lightning fast & indoors so weather doesn't come into play! I know I've played my > "zone'd" best tennis indoors! I won in all 3 club disciplines! In dubs I could play well w/ just about anyone! Got to the SF's w/ my mother once! She'd just say "yours!" Worked out until the big guns showed up!
***That said, 9 #1 ranked players including 4 of the last 6 have won titles in Bercy (Nadal made 1 final in '07 & the current #1, Alcaraz, yet to make his mark). A lot of top players have enjoyed success there.***
You're living too > in the now! Historically this event has produced quite a few victories to players outside the elites of the game!
***Hmmm.......would you call former champs Edberg, Becker, Ivanisevic, Sampras (twice), Agassi (twice), Safin (three X's) outside the elites of the game?***
How does that compare to Novak w/ 6? Why not go look? Names like Forget, Gottfried, Enquist, & Vines show up as winners! What's it you don't understand?
***I'm simply pointing out that many top players won titles in Bercy in +tion to the < distinguished guys. That's all.***
...And all I was saying is that due to circumstances, outside stars can win Paris! That was the basis of the commentary by you, @Mainad that the event produces > Masters' winners! I was agreeing w/ you! Upsets galore have happened very early in this late, but big event!
I keep thinking & debating w/ others that if Fed had retired after Wimbl. wins of '12 or '18, he could've @ least left a credible debate; "what if?"
***If Fed had won Wimbl.'19, he'd've beaten both Nadal & Djokovic enroute to a GS. That'd've +ed a lot > to his ATG status. Unfortunately his mental weaknesses vs Nadal /Djokovic showed up again @ 40-15. ---
If the gap btw Roger to Djokovic & Nadal was actually 10 yrs., then Roger could've gotten away w/ it. Nadal's 1st slam wouldn't arrive B4 '10 & his peak would only begin in '13. Novak's would begin in '15 only. Roger would've crossed 20 B4 '13 itself & = if he retired in 2 yrs (say '15), then people would say 'ok, now next-gen. are taking over & Roger's own era is finished. But sadly they're not a full Gen. apart, so they all arrived in the 2000s itself just a few yrs. after Roger started winning slams.***
I'm sure Nadal was shocked AF when he went down to 'Old Man' Fed "down under" & @ Wimbl. in '17! Roger did Rafa the favor of getting to yet 1 > FO SF to lose in '19!
***Absolutely. Fed was on a completely diff. plane in '17. He beat Rafa 4 X's no < (AO '17, IW, MI, & SH). The '19 loss was in some sense inevitable as '17 was a clear outlier in terms of his performances during '10-19 overall. ---
Open Era Ranking:
1 Federer 2 Sampras 3 Djokovic 4 Nadal 5 Lendl***
M/b 10 yrs. ago! Prob's Djokovic had 3 career seasons after turning 30! Nadal continued to own RG after personally stopping Roger was getting > his 1 "vultured" win after the upset by Soderling! Even if Djokovic hbd after '16 campaign, his '15 season set him apart from every pro since the computer started keeping tabs on the pro game! If Fed had the Major's rec., he'd have lit'l else since Nadovic took over lead in Masters events & they both have H2H lead over him! If Fed had retired after Wimbl. wins in '12 or '17, we could've finessed an ATG moniker that was above Nadovic being able to muse "what if?" Hanging on for 5+ yrs to + 3 majors, I just didn't think it worth his legacy! He wasted last 2 yrs!
1. Djokovic - w/ > signif. recs. save 1 major < Nadal, 2 GM's, 2 CGS, 7 YE #1's, 373 wks. @ #1
2. Fed - Best I can do < in majors. Has 8 Wimbls, 5 str. USO's, but H2H < Nadovic, & down 2 YE #1's
3. Nadal - The > Majors @ 22, not very prolif. holding #1 ranking, has rec. 14 FO, 2 CGS's, 5 YE #1's
4. Laver - Has 2 CYGS (Am./Pro), lost 5-6 B4 OE Tennis, never won WCT Final
5. Sampras - Was the GOAT for 8+ yrs B4 Roger > 14 in '09, has 7 Wimbl. vics., & 5 USO's
***Djokovic ties Fed w/ a title in a *19th* different country:
Netherlands France Australia USA Portugal Canada Austria Italy China UAE Serbia Switzerland Spain UK Monaco Qatar Japan Israel Kazakhstan ---
# of players w/ @ least TEN top 10 Wins in the yr.
Federer dom. '04-07 wasn't b/c he's Godly & then suddenly grew too old ? Nope. He dom. b/c everyone was inconsistent for a few yrs. & then the guys a few yrs. younger were > consistent. That's it, no gen. gap. M/b a 1/2 gen. gap, thats it.***
***Bill Mahar of "Real Time" says it perfectly..."the worse a candidate is, the more it says to Democrats, do you see how much we don't like what you're selling?" He has a point!***
Unhappy w/ things doesn't or shouldn't give license to give up on our Democracy! I'm appalled & disgusted w/ my country; allowing such a creature anywhere near the presidency! I know I keep hearing forgiveness is necess. to move on, but it isn't getting any >er! It would make sense if the nutzos out there believed they made a mistake, but that isn't happening! These idiots are doubling down, looking for loser, stupid candidates trying to prove a pt. that just isn't there! I also burned my feminist card in '16 when women supported Trump > Hillary! These are the same people bitching about a lack of representation, but as the majority, fewer women have won elections statewide around the country! That's whack AF & I can't wait to leave this rotten Earth w/ this many stupid ass people on it! This phenomenon is happening everywhere, not just the USA!
***I kind of agree w/ you a lot here, & disagree w/ Bill Maher, unusually, b/c he’s been killing it recently. I get the logic, as @Federberg quotes him, "the worse a candidate is, the > it says to Dems, do you see how much we don't like what you're selling?" I can see the logic of this, but an = >er approach would surely be to put in good candidates, if you can find them, & not loonies, liars & wife beaters.***
I was such a fan of Mahar's & I still watch "Real Time" every Fri., but he made me very unhappy going back to his endorsement of Ralph Nader! The good X's were rolling w/ Clinton & his economic based admin.! It wasn't enough for him & sabotaged Gore back in 2000 allowing "W" to come in & turn the fk'n country upside down! It just couldn't get > worse w/ the economy instantly going into the toilet, the stock market crashed, & of course 911! All those things chb avoided, but no one brings it up now! I was one that almost moved abroad; actually flew to Europe scouting areas in '01! If not for my elderly parents, I prob. w/b there now! I had already turned down a pos. in Austr. back in '97 for that reason! I regret it everyday! This country has been a fk'n mess for the last 20 yrs. & only getting worse w/ Trump-ites out there trashing Democracy everywhere they can in the name of conservatism, White Nationalists, misogynists, & other haters of independence & freedom!
***Where bouts in Europe did you look @ to live in?***
I traveled a few miles outside of Amsterdam on a train & thought about settling in Haarlem! It seemed quite reminiscent of a Chgo. suburb I lived in yrs. ago called Oak Park! A mall area was almost an exact replica w/ cobblestone sidewalks like on Warmestradt!
***Oh brother, you should've come to Ireland. You’d have fit right in w/ no language difficulties.***
A bud of mines loves Ireland &'s visited a few X's! I've avoided the British Isles over the food offered! I'd have to cook > to compensate!
***Why do you think Guinness is so popular? It’s strong enough to wash down the spuds!***
That's the other thing; never been a big drinker & have never touched a "dark beer" or ale in my life!
***Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole on the court. I think it said he knocked him cold. In front of all the fans. Now his teammates dont trust him.***
For the sake of the team, it looks as if they've gotten by it, but IDK how you get past an assault?
***A part of me says we've become too soft where this is going too far. Yes, I agree it's not cool to sucker punch someone but shit probably happens in locker rooms like that all the time. Should we evolve? Yes. Is it unacceptable? Yes. Not arguing. But I think we're seeing him and Chris Rock are just fine. Better than the rest of us who can't get over it.***
IDK how Jordan's supposed to get over being assaulted like that after the video went viral? I can imagine most thinking he should be the bigger person and forgive the act! "Bigger person," meaning being a sucker allowing insult and ignorant behavior from others!
***I listened to Draymond explaining it from his perspective. Looking on the bright side after everyone on the planet has seen you at your worst. It can only go up from here he said. Hopefully he's right. I always expect guys like him will get in trouble with the law after sports. But so far Meta World Piece hasn't gotten into any trouble as far as I know. ...I can't imagine what it's like to be 29 and retired after 10 years of the NFL or NBA. Ten year career. Multi millionaire. But still you want to work and be making money. Or own a business. Something. Not just do nothing the next 70 yrs.
OH, I had the greatest of ideas last night. Poole gets to sucker punch Draymond Green in public any time he wants and Draymond can't do shit back. But it will happen during an NBA game this year. The Warriors should announce this is the deal Draymond has agreed to. Do you know what would happen? Ratings through the roof. If I were Poole I'd clock him 2nd to last game of the year. An away game where the fans will LOVE IT! ---
Jordan Poole just signed a huge new contract, and Draymond is a free agent next year. I expect Green to get traded, and that's a big hole in Golden State's line-up they'll have to fill. ---
If he is still the vital piece that this team needs to win, they won't trade him. You need a Draymond Green to win a championship. Not a lot of guys that good around the league. Maybe if you could trade for someone like him but I wouldn't take the chance. I think Poole isn't as big as a snowflake as the rest of you all are. He'll be alright. But if I were him, I'd knock Draymond Green the fuck out in public when he wasn't expecting it. Who would complain? ===
I can name 5 players that mean > to New Englander's > Tom Brady!
Bill Russell Ted Williams Larry Bird Bobby Hull Carl Yazstremski
***1950s born gen. - Connors, Borg, Navratilova, Evert 1960s born gen. - Lendl, Becker, Edberg, Wilander '70s born gen. - Sampras, Agassi, Ivanisevic, Henman, Seles, Pierce
'80s born gen. - Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Serena Williams, Sharapova
'90s born gen. - Kyrgios, Med, Zverev, Thiem, Khachanov, Barty, Halep, Muguruza
2000s born gen. - Alcaraz, Sinner, Musetti, Rune, Coco Gauff, Raducanu, Swiatek ---
Fed played Nadal+ Djokovic a combined 90 X's. That's the > he has played vs 2 players. W/b a laughable argument once their careers are done that they played about 40 X's min., but weren't of the same gen. Why were they = playing if not for being in the same gen?***
That's what's so crazy when people use the "age" argument to explain Fed's era closing & the losses to Nadovic! The only other rivalry > long-standing & relevant was Navratilova/Evert who played 80 X's; (M-43, C-37)! These kinds of rivalries may not exist again! Most of the > ones like Graf/Navr. or Borg/McEnroe rarely got to 20 matches! The conisistency was/is their >est asset allowing the Big 3 to rule the tour for almost 20 yrs.!
*** The hypothetical you posted =ing Pete's '02 w/ Roger's '12 is wrong b/c it doesn't take into acct. the age shift in Tennis.***
...Pete was on "fumes" by the X he made that last USO final in '02! He hadn't won a tourn. in over 2 yrs., his ranking dropped outside the top 20! ...the confidence of being able to best his life-long pigeon in a memorable stage like that, it was a > "sendoff!" Sampras admitted it was the serve that clicked in Flushing & w/ the luck of the draw did the improbable yet again vs Agassi! Roger OTOH was @ the ht. of his powers, @ #1 w/ another Wimbl. win! It didn't last; faltering wks. later @ Olympics on Centre Court! Nadovic took over until a "new life" in '17 getting back to #1 yet again into his mid 30's! He had free reign as Djokovic was getting over an injury to his elbow & discord!
***Roger reaching 2nd wks. in '03-16 isn't @ all exceptional. After '16 i.e after 35, yes that's exceptional. Which player from Fed's gen. was reaching 2nd wks. @ slams in '14-16? Nobody; except'l. And if you excl. Ferrer, nobody since like '11. Safin retired in '09, Ferrero & Roddick in '12, Nalbandian in '13, Davydenko '14. Hewitt kept on playing, but not doing > & @ 1 pt. just doubles, same for Haas.
Fed's longevity was unique. Nobody else from that per. had similar longevity except for Feliciano Lopez, & = then he wasn't really a top player any> & he was never an elite player. ---
Normally the Big 3 played high level Tennis (1st to last slam final) for around 14-16 yrs. which is a very long per.!
This means taking 14 yrs. as an avg. span ....Their gen. of rivals who c/b an ATG would +7 above them to -7 below them, that is a full 14 years of athletes they play against each other. This means if an ATG 7 yo'ldr to Nadal born in '79, then that person can play until 37 (i.e.'16) &'d have a lot of matches vs Nadal if that older ATG's still making the SF's & Finals of slams. Sameway an ATG 7 yrs younger to Nadal born in '93 also has the chance meeting him in slams in '11 or '12 & playing enough matches til '23 to form a rivalry of sorts.
Depends on Nadal's luck whether he gets an older ATG to pair w/ or a younger one, but he has to beat that one never the less. Can't make excuses like "Ohh, I'm too old...." ---
I'm not saying Fed was @ his peak & best level of his career when Djokovic was beating him in '14,'15,'16,'18 or '19. However, we also can't overlook the fact that Fed was a top 3 player for > of those yrs. He was one of the 3 best players in the world & beating everybody. It w/b diff. if he was floundering around outside the top 10 like Sampras was in '01 & > of '02, or like Lendl falling outside of the top 5 in '92 for the 1st X in a decade when Edberg had started turning the tables on him.***
***5-6 yrs. is a gen. It's just revisionist BS & lack of context to state otherwise.
Yes, Lendl-Wilander:
Lendl also leads Becker despite 7 yrs. diff. But what about Nastase who leads Connors in H2H despite 6 yrs. gap? Nastase might not be an ATG, but 15-12 is a lot of matches.
Nastase also leads Orantes in H2H who's 3 yrs. er players, so these ex. shouldn't exist.
Roger was losing to Nadal in the heart of his prime. It was never a physical issue, the issue was his BH which was punched by Nadal's FH & lack of mental toughness by Roger. Nadal was always gonna outrun Fed & reach his BH on any court where the ball rises high, inevitable. ---
Fed vs Rafal H2H's garbage precisely b/c Rafa was too trash & young on HC & grass during Fed's peak to meet him during those slams. Rafa was worse > Andre, Roddick & Baghdatis. Where was Rafe in '05 again Fed? Just the FO. Where was he in '06, '07? Nowhere t/b found vs prime Fed. Only in '08 he finally found his footing & we're to believe they're of the same gen. when @ the pt. Fed has been on tour for 10 yrs? Complete delusion by Blake. Same story w/ Novak, but = worse. Novak didn't start getting the best of Fed until Fed was long in his downward spiral in the 2010s, when > legends of tennis would've retired by then. That was when Novak hit his peak. Blake's statement's crap b/c > athletes are terrible @ analysis in the sports they excelled at. It's part of human psychology t/b terr. @ analy. your own success & the success of others in your own field. That's why outsiders like Bollettieri was a legendary coach yet dog-shit @ tennis. ---
Might want to read & understand properly. Lendl-Wilander's only exception among ATGs of OE.
Lendl-Becker is 1 match ahead for Lendl, but Becker's 5-1 in slams, which's massive. So Becker has the edge in H2H taken in context.
Why only ATGs? B/c you need t/b @ a min. level t/b an ATG.
An ATG past his prime c/b >er > an excel. prime non-ATG player or vice versa. < predictable.
But we do know prime ATG is almost always better than pre -prime or post-prime ATG.
Fed was 5-2 vs Nadal off clay in '04-07. Leading Nadal on grass + HC til that injury per. of '13-early 14.
Fed reclaimed by beating Nadal badly in '15-19. H2H off clay's 14-10. CHB easily 14-7 if not for so many matches in '13-early 14. (Only 1 match in '15 in contrast).
Nadal of course had the edge in H2H on clay always & hit his clay prime in '05 itself. ---
All ATGs who played entirely in the OE: Connors, Borg, Mac, Lendl, Wilander, Becker, Edberg, Sampras, Agassi, Fedalovic
Where there's a 4-6 yr. gap b/w ATGs:
Borg leads Connors: 15-8 Mac leads Connors: 20-14 Lendl leads Wilander: 15-7 Becker trails Lendl 10-11: (leads GS h2h 5-1) Edberg leads Lendl: 14-13 Sampras leads Becker: 12-7 Agassi leads Becker: 10-4 Agassi leads Edberg: 6-3 Sampras leads Edberg: 8-6 (trails 0-2 in GS h2h, Edberg didn't meet Sampras in GS after AO '93 & was when Sampras' prime started)
Nadal leads Fed: 24-16 Djokovic leads Fed: 27-23
The only instance in the OE where the older ATG had the edge is Lendl vs Wilander. ---
...Djokovic's fans get carried away, like it's all destiny that Djokovic wins it all.***
Djokovic already has just about "won it all!" Give him another 2 or 3 yrs. of play & he might "own all the recs." meant to have! He just needs 2 YEC's, 2 Wimbl., & m/b 1 > USO! Don't want t/b greedy!
***Yeah 16-24 is b/c of Roger's 1-handed BH faring badly vs Nadal, = outside clay their H2H's 10-14, wouldn't have been this close if Fed had a double hander.
Few of our fans are still following the 1980s & 1990s convention in '22, they still think every 5 yrs. the change of guard is "entitled," but Fed's dom. over the field in 2010s is only a testimony to the fact that now change of guard happens every 10 yrs. & not 5 yrs.
Fed himself contrib. along w/ Djokovic & Nadal for the destruction of everyone young in '10-16. There've been 0 people < 23 yrs. of age in YE Top 10 from '10-16. Now finally from '17 when top 10s have started to emerge young.***
Federer getting back to #1 '12 &'17 on a Fedal Redux run while Djokovic injured.
Nadal so many mini-brks, but mid '14-17 was ugly B4 bringing back the old days w/ Roger in '17-18. Djokovic had his 1st major resurgence mid-2018 stealing another Wimbl. & USO B4 taking over YE #1. Owned it until AO ban this yr.!
***It's the Big 3 combined who beat them again & again. Roger in his 30s was beating Raonic, Dimitrov & early 90s boys who're 10 yrs. younger to him. Similarly Djokovic & Rafa are also beating Med-Zed who're 10+ below them. Zed-Med-Kyrgios & other have also had the same upbringing as the early 90s borns since they are only a few yrs. younger to those. How can >er players magically emerge?
'00 - 2 People < 23 top 10 & (1 Person who's 30+ in top 10)
... '10 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (0 who's 30+ in top 10)
'11 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (2 who're 30+ in top 10) (Fed+ Fish)
'12 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (2 who're 30+ in top 10) (Fed+Ferrer)
'13 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (2 who're 30+ in top 10) (Fed+Ferrer)
'14 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (2 who're 30+ in top 10) (Fed+Ferrer)
'15 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (5 who're 30+ in top 10) (Fed+Ferrer+Stan+Berdych+Tsonga)
'16 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (4 who're 30+ in top 10) (Stan+Monfils+Nadal+Berdych)
'17 - 1 People < 23 top 10 & (3 who're 30+ in top 10) (Fedal+Stan)
'18 - 1 People < 23 top 10 & (7 who're 30+ in top 10) (Novak+Fedal+Potro+Anderson+Cilic+Isner)
'19 - 2 People < 23 top 10 & (5 who're 30+ in top 10) (Novak+Nadal+Fed+RBA+Monfils)
'20 - 1 People < 23 in top 10 & (3 who're 30+ in top 10) (Novak+Nadal+Fed)
'21 - 2 People < 23 in top 10 & (2 who're 30+ in top 10) (Novak+Nadal)
'22 - 3 People < 23 in top 10 & (2 who're 30+ in top 10) ((Novak+Nadal)
When 3 Godly players born in close proximity ('81,'86 &'87) means those born from '90-94 are < 23 in '10. ...Dimi, Rao & others, = Thiem was lucky to win that Slam in the absence of Big 3. Thats why from '10-16, nobody young was in top 10. They were > below.
Those born from '95-99 are far enough from Roger, but not far enough from Djokovic & Nadal, so they too are unable to win slams.
Those born after 2000 will have a full normal career, they'll start winning slams from their early 20s as normal ATGs should.
Hence proved, 1990s is 1 Big Gen. of Players affected by Big 3. We have to live w/ it. ---
One thing that really differentiates the female 3-headed GOAT from the male is the era gap. Navratilova was born in '56, Graf in '69, Serena in '81 - that's a span of 25 yrs., which each separated by 12 or 13 yrs. Now of course Martina had Evert just 2 yrs. >er, though Chris peaked earlier, & Steffi had Seles born 4 yrs. later, but then her tragic attack shortened her peak. So they weren't just all on their lonesome w/o other inner circle greats except for Serena. She played alongside a bunch of < greats, but no one in the same vicinity.
One thing that makes Navratilova so impressive is that despite playing > of her matches vs Graf in the latter 1/2 of her career (from '85-94), she was still 9-9 in the H2H. Actually, Evert vs. Graf was also very close (6-7), though Chris won their 1st 6 matches & Graf their last 7. Martina & Steffi were > bal., though Martina won 5 of their 1st 6 & Steffi won 8 of their last 12. ---
Actually, your H2H info of Steffi v both Martina & Chrissy is very interesting. I wouldn't have guessed it. Also, I don't agree that Serena only played " other recs, but it doesn't mean that the GOAT convo doesn't include all eras on the men's side too. ---
Navratilova winning into Graf's prime is what, IMO puts her ahead on my GOAT list. Had Navratilova won '94 Wimbl., I feel there w/b no debate. I rank Graf behind b/c her 2 main rivals, Seles & Capriati, missed yrs. of what shb their primes.***
***I always ended up w/ rather disconcerting things, like GOAT Pts. ranking Connors & Lendl above Sampras. I understand the logic; both were very consistent & played a ton of matches, winning a lot > titles than Sampras, but literally no one ranks them >er > Sampras. ...Part of >ness is longevity & consistency.
...The Big 3 lit. dwarf everyone else's era; = Sampras. If we were to extend back during the Pro/Am. Era, Laver & Rosewall'd look similar. It's also interesting to note that Sampras doesn't look that > dom. > the trio of Borg, McEnroe & Lendl, w/ Connors a bit behind w/ his career being > spread out, & thus not the same "dom. bulk" as those 4. Then Agassi's interesting career, which really looks like 2 smaller careers, followed by Becker, Edberg, & Wilander, whose prime per. was rel. short. Further>, this chart also shows how Murray's career looks closer to those 3 > it does to the next group down.
The array of diff. players across X, w/ that huge gap in the late 90s to early 2000s, when the careers of Sampras & Agassi were winding down, B4 the rise of the Big 3. The proverbial "Wild West" era. OTOH, this also illustrates the clustering of all-X >s in the mid-80s to early 90s. You can also see how the first 1/2 decade of the OE was still dom. by top players from B4 (> notably Laver & Rosewall), as well as a group of s, B4 the new cohort (lead by Connors & Borg) really took over in '74.
The Big 3 are similar. It's hard to say one looks > dom. > the other, w/ the caveat that I'd prob. give Novak the slight edge over Rafa & Roger, who're very close, simply w/ a diff. pattern of dom.
The Late Careers of the Big 3. Finally, we can clearly see one way the Big 3 are diff. > all the other >s of the OE: All had a pt. in their 30s when it looked like, if they'd followed typ. career arcs, they'd have wound down. For Roger it was '13 or '16. For Rafa '15-16, for Novak '18. B4 those pts., they'd still have > impressive careers > anyone else B4 them, but w/ < of a gap btwn. them & the pack. It's the "extra padding" they +ed that put everyone else far in the rearview. We can also see that Murray didn't have the same bounce-back, w/ very lit'l after his big '16 season. ---
Nadal is an interesting study in contrasts btwn. his words & actions.
- His actions seem to indicate that he sets up his sched. to participate in tourns. where he has a high chance of winning & brk'n recs. includ. the YE #1 ranking, career match-winning %, etc. is a big priority for him. Yet, he says the opposite that he doesn’t care about recs.
- He fights like a crazy warrior til the end on court in his matches, but's one of the worst @ never giving enough credit to opps. who beat him & also making injury excuses after losses.
- He acts like a preening peacock on court (fist pumps, crazy style, Vamos yells), then talks like he's very humble off court.
- He seems to use gamesmanship to his advantage whenever possible, but talks like following rules are very important to him.
It seems like he was brought up to know exactly what to say to come across as a decent gentleman, but he doesn’t live his life by that code. Fed was amongst the best in having his words & actions match. - He's so fake. But the worst part is that most humanity can't see it.***
Rafa's literally taken his sweet X over the yrs., held up play w/ a hand un< it's library quiet, & no one walking around! WTF? I played most of my tennis on a public court w/ cars, trucks, & sirens from fire trucks! Not only that, it was next to the basketball court, baseball fields, vollyball nets, & a kid's playground! Today's players make me sick!
I apprec. those days when a darkhorse picked off a major every once in a while! It happened esp. w/ court specialists on grass or clay; hence Cash @ '87 Wimbl. & FO champs. like '90's Gomez & '02's A. Costa! People just don't remember many winners outside of the Big 3 who've owned the men's tour for the last 20 yrs! It wasn't enough to win a lion's share of the majors, they took > of the Masters 1000 events as well! It got easier for them to hoard them since the tour went to BO3 finals over the > draining BO5! Djokovic whh a hard X making 8 finals & winning 6 of them as he did in '15 if he was extended in any of those finals; esp. ones on clay!
***I don’t think it would make a diff. He won IW's, Miami, MC, Rome, Shanghai & Paris. None of those tourns. are B2B, = IW's & Miami have a few days inbtwn. And if exhaustion isn’t a problem, then BO5's an ADVANTAGE for the >er player. Also don’t forget only SOME Masters had BO5 finals = B4 '07. Agassi won only 7 of his 17 Masters titles in BO5 matches (1 > was a walkover that whb BO5). ---
Does Rafa bring out the Capri pants 1 < X?***
OMG, I hated that look! I was already past it & retired by then, but I'm pretty sure I didn't see much of it on anyone besides Rafa! Back in the 90's, every lit'l boy & teen wanted to look like Agassi w/ the shag hair, undergear, & headbands! IMO, Borg & his wearing of Fila changed style around the world! I loved the stuff, but refused to blow that > $$ on 2 tennis outfits & a warm-up! I played too > so my wardrobe had t/b extensively full of tennis clothes to get by in the 70's! I see pros on TV now looking like they just woke up & fell out of bed! What has become of STYLE?
***I'd agree w/ you except that I hated Agassi‘s style or lack thereof as much as I hate Nadal’s. I also think that men’s style in gen. includ. on court has gone down the drain esp. in the US & w/ American brands. I think Lacoste still makes a lot of classy clothing for tennis & that’s what I wear these days. ---
Rafa's pretty much the only > player to never have won the YEC. It's w/o a doubt a strike vs him if he doesn’t win it.***
Rafa's had so many opps. = if only making the final twice! I've always believed he's physically done by the X the FO's done overall! He's had a handful of successful Summers, but few Fall wins! He may never win Paris Masters; so hard to NOT see that huge HOLE in his resume!
***If playing the YE finals; not sure why he'd want to do that? It does nothing in prep. for AO'23. RAFA's efforts are really only to win majors.***
If he's reading us, I make a huge deal that Rafa doesn't have a YEC Chp.! Rafa fans love to sport the OGM, but lit'l > an exh. sport to me when Edberg won it back in '84! Graf gave it > legit. when winning hers in '88 ...+ed the CYGS! ...In all the yrs. Nadal's played, he's only made the final twice! Some GOAT! He m/b trying to + another YE #1 to his resume; then 1 behind Novak's 7!
***RAFA NOT winning the YE Final... dude. No way he can do it w/ that foot. ---
RAFA must stay away from YE Final & just practice @ home, then play a tourn. in Jan. to prepare for AO. BEST advice I can give him. - ...Clearly un< it was DC (if mattered) he just didn't GAF after the last slam of the season.***
Paris (Bercy), = though a Masters, wasn't taken seriously; mainly due to top players being just plain tired by the X it rolled around! It only remained important to players on the cusp of making the YEC & needing the pts. to quailify! It's amazing how Djokovic has pretty much owned this event when past players were lucky to win = one! We're still waiting for Rafa to complete the Paris double, but so far he's been shutout!
***Indoor events favor flat-hitting players, & those who get discombobulated by wind & otherwise elements. End-of-the-season events do suit Novak, that's true. - I'd say > Novak fans are rat'l people. And > Fedal fans are emot'l people which refuse to look @ facts if it hurts their idol image. "It's easier to fool people > to convince them that they're being fooled."***
He got the > out of his talent! He wasn't powerful or crafty! It was all about hustle & retrieving IMO! It was a > accompl. to win 2 majors & be #1 = for short X! He got all he could out of his abilities unlike Murray who chd > & underachieved = though the Big 3 thwarted him his entire career!
***If we agree to call Vilas an ATG, I don’t have any problems in calling Murray so.***
Murray has 3 majors, but Vilas not only has 4, he went on a winning streak of over 50 matches on clay & a YEC on grass! Murray's consistency was nowhere near that good!
***How many X's did Vilas lose to ATG in finals?***
That's why it was hard to proclaim him #1 in '77 = w/ 2 majors won; the USO over Connors! He still had a losing rec. vs the Big 2; Connors & Borg!
***It doesn't matter what # Novax is, I don't recall him having a hard draw for yrs.***
It's b/c he's been the best player for the last decade +! He's def. > top 10 players in history along w/ consistently making SF & finals!
***You have to admit he pretty much always gets some pretty avg. players in the early Rds. of tourns., @ #1 it's prob. earnt, but he seems to get an easier draw > often > not.***
The prob. you're seeing is the rest of the tour plainly stinks! They aren't = comp. = though physically they have the ability!
***I'm hoping for a Cinci. '13 match if both make SF in Bercy.***
Wow, you had to go "way back" for that one! I'd like to see another '19 AO Final blowout! Nadal was playing well & had held serve 60+ X's in a row en route to the final! Looked like it w/b close w/ Djokovic looking a lit'l shakey in prev. matches! Novak took control early & often of every rally, not just the match! It was the most dom. exh. of tennis I'd ever seen from the baseline! Rafa couldn't begin to move to shots where the dir. of the ball was surprisingly happening! Nadal grimaced > a few X's absol. help of that going on @ the top "back in the day!" Allowing Rafa to accum. all those FO's proves the pt. that = though able, when it counted, the rest of the tour was weak & allowed Fedalovic to own the tour for the last 20+ yrs.! As impressive as their rec., it says a lot for the comp. over sev. gens. of young players! Fedalovic were re-writing the rec.-bks & the NG'rs w/b respons. if they allow them to keep winning until the wheels fall off!
***You can blame the comp., or you can just flat out admit that Roger, Rafa & Novak have been head & shoulders above the rest. The 2nd part's the > reasonable argument. As to Rafa's 14 RG titles, he did beat Roger & Novak for > of them. ...And yes, Rafa & Novak may keep winning big titles until "the wheels fall off." That's about quality of player, not lack of comp. ---
Novak could sweep the end of season.***
For the avg. player, this is a career yr. = though excl. from 1/2 the events this season! Funny how this won't = reg. in his recs. compared to his '11,'15,'18 finish, & the > season since Laver's CYGS,'21; 1 match from his own CYGS!
***I do think that Djokovic truly relishes the comp. tbh. He lives for it. One thing I respect about him.***
W/ such a limited sched. against his WILL & ability to compete >, taking away opps may've extended Novak's career! He misses it & treasures every moment he's out there now > likely! Some around his age w/b entering 250 events to edge out of the game! Tele Viv revived Djokovic & put on display showing the world "I'm still here!" Astana cemented the deal & I couldnt be > proud of the guy! Anything after this is gravy w/ so many forces thwarting his ascen. to being "The BEST!"
***Yeah, this has re-ignited his passion for the comp. = >. This can only be a great thing moving forward. - ...But Novak rarely says something off the rails. He’s usually very careful w/ his words.***
That says a lot for someone who speaks 11 languages includ. Chinese! He has to deal w/ the soft feelings of people he doesn't know! Wow, being diplomatic! Who wants such behavior around our kids? Just goes to show, few'll ever be truly satisfied w/ rivals or threat to their fandom!
***Greedy man he is. He's already GOAT, but he wants t/b Grass GOAT, Hard GOAT, & Indoor GOAT. "Give other humans a chance dude." It ain't fair. If Nadal didn't exist, he w/b clay GOAT too. He'd lit. GOAT on every surface. He'd prob. find a way t/b GOAT on carpet if they had it. ---
My mind is telling me Sinner could deny him 5 str. Wimbls. if he gets his serving to around 60-65% serves in, along w/ +ed belief, similar to how Fed denied Sampras of 5 str. in '01.***
Sinner's got to get out of the 1st Rd. of a tourn. to challenge Novak! I'm a fan, but was very disappointed how easily he went down in Bercy today to M-A Hüsler!
***New rules @ ATP Next Gen. Finals In Milan! - "The > interesting innovation's the red. of the X limit btw pts. when it's obtained w/ an ace, a winning serve or a DF. The shot clock'll ct. down 15 secs. instead of 25 after the umpire announces the score."***
Makes sense to me! I recall 40 yrs. ago, Lendl was playing vs Jose Luis Clerc! They were going to the towel = after an ace! WHY?
***If the receiver's stalling, putting their hand up, toweling off, or just not getting into a ready position. Can the server just serve anyway? I thought the rule said yes, & if so, servers should do that. I believe > players, pro & am., prob. wait out of courtesy, but when the receiver's deliberately trying to stall, they should just serve anyway. I guess one practical consideration's that the receiver's stall tactic c/b distracting to the server.***
Nadal's the worst offender; esp. when receiving! The server s/b allowed to just go ahead & serve w/ that idiot toweling off & yanking on his junk & draws!
***Maybe they can introduce this rule on the regular tour in the near future as well.***
I thought that was the idea of the tourn.; testing new scoring & other rules B4 enforcing on the tour! I'm truly hoping they do something to cut these match X's down! No-Ad & a TB @ 4 all makes so much sense w/ matches lasting 3+ hrs. or > w/ 5 sets!
***I don't think that the majority of tennis comm. wants or is ready @ least for changes in the scoring system; @ least not yet. But changes regarding the shot clock w/b very welcomed methinks.***
***Stan vs. Andy is a great exercise in combat'n "Slam absolutism." While it's prob. true that Stanimal @ his best was > dangerous player > Andy ever was. Andy's overall career was signif. >er. After those 3 Slams, Stan has 1 big title (Masters) to Andy's 17 (a WTF, 2 OGM's, 14 Masters).***
Another great underachiever! Stan had all the shots & a > 1-handed BH! His prob. was def. in his head! If you recall, when he finally won something, he pt.'d to his head as if he was telling his coach he was mentally there! Winning only 1 Masters' the > embarrassing since = the worst have 2 or 3! His >est hurdle was obviously playing his countryman, Fed! There was such a mental block, it rivaled Gerulaitis' rec. vs Connors & Borg! He had a lit'l success vs Djokovic & stole 3 majors from him over the yrs.!
***Fed's going to get a belated Wimbl. tennis farewell in '23. His “real” goodbye. They prob. will set up some sort of ceremony on Centre Court & Rolex, Uniqlo, etc involved will get plenty of advertising/marketing mileage out of it.***
It m/b 2 > by way of Novak tying him up @ 8 Wimbls. apiece, then the following season if Novak goes by after winning his 9th!
***...That's when the centre of the tennis world shifted to the USA, and it was Texas where it went. There are all kinds of sports thriving in TX. They didn't just pick the place out of a hat.***
I need to reiterate Lamar Hunt in Houston & his support of tennis created the WCT Tour which was > financially promoted > all the majors combined!
***I have been saying this for past few yrs. & we have ardent WTA enthusiasts who think the GS crowd's entirely to watch women play & how > they deserve t/b paid the same as ATP. This is the real state of WTA. There are no takers @ all. Women’s tennis in GS's are merely forced. Nobody gives a flying Fk. about women’s tennis. It has been in such bad shape = when Serena was around. She beat a bunch of nobodies & padded up her GS ct. ---
Iga's playing Daria now & the amt. of empty seats is insane.***
The women needs stars just like the men! As much as we like IGA as #1, the name isn't pulling fans like Osaka, Barty, Azarenka or Pliskova! The men might = have trouble after Fedalovic hangs it up for good!
***Lot of guys have their panties in a bunch over WTA crowds. So much caring for something they constantly proclaim they don't care about!***
I know I stopped caring yrs. ago & my panties are none of your business! Women's tennis has been in trouble since Serena able to come & go as she pleased!
***Not saying we should take away anybody's pay, but the WTA Finals have a $5M prize pool. I doubt there are any ATP tourns. w/ that kind of prize $$ & low attendance.***
There w/b in=ties trying to get women's sports the respectability & competitiveness to get the masses to care! What's worse is in college, taking $$ from men's programs to support the ladies when there isn't = full participation! The men continue to pay the freight of women's sports w/ lit'l in the way of gratitude!
***I'm starting to notice that the equality BS is starting to fade a lit'l though. M/b this'll help. lol.***
***What does prize $$ on the WTA have to do w/ the ATP? They’re separate tours. And if the WTA can't sustain this level of prize $$ based on turnout, then it’ll shake out in the future, but I thought it was pretty clear that attendance has nothing to do w/ prize $$.***
Tech., there's always a drain from somewhere else if you start making $$ right away! The growing pains of the WTA were BJK, Wade, Court, & others being signed to their contracts for a $1 back in the early 70's! The VS Tour was brand spankin' new! Ted Tinling became prominent designing sexy, but wearable dresses! BJK promised t/b the 1st woman to win $100 K in a season! It was all but assured since price $$ jumped to $10 K for tourn. champs! She was women's tennis!
I think women's tennis prob. tried growing faster > it should; IDK! I recall @ 1 X all the top players met in the same events! They didn't have 3 or 4 going @ the same X! That's why it was the "Martina & Chris Show" every wk. for a few yrs.! As soon as they acquired a few extra stars like Sabatini, Graf, Sanchez-V., & Seles, they started spreading themselves thin w/ 2 events @ the same X; Graf & Sabatini in FLA final, while Navratilova & Seles duked it out in a Paris Indoor event! They aquired the $$, but not the real fandom one'd think w/ all the promoting of their players yr. Rd.! Of the Sports Ladies "winnings," tennis players dom. the list w/ golf a distant 2nd! The WNBA hasn't captured the imagination of the country after huge infusions of $$ directly from the NBA! What'll they be remembered for in the foreseeable future; a star player in a Russian prison? Women's soccer's popular worldwide, but they ain't making BANK here in the USA!
***Rafa rights the ship & takes the opener 6-3 over Tommy Paul in Bercy. ---
Papa should've stayed home & changed > diapers this wk. He's playing like his diaper is soiled. Lost 2nd set in TB. Now down a brk in the 3rd.***
..And this is w/ Rafa getting to the tourn. early to practice! I wonder what it whb like if he arrived just a day B4?
***He's never been extremely good on indoor HC. I don't expect that to change in '22 no matter how many extra days of practice he got.***
I don't understand, how can Rafa be The GOAT if absol. help< & win< in the Fall in events run after the USO? No Paris Masters or YEC!
***If he was smart, he would've teamed up w/ someone to play dubs this wk. so he'll have some extra matches B4 he has another wk. off***
Here we go! Nadal's PR Agent's @ work making excuses for him! Courier went right to the "injury card!" OMG, WTF? "Not to take anything from Tommy's play," he says! He just did! Absolute SCUM move! If Rafa starts bitching in the news conf., I'm going to fillet him for the rest of his miserable life!
***Rusty perf., but T. Paul played amazing. I wonder if Nadal will play the ATP finals now? He seems kind of disinterested/down @ the end. M/b he'll take a brk. until next yr. Courier can say what he wants about anyone, but Nadal hasn’t said anything yet; so stop creating drama as usual.***
You're deluding yourself! If Nadal has a chance to take YE #1, he participates! He usually mentally signs-off after the USO; some say the FO & doesn't care about the rest of the season! He knows he has serious holes in his resume that c/b held over his head includ. YE #1's, Wks. @ #!, & no GM's! Rafa has the rec. in RG & 1 > major over Djokovic! That's just not a lot & IDK how you can think it's going t/b overlooked by tennis historians!? ;-)
***Raiders/Saints matchup w/b one of the best games of the wkend.***
You were saying? Just chk'd Half-X score; Raiders already down 17-0 to the woeful Saints! M/b LV c/b labeled the best 2-5 team in the league now! They have a 2nd 1/2 to turn it around I guess! My Bears so far are being embar. on Nat'l TV by the Cowboys! Chgo. had intercp. to close it to 28-17, but score run back up 49-29!
***I love it that the Chokeland Faiders are getting their asses kicked. That’s almost as > special to me as when the Cheatriots lose or the Bucs & Shady Brady. ---
Andy Reid's another from the Holmgren coaching tree who has taken 2 teams to the SB, 1st w/ Donovan McNabb & the Eagles, then Mahomes w/ the Chiefs.***
I give Reid > credit w/ Phili.; so injury rampant from Donovan to their #1 draft pick RB always on the shelf! It's a wonder they were as successful, but it helped that The Cowboys' org. was still in flux after Jimmy fired! The yr. they made the SB, WR T. Davis was out for wks. after being horse-collared shattering his ankle! W/ KC, he has a wealth of talent! They keep talking about being w/o Tyreek Hill, but have no idea why as they're on course to make the Conf. Chp. game yet again!
***...Mahomes can make any of us look like a > coach as Brady did w/ Belicheat & Elway did for Mike Shannahan; neither being good coaches IMO. It was his X in Philly where he proved Reid was a really good coach. The Eagles firing him was a God-send for the Chiefs. The Bills look like they have a > coach as e well to join the ranks of Marv Levy. They have X injury’s to pretty much 1/2 the team & yet have only lost one game this yr. To beat the Chiefs in KC w/ those kinds of injurys, there's no stopping this team from winning it all. I just can’t see it. They have a good coach & the talent that I can easily see them being the 1st team since the Cheatriots to win B2B SB's. I hope so. Would like to see a LEGIT team pull that off. The last one that did it was the Broncos. That’s been a long X.***
It's delusional behavior where these guys are willing to give it all up for just 1 > game! Sick AF; esp. Brady!
***I'll agree Brady should've went out on top. But that's me. He may want to leave it all out there on the field B4 he leaves. I think it's weird Gisele wanted him to quit. Usually the spouse is worried too > hubby being @ home all the X'is going t/b too >. And he's young. If they weren't getting along, why would she care that he's gone? Except for the kids. But come on! It's only 1 > yr. Also, Brady's only 1 game out of 1st place still. Not just 1 > game, 1 > chp. The rest of your life, you'll wonder if m/b you had 1 > in you. If you crash your last yr., then you know you overstayed your welcome. ---
Bills won 27-17 on SNF. Not the blowout I was hoping for, but a loss is a loss. That's 4 losses in a row for the Pukers. Hopefully many > to come. So I'm 10-4 going into Monday Night's game btw the Bengals & Browns. - Yeah, from what you were telling me I figured it w/b a blowout as well; dissapointed it wasn't.***
Rodgers' still Rodgers! It's not like anyone should feel sorry for him, but he did it to himself! His salary's the biggie & as a result, GB hasn't been able to attract receiver talent! The ones they had have left! Poor Aaron! The Bills coasted in the 2nd Half of the SNF game!
***The Pukers trading Davante Adams has been disastrous for their offense. Kind of funny that Adams hasn't really been a big impact for the Raiders. Now both teams suck. ---
That kind of performance may come back & bite them in the ass if they try that against a team capable of a comeback.***
You mean like KC? Just give them 13 secs. & you're in trouble!
***Exactly. There’s a lot of opportunistic teams out there that can hurt you if you get lackadaisical or lazy & let up on the gas.***
***Novak didn't defend any of those last 3 big titles in '16, & Andy won all 3. Novak choked, & Andy took advantage & played the best tennis of his career to steal the YE #1 - arguably ending his career to do so.***
I'm glad you said it! That was the beginning of the end of Murray overplaying like that! He was finished, done, caput after that! He did it to himself!
***Fiero loves this line of thinking, but I disagree. Murray's injury in early '17 was elbow. He's had hip issues since early 20s, by all accts. I don't believe that Murray's hip issues were from making a run in the last months of '16 & getting to #1. He has osteoarthritis. That takes a long X to become a prob. ---
Well, I said "arguably." But certainly he overplayed & wore his body down to the pt. that it never fully recovered, resulting in injury & surgery. ---
Dude, I was aiming @ Fiero, who never stops saying that Murray blew himself out passing Novak @ the end of '16. ...The degen. of the hips was coming to him for much of his tennis life. ...Yes, he was 78-9 on the yr. But Novak was 82-6 the yr. B4. Who's to say what's too many matches? ---
Alcaraz WD's from ATP Finals. He has an abdominal strain of some sort. Nadal now has a chance @ YE #1 w/ good showing @ the YEC.***
OMG, Alcaraz out for the rest of the season! Have to hope Djokovic's in Nadal's group!
***Lol @ this thinking Nadal's going to show up in Turin & run 4-0 to the Finals after losing to Tommy Paul. - Rafa doesn't care about #1. He won't = know his ranking in Turin let alone the pts scenarios. If he's not bothered by it, neither am I. ---
I think we both know that's not true. LOL, Rafa's very much calculative about YE #1. Recall '17? He'd play just enough in Paris, = when unwell so he gets to #1 & then retires once he got the spot.***
It's ridiculous how we have to remind fans of Nadal about their guy when they know damn well what's the truth! Why do they do it? Delusion, a psychosis?
***Anybody look @ the H2H btwn. Novak & Stefanos? 8-2, & the Greek hasn't beaten Djokovic in 3 yrs. He's 24! He's definitely going in the wrong dir.***
Well Paris' over on TV! Djokovic tried to give the match to Tsitsipas, but he couldn't take it! Novak had all kinds of brk pts., but allowed 3rd set TB!
***Just weird to hear Federites say the major rec. "no biggie" when it comes to GOAT-dom. The cult of his "Total Majors rec." was so ingrained for yrs.***
It took Sampras decades to brk Emerson's rec. & just over 8 for Fed to brk Sampras'! Who'd think 2 other players would overtake them all?
***In fairness, I don’t think anyone was trying to brk Emerson's rec. until Pete decided to. Borg could've sleepwalked by it if it was considered t/b a thing back then, but as you know, it wasn’t.***
There are a few new things that's happened in the last 20-50 yrs. of tennis! Besides the TB becoming a staple, terms like CGS were created! Since Graf successfully completed her CYGS, the Martina-Slam, Serena-Slam, & Nole-Slam aren't taken seriously = though no one else has been able to accomp. it!
***Yeah, I think Agassi originated the career-slam. ITA, the Martina-Slam incl. 6 slams in a row. Martina’s loss vs Sukova in '84 still hurts as much as Borg’s def. to McEnroe in NY in '80. Serena & Novak both held all 4 @ one stage & came so close to winning the CYGS. So many epic achievements by > players. We’re fortunate to witness them.***
***I've been working on a formula called GS Equivalencies (GSE) that is meant to translate a player's total accompl. & peak level into 1# & came up w/ the following Top 10 for the OE:
Federer's 1st, w/ Novak prob. to surpass him @ some pt. Nadal's 8th, just behind Connors. He has a chance to pass the next 3 to reach the Top 5 players of the OE, but prob. won't go >er.
In other words, the real quest for GOAT is btwn. Fed & Djokovic, w/ Rafa > in the same tier w/ Connors, Lendl, & McEnroe.***
Makes sense to me! People think I'm trolling when I pt. out holes in Rafa's resume which was prob. to the detriment of his #'s in this "GSE!"
***I want Nadal t/b stopped @ 22 & Novak @ 24/25. Otherwise it w/b ridiculous if the game didn’t move on w/ the new sets of players.***
I know what you mean, but we're wasting our X thinking anyone in the near future will brk. any of these recs. held by Fedalovic! It'd take 20 yrs. of play so I'm sure I won't see ANY of the recs. broken; Majors, Masters, YEC, YE #1, Wks. @ #1, etc.! Carlos needed to keep it going, but's fallen off since USO win!
***Fed & many of his fans rode that train hard emphasizing the importance of Majors started during the Sampras era & his efforts to overcome Emerson. Wks @ #1 is a factor, but again, since tennis is on a sliding cal. pt. system, ending the year #1, = if you didn't have the most wks that yr. ---
Slams are obviously hugely important, but they're not everything. At most, I'd say they make up about 40-50% of a player's total resume. I think rankings are also hugely important, & may = be > indicative of a player's overall >ness!
But yes, I do agree that majors are the big events, & I don't disagree @ all that 2 Slams should get you in the running for YE #1 & Rafa's in the running.***
I don't think majors s/b the only metric when it comes to anointing the best players! Regard< of what anyone thinks, IMO Navratilova's the BOAT man or woman! You just can't beat her overall rec. & dominance! It's was just a shame she got a late start getting spoiled by American life! It took her longer to get where she wanted to be! For the men, Fed couldn't be denied, not just an ATG, but a measuring stick for the sport the way he took over the ranks so shortly after Pete retired! Unfort. for him he was owned by 2 youngster & he hurt his legacy by hanging on too long! I already said +ing those 3 extra majors wasn't worth seeing him flounder for yrs; esp.'20! Even though he's not my fave to watch, Novak has all the recs. but majors & = that's negligable! My old self would've said Laver's rec. can't be beaten; esp. for the X's as an Am. & Pro, he did take 2 CYGS ('62 & '69)! Borg owned his era IMO; = though short! Then Sampras had his X, & I guess we have to give Roger a bone! But after all's been said & done, the rec.-book's replete w/ Novak's name all over it in "Standalone" achievements!
***Aaron Krickstein's the youngest player to win a title in the OE - Tel Aviv in '83 @ age 16, 2 mo., 8 days. I vaguely recall @Fiero425 ranting about him being a disappointment.***
Like all the kiddies of that era, they broke down trying to play men & women w/ wooden sticks! Austin & Jaeger were the early victims of greedy, Fan-Ho parents pushing their kids to the brink of dispair! Then there was Arias & Krickstein! AK's only disappointment was to himself not finishing off Connors in that USO match! Last I read about him, it has something to do w/ Marine Biology! The 2nd wave of girls were put under = > pressure as $$ c/b made in endorsements so "looks" were a premium w/ Basset, Temesvari, Sabatini, & of course Anna Korn. much later! Andre Agassi admitted in his book how much he hated tennis & the people he had to deal w/ in those teen yrs.! It seems Sabatini & Graf avoided a lot of injuries; so Amazonian IMO!
***Enjoyable WTA Tourn., but sad that it was held where it has the atmosphere of a 250/500 event.***
A lot of it has to do w/ name recog. of the players & these ladies aren't capturing the minds & hearts of the avg. tennis fan! It hurt when Osaka started having troubles & then Barty retired! That couldn't have helped the tour! There's a vacuum @ the top; sorta like when we lost Sampras, Courier, Agassi, etc.! Swiatek needs to step it up & stabalize the ranking b/c it's a mess!
Nole prob. thinks '21 is his best season! One match from a CYGS; how could he not? Obviously '15 is his > successful season! No one'll come close to winning 3 majors, in the final of the other, then + 6 Masters, making 8 finals he played! Who else can come = close w/o dropping dead? Even the haters have to take note & say "hmmmm!"
***Only Fed came close in '06, w/ 3 major titles, final of the 4th, 4 masters, overall 6 finals played, + WTF. But Djokovic's '15 still edges him out overall.***
I know it seems =valent, but if a FO final is lost, there s/b no talk of a CYGS! Many past champs who owned 3 are > signif. since their one loss was @ the USO!
***I just watched the video of Novak's peeps preparing his "juice." The guy in black looks as if he's trying to obstruct observers.***
Shocking! Nole's people prob. thought people would go fk'n nuts & try to concoct some nefarious reason why he's still playing so good in his mid 30's = though Roger played until he was almost 40! The hypocrisy's mind-numbing, but this is the world we live in! We're all FOS & look to undermine accomp.! I = do it w/ Nadal! Even though Nadal's career is not bal. w/ the majority of his success on clay, he still owns 22 Majors! I have > respect for Fedovic who had success over all surfaces including sev. YEC's which Rafa's never gotten a sniff of after all these yrs.!
***“Ages off tour” only ages an aging player = >***
So ridiculous! Novak loses 1 match since Wimbl. & he's considered ancient or "aging off the tour!" Ridiculous! He won 3 Majors last season! Those idiots on TCC keep referencing The Laver Cup matches which is = > ridiculous of them as they played on the tour! The LC's lit'l > a glorified exh.! It just shouldn't ct. in the H2H! I seem to recall Novak losing 2 LC matches in '18 after his huge comeback! He went on on to collect 7 majors since then! This shortened season might = be rejuvenating for all we know after such a tough '21 being a match from a CYGS & def. @ the Olympics!
***Fed's stubborn AF & that's also why he took way too long to change to the >er racquet. He should've changed racquets & started to hit the BH w/ > aggression & < slice yrs ago. ...of course it can only take something as basic as changing strategy or improving your weaknesses (BH) to beat an opp. A few pts determine everything. Just look @ Wimbl.'19 final.***
By the final, it was Roger's FH that was a bit wild & that's where UFE's cost him, esp. in those TB's; 3 of them! He had 11 UFE to Nole's 0!
***Well I was alluding > to the 2 wasted MP's, but, yeah, the TB's he played sucked royally! He was ahead in all key stats & still lost.***
Well NG'rs are starting to get over reverance of the B3! Nadal's been run ragged! Rune doesn't GAF & couldn't care < about the elites of the game as he def. 5 top 10'rs in a row!
***It's taken them a long X to get to this pt. I thought The B3 w/b run out of the game by the late 2010s. As it turns out, I couldn't have been > wrong. The Lost Gen. was a total flop & the heavily hyped NG has not fared much >er.***
***In the 90s, people didn't talk about McEnroe or Connors in this reverential way. That was reserved for 2 guys: Borg & Laver. Guys who weren't just impressive, but inspirational.
Then Pete kind of joined that group, but his lack of expressiveness prevented him from truly connecting. We never really felt like we 'knew' Pete & he didn't help that by becoming a near hermit after retirement. Laver & Borg still show up to way > stuff & they're > older (esp. Rocket).
And then Roger came along, taking "The Beautiful Game" to new athletic hts., while bringing some of Sampras' stoicism, but balancing it w/ a full range of human emotions that we all experienced along w/ him. That's why ppl idolize him & that's not going to change for a while. I can't see anyone filling his shoes for a long X, m/b ever @ffw2 @vive le beau jeu! ---
The only guy who transcended the sport > Fed was Borg. A supreme winner w/ style, class, & rockstar status. He was a huge cultural icon. Fed's the only guy who get's close. Thing about Borg is, this per. of X was actually pretty short. He walked away from the game very early, then tried to come back...and was terrible. ---
Fed never did anything like that. He only built on his successes, & when he couldn't, he re-doubled his efforts & never stopped trying. And for the > part, he was a top player to the end. ---
Sorry — Borg is obviously a legend, but he w/b but a footnote compared to Fed’s legacy. ---
Fed def. had a much >er career & >er impact on the game, but Borg, although short-lived, created a media frenzy wherever he went, he was a rockstar. There was also a per. where the players lost the match = B4 walking onto the court. They were in awe. ---
The awe factor @ RG was strong, but @ Wimby it was quite diff. Oddly enough, his 1st of his 5 str. title runs was the smoothest. From '77, his 1st defense, he had to go 5 in 6 of his 28 matches. Victor Amaya was almost a precursor to Ivo Karlovic, trying to oust a def. champion in 1R in '78, just one set away B4 Borg rallied to win in 5. In '76, B4 he had est. surface versatility, Borg did not drop a set. That was prob. a combo of overconfidence on the part of his opps & a fairly weak draw. When '77 rolled around, there was no overconfidence & he started to play a succession of players not intimidated to a level they weren’t ready to make Bjorn work for the wins. ---
Comparatively no, Borg was on the cover of all the fashion mags, had an entourage whenever he went, high sec., & screaming fans, >ly young girls following him wherever he went. It was always a circus w/ tons of media coverage. ---
Rosstour, don't get me wrong, but no, not @ the same level.
Federer had a long career, in his 1st 10 yrs., he was big, huge, in the tennis world, but not beyond that.
Later on he became what he is today, an icon.
Borg didn't take 15 yrs to become an icon, he was one from the get go.
Borg got invited to places w/ strict dress codes, & he showed up wearing jeans, & allowed in b/c he was Borg.
When Borg played, the place w/b swarmed w/ young females going crazy about him.
That never happened w/ Fed.
Both are icons, but w/ Fed there was never the frenzy that surrounded Borg, 2 diff. things.***
***Been following the Bears & wonder is Justin Fields another bust for the Bears in their search for a starting QB? One thing I've never understood about the Bears org. is their desire to draft a QB in the 1st Rd. when they have a miserable X developing that position? ---
I think the prob. in Chgo's mgmt. & coaching. Fields was a 50/50 guy coming out of OSU IMB. W/ the right org. @ development, I think he chb a pretty eff. QB. But w/ the Bears, not so much. ---
Yeah, the team need t/b sold & have new ownership to install >er mgmt. that can develop players >er. M/b the best thing the Bears can do is trade him to a team that can fix what's wrong & he c/b a good bkup. choice. ---
I don’t think the Bears have had a > QB since Sid Luckman in the leather helmet days. Jim McMahon was good in his prime. ---
He was OK. Don't think he ever had > 15 TD passes in a season. He had an injury plagued career & much of it was spent in a bkup. role.***
McMahon was a > leader of men! It's just too bad the O-line couldn't keep him upright for long! Even their SB season of '85, Fuller & Tomczak had to win quite a few games while Jim was on the shelf! They wound up being 15-1 dropping the one game I predicted vs Miami & Marino's Dolphins! They annihilated the playoff victims of The Giants & Rams! Watching the Bear Defense beat up the opp. was as entertaining as watching the Offense! There was neg. yardage in the 1st Half vs NE in New Orleans! They had the audacity to create a video during the SB run; "The SB Shuffle!" Wow; no team as dom. since; = those Balt. defensive teams!
***Yeah, that '85 Bears defense was just incredible. I haven't seen any defense compare, & that includes the Pitt.'s Steel Curtain, Vikings Purple People Eaters, Cowboys Doomsday, LT's Giants, 2000 Ravens, or the '02 Bucs. They just flat out dom. their opps. They were the strength of that Bears team. McMahon was OK, & they had Walter Payton & Willie Gault. McMahon mhb a > QB if he could've just stayed healthy. ===
We're @ HalfX in the NFL season. Lots of interesting games t/b played out. This wk...
Thurs. Night Game - Falcons @ Panthers - I'll take Falcons.
Sunday Games:
Seahawks @ Bucs - Didn't the Seachix recently play in London? I'll take them over the Bucs in Munich.
Cowboys @ Packers - Wish there was a way for both teams to lose. If the Pukers can't = take care of the Lions, I give them lit'l chance to beat the Cowpies.
Vikings @ Bills - My game of the wk. Not sure ...on Allen's elbow. I know the Bills are favored, but I can't go vs my Vikings. They've figured out how to win close games & I expect they'll do it again.
Lions @ Bears - Black & Blue div. matchup. Looks like the Bears offense is starting to click. I'll take the Bears @ Home.
Browns @ Dolphins - I'll go w/ the Fish @ Home.
Broncos @ Titans - Neither team seems able to pass. Titans have Derrick Henry. I'll take Titans @ Home.
Texans @ Giants - I'll take the Jersey Jints @ Home.
Jaguars @ Chiefs - Chefs shouldn't have > trouble here.
Saints @ Steelers - Toss up. I'll go w/ Home team Steelers.
Colts @ Raiders - 1st game as HC for Jeff Saturday. Not sure who to pick. The Raiders s/b > >er given their talent. I'll go w/ the Raiders @ Home.
Cardinals @ Rams - Rams have been crapping the bed this yr. The Cards haven't been any >er. I'll go w/ the Rams @ Home.
Chargers @ 49ers - I'll go w/ the Bolts over the Santa Clara Whiners.
MNF Game - Commanders @ Eagles - Hope the Commies can win here, but doubt that happens. Div. games can go in unexpected ways though.***
***Re-watching the Serbia Open final. Djokovic def. felt something or sick/tired b/c when he won the 2nd set, he had a discomfort look on his face like he was sick or something. Something to keep an eye on during the Clay season. Let’s see if this illness will affect his conditioning going forward.***
ReplyDeleteI saw him doubled over just B4 the TB! I was hoping he was just "gassed" from playing 3 sets all the way thru the tourn.! He got his work in that's for sure! M/b this unfortunate X taken off will benefit his run to a 3rd FO Chp. & really set himself up over Federer! At least he defeated Rafa a couple X's in Paris! Nole was hitting the ball quite confidently by the end of the match! He got the max out of the tourn. playing 3 sets in all the matches! It finally caught up w/ him in the final!
***He looked very gassed. He was hardly able to move in the 3rd set, thus the bagel. He needs to address the physical aspects of his game. The rest w/b fine. It was a good start to take off the rust by playing a lot of sets. He was not there yet, but now he knows what needs t/b worked on. I think he'll do well @ Madrid & Rome to prepare for RG.***
We can only hope this unfortunate loss of match play & conditioning will benefit him in the end @ RG where he'll get a day off here & there!
***I'd think Novak's best best this Spring/Summer isn’t the FO but Wimbledon.***
I'll take either or both! He'll drop off the ranking charts un< he wins @ least one of them this Summer!
***No rest for Barcelona champion Carlos Alcaraz as he quickly had to jet off to Greece to fufil a commitment to his agency, IMG. Alcaraz along w/ Hubert Hurkacz had committed to an exh. match @ the Tatoi Club today.***
Hope we don't see the early burnout! W/ success, you not only play > matches, commitments double & triple! IMG like any business say they look out for players, but their main job is to promote & earn $$! "Better watch out Carlos!"
***Let's see down the track if this'll affect Carlos w/ IMG, a bit early to overreact @ present.***
I've heard that B4! They thought they'd protected Jen. Capriati back in '90, but her parents were so Narcissistic ...to tell them what to do w/ their 13 yo! The WTA relented w/ a clause called the "Capriati Rule!" If you became 14 w/i a month or 2, "you can play tournaments!" Well we know all about her rise, the spiral & subsequent "rise from the ashes!" It's happened a lot > we know w/ parents who are out of control when it comes to their kid becoming a tennis phenom! I go back to the days of Austin & Jeager as a few others out here who will remain name<!
***Hold on...thank goodness the WTA has adjusted their rules for youngsters to play a limited amt. of tennis tournaments now. Lets live in the present okay :) ***
I kept hearing about "so called" limitations, but I seemed to see Coco Gauff pret' near every wk.! She's not only wowing the sports' networks in singles, she's been doing well in doubles! They were = being featured in the coverage! IDK if it's done all that much for her to overplay like this the last 2 yrs! Thinking of Chris Evert who said once that she hadn't ever gone snorkeling until her 1st husband John took her out in the Great Barrier Reef! She was raised in Fla! How could that happen outside of being very single-minded as a kid? Chris has given no indication she felt pushed & her parents seemed genuinely nice, but ya never know! Who knew about Joan Crawford?
***12. Serena Williams – 73
ReplyDeleteWms has won 23 Grand Slams, putting her 2nd on the all-X list behind Court.
Somewhat surprisingly, however, the 40-yo has not won as many career titles as a # of other women.
Nonethe<, Wms has won the YEC Finals on 5 X's, OG @ London '12 & 23 Premier Mand. victories.
11. John McEnroe – 77
McEnroe won 77 career titles, incl. 7 majors, 5 YEC Finals & 19 GP Super Series finals.
The best single-season match rec. for any male player in the OE, w/ a win-loss rec. of 82-3 (96.5%) set in '84.
10. Billie Jean King - 78
King won > 100 career titles, 78 in the OE ('68 onwards.)
This incl. 8 GS victories, 4 over Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
9. Novak Djokovic – 86
Djokovic has 20 major singles titles, 1 of 2 players, w/ Nadal, to have won each of the 4 Slams @ least twice.
He's the only male player to have won all 9 of the Masters tourns. &'s done so twice. DGM.
8. Rafael Nadal – 91
Nadal won his 21st Slam title @ AO this yr., 1 over both Djokr & Fed.
The 35-yo won 2 OGM's representing Spain the the only Spanish player, male or female, to win all 4 GS's.
7. Margaret Court – 92
Court won 92 career titles in the OE & remains 1 ahead of Wms in the all-X list of GS victories.
The Australian won > 90% of her matches & emerged victorious in > 1/2 of the GS's entered (24 of 47.)
6. Ivan Lendl – 94
Lendl ...still had an outstanding career.
He won 8 GS singles titles, 22 GP Super Series titles & 94 career titles overall.
5. Roger Federer – 103
While Nadal has now overtaken Fed in terms of major victories, the Swiss star still leads his Spanish rival when it comes to career titles.
The 40-yo has won 20 GS's, 28 ATP Masters titles, one OGM & a rec. 6 ATP Finals.
4. Steffi Graf – 107
Graf's 1 of 4 players in the OE to have > 100 career titles.
This includes 26 major wins, 5 WTA Tour Chps, 1 OG & 18 Tier I tournament victories.
3. Jimmy Connors – 109
While Connors lost the h2h battle w/ arch-rival McEnroe, he > eclipsed him in terms of overall titles.
The American has > singles titles > any other male tennis player ever, having won 8 GS's & a remarkable 81 GP events.
2. Chris Evert – 157
The top 2 on this list are some way clear of the chasing pack, w/ Evert having won 48 > titles > Connors.
These titles came over a span of 17 yrs & featured 18 GS victories.
1. Martina Navratilova – 167
Navratilova tops the list w/ 167 career titles, includ. 18 GS wins.
The now-commentator also won 177 doubles titles, meaning she won > 350 tournaments across her distinguished career.
---
People are forgetting that Djokovic was woeful outside slams last yr. & excellent in them. Alcaraz's great, but beating Nole in BO3 vs BO5 is night & day.***
Novak's biggest adversary continues t/b himself! He missed a major & wasn't allowed in the States to play 2 Masters events! He looked a lit'l scratchy early on, but I think he's finally gotten to a winning attitude & place! When he loses, a lot of the X he's made an UFE that was huge or stayed in lockdown mode allowing offensive play from a good player like Carlos! There was a combo of that in the last match w/ Alcaraz! Nole missed a few easy FH's & didn't "take it" to Carlos allowing dropshots to beat him! Normally Novak gets to them! A # of X's he didn't = make a move until too late! Novak prob. should've won that BO3, but he has a much >er chance in BO5!
***Other than during the slams I don't much follow women's tennis. Even during slams I might catch the tail end of a ladies match b/c the next match on the same court is men's game I want to watch. I used to like women's tennis. Now I don't care.
ReplyDelete---
I don't = care about the slams, so you aren't alone. Didn't care about WTA ever since Justin Henin retired.***
That's how it's been for me! The WTA has been a joke IMO allowing Serena to come & go as she pleased & steal away their thunder! The inconsistency of their tour has the #1 ranking in flux until Swiatek's come along! She's been great & I hope she can keep it up & stabilize the WTA! The rankings have been crazy since the days of Hingis & Henin w/ only a bright light coming from Osaka & she was run off for a while!
***Can you believe I have never seen a red clay court in the US. @Fiero425 Have you seen or played on any in the US that was red?***
As far as I know, the only true red clay is down in TX.! I've only played on that greenish, dirty Har-Tru clay yrs ago! I lived just a few blocks from one of the biggie "Jr. Nat'l events" in River Forest just outside of Chgo! Just walked by, but never played on it! I'll take cement/HC anyX = though it's supposedly hard on the body! I played from early morning into the night for yrs!
***I played on the courts in RF. They're great courts & extremely slow. That's where I played my clay court match from Hell. I haven't seen the red clay in TX. yet. Thanks!
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I hear they got rid of the red clay in the Houston tourn. a few yrs back. As a young adult I played on red clay courts in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Goodness, I couldn't hit a winner, the ball kept coming back, so unnerving for a kid raised on Cal. HC's.***
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...Novak's still the 2nd best clay courter of this era! He's done the most damage to stop Rafa from winning all clay events; someX's in str. sets believe it or not!
***How can you EVER say anything about Novak's clay court meetings vs Rafa on clay the way Rafa destroyed him @ RG'20. Rafa did the same thing to Roger @ RG'08.***
I still don't know "what's the point?" You saying Novak has had no success vs Nadal? Is that it b/c I don't have a clue WTF you're talking about!
***He has played Nadal on clay prob. > anyone. Novak has lost @ > tournaments > anyone. I don't get what your pt. was saying he's done most damage Nadal on clay.***
...Novak has def. Nadal on clay > anyone else! R U drunk?
***Dude. Novak has lost to Rafa > anyone else that he has played. Are U drunk or high?
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What he said was that Novak had "done the > damage to stop Rafa winning all clay events." You have to say that is true. Even if it took him playing a damage" He's played Rafa on clay > anyone. Rafa H2H has twice as many victories on clay over Novak. I know what Fiero's trying to say.
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Rafa has lost very lit'l on clay & to very few players. The guy he's lost the most to, & most importantly is Novak. He's not wrong. Has Rafa capped him far more on clay? Yes he has. Has he beaten him comprehensively on clay? Yes he has. But has any one player been more dangerous on clay to Nadal than Djokovic? No. I'm just being fair to what he stated.***
Some people like to play dumb trying to gaslight me & I'm not having it! I'll move on!
***Fiero,.Novak's played Rafa > anyone. Wouldn't it make logical sense that he has more wins on clay than anyone else? Can someone other than Moxie please tell me what I am missing? I bet Roger m/b the next closest w/ clay court victories vs Nadal. WHY? B/c they've played over 20 X's .Duh?***
Honey, you're delusional! M/b both of us are missing something! At least a detractor has my back understanding me! I "undermine," you inflate!
***All credit to Novak that he’s the only player we ever really feared on clay. His results vs Rafa - including 2 victories @ RG - are a constant worry.***
ReplyDeleteEven Uncle Tony has admitted there's no game plan when it comes to competing against Novak! Nadal just has to grind it out the best he can! ...Novak's still the 2nd best clay courter of this era! He's done the most damage to stop Rafa from winning all clay events!
***Unfortunately true, & since '11 Novak has always been the only player we ever worried about on clay & for good reason. It used t/b we were certain that the most difficult thing in sport was to beat Rafa over 5 sets on clay, b/c it was true, but now we’re @ the last days of Rafa & he’s not guaranteed to win over 5 vs Novak, = if he’s fit. It just is what it is, a trajectory, a steady progress vs a slow decline, but Novaks professionalism, honesty & determination to succeed @ the very highest level vs the very best players, anywhere in the world, have gotten him in the position where. Since '10 he’s only 10-8 behind in H2H matches vs Rafa on clay, including those 2 victories over him in Paris. He hasn’t been a thorn in Rafa’s side, he’s been a spear!
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You’re correct in what you’re saying about Novak vs Rafa on clay, > esp. since '11, but none of us forget that great match they had in '09 in Madrid, which surely proved to Novak that he could get to Rafa on the dirt…***
Tell AP! THE child's delusional AF! Tried to gaslight me on my statements about the subject! Like other crabby old men, I'd tell him "I've forgotten > about tennis history than you'll ever know!" I couldn't believe the dispute! It made no sense! The record's online if he didn't believe it!
***I think he knows brother. It’s just hard truth for us to swallow right now. It w/b easier for us if Rafa was on form heading into Paris. We’d be < concerned, we’d actually be confident, but now everything's uncertain, mainly b/c Rafa has once > fk'd himself over w/ stupid scheduling, & it seems it’s too late in the day for him to learn. Novak has peaked @ the right X & Carlos w/b a huge threat to everyone if he makes the 2nd wk… Since Novak peaked after '10, the H2H is only 10-8 to Rafa, w/ 4 victories & 2 defeats @ RG…
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...Some here really dislike Djokovic. Any analysis of his game boils down to "I hope he loses." Other than a healthy Nadal & perhaps a surging Alcaraz, & Medvedev on HC, as of now I don't genuinely see any other legit challengers to his throne. Let's face it, the crown princes (Zverev & Tsitsipas) don't exactly inspire confidence, FAA's the eternal "Potential," & the rest of the top 20 lack consistency, much < mental heft.
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Well, Novak must be pretty thrifty. I wonder if Becker asked him for a large loan?***
I thought that was one of the reasons for Becker's dismissal; his financial problems along w/ him being a bad influence on NOVAK when he cheated!
***You're correct. Becker's the Bad Influence himself. - W/b nice to get a cupcake draw for Rafa & let the #1 player in the world prove to the ATP that he feels invincible.***
Nadal's had enough cupcake draws w/ inferior comp. in finals; esp. on clay over the yrs! You can count on one hand how many easy finals Nole's gotten in Majors like Del Po @'18 USO, Anderson @'18 Wimbledon, & Tsonga for his 1st AO in'08 after def. Fed earlier!
***...It isn't so easy returning from a hernia repair injury in your mid to lower core. It may take a while B4 Daniil can trust his body.***
How much were you guys commiserating w/ Novak upon 2 or 3 returns after injury or en oui trying to get back into form? It was non-existent!
***Which returns from injury are we talking about? He's not so often injured.***
Are U fk'n kidding? The delusional memories of some are just too frustrating w/ a few here! It's truly > gaslighting going on!
***You don't have an answer if you can't provide one. ...The only Major that Novak has missed until his UFE @ Oz this yr. was USO'17. He shut down his yr. after W, & had surgery in early'18!***
HELLO! You answered your own stupid ??!
***I just heard some talking heads on ESPN say Harden will get the "Super Max" contract & that he deserves it. I guess if an owner wants to throw away $$, he will.***
ReplyDeleteI'm about done w/ some sports! Giving all this $$ to players who don't "bring it," give attitude, & make trade demands; I'm about DONE! Harden doesn't deserve anything but his ass t/b kicked!
***The rich privileged athletes who want to get paid but don't want to put in the effort need t/b told they're nothing but leaches on our society. Harden is @ the top of the list.
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Boy, it seems pretty obvious to you & me he's not worth a long term contract. IMO, if I were the owners, I'd give offers like this. I'll pay you $10 M for next yr.
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Don't hate the employees for getting what they are worth. If the owners are willing to pay then they're worth every penny. Would you be happier if the owner could cut every employees pay in 1/2 & keep that $$ for themselves? I bet a lot of Republicans w/b happy if the owners could do that. They'd argue that James Harden makes $44 M a yr. & $22 M s/b plenty.
But don't ask to talk about how much the owners make. That's out of bounds for any Rep. They'll never call the owners privileged or say they are leaches on our society, = though they prob. don't pay any taxes.
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The 76ers w/b fools to resign Harden. The league cut "the process" a few yrs ago w/ it 80% complete & a succession of GM's enabled by Adam Silver has given this team its 2nd Rd. & out status. The NBA sucks for comp. Philly fans don't apprec. athletes doing their jobs half-assed.
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They were saying Harden's still a top 10 player. M/b not worth what they're going to pay him but they don't have an alt. I hope they make a good deal where Harden can go to a team that can use him. Who'd that be? They have t/b a contender who doesn't have a Harden type. According to The Athletic, the Rockets have "made it clear" to Harden that they w/b open to a reunion.
To connect the dots, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta alluded to the team making a "big move" by the '23-24 season, the next X the Rockets don't hold control of their 1st Rd. pick. That '24 1st pick is only protected 1-4, otherwise it goes to the OC Thunder as part of the infamous Russell Westbrook-Chris Paul trade.
...This guy says pay him the Super-Max. ...22 pts, 9 assists & 8 rebounds? Not a Super-Max player. This idiot is saying pay him for what he once was, not what he'll give you in the future. He says if Philly won't pay him, someone else will. So do you want to lose him? Stephen A. Smith says no one else will pay him that much. Anyone who pays him after his playoff performance is an idiot. I just hope it's not the Pistons.***
***Graf's rec.'s somewhat inflated due to Seles' stabbing. Seles had won 8 of the last 9 majors she played B4 being stabbed @ age 19, her absolute peak. It's hard to imagine Seles wouldn't have been #1 for @ least another yr. otherwise, if not much longer.***
ReplyDeleteTo this day it's hard for me to see Graf go about her business as if nothing happened; regard< of Monica not holding her responsible for her crazed fan!
***I agree and understand. Take Nadal out earlier in the event if possible?***
That w/b nice! Hard to believe the tour has allowed this man who's supposedly hobbled to win 13 FO's much < make SF yr. in & yr. out! Soderling's a hero!
***Even if Djokovic loses, he'll not go down B4 giving Hell. Hundreds of rallies + 4 hr. marathon. - I've a feeling that Novak will not let Nadal win this whole thing. He'll tire out Nadal B4 finals. Either Novak wins QF or Nadal wins QF in tough 5 sets.
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Honestly I'm comfortable w/ the idea of a Djokodal match; not b/c I'm 100% sure Djoko would win, but b/c of the historical wt. of the rivalry & Djokovic's chances of beating him yet again @ RG. But when it comes to Alcaraz, I really don't want him to reach Djokovic. He makes me too nervous. Hopefully someone can take him down earlier.
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I understand your pt. The Djokodal match on its own is fine, but having Alcaraz str. after is the big problem here. - I've been confident Novak had what it took to win the FO after his Madrid loss. I've been ultra confident since Rome.
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M/b some of these guys lose early, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Luck's rarely on his side. If he gets stuck w/ the best poss. player every Rd., he has to play @ a level of consistency (no dips) we haven't seen since '16.
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Man, this is a brutal draw for Novak. How on Earth is he gonna come thru, honestly IDK. - I think Nadal Djokovic QRT w/b the blockbuster match of the tournament & it's def. headed to evening session. I'm afraid he won't have legs to get past Alcaraz & eventually City bus. this is a tough...very tough draw both for Nadal & Djokovic.
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Yes, horrible draw. Then again if anyone can make it it's Novak. Pretty sure he'll beat Rafa if that QF happens. The rest we'll see. I've a good feeling though.***
Nadal's draw looks a lit'l tough w/ old man Wawrinka in the 2nd Rd. (if he makes it), Fognini, & FAA potentially! Upsets will happen though!
***Remember a draw is on paper only upsets can happen to anyone including the #1 player.***
More than likely one or both Nadovic might get upset B4 QF! A few yrs ago I'd think it unfathomable, but anything's possible as they age out!
***We shall see.***
***Ukrainian players have largely supported Wimbl.’s ban, & Stakhovsky who retired earlier this yr. has since joined the Ukrainian army to defend his homeland condemned Nadal’s stance. ...“Please tell me how it is fair that Ukrainian players cannot return home? How it is fair that Ukrainian kids cannot play tennis? How is it fair that Ukrainians are dying?”***
ReplyDeleteLove the commentary from "just retired" Ukrainian player, Sergiy Stakhovsky! Fine, it's unfair to Russian & Belarusian players t/b banned from Wimbl., but it's = > unfair that a country is being bombarded & their citizens killed! THANK YOU! It's as if I never hear this! It's been such a one-sided argument!
***...What is "unbiased?" Does it exist? The Baltic states joined NATO when Russia was still reeling from their 1990s humiliation under Yeltsin.***
Putin has t/b delusional AF thinking he can bring back the expansion & glory of the USSR! Besides having the world vs him, his people are starving to death w/ all the sanctions out there to punish his every move! Bad leadership is nothing new; heaven knows here in the States it's still a fk'n mess, but something needs t/b done w/ that madman! The "Ides of March" comes to mind! Unfortunately, like N.K.'s Kim Jong Un, Putin's prob. murdered or imprisoned all dissenters!
***Tsarist Russia is what Putin is thinking of. Finland was a part of Tsarist Russia, & the Reds lost in Finland in the Russian Civil War. As for starving people, have you taken a look @ western countries lately, w/ rising food & utility bills while billionaires increase their wealth by something like 62% since the 1st lockdown?***
Again, that's the decision of the people to allow the inequities to go on & to get worse as X goes on! Since I'm a Senior, I just don't GAF anymore! People are idiots!
***Putin discovered his fake "love" for the Church fairly late in the game, when he realized that nationalism works best when combined w/ the help of an institution as corrupt as the Russian Orthodox Church, which is = > mafia-like than the Vatican.***
Even Trump tried to coop the church holding up a Bible, upside down several yrs ago! Tyrants do that sort of thing!
***...Rafa's silent b/c he hates being involved in politics. Shows his maturity. He knows it's a filthy game & he wants as lit'l of it as possible.***
Rafa stays quiet b/c he doesn't want the world to know he's an imbecile! He just wants to play in peace! This is his chance to extend his Majors' lead & he doesn't GAF about those Ukrainians being murdered!
***But isn't that same of Novak too?***
True, but it seemed as if Novak should've taken > of a stance by boycotting while few if any are telling Rafa as the season's defacto #1 to skip Wimbl.! Double standard?
***I find it strange that the exact same comments made by 2 players, Sergiy chooses to attack Rafa. It only means that he's biased.***
Why can't someone dislike Rafa w/o bias? I've never cared for him since being a rookie on the tour! It's well known that Nole's > personable & befriends players > most top players! Medvedev commented on how Novak asked "how he was" early on & offered to practice w/ him! Rafa's not like that & it makes a diff. = if the same words are utilized by the 2 players!
***It really is about slams now for Djokovic. He has every other rec. wrapped up now. He really doesn't need > X @ #1. He's so far out in front that he might as well be in another X zone if this was a race.***
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking that, but some hard-asses decided to make a big deal out of Graf being @ 377 wks! Not sure it matters since a huge ** s/b behind her name!
***If Djokovic had one of Fedal taken down during their heyday, he'd prob. have gotten over 400 wks @ #1 already, so it doesn't really matter. Graf's #'s have a dark cloud over them. Despite her being an excellent champ., the #'s she has aren't a true reflection.***
It's why Rafa can never be my GOAT! Both Fedovic have a > bal. resume w/ plenty of wins on grass & HC! Nadal's just a clay specialist for the > part! He has no YEC, barely acquired his Dub/ CGS (banished from "down under") earlier this yr., while his tenure @ #1 isn't = close to other greats! Owning Paris alone didn't do it for Borg! He needed those 5 str. Wimbls. t/b a legend while Rafa's still scratching for it!
***This rec.'s something which s/b his only considering Rafa's the >est player @ a single slam. ...I see him taking it to > 120 wins B4 he retires.***
"120" tourn. "wins?" That an opinion or wishful thinking? The upsets will start happening > as X goes on! How can he perform = > > his "hey day" when he was > healthy?
***Nadal's prob. GOAT now (Or CO-GOAT W/ Djokovic @ least due to the 1 slam diff.) but what really hurts Nadal is the amt. of X he spent in the #2 pos. He never truly dom. ...His peak did come along @ a crappy X though.***
I was just thinking about that unfort. X'ing of Rafa's peak! He had had such a great '10 after a LOST '09 thru injury, family drama, etc! Shame that Novak had one of the "GREAT" seasons ever by winning 3 Majors & 5 Masters to blunt Rafa's ascension! Djoker did it by def. Nadal in final after final incl. 2 Masters final on clay (Madrid & Rome)! If not for Novak that yr., = I'd've bow'd to Nadal's >ness! He had another chance in '12, but Roger decided to have a resurrection yr. achieving #1 for a while! It's amazing that the Big 3 have been able to keep each other in check to keep the recs close, but unfort. for Roger, Nadovic can only pull away from him except wks @ #1 where IMO Nadal has no chance to catch up to them!
***The injuries took their toll on his ability to remain #1. After AO'09 he was clear #1 having def. Fed in 3/4 slams. Sod played lights out to beat him @ RG, but there were things going on mentally & physically @ that stage w/ his parents divorce & knee troubles keeping him out of Wimbl. & unable to defend his pts... couldn't really recapture his form til RG'10. '12-13 was out for 7 months.
Regained form & took ascendency over Djokovic again... then he injures his back in AO'14 final... wasn't the same player since. Then X injuries throughout '18... early '19... Djokovic OTOH has pretty much had smooth sailing majority of his career... Fed has had > injury struggles by the same age...
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Fed fans claim Djokovic hitting the levels he did cost Fed so much & while this is true they forget that if Djokovic didn’t Nadal would of cleaned up '10-13. Starting w/ W'11 he'd of done NCYGS as US'11 Djokovic stopped him too then AO'12 where he played incredible, but Djokovic just wouldn’t lose. On paper Nadal’s '11 whb >er > '10 if not for Djokovic.***
Who would've thought Novak'd surpass his '11 w/ an = >er one in '15? He +ed an extra Masters & the YEC to a stellar yr. where only '21 can =; 3 sets from a CYGS!
***W/ Nole's 2R win today ...won > matches @ RG(83) > @ any of the other majors, & The FO's his weakest slam! Just extraordinary consistency from Earth's Mightiest.***
Upsets have always been rare w/ Djokovic! He gets thru somehow = though undermined!
***...Did you notice that Novak doesn't try to solicit a hug from Rafa or Roger after they battle, but he does everyone else? I'm quite sure Fedal truly could give a shit about him. Sorry, but I change my thoughts on Novak. I was a fan & I finally saw thru his BS the past 8-9 yrs.***
ReplyDeleteRafa's FOS! He's always used injury as a poss. career-ender, but has conned the whole world into believing that BS as he runs like a deer! Others prob. feel the same; Novak has just been the only one willing to call him out! I'm not saying this b/c I'm a fan of either! Most of their matches are unwatchable due to both of them taking too long to actually "get it on" w/ Rafa = taking forever btwn 1st & 2nd serves! The officials need to speed both of them up! I'm not watching any> 4-5 hr. contest w/ them or anyone else!
***...Rafa has had this defect ever since he was a teenager. There's No Cure. There is an option which is radical, remove the bone which is rooting in his foot. Rafa then could not run.***
So what? Everyone has a fk'n story! His camp & Rafa have used this BS to beat up his detractors for yrs making excuses for EVERY loss! I was over it in '09 when he had a horrendous yr., but in their minds he lost thru injury & family drama behind the scenes! No one cares; esp. me! Try growing up in a war torn country dodging bullets & playing hopscotch w/ landmines! I'm almost shaking seeing this hypocrisy & not giving Novak the smallest brk or bit of adulation for his accomplishments vs heavy odds! Fedal & their fans can KMA!
***Monaco's a “war torn“ country? I didn't know!***
That isn't funny! Please don't make me cut you off! You're one of my fave posters! I'm very angry for some reason & easily triggered over this BS!
***So folks are saying this is Rafa's last RG...***
Such BS! Rafa's running game on people! He's FOS & has no shame playing this "IDK" simp who can barely hold a conversation in English!
***IDK, everyX I see Rafa, he seems a bit > like he's wearing the wt. of his tennis for the worse w/ each tourn. he plays. I think sooner or later you ask yourself 'do I want to potentially injure myself to the pt. where my body doesn’t = allow me to enjoy retirement.'
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No, he said that he plans on returning next yr to RG.***
As I said, he's FOS poor-mouthing it as if he can barely make it around the court! IMO he's already extended his tenure too long! I assure you retirement's gonna be challenging! I can see a hip replacement in his future & inevitable need to take care of that "heel!" He's pushed himself to the limit so I have absolutely no sympathy for the guy!
***Wimbl. just might look like an exh. It w/b a prime op. for someone to step up & breakthru it seems.***
Sir Andy's taking severe umbrage @ such a statement! He says, "Wimbledon will never be just an exh.!" The penalty was steep & will cost Novak his #1 ranking! Wimbl. has taken a stance which may not be fair, but there's a reason! Observing a war going on, they want to show support for Ukraine & its people!
***I think Wimbl.'s wrong that excl. them makes any useful pt. London/the UK has much > useful work to do by freezing the assets of the Russian oligarchs they have been sheltering for the past decade+.***
Now that w/b a magnanimous gesture if they had agreed to just WD volunt.! I couldn't see it happening since = if you don't win, there's a boat-load of $$ t/b shared/split!
***All the Big 3 have had incredible results after 30, @ an age > prior ATGs whb long retired. But how do they compare?
ReplyDeleteLooking @ the results starting on the yr. after they turned 30 ('12 for Fed, '17 for Nadal, '18 for Novak) gives us the following results:
- - - - - - - Federer Nadal Djokr
Slams played 31 18 16
Finals reached 8 10 10
Slams won 4 8 8
Masters won 10 8 8
YE #1 - - 0 2 3
@ diff. slams 2 3 4
Yes, they faced diff. comp. Yes, they are diff. ages so some had > slam opps after the cut off pt. Yes, for @ least 2 of them there's > to come.
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...It's why I don't like when experts say that Djokovic will surpass Nadal in Slam ct. due to Djokovic > poised to play longer > Nadal @ this pt. of their career. In sports (& someX's in life), playing > yrs doesn't automatically make the player win A LOT > titles > a player who played fewer yrs.***
You'd be in denial not agreeing w/ those statements! It all balances out when Novak has a super season like '11, '15, & '21, there's nowhere else to go but down after winning 3 Majors! Most experts believe when all the dust settles, Novak will own all the recs. w/ Rafa only having the advantage of 2 majors @ this moment & not much else! He's behind in Masters, wks @ #1, & so many others recs.! Rafa shouldn't hint @ leaving due to injury if he's still able to compete! He does this to himself & looks like a tool IMO!
***Great pt. I hasn’t noticed this that Novak suffered a let down the season after. The rest of it is open to dispute, though I agree to a degree about Rafa & all the yapping about his injury. SomeX's it feels like he uses them as a comfort blanket in the press to deflect the pressure = though they're obviously a serious thing. I get bored hearing about them too…***
That's saying something as Novak broke all kinds of recs. in '15 winning 3 majors, 6 Masters, & the YEC! His best "down yr." was a career achievement for many as he defended his AO, won his 1st FO (compl. CGS), & took 4 Masters titles only t/b YE #2 behind Murray who won Wimbl., a bunch of 500 level events, & The YEC! How does that happen? Novak's had 2 YE #1's taken away by flukes that seem to happen when he's had a great season like '11, '15, & '18!
***And it isn't like I do not believe Djokovic can't surpass Nadal in the slam titles ct. (I won't be surprised if he does), it w/b extremely hard for him to accomplish the feat. Winning those 3 slams only allowed him to tie Fedal @ 20 slams apiece. Now, he has to win another 3 slams @ age 35/36+ just to surpass Nadal. He has to contend w/ Med, Alcaraz, FAA, & other young players that can potentially defeat him.***
Only tying? Why is it no one can seem to credit Novak for not only surpassing Fedal in many catagorical recs., he did it in < X/age?
***You’re overlooking Rafa having 22 slams out of only 64 played. Out of only 30 finals. Novak has played 67 slams and got to 20 on his 65th. Roger has played 81 slams & got to 20 on his 72nd. At the end of the day, MS titles recs. mean diddly. No player prioritizes them over the slams. The slams are the big deal. The rest of everything revolves around them…***
The slams have become the big deal, but only > later in the Open Era! If all majors were that important "way back when," Connors, McEnroe, & Borg whg "down under" >! They didn't since the only 2 majors that mattered were Wimbl. & The USO! Borg made The FO relevant by owning it in his day winning 6 of 8 chps.! ...Nole's won the Double GM's & a Nole-Slam! Rafa's claim to glory is winning the FO for the > part & not > else besides the rivalries w/ Fedovic! Nuff said!
***...If the slams weren’t important back in the day, then what was? The GS Cup? The WCT? Shanghai? Of course the slams are important. Now, we all know that Australia fk'd up by situating it’s slam @ the > inhospitable X of the yr., so players didn’t want to travel, but once they corrected that, it retrieved its previous status.***
ReplyDeleteIn those early days of Open Tennis, it was a mess where importance of events went all over the place! You meantioned the WCT where it was > highly regarded b/c of the $$ Lamar Hunt threw @ the sport of tennis! His tournaments started giving away $50 K to $100 K when the majors barely paid expenses! The WCT final was bigger than the actual YE Masters way back when! The GS Cup was a joke and never got any respectability IMO! One yr. ('04), The Tennis Masters bumped Agassi out of the event due to the FO champ., Gaston Gaudio dropping out of the top 8 by yr.'s end his results outside of clay were so bad!
***The thing I think you’re referring to is what was a priority if a player wanted t/b considered “great?” I always cite Bjorn Borg on this one: when I was young he always said he wanted to win the CYGS, so he c/b considered the BOAT. This in itself implies that all the slams were important. He’d have travelled "down under" if he bagged the other 3 1st. Another stupid reason for Australia holding its slam last.
It was Pete Sampras who changed the criteria for measuring things when he started to chase Emerson, then everyone talked about Roger chasing Pete. The CYGS seemed out of reach (though I agree that Novak was dumb to play the Olympics & use up his battery B4 the USO last yr.). This gen. are getting slams too easily so m/b the CYGS became > accessible.***
Roger appeared t/b the concensus GOAT until these last sev. yrs of embarrassment! I wrote ages ago, he could prob. continue t/b thought the BOAT if he had retired in '12, but hanging on for over 5 yrs B4 +ing those final 3 majors has really hurt his legacy as Nadovic have abused him on all surfaces! Novak's comebacks vs Fed in sev. matches alone like the '11 USO SF & Wimbl. final of '19 is enough to bring him down a peg or 3! Rafa owning him on clay also hurts b/c it happened so often in finals!
***Would 5 sets actually make it harder for the women’s game to attract viewers? If the quality of play is 35-40 min. b/c she was destroying the tour w/ her athletic, attacking game! Chris couldn't take a set off of Navratilova so it went relatively quickly anyway! Evert gave up after dropping a close 2nd set knowing she had no chance, 1-6! Martina was lit. showing off, running down the best shots of Evert! It was painful to watch Graf/Hingis, Graf/Huber, & Seles/Sabatini going 5 sets w/ the matches going 3-4 hrs! Fortunately they got away from those marathons going back to BO3 in '99!
***I try to watch the WTA, but I just can’t get into it any>.***
I haven't been a serious watcher of women's tennis since the days of Hingis & Henin! It's been a mess w/ Serena coming & going! It was looking good for a while w/ Osaka & Barty, but it didn't last! The rankings have been so out of whack! It looks as if Swiatek's the real deal & could stabalize the tour!
***Swiatek is the real deal & what she’s done is phenomenal in a 50-50 roulette sport, i.e., women’s tennis, but she’s not marketable b/c she‘s not good looking. Female athletes are marketed for their looks TO OTHER WOMEN b/c that’s what draws attn.***
***ITA w/ you except that I'd not call Venus a class act @ all; I just think she's less unhinged. Serena's act at the USO was over the top; twice.***
ReplyDeleteI truly hope we're done w/ the Williams sisters! I'm so tired of people parting the Red Sea for them when they come & go from the tour as they please!
***...For me it was when Serena bullied & threatened the tiny Asian lines person & sweared by Jehovah she'd shove a tennis ball down her throat. Tennis will miss such a + role model. Not! Ditto on Venus.***
She didn't consider that a real threat that's what was so delusional! The whole fk'n world heard her & she was incredulous after it all came out! My mouth went agape!
***Venus will prob. play on & off until she’s 50.***
Someone's gotta say "I tried my best to match Navratilova" who won her last major in '06 @ the USO in MxD's w/ Bob Bryan, just 1 month short of her 50th BD!
***Any tennis, ATP or WTA in the Chi this Summer?***
They've tried their best since the 70's, but only the ladies had a winning event w/ the VA. Slims starting in '71! I saw Court def. Navratilova in '75! The men weren't as successful & events came & went! In '75 I watched Tanner def. Alexander on a court built on the surface of Soldier's Field! The biggest event for men was an exh. of McEnroe & Connors that went 5 sets & took forever w/ both players walking off the court in a huff due to the officiating back in '81! GAWD, I'm old AF!
***IS there a chance that Wimbl. will change their stance. McEnroe feels that they may.***
You can forget it! When Wimbl. takes a stance, it's a done deal! They'll allow the tourney to fail B4 ever caving to pressure! It just doesn't register as if they're in another reality! When they went to the yellow tennis ball in '86, they had the gall to announce "the rest of the world should follow our lead!" They're delusional AF in so many way! The only X they allowed something out of the norm was a 'John McEnroe!' He abused the linespeople & chair umpires! Any other player whb not only "defaulted," but banned for life! When McEnroe actually won his 1st title in '81, his honorary membership to the club was withheld! I think they subsequently gave it to him after he lost the marathon final vs Connors in '82! All you have to do is look back to '73 when they banned Nikki Pilic from playing in the tourney; 81 of ATP players in solidarity to him withdrew! The tournament went on as scheduled, seeding a lit'l known Bjorn Borg to #6 behind #5 Jimmy Connors unexpectedly!
***Weakest era of all X. Tennis is a freaking joke right now. Been this way for yrs now.***
Weak in the results anyway w/ the Big 3 owning the last 20+ yrs! The players are good enough; > a mental block since the adulation is so loud for Fedalovic! The NG'rs have come close many X's w/ leads in finals to win their 1st major, but failed in the end! It's = happened amongst the Big 3 w/ Novak overccoming MP's sev. X's to steal chps from Fed! IMO, Djokovic was the last & greatest of "kids" when he def. Fed on his way to winning his 1st major @ '08 AO over Tsonga! Del Po was a yr. younger, but has barely made another major final since '09 USO; 2018 USO!
***...Strong era indeed. In fact, tennis has become so tough that you dont peak B4 30. But wait, didn't Alcaraz win 2 Masters @ 18? M/b its been a weak era after all.***
He needed the Big 3 to wane just a bit in energy & loss of competitiveness to achieve those 2 Masters so early leaving the NG'rs of Tsitsipas & Zverev in the dust!
***Almost all ATGs won their 1st slam @ an early age, 20-22. Alcaraz just showed the age excuse is BS by winning 2 Masters @ 18.***
We've been spoiled by the excellence & consistency of Fedalovic! Unfortunately we may never see their kind again; arriving early & sustaining their high level of skills well into their 30's when > w/b breaking down!
***What were you taught about cheating in sports when you were in school or Lit'l League?***
ReplyDeleteBack in the day you didn't have to # it into athlete's heads about sportsmanship! IMO that's "out the window" where it's expected "to game the system" & take advantage whenever you can! I watch BasketBall & the acting going on is obscene! I've seen LaBron snap his head back like he's been shot when the guy he was guarding didn't lay a glove on him as he crashes to the floor! It's total BS! SomeX's the referees catch it & admonish him, but it doesn't happen enough! I've seen some incredible ex. of cheating w/ football receivers dropping a catch, pull the ball into them, then produce it as if it was caught! I'm embarrassed for anyone that desperate for accolades!
***...Yeah, Father X is undefeated. But there don’t seem t/b major signs of decline in Tom Brady.***
It depends on who you play! He still got "worked" by a few teams! I always give the "side-eye" to some stats & usually ask "who did they play that season?"
***He played 17 NFL teams just like the other 31 starting QB's, his #'s were just >er > theirs doing it. There isn't a QB in the league who doesn't "get worked" a game or 2 every yr. Pat Mahomes didn't have a bad game in '21? Aaron Rodgers the league MVP didn't? I get that your schedule can determine some of your success, but it ='s out over 17 games IMO.***
"Thank you Howard Cosell" from the grave! I apprec. your thinking! Too bad Brady's shown his arrogance & ego mania so late in his career after conning us that he's this nice, amiable dude! I was a huge fan until I found out how much cheating was going on to get him those chps. (deflate-gate, spy-gate, cell phone-gate)! That won't change!
***Take a deep breath. It’s not life or death.***
Tell that to the losing teams who prob. should've won but for the unscrupulous characters & lack thereof of Brady & Belichick!
***Geezus...U still have to beat some pretty good teams to win 7 SB's....cheating...lol.***
That's what's so disturbing about sports! Integrity & character in gen. is on the wane! Look @ someone like basketball's, Durant! The team all but begged the guy to join & stay w/ the Golden St. Warriors! His ego couldn't handle that the team truly belongs to Curry & he left after winning 2 Chp. to embarrass himself in NJ! He had teammates he selected & they disappointed him by either quitting or being kept from playing due to avoidance of Covid shots! There are ex. like this all over the place where it's just gotten too hard to = watch! I don't watch Baseball @ all, basketball is fading away as I limit myself to teams I like, & football, = though very comp., you see things like huge contracts given to sex offenders & wife beaters! M/b I'm just too fk'n old, but sport's just not worth watching as it was yrs ago = though athletically superior to the past!
***I read Phil Mickelson was given nearly $200 M just to join the LIV tour. Being 51 or so, he was wise to take it as he isn't likely to win anything near that on the PGA tour any>. The winner of this wk's tourn. in London gets $4 M for playing just 3 Rds. Last place gets over $100 K. Get the Saudi's into Tennis? If the ATP doesn't change its ranking pts policy @ this yr's Wimbl., then players should consider starting another tour or get rid of the those running it now.***
I guess it's like that movie, "Indecent Proposal!" It's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation! These guys aren't broke, but obscene amts of $$ corrupts the best of them! I personally never felt compelled to attain wealth over & above living expenses needed in my old age! IMO it shortens your life = w/ the extra healthcare assoc. w/ being in the elites! All you end up doing is comforting the family left behind to fight over the spoils! I thought they got a taste of this w/ that E. Indian Exh. League!" May have watched 20 min. in total here!
***You know what really irritates me w/ the ATP rankings is....Rafa is 30-3 so far this yr. & won AO & RG. Still stuck @ #4, meanwhile Med & Zverev who both have still not won a tourn. so far this yr. are now #1 & #2 respectively.
ReplyDelete---
M/b it's X for the ATP to really do a 'review system' on their overall ranking system. - That's a darn shame about how the rankings is currently.***
It's happened B4 & it'll happen again! I still recall back in '11 when Novak was undef. early on, & on a 40+ match winning streak until FO SF, but didn't overcome Nadal's #1 ranking until Wimbl. SF! We all know this is a CY ranking system so if you had a great season, it keeps you on top for a long X; = for Navratilova back in '87 when she hadn't won anything until Wimbl. didn't relent the #1 ranking to Graf until that Summer! Peter Graf was threatening to start his own tour! Such idiocy when we all know how the fk'n system works & act stupid thru emotions due to a "want" of change @ the top! It took a while, but Novak's given it up for the season & w/b the > dangerous floater in history when allowed to play wherever he wants again!
***Med losing 6-4 in the 2nd set in Halle final to Hurkacz; 0-3 in finals this yr.***
Some #1 we have here! I wonder how long this embarrassment will go on? Hubert played great & deserved the win BTW!
***Since Daniil can’t play Wimbl., he’s asked kindly if the coach minds if he uses up his Wimbledon quota of savage abuse, at Halle.***
He can always play that game of "what if?!" I just wonder has Med deluded himself into making himself a poss. fave @ Wimbl.!
***He’s a #1 w/o an identity really, isn’t he? He struggles to assert himself @ the top. It was quite revealing after the final in Oz that he complained about the lack of support from the crowd. His bathetic whine about the lit'l boy who no longer dreams b/c the nasty, nasty people in the crowd didn’t hoist him up on their shoulders & proclaim him “King.” For those of us who like him, it was a let down. But it told us something too: Daniil isn’t bully enough yet t/b strong #1. He’s too self-conscious. He’s got a ways to go. Pity about that. Meanwhile, tennis moves rapidly forward…
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I think y’all are being a bit hard on him. I understand last wk. going after him, but Hurkacz is no slouch. I’d say if he doesn’t find his way to a title B4 the USO, then we should worry.
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Pretty = w/Fedalovic. Nadal ruined both Fed & Djokos clay careers.
...And Fedovic ruined Nadal's grass & HC career! It all =ed out until recently! I expected Fed to drop behind, but I think his mystique would've endured > if he'd retired after '12 Wimbl. win! IMO it just wasn't worth waiting 5+ yrs to + 3 > Majors to his resume! He'll wind up behind 2 players in the end regard to the field. For Nole & Fed it was only Nadal who stood in the way for winning 5-6 FOs each.
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I think the current ranking system is fine except the WTF's overrated & should have only 1,000 pts. I'd support the Slam winner getting 2,500 pts as long as the pts for other Rds (Final, SF, QF etc.) in Slams remains the same as it is now. This'd increase the importance of the Slam in the rankings for only the title winner & not for the other players.***
Normally I'd agree, but we've had instances where it just wasn't enough to separate the elite players from the "also-rans!" I just didn't think it right that back in '16, Novak defended his AO, won his 1st FO, made the final of the USO & YEC, & took 4 Masters! Somehow by Murray playing a # of 500's & stole the YEC Final, overtaking Novak as #1 by that 1 match! Andy held the #1 ranking over the "dead period" over the Winter which kept Novak from putting the wks @ #1 out of reach & well over 400 wks by now! Novak's '15 ends up being the problem as it's hard to defend an almost perfect season of winning 3 Majors, 6 Masters (making 8 finals), & the YEC! There's no place else to go but down!
***Nadal stopped Fed from winning the CYGS X X's. The GOAT debate w/b over.***
ReplyDeleteI realize the logic, just 1 match away, but in the overall scheme of things, it doesn't wash! Only Novak has come close to a CYGS & he was in the final of the 4th event in '21! You can't assume Roger's success in Paris would carryover to take the top 2 tourneys remaining in the season @ Wimbl. & USO! Fed barely got by Roddick in '09 after winning Paris where Nadal was upset by Soderling!
***...Once Nadal started trying to grind on grass ('12-17) he wasn't able to get very far.***
I just never thought Nadal wanted t/b there in London! We've noticed, if he missed a major, Wimbledon's @ the top of his list! It's always been easy to fain injury or just say "I'm exhausted after such a grueling FO!" He's had truly lame results in the last decade that haven't been acknowledged much for some reason! It's been an embarrassment to = drop that SF to Fed in '19!
***...Djokovic made the final in '11 w/ Rafa losing to the new & improved Djokovic, then the nightmare '12-15. In '18 he lost that close 5-setter to Djokr in the SF & in '19 he lost to Fed in the SF in 4 sets. That's the last X he played Wimbl.
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Federer Fans: Has Nadal or Djokovic caused us > pain in Fed's career?
Total Losses
Djokovic - 27, Nadal - 24
Total GS Match Losses
Djokovic - 11, Nadal - 10
GS Final Losses
Nadal - 6, Djokovic - 4
Masters Series/YE Final Losses
Nadal - 7, Djokovic - 7
5 Set Losses
Djokovic - 4, Nadal - 3
Matches Lost in Deciding Set
Djokovic - 14, Nadal - 7
Yrs Prevented from Being YE #1
Nadal - 3, Djokovic - 2
Nadal prevented = > dom. from Fed
Djokovic prevented = >er longevity from Fed
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In '18, Fed's resume was simply untouchable when stacked vs everyone else in history.
He had 20 slams (4 > Nadal & 8 > Djokovic)
He had 310 wks @ #1 (90 ahead of Djokovic)
He had 5 YE #1's (ahead of 4 from Nadal & Djokovic)
He had became the oldest ever #1 (still his rec...for now)
He was leader/joint-leader @ 3 of the 4 majors (Nole passed him @ AO, Nole may catch him @ WI, & Rafa may catch him @ USO)
He was longevity GOAT (won a major 14.5 yrs after his 1st)
He was only 3 Masters titles behind Djokodal (which is really not "that" much)
He had an = career win % w/ Djokodal @ 82% despite playing > matches (both Djokodal have since brought this % to over 83)
He had won the CGS which had yet t/b topped by Djokodal
He was = making up ground in H2H as he was 4-0 vs Rafa & only 22-23 H2H vs Novak (had Nole met him during this X, Fed would've won)
He had won 3 of 4 slams he played in an incredible 12-month stretch, he began '18 on a 17-0 streak, while Rafa/Djoker were rehabbing
Was this the most untouchable Fed's GOAT claim was ever?***
***The > I think about this yr's champ., the < enthused I feel about watching it. Apart from Novak & Rafa, I don’t see where a real contender's coming from. Novak is fave @ Wimbl., & if Rafa makes wk. 2, he’s a challenger. The challenger. But the rest? Impossible to see any of them as champion this yr.***
ReplyDeleteThe same thing's happened to me w/ women's tennis ages ago! After Hingis & Henin retired I lost interest! It looked like the WTA might get my attn. back w/ Osaka & Barty, but 1's gone & the other a part X player due to physical or emotional reasons! IDK so many of these players! The rankings have been all over the place w/ injuries & inconsistant results! Not sure how much I'll care after Novak retires = if I'm not that big a fan! Alcaraz m/b the new blood to get me interested in tennis later, but we'll see!
***You are a lit'l bit of a Novak fan, though, aren’t you? ...I agree to an extent, but I think the nature of the men’s game is that a vacuum gets filled rapidly, = if only temp. We’ll get an alpha of sorts to dom. in a lukewarm way until the next great champion rises. Hopefully we don’t = have to wait & Carlos takes over in a huge way, rapidly. He’s the most charismatic & dynamic. Wet dishrags like Tsitsipas winning free interim slams like Courier w/b bad for the men’s game. I just hope you’re not right that the men’s game goes into a morbid decline. It’s not impossible, but it’s gen. been far too comp. for that to happen for too long…***
I keep telling you guys, I apprec. Novak brk'n up the Fedal mythos that tennis began & ended w/ them! I'm no fan of his game except if he's eviscerating Nadal as in '16 Dubai and '19 AO! Those matches saved w/ MP's vs him w/ Fed are the best; esp. remembering that British bitch putting up the 1 finger thinking the match was over @ Wimbl. in '19! His rise from the ashes in '18 was very satisfying, but again it only helped me seeing he stopped the run of Fedal when they each had a 2nd life while he was injured & dealing w/ family issues in '17!
***But Nole has 3 extraordinary wins vs Roger from 2 MP's down. One of them, '11 SF in NY, cost Rafa a Slam. And he did it the right way, on Roger's serve each X, ramming the ball down his throat & grinning like a young De Niro while he did it…
---
...Absol. the only reason Novak has won 6 Wimbl. Djoker w/b spitting tennis balls from btwn. his teeth if he faced Pete on fast grass. It’s no contest!***
Fed wouldn't have won 8 if the grass had remained choppy & slick! He whb upset by someone just like Sampras in '96; Krajicek!
***If Novak doesn’t win Wimbl., > likely thru his own actions he can’t play until ‘23 RG. So = if Rafa doesn't win Wimbl. this yr. I like his chances to pickup @ least one Major > by ‘23 Wimbl. At that pt. Novak w/b 3 behind, tough row to hoe.***
Remember, = @ this age, Novak still has the ability to win majors in bunches! He was counted out B4, it can happen again! AO might relent!
***Everyone has been saying this about him since he achieved 2.0. He's 35 now, & m/b 36 B4 he plays his next one after this Wimbl. He's showing signs that the pressure & age do wear. However, if the youngsters don't step up to the plate, he may just keep going for some X. The AO might relent, & it might not. I don't think you'll see it in '23.***
***The Underrated! I still haven’t seen a better performance on a tennis court than Sampras' '99 Wimbl. final win…***
ReplyDeletePete's serve saved him again & again if he wasn't @ his best! He was the last > player who used his serve as a real weapon! McEnroe won his chps. the same way; esp. w/ what Bud Collins called his lefty delivery, "the can-opener!" Martina had the same advantage = though Evert was >er from the ground!
***...Djokovic is shit vs prime Fed. He only started vulturing titles much later, after Fedal had decimated each other @ the X when Djokovic was retiring from matches b/c he couldn't breathe.***
That is such sour grapes BS! Hilarious really! You can pt. out individual instances all you like, but in 100 yrs no one'll GAF! All they'll see is that 2 players out performed Fed well B4 his own efforts, have obliterated > of his recs, & both have outdone his best; esp. Novak who has 373 wks @ #1 so far!
***Epic win for Fed full credit there. Shame he never got W'19. He deserved it. Djokovic sold his soul.***
That's hilarious! If anyone's sold their soul it was Fed who had that miraculous rise from the ashes a few yrs ago, got back to #1 & +ed 3 > majors to his resume! He lost those heartbreakers @ '10 & '11 USO SF & '19 Wimbl. final to balance it out! Novak was just quite lucky to win his majors in bunches to catch up & surpass the so called GOAT! What a joke w/ a losing rec. to 2 players, not just one!
***While tied @ 20 majors there's an argument Fed's 2nd on all X list as he has > WTFs > Djokovic, > titles, & a better Olympic rec. Djokovic gets 21 then he's surely 2nd w/o debate.***
Nyah! As far as I'm concerned Nole's still #1 w/ being #1 for 373 wks., has a Nole-Slam, 2 GM's, & so many other recs. neither Fedal has & that's a fact!
***Trying t/b as objective as possible, the Weightage s/b > or < something like this-
5 Pts for GS
3 Pts for OG
2 Pts for WTF
1 Pt for Masters 1000
1 Pt for GS Finalist
1 Pt for Olympics Silver
Results produced:
Djokovic = (20 * 5) + (0 * 3) + (5 * 2) + (38 * 1) + (11 * 1) + (0 * 1) = 159 Pts
R Nadal = (22 * 5) + (1 * 3) + (0 * 2) + (36 * 1) + (8 * 1) + (0 * 1) = 157 Pts
Federer = (20 * 5) + (0 * 3) + (6 * 2) + (28 * 1) + (11 * 1) + (1 * 1) = 152 Pts
Hmmm, Big 3 have to rank really close to each other…….so I am content w/ the outcome.
---
To be GOAT @ a single surface 7-8 titles aren't enough, a player needs 11+ titles. That's why Nadal's Clay GOAT b/c we won't see another player win 10+ slams @ RG in our lifeX's.
People hating on Djokovic need to understand that 8 Wimbl. titles are 2 < to remain as Standalone Rec. Even Djokovic's 9 AO titles isn't a safe rec. He'll need to win 2-3 > to keep it safe.
If not Djokovic, someone else in future will win 8+ WB titles.
To end the Grass Goat debate, Fed had to win these matches:
Vs Berdych In '10
Vs Tsonga in '11
Vs Anderson in '18
Vs Djokovic in '19
Had he won vs Tsonga, Anderson, & Djokovic which were very winnable matches, Fed w/b Grass GOAT.
It is debatable but I'd say Fed should have won at least one among WB,'08 & '14 Finals. He lost by few in. there. If you're the Grass Goat, you need to win those close matches which are decided by 1-2 pts.***
...Fed's still done many things no other player will ever do again including 5 str. Chp. @ the 2 top Major events of the season! That's BORG-like! Unfortunately the other 2 >'s have accomp. = > B4 he had a chance to retire in the # of Majors, Masters, & Wks @ #1! That's one of the reasons I thought his legacy would've looked >er today if he had retired after winning Wimbl. in '12! IMO it just wasn't worth hanging on for 5+ yrs to + 3 > Majors to his list, only to have it surpassed by players anyway! We could have debated for yrs. "what if" if he actually left the game earlier! He'll still be in 3rd place in the catagories of Majors & Masters events!
***I disagree w/ this @Fiero425. Fed benefitted a lot by not running away 10 yrs earlier. He became the 1st person to win 20 slams.***
***Just had a feeling Golden State wouldn't lose tonight (G6).***
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it's over so KD can wallow in it that he left a dynastic club to toil in obsurity during the off season w/ thoughts of "what chb!" What an idiot! He hand picks Irving & Harden who disappointed his sensibilities & NJ fans! Good riddance!
***I kind of like keeping the # of people who have an NBA Chp. low. If it was Lebron v Boston, I'd want Jayson Tatum to win his 1st Chp. of course, but I don't mind seeing a dynasty like Golden State win it all. If it wasn't Yianni or the Piston's, I don't care who wins really, but there are some people I don't want to see win; Kyrie, Durant, Harden, Westbrook. It whb nice to see Chris Paul get one. Poor lit'l guy. ...Kevin Durant's one of the best in the NBA, arguably the best player in the world right now, but until he leads his own team to a chp., he won't be in the same league as LeBron & Curry, = though he has 2 rings.***
Funny, that A-Hole, Skip Bayless of Fox Sports, "Undisputed" poo-poos & undermines Curry while giving KD all kinds of credit for those 2 Chps. while in The Bay! He sounds like a fool trying to pick apart instances where Curry was "saved" or inconsequential to the wins, but getting all the blame for losses in GS! He's such a tool & have no idea why I allow him to get to me! If CP3 hadn't been such a dick over the yrs I'd commiserate w/ you! W/ his Nat'l comms., your sympathy should go elsewhere! He's no poor lit'l guy! He's had his chances & blew them; esp. this yr.!
***I thought he was a good guy. Quiet. I didn’t know he’s a dick. What Nat'l commercials? State Farm? I don’t really feel sorry for him. He’s a millionaire from playing a game.***
It's the "quiet" ones you have t/b on guard against! Way back when the dirtiest player was John Stockton of the Utah Jazz! For some reason the players knew > the lying eyes of fans who thought he was humble & a great guy!
***Magic Johnson, in an interview, said to Stockton, "John, from one assist man to another, you are the greatest team leader I have ever played against.***
What else was he going to say? Call him out for a particular series back in '89?
***Golden State now has t/b talked about w/ the great teams in NBA history. The Boston dynasty, the Lakers/Celtics of the 80s, the Bulls of the 90s. And Wiseman didn’t = play due to injury this yr. so there’s > coming. The core 3 likely have 3 or 4 > yrs @ a high level.
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i was a Laker fan until they signed LeBron...***
I wouldn't say I was a fan of Lakers, but I respected them from the beginning in '79 when Magic was drafted! The team was quite impressive; esp. the way they passed the ball around like they were the Globe-Trotters! The 1st crack occurred w/ the way they treated "The Logo," refusing to pay Jerry West as GM saying "the talent should make the $$!" They became hypocrites when they hired Phil Jackson as coach > quadrupling the amt. paid to him! I loved how they floundered w/ Kobe & Shaq before Phil brought in! All that talent & they were elim. early again & again by champ. for the Lakers, but I lost some respect for them & decisions they started to make under Jennie Buss! I was done by the X they took on the traveling gypsy teammate, LeBron James! They became total jokes in the league picking up Russell Westbrook!
***Hey, the serve’s a shot! Counts = > other shots if it’s a > one, b/c it notches up games. Credit where it’s due, bro. But Martina had a > net game. Her & Chrissy were like Borg & McEnroe, > contrasting stylists & diff. tempers. Martina was as > in the forecourt as anyone…***
ReplyDeleteW/o a doubt, Martina was the best in the forecourt! Her stab volleys were >er > other players who were set & ready @ the net! I recall matches vs Graf & Seles where she had to deal w/ missiles coming @ her & she flicked them away most of the X defeating both @ one X or another until '93 vs Seles indoors when she was approaching 40! No one else can say that = though Serena's trying to match it! I doubt she'll come back to win a double's major @ 50 though!
***If Nole doesn't win this yr's Wimbl., then he's done. If Nadal beats Djoker to win 23rd slam, the race is pretty much over.***
Hmmm, where have I heard that B4? Oh, a few yrs ago when Roger rose from the ashes & +ed 3 majors to go up 20-12 on Novak! Famous last words?
***Last yr. I too heard from Djoko dudes "Djokovic will become GOAT by winning 21st slam @ NYC." Famous last words.***
That wasn't me! I said B4 the tourn. that Novak needed Med t/b upset! It was enough to get past Sascha Z., but after that wasted trip to Japan, Nole wasn't on top of his game or playing well enough to def. Daniil! I didn't think he'd win over Rafa in Paris earlier this month either! He needs t/b his sharpest to get past the best & he can't poss. win much of anything the rest of the season w/ such intermittant play!
***That's so true. Even if Nadal wins 26 Slams & Djokovic's stuck @ 20, he'd still be the >er player. - I've long said Nadal winning > FO doesn't change anything. Winning a 3rd Wimbl. does. Even I'd put Rafa ahead of Fed if that happens (lol, no but I'd think about it).***
For me t/b "turned" it'd take Nadal completing the CYGS; nothing short of it! He has too many "holes" in his resume; way behind in Wks. @ #1, no WTF's, & missing Masters' victories while Novak has 2 GM's! Rafa has his best chance w/o Fed, the NG'rs still mentally vuln., & Novak not in the best frame of mind being a partX player, sans vac.!
***Nadal isn't >er > Fedovic? As I see it, these are the main arguments in favor of each:
Nadal-
2 Xtra slams
>er longevity (17 yrs btw 1st & last slam compared to 13.5 for Djokovic)
>er single surface dom.
Olympic Gold
Djokovic-
> YE #1
Many > wks @ #1
H2H
Dominates 2 diff. surfaces, > consistent across all 3 surfaces.
NCGYS & indeed the rest of the super dom. '14-16 run.
5 YECs to 0 for Nadal
There are other arguments, but to me, these are the biggest. I personally have found it difficult to think of Nadal as the GOAT given all of the arguments in favor of Djokovic, but ultimately, 2 slams w/ the other arguments is too much to ignore.***
IMO, Nadal just has too many holes in his resume in comparison to Fedovic! He's dom. clay for the > part & the rest of his recs have to do w/ longevity! Novak won his majors in bunches & caught up to Fedal @ 20 majors when it wasn't thought possible back in '17 when Roger & Rafa started owning the men's tour again! It didn't last w/ Novak winning 2 majors in '18, def. Rafa @ FO in '21, & stole '19 Wimbl. over Roger who had 2 MP's!
***H2H's a mark vs Djokovic as he trails 11 > 7 in slams to Nadal. No one cares about wins @ Doha & Beijing.***
Novak'll take his meager wins over Nadal @ '12 &'19 AO, '15 &'21 FO, '11 &'18 Wimbl., & '11 USO & be quite satisfied w/ himself! Fedovic still won 3 majors in a season 3 X's while Rafa only did it once! Djokovic was also 1 match from completing a CYGS; Rafa's never come close! Nole-Slam '15-16!
***Nadal won the surface slam 3 in a row '10 which just about surpassed the 3 Djokovic won in '21; incl. AO rather > USO which is the premier HC tourn.
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I find it hard to care much about wks @ #1 & YEC when he's winning > slams > the other 2 for the X being.***
Well that's one way to deflect from having so many holes in a resume, it's not important anyway! Wks @ #1 is so very important along w/ YE #1's!
Nadal has so many holes in his resume! His Wks @ #1 is an embarrassment along w/ YE #1's!
ReplyDelete***So many holes? No YEC's & < Wks @ #1 aren't that big of a deal when you consider everything Nadal's achieved.
He had to WD from 7 YEC events & then one he entered he had to WD from as well... so 8 opps totally ruined by injury.
I wouldn't bet on him not winning @ least 1 of those given who some of the champs ended up being.
Less wks @ #1, < total wins @ majors. This is mainly down to his many injuries forcing him out for extended periods of X.
Look @ '09, forced to WD from Wimbl. Had he played, he potentially would've ended up YE #1 or would've been super close... not to mention the wks would have likely been >.
Same deal in '12. He was playing top form tennis & damaged his knee after RG forcing him to miss 7 months... he was #1 in the race heading into Wimbl. IIRC... had 3 injection marks on his knee in that match vs Rosol.
'14 had to skip USO which whb very winnable.
'18 he missed 5 Masters tournaments as well as the WTF... yet only finished the yr. w/ 1500 pts behind Novak.
You can troll & brush it off as excuses or he WD b/c he knew he wasn't going to win anyway, but outside troll fantasyland & steeped in reality, he most likely whh many > wks @ #1 as well as total wins @ majors if not for the injury battles he's faced throughout his career.***
The delusion is real! You're giving Rafa titles b/c he either didn't enter the event or WD due to injury! Too delusional for words! I bet you won't give Novak back this season's AO since he was deported & couldn't play "down under!" Will you give Med credit for Wimbl. b/c he was banned? We can do this all night if you like!
***Oh yeah? Which title did I give him? There's a diff. btw saying he'd def. have won & they would've been winnable.***
The implication was there where you're giving Rafa titles, YE #1's, & > wks @ #1! Seek serious help babe! The projection, deflection, & delusion is written all over your post!
***Roger couldn't really dom. a match vs Nadal anywhere. Even losing in Dubai on a rather fast HC B4 the '06 clay season mhb devastating for him, who dom. anyone else everywhere back then. But what if a carpet match in-btw had shown him that he can totally crush Nadal either, & = while rusty after injury?***
I stopped watching ...Fedal rivalry was so great! It never really was w/ Nadal owning Roger from day one! We like to fool ourselves that if Roger had grass, a fast HC, or indoor court he would win convincingly! It was utter BS w/ Roger lucky to bring the H2H rec. close due to a resurgence where he won 5 ot 6 matches in a row over Rafa in '17!
***...Fed's out of the equation coz result-wise he's already behind the other 2. Since Rafa's leading @ slam race while Djoker of course enjoys > overall success, the ult. ?? is. ...a subjective choice, but @ least u can have an objective basis to choose. If u think GS's > valuable, choose Rafa,
otherwise, pick Djoker. ...No need to compare majors w/ other titles coz their importance can't be quantified.
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...'11 happened buddy.***
Rafa may have cemented his >ness but for Novak having such a magnificent '11! Rafa had owned '10 winning 3 majors, but Nole def. him 7 str. X's thru '12 AO, including 2 clay finals in Madrd & Rome! Rafa might've ridden a winning streak unmatched today, but thank goodness for Nole!
***You can find comfort in the fact that Djokovic is still very much in the race. - Even if Nadal were to end up as the >est, he'll never overshadow neither Novak nor Roger. Future gens will always remember these decades as the Big 3 era, no matter how many Slams one of them takes in the lead. They are like the Beethoven (Nadal), Mozart (Federer) & Bach (Djokovic) of tennis. Beethoven, Mozart & Bach do not overshadow each other. They're nearly univerally considered the 3 best composers to ever exist, analogous to what will happen in tennis w/ the Big 3.***
***If we had listened to Hillary & Anita, we'd be in a >er place.***
ReplyDeleteIt's typical! Women don't listen to other women! It's envy/jealousy in just about every category; intel., beauty, etc.! It's pathetic, but I'm over it! After these fools voted for Trump over Hillary, I threw away my feminist card! Now you WOMEN can wallow in your own stupidity! It's not like cons. weren't threatening your rights every election cycle, but you still supported those MF'rs over the yrs.! KARMA!
***The Supreme Court has handed the Democrats a gift. Even they won't be incompetent enough not to exploit it. In one fell swoop the passion of the anti-abortionists has been sated, so many of the Rep. voters were one issue voters, what incentive will they have now to vote? OTOH, Dems & Independents who feel strongly about abortion rights suddenly have a target to aim for. And from the sounds of it Clarence Thomas wants to abolish gay marriage. And I haven't even mentioned the NY gun thing. The mid-terms are going t/b fascinating to watch. I don't think the stock market will matter on Main Street, but inflation is a bitch of a problem. ...But... this whole abortion thing is so counter to the prevailing mood of the American voter this just m/b enough to finally provoke a backlash against Reps. I've got my popcorn out. Since the departure of Trump from Penn. Ave. I've been uninterested in US politics, but this looks like fun!***
Unfortunately, a great many people in this country are fk'n idiots, not caring that our very democracy has been @ stake w/ the willfull treachery of cons., bigoted, & just plain evil Reps! They can justify every thing they do, & the weak-minded followers eat it up b/c they want to! It doesn't matter the detriment to the country! Their hate for the other side is so great, they just don't GAF! I finally had to give up & stop watching the news as criminal behavior is being ignored & goes unpunished! It's not like women haven't been told what anti-abortionist have been doing, but the patriarchal society has been supported to our detriment, so it's hard to feel sorry for them! Women have screwed themselves, hence me throwing away my feminist card after '16 election! I'm slowly turning into a misogynist so PO'd w/ how things have gone w/ the likes of TRUMP! I'm too disgusted to = care any>! It's possible to not know what's going on & it appears the truly ignorant are allowing the malfeasance of cons. who're slowly taking us "back" instead of forward!
***O.J. Simpson is facing > legal trouble after new court docs filed by the father of Ron Goldman. He's seeking nearly $100 M in $$ owed from their original civil lawsuit vs the former NFL player.***
Well it was hard for me t/b that sympathetic unfortunately! There were so many lies thrown around about Ron, his potential, & the love of his family! Facts were he had gone bankrupt, was working menial jobs, & estranged from his family, esp. his mother who was in Ohio he hadn't seen in over 13 yrs! Murder's a nasty business, but it happens all the X! I can't get emotional about it, esp. after how the country showed their asses after the verdict! The resentment of a black man getting away w/ it blew their minds w/ other rich white folks routinely getting away w/ crime! Goldman fighting this fight after all this X is not moving me; SORRY! Go ahead, I'll take the beating!
***This man has not moved on yet! Didn't OJ already do his X for something they couldn't = prove? My sister was murdered in '81, but my family had to move on. This is sad & ridiculous @ the same X.***
I've said the agony is fake for that reason! Ron was estranged from his family, esp. his mother for over a decade who lived in the Midwest! They're up there talking about his potential when he had already filed for bankruptcy & he was just a kid in his 20's! What potential was supposed to occur? I saw him briefly in some TV show about dating & he sounded like a real loser, dumb, & probably a druggie!
...Trump = got involved in NFL business, then having Pence make a show of arriving & leaving a game! Our country's been set back so far, I'm not sure it'll recover! Since Bush v Gore, there's been a div. of the country only outmatched by this abortion debate going on for 50 yrs! They got their change in the law, NOW WHAT? How else will you cons. further divide us; m/b resend Gay Marriage? ...It's all about "it's our way or the fk'n highway!" As "W" so proudly & shamelessly said, "your either w/ us or 'agin'! us" During his days in office, official free speech zones had t/b a mile away from his dest.! I knew we were in trouble when this man couldn't = handle the bad press of "flag-draped coffins" of fallen soldiers returned from his war fraudulently started w/ a LIE! That's what Reps do, LIE & not GAF when busted!
ReplyDelete@sealybobo, we're wasting our X trying to rationally speak to people who believe their actions are justified to save the country when they're undermining the very foundations of our democracy! They don't = pretend to care, still trying to justify Jan. 6th; a stain that'll last forever! ...As a Senior my only consolation is I won't have to deal w/ these a-holes > longer! Women screwed themselves as there are > of them voting! They chose these pols that told them what they were going to do! It took 50 yrs, but they accomplished their goal & now "back-alley abortions" will become all the rage in the SOUTH! What a bunch of idiots! Have mercy on their pathetic souls! Too bad I gave up caring!
***Yup! I'm 51. I've got $$. I went to school when it was cheap. I don't have a mortgage or kids going to school. I'm not a woman or gay. Literally none of the bad things Reps are doing will hurt me until they start going after Soc. Sec. & pre existing conditions. These are why I will NEVER vote Rep. I'm sort of counting on that SS & Medicare so I can retire @ 62. ...Just like they say they "don't want to make abortion illegal." Fucking liars.***
That's what I did after the country went w/ Trump! Same as you, I told myself, "why should I do us any favors & wait?" Filed @ 62! I really wasn't = going to take the benefits, but my resentment sent me to an office a wk. after I turned 62! I was so done! I can't = watch the news as we "slow roll" justice for Jan. 6th & all who supported it!
***What bad things are Reps doing that hurt gay people or women? ...We can't just cut it off, but @ some pt. we're going to have to say "if you're born after X day X month X yr., you're not going to get SS."
---
Nothing yet. Maybe the SC will rule gay marriage unconstitutional. They are a bunch of Reps legislating from the bench now.***
Yeah, the same Newbies that said they "had no opinion on Roe v Wade! Never even discussed it in college!" LIARS all & prob. s/b impeached, but it won't happen!
***They're Heritage Foundation Judges. This Foundation's hell bent on banning abortion. AG's in nearly a dozen states & the Distr. of Columbia have joined locally elected prosecutors from states across the country in pledging not to prosecute those who provide or receive abortions if their state legislature criminalizes the procedure.
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Guess who gets screwed by SS "disproportionally?" Black people.***
SS has been gutted by the wealthy, but they paid into it so feel entitled! Even Reagan & his wife filed for benefits w/ that huge gift of a house from Hollywood & severance for being President! Of course he didn't do it personally as he was senile during his 2nd term, but his disgusting handlers had no shame putting thru paperwork for him & that old bitch!
***Boy are you naive. Have you noticed lately the Supreme Court has been overturning set precedent? ...I wonder if the current SC believes SS's constitutional? - I dont think you understand how SS works. It's not supposed t/b a welfare program.***
Initially it was supposed t/b a benefit for "the coal miners" of the country IIRC! It was extended to help our economy by retiring people too old to work everyday who had no savings!
***In order for Nadal to pass Djokovic IMB, he'll need to spend a lot > X @ world #1. The 373-209 advantage for Djokovic is a grand canyon of a diff. Also, the 5-0 lead in WTF's is massive. People forget that this event is worth 1500 pts & pays nearly as much as a slam does. An undef. winner of the WTF bags around $2.7 M in prize $$. And these draws are always tough. You have to earn the title in this event.
ReplyDeleteAnd here's another one. Keep in mind that Djokovic and Nadal are only a year apart in age. So obviously, Djoker s/b way ahead of Fed in this metric (prize $$ was much smaller from '03-05; around $1.4 M for slams), However, I don't expect Djokovic to lead Nadal. This again is a massive difference.
Career ATP prize $$
Djokovic $156.5 M
Nadal $130.6 M
Federer $130.5 M
IMB, Djoker still holds a pretty big lead over Nadal.
---
Nadal - 15 yrs
Serena - 14 yrs
Djokovic - 11 yrs
Federer - 11 yrs
Federer & Djokovic do have a lot of concentrated dominance of 2 slam yrs & 3 slam yrs, but they couldn't play @ the top of the game for as long as Nadal did, that is 15 > 11 & 11.
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Any sport in which the spectators have t/b quiet when the player is “up,” is a bullshit sport. Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. Imagine if the fans had to be quiet when the batter was up.***
Back in the 90's they tried to make the sport > fan friendly w/ music being played btw pts & games, being allowed to walk around during games, etc., but it was nixed by complaints from the players like Agassi! I played in a public park down the street from my place & had to deal w/ cars, fire trucks, ambulances, volleyball playing behind the courts, basketball, baseball, & kids in a playground! I didn't need silence, but obviously spoiled tennis players need the peace & quiet of a church!
***What happened to Shapo? He seems very angry & it's affecting his game.***
"Expectations;" his, his family, the management, the sponsors, all of Canada! As a child, Shapo had t/b pulled from all directions! We heap so much onto their shoulders @ such a young age! Agassi really resented it all from family to Bolleteiri during those early yrs.! They're told they're special & if results don't match up, there's pressure to bare! Denis got to the Wimbl. SF last yr! I wouldn't have expected him to defend that regard<, but...! It's hard & = harder to replicate; hense what makes Fedalovic absolute "freaks of nature!" This kind of sustained excellence wasn't possible in the pros B4! It was easier w/ lit'l comp. back in those early Am. days! I'm in awe of the resilience of the "Big 3!" Everyone else will always fall woefully SHORT!
***He's rarely talked about here in Canada. No one cares for him like that. Canadians love their hockey & tennis is an afterthought.***
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As I said a few wks ago, Novak's ranking may continue to plummet, then next season he w/b the most dangerous WC/Floater in history of tennis!
***After Wimbl. & the dropping of his 2000 Chp. pts Novak w/b 7th in the rankings w/ 4770 pts. Losing USO SF will bring him down to 3570 pts, still good for 9th place. At best if he can defend other pts what w/ Zverev injured Novak could conceivably still be seeded top 8 in Oz if they allow him to play there. At worst he c/b seeded btw 12 & 16 @ Oz. However to start '23, his pts won't have dipped so down that he wouldn't be seeded in most tournaments.***
So you think he might still have a chance to make the YEC in Nov.? I wasn't sure thinking w/o defending USO pts & prob. not motivated enough to win Paris Indoor again, I thought Novak might drop out of sight in the rankings! I really haven't looked @ it that closely!
***Fiero, that's a tough one. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if Novak wins Wimbl., doesn't that give him an automatic entry into the YEC @ Turin? Now regarding defending Paris Masters, I would hope not losing yet another 1000 pts w/b motivation enough.***
W/ the bannning of pts, I'm not sure if it matters if Novak wins Wimbl.! That's one of those ??'s few if any have asked!
***...It's what everyone (part. @Fiero425) has been complaining about for ages. Novak's 35 yo, a 20 yo had him on the ropes & couldn't close the deal. Sinner shb >er than that in QF Wimbl. match. Yes, Novak & Nadal are way above everyone else, as Roger was. But still, where's the brass from the younguns? It's not unfair that we bemoan them missing opps.***
ReplyDeleteIt's an old argument, NG'rs can finish the deal!
***7th comeback from 2 sets to love down in a Slam. Can he win a 7th Wimbl.? We'll have to wait & see.***
26 str. wins in a row! I doubt he can get to Fed/Borg level of victories, but he's gonna try! He's just plain great to do this @ his age w/ his def. game!
***No, he won't reach 40 or 41 wins, but m/b a poss. can reach Sampras' 31 in a row @ Wimbl. - ...Alcaraz had recently beaten Novak, & Novak was looking tight. Also, Alcaraz has significant Top 10 wins. That's why I wanted him to face Novak in this QF. ...Op. squandered by Sinner up 2-0 is all. He's young, and he'll learn from it.***
Novak almost had a flying carpet to the Final after Alcaraz was upset! If Goffin had completed the deal, it would've helped his cause! Norrie's no slouch & c/b dangerous if he keeps his head! Novak'll need some "brain farts" from him which are indeed poss.! Nadal'll have to work harder!
***Who stole your acct. & got you all sanguine? But yes, Goffin, however clever, has nothing to debate w/ Novak. Norrie, on the other had, might have. I see in H2H, they played ATP finals to a 2, 1 demolition of Norrie. But that was a long X ago, in Norrie's evolution, & indoors. And they w/b playing on CC Wimbl., & Norrie is a Brit. I don't expect Cam to win, but he could cause damage. The other fair thing you said is that Nadal will have to work harder. All but certainly true. Fritz, then likely Kyrgios. Given what is on offer, a harder road.***
I'm a realist & have no illusions that Novak or for that matter Rafa can keep this going 4ever! I need Nole to eclipse Nadal who's only real rec. that matters is the "Major's lead" @ 22! Novak won't = have a chance @ USO so he needs to win this tourn. to remain in the race & get past Fed!
***W/ Novak's rise while both suffered, I think Fed suffered >. Fed would > likely have ended ahead of Rafa in slam ct. if not for Novak. Rafa may end up 2nd b/c of Novak, but he'd've prob. ended up 2nd = w/o Novak.***
ITA! Fed suffered a lot > over the yrs w/ Novak stopping him in sev. major SF's, saving MP's, then actual finals @ Wimbledon 3 X's! Novak stopped Rafa from having a nice 2 or 3 season run back in '11! After owning '10, Rafa was still @ the top of his game, but Novak stopped him 7 str. X's in finals incl, Wimbl., then the AO of '12! Novak was the only one to tame Rafa during that period, dropping matches on all surfaces, includ. clay! Roger was barely testing him & was no real rivalry as they tried to make it! All those FO finals & it was > an embarrassment > a contest!
***True.. Novak has been a pain for both. The really big damage Novak caused Rafa was the 3 slams from Wimb '11 - AO '12. Rafa did comeback @ him & beat him @ FO '12, FO '13, USO '13 & FO '14. Though w/ Fed the damage has been > consistent & over a larger per. w/ Fed never getting any revenge, not = @ his fave slam. Feel sad about the Wimb '19 whenever I think of Fed.
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Djokovic stopped Fed from poss. winning the title @ 7 Slam matches:
1. USO '15
2. AO '11
3. USO '11
4. WB '14
5. WB '15
6. AO '16
7. WB '19
Djokovic stopped Nadal from poss. winning the title @ 6 Slam matches:
1. WB '11
2. USO '11
3. AO '12
4. WB '18
5. AO '19
6. RG '21
A hypothetical, Fedal USO final was 50/50, so I won't + that title to either. If we + 6 Slams to Fed, & 5 Slams to Nadal, he'd lead the Slam race 27 > 26, & could expand that diff. considering Nadal's still winning Slams. So your claim that "Fed would have most likely ended up w/ the Slam race w/o Djokovic" is incompatible w/ empirical evidence.***
***...Wimbl. is supposed t/b an outdoor tourn. Are they too excited about their new roof & lights? Should they start the Centre Court matches earlier in future?***
ReplyDeleteOver the yrs Wimbl. has tried to exploit the tourn. for = > $$! There was a X of no matches on Sun., = the Finals were a day earlier on Fri. for the ladies & Sat. for the men early on in Pro tennis! Now there's this thing w/ the lights & the roof, they're abusing that suburb of Wimbl.; m/b paying them off! Most w/b smart to just rent their homes to the players & get away! We were bidding for the Olympics of '16 in Chgo! I was so glad we failed & it went to Rio! I didn't want the World descending on us! We could've made a pretty penny w/ our Lakeshore condo loc., but I didn't or want my life turned upside down w/ those masses of people swarming over 2 or 3 states!
***Taylor Fritz not being in the SF here, as I have said, is on him after blowing lead w/ Rafa. I know Nick's controversial & polarizing, but I DO like him, & hope he gets the win. ...I do honestly believe that he's a great talent, & I find his game both thrilling & hilariously irreverent. I don't always agree w/ him, but I'd love to see him win Wimbl; particularly this yr.***
Novak needs it > to stay close to Rafa, but I can accept Nick taking his 1st major! A.B.N. I always say! (Anybody But Nadal)
***Wait...I thought you were ABTB3. You're hard to peg on that.***
It changes each era! Way back when it was Anybody But (Connors, then McEnroe, Becker, turned to Agassi), ending w/ Nadal today! Some players just rub me the wrong way! Nadal got on my bad side very early! Even @ 18 I thought he was a jerk! There was an arrogance, matches to go @ his pace, abusing the clock toweling off, arranging his bottles, & challenging any close ball; usually wrong! Overall I just don't particularly care to watch him play! ...I said "Fritz is going to lose this!" It'was nothing Rafa did except hit balls that remarkably went right to him b/c Taylor wasn't smart enough to play "behind" him >! I really felt I could have stepped in "from my hey day" to finish that match off!
Taylor missed too many 1st serves & didn't take advantage of Rafa's 2nd serves! He blew this called a serious "choke job!" If he had too much X to hit the ball, it became an adventure to see if he = kept the ball in the court! Korda's disintegration up 2 brks in the 3rd back @ IW was one thing, but Fritz has a lot > exper. & had def. Nadal there! His hands mhb shaking to miss some of those sitters! This match will haunt him for yrs, m/b forever! How much did he lose in $$; $200 K @ least? His wife is going to smack him when he gets home!
***If Fritz's girlfriend smacks him, rest assured she'll post it on instagram or Tic toc...***
It still hasn't sunk in that he's divorced! I just don't watch enough tennis to hear the gossip! It mhg in one ear & out the other!
***Would it be a huge upset if Kyrgios wins tomorrow in the final over Nole @ Wimbl.?"""
Being unseeded, Kyrgios w/b the >est upset if able to win! I'm not going to dismiss him b/c he has the ability, but over 5 sets I think Nole wins!
***Wawrinka vs. Nadal & Del Potro vs. Federer prob. the >est upsets finals.***
For a while Stan was thought t/b part of the elites making him a member of the "Big 5," but couldn't keep it up! His real prob. was in the head where his only real success was vs Nole @ 3 of the 4 majors @ least once! He had all the shots, but was a true mental midget going up against his countryman, Fed & Nadal!
***Margaret Court & the word lovely are mutually exclusive.***
She's a legend & I was so much in her corner = though her AO record's inflated due to many skipping the tourn. over those Am. yrs! She had to get religious & start mouthing off about Martina & her lifestyle! What an idiot; esp. since she made a name for herself vs BJK!
***Nalby was my fave tennis player, though the most overrated. Davydenko OTOH's somewhat underrated. He had >er career results. However, Nalby was > lazy. I consider their talent being really =.***
ReplyDeleteAs good as Nalby c/b, it was obvious he was lazy & a headcase! He played in one major final (Wimbl.) & lost to Hewitt IIRC! His only other significant footnotes are coming back to def. Fed @ the YEC in 5 sets, then being DQ'd in the Queens' final vs Cilic due to injuring a linesman kicking his chair! Never seen anything like it; = w/ psychos like Nastase on court back in the day!
***Even aside from the slam race, I want Kyrgios to win this. I think it w/b an amazing triumph for him. He's been pegged as talented for so many yrs. He admits to his struggles w/ mental health & motivation. ...He's beaten the Big 3 > everyone, I think, by which I mean Next Gen. Margaret said he might retire if he wins tmrw. Wouldn't it j/b Nick to go out in a blaze of glory. Well, we'll see what happens.***
Many have retired just after Wimbl. regard< if they win or not! OTTH, BJK retired the 1st X after '75 triumph over Goolagong! Graf won the FO, then retired after Wimbl. final loss to Davenporte in '99 asking t/b taken off the computer! Marion Bartoli threw everyone for a loop when she won then retired after Wimbl. in '13!
***I think the best chance for a barn-burner of a final is still Kyrgios. But the best final whb Nadal v. Djokovic, let's not forget.***
Like I said the other day, "A.B.N.!" I can live w/ a Nick win, but I'm hoping Novak can cut major race to one again! I'm gonna be greedy afterall!
***Congrats to Novak winning his 7th Wimbl. title.
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...I agree w/ you that Fed's > talented > Djokovic & Nadal overall. And yes, serve has to do w/ talent too, not just ht. ...Murray's a mental midget compared to the rest of the Big 3 & was his main problem. Also his FH's too weak & passive, and his 2nd serve was a disaster (again this has to do w/ nerves), so he isn't among the > complete payers. He indeed does have a great weapon in his BH like Djokovic, + a big 1st serve BTW. No goaty FH/serve, but neither does Djokovic. So your comparison doesn't work here.
...Djokovic doesn't have a great serve (Sampras, Ivanisevic, Karlovic...) or a great FH (Fed, Nadal, Del Potro, Gonzalez...), yet he won quite a lot of matches & titles. His serve/FH are very good, but not great shots that bring him tons of free pts. (like in case of Soderling, Tsonga etc.). Elite stamina to me is just that - Nadal, Djokovic, Borg, Ferrer...
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Wimbledon Titles:
1. Federer - 8 (best streak - 5 in a row)
2. Sampras - 7 (best streak - 4 in a row)
2. Djokovic - 7 (best streak - 4 in a row)***
Amazing! Pretty soon, Fed's rec. m/b erased from the rec.bks! Novak has the > prominent recs already! Nole doing the "longevity" thing now!
***Fed's rec. will never be erased, but it could potentially be caught & surpassed. There's a strong chance Djokovic reaches 8 next yr. - Slow grass yet Nick seems t/b a God on grass & sucks on clay… same for many others… and all those aces flying around. Where’s Norrie on clay?***
***Sampras was my fave player, but Agassi once took him to 5 & Djokovic is superior to Andre in almost every category, including basline game & way superior on ROS. Nick served like a machine today, in fact ala Sampras in his heyday - 30 aces, 130 mph 1st serve avg., 110+ 2nd serve avg. This is eerily similiar to Sampras stats & Novak handled the serve quite well, putting so many in play. I don’t like Sampras on baseline exhanges w/ Djokovic, heck = Fed seemed @ a disadvantage vs him on grass from baseline. Fed also had a similar game to Pete's & lost in 3 finals to Novak. Whb an interesting match for sure...
ReplyDelete---
You lost it completely from the start when you said “Nick seems t/b a God on grass…” I think you suffer from 'recency bias.' To put it gently, Nick isn't a God on any court. ...But the notion of Pete having baseline exchanges on grass… As far as GOAT on grass… I said IF Nole gets 8... right now I’d say Fed-Sampras-Nole.***
I've noted this in the past, but as good as Sampras was, we should all be embarrassed trying to elevate him to GOAT status w/o = appearing in a FO final! We all were so enamoured w/ witnessing history, we forgot standards! We've been spoiled by Fedalovic the last 2 decades, but unfort. for future >s, they can prob. forget coming close to their excellence! I'm sure Novak's detractors will have plenty to justify Fedal being their BOAT, but it'll look rather ridiculous as their names are slowly being erased out of the rec.bks!
***Different days, bro, you know this. The tour was made up of dirtballers & grasscourters. They were miles apart. So much so that Sampras switched from a 2-hander to a single BH b/c he knew he wouldn’t win Wimbl. otherwise. The game changed & rewarded the monocultural style that suits baseliners. + there are genuine ??s t/b asked about the gut< field, certainly when compared to the field in the 80’s & 90’s...
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Hehe...feel worse for Roger, Novak may erase all his recs - slams, wks @ #1 & m/b = 8 Wimbl. titles. BRUTAL!
Rafa sits @ 22, but trails Novak in wks @ #1 & Masters titles. Rafa, I feel needs to end his career w/ 1 slam ahead of Novak t/b in convers., if not, he’s autom. 3rd in list. Rafa needs pols & gov'ts to help him as they did @ AO. He may get their help @ USO this yr. & AO next yr. That’s what he needs to stay in front of Djokovic, countries & gov'ts to help him stop Nole.
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People need to remember Borg was dom. on fast grass for 5 yrs & Connors won Wimbl., so did Agassi. Even Courier & Lendl were making finals. Novak's >er > all these guys, heck, put Novak in 80s, 90s.. and you never know.. could’ve won many Wimbl. If Borg could win 5, Novak's simply >er.
Federer was asked about speed of grass & he called it BS, said grass was still fast. The issue is that w/ >er tech. & >er athletes, it has helped baseliners return & neutralize serves. I can see Nadal & Djokovic wreaking havoc in 80s & 90s… Borg did & he wasn’t as good. Connors was nowhere near as good as Rafa or Nole either, he won Wimbl.
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Borg dom. on grass in a hiatus btw > grasscourters. His biggest rival for the 1st 4 of those yrs was Connors, & it wasn’t until the next grasscourt, S & V maestro McEnroe began to reach his peak in the early 80’s that Bjorn knew that the game had changed.
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A lot of the criticism of him comes from people who just have a problem w/ him surpassing Fedal’s achievements. Little to do w/ who he is as a person. Fed fans used to treat Nadal in similar manner yrs ago by accusing him of cheating (coaching during match), gamesmanship, & >. In the end, Novak's a > champion who's his own person and doesn’t have to do what everyone tells him to do in order to gain acceptance.***
Hard to believe Novak has been a part X player this season, but as a senior star in the twilite of his career, was still favored to win his 7th Wimbl.! Even being down 0-2 to Sinner in the QF's, there was lit'l doubt he wouldn't come back to win in 5 sets! It was rel, breeze after that dropping early set in the SF & final! Novak will eventually be regarded as the BOAT, so far just 1 Major behind Nadal who took #22 last month @ the FO!
ReplyDelete***I don't think one needs a PhD to see that immediately after Novak won Wimbl., the anti ND crowd started in on the ill-fated tour he organized, the USO default incident, etc. Neither admirable on his part IMB. But it w/b nice if folks could focus on the performance > & the character assassinations <. ...I admire Roger for playing the > aesthetic tennis we have seen to date, & a natural "genius" that allowed him to dom. until Nadal came along. And apprec. Novak for his tenacity, mental strength, & defense on another planet. I might root for one or the other to win, but it doesn't fill me w/ vitriol when someone else does.
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The careers of the Big 3 is insame; esp. Djoker's. - Djokovic's #'s across the boards & the versatility. It's jaw dropping what this guy has achieved in what's a short X per. rel. to the #'s. We do praise Nadal & Fed's longevity & how they have won since early 00s & mid 00s, but what about the utter dom. by Djokovic @ the biggest stages in what is a X per. of 11 & 1/2 yrs? It's absurd what this guy has done during this X frame. One of the > dom. athletes ever IMO. Get this, btwn. them.
17 AO titles
17 RG titles
17 W titles
12 USO titles
13 IW titles
10 Miami titles
13 MC titles
14 Hamburg/Madrid titles
16 Rome titles
11 Canada titles
10 Cinci titles
8 Shanghai/Madrid titles
7 Paris titles
11 WTF titles
1 SOG
17 YE #1's
892 wks @ World #1
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He'll never beat Sampras' rec. for cons. YE #1's.***
Federer was the last one w/ a chance w/ such a weak field after Sampras, Agassi, Hewitt, & Safin fell off the tour! If not for Rafa, Roger might've set recs unmatched in any sport! Novak coming along sealed his fate t/b considered #3 all X! His recs are falling one by one w/ Djokovic hoarding quite a few! Nole set himself up nicely w/ a stranglehold on > of the big recs & only has to outlast Rafa where The Major ct. is the 1st & last decider to many! IMO it's hard to ignore Djokr's list of accomplishments incl. 7 YE #1's, 373 Wks @ #1, 9 AO's (3 in a row twice), Double GM's, Nole-Slam, & 3 seasons winning 3 majors w/ 1 match to get CYGS in '21!
***Novak has won 9 of the last 15 majors & 4 of the last 6 slams he has played. You think that will end all of a sudden? His slam win % since he came back after FO'18 over 15 slams is > anything Nadal ever did over a similar # of slams & you have to go to peak '03-07 Fed to find >er results. And = then they are only marginally >er. That‘s 60% of the slams played. Particularly if you think this was all after turning 31. And of the other 6 slams played he reached finals in 2 of them. As a pt. of ref. Fed won 10 of the 15 slams he played starting w/ his '03 W win. And that was ultra peak Fed. And of the other 5 slams the >est he reached was SF. Nadal, in his own late resurgence, played 18 or 19 slams (depending on whether you start counting @ AO'17 or FO'17) & won 8 of them plus 1-2 > final(s). And he only won @ 3 of the 4 slams (no win @ Wimby). At no pt. in his career did Nadal ever win 9 of 15 slams played consec.
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Novak's the youngest of the Big 3 to reach 20 slams & w/ his win @ Wimbl. became the youngest to reach 21 slams.
Fed's the youngest of the Big 3 (w/ Sampras) to reach 14 slams.
Fed's the youngest of the Big 3 to reach 15 slams.
Fed's the youngest of the Big 3 to reach 16 slams.
Fed's the youngest of the Big 3 to reach 17 slams.
Nadal's the youngest of the Big 3 to reach 18 slams.
Nadal's the youngest of the Big 3 to reach 19 slams.***
Djokovic as a part X player has a Masters & Major! I can't be > surprised & pleased!
ReplyDelete***...Rafa’s been a full X player compared to Novak, who’s missed a single tennis event in Jan. I saw one Djoker fan on FB moaning that Novak would have 23 slams by now but for all his vax-related issues.***
What's your pt.? Rafa's been a part X player himself for yrs; coming & going as he pleases! Facts are he normally wins @ least 1 Masters event B4 FO! It didn't happen on HC or clay (his fave) w/ 4/5 attempts/chances! Novak wasn't = allowed in the States to play IW or Miami, but still squeaked out a Rome victory very rusty!
***Novak has lost finals to lesser opps.***
You can't win them all! We've put so much pressure on the Big 3 to never drop a match to a vuln. in big moments to Murray, Wawrinka, & Del Po! The reason we wt. > on his losses is b/c over the last 10+ yrs, he's been "pret' near" perfect, winning majors in bunches! He hasn't been able to pull off another YEC when it mattered like in '16! The YE #1 was t/b determined w/ that single final vs Murray! Del Po's hurt him the > deeply IMO b/c of those 2 defeats in the Olympics! Novak cried after that Rio 1st Rd. def. to his pigeon JMDP for the > part! You'd think Murray could sneak one of those AO's, but had his best results @ '12 USO & '13 Wimbl.! Wawrinka's a headcase, but = though unbalanced losses to Novak, he got him @ 3 majors; 2 in a final (FO & USO)! It's not like I"m a superfan of his or his game, but I like him being "just there" to keep Fedal & their fans in check concerning the BOAT race! Nole's really put a dent in their recs surpassing them in every catagory earlier in his career > them!
***This is one of the WTA’s motivations to merge w/ the ATP: it'd assure = prize $$ if everyone's grouped together. ...the debate as to why women s/b paid the same as men @ GS's, when men play BO5, but not women.***
Pipe dream IMO! IMO Europe has never made it =table btw the men & ladies! The 2 Majors finally relented IIRC! The interest just isn't there IMO! The star draws aren't around! The Wms' come & go, Osaka run off, Barty retired, & inconsistency throughout the tour! I'm hoping Iga can bring stability to the WTA ranks! Her run stopped @ Wimbl., but it was very impressive w/ 6 str. event wins includ. the FO! In the past the women's game had a stronger following in Asia & No. Amer. IIRC! I don't pay as much attn. & haven't in yrs! I recall the early yrs. of trying to have dual events! Way back when, it was only Martina or Chris for a while in the early to mid 80's! They were being spread thin by making sure @ least one of them was playing the lone event of the wk.! They finally got some help w/ Graf, Sabatini, & Seles! Graf c/b playing Gabby in FLA., while Martina was battling Seles @ Paris Indoor! Now it's no big deal to have X events every wk. like the men, but the $$ hasn't caught up; esp. in Europe!
***I find the women’s game t/b very easily avoidable, tbh. Iga's a breath of fresh air, & Naomi-Me-Me! looked interesting until she began trolling the sport & its fans, captured by modish “causes” & victim narratives. Really not a person I'd cheer for, & it seems I don’t = have to root vs her.
But womens tennis has never really been the main act for me, & the idea of them taking up court X by playing BO5 would cause me to shiver. They need stability & commitment to excel. to win over the fans. It’s a pity Ash retired b/c a rivalry btw her & Iga w/b a lifeline. A basic straw poll of every forum I’ve ever been on shows that the men’s game is the big draw, & that’s the way it was during the heyday of women’s tennis when Chrissy & Martina were bossing the game.
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We have to move on from Chrissy & Martina. Those days have gone. The WTA has really good depth & there are some good players. Serena &d Venus of course are in the twlight of their careers. Agree they need stability. Remember too nothing ever stays stat in our game. I also can find men's tennis boring when the top 2 players seem t/b winning all the majors.***
***Medvedev has 1000 pts. to defend in Canada. So if he loses early & Rafa has a good tourn., #1 ranking switch could happen soon.
ReplyDelete---
The boys from Canada have def. disappointed this season after starting so well by winning the ATP Cup. They both prob. need a swift kick to the … that says stop messing up some of these prime opps.***
That's the prob. of any players after experiencing the excellence of the Big 3! No other players w/b able to keep that going! Most w/b inconsisent after being "on a roll!" It can't be sustained & we shouldn't be surprised! It's a wonder if tennis w/b watchable after they retire!
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It's amazing that Nadal's gone this long w/o winning a Masters; going back to last season! Novak was prevented from playing 2, but still took one on clay! That's so bizarre to see! Has HELL frozen over? Djokovic as a part X player has a Masters & Major! I can't be > surprised & pleased!
***The USO is really a tough tourney to win. - Agree w/ all of this. The USO's underrated in terms of how physically & mentally hard it is to win. Everything about it….. the range of extreme weather conditions, the crowd (it c/b +, neg., or downright distracting, but it’s always a factor), the position on the tennis cal., the last chance to win a major that season…..That run of Fed winning 5 in a row is unlikely to ever happen again imo.
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The USO final used t/b in the dayX & no brk of a day after the SF's - this made it > physically demanding > the AO for instance. You have to deal w/ dayX heat, NY’s high humidity & wind vs quality opps. For European players, they have been away from home on a long business trip of 2 months in Canada/US by the X they play the USO final & m/b they're not as emotionally or mentally fresh either. The USO's just tough to win & no one has defended their title there since the days of Fed’s 5-title streak.
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If Djokovic fans suggest that his boy underachieved @ the USO, then let's not forget that he's overcheived @ Wimbl. & AO.***
Well that's ridiculous on both sides! For one, the USO is tech. the toughest major over the yrs due to incompetent mnmt., venue, surface changes, etc.! It's always been a POS event in NY w/ rowdy crowds, planes flying overhead, & the wafting of food too close to the courts! It's a wonder top pros like Sampras, Lendl, & Federer did so well = though Roger's been outside the winner's circle since '08! Djokovic winning so many Wimbledons & AO's is on the other players who couldn't keep up w/ his excellence! Nuff said!
***Fedr has > losses @ USO > Djokovic. His W% is 0.2 higher > Djokos. CONNORS has > losses @ USO & Djoko.
Djokovic has 81 wins @ USO, 3rd highest. 86.2 Winning %. Nadal in contrast has 64 wins & USO finals in Open Era.
Stat wise Djoko's arguably the best @ USO.
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Novak has played exceptionally well in the USO except for the Finals. He has reached 9 finals which's a rec. in itself, so of course his win% & stats w/b good.***
***If Djokovic finished his career just 1 Slam behind Nadal as they are currently, an argument cbm for him still t/b GOAT over Nadal b/c of his many other accomplishments. However, if he ties Nadal in Slams when they retire, Djokovic would likely be the undisputed GOAT for > unbiased tennis observers. So, let’s see how they finish their careers as I feel like they both have a few > Slams to win. They clearly seem like the 2 best players in the world having won all the Slams except 2 since RG'18.
ReplyDelete---
I’m a 2000’s kid. Always grew up w/ Djokovic & Nadal-like tennis. It saddens me too. Regard< of how baseline huggers played, they still had a viable net game & the confidence w/ it. Nowadays, nobody comes to net. They just hug the baseline til they hit the perfect FH angled winner or their opp. misses. No putting balls away; nothing. Djokovic was an avg. volleyer back in the day & while he has improved, still says a lot that he’s prob. one of the best volleyers on tour.***
I go back to the early 70's playing & teaching! I've had this feeling of en oui about tennis for yrs! I almost gave up on the women's game after Hingis & Henin retired as the rankings have been a mess for well over a decade! I thought Osaka & Barty could bring stability back w/ a real rivalry! Instead we've had to deal w/ tons of inconsistency due to injury, mental exhaustion, or in gen. apathy! I'm hopeful w/ Iga Swiatek as she was on a great run of 6 tourneys including her 2nd FO! The men got t/b rather boring for me until Novak stepped up to chip @ Fedal's pedestal! Nole won his majors in bunches & unexpectedly caught up & surpassed > of their recs making them his own; 38 Masters, 2 Double GM's, YE #1 7 X's, 373 wks @ #1, a Nole-Slam, won 3 majors 3 X's, & a Double CGS! IDK what the men's tour will do after they all retire! The NG'rs of men are just like the women playing w/ mind< aggression, mental deficiencies, & oft injured in some way!
***W/ Summer warm-ups & USO looming, Nadal looks pretty vuln. to Zedzilla on HC's. Just look at H2H history. Zed also nearly had Rafa on clay in FO'22.
Med - plays Nadal close obviously & has beaten him on HC's.
Tsitsipas - beat Nadal on HC's @ slam level.
Sinner - always causes headaches to Nadal. And right now Sinner's in the form of his life.
Alcaraz: Rapidly improving. Caused Nadal fits in IW. Could easily beat Nadal in B05.
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All this is NOT even counting Novak. Coz if Novak plays USO'22 - then everyone else is playing for 2nd place.
Nadal is only fave in RG - no other slam. And next yr., @ 37, = that may not be true.
Zedzilla's injured though. He's not a threat to anyone w/ a bum ankle so there's a big ?? on him. He's the > dangerous though for sure on HC right now.
Medvedev imploded while up 2 sets to love w/ 0-40. Nadal isn't the least bit afraid of him. Lol.
Tsitsipas did beat Nadal in Australia but he has regressed. As of now, I wouldn't put him as a main threat.
Sinner c/b dangerous for sure, but he also can turn into a brain< ball basher. No one knows what form he'll bring.
Alcaraz is potentially the 2nd > dangerous after an 'in form' Zverev, but he's the new kid on the block, & may not be ready for prime X.
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It's not stupidity. In a free world everyone s/b able to decide about his own vax status. In a free world.***
Well the morality of a position comes into play when the person travels a lot! It seems vaccines are being pushed, but people are still getting sick! I've been lucky compared to many who've had C-19 twice! It's a shame Novak has to miss 2 of the 4 majors over a pol. view over common sense & choice!
***The Aust. issue wasn't a pol. view on COVID. It was a missread pol. action. Morrison was failing in the polls & data showed he was "weak" over COVID period. Morrison's only of the dodgies PM Aust. has seen in the OE. ...His excuse for blatant lying if believed indicates he's not fit to govern.***
***Djokovic's great for sport. He has dom. tennis in the past 10-11 yrs, winning 20 of his slams during this per. Meanwhile, Nadal has won 11 slams in same per. & Fed 7? Tennis has been in great shape w/ him as the clear dom. player in past decade. He has produced many classics, like the wars vs Stan, the 5 hr. final vs Rafa @ AO, the classic 5 set thrillers vs Fed in Wimbl. finals, classics @ FO vs Nadal, 5 set classic vs Rafa @ Wimbl., titanic battles vs Murray & >. ...Fed's stylish, but erratic & keeps pts too short @ X's. Nadal @ X's produces snooze-fests on some courts (indoors) w/ his loopy balls.
ReplyDeleteNovak's always attacking, ala Agassi, but @ same X defending ala Hewitt. He’s also the least boring of the 3. Fedal act the script of ‘perfect humans’ & are like robots, cyborgs, too safe. Djokovic shows emotions, entertains, goofs around is > joyful, playful. He’s > of a normal guy. At the same X he shows us how t/b mentally strong, never give up, not let others get us down - the haters & trolls. His tennis story is inspirational. He had to fight his way thru Fedal & surpassing their achievements. I'd rather be a fan of Djokovic > the other 2… When he retires, it w/b a bigger hole > Rafa & Fed retiring. I believe Nole's > important to tennis > Fedal… yea, that’s right.
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Djokovic has overachieved @ both AO & Wimbl. in particular. But has underachieved @ USO & = FO (due to Nadal).***
Tech. it all bal. out & Novak's right around where he s/b in the # of Majors won! He had the +ed stress of having to overcome the skill & determination of Fedal or he might have 5-8 > Majors! He was still able to surpass them both in Masters, YE #1's, Wks @ #1, & winning 3 Majors 3 X's ('11, '15, & '21)! He has tons of other recs Fedal aren't = close to achieving & may last for many yrs as the NG'rs can't seem to have any real consistency!
***I was sure Nadal was BS'ing during the match @ Wimbl. vs Fritz. Then I gave him some credit when he pulled out. But after I saw him dancing, then the golfing recently, I'm back to being skeptical.***
I've been listening to Rafa & his camp for yrs w/ this same BS going way back! If he loses, it has t/b an injury = though he says he's "not injured, but living w/ an injury!" Real double-talk IMO! No player in the history of the game is > FOS as far as I'm concerned!
***...The Olympics isn't the 5th Slam. There's no 5th Slam. Both WTF & Olympics are important for diff. reasons, but can't be compared to a Slam.***
...esp. since the Olympics & YEC have gone to BO3 events! IMO, it's an embarrassment to think of either =valent to a MAJOR! We tried to make The Lipton a 5th major back in '85, going almost 2 wks w/ all the events includ. Mx. Dubs. (Navr. wins Inaug. events), but it lost some luster when it also went to BO3 final & IW's expanded! The Olympics was initially an exh. in '84 & that hasn't changed in my mind = though Novak wants to win it badly for his country! It cost him his CYGS last yr. flying to Japan for nothing!
***Olympics actually included Tennis as far back as 1896. It was routinely included in the Olympics until 1924. Manuel Santana would win Gold in the Mex. Olympics in '68 as a "Demonstration" as Edberg did in '84. The '88 Olympics had Bo5 for every Rd., then the following Olympics only the Final was Bo5. It wasn't until the > recent Olympics that the Bo5 Final format was elim. Keep in mind that = the ATP Finals has no Bo5 format since the '07 final.
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Obviously, Olympics, M1000, & ATP Finals have been watered down, but since the Olympics are every 4 yrs this is the >est prize after winning a slam. As = Zverev said, "you're representing your country & playing not just for yourself, but millions of people back home." Agassi won the Olympics in '96 w/ a 250 draw & this is supposed t/b the >est prize after a Slam? Massu won in '04, a guy who never made a QF of a Slam.***
***B/c in SS's current form it’s unsustainable ya dope. “At some pt. you run out of other people's $$.”***
ReplyDeleteWell it would help if we didn't have so many stealing it! Fake claims, wealthy takers, benefits sent to dead bodies, etc.! That's the American way so it w/b "on the people" if it fails! Pols should also get a dishonorable mention as they play football w/ the system! At my age, I just don't GAF any>! We're going to "burn it all down" eventually; might as well do it sooner rather > later! You w/b happier I'm sure!
***Derek Chauvin sentenced to 21 yrs in fed. civil rights case - Already serving a separate, 22.5-yr. sentence for murder & manslaughter charges for the murder of George Floyd.***
What's your pt.? We've thrown people in jail for yrs abusing animals! He knelt on the neck of a guy for almost 10 min. IIRC! The rest of the cops watching are just as culpable IMO! A human being treated like a dog deserves severe penalties! Shooting Floyd like a wounded horse whb > humane!
***Notice how this guy doesn't condemn George Floyd who passed a fake $20 bill, while so high on drugs, that he kept saying "I can't breathe," resisted getting into the squad car 3 X's, then when placed on the ground tried to resist again. Then the knee to the back of the shoulder blades happened. Floyd was dead when he resisted arrest while being put in the squad car.***
So typically someone like you assumes a Black life is only worth $20! It's getting >er all the X!
***Obviously Chauvin was following procedure if neither he nor the other cops w/ him were @ all concerned about being videoed.***
If he was following procedure, why has he been convicted by 2 diff. court proceedings? Cops get off all the X w/ a reprimand if supported by the cops & their unions! Even they could't defend these actions! Get off the pipe babe! You're embarrassing yourself!
***B/c the case was under duress; threat of mob rule. Duh. - Sentences run concurrently....Next to meaningless.***
M/b not in this instance since the sentence from Fed case keeps him inside for 90% of 21 yrs! Normally if a person is repentant, they have a chance of a reduced sentence to run concurrently w/ other offences! He fk'd up along w/ his support! IDIOTS; esp. the lawyers who didn't explain well enough that he was Fk'd! Justice has been served for once!
***So other > for parole reasons (and his ass was never getting paroled) the conviction served what purpose? And are we going to see all murderers brought up on federal civil rights charges in the future?
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...That was the whole pt., stopping this cocksucka from EVER getting parole.***
Seeing as Chauvin routinely railroaded guys into jail thru unfortunate circumstances & no fault of their own, I hope he's getting the treatment he's subjected so many others! GP prob. isn't in his future!
***I'm extreme right-wing & I don't lament Floyd's passing. But I strongly resent Chauvin's wholly unnec. action b/c of the predictable shit-storm it caused. Aside from the obvious personal satisfaction he derived from it there was absolutely no rational purpose for what he did. ...I'm thoroughly convinced that he was suspended in a state of compulsive, hypnotic insanity & I'm surprised his lawyers didn't follow that path. - If by justice you mean travesty.***
A travesty is the father of this a-hole here in Chgo area who shot up a parade recently, killing so many people in Highland Park & not taking respons. for authorizing/signing & supporting his collecting of guns & knives! Jerk off! You obviously don't know what you're talking about!
***That’s a separate issue. Don’t crush that dwarf, hand me the pliers.***
***The man deserves t/b in jail. A lot of peasants & those who you back have done hard X for a smidgen of what this dolt has done. Trump has had a lifeX free pass. That is incredible in this world. And there are others also. He has indicted himself for crying out loud. And the corrupted system up to now..."no, no we won't put you in jai...Now get out of here & keep violating most of the 10 Commandments & the 7 deadly sins."
ReplyDeleteI think some in gov't & Justice hope Trump passes on B4 going thru the indignity of being prosecuted! SDNY had offenses set t/b tried in Trump's 1st yr. as Prez, but for some reason they're dragging their Fk'n feet! The man supported an insurrection against his own gov't, allowing threats of death to his own VP! How low do you have to go to get prosecuted in this country if you're rich, white, & insane?
***It's pathetic the way you stupid uneducated lowlife Moon Bats try to defend Joe Potato=head. The most corrupt & incompetent POS that was ever President. That's saying a lot w/ the likes of Slick Willy & The Worth< Negro B4 him. Our country's in terrible shape b/c of the POS you Moon Bats let steal an election from the American people.
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Hunter isn't an issue no matter how much you wanted to make him one. Try harder next X.***
The real hypocritical thing is if anyone = mentions the Trump kids who were in the WHITE House conspiring, they w/b up in arms w/ FNC losing their fk'n minds! Going after Hunter has been fruitl< & they can't stand it! It's so sad & pathetic that we have people out there w/ complicity to overthrow our own gov't!
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Women are still holding onto the patriarchal society! It's > their own fault now; esp. losing rights to determining their own bodies recently! They have been told that Reps & cons. were after their "right to choose," but they helped to elect them anyway! I threw out my feminist card when women found no reason to elect one of their own in Hillary, choosing a delusional pig instead! Any misery perpetrated from here on is on them as they've locked cons. on the Supreme Court who may start going after other minorities! Gay marriage is on their hit list I'm sure! Affirmative action m/b next! We're screwed for years to come! Lucky I'm too old to GAF anymore!
***Kick that ass Jamie. Kick it. I have to wonder about a female Trumpians. Worse than a plantation house nigger.***
We shouldn't have been surprised! I've been saying & asking the same ??, "why do women hate other women so much?" It's hard to have sympathy for their plight when they contribute to it all the X! There are > women out there working & voting, but still pt. fingers @ men! I yawn now! I'm done!
***It's the same w/ ignorant, uneducated ass "I don't vote cause it don't make no diff. who wins," niggas. And yes, I'm done w/ them too.***
What's next? The main issue of abortion has been settled for now! The right to bear arms hasn't been curtailed = w/ school shootings becoming so common! I guess the "race war" will begin seeing as "the majority" think they're losing power as the minority pop. grows! How do we look @ other countries w/ disdain when we're so fk'd up?
***Sucks, doesn't it? I'm trying to recover my lost pension, until then, "I'm working in a coal mine, going downtown ..."***
***The WNBA isn't very popular. They really s/b following the lead of the Legends Football League or the WWE's Diva Div. & make the product a lit'l bit racier. Right now, dames can't play basketball nearly as well as the guys. However, if fans think there m/b a wardrobe malfunction, they'd be > likely to tune in.***
ReplyDeleteThe so called experts of basketball extol the women's game saying "this is how it s/b played," but few are actually watching it! I know I've never watched > highlites on ESPN = though we have a team here in Chgo: & they won it all last season! No one cares; hence that poor woman risking her very freedom by going into Russia! It caught up w/ her b/c she wasn't making enough in the WNBA > likely!
***She makes over 200k for 36 games over basically 3 months. May 6 - August 14 th. At that rate she’s being paid a higher % of the profit the WNBA makes than LeBron make of the NBA profits.***
News to me! So she's being greedy by going to Russia &'s now wallowing in a jail cell? Sympathy gone!
***Brittney Griner sentenced to 9 yrs in penal colony.***
Sounds awful, but all I can ask is, "why TF was she going over to a country we're @ odds w/?" Due to whatever reason, we'll have to give up an arm's dealer & murderer for a trade we promised not to get into! We overlook these minor details! Regardless if she broke the law or not, why = go to Russia while they're bombing TF out of Ukraine where lives are being lost! Her family needs to look @ the big picture! Typical of the USA we can't see the forest for the trees!
***To answer why she was in Russia. Women's basketball is popular there & so the players can make > $$ than in the WNBA. - Griner has been playing basketball in Russia for yrs now. She was arrested on Feb. 17, 2022, which was B4 the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. She prob. had a pretty good life in Russia - up until now being a popular basketball player making much > $$ there > she ever did playing in the USA. She might not have paid any attn. to world politics & had no expectation that she w/b swept up in this mess after yrs of playing in Russia w/o incident.***
I figured that, but it's obvious we're @ odds w/ Russia! Why = go there for $$ if this could happen? I was told she made the lion's share of the WNBA budget, so I can only assume greed involved! Call me cold, but we've been put in a terrible position where public opinion makes no diff. to Russia! They couldn't GAF what we think & will use her as a political pawn that chb avoided! Cry me a river!
***Also, the oligarchs own the teams & there was a tacit understanding that this offered some protection to the players from being a target. - I'm guessing Brittney regularly brought her vape pens into Russia (corrupt) w/o incident. Russia invades the Ukraine, relations turn sour, & they get a bargaining chip. The, "I didn't mean to put the vape-pen in my luggage," is B.S.
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...We pay athletes way too much for simply playing a game.***
I'm getting there! Athletic greed is really pushing me away! It's like they're never satisfied = w/ their $$, fame, & adulation! All we need to do is look @ that huge a-hole in basketball, Kevin Durant! Won 2 Chps w/ Golden State & couldn't wait to leave so he could find "his team" other than being "the man" on "Curry's team!" He was wanted, paid, & stroked, but he was never happy enough! I'm almost done!
***5 Pts for GS
ReplyDelete3 Pts for OG
2 Pts for WTF
1 Pt. for Masters 1000
1 Pt. for GS Finalist
1 Pt. for OS
Result produced:
Djokovic = (20 * 5) + (0 * 3) + (5 * 2) + (38 * 1) + (11 * 1) + (0 * 1) = 159 Pts
R Nadal = (22 * 5) + (1 * 3) + (0 * 2) + (36 * 1) + (8 * 1) + (0 * 1) = 157 Pts
Federer = (20 * 5) + (0 * 3) + (6 * 2) + (28 * 1) + (11 * 1) + (1 * 1) = 152 Pts
Hmmm, Big 3 have to rank really close to each other…….so I'm content w/ the outcome.
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Big-3's Top-5 5-Yr. Spans:
'03-07: 12 titles (2 finals)
'05-09: 11 titles
'06-10: 10 titles
'07-11: 7 titles
Nadal
'10-14: 8 titles (17 slams played, 4 finals)
'09-13: 8 titles (17 slams played, 3 finals)
'08-12: 8 titles (18 slams played, 3 finals)
'06-10: 8 titles (18 slams played, 2 finals)
'07-11: 8 titles (19 slams played)
Djokovic
'18-22: 9 titles (17 slams played)
'15-19: 9 titles (19 slams played)
'11-15: 9 titles (20 slams played)
'17-21: 8 titles (18 slams played)
'14-18: 8 titles (19 slams played)
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In the Golden Era of Tennis (> of the fans recognize '08-12 as the GE)
Slams won:
1.Nadal-8
2.Djokovic/Fed-5
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Greatest & the > accomp. player ever...
> like '07-12(w/ excep. of '10)
Fed: 7 slams
Nadal: 6 slams
Djokovic: 5 slams
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Nadal & esp. Djokovic evolved their games, having =ly distrib. titles from their 20s & 30s.
This reflects their ability to adapt & have 'X' prime periods, keeping up w/ the continuously rising standards of tennis.
Fed OTOH, vultured a weak era & was unable to cope as the level of tennis increased.
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How can any other conclusion be reached?
- if Rafa was def. better > Fed, Fed would never have forced a 5th set, dug out from that brk., & won AO’17.
- If Rafa was def. better > Djoker, no way should he have 2 RG losses to him, or that ridiculous since-13 losing streak off clay.
- If Djoker was def. better > Rafa, no way Rafa should have pushed him to 5 @ AO’12, or nearly beat him @ Wimby’18, or beat him @ USO’13.
- If Djokovic was def. better > Fed, no way Fed should have beat him 3 X's in '15, or come so close to winning W’19, or upset him @ RG’11.
- If Fed was def. better > Rafa, no way Rafa should have ever beat him @ Wimby or won > of anything off clay vs him.
- If Fed was def. better > Djokovic, no way should he have lost to him @ '10/11 USO, or AO’08 have happened, or W’14/15 have happened, or '11 have happened @ all.
They’re all really transcended talents. They’re so much better > anyone else. In some ways they have a weird Rafa beats Fed beats Djokovic beats Rafa cyclical relationship. Gotta give them their respect.
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Fed came along @ the perfect X to amass slams. During a BLACKHOLE transitional era when the old guys were finishing &/or already ret. (Sampras, Agassi) & @ a X when it was a talent< vacuum when complete MUGS were winning slams. (Gaudio, Johansson, etc.)
Fed's "Peak" coincided w/ OLD cripples like Agassi & Kuerten, & BUMS like Roddick, Hewitt, Baghaditis, Gonzales, Ljubicic, Davydenko, etc.
To only have a field of Roddick, Hewitt, Davydenko, underachieving Safin & Nalbandian, Agassi sub-ret.-home, & a pre-puberty Nadal is luck in itself. It's a > opport. to amass a CRAPLOAD of slams (like Fed did).***
***It does not look good when you exclude the #1 player in the World w/ an amazing HC rec. from competing.***
ReplyDeleteI guess the USO wants t/b on par w/ the other HC major in embarrassing themselves Int'lly by not having the future GOAT participating!
***Top #25 ATGs:
#1 Novak Djokovic
#2 Roger Federer
#3 Rafael Nadal
#4 Pete Sampras
#5 Ivan Lendl
#6 Jimmy Connors
#7 Bjorn Borg
#8 John McEnroe
#9 Andre Agassi
#10 Boris Becker
#11 Rod Laver
#12 Andy Murray
#13 Stefan Edberg
#14 Mats Wilander
#15 Ilie Nastase
#16 Guillermo Vilas
#17 Ken Rosewall
#18 Gustavo Kuerten
#19 Lleyton Hewitt
#20 John Newcombe
#21 Arthur Ashe
#22 Jim Courier
#23 Andy Roddick
#24 Michael Stich
#25 Thomas Muster
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Talks include upgrading Halle or Queens Club or poss. Hamburg becoming a grass court event to have a grass Masters 1000. Remove one of those clay court events happening after Wimbl. to clay court season & move Wimbl. back a wk.***
I guess they can't upgrade The HOF event giving the USA 4 Masters 1000 events w/ Canadian Open making it 5 in No. America!
***There are ways to make it happen if the tour is really serious about it. They prob. need to take a good look @ their sched. anyway & restructure it.
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Murray just had the misfortune of playing the 3 greatest players of all X. If those 3 never existed we w/b talking about, "dang look @ Murray w/ 16 slams."***
Prob. not! The only reason Andy got t/b as good as he got was b/c of the Big 3! You only play to the level of your comp.! He was successful early w/ Fed, got a few good wins over Novak, but wasted his X trying to overcome the dogged play of Nadal! I'll give him 5 or 6! By you giving him 16, you're saying that stupid, def. game of his was supposed t/b >er Laver, Borg, McEnroe, Agassi, Edberg, Becker, Lendl, & Connors which is ridiculous!
***Federer may never officially retire - just play Laver Cup & the odd tourn.. here & there until he gradually fades away. He can
prob. bank WC's until he's a pensioner - Navratilova kept going in one form or another until she was like 50.***
Martina was accomplishing things in her return to comp. play in 2000! She won doubles' majors, including completing her "Box Set" @ the '03 USO! She's so great she didn't = realize it; "just another win under my belt!" Her last comp. match was winning '06 MxD's @ the USO approaching 50 in Oct.! Fed's literally embarrassing himself thinking he c/b comp. @ 40+ vs these kids who # the ball & take X away from him = if taking balls "on the rise!" Hurkacz really made him look bad @ Wmbl. last yr.! IMO he shouldn't have been anywhere near a major QF after his awful play in the 1st Rd. barely surviving the likes of a Mannarino! WTF? If not for the guy twisting his ankle, Roger whb out then! Glorified exhs like the Laver Cup is about Fed's speed these days! "Stick to correographed matches babe!"
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Times change; esp. when a player is on the way out! I had to go thru it w/ Borg, Martina, Goolagong, Henin, Hingis, Edberg, Lendl, Sampras, & now Federer! Greatness doesn't last forever! As I said, I'm not = that much a fan of Nole's! I just apprec. him knocking Fedal off their pedestals! I've said this B4!
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Fed fans prob. think it isn't worth watching tennis w/o him! It's looked empty @ both IW's & Miami when Novak couldn't play after winning so many titles! The only thing entertaining was watching Rafa struggle & miss out on winning Miami 1 > X! So close. but yet so far!
***I wouldn't shed a tear for the ATP/WTA if a LIV type tour came about. They've been Fk'n over the lower level players FOREVER. So top heavy it's ridiculous. Only the top 120 players are = brk'n = much < making a living.***
A lit'l bit of $$ has trickled down the ranks w/ Challengers getting a bump, but it's been disappointing & sad as the rich get richer! Blame Fed & Nole who were past Presidents of the ATP! Novak advocated for > $$ for the dregs of the rankings; not sure about Roger!
***Oh, please. I'm giving Med a bit of leeway from having been pushed out of the whole of June for being Russian. He won in Mexico, but he's not quite as match-tough as Kyrgios, is that fair to say? Lost in 3 sets to Nick.***
ReplyDeleteHypcrisy here? Where was this soft spot for Novak Djokovic who's been excluded for a lot > events including 2 Majors & 4 Masters!
***That was his decision not to get vaccinated. The Real & Correct reason he couldn't play @ those tourns! 2 Majors? He missed Australia. Did he also miss RG? I can't remember 100%, but I'm sure he played RG?***
So far The US has forbidden Novak entry into the country to play the USO or Masters = though he played last yr. to attempt a CYGS!
***B/c Novak isn't allowed into the USA. He is NOT Vaccinated. Stop playing the Victim Card! Novak's not playing this tourn. in Montreal due to him not being vax'd? ...Here's the bottom line: Novak made his choice & has to live by it--100% At the same X. His situation has brought up the absurdity of the US policy---it used t/b (last US OPEN) you had to have a neg. test which makes the > sense; having been vax'd (the current policy) doesn't mean you're neg. We've actually moved in the opposite direction as the disease has become more manageable.***
I don't watch the news much, but I think I heard Millman was overcome by C-19, but he's already here! Make it make sense!
***Policies change. Novak knows the rules & what it'll take him to play in the US. He has known this since IW. At least Novak, to his credit, accepts the consequences of his decisions. His fans, like you, do not. Get over it.***
I personally don't care! Novak's accomplished a ton already! Knocking him out for the 2nd X over some BS will make them look as clownish as the Aussies! I think they'll have to live w/ that shameful Int'l performance for a very long X! Someone in authority told him to come "down under!"
***Frankly, you DO care, b/c you keep whining about it. You can complain about the confusion in Oz, but there's no confusion in the US. By "them" looking clownish, do you mean the USTA? B/c they don't. They are conforming to US immigration policy.***
It matters not after all this X! Novak's come a long way to catch & overtake both Fedal in many recs out there! That's my only motive!
***...I'd want either Fed or Nadal t/b king of a country I lived in. But Djokovic is prob. the best tennis player.***
Some delusional fans need serious mental help! Fed's out of the GOAT race & that's that! Record-wise he's fallen behind 2 other players who have his #! It's been embarrassing to think back on how we tried to make excuses for him; esp when he was going down to Nadal again & again! It only got worse for him as Nole came of age & started destroying him @ the AO yr. after yr. in the SF, then devastating losses put on him @ the USO & Wimbl.! Fed's no GOAT since he's the one who benefitted from a "weak era!" It was pathetic IMO w/ his major rival being his personal pigeon, A-Rod!
***Fed's '11 RG win vs Djokovic. That's Djokovic best yr. ever.***
ReplyDeleteWell 1 of Novak's best yrs! Even though in '11 he had gone for about 7 months w/o a loss ('10 DC to '11 FO QF), winning 40+ ATP matches, all the lasting recs were in '15! Djokovic won the same 3 Majors, but stole an extra Masters (6)! He was in the final of the other 2 played & finished season w/ another YEC! That set pts over 16K! I just can't see anyone getting anywhere near that kind of brilliance un< Carlos Alcaraz goes on a tear now!
***His recs & accomplishments speak for themselves.***
If speaking of Fed, the rec. is being re-written every yr! He's been near the top for so long, it's almost ingrained that he's the GOAT = though his recs have been falling for yrs! Novak has > of the top ones, while Rafa holds 22 Majors! Poor Roger w/b just a footnote in a few very short decades! The devotees will slowly drift off & w/b totally forgotten; sorta like Emerson who held the rec. for so many yrs!
***...They’re itching & gotta try extra hard to bury Fed cause he’s still a legend in the game & that irks them a lit'l.***
I was a devotee very early on & apprec. the beauty of Roger's game! You had no choice but to acknowledge his obvious talent, grace, & consistency! Unfort. 2 players came along to step on the coronation gown for GOAT-dom! All the programs produced B4 '11 made out he was so "above the rest!" It's almost embarr. to watch since his recs are being eviscerated faster > he did to Sampras! He's in 3rd pl. already! I'm not trying to bury him, but I can't give Fed as much credit for his accomps w/ such a weak era of players who just didn't challenge him!
***Sure. Will you “not try to bury” Rafa like this if & when Novak passes him faster > either passed Fed? Who of this incredible gen. of ATG these poor men have to face is going to stop him? Lol.***
Sorry, but I'm no fan of Rafa's either! Never have been! I'll always have reservations about Nadal who really only excelled on clay! Fedovic have a > bal. game & rec.! That's nothing new being bandied about! Nadal holds one top rec. w/ 22 Majors, but he's way behind both Roger & Novak in the others includ. wks @ #1, YE #1's, YEC's, & Masters!
***Agree w/ all of this. And = though it’s not just about the #'s w/ Fed, I think we can all agree he still has pretty damn good #'s. :-D
His triple crown of 5 x USO / WI / AO is very freaky & he prob. still has the best consistency stats to go w/ the periods of dom. he had.
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Nadal was robbed of Miami '05.***
Nadal needed that title! He's still lacking that Masters' event after so many yrs! He can't get to a GM's like Novak (2) w/o it!
***Nadal never winning Miami is the > ridiculous thing ever. I take it personally. Everything about that match's iconic. It's pretty weird that he hasn’t won it. He's had his chances, but IDT he likes those humid conditions > @ all.
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Back in the day I was keen for him to win it, but nowadays it’s not the event it once was. Honestly I’m > happy to see him resting after IW's to prepare for the clay swing.***
Being legendary comes w/ noteworthy accomplishments like that! It's what keeps Borg's name in our mouths; his run of FO's & Wimbledons! Novak might officially eclipse his AO & Wimbl. recs by a lot! He still has X!
***It wasn’t fair that old man Roddick was facing peak Fed. You need to remember that Roger has always been @ his peak; regard< of age or injuries. That match had 0 meaning. And nobody = bothered to show up. No recs were broken. It was played in front of an empty crowd; < = the '20 USO. It turns out that every single match that Fed won during his entire career was when he was @ his peak & his opp. was either old or injured. Fed's 0-200 for his career in matches where his opps were in their prime while healthy.***
ReplyDeletePeek Fed? I thought he was about washed up until Soderling took Nadal out of '09 FO allowing Roger to win his one & only! Then @ Wmbl. he survived Roddick instead of actually beating him! That missed high BH volley in the 2nd set TB cost A-Rod his best chance! Then @ the USO, Del Po took Nadal out in the SF, & w/ a 2-1 set lead, Roger lost out on his 6th str. USO! Roger was always good, but he needed things to fall into place w/ upsets to win majors; esp. after '07!
Novak had that issue of being a chatterbox on the court to a comebacks "from the dead" vs Fedal & others! That list's a lot longer! Get over yourself! Invoking Roddick is only used to belit'l Djokovic's achievements; sorta like Soderling upsetting Rafa @ the FO! In the grand scheme of things, it mattered lit'l to anyone except Roger who was fortunate enough to take advantage of the upset!
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Pls name any top player who isn't deeply a narcissist? It's part of the make-up & fabric of >ness! Michael Jordan truly was the biggest A-hole out there, but he's still thought of as the GOAT! Same w/ Tiger Woods! Fedal aren't immune to the pathology! They just allow their camps & fans to bang the drum proclaiming "they're the best ever!" It's all in the POV IMO; sorry!
***Well, Rafa’s humble. I don’t need to explain. But there’s one thing being arrogant & believing in yourself & abilities, then another thing being a narcissist. A narcissist is a more precious creature, focussed not on achievement, but on themselves & gaining attn. for themselves. The Jordans & Rafas of this world are focused on gaining the >est achievements - & they’re arrogant enough to believe they can succeed >er > anyone else. They’re not overly concerned about whether you like them or not, or think they’re virtuous.***
If you say so! ;-) As for Rafa, he's just not very bright & tries not to speak on himself much @ all if he can help it! ;-)
***I disagree w/ that. No player who has won multiple grand slams has a low IQ.
No one more a Borg fan than me and IMO he was probably an idiot too! He was made into a Pro player before he turned 15! I heard he read comic books more than anything! He wasn't exposed to women as much so was easiy manipulated by them as well! Rafa's no brain surgeon; believe it! I see the confusion in his answers to the simplest questions! Novak OTOH is probably one of the more intelligent players in the history of the game, speaking 11 languages at least including Chinese! They aren't just quick comments made either! He gives long, drawn out acceptance speeches as if he's a native; esp. in Paris as he speaks French fluently! Rafa's a moron who can barely get thru Spanish inquisitons! In English, he falls inside out and it's hard to take!
***Good to see some objective analysis. Novak invented penicillin too, you forgot that. That main intelligence tennis players need is how to do what they do btwn the lines. Occasionally, reading ability comes in handy too, esp. words written in a foreign language. Often legal words, like say, the list of conditions that aren’t included in vaccine medical exemptions written in Australian.***
Agassi was so overrated early on! His campaign of "Image Is Everything" took him over! He had so many opps in the late 80's & early 90's; esp. in Paris! He blew it! At '90 USO, I was so sure he'd def. Sampras! It took just over an hr. & 1/2 for Pete to destroy Andre! How does Agassi refer to those late losses to Sampras @ the USO 2000-02 final? I call him Pete's personal pigeon until he retired!
ReplyDelete***Agassi really & honestly shh something like 6x AO, 3x RG, 1x W, & 4x USO.
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Honestly, Nadal was playing great @ AO '19 prior to the final. I think he had '12 on his mind. I’m not saying Nadal is >er on HC's > Andre, but I think the Spaniard has had it tougher. Also, I believe the best AO & best USO Rafas beat the resp. best Andres. Not @ AO. Agassi AO '95 beats Nadal '09. AO '12 was 7 yrs ago.
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Agassi had it tougher w/ prime level Sampras + Fed 9 X's in HC slams. Nadal got prime level Djoko + Fed like 6 or 7 X's. Sampras + Fed were playing @ >er levels too. Worst among them was AO '95 final, which was still pretty good. Certainly >er > USO '10 Djoko or USO '13 Djoko.
USO '90, USO '95, AO '00, USO '01, USO '02, USO '04, AO '05, USO '05 all out of the top drawer, nothing <. That's 8 X's.
Contrast to only AO '09, USO '11, AO '12 final, AO '19 final out of the top drawer. That's only 4 X's.***
I watched the entire tourn. back in '19 & the comms were lauding Rafa for holding serve 60+ X's in a row! I thought this final was going t/b a war like '12, but Novak was in Gawd-mode & wasn't missing anything; = changing the dir, of the ball @ will! He annihilated Rafa in quick order making him look BAD = though playing well himself! Rafa wa help AO, but blew it in '17 & '18! How'd he lose another final & SF to Roger? Well he was able to vulture an Xtra 1 this season w/ Novak being deported! That's 1 way to win!
***But your logic's flawed b/c it doesn’t acct. for the fact that Nadal's in his own planet when it comes to clay.***
Well my logic is Fed whb held in >er regard > both Nadal & Djokovic if he'd gotten out & retired earlier! Every yr. he hung on in the last dec. hurt his legacy IMO since his 2 main rivals were allowed to overtake him in every catagory except # of YEC's! People say you can't tell an athlete when to retire, but from ;12, he went 5+ yrs w/o winning a major! He acquired 3 >, but in that X, Nadal extended his H2H lead, while Novak caught up & blew past him in just about every meaningful catagory includ. wks. @ #1, YE #1's, & Masters (2 GM's)!
***Even 3-3 vs Nadal in his worst yrs is pathetic for a player who was supposed t/b in his prime back then. Playing on clay is really not an excuse when it comes to '14-16.***
I wonder will those die-hard Nadal fans continue throwing it in our faces that Roddick has a winning rec. over Djokovic now that Coric owns Rafa 3-2? At least A-Rod actually got to #1 for a few mins.! Coric's nowhere near the top!
***Djokovic is owned 2-0 by Vesely though, & on 2 diff. surfaces. - Actually, I don't see a major advantage btwn Roddick & Djokovic. Yes, Roddick leads 5-4, but Nole leads 3-1 in the >gest matches (Slams, Olympics, & ATP Finals). I think Safin going 2-0 & winning all 6 sets vs Nole did > damage > Roddick. Obviously their 1st match had a teenage Nole, but the '08 Wimbl. match had a GS winning Nole. I think +2 in slams is >er > +1 mainly due to M1000 wins.***
All players have someone they have trouble w/! Believe it or not Sampras lost 2 or 3 matches vs some German guy I still have never seen; Ulrich IIRC!
***Gen'ly deeper pos. in return games, those other guys hugged the baseline allowing them to cut off the angles from the Nadal FH, whereas Medvedev ends up getting pushing out wide & doing > running.***
It's hard for me to watch Med @ X's, but the few pts I do see shows him a mile behind the baseline! He's so vulnverable to dropshots which Rafa exploits!
***Like many, he's part of the Rafa school of thought in returning from the stands. W/B interesting to see how he approaches playing Nadal if he meets him @ the USO?***
At 20 or so I w/b coming to the net on most BP's! Even the best passing "shotters" miss; Borg & Evert! It's what I picked up very early on watching the women's game believe it or not! The best players attacked the net relenter matches this season, but made ugly w/ brk failures by Alvaraz! His FH is a lit'l wild; someX's failing him in a rally while not under pressure! He's pulling a "RAFA" pounding his chest & pumping himself up = on a DF! Not classy!
ReplyDelete***Well, he's only 19, so he's got X to mature. Fed @ 19 wasn't 'The Mighty Fed' that we know now. - His footwork's too tentative when in neutral rallies. He tries to cover his footwork by his athleticism, but it's a very risky strategy & will fail quite often vs top 10 quality players. Now that he has been exposed, it's X to work on it a bit too. Any player who can hit consistently deep will hurt him b/c of this.
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Coric has just beaten RBA. Finally a couple of great results in a row from him.***
I saw Coric had won the 1st set! Good to see he finished off RBA! It's so easy to go down in flames the next day affer a great win like that over Rafa! "Congrats Borna!" He wins Cincy d Tsitsipas!
*** - https://www.ultimatetennisstatistics.com/goatList -
Open Era GOAT List:
1 SRB Djokovic* Active
2 SUI Federer* Active
3 ESP Nadal* Active
4 USA Jimmy Connors
5 USA Ivan Lendl
6 USA Pete Sampras
7 USA John McEnroe
8 SWE Bjorn Borg
9 USA Andre Agassi
10 AUS Rod Laver
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The OP's SPECIFICALLY about who w/b #1 directly after the USO.
But the thing is Rafa pretty much becomes a spectator after the USO; if he actually gets there! It's as if he thinks his season is done & complete after winning the FO; hence only 2 Wimbls ('08 & '10)! Wow; how does the GOAT go so long btw Wimbls & AO Chps.? W/O the FO, Nadal w/b an 'also ran' like McEnroe, Lendl, & Connors! Fedovic had a much > bal. rec. which is why I respect them being the true GOAT's, not Fedal!
***J/b Nadal absolutely owns RG it doesn’t mean it s/b discredited. - Last I checked USO's after FO & last I checked Nadal has more USOs than the so-called "HC GOAT." At this pt. w/ DCGS the distrib. agenda of Djokobots is a complete & utter joke. Djoko leads Nadal @ 2 slams & Nadal leads Djoko @ 2 slams.***
Poor thing! I'd rather have dom. @ events I lead! Djokovic has 7 Wimbls. to Nadal's 2! AO Djokovic's 9 > Nadal's 2! Nadal's claim to clay fame's his unimaginable lead he has in Paris w/ 14 FO's compared to Djokovic's 2! USO's negligable 4 to 3! Wow, such a disparity!
***Now we talk about negligible? You said Nadal does nothing after FO & I proved you wrong.***
Well I prob. shouldn't say NOTHING, but you tell me! Rafa has NO Paris Masters or a YEC! What does that say after so many yrs. on the tour? Says almost "NOTHING!"
***He just completely deserves it this yr.***
Well, IDK about deserves it! He got a free pass back in Feb. w/o Djokovic to step over to finally complete his DCGS! Wow, from '09 AO to 2022 AO! That's a very long X! Novak did his in 5 yrs; from '16 FO to his 2nd CGS @ '21 FO! DJokovic will eventally own all the recs!
***You know that it took Novak 12 yrs. to win his 1st RG. Thats a very long X. Nadal winning AO 14 yrs. apart shows his longevity. Grasping @ straws & coping. ROFLMAO***
Just not a Nadal fan; never was! I have to humble him to make myself feel >er! Lucky I can go "below the belt" w/ wks @ #1 & YE #1 rec.! He's so far behind Roger & Novak he'll never catch them! Only in his dreams b/c he couldn't stay on the court but for a few months a season!
***Nadal will surpass Roger this yr. in YE #1 rec. hopefully, but wks @1 w/b a hole.***
***The US can't leave a Black female gay athlete to rot in Russia, & we won't, I feel confident. I really don't care who they give back.
ReplyDelete---
And of course it matters who they give back in exchange. The US has some dangerous Russians in their prisons.***
Watched a lit'l news programming & the commentators parrot that sentiment! In their opinions, supposedly the support of Black women put Biden in office! They helped I'm sure, but IMO it's BS! Reps w/ common sense put Biden in his chair! Who else were they supposed to support, psycho TRUMP?
***Hopefully in the next election you’ll have @ least one decent candidate from either party for people w/ common sense to vote for, though who knows where they’ll come from? If people stopped thinking of themselves in terms of the party their mammy voted for, & instead judged pol. issues w/o bias, pols might = bother to try.
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In a country this big, w/ an electorate this disparate, there's no one group that got Biden elected, but Black women deserve > a lit'l credit. I agree that Reps who couldn't stomach any > of Trump helped too, but I wouldn't give them that much credit, as there were still plenty out there drinking the Kool-Aid. You can read the data on the breakdown here from Pew. It's interesting, but it was a lot of things that put Joe over the top.
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Let's imagine that she wasn't set up. I still think there's more nuance in here than just Crime and Punishment. (Sorry...I couldn't resist that.) As @Federberg pointed out, farther up this chain, Griner doesn't make enough money as an WNBA player not to have to play in a foreign country in the off-season, & therefore, Russia. ...No athlete wants to be a political football. (Ask Novak.) But some situations are more dire than others. I think Griner deserves what the US can do to get her out of there.***
It's not that I don't care about this woman or others that get caught up w/ shit in Russia! I keep asking "why do these morons go to such a repressed place?" Griner went to play basketball, thinking since the Oligarchs own the teams over there, she'd be ok! She obviously isn't paying attn. to news where Oligarchs have been undersiege since Obama who started tying up their $$'s in foreign countries! Griner supposedly makes the lion's share of WNBA $$ so it's just a cash grab! So everyone thinks we should have a revolving door & allow mass, serial killers t/b let go so we can get her back here in the STATES safe & sound! She was already safe & sound here, but decided to take her chances going abroad! I just don't think it's right t/b blackmailed into ignoring real criminals locked up here just for her freedom!
***I'd never wanna live in Russia. They are so pompous about nonsensical things.***
...Putin has delusions of grandeur &'s been trying to expand his influence, but due to overreach they're being > isolated! This thing w/ the Ukraine's been simmering since Crimea snatched back during the Obama yrs! Behind the borders I see Russia as oppresed by their own gov't like any dictatorship! The man has never reliquished power since he arrived back in '99, = though allowing a hand-picked cronnie t/b president as he played PM! Now he's in there for life as he's elim. his opp.; = w/ assassination! Anyone who covorts w/ this sick man is auto. tainted for all X! I can still see our idiot president saying he "looked into his eyes & saw into his soul!" Trump really pumped him up taking Putin's word over our own "Intel" agencies! Things would turn around for Russia if they ever get from under the yoke of corruption!
***Trump's place in FLA. was finally raided to retrieve WH docs he illegally took w/him. He's t/b deposed, but promises to take the 5th. When a party invokes the Fifth Amend. privilege vs self-incrimination in a civil case, the court's permitted to instruct the jury that it may draw an adverse inference that the answer whb against the party’s interest. Mitchell v. United States, 526 U.S. 314, 119 S. Ct. 1307, 143 L. Ed. 2d 424 (1999); Baxter v. Palmigiano, 425 U.S. 308, 318, 96 S.Ct. 1551, 47 L.Ed.2d 810 (1976); Farace v. Independent Fire Insurance Co., 699 F.2d 204, 210 (5th Cir.1983).***
ReplyDeleteWho doesn't believe Trump isn't guilty of any # of crimes? Taking the 5th will def. impart neg. vibes, but not sure it'll matter!
***Methinks Trump has miscalculated by making so much noise about the search of Mar-a-lago. Now the FBI has filed a motion to unseal the warrant. I've a feeling Trump wouldn't want that info. out.***
OCO, you have to have a brain to miscalculate ANYTHING! Trump, w/o a doubt is the > impulsive person living today, thinking he can get away w/ anything! So far that's been the case! To this day I'm still wondering why charges that shb dropped on his ass B4 he became president are still pending after all these yrs? Judges & officials he installed haven't given him the smallest brk., but for some reason he hasn't been brought to justice! I think > are hoping he just croaks so he can't embarrass the country any longer > necess.!
***If The USA did say "Novak, you're welcome my friend." These anti-USA people on here wouldn’t change their minds for a sec.***
I'm from the States & don't blame anyone for being PO'd w/ us! We deserve any & all criticisms! I do it enough w/i; no shame in knowing it's happening w/o!
***Like I said, I got no prob. w/ ripping on the USA. I get suspicious when that’s all some do.***
We're an easy target; esp. w/ our history of late! This whole new century has been a fk'n nightmare except for passing Nat'l healthcare back in '10! We're a mess outside of that & I c/b totally honest about it! We don't look much >er > Russia or China = w/ their civil rights violations of their own people!
***Yeaaa, no. Sorry. You couldn’t = be typing this in a Chinese board or Russian board being critical of either. Not everything's relative. - You can say whatever you want about the USA here. Go to Russia & type anything similar about Russia over there & you might change your mind.***
I know how oppressive it is; believe me! Yrs ago during the Olympics, it was demonstrated that a new computer freshly taken out of the box is hacked w/i mins of being turned on when in Russia! Must have been back in '14 Sochi Games that it was shown privacy was not t/b had there!
***Jordan's prob. the > well known athlete of all X. He has a billion $$ empire built on his name. His shoes are some of the most sought after on the market, some selling for 1000's of $$'s on the aftermarket. If you think Jordan is < well known > those people on your list you mhb living under a rock for the last 40 yrs.***
Back in my cay WW-Fame was had by a handful of athletes: Ali, Borg, Pele, Maradona, Woods, Beckham, & Jordan!
***If Serena loses in the 1st Rd. of the US Open & ends up w/ 23 Majors? - Here's Martina's take:
ReplyDelete“If you just go on majors, then you have Serena,” Nav'ova said recently, according to Forbes. “If you go a diff. way, then it w/b me or Graf, perhaps Margaret. It just depends how you want to measure that.”
The 63-yo Czech-born star raises the issue of how difficult it is to measure tennis players from diff. eras.
“There's a lot of diff. measuring sticks,” Nav'ova said. “It’s hard for me to talk about it completely objectively b/c we were playing under a diff. measuring stick, so to speak, during my X w/ Chris & myself. Not = playing the FO or the AO b/c we were playing WTT. The AO wasn’t = important enough, & $$ was so bad, we'd make > $$ playing reg. tourns. > going down to Australia. The majors became a huge measuring stick in the 90s forward.”***
No man or woman will come close to her rec. no matter what people thought of her comp.! She had to deal w/ other HOF'rs like BJK, Goolagong, Evert, Wade, Graf, Seles, Sabatini, Austin, Sanchez-V., OTTH! They couldn't stop her from winning 167 Singles & 177 doubles' Champs! She has 2 CGS, a Box Set, 332 wks @ #1, 9 Wimbls., & 59 total Majors! These recs can't be matched in the Open Era! We can give Serena the moniker of GOAT if you like, but this rec. of excel. ending w/ a USO MxD crown closing in on her 50th yr., is out of reach for anyone in this era of players!
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Wimbledon's still "The Chp." & was eventually molded into an event a baseliner/grinder could win on! IMO it's sad that Rafa has so many holes in his resume, but his fandom brag about how elite he is! Until he gets @ least 1 YEC & edges up his wks @ #1, he should have lit'l to nothing to say when it comes to GOAT-dom!
***Nobody w/ sense actually claimed that the US Open prevented Novak from playing. I’ve said it many X's. They wanted the guy there as a former champ., #1, one of the GOATs. Why wouldn’t they want him there?***
This is on the city & state as well! I know, but overall it's going to inevitiably be a situation of conflating issues & jurisdictions! It was noted in the news by Biden! It can't get any >er up > the President! It was well known nothing would happen = though Novak didn't WD until the last moment! It's an embarrassment that we'll have to deal w/ this along w/ Austr.! This becomes an Int'l incident due to the precedent in our country of banning a GOAT player from playing in their top event of the season! I wonder if he had been going for his CYGS; would they have said "sorry, we can't help you!" A waiver might have come down from the mount!
***Lendl, like Djokovic didn't do enough during the peaks of his rivals t/b considered >er. Their careers are in some ways similar. By the X Lendl got t/b top man in '85, he'd suffered that many big defeats to McEnroe & Connors, he was always seen as being below them. It's similar for Djokovic. He was #3 for so long until '11 & had suffered that many big losses that by the X he got to #1 he was never perceived as #1. There's a lesson there for young players. Getting big results early on vs rivals does matter. Alcaraz has done that.
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Nadal hasn't beat Djokovic off clay since '13. - Who cares? ...Djokovic will never get his name on a list like that, he just doesn't have the transcendence, the cut thru.***
It won't matter if he owns every important rec. in Tennis! He w/b perfectly fine while allowing a myth/fraud t/b perpetrated that tennis begins & ends w/ Fedal!
***Who would you like to see win USO this year?***
ABN = Anybody but Nadal! ;-)
***...I really think Sinner & Tsitsipas have a good chance of reaching the final.***
ReplyDelete'Kiss of Death!' They might go out in their openers now! WOW! Ya never know these days! W/o Fedovic, it's another empty major! I felt the same way a few yrs ago w/o Fedal, but for their fans Novak was DQ'd in the Qtr's! Wimbl. win saved his whole season!
***I do know about the "kiss of death," but actually I'm not expecting the whole sha-bang for Shelton & Korda. I just want them to make a good run in the tournament. ...Sinner's weird. He can look > for a per. of X & then collapse hard. If he can keep it together for a good run, he can get there. It w/b interesting to see a SF btw him & Nadal. Yep, I saw Tsitsipas & he's another w/ major talent, but his mental side flies out the window really quickly. He looked really tough when he beat Medvedev in the SF & then just the complete collapse in the 2nd set in the final vs Coric. It doesn't make sense w/ him b/c he has tremendous talent.***
Stefanos def. Daniil may have > to do w/ their respective match-ups! I hate to use the term "pigeon," but it does exist! Going back to the 70's, Laver aging still had no trouble def. his pigeon, Ashe! Novak has many considered pigeons, but has surrendered a few important events to them (Del Po, Wawr., & Murr.) over the yrs! A few others (Cilic, Berdych, & Monfils) he barely drops sets to!
***Novax fans constantly crying on Twitter. They now want the slam race cancelled. Novax has missed 3 slams his whole career. Rafa's missed 13. There wouldn't = be a "slam race" if Rafa had < injuries. They cry about AO '22, but are silent about RG '16.***
Call me confused! Conflation's prevalent these days I guess! Why'd FO '16 be any diff. > FO '15? Rafa was still out "in the wilderness" w/ his play dropping matches to players outside the top 50-100 in 250 events! Novak had his down per. 2 yrs later so Rafa had a pass & only needed to def. an old man in Roger! Unfort. he had a 5-6 match run of bad luck dropping matches he had leads in to Fed! We can go round this circle as many X's as you like babe!
***...If they're going to say AO '22 shouldn't count, they're just asking for RG '16 t/b mentioned... - OMG, now Patrick McEnroe's being a total a-hole & idiot talking about Fed being grouped w/ Nadovic to come back to win a major!
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I watched a docu. about Martina & Chris & how they're really close friends now.***
There was only a breakdown of their friendship in the early 80's due to the changing of the guard! Martina was being trained by N. Lieberman, an ex-basketball player who drilled into Martina that Chris was the enemy! It worked where MN went on a winning run/streak unmatched by any player since! She was annihilating her comp., dropping only 1 match in '83 & 2 in '84! She changed the way tennis was competed by way of working out, eating right, & mentally fortifying her game! Lendl did it for the men! Martina began owning Evert in '83, winning 13-14 str. matches thru early '85, including toying w/ her on clay in '84! It balanced out later resulting in their H2H having a diff. of only 3 matches, 43-37!
***"...Yes, Mary Carillo; we know Serena hasn't played a lot of matches. Now Shut Up!" This may or may not be her LAST match here @ the USO.***
Wow! That's one way to support Serena; applaud Kovinic's DF's! In polite, civilized society, when's that OK? Serena's last match perhaps? I'll never understand the delusion! It's on Kovinic racket if she can keep her nerve & ignore the idiot fans who'll cheer her mistakes! She didn't & blew it! ;-)
***Emma has to win one of the smaller events to build up her resume. At the moment her win at the Open comes off like a fluke. Right now she is complaining about her wrist. It looks like just B4 a slam she becomes "injured." M/b she's struggling w/ anxiety & the burden of expectation from the British media.***
ReplyDeleteWell, no one thought she'd defend her title! That's a bit of a joke on the women's tour to allow such lowly players to = make a major final!
***They said yesterday that this tourn. is talking the least about the defending Ladies Champ. & Rner-Up than anyX in its history. Also, w/ the whole Serena thing going on that overshadows it.***
That's what makes the ladies' tour a joke! Most of their press depends on 2 players about to retire while the top echelon's the > anonymous in history! I certainly recall when Evert, Navratilova, & Graf aged out! It just wasn't this bad w/ replacement stars to fill the void unlike today! Sad!
***In some ways I like it that each tournament there's this not having a clue who is going to win. Yeah, there's Iga @ the top, but there's a huge amt. of players on the WTA tour that could pop up & win a major. Take Caroline Garcia, she's a real threat to winning this thing. I picked Amanda Anisimova to win it all & yeah, that's a long shot, but not really out of the ??. - Danielle Collins trying to serve for the match over Osaka.***
Was there any doubt? I had such high hopes for the ladies w/ Osaka & Barty leading the charge thru this decade! Supporting them was t/b Andreescu, Sabalenka, Plíšková, Sakkari, & Halep & it just isn't happening! The rankings are all over the place w/ X major winners due to injury & inconsistent play! We have a chance w/ Swiatek, but she needs to @ least get to the SF's!
***I've told you & Kskate has backed me up; "Stay off this women's post, U don't watch the current tour. All U do is make rude comments abt current st. of women's tennis okay! You cant stand to watch them these days? Don't Watch It & Go Away."
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Safin was so inconsistent due to his injuries & lack of motivation, but still outclassed Wawrinka.***
He still got to #1 in the world! As a matter of fact so did his sister for a few mins. w/o winning a major; D. Safina! Wawrinka won 1 extra major, but he woefully underachieved allowing Fedal to own him! Safin destroyed Sampras in a USO Final & upset Fed during his early runs @ the AO! Wawrinka just never came close to success outside of stealing 3 majors from Djokovic!
***I wanna be a horrible tennis player like Wawrinka . Just 3 slams.***
All the talent in the world, but it didn't do him much good! He played too long to just have 3 majors w/ 1 Masters event! That's called underachieving!
***To me, being a #1 player carries a certain class & prestige that Kafelnikov’s game & style didn’t have.***
Well he did win 2 majors which is 1 > most of these guys! I can't see kicking him out = though his game wasn't the strongest! He did knock Sampras out of the '96 FO when Pete had his best chance to win! He overcame 2 past champs in Courier & Bruguera in 5 sets to make his only SF berth!
I had such high hopes for the ladies with Osaka & Barty leading the charge thru this decade!...
ReplyDelete***I actually like that diff. ladies are winning all these tournaments & players like Garcia are popping up & making things exciting & challenging these other players. I'd much rather have that than what the men tour have had w/ Rafa, Fed, & Novak for so long. Yeah, they're great players & that's all good, but I love seeing the new players mix in there. ...We just don't need Iga dominating the game on the women's side. We need a bunch of ladies playing great tennis winning tournaments like Garcia is doing right now.
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The issue I take w/ the women right now is none of them seem t/b able to sustain any consistent greatness; it comes in spurts. It w/b one thing if we had 10 diff. women playing great tennis over the entire yr. contending for titles. Instead you have Iga looking like a force for 3 months & then that stops, & someone else has a good run for a month & falls apart. Then someone else for 3 months & then nothing. None of these players can sustain any type of run for a yr. The womens game really changed where in 1 yr. you had Venus, Henin, Serena, Capriati, Kuznetsova, & others who all could put together incredibly solid yrs simultaneously to now where none of these women c/b great together simultaneously.
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I think it's b/c they're currently beating up on each other when they play each other. There is no one like Serena that can go out there pretty much everyday & beat anyone when she was in her prime. ...Players like Coco, Amanda, Iga, Emma, Leylah, Bianca, Tauson, & the other really young girls on the tour are the ones I have really followed.***
I guess it's ok to talk about inconsistent play if others join in! That's all I was saying! You have nice runs like Iga, then her play falls off a cliff! In the old days the top players were so much better, it wasn't uncommon for them to relax & let the match come to them! Upsets were rare & @ the biggest tourn. like Wimbl., all top 8 seeds made it to the QF's! They weren't concerned about upsets! Now, on day one, it's damned likely if a player comes out unprepared, hurt, or allowing their minds to wander! It happened just now; Sakkari is out!
***The thing is you s/b prepared as a top player or any player. ...I wasn't the one to say anything about you bringing up inconsistent play. I don't really care what is talked about on this thread if it relates to women's tennis. My stance on the whole thing is I think it is exciting a fun to have all these players having a fighting chance in every match than just the same old player winning everything all the X.
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Back in the 70s & 80s when we Boomers were young, we played a lot of tennis. Now that we're old gezzers, we need something a lit'l slower like Pickleball & not so much running around.***
Exactly! I started playing tennis in '71, just B4 the boom w/ wins of Evert & Connors! The courts were swamped after that! Lucky I was someone others liked to play against, so had plenty of opps to get on court! It was crazy back then! I still remember getting up at 5 AM to make "early-bird" special to play indoors @ a club miles away!
***I started playing pickleball 3 yrs ago. Great game that c/b played socially by beginners & old-X'rs, but also competitively & professionally. My wife plays semi-comp. (she’s “ranked” at level 4) 5 X's a wk. It’s big here in Fla. The court is about a 4th the size of a tennis court, & today they're converting tennis courts into pickleball courts all over, & building new special courts too. I expect it'll become an Olympic Sport one day.***
***Serena's so unlikeable. Venus' very quiet & m/b shy. Coco c/b the > popular Women's tennis player in decades. She just needs to win a few majors.***
ReplyDeleteThey got off to a bad start w/ me when both sisters & their father appeared t/b bullying Hingis! It looked & sounded stupid on all sides since she was just a child! Venus'd say things on occasion like "she didn't beat me, I beat myself!" I was so done w/ the entire family!
***Talking of hatred about tennis players, Djokovic has prob. got much > Serena from all kinds of people, > of that undeservedly so, despite being a "white man." ...The Western world has, for the > part, grown out of it. The victimhood cards are just used to instigate inter-community conflicts & suppress = the > truthful of voices by false accusations.***
The world used to promote +vity, but these last 2 or 3 decades it's been > about -vity & trying to divide! It's quite prominent in USA politics where we used to find our similarities, but today it's all about "us vs them!" It's so sickening, but lucky me as a Sr., I won't have to deal w/ the BS for > longer!
***Yeah, it's nauseating. As a non-Sr. I get mad @ older gens for dumping this problem on mine. - Seeded players prove that the modern game is NOT better than 10-15 yrs ago, in fact, it PROVES that it's worse. Nalbandian, Hewitt, DelPotro, Berdych & Davydenko would run rough-shot thru the draw these days. The fact that Cam Norrie & FAA are top 10 furthur proves this pt. It's sad to watch the level drop, = Milos Raonic & Kei Nishikori'd still cruise if they were @ their peak. Cilic too.
The GOAT race, or at least the All-X GS rec. is now ruined beyond repair. We have been treated to the greatest hts. in the game's history over the last 20 yrs w/ Roger, Rafa & Novak, but now thanks to the insanity of modern pols, which is essentially medical tyranny, the race is ruined, = > so if Rafa wins this tourn. Sad > of you don't speak up vs it. At least for the tennis of not for social justice. What a joke.***
I've been railing about how tennis is unwatchable w/ today's players trying to take the cover off the ball instead of playing a skilled game! These people come into the net so incompetently! It's a shit show > of the X & the top 10 is a huge joke after yrs of Fedalovic!
***You should've watched Alcaraz today if you like some nice volleys. IDK how many X's he went to the net, but A LOT, & made like 90% of them. That kid is diff. Not many players have an all around game like that any>.
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How could Martina not be looked @ as a great doubles player if she won that much?***
The problem is as X goes along, she's forgotten! Her #'s don't mean anything to the tennis fans out there who favor Serena over Graf! Martina's #'s are out of sight, but she's rarely brought as the GOAT = w/ 167 singles & 177 doubles titles, & twice as many majors @ 59!
***I certainly don't think Martina has been forgotten. When a kid like myself @ 14 yrs old knows about her & IDK about many of the older players, but I do know about the likes of her & Evert, McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Connors, Graf, Sampras, Agassi, & Seles.***
I held onto Rod Laver as being the GOAT; giving him credit for tournaments missed due to separation of Am/Pro Tennis eras! Gave way to Sampras which wound up being silly as his recs were eclipsed in < a decade! Fed was head & shoulders above everyone early on, but 2 whipper-snappers came along & destoyed his recs & legacy, dropping him to #3 all X!
***Of course I never got to see any of them play other than Federer, Rafa, & Djokovic & to me what they have all done has been amazing for the game of tennis. IDK if there will ever be 3 players on the tour @ that level @ the same X ever again. Sure the stats are really important & the majors & slams are the > important, b/c they're the biggest challenges in the game.***
***If Nadal had comp. relative to his level like Serena did (No Fed and Djokr around), Nadal would have 40-45 slams & somehow Serena would have to make up the diff.***
ReplyDeleteBut that didn't happen so he's only up 22 Majors to Novak's 21 after he won Wimbl. for a 7th X while Nadal has 2; the last back in '10!
***...It's an opinion based on a fine sense of aesthetics - and a common sense thing we scientists like to call THE BLEEDIN' OBVIOUS.***
After all these yrs, I still feel that both Serena & Venus played some ugly tennis! They just weren't as graceful as someone like Evert or = Martina who strutted > sashayed! It bothered me when Serena would have her legs & arms out of control like a Raggedy Ann Doll w/ no style or grace to her game! It was all about power & taking the cover off the ball; whack & pray! The most lady-like & beautiful playing by a woman has to go to Goolagong! Go watch her; just mesmerizing!
***Serena's movements are just ridiculously ungraceful & unelegant. She's all about power, using those huge muscles to out-muscle her much skinnier opps. Venus was also unelegant. Both played ugly in that sense.
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Here are the players Serena beat in finals to win her majors (with * for those who have won @ least one major):
Venus*
Hingis*
Davenport*
Jankovic
Safina
Zvonereva
Azarenka*
Radwanska
Safarova
Wozniaki*
Kerber*
Mugaruza*
Henin*
Sharapova* ***
No "walkovers" that's for sure! These were all top women; most w/ least 1 major, but sev. w/ X Chps! Venus was her pigeon though; along w/ Sharapova who was never a real rival! She won that Wimbl. title over Serena & people have imagined their H2H was close, but it never was!
***I'll say that Graf has as good a claim as GOAT as anyone, just not an undisputable claim. So that said, Evert did not really start to decline until '87. Evert's 6 slam wins, 13 slam finals, & 90% win % from '82-'86 would make the rec. of an ATG's alone, so it's not a mark against Navratilova that she continued to beat Evert after '81. Martina also proved every bit as good as Graf no matter what you think of their resp. comp. They were 9-9 vs each other w/ a few > of those matches played outside of Navratilova's prime than outside of Graf's prime. They = went 2-2 in their final 4 matches from '91-94 when Navratilova was well past her prime @ ages 34-37 includ. Martina winning the only match @ a major they played during that X, the '91 US Open SF. Graf had just won Wimbl. < 2 months earlier & was cruising thru her draw until she ran into Martina. Navratilova lead the H2H vs Steffi w/ 5-1 until '86, B4 Steffi = had made 1 slam final. Navratilova in her absolute peak prime, Steffi still a baby.
Then Steffi caught up to =ize @ 7-7 in '87-89. In '89 Martina had the 6th-best winning % of her whole career ('88 was 7th-best). Late-bloomer Navratilova still in her prime, Steffi in peak prime. And they ended their rivalry @ 9-9. Martina‘s USO '91 win coming in one of Steffi‘s worst yrs, only her 11th-best in winning %'s.
And yet another important factor:
16 of their 18 matches were played on grass, indoor carpet or fast HC's, favoring Martina (whereas in the Graf-Seles rivalry the majority of matches were played on clay or slow HC's). Had Steffi been born 5 yrs earlier & had they played 50% of their matches on slower surfaces, their H2H whb overwhelmingly in Steffi‘s favor w/o any doubt.***
But as Bette Davis said to Joan Crawford in "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane," "but you are in a wheelchair Blanche!" What sense does it make to muse about what chb? lol!
***Steffi fans are the 1st to admit that. But it's far > the fans of other ATG players who resort to *what chb“ scenarios.***
***Watching Sinner & Alcaraz. These 2 are frighteningly good. And w/b better next yr. Going t/b hard for Nadal = on clay v these 2.
ReplyDelete---
Beating Rafa in BO5 on clay is another monster though. They prob. beat Djokovic @ slams B4 they beat Nadal @ RG.***
It has to happen sooner or later! I was hoping the end was @ '15 FO when Djokovic took his ## of flesh during Nadal's down per.! Who'd think Fedal'd rear up to take over the tour for 2 seasons when Novak in a malaise! Novak's return in '18 couldn't have been predicted stealing 2 Majors (Wimb./USO)! His rec. can't be surpassed w/ how he's grabbed majors in bunches to catch up & threaten the lead earlier than Fedal! So far Nadovic have still held them off @ bay! I've no doubt Novak was ready to defend his title "down under," while Rafa got back to the mt. in Paris! Playing part-X Djokovic stole another Wimbl. w/ no Medvedev due to ban & Nadal injured! He really never looked like losing = though down to Sinner 0-2!
***The full list w/ date(s) of the title defenders in the Open Era:
Men:
1. McEnroe ('80-1)
2. Connors ('83)
3. Lendl ('86-87)
4. Edberg ('92)
5. Sampras ('96)
6. Rafter ('98)
7. Federer ('05-08)
Women:
1. Court ('70)
2. King ('72)
3. Evert ('76-78, only player to defend on 2 surfaces)
4. Navratilova ('84,'87)
5. Graf ('89,'96)
6. Seles ('92)
7. Venus ('01)
8. Clijsters ('10)
9. Serena ('13-14)
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The young guys are going to start taking over the HC slams from here. It'll >ly be Nadal @ RG vs Djokovic @ Wimbl. If Djokovic can steal a RG from Nadal, or Nadal a Wimbl. from Djokovic, it's doubly huge.***
Nadovic have proved anything's possible! Hard to believe my ilk had put Sampras on a pedestal w/ 14 Majors just 20 yrs ago! His rec. was eclipsed in just 8.5 yrs by Fed! He ascended the throne of GOAT-dom, only t/b surpassed by 2 >er tennis players in Nadovic! How lucky are we?
***If it goes to 22-22, it'll in effect neutralize the slam lead & they'll cancel one another out. lol!***
The defintive thinking is if majors cancel each other out, Novak already owns the alt. top recs of 7 YE #1's. 373 Wks. @ #1, Double GM's, Nole-Slam, etc.!
***So when would you like H2H to ct. from? '15?
In '06 Djokovic said he can beat Nadal @ the FO & knew how to do it. Still waiting for that H2H to have some respectablity.
Also, you make all these stats up but Nadal played Djokovic 7 X's '15/'16 which was Nadal's worse ever per. They never played once when Djokovic was poor. Facts are there for all to see. Nadal was better when both in form.***
Weren't they in form B4 '15? Why not look @ the 1st "7 match winning streak" of Novak over Rafa? They were all finals! Funny, Novak's toughest encounters vs Rafa were on HC; '11 IW's & Miami, '11 USO, finishing w/ '12 AO in 5! The 2 clay finals were str.-setters; Madrid & Rome, then + on '11 Wimbl.! If not for one of the best seasons ever by Novak, the Majors race mhb out of hand in Rafa's favor a lot earlier!
***Fed'05 or '06 can't win 3 slams in '11, m/b 2. The AO & FO are not going his way, similarly if you sent '11 Novak to '06 then Fed isn't winning the AO & if Nadal's removed from the picture, then Djokovic clearly takes AO & FO in '06 right under the nose of Fed in his own peak. '11 Fed was playing >er on clay than he did in mid 2000s. Fed could've beaten Novak in 2010s on quite a few occasions w/ his experience, but he failed due to choking. ...We saw Fed have too many 3 slam yrs in his peak due to the absence of a consistent ATG in his age group. If we start to disregard 3 slams yrs on the basis of mid 20s, ATGs being in pairs, then except '11 there's prob. no 3 slam yr. in history where 2 ATGs were physically @ their mid 20s making X GS finals.***
***Buff. QB Josh Allen's salary cap hit w/b $16 M this yr. It w/b $40 M in '23. They have to win it this yr. for an easier way to a Chp.***
ReplyDeleteI was a big fan of the old team back in the 90's! They had a real cast of charaters; Kelly, Thomas, Bennet, Smith, Reed, & Tasker! It was made to run like a well-oiled machine by Coach Levy! I was around exorting w/ the rest a "Strive For 5" = though I was living out in Cal. at the X! I still can't believe they came back from the dead in that Houston playoff game in '93! They were down by 30+ pts & in the 2nd half sent in the back up QB, Reich to steal the game 41-38! KC had a chance to make 4 SBs, but blew that Patriot game w/ a penalty on Brady interception! The AFC West's going t/b tough this yr.!
***Tom Brady was clearly the best QB of all X. Peyton was really good, but still behind Joe Montana as far as ATG.
What made Brady great was the way he dissected a game, it was unparalleled.
He was the ult. game manager that could take what a defense gave him & move the ball against them all, but he excelled in crunch X.
He knew when to throw the fast ball or put touch on it to lay it over a defender.
He was careful w/ the ball & didn't turn it over @ a high rate.
He took 10 teams to the Super Bowl & won 7 & 3 > teams to the Div. Chp. Game.
That's 13 teams to Chp. Games & Super Bowl victories w/ 2 diff. teams in 20 seasons.
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I disagree. Manning was @ the helm of >er offenses than Brady's > seasons. Manning was > dangerous. He just had far worse defenses > Brady did, so Brady could win avg. or bad games while Manning would lose.
Throughout Brady's career, the avg. defense of his team was 7th best in the league. Manning's was 17th. Manning often had to do way > to win games > Brady, who was gifted X Chps. by happenstance (tuck rule, Butler interc., his horrible game vs the Rams).
Brady's an all-X great, but w/o all the help he got w/ a solid stable org. in the Patriots & great defenses. He wouldn't have been as successful. If Manning had all the privilege Brady did, he'd have won a LOT > SB's.
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Can't compare eras. QBs in the 60s & 70s called their own plays & there was not as much emphasis on passing, + the rules favored the defenders > back then. In that group were many greats like Unitas, Tarkenton, Lamonica, Jurgenson, Brodie, Meredith, Hadl, others. In the 80s & 90s superstars like Marino, Montana, Fouts, etc. had awesome offenses to watch.
Brady c/b the >est ever, but I think those QBs who enjoyed fantastic pass protection & had > X to throw surely benef. their passing production. So take that > adv. away & it's a diff. ball game. Marino c/b the >est too.
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I didn't compare eras. This is comparing 2 QB's in >ly the same era.
What you can compare btw eras is how > above the rest of the pack someone is. Guys like Tarkenton, Marino, & Manning were guys who distanced themselves from everyone else during their eras. Those are the guys who were the > dangerous QB's.***
***Marino was >er than Brady, but surrounded by idiots.***
ReplyDeleteHow does that happen; makes SB early like Mahomes, then never gets back? I guesss Buffalo Bills had a lit'l to do w/ it, owning Dan! Rodgers lost yrs w/ Favre playing Hamlet every season, but slowly I lost sympathy for the guy w/ his arrogance!
***Your #1 former QB who you think is >er > Brady. ...When you say 'XXX,' does everyone auto. agree he’s >er > Tom? Nope. Who’s currently >er? We'll see how many Chps. Mahomes, Allen, & Rogers have when it’s all said & done. I bet combined in the end, Brady will have > Chps > all 3 combined. He’s the GOAT.***
Rodgers has all the skills & the #'s, but his gravitas has fallen off due to his ego & bad attitude!
***Mahomes does look really good so far. He could have 3 SB rings right now. If he did, we’d be having a diff. convo.***
Mahomes had his chances, losing out on 2 SB's; giving him hope of catching up to Brady's 5/6 @ the X! Now I don't think it'll happen w/ 7! Blame an "off-side penalty" in a Chp. Game vs Brady's NE, then the SB vs TB 2 yrs ago! It was KC's best chance to change the course of history but for one play! Brady's the luckiest player in the history of the game going back to the "Tuck Rule!" Sounds like a soul has been sold; esp. after that ATL reprieve!
***It's crazy how history can change w/ one game or = one play. Piston's could have repeated in '05. Brady did come back to beat Atl. in the SB. He's lucky the Atlanta coach sucks balls & didn't know how to milk a clock. LOL. I do recall Mahomes 2 yrs ago got screwed out of going to the SB. Even if he had 2 right now, I'd say he has a CHANCE of catching Brady. But a chance is a long way from doing it.
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I'm not sure that was his decision as much as it was Belichick's concerning the offensive power used. Mahomes has > pure talent than Brady, but you can say that about a # of QB's who haven't had near the success as TB12. ...But he worked the Patriot system to perfection. I think on any other team, Brady w/b a lit'l known backup.
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Didn't someone say Russell Wilson was >er > Brady? Brady goes to a new team, wins a SB. Russell goes to a new team & loses to his old one wk. 1.***
Wilson didn't lose that MNF game to Seattle! He was sabotaged by his own teammates & coach! Fumbling the ball twice near the Goal Line & then his coach sending the punter out to make such a longshot made FG proves "they didn't want it!" Russell may have wanted it, but his whole team blew it! No matter how badly he may have played, he didn't lose it, they did!
***Well, if you remember how great the '85 Bears were, only lost one game all season....to Marino.***
True enuf, but Miami was lucky the backup QB, Fuller played the game! McMahon was injured & out! There were so many tipped balls that ended up completed to another receiver for Dolphins! Bears were hexed that night! ;-)
***I know that Serena got inspired by the Tom Brady comebk., but here's the >est diff.:
ReplyDeleteBrady won the SB w/ a diff. team 2 yrs ago & still is in contention to win 1 > perhaps.
Serena needs an ultra lucky draw @ this stage of the game to = win 1 > Major.
So many players that's a crafty aggressive counter puncher can move her around & beat her no prob. Also so many aggr. players can blow her off the court if they're having a good day.***
Even Navratillova, w/ all her gifts of power & grace on the court knew when to hang up the single's racket in '94! A few yrs later she got the itch to return, but = on grass, she was limited to one win! It just wasn't worth it! Lucky for us her doubles kept her in the game for another 5-6 yrs taking sev. > doubles' majors & completing her Box Set w/ Paez for the '03 AO MxD. title! She was almost 50 taking her last Chp. @ the '06 USO w/Bryan! M/b that kind of thinking is going on in her head! Heaven knows it'd bring a lot of exposure to women's dbls. & MxD! I doubt she has the X w/ the kids, endorsements, red carpet events, business, & shopping for cutsy dresses & hats!
***She could easily hang on for a few > yrs, picking up massive guarantees & app. fees. It w/b hard for her to turn down those mil. $$ checks just to come & play a Rd. or 2. Plus I doubt she w/b able to tolerate being out of the spotlight for > a few wks. I never bought into her retirement act. She w/b back.
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Grass isn't Djokovic's best surface though & Wimbl. isn't his best Slam. He won his best one earlier that yr. in '08.
Fed was 28 & 29 in '10 &'11, not 32, 34 & 35 when Djokovic won in those yrs. Besides '10 Djokovic, was nowhere near as good as his '11 version.***
For some reason Fed's thrown 'under the bus' for being old, but fans never seem to bring up SF win over Nadal in 4 sets getting to '19 Wimb. Final he lost to Nole!
***Fed's the superior player to Djokovic. OTOH, Roger was too old to stop Djokovic, but not too old to stop everyone else including Nadal.
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The classic argument by most Fed Fans is that an athlete is supposed t/b @ his peak in 20s & 30s. The next great players are supposed to bring him down. So when anyone is compared w/ Fed, you're directly looking @ a 20s vs 20s comparison where Fed will win for sure & 30s vs 30s when the argument is he had 2 ATGs below him while others have none. So here, if you win lot of slams in 30s & did not dom. as much in 20s due to tough comp., then it w/b regarded as vulturing in old age.***
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I feel like I'm missing something b/c the TV announcers have gotten into the routine of ??ing players' hts. for some reason! I can't believe they're as vain as women when they might not only adjust their ht., it was guaranteed their wts. were imaginary!
***Ht. has become the > important attribute of tennis players. Like we're watching the NBA.***
What I'm surprised about the > is how thin some guys are these days! There were only a handful of "stick thin" guys like old man KORDA, Ivanisovic, & m/b Isner! Now I can't believe legs just don't snap like twigs w/ today's players; oppps, it already did w/ Zverev in Paris! The other malnourished players are Sinner, Tsitsipas, Fritz, Medvedev, FAA, & Rune OTTH!
***What are the odds that Sinner’s knees snap off B4 he reaches a slam final? Fortunately, we’ll never have those shortcomings w/ Sascha.***
***Roger Federer Announces That '22 Laver Cup W/B His Final Event - I'll always believe that had Fed won the '19 Wimbl. final over Djokovic, he'd have retired on top immed. following the match. Fed had very lit'l left in the tank after that, & I think he even knew that (= if he's reluctant to admit it).***
ReplyDeleteI wanted him to have that kind of glorious exit in '12 after winning Wimbl.! Unfortunately he toiled for 5+ yrs to + 3 > majors! He had another chance to leave the tour on top after winning '17 Wimbl., but his ego wouldn't permit it! Now he's lit. "limping out" & w/ not so glorious an exit! He could've solidiifed his legacy & greatness if he had left earlier!
***Just the 3 extra majors! That's > most players win their whole career. It's a shame he couldn't retire on a pos. note, but he had an incredible career.***
Standards are diff. & elevated for the Big 3! Taking 3 > majors over 10 yrs sounds like it's being undermined, but considering he won 3 in a season 3 X's, it stands out as a lit'l weak! If he wants t/b thought the GOAT, Fed & his fans have to acknowledge this past decade has been a failure in comparison! If Djokovic did this, we all know how it would go for him since he's so unlikeable by "the haters!" When it comes to Roger, his prob. is he started being "great" a lit'l later! He upset Sampras @ Wimbl., but he'd been around for a few yrs already! His GOAT run didn't start until '03! Both Nadovic impressed as kids taking their 1st major a lot earlier! I was on board thinking him the best ever, but his recs are being demolished by Rafa & Djoker & there's nothing he can do about it! He prob. thought those 3 extra majors won would save his legacy! It only postponed the inevitable!
***Getting older + stronger opps. was always going to make it difficult for him to keep winning everything! Even if Nadovic are brk'n some of his recs, his #'s are still incredible! M/b he should have won a few > slams in his older yrs, he had chances. Even if Fed doesn't hold all the recs when it's all said & done he'll still likely be the Goat in many people's eyes j/b of his effort< style of play & popularity!***
I wish people would start making sense! Blaming knee surgery is "an out" & not acknowledging Roger has "aged out"of the tour! He's too freakin' old to keep up! That's it!
***After the last few yrs, it's pretty clear that he's running a high risk of further injuries if he keeps playing. He still has the skill set to play great tennis, but stringing matches is just going to end w/ him being forced to retire after forfeiting a 2nd Rd. match or something like that.***
If that desperate to stay in the game, pull a Navratilova & start playing doubles exclusively! The problem is his ego of course so "it ain't happening!" "Exhib. tour, here we come!"
***M/b Fed has given all he can & wants to enjoy life w/ his family @ this pt.***
Doubtful! If he thought he could + to his #'s, he'd try! He's just not able! Another GOAT, Tom Brady in the NFL is testing fate @ 45 & Giselle isn't happy!
***Fed couldn't figure out a way to put a serious scare into Rafa @ RG. M/b it was a match-up nightmare & he was fated to lose, but I wish he had either red-lined or implemented a ridiculously radical tactic = if it was just for the sake of doing something radically diff.***
Prob. shd an "Edberg" & just played one of those finals as if it were on grass/Wimbl. & just S/V'd his ass off! May not have won, but it would @ least be a change of wearing himself out trying to outdo Nadal on clay from the baseline!
***Pre-Open Era is diff. stuff from nowadays.***
ReplyDeleteWhich is why Navratilova is the real GOAT w/ 59 Majors; all in the Open Era! Court's 64 is a cheat winning 11 AO's when few actually went "down under!"
***Navratilova over Court of course, there’s no debate there. But people are lumping MxD's slams w/ Singles which I don’t think are anywhere on the same level. Graf won 22 & 1 Dubs. Navratilova & Court are in the 50s & 60s for slams, but that’s includ. both types. Don’t get me wrong it’s impressive, but Graf has 4 > Navratilova & Court had to play only 3 doubles matches to win some of her titles so let’s take that “total” slam count w/ a grain of salt.***
That shouldn't take away from Navratilova who had to play her draws in full going all the way to her last major win being '06 USO MxD. w/ Bryan closing in on 50!
***The USO was always traditionally considered t/b hardest to win, b/c it never was an extreme surface like grass or clay. It was > neutral, & so dirtballers & grass courters could compete on neutral ground. It was never a given that the FO champ might struggle vs the Wimbl. Champ. in NY, & vice versa. The last 3 USO’s have given us a healthy change of winners too. And Stan, Cilic, Murray, Del Potro have all won it. I think it’s the best slam for this reason, it’s just much > unpredictable, among its many other virtues.
History says the USO is prob. the toughest event no matter the surface! It was amazing that Fed successfully took 5 in a row; = Sampras couldn't defend it but once ('95-96)! It was quite impressive of Rafter & Edberg to defend their titles as well! Borg tried his best on all 3 surfaces & he just couldn't get over the hump = when on that slippery Har-Tru clay! His main prob. really was playing @ night! He hated it & his coach Lenard B. constantly lobbied for Borg to get dayX matches! He had to play @ least one so he got it out of the way one yr. in the 1st Rd. vs Hewitt! Bjorn's worst upset was vs Tanner in a night match in '79 w/ aces haunting Borg to this day! Borg's inability to pull this one tourn. out still drags me down! I was glad Roger stole a FO in '09! His resume would have had a huge hole after being in so many finals! A Career GS became all the rage to elevate Agassi after he completed the task in Paris! Now it's almost common w/ the Big 3! Too bad for Wawrinka! He had no hope of winning Wimbl.! Murray will have a lot of regrets w/ his many chances to join the club; esp. all those AO final losses to Djokovic! In Paris he wore himself out early by getting into 4-5 set battles from Day 1 in '16! By the X he got to the final vs Novak, "he was done!" Djokovic got his 1st to complete his CGS; now w/ 2 after '21 win in Paris! End Rant!
***Nice rant & very true about Borg. And it was always interesting to me that the players he beat in Wimbl. from '78-80 all got their revenge vs him @ the USO that same yr., the Tanner match being the most shocking, though Connors gave him a real hiding in '78. There were often mentions of the high bounce affecting his shot-making, the floodlights, & injuries in '77 & '78. In this sense, he’s a lot in common w/ Rafa.***
The 3 yrs it was on clay, Connors beat him in the '76 final. When people whine that Laver did his CYGS on only two surfaces, I often remind them that the grass played diff. from place to place, prob. = > the diff. btw the courts in Austr. & NY now. The evidence here being Mats diff. recs @ the AO on grass, where he = beat McEnroe, & his single QF @ Wimbl. Likewise, the clay they used in the USO wasn’t red clay like Paris. I think Borg would eventually have won it, had they kept the clay surface, but they didn’t. It’s often a disc. here, how many slams would the Big 3 have if 2 surfaces favored Rafa instead of favoring Roger & Novak?***
European & So. Americans flourished on the USO clay as they upset our top players includ. Orantes in '75 & Vilas in '77 over Connors! ,,,
***We get it that Carlos is being respectful. He’s being polite. It doesn’t mean that anyone has to think that Novak's absence has any place in a discussion about his USO victory, which unfort. a lot of dolts on social media think it does.***
ReplyDeleteNo doubt Carlos c/b scary good, but IMO he plays too hard believe it or not! SomeX's you just have to say "good shot" & turn your back! He hustles for everything & it's going to shorten his career! I expected it from Nadal, but somehow he's hung on to stay w/ Novak who's the > fit player out there! Carlos isn't a lock as seen in DC this past wk! He's still deserving of #1 = w/ just 1 Major to Rafa's 2! I hope he can hold onto it!
***One > diff. btwn Carlos & Rafa is that Carlos is > self confident. He has swagger. He grins & plays to the crowd. You can see he enjoys himself out there, whereas Rafa is a tough sumbitch w/ a burning intensity = in the warm up. As for being #1 w/ < slams than another player, I wonder when was the last X a player finished the season #1 but w/ fewer slams than an opp.? Murray, in '16, I think?***
It's happened a few X's which is why I think majors should get a few > ATP pts; esp. after '16 travesty w/ Novak winning 2 majors & in the final of a 3rd! That was obscene to allow Murray to take over #1 on the last day of the season @ the YEC!
***Murray made 3 slams finals too. He also won like 5 tourns. in a row @ the end to take #1. It was an incredible winning streak tbf; 25 matches won 2 masters titles, & the WTF. ITA on the self-confidence of CA, but Rafa has always had the swagger, just that his is, as you say, > intense, & > serious, I'd say. No smiling or laughing until the match is over.***
It wasn't that simple! Novak not only had 3 major finals winning 2, he also +ed 4 > Masters 1000 events to his tally to close in on Fedal & take over the rec. eventually! I say I'm not a Djokovic fan as much as a "Devil's Adv." since he's demonized so much! Love how he's taken the luster out of that Fedal rivalry that didn't really exist! Rafa owned Roger early & often! Fed was saved by Wimbl. grass & fast indoor surfaces or the H2H would look > obscene! I still don't understand Roger's resurgence & winning 5 or 6 str. over Rafa! I barely watched while Novak wandered the wilderness & was "all @ sea" w/ injury & issues behind the scenes! I just heard about it > watching any of those wins by Fed!
***It's a pt. system. I'm pretty sure it existed & will stand the test of X. So you didn't watch Fedal change in fortunes? I guess that makes you an expert on the Federer-Nadal rivalry, then.***:
I go thru per. of apathy when it comes to watching tennis! I just wasn't interested w/ the glorification of Fedal making it seem "tennis begins & ends" w/ them! Djokovic came along & broke things up getting my interest back! When he went down in '17, I lost interest again w/ deja vu of Fedal sharing the spoils like it's "1999!" :face-with-tears-of-joy: I never cared for the rivalry; the lionization of their matches! Novak's miraculous return in 2018 brought me back! It seems to work best with all 3! Nadovic is a real rivalry, but I don't enjoy the matches that drag on with sets going an hour and a half! Novak's masterpiece over Rafa at 2019 AO is a keeper! I can watch that slaughter over and over! Carlos might take me into the next era, but remains to be seen to keep my interest!
***I dont like baseball, but the FOD game's amazing.***
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing BB's still shown! It's just part of basic TV I guess & these cable contracts subsidize the insane salaries! I haven't watched BB seriously in well over a decade! I didn't = know my city's beloved Cubs had won the World Series in '16! It was much > entertaining watching them give away their chance in '03 to the Marlins! I did watch the Sox win it all in '05 over Houston w/ Roger Clemens! That was the last X I was truly entertained by the > boring of major sports!
***Benchmarks of Greatness:
Age 18 (B4 turning 19): Top 100 ranking
Age 19: Top 50 ranking
Age 20: Top 20 & 10 ranking, 1st title, Slam QF
Age 21: Top 5 ranking, 1st Big title
Age 24: #1 ranking, GS title
As you can see, most of that is quite young - w/ 8 of 10 benchmarks B4 turning 22. The age 24 benchmarks are the hardest to reach, & thus the > rare - but also give promising young players a bit of breathing room. Those benchmarks have been reached by every ATG in the OE which I'm defining as a player who won @ least 6 Slams, so: Connors, Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, Wilander, Edberg, Becker, Agassi, Sampras, Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic (exclud. tweeners Rosewall, Laver, & Newcombe, b/c Pre-OE tours, both pro & Amateur, ...B4 the ATP rankings in '73, but both Connors & Borg whb in the top 100 B4 turning 19 - & Borg as a 16 yo).
...TLDR: The benchmarks represent early career accomplishments that every OE All-X Great (ATG), or 6+ Slam winner has met. Further>, of the 16 players who reached every benchmark, 12 (or 75%) went on to become ATGs. The Benchmarks & the Lost (b. '89-93), Next (b. '94-98), & Mill. Gens. (b. '99-03)
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Wow, it's very disturbing that Thiem has fallen down so far.***
Not surprised in the least that he's having issues! Thiem's stroke production is exhausting to watch! Everything's going on, all across his body to hit the simplest BH! His wrist is lucky that's the only real prob. he has right now! I couldn't imagine him w/o wrist issues, esp. after the long 5 set battles he's had over the yrs. vs Nadal, Djokovic, Zverev, Del Po, & Tsitsipas! That '18 USO thriller vs Nadal was almost as bad as AO 5:53 w/ Djokovic! It drained the whole stadium w/ a 4th & 5th set TB! Nadal had to retire vs Del Po in the next Rd.! That helped facilitate Novak winning his last USO! His old coach, Becker, broke his wrist w/ the way he'd try to abuse it w/ overworked ROS, I was surprised he made it all the way back getting to a few > Wimbl. finals!
***Even though Fed has made Nadal his piñata virtually every X for the last 8 yrs.? Ok :-D***
I'll never understand those losses to Roger by Rafa when they both took advantage of Novak's absence in '17-early'18! It seemed m/b that Rafa was near the end of his career, but he's still winning unlike Roger who really fell off after that '19 Wimbl. choke! We can talk about injuries, but the fact is that he's just plain OLD!
***It's close btw the Big 3. Yes, the stats clearly favor Nadal & DJoker now, so I'll put him @ #3. The fact that all 3 of them were able to win slams for so long is crazy. Previous gens, guys w/b challenged to get 5. New gen. guys are struggling to get 1, let alone 2. Just shows you how hard it is to get one slam. To get 20 & to have had chances for > slams, = numerous SF appearances, + numerous Masters titles is crazy.***
***Sampras didn't face other multi-major winners. He stopped them all from becoming them. Agassi easily chh > 10. Pete stopped Becker from winning poss. 3 Wimbls. Stopped Courier from winning @ least 2, poss. 3 majors. Once these guys get those slams, they keep getting >. This is as impressive as the inflated slam ct. of the Big 3 Era since careers were @ least 5 yrs shorter.***
ReplyDelete...The real Golden Age of tennis was back in the 90's! At any given tourn., you could come across 6-12 winners of majors! The comp. was fierce w/ not only the best players, you had surface specialist which made it poss. t/b > comp. w/ the top echelon of players! Sampras, as great as he was never got to the final of FO! There were too many others who expertly knocked him out b/c his serve wasn't going to dom. matches! He played well a couple X's, actually beating a RG Champ. along the way. An eventual champion comes to mind; Kafelnikov in '96! Comp. was stiff! Along w/ Sampras in the US, McEnroe & Connors around, w/ the Newbies of Agassi, Courier, & Chang! Been slim pickin's since! Abroad was loaded w/ Edberg, Becker, Kueten, Krajicek, Stich, ...I can go on! We had players that could take elites out early if they weren't careful! The Big 4 owned the tour unlike anyX in the PRO Era! You can say they were just better, but there was a mindset that allowed them > dom. than deserved IMO!
***If Krajicek was > consistent, Pete whb in big, big trouble. - This is a projection b/c clearly that didn't happen. Pete was made for >ness whereas Krajicek was not. Richard was to Pete what Stan was to Novak. These are anomalies. - How many 9+ Slam winning champions did Sampras face again? How many won > 6 other > Agassi who was MIA 70% of the X?
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Pete made sure no one was winning > slams > him so his rivals were kept @ bay by the Great Pete.
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Last decade? It's just Djokodal. Fed's closer to Murray & Wawrinka in the last decade > he is to those 2.***
Strange, but that's how I feel too! Fed almost wasted his X this last decade! He won 3 > Majors, but it still didn't keep him ahead of Nadovic! His legacy whb > secure IMO if he had retired after Wimbl.'12 & had gotten back to #1 for a few mins.! It whb just like Laver, given > credit for being great! Now he allowed his rep. t/b damaged by allowing Nadovic to own him for the > part! He had a H2H advantage over Novak @ least, now he's behind them both!
***I think his rep. is fine. Folks who like the other guys better aren’t disposed to care about his rep. anyway. Judging by the response his retirement has gotten across the world, his add'l yrs only +ed to the sense of his humanity & never quit attitude. His comeback vs Rafa in '17 is cited by many as one of >est moments & almost beating Novak & Rafa in a heartbrkr. @ near 38 is the kind of pain - heartbrk. that actually +s to his legend. Not everything's about #'s.
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I never shy away from saying him retiring after '12 whb fine by me if not preferable. Although I loved '17 AO & seeing him live sev. > X's it certainly in the grand scheme didn't + much to his legacy really. He was undoubtedly the player of the 00s &'ll remain as such, but like you said would have kept his Slam rec. for sev. yrs & m/b the Big 2 would've won < w/o him there. Interesting perspective:
'14 WMB: Wawrinka/Raonic
'15 WMB: Murray vs Novak
'15 USO: Wawrinka vs Novak
'16 WMB: Plausible Cilic vs Murray Final
'17 AO: Wawrinka vs Nadal
'17 WMB: Berdych wins
'18 AO: Cilic wins
'19 FO: Wawrinka on Nadal SF B4 Thiem??
'19 WMB: Nadal vs Novak***
That's entirely too shortsighted! If Roger had left sooner, it might've changed the development of the NG'rs he had a mental edge over! Kei, Raonic, & Dimitrov may have actually accomp. something if not for Fed in the way!
***His pigeon, Wawrinka's the >est ??; esp. USO '15 & AO '17.***
***Murray's not > >er > Safin, Hewitt, or Roddick peak for peak. I know Murray has 3 slams which is > what these men have, but taking into acct. the playing levels of Murray, he really wasn't in a >er tier > these people. B/c if he was then, he w/b having a career like Agassi.
ReplyDeleteIf you quickly classify tennis into 5 tiers, then it'd look like this:
1 - 'Big 3,' Pete, Borg
2 - Agassi, Connors, Becker, Lendl, McEnroe
3 - Murray, Hewitt, Safin, Courier, Roddick
4 - Gaudio & others who won a fluke slam or reached some finals only, like Nalby, Berdych
5 - The ones below who've never been close to winning a slam
So Murray & Agassi clearly had some gap btw them which was impossible to bridge. The gap btwn 'Big 3' & Murray is bigger > 1 tier. That's what the media never highlights & Andy's always clubbed w/ them.
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Djokodal rec. since '13 USO vs each other.
9-0 on HC 19-0 in sets Djokovic
1-0 in grass; Rarely Meet
7-4 Clay. Nadal near his best always wins
Bar '21 RG, has any match been surprising? Their last 4 meetings have been on clay &'s 3-1 to Nadal.
Minus '15, it's obvious Nadal wins on clay, Djokovic wins on HC, & while W'18 was close, it was Djokovic only back to his decent level. If they met again he'd easily win.
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Djokovic dominates the H2H in best of 3 matches.
Djokovic Slam rec. vs Nadal:
2-0 AO
2-8 RG
2-1 W
1-2 USO
While Nadal still has better rec. & > titles > Djokovic @ USO. The lop-sided slam meetings obviously helps Nadal. Nadal on clay's just the >est Level in tennis history so Djokovic rec. isn't bad on him.
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I think 22 of the 50 Nole-Fed matches were str. sets (15 Fed, 7 Nole) so there was plenty of one-way traffic in those matches as well. However, there were also plenty of gems as Nadal-Fed & Djoker-Nadal.
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Despite Roddick having 0 Wimbls., Goran has 1 & Murray having 2. We know that all of them are same level players. Somebody was lucky, somebody was unlucky, but end of the day in ability they are same. Murray has achieved >, that we can agree.***
Luck is involved in the grand scheme of things no matter how much we want to deny it! In '19, Roger had MP, serving for Wimbl.! Again @ 40-15, the 1st serve just hit the top of the tape & fell back! As good as Djokovic is known for his 'return' prowess, he was moving toward the FH when all Roger had to do was get the ball in play down the middle to take his 21st Major! Damage w/b done to Novak's prospects if he had lost that match! It was a terr. amt. of luck utilized by Djokovic to pull that out & + 4-6 > Majors to = Roger @ 20! He went on to surpass him @ 21, stealing another Wimbl. until able to play the next major, 1 behind Nadal's 22!
***In '06/07 Murray was touted to have a >er career > Djokovic. ...Britain was grooming Djokovic to potentially play for Britain. Djokovic stayed loyal to the then Serbia & Montenegro, but B4 Djokovic rose around the 1st half of '07, Murray was considered the >er player. Djokovic broke thru in '07. Murray was in the top 10 either B4 Hamburg '07 or afterwards. He injured his wrist vs Volandri in a match @ Hamburg which put him out of Wimbl. Djokovic got to the Qtrs of the FO in '06. ...Where did it go wrong for Murray? I believe that Djokovic is just superior mentally. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you're a headcase you're going to get nowhere. Murray in his youth was a talented player, but he lacked that killer instinct Djokovic had. Their development showed this when Murray would continually lose to Djokovic thru '14 to Montreal '15 when Murray finally beat him for the 1st X since Wimbl.'15.***
***I thought the Bears got fk'd twice by the refs on that one drive last nite on MNF. Not that it would've changed the outcome.***
ReplyDeleteGB's always owned The Bears! Going back to the "Magic Man," Majkowski back in the late 80's, the ball just bounced their way! The only X Chgo overcame GB was during their SB per. where the defense was elite & top notch! Minn. was like that for many yrs. as well! Controversially bad calls go w/ the entire package includ. lineman downfield during a pass or the QB going past the line of scrimmage completing a pass! Getting regrets from officials later didn't help! It never seems to matter, winds up being another "L" for my team on the lake!
***Things will prob. turn around for da Bearsus when Rodgers hangs up the cleats in a yr. or 2. The div. will prob. be up for grabs & hopefully the Pukers w/b in for a long per. of suckitude.***
I'll almost feel sorry for them! The team as a whole has been a shell of itself for yrs.! Favre & Rodgers won those games on their own! The defense was always overrated or they wouldn't lose games 51-45 in the playoffs! Now, = Rodgers' fallen back to the pack allowing SF to def. him scoring only 10 pts.! Wow!
***...You KNEW they were HOF material so in their case, it'd make sense to bench Jimmy G.(SF) as just a bk.up for them as they did & develop one of them if they had drafted one of big QB's, but Trey Lance? He had so many ??'s that many people were like "WTF?" Jimmy won't want to stay w/ them after this yr. the way they fk'd him over. The 9'rs just fk'd themselves in the ass BTW they handeled it all.***
He won't be the last QB fk'd over by his team or league! Like you I understand wanting to move on, but why do it this way? Even if Lance is their future, it's a lit'l soon t/b pushing him out there! There's something about Franchise QB's where things might start slow, but it truly was inevitable they w/b winners! I don't get that vibe yet as he's oft injured! You can't develop on the bench un< you're supposed t/b there early on! I suppose it could have something to do w/ other contracts where they're promised change! Big mistake! Mayfield was another casualty of bad team management!
***What happened to Mayfield? He seems t/b heading down the same path Cam Newton; gone from a sure thing to being a 'has been' although unlike Newton, he's younger & still has X to turn things around. It was thought Trey needed one > yr. on the bench B4 he w/b ready. it’s turning out though it was wise for the 9'rs to start Trey to find out he's a bust. He's obviously injury prone. OMG, I'm totally sold the Bills are going to win the SB. First, they beat the SB Champs, my LA Rams; now they blew out the Titans 41 -7 on MNF. This team's going to win it all.***
We'll just have to see if they can squeak by the KC Chiefs! They usually find a way! No team's been better of late, winning a SB, defending AFC West Div. Titles, & making Conf. Finals!
***Yeah, but Mahomes has his meltdowns in big games. He did in the SB vs the 9'rs ONLY winning cause they had a QB that has meltdowns as well. He got scared or something when he faced Brady in the SB knowing he was facing a real HOF QB w/ some MAJOR meltdown & of course last yr. in the AFC title game he had meltdown #3. I think this is the Bills' yr. as long as they have home field advantage as I believe they will & w/b unstoppable.***
***I thought the Bears got fk'd twice by the refs on that one drive last nite on MNF. Not that it would've changed the outcome.***
ReplyDeleteGB's always owned The Bears! Going back to the "Magic Man," Majkowski back in the late 80's, the ball just bounced their way! The only X Chgo overcame GB was during their SB per. where the defense was elite & top notch! Minn. was like that for many yrs. as well! Controversially bad calls go w/ the entire package includ. lineman downfield during a pass or the QB going past the line of scrimmage completing a pass! Getting regrets from officials later didn't help! It never seems to matter, winds up being another "L" for my team on the lake!
***Things will prob. turn around for da Bearsus when Rodgers hangs up the cleats in a yr. or 2. The div. will prob. be up for grabs & hopefully the Pukers w/b in for a long per. of suckitude.***
I'll almost feel sorry for them! The team as a whole has been a shell of itself for yrs.! Favre & Rodgers won those games on their own! The defense was always overrated or they wouldn't lose games 51-45 in the playoffs! Now, = Rodgers' fallen back to the pack allowing SF to def. him scoring only 10 pts.! Wow!
***...You KNEW they were HOF material so in their case, it'd make sense to bench Jimmy G.(SF) as just a bk.up for them as they did & develop one of them if they had drafted one of big QB's, but Trey Lance? He had so many ??'s that many people were like "WTF?" Jimmy won't want to stay w/ them after this yr. the way they fk'd him over. The 9'rs just fk'd themselves in the ass BTW they handeled it all.***
He won't be the last QB fk'd over by his team or league! Like you I understand wanting to move on, but why do it this way? Even if Lance is their future, it's a lit'l soon t/b pushing him out there! There's something about Franchise QB's where things might start slow, but it truly was inevitable they w/b winners! I don't get that vibe yet as he's oft injured! You can't develop on the bench un< you're supposed t/b there early on! I suppose it could have something to do w/ other contracts where they're promised change! Big mistake! Mayfield was another casualty of bad team management!
***What happened to Mayfield? He seems t/b heading down the same path Cam Newton; gone from a sure thing to being a 'has been' although unlike Newton, he's younger & still has X to turn things around. It was thought Trey needed one > yr. on the bench B4 he w/b ready. it’s turning out though it was wise for the 9'rs to start Trey to find out he's a bust. He's obviously injury prone. OMG, I'm totally sold the Bills are going to win the SB. First, they beat the SB Champs, my LA Rams; now they blew out the Titans 41 -7 on MNF. This team's going to win it all.***
We'll just have to see if they can squeak by the KC Chiefs! They usually find a way! No team's been better of late, winning a SB, defending AFC West Div. Titles, & making Conf. Finals!
***Yeah, but Mahomes has his meltdowns in big games. He did in the SB vs the 9'rs ONLY winning cause they had a QB that has meltdowns as well. He got scared or something when he faced Brady in the SB knowing he was facing a real HOF QB w/ some MAJOR meltdown & of course last yr. in the AFC title game he had meltdown #3. I think this is the Bills' yr. as long as they have home field advantage as I believe they will & w/b unstoppable.
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Do you agree the Dolphins/Bills rivalry from the past btw Dan Marino & Jim Kelly is on its way to being back in form again.***
I loved those games back in the 90's! Marino got so many accolades, but Kelly and the Bills owned him!
***Rafa had a chance to hit Tiafoe in the 2nd set of that LC dubs match, but hit the worst FH I ever seen him attempt. Yes, it was an exh. for Rafa, yet Frances was playing like it was DC.***
ReplyDeleteIt seems "to be on" this yr.! Every X I surf by, the play seems t/b serious stuff! Novak was "in the zone" dusting Tiafoe in the 1st set 6-1! He was relent< trying not to give up pts! Frances was lucky to get some "helping luck" w// 2 "dribblers" over the net Nole couldn't run down! Djokovic's 1st serve % was over 90%! People were feeling sorry for The World and Tiafoe alike! FAA & Frtiz were sitting there in stunned silence!
***Nice post. Yeah IDK if Novak would say it, but I think part of him playing so comp. against Tiafoe & Sock/Minaur was to avenge Fedal's def. from yesterday. Tiafoe has a great career ahead of him. I think he'll manage.
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Honorary mention for Jack Sock who could've 'tech.' achieved this in dubs v Djokovic/Berrettini, but I guess he'll settle for being the last player to face all Big 3 in < 24 hrs.***
Sock has been the anchor of the WT! Alex de M. was just awful! Ya hate to blame a player in dubs, but his play sux'd! Defensive volleying vs Top 10 players won't work! As Martina saw it, his stationary volleying isn't being attacked, & prod. UFE! Coming into the net he was marginally >er, but not by >! He was the weak link!
***Fed’d be great @ commentary. He was always a sharp analyst of his own game. Can imagine someday him & Rafa in the booth together. They’d be constantly giggling while the match is being played.***
Sorry! Pass! i get lit''l out of them playing! Listening to them "harking back" w/b = < entertaining; esp. from a bore like Rafa!
***They’re 2 of the >est ever! Even though I hated Agassi, McEnroe & Connors w/ a feeling, I still found something to (grudgingly) admire in their tennis.***
I can appreciate any player, but that doesn't mean they can entertain me w/ their play! Fed's the best! He's the complete package of skill, grace, & humility that we crave from our stars! Even though I thought his early reign was assisted by weak comp., he did get fat off personal pigeons; esp. A-Rod!
History will realistically believe Fedalovic t/b on the same level! I feel fortunate enough to live thru the 90's when comp. was still comp.! No top player; = Sampras could take other players for granted! Court specialists could take him out! ...Looks like things are opening up w/ Carlos getting to #1 so early! Who'd of thunk it? A true changing of the guard! Ruud came out of nowhere! He's the most annonymous #2 in world history of ATP rankings OTTH!
***Don't forget about Magnus Norman & Tommy Haas. Not "anonymous," but I wouldn't be surprised if Ruud ends up w/ a >er career > either of those 2. Norman only reached one Slam Final, reached a Slam QF only 3 X's, won a single Masters (12 titles overall). Haas was around forever, but only won a single Masters, 15 titles overall, & never reached a Slam Final, but did reach 8 Slam QFs (& 4 SFs). Meanwhile, Ruud's still only 23 (24 in Dec.) & has already reached 2 Slam Finals & won 9 titles, though hasn't won a Masters.
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Ruud's getting a bit of the 'Rodney Dangerfield.' M/b he did sneak in a bit w/ the RG final, but he's looking like everyone's pick t/b the next RG new winner, at least someday. Passing Thiem. He's got a lot of upside, & just has yet to find his way on HCs. I like him. Plus, the rankings are weird right now.***
***Fed 40-15, Wimbl. Final, drops match to Novak! ...Only prob. is that Pete Sampras would never be having a MP @ 38 yrs. of age to hit that ace down the middle which I'm sure he's capable of hitting w/o fail, but then he has t/b there to hit it, no?***
ReplyDeletePeople forget Sampras was dragging his carcass around for 2 yrs. btw not just a major win, but any kind of tourn. victory! He took his last Wimbl. over Rafter in 2000 & didn't come close to winning much of anything until he got into a serving groove @ his last USO in '02, def. his personal pigeon, Andre Agassi! His ranking was spiraling down & was barely in the top 20! Pete was done @ 31, so Fed gets > credit since he still was able to get to #1 @ 36! Very impressive = for a few months!
***...We're going to have to return to grading on a normal curve, pretty soon. Fed has retired, Rafa has one foot out, & Novak, other-worldly tennis yesterday, merely mortal & beatable today. We're about to go back to a place where, yes, Ruud has a lot of up-side.
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Ok, fair enough - so it is mostly semantics, & pt. taken re: “a normal curve.” I’ve kind of made a similar pt. to our dear hyperbolic friend, @Fiero425 when trashing everyone for not being Borg or Roger, etc. I just see a 1/2 dozen young(ish) guys who I see as having >her upside. Doesn’t mean Ruud isn’t really good or won’t win some big titles, though.***
I thought I've been saying for yrs that we've been spoiled by the excellence, resilience, & consistency of the Big 3! No champions of the past measure up; hence their #'s are 2 & 3 X's >er! Their recs should hold for decades; = if Carlos is the "real deal!" The comp. won't allow him to just win everything!
***At his peak, Nadal beat a peak Federer in what was touted t/b the Greatest Match of all X.***
The masses don't know what they're looking at! The tennis intelligentsia believe the sport begins & ends w/ Fedal so they can't be taken seriously by me after being a part of the game since 1970! I've seen them all, apprec. the ATG's, but that list s/b a lot longer > just Roger & Rafa prominently displayed at the top!
***I wish there were a way to see what Kieran, Moxie, Britbox, El Dude, Fiero425 and others predicted on where the Big 3'd wind up in terms of majors won; see back in '14-16. That w/b entertaining to revisit.
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I'm not sure about the specific per. mentioned, but I def. remember predicting around 8 majors tops for Rafa on the old tennis.com boards due to his knees. It mhb around '08/09. I don't recall anyone back in the day, talking in terms of 19/20/21 etc... those kind of figures were unheard of in tennis history. Rafa's longevity in the sport surprises me > anything else.***
I can't rememeber if I came up w/ a final major ct. for Fedal, but I well know I thought Roger should retire on top after '12 Wimbl.! He had another chance after '17 Wimbl. win, but his ego wouldn't allow it! Now he's been overtaken by 2 players while staggering to the finish line! All I can recall is jumping on the bandwagon that Novak'd inevitably be the GOAT after winning his FO in '16! He only had the 12, but after such a nice stretch of wins from '15 to the Summer of '16, there didn't appear anyway for him not to jump into the lead eventually! All the so called experts started commentating & writing that Djokr w/b the GOAT, includ. Wilander, Becker, McEnroe, & others! That's when I produced a blog to chronolog his ascension to >ness! Again, it's not that I'm a fan as much as he satisfied my desire to bring Fedal down a peg or 3 after so many yrs. of the tennis intelligentsia slobbering over how great they were & "The Rivalry" which wasn't IMO!
***I tend to give Novak the singular GOAT crown if I have to pick just one, or @ least give him a tiny sliver of an edge as "1st among ='s." But my preference is otherwise - that taking all factors into act., history's best served by seeing them as a "3-headed GOAT" - or, >er yet, jettison the whole idea of GOAT.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm going to put on my Fedfan hat for a moment - to defend this idea that he "should've retired" in '12 or '17, or @ any given pt.
For one, = after '12, Roger was still 1 of the 3 best players for another 6 or 7 yrs, @ least > of the X. He struggled @ X's w/ injury, but when healthy he was right there & still going deep in Slams, including 3 Finals in '14-15, & a last one in '19. To say he should've retired in '12 after Wimbl., well, it fits the Sampras mold, but part of the legend of Roger (Big 3 as a whole)--and what sets them apart from Sampras & others--is that they came back, & returned to the top when it seemed like they were done. And of course by suggesting that he "should've" retired after Wimbl. in '17 ignores his '18 AO victory, or the fact that he reached & almost won '19 Wimbl.
My sense is that you like the narrative of going out on top or @ least after a big victory. And yeah, it's a nice one. Who knows, m/b if he had won that '19 Wimbl. he'd've retired, & it whb a beautiful moment. Instead we got the limping anguish of '20-22. But I don't think that tarnishes his legacy @ all. Sampras' retirement is singular, as is Borg's. Everyone else retired in a > conventional way: decline & eventual retirement. Such is life (& tennis).
...Murray had to face 3 guys who were >er > any player that those 4 (Edberg, Becker, Sampras, & Borg) ever had to play, w/ the poss. exception of Borg & Sampras @ the tail-end & start of their careers, respectively. The mid-to-late 80s was arguably the > difficult context to win a Slam in, w/ > ATGs in or near their primes > in any other part of the Open Era IMO.
...By the end of '12, Roger had 17 Slams, Rafa 11, Novak 5. W/ 2 new, & younger guys of similar ability starting to peak around then, there's no way those 3 get to 20+. Imagining 2 such players gives us a sense of the context of Roger's career, from '12 on.
...We're possibly looking @ a gap of 15 yrs ('88-02) w/o any ATG's being born. Even if Sinner ('01) or FAA ('00) get there, we're still talking 12+ yrs. And even if Daniil Medvedev resurges & improbably wins 5 > Slams to claim his place among ATGs, we're talking about a pretty significant gap ('87-96).
It c/b said that part of the weakness of those gens. is due to the >ness of the Big 3, esp. Novak & Rafa. Their >ness & longevity was like a massive concrete wall that younger players couldn't get by. ...I don't see any player born from '88-02 that I'd say would've definitely or = likely been an ATG if the Big 3 weren't around, or = just declined @ historically typical rates. It's reciprocal, & neither Rafa nor Novak ever had to deal w/ anything like Roger did: 2 =ly talented players that were 1/2 a dec. or > younger.
...As far as Slam totals are concerned, not only are they part (if a major part) of the overall statistical picture of any given player, but context's hugely important: in this case, the lack of not = a single truly > player born after Novak in '87 for poss. as much as 16 yrs.***
I apprec. everything you had to say & wrote in this "The Iliad," but it's full of "what if?!" All those suppositions of age, other comp. & maybes didn't happen! Numbers are #'s; cold & hard! No one 100 yrs. from now is going t/b making up "outside possibilities" to justify a change in thinking when it comes to the GOAT race! ...They're all about to exit the stage! We'll apprec. them, but like the "Highlander," "there can be only one!"
***That's actually a nice 'box set,' his "Dub.GM's," though I don't see what makes it "Golden?" There's no ?? that Novak has a nicely-rounded resume. He's a great all-around player, but he did get some bonus yrs.***
***I think people are forgetting just how > it looked like Rafa was approaching the end, in '15 &, > so, in '16. The fact that he rebounded & won 8 > Slams' just crazy. Even his > diehard fans, IIRC, had gotten to the pt. of hoping for 1 > RG win. His (& Roger's) resurgence in '17 is 1 of the > amazing tennis phenomena that I've ever seen.***
ReplyDeleteI was hoping anyway! Then Djokovic had a walkabout for 1 1/2 yrs. allowing Fedal Redux w/ Rafa & Roger splitting the spoils in '17! I blamed the other top players allowing grandpas to rule the tour! Novak's return to the top in the Summer of '18 squashed it & he reasserted his dom. thank GAWD!
***I've gotta give it to you, Fiero: your hyperbole never comes across as malicious. Love the humor of it, = if you frequently veer into ridiculosity & "Old Man Yells @ Clouds."***
I get that a lot! I try to back up my commentary w/ reasons & stats unlike > who just say "he's a bum" or "fake" & leaves it @ that! Some here don't like fans ??ing or bemoaning Rafa's broken body & need to "not make a big deal" of his injuries! Novak's been 1 of the luckiest players who's held up pretty well for 20 yrs on the tour! He had a lit'l problem w/ the elbow sev. yrs ago & now he's mentioned "his wrist!"
***...I'm just saying there doesn't really need t/b a debate except for those who feel they need to claim their guy as singular GOAT &/or those who feel there has t/b 1 GOAT. I've already thrown my "gun to head" pick for Novak getting a pubic-hair's-edge...a better answer is > nuanced apprec. of their variations on >ness.
... Alcaraz's now arguably the best player on tour, @ least among the younger players having @ least =led the best of the prev. gen., & surpassed the best of the one B4 who're now on their way out (whither Milos?). But it makes me think in terms of Rafa in '05 as Alcaraz's '22 is =valent in terms of both age & reaching Slam-winning form. In '05, Roger's gen. was in their prime, = though Roger had pushed everyone else aside. But it wasn't for another 2 yrs. until anyone younger than Rafa'd win a big title; Novak in '07, & then Andy joining him in '08.
If history plays out in a similar fashion, we might not see Alcaraz's closest younger peers emerge til '24 or '25. I'd expect guys like Sinner & FAA to win big titles well B4 then; prob. next yr. @ least for Sinner who feels a bit past-due. But it just shows us how young Alcaraz is (& Rafa was in '05). And who knows, Holger Rune might win a Masters next yr. (prob. not, but who knows? M/b he has an epiphany while hunting trolls in Lappland).
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Rafa was stuck @ 14 from '14 for 3 yrs, Roger stuck @ 17 for = longer, which I honestly thought for a long X w/b enough to keep him on top. I really hoped that Rafa'd @ least get the 1 > to pass Pete. Hoping for >, despite whatever bluster I may've presented around here, seemed a bit of a pipe dream. That all 3 hit/passed 20 seems crazy to me. It wasn't until Rafa got #18 (w/ Roger @ 20) that I thought he might just tie him B4 he quit.
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Yes, #'s are #'s - there's no refuting them, regardless of what "What If" scenarios one entertains. But again, that's not my pt. It's about context & how we determine non-factual determinations like "GOAT." I'll use wks @ #1 as an ex. Novak has 373 & may get >. Roger ends w/ 310, & Rafa's unlikely to + to his 209. We can factually say that Novak is +63 wks over Roger & +164 wks over Rafa. That's impressive. But what conclusions we draw from that are subjective. Meaning, the "cold & hard" #'s (obj.facts) don't auto. =te to subjective characterizations (e.g. GOAT).
Again, I think Novak has the best overall career resume already, &'s likely to = to it or @ least distance himself further from Roger & solidify his lead over Rafa in > ways. But my pt. about context is that as factual & "cold & hard" #'s are, they don't arise w/i an all-=lizing context.***
***Some USO-related stats of the men who won 3 or > X's in the OE:
ReplyDeletePete Sampras - Winner x5
Runner-up x3
SF x9
W-L: 71-9 (88.7%)
Won 1st US Open: age 19, 3rd entry
Cons. overall wins: 2 ('95-96)
Wins vs top 10 players: 16
Pre-SF elims after winning 1st USO: 3 (vs Courier, Yzaga & Korda)
Jimmy Connors - Winner x5
Runner-up x2
SF x14
W-L: 98-17 (85.2%)
Won 1st US Open: age 22, 6th entry
Cons. overall wins: 2 ('82-83)
Wins vs top 10 players: 13
Pre-SF elims after winning 1st USO: 2 (vs Witsken & Lendl)
Roger Federer - Winner x5
Runner-up x2
SF x10
W-L: 89-14 (86.4%)
Won 1st US Open: age 23, 6th entry
Cons. overall wins: 5 ('04-08)
Wins vs top 10 players: 16
Pre-SF eliminations after winning 1st USO: 5 (vs. Berdych, Robredo, Del Potro, Millman & Dimitrov)
John McEnroe - Winner x4
Runner-up x1
SF x8
W-L: 65-12 (84.4%)
Won 1st US Open: age 20, 3rd entry
Cons. overall wins: 3 ('79-81)
Wins vs top 10 players: 15
Pre-SF elims after winning 1st USO: 7 (vs Scanlon, Annacone, Lendl, Woodforde, Haarhuis, Chang & Courier)
Rafael Nadal - Winner x4
Runner-up x1
SF x8
W-L: 67-12 (84.8%)
Won 1st US Open: age 24, 8th entry
Cons. overall wins: 0
Wins vs top 10 players: 7
Pre-SF elims after winning 1st USO: 3 (vs. Fognini, Pouille & Tiafoe)
Novak Djokovic - Winner x3
Runner-up x6
SF x12
W-L: 81-13 (86.2%)
Won 1st US Open: age 24, 7th entry
Cons. overall wins: 0
Wins vs. top 10 players: 14
Pre-SF elims after winning 1st USO: 0
Ivan Lendl - Winner x3
Runner-up x5
SF x9
W-L: 73-13 (84.8%)
Won 1st US Open: age 25, 7th entry
Cons. overall wins: 3 ('85-87)
Wins vs. top 10 players: 18
Pre-SF elims after winning 1st USO: 2 (vs Sampras & Edberg)
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In a world w/o Big 3:
Murray wins AO '10, AO '11, W '11, USO '11, AO '12, W '12, AO '13, W '15, AO '16, & FO '16 + 3 Slams which he already won.
So that's around 13 Slams
Roddick wins '03 W, '04 W, '05 W, '06 USO, '07 AO, USO '08, AO '09? Would Verdasco beat him? '09 W for sure, + 1 which he already won.
So that's around 8-9 Slams
Murray and Roddick would be the Big 2 in this Vacuum.
For some reasons w/o Big 3, the 2010s looks weaker > 2000s which still has powerful players. This means Big 3 is what made the 2010s powerful. Murray remains overrated for sure.
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There are about 13 players in the OE that deserve t/b placed above him: Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Sampras, Borg, Laver, Lendl, Agassi, McEnroe, Connors, Wilander, Edberg, & Becker.
He's clear of Vilas & Courier IMO despite having one < slam, b/c his body of work outside the slams & his overall slam consistency's > >er. Higher win %'s, > titles, > T1 titles, > OGs, > YEC's, > slam finals, > slam SFS, > slam QFs. Plus, playing in the most difficult era of all X & still achieving what he did gives him bonus pts.
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I def. need Casper to focus & take the Paris Masters or the ATP Finals. I'd say grabbing a big title B4 this YE's over is crucial to the start of next yr.***
This s/b a very highly contested Masters & YEC when normally players are brk'n down or just plain tired! Novak will go in fresher > ever since he hasn't played much in the last 3 months! Nadal'll prob. be the only one who doesn't show up as he's never come close to winning! Rafa's best chance in Paris was back in '07 where everyone upset includ. Roger by Nalbandien def. Nadal in the final! Murray & Djokovic were barely a blip on the ATG list!
All I know is any good bud of mines wouldn't have to deal w/ the humiliation of what Rafa's put Roger thru over those early yrs! We complain about the "weak era" commentary, but back in '06-09, few others > Rafa were making Roger work for it! Nole snuck in 2 or 3 X's, but overall, the comp. was sad & pathetic! Fed'd personal pigeons like A-Rod that suffered loss after loss in major finals! Those Wimbl. finals will haunt Andy for all X! X & X again, esp. on clay, Rafa "used & abused" Roger, picking apart that beautiful game of his! Nadal served Fed plenty of breadsticks & bagels to go along w/ those beatings! No friend would do that un< very insecure & thinking to themselves, "if any weakness shown, it could cost me the match!" Total BS! They had to hate each other's guts no matter the front portraying them as a Legendary Rivals & friends! All of it is a misnomer/fraud! ;-)
ReplyDelete***You think they were friends in '06-09? They respected each other, but they didn't become friendly until > later in the rivalry. - Sure, they competed hard, & yes, Rafa roughed up Roger a bit > the reverse, but it became clear earlier > later that they had an amiable relationship off-court. ...Martina & Chrissy had an amazing rivalry, & were friends, = though someX's they weren't. McEnroe has spoken of how much he missed his great rival in Borg, when he quit, & they remain close. Roger and Rafa lived a great rivalry together, when they were #1 & #2 for 6 full yrs. They were carrying men's tennis on their shoulders.***
It didn't matter if they were buds or not! I wouldn't abuse a stranger the way Rafa did Roger in embarrassing him unnec.! I used to choreograph my matches of ops. depending on their level of play! My dentist was good, but never a threat! We played in the 2nd Rd. of a club tourn. & I got to a 5-2 lead in the 1st set, let him get to 5 all, then closed it out 7-5! In the 2nd set I let him get to a 5-2 lead B4 storming back to win that set 7-5! No harm, no foul! The score looked good on the draw sheet & he could puff his chest out telling people how he made me work for it! Rafa's 1 of those comp. types that if desp. enough, he'd dropshot an old lady in a wheelchair!
***Prob. the lack of killer instinct is why you were never > a club player, & Rafa has 22 Majors. And Roger 20. Tell me 1 X you ever saw either of them give qtr. out of sympathy. Roger used to razorblade thru ops. Did it bother him that it embarrassed them? Rafa & Novak likewise. Should they pull their punches to make a match > comp.? I don't remember Rafa ever drop-shotting an old-lady in a wheelchair, or anyone who didn't deserve one, but you're acting like being comp. is a bad thing. Or somehow "unseemly." You're comparing club play to world class tennis. Being comp. & yes, ruthless, is exactly what got Fed, Nadal, & Djokovic to where they are. I don't see the complaint.
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Glad Nadal has won > double Borg's titles @ RG?***
Borg took on all comers w/ lit. a stick & strings strung to the feel of a glass pane! Rafa has had the benefits of "the X's" w/ superior training, tech improvements of rackets & strings, w/ homogenous courts! It'll continue t/b w/ > people & a brain to know Borg's huge & will cont. t/b so b/c of his diverse winning from the slowest of clay in Paris to the slickness of choppy grass w/i a wk. @ Wimbl.! That'll set him apart from all players now & into the foreseeable future due to the greedy Big 3 who sucked up > of the major events for the >er part of 20 yrs! It w/b impossible for their feats t/b surpassed in anyone's lifeX today! Nadal can vulture all the FO's he wants, having just 2 split Wimbl. Chps. on grass, = his Chan'l Slam of '10 can't compare to Borg's who took FO & Wimbl. 3 str. yrs alone surpassing Rafa for the X! ...Bjorn did so much in those 8 yrs while Nadal's still toiling the fields trying to catch up after 15+! Borg still has > YEC's & Wimbl. which w/b a great career alone!
***...Graf reached only 1 SF in her 1st 3 yrs on the tour & was able to make up so much ground w/ phenomenal #'s from '86 on.***
ReplyDeleteThe reversals of fortune comes into play w/ Graf & Navratilova! Steffi took out Martina 2 of 3 X's @ Wimbl., while MN def. SG 4 of 5 @ the USO! Strange; esp. their meeting in '91 when Martina was all but done! She hadn't played any WTA matches all Summer doing WTT after dropping QF to Capriati @ Wimbl.! It was a wonder she = got to that SF, but prevailed magnificently over Graf!
***Part of that was simply the luck of the draw & age. At USO, Steffi happened to meet Martina 2 X's B4 she gained her adult physique 15-16 yrs., but she never met MN @ Wimbl. B4 17. Young Steffi still had enough exper. on HC's to get into the SF's despite her youth, but on grass this petite girl wasn't grass ready enough to get into SF's. As for '91, Martina was by then a very rare anamoly. She was virtually the only S/V left in the game. Steffi whg sev. tourns. w/o ever having to hit > a dozen passing shots/lobs w/ Martina out of comm. for months. When you + those lefty serves & spins to the mix, Martina had a HUGE advantage. Nobody played like her & if her 1st serve was going in, by the X a player in the 90's got a groove on their dipping return & passing shots/lobs she had the set.
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The rel. importance of doubles in the era ...***
Only us "oldsters" recall how important dubs was "way back when!" All the top players competed; esp. the women! Evert got down & dirty partnering w/ the best to keep her from embarrassment! I can recall seeing her w/ Casal, Durr, Navratilova, & Morozova! Her teaming w/ Martina broke down when she started losing to her & admits it half-heartedly! Martina never seemed to have a prob. playing w/ anyone; = when Shriver beat her twice @ the USO!
***Sukova was actually the kind of player that troubled Martina > Chris. Martina took a long X to get her passing shots & return grooved. Her BH pass was 'readable' so the tall, heavy hitting serve/ volleyers like Shriver, Sukova, & Mandlikova always got victories over Navratilova B4 they got 1 over Chris. Matter of fact, I looked @ all the players who were 5'9" or taller to see when they got their 1st victory/last victory over Evert. There was only 1 I'm sure of, btw the X during her prime yrs, June '74 thru June '86 by Lisa Bonder (5'10") in '83. None for Court, Sukova, Shriver, Silvia Hanika w/i those X frames. Graf's 1st victory may fit the parameters, depending on whether she had reached her full adult ht. @ 16 in April of '86. ...Court's last win was B4 Evert's RG. Sukova's 1st was 6 months after Evert's last. Shriver got her's in '87 as did Hanika after they got any vs Martina.***
That Sukova match still makes me SMH! IIRC Martina took the 1st set 6-1, though it was highly contested! M. Court = said she left after the 1st set thinking "it's all over!" That ruined Martina's run of 6 Majors in a row & a comp. of her CYGS unfort.! Martina lost on that court many X's! Btw the choppy courts, trains, bugs, & wind, I guess she was lucky to win 3 X's!
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Going back to '87 hurts! After Borg's retirement @ the end of '81, thinking of Martina going out so soon was disturbing! After a sensational run from the end of '81 thru'86, in '87 she was only getting to finals, but wasn't able to close them out! She finally won Wimbl. over Graf! It was so bizarre! ...Grass was no guarantee of sucess as she dropped a 1st set lead of 5-1, @ Eastborne losing to Sukova 6-7, 3-6! It could't be explained! Her season was salvaged by def. Graf again @ the USO, but was never the same player!
***MN was getting on in yrs. It’s always hard to watch these old warriors lose something in themselves. Martina once said that as players get older, they become > nervous. She said she found that strange, as if the opp. s/b the case & a players exper. should boost them, but as always, she was right. Only took her game t/b off a smidge, < assertive & sure, < athletic too, & players exploited it.***
***GS tallies by decade in the OE:
ReplyDelete'68-78
6: Borg
5: Laver, Newcombe, Connors
4: Rosewall
3: Ashe, Kodes, Vilas
2: Smith, Nastase
1: Gimeno, Orantes, Edmondson, Panatta, Tanner, Gerulatis
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'79-88
7: McEnroe, Wilander
6: Lendl
5: Borg
3: Connors, Edberg
2: Kriek, Becker
1: Vilas, Teacher, Noah, Cash
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'89-98
11: Sampras
4 : Becker, Courier
3 : Edberg, Agassi
2 : Lendl, Bruguera, Rafter
1 : Chang, Gomez, Stich, Muster, Kafelnikov, Krajicek, Kuerten, Korda, Moya
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'99-08
13: Federer
5 : Agassi, Nadal
3 : Sampras
2 : Kuerten, Hewitt, Safin
1 : Kafelnikov, Ivanisevic, Johansson, Costa, Ferrero, Roddick, Gaudio, Djokovic
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'09-18
13: Djokovic
12: Nadal
7 : Federer
3 : Murray, Wawrinka
1 : Del Potro, Cilic
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'19-28
7: Djokovic
5: Nadal
1: Thiem, Medvedev, Alcaraz
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This clearly shows that Djokovic was the > dom. player @ GS in the last decade. So in OE since its start, we have 5 decades each belonging to these dom. players respectively: Borg, McEnroe & Wilander, Sampras, Fed & Djokovic. - There are 24 GS's left to play by '28 & Alcaraz needs to win 1/2 of them t/b @ the same level as the Big 3.
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Djokovic v Fed (End '10 -'11 ):
So we all know how > '11 became for Djokovic. One of the best seasons ever no doubt. But what really changed btw '10 & '11?
...Onto '11, he beats Fed @ the AO, Dubai, & IW's, where Fed only takes 1 set btw the 3 matches.
He got tired of being the perennial #3 guy, having been #3 from '07-10 I believe.
He also won a DC after that USO, which was big for him that he'd actually win big again. Then he also became gluten-free / plant based / way > conscious of his diet. The retirements stopped, & he started to become that fighter we know him as today.
The 41 match win streak was epic. That's sort of when I became a fan of his, when he got like 17 wins in a row & U realized, ...Instead he became the GOAT.
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Djokovic did grow a bit into his build by '11, but overall he looked grown. He’s posture on court, his fight, & his overall looks. He improved in so many aspects, but what sums up for me is he suddenly grown into a man.***
I watched that stretch from The '10 DC win to '11 FO loss to Fed in the SF! It was like Nole was a diff. guy! I didn't know this person! He was strutting around as if he owned the place! He was embarassing both Fedal! Nadal had come off a > '10 & was poised to take over a signif. per. as #1 but for Novak! They seemed to meet in every final from HC, then CLAY, to grass! Djokovic won 7 str. finals over Nadal incl. Wimbl., USO, & '12 AO! I didn't think it poss. to repeat that performance, but to do it one >er in '15 +ing the YEC! '21 was just the cherry on top being 1 match from a CYGS @ 34!
***Well, yeah. If not for him, Nadal'd prob. have made it to 5 str. Slam wins. That’s part of what makes these 3 guys the undeniable GOATs (for me Nadal the > of them): they’re 3 ATGs playing @ insane level, creating tons of epics & holding each other off all the X in the process.***
***Well, the Cowpies came thru. Cooper Rush is 3-0 as a starter. Pretty dull game though def. Giants. Did not imagine the Chiefs would lose to the Colts or that Jimmy G would step out the back of the Endzone & lose the game for the 9'rs.***
ReplyDeleteThat's why they play the games! KC will inexplicably drop a game here & there, but should still win 12-13 games & take the AFC West = though supposedly the toughest Div.! The Chargers & Raiders have looked bad & Denver isn't much >er w/ Russell! Mahomes can relax a lit'l!
***Wilson has lost his confidence ever sinse he was a fk'n moron to listen to Pete "the cheat" & throw the ball down the mid'l costing them b2b SB's. He lost his >ness thst day. A... QB would know that call made no sense & ignored Carrol & give the ball to Lynch, esp. sinse the "Cheatriots" had worn down in the final QTR. & were getting run all over by him, help< to stop him.***
It happens! A player or coach trying to choreograph a win & it's amazing how often it blows up in their faces! He wanted Wilson to star in the Disney comm.; not Lynch! That's what it was all about!
***Reminds me of Matt Ryan. He has never been the same since Brady came back & beat him in the SB.***
Just proves the coach c/b "everything" when it comes to winning & losing! Bad coaches have poor clock mgmt. & screw it up when it comes to play calls @ crucial X's!
***Agreed. But, also someX's a coach calls a risky play & it pays off. Suddenly he's brilliant. Or it doesn't work & he's a loser. Let's not forget the players have to execute. ...That Wilson SB woke me up how these coachs & some of the players are involved along w/ the refs in rigging these games. ...There's big $$ involved in these playoff games. I guarantee if anybody had chk'd Carrols bank acct. after the SB. He got MUCH richer.
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Funny, the Dallas QB's undef. in the NFL. He has NEVER lost.***
Totally making Jerry's contract for Dax look malfeasant! Isn't it always the way? Give a huge contract to some clown, then they get hurt while a backup barely scraping by does the job! DP will sit on the sidelines for the foreseeable future if Rush keeps winning! I doubt Dax w/b traded away since CP's not that great!
***If that guy keeps going undef., I may start rooting for him & Dallas. Until he loses, then fk. him.***
Watching "Undisputed" w/ Sharp & Scum Bagless! He's found a new way to frustrate fans looking for solid, impartial comm. concerning wk. 4 games; TB vs KC in particular! Scum just can't help himself! He's resorting to not only undermining Mahomes, he's now making fun of his name calling him Patty! He's like a child rather > senile old man! He'll go down Brady's history of 7 SB's, all his empty calorie yds when game out of reach, & pts that weren't enough to win just to piss off people! What a douche!
***The Left is terrified of free speech.***
ReplyDeleteThe Right are just as bad! You aren't allowed to speak up against them @ all! Instant traitor to the country! Both sides eat their young & old no matter their age or political persuasion! It's been that way for decades, we just keep imagining something like free speech is permissible in this country! The problem is the court of public opinion! The Judiciary can only save people when a case is brought forth! Social Media can destroy a person in mins.! That's on all of us to allow it!
***The Left controls 90% of the media. So free speech is only threatened from Liberals.***
You saying FNC & cons. radio only makes up 10% of the Media? You poor babies! Bullshit!
***Fox News is middle Left @ best.***
Oh please! I don't watch them any>, but up until last yr. they were still performing fellatio on Trump! He could do no wrong & for some reason actually have to endure his ire if they so much as concede a single pt. in opposition of his commentary!
***Yes, FNC is small compared to the lib news media. Then there's social media, Twitter, FB, & Google which are entirely ruled by liberals.***
So Trump went to Twitter so he could bore the Dems & Libs to death throughout the day & night? And friends scold me for thinking of IQ's when it comes to choices made by people w/ such logic! Twitter's where cons. got their marching orders to undermine every institution we hold dear! Unfortunately it took voting for an octogeneric to bring back order after Reps tried to overthrow our Democracy & Gov't! There are some people in this world just about irredeemable!
***...How long does Britain keep playing for Team Europe? - Britain…….is in Europe? So as long as they have players who are good enough?
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Is this where the confusion lies? Do some Americans think Brexit meant the UK left Europe? Switz. isn’t in Europe either, so...
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I'm not sure. But I have heard people ?? why England were playing in the Euro's football last yr. after Brexit.***
Brexit not a physical brk. w/ Europe; > economic when it comes to mutal contributions to Euro. Union! Trade was disrupted the >!
***It’s incredible how often it was framed by some people as a physical brk. from Europe. Hysterical headlines: “The UK is leaving Europe!”
“The UK is now flying over the Med!”
“The UK has now joined Asia!”
“The UK is leaving Asia!”
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...That’s like saying Hawaii's US-adjacent. The UK's in Europe, we don’t use terms like adj. over here. Ireland's in Euro. too!***
***Anyone old enough to remember '92 & '93 Jays?***
ReplyDeleteBeing a native of Chgo w/ 2 teams w/o a WS victory in my lifeX in '93, I was a lit'l disgusted that an expan. club won B4 they finally stole 1 each in the coming decades! The Marlins = won 2!
***Yeah, I recall the Wh. Sox for some of those yrs having some strong teams, but you either missed the pennant by 2 games or lost playoffs. The "Big Hurt," Frank Thomas has some spectacular yrs & Ventura was a great 3B man.***
They almost gave it away in '05 ...Cleve. went on a tear & caught up; 1 1/2 games! The playoffs saw the WS explode & roll the opp.!
***...I'm going to focus somewhat on people brk'n or setting long standing recs.
- Feb. 22nd, '80, The "Miracle on Ice" when the USA Hockey team of am. def. the mighty prof. USSR squad.
- Apr. 8th, '74, Aaron hits #715 & passes Babe Ruth for the all X HR rec., a rec. that stood for 39 yrs.
- Sept. 8th, '98, McGwire hits his 62nd HR passing Roger Maris' notorius rec. of 61 in 61, a rec. which stood for 37 yrs.
- Mar. 2nd, '62, Chamberlain scores 100 pts in a game.
- Mar. 8th, '71, the "Fight of the century;" in boxing as the undef. Joe Frazier def. the undef. Muhammad Ali by unan. decision.
- May 15th, '41, DiMaggio slaps a hit in his 56th str. game. The closest since is Jimmy Rollins in '05-06 @ 38 cons. games.
- Aug. 3rd, '36, Owens wins the 100 meter dash in front of Hitler to prove that the Aryan race wasn't so dom. It was the 1st of 4 OGM's Owens earned.
- Apr. 15th, '47, Jackie Robinson brks. the color barrier & plays in the MLB for the Br'lyn Dodgers.
- Jan. 14th, '73, the Miami Dolphins def. the Wash'ton Redskins in SB VII to go 17-0 for the season, the only perfect season in NFL History.
- June 14th, '98, Michael Jordan hits a jumper w/ 5.2 secs left to ice game 6 of the NBA finals vs the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals. The game peaked NBA viewership @ 29 M viewers, while in comparison the 2020 NBA Finals avg. 7.5 M.
- Apr. 18th, '99, Gretzky plays his final game @ age 38 finishing w/ all-X recs in pts, goals & assists. What's notable is how far ahead of everyone he is. Gretzky goals 894, 2nd pl. 801. Gretzky assists 1,963, 2nd pl. 1249. Gretzky all-X pts 2,857, 2nd pl. 1,921.
I have X tennis options, such as BJK def. Bobby Riggs (prob. fixed), Steffi Graf's GS, etc.
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Ages @ a which an ATG was no longer 1st, 2nd & 3rd in the Slams Race?
Age @ which a player was no longer the OE Slams Leader
Borg - 43, this was Borg's age when Sampras reached 12 in '99
Fed - 40, this was Fed's age in '22 when Nadal reached 21
Sampras - 37, Sampras was still short of his 38th BD when Fed reached 15 in '09
Age @ which a player was no longer in the Top 2 OE Slams Leaders
Borg - 51, this was Borg's age in '07 when Fed reached 12 slams & pushed Borg to 3rd
Sampras - 45, this was Sampras's age in '17 when Nadal reached 15 & pushed Sampras to 3rd in Slam ct.
Fed - 41, this is Fed's age when Djokovic reached 21 & pushed Fed to 3rd in slam ct.
Age @ which a player was no longer in the Top 3 Slams winners of the OE
Borg : When he was 56, Nadal won his 12th slam to become the 3rd >est in the OE
Connors : When he was 54, Fed won his 9th slam to become the 3rd >est in OE
Sampras : When he was 47, Djokovic won his 15th slam to become the 3rd >est in the OE
Fed's 41 now, if Alcaraz/someone else doesn't reach 21 in the next 15 yrs then Fed would've lived longer > Borg to see himself not being pushed to 4.
History also seems to have been much kinder to Borg > it has been to Sampras. Remember he was still on 14 slams when 3 ladies were on 22, 18 & 18 resp.
Borg too might've reached 15+ had he played AOs & a longer career that does not end @ age 25. Then Sampras' 14 was beaten by Roger in a span of 8 yrs; '02 til '09. Looks like history has been the least kind to Pete.***
***I'm over Jason Brown. I think he's a lovely skater & seems like a very nice person, but his skating doesn't excite me anymore.***
ReplyDeleteExcitement wasn't going to get the job done anyway! Jason doesn't have the tech. ability to compete these days! Our own FS Assoc. is doing a deservice to him & the team when they pump him up w/ scores that aren't nearly in line w/ what he laid out on the ice! Other countries do the same, but it was almost embarrassing seeing his scores making him 4th w/ 1 missed quad while others are spinning out of their minds! Reminds me of Kwan getting extra credit for just showing up @ Nat'ls!
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Nathan Chen crushed the field for the OG Medal in FS! "Congrats Nathen!" Jason Brown brought back "Schindler's List" for LP!
***We can't really know what Hanyu's thinking was. I think it's very hard to put ourselves in the minds of high-profile champions who are under tremendous pressure & high expectations from themselves & from others.***
I think if he had gotten over the obsession of that silly 4A, he would've @ least made the podium! He blew it!
***I dont think champions are happy just to make a podium. A Silver or Bronze would still be yet another defeat by Nathan. He said he knew his tech content was not enough to beat Nathan, so what was left to him was the chance to break a new barrier. M/b he still will. I remember viscerally how many hard falls Mirai had to take B4 she could land a clean 3A (which she only did a few X's in comp.). I'd think that not his age, but the beating he put himself through to get the 4A could acct. for his not seeming t/b in peak form this wk. I can't even imagine.
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I often wondered, after his mistake on the 4S in the SP & again in the LP if the 4A had become a distraction. Also, when he said in the past (after the Nat'ls) that his current layout was not enough to win. I assume he meant to beat Nathan. It almost sounds like he didn't believe that he could beat Nathan. He didn't = try to change that Layout. That's very unusual for Yuzuru b/c I always saw him as a very confident person.***
'22 FS World Chp. on! I wonder how relevant they'll end up being as Russians & Belarusians weren't allowed to compete? The USA won a GOLD in Pairs; 1st since '75 so it appears t/b tainted! The US women are doing very well today w/o the best in the WORLD being there! Alysa Lui took Bronze Medal w/ Mariah Bell in 4th! UNO won the men's event! Zhou took Bronze!
***Hi everyone, new to the website but have been a fig. skating fan since I 1st saw Dorothy Hamill. ...b/c of Nathan winning the OGM, my interest has picked up again. I love Mariah too!***
Welcome! As an old geezer of 65, I apprec. skating still, but haven't been as emotionally invested as I was back in the 90's! You had so many "real characters" out there to spice it up! It's quite vanilla these days w/ lit'l to no talk about what's going on behind the scenes! In my day you had Surya Bonaly doing backflips, Oksana Baiul being dramatic, Nancy Kerrigan getting knee-capped, animus btwn Plushenko & Yagudin, scandalous investigations, & countless TV exhs. & comps.! Again, welcome & hope you get all you can out of the site & watching skating!
***Omg, how could you forget the Goddess that was Pasha Grishuk & the whole Usova/Zhulin/Navka/Platov/partner-& coach-switching malarkey.***
Who said I forgot? I can't name everyone of interest; w/b here all day! Skating had so much going on, but we don't hear much any>! There's no entertainment value about how Zhulin cheated or abused Maya! I prefer to forget!
Rune must've WD @ Astana! He was sched. to play Alcaraz in the 1st Rd.! LL Goffin has taken his place!
ReplyDelete***Goffin, out of the dustbin! TBH, Goffin v. Alcaraz m/ > interesting.***
Carlos better be careful! Goffin was in the top 10 not that long ago! He has no real power, but cagey! He can work a pt. just like CA! ...This is Borg territory IMO not w/standing the X's & level of comp.! Is it hyperbole? He's done what sev. gens of stars havent been able to do the last 20 yrs! He's beat Nadovic, took a USO, & became #1 B4 20 yo! True enough, Fedal near the end, but the others haven't! - Upset: Goffin def. CA in str. sets!
***So far Ruud & Alcaraz have been duds since their new rankings & expectations. Do better guys!***
They're like the last wave of NG'rs that can't handle the pressure like The Big 3! Consistency just isn't something they possess! Unbelievably both lost early in their respective tournaments! Ruud went out to Munar in Japan & Alcaraz dropped his 1st Rd. match to Goffin in Astana!
***That's why I don't expect Alcaraz to start his dom. next yr. For sure he w/b very hard to beat when he plays his best, but when his level drops, he w/b anybody's prey.
It's no cakewalk to get past Karen Kh. in QF. Astana since he upset Djoker in the Paris Masters' Final a few yrs ago! There's a distinct poss. of Daniil might obliterate Novak as done in the USO last season! DJ's defin. vuln. to a very creative & powerul player! I admitted he prob. couldn't complete his CYGS un< Med was upset! Only Carlos & Medvedev worry me when it comes to Djokovic the rest of the season! He appears t/b playing quite well though his comp. hasn't been the best so far! Khachanov will test him!
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Well I guess Djokovic totally embarrassed himself winning his 90th title & his 1st 500 event of the season! He's the 1st to win on grass, clay, & HC! ND's auto. qual. for the YEC w/ this win in Astana keeping him in the top 20! He's hopeful of a successful winning kick to '22 in Paris & YEC!
***Novak w/b the stats GOAT. But he never had a winning rec. vs a rival @ their peaks & vultured slams for 1/2 of his career. Those m/b called blemishes.***
A 100 yrs from now, no one's going t/b that partisan as to use the word "vulture" when it comes to winning @ a pro level for almost 20 yrs by any of the Big 3! You can only def. the players in front of you! If they're old or injured, it all cts! The rec.bks w/b owned by Djokovic = if he fails to win another major! Rafa will have the Majors, 2 OGM's, & 15 FO's to rest his laurels, but the rests are all favor of Novak & Roger!
***I think Djokovic messed up for sure. 0 wins for Prime Djokovic out of '12 vs Murray...***
The way I see it, after '11 where Novak won just about everything in sight, it's perfectly normal to come back to Earth! The same thing happened after '15, started out '16 good, but fell off precipitously thru '17! He got back to the top in the Summer of '18 w/ Wimbl. & USO wins! Been consistent since! Right on schedule = w/ injury, vaccine drama, & DQ @ USO 2 yrs ago! He still got to 20 Majors faster > Fedal & still leads in Masters events!
***Isner says Djokovic the best & toughest to face out of the Big 3:
"Even though I played Rafa on clay OTTH, I played him on clay like 4 X's. I think, once @ the FO, you know that's 1 of the toughest tasks in our sport. ...But I'd say it's Novak, when he's locked, dialed in & taking my serve standing on the baseline, returning my 1st serve & just anticipating where my serve is going. I've felt help< on the court, prob. on 1 hand where I knew I had no shot & I wasn't = playing bad. I was having huge trouble holding serve & 3 of those X's have been vs Novak. I played him in Beijing yrs ago. In the QF's, a big tourn. & I was fired up to play him. We were playing @ night the next day. ...It's 48 degrees & heavy conditions vs Novak, who never loses this tourn., there's no shot it. I went out there, It was freezing. Freezing cold, 0 free pts & it was 2 & 2. So to answer your ??, it's Novak."***
***Novak's supposed to have a 3 yr. ban from Australia after what happened this yr.***
ReplyDeleteI'd hope they would get over their stupidity! If these Koala Bear burger eating MF'rs try to sustain a 3 yr. ban on Djokr like this, they're done IMO!
***Yeah, it's stupid. It was stupid then & now looks = > stupid. But = so, IDK why that w/b a "slap in the face" of the vaccinated? - Novak wanted t/b exempted from the vaccine for no other reason than that he doesn't want to take it. ...The decision came down against him, & it included a 3-year ban. Now he's (presumably) appealing that part of the decision, though there were meant t/b no appeals. If it gets lifted, it could very well look like special treatment. ...He was deported for something like being a public nuisance, a threat to good order. ...IMO, it w/b a "slap" to the vac'd for the very reason that they did what was right for the public good.
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This is not about vacc. It's about immigration; completely diff. & a lot > serious. Careful what you say about the Australians or they may send the Koala Bears after you.
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Contrary to the myth that Djokovic has the > complete game... Fed's bane is simply his single-handed BH which is unreliable & causes consistency issues or breakdown under pressure. 2 handed-BH's are much > reliable & consistent w/ another arm to help the racquet.
Fed's >er @ lit. every type of stroke except flat/topspin BH.
Serve - Federer
Forehand - Fed
Volleys - Fed
Overhead - Fed
Slice BH - Fed
No one would = disagree w/ any of that right? So the only thing Djokovic's >er @ is BH & b/c of that > better @ ROS. He's also just a super-consistent reliable player in gen. which gets you > results in tennis. But Fed clearly has the > complete game.
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I do also think Fed's the > complete player, but that's not why he beat Djokovic when he did. Fed had the game to blast Djokovic off the court. Fed had the FH & serve to simply blow Djokovic away. Once Fed slowed down, he couldn't run around his BH as often, & not only hit too many shots w/ the BH. he also didn't hit enough FH's.***
The rivalry started in '08 w/ Novak upseting a prime Fed in one of his fave tourns. "down under!" Paris just not to his liking only by the results! Had enough finals though!
***# of X' a player faced 3 or > Top 10 Seeds in a Single Slam:
Federer - 12 X's (Won 6 X's, lost 6 X's )
Djokovic - 11 X's (Won 6 X's, lost 5 X's)
Nadal - 7 X's ( Won 5 X's, lost 2 X's )
Lendl - 6 X's ( Won 3, Lost 3)
Sampras - 3 X's ( Won 2 X's, lost 1 X)
McEnroe - 4 X's ( Won 1, lost 3)
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Novak had it the toughest to brk thru, in '03 Fed had to go thru Philippoussis & Roddick as his obstacles to win his 1st slam & gain confidence. When Nadal arrived in '05, Fed was @ his peak, but other > that, players weren't strong enough, so he rose to 2. When Novak had reached his 1st slam finals, there was Fedal firm, a wall of 2 GOATs to brk. Most people wouldn't have broken thru, but Djokovic did hang in & eventually in '11 he announced that his era's beginning. Going by the draws, Fed did face a lot of top 10 & so did Novak to win his slams. Fed whb the winner of the race, but he choked his chances away, really sad. Nadal bene. from Corona & Novak lost a lot, no doubt on this. ...If Fedalovic were of the same age, then Nadal would find it very tough to win non-clay slams since he w/b the 3rd seed. He'd have to beat both the 1st & 2nd seeds b2b in SF & F to lift the non-clay slams, that's Peak Fed & Novak. This way luck has shined on Nadal that Fed's older & Novak himself matured a bit late.***
***Djokovic either faked his test result or he saw people while knowingly having Covid. He s/b banned from Australia for the rest of his life, not only 3 yrs.***
ReplyDeleteWell I guess the You-Tube videos I've seen prove the pt. that Nadal's a gutless turd who avoided Fedovic on grass & HC if he could in the last decade! They showed 10 instances where he suspiciously WD or retired just B4 playing them! During that same per. of injuries, he WD'd only once on clay! He allowed Fed to beat him 5 or 6 str. X's 5 yrs ago & hasn't beaten Novak since '13 USO on HC or grass! Let's put an '*' next to that '22 AO victory! Banning's 1 way to control the situation; esp. w/ his fans! Yep; GUTLESS!
***No asterisk. The tourn. was played w/ all eligible players. A few have pt.'d out that no tourn. gets an '*' when, say, Rafa's injured & can't play. Get over it. Rafa won the AO.
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I have no clue what you are talking about buddy. This thread's about Djokovic & the way the topic of vaccines/pandemic has been handled by him & by the countries he wants to enter. It has nothing to do w/ Nadal, clay, HC, injuries, etc.***
Well @ least you know you're "clueless!" I don't have to say it then! You invoke Nadal's name when any subject's being discussed so spare me! Skip my comm. about Nadal avoiding Fedovic; scared to play them off clay! He's done it too many X's to ignore! He's well enough to come back vs Taylor @ Wimbl., but avoids Djokovic by giving "walkover" to another dangerous player in Kyrgios! Same thing @ '18 USO, down to Del Po retires mid-match, but's really avoiding final vs Novak! If y'all want to use that vs him, I can use it vs Nadal! I have > evidence though!
***Gutless = a 35 yo tennis player who's scared of needles.***
Oh yeah, that makes sense! Novak's scared of the needle so he gives up tourn. opps. & millions of $$'s! Yep, m/b it! - We can ct. on one hand the # of seasons where Nadal totally went all out to win > anything poss.! It's been almost a decade ('13) w/ plenty of instances where he's obviously avoiding a loss! Many X's he's totally shut it down after stealing another FO! He's a DIVA & every one knows it! It's terribly frustrating for Rafa t/b as popular when he's running game on all of us!
***You could ct. it on the fingers of 1 finger the seasons where he’s won Austr., Paris, proceeded into the SF's of Wimbl. He’d hardly WD to avoid facing Novak, the form he was in brother!
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The real solution is to change the scheduling of the GS's to make the season > manageable. The # of top tournaments that get crammed btw May & August to fit around the 3 northern hemisphere Slams is ridiculous. It's no wonder that the top players pack it in after the USO. It'd mean giving a 2nd Slam to the southern hemisphere (or putting it indoors) which will never happen.***
They've already altered the sched. too much over the decades! There are > people who can't fathom that Wimbl. was just a wk. after FO! That makes Borg's achievements winning 5 Wimbledons = > amazing since he never played "Queens" warm-up!
***They need to make the late season per. > interesting again. Make it all indoors, hype it up.***
I used to love the Winter swing of Men's tour going back to the 80s! The sport could go anywhere & not worry about the weather! The Chgo event was never very big = w/ Lendl in the draw! Stockholm got McEnroe & Borg! The YE Masters settled in NY after many yrs. on the rode w/ diff. surfaces! The early > match was Connors over Borg in '77! The Event got t/b huge w/ Sampras, Agassi, Edberg, Becker, & Lendl!
***Bring back wood racquets & wood courts. Parquet's indestructible.***
I gave tennis lessons on a varnished hardwood basketball court during the Winter in the 70's! If I had X we'd try to play, but like grass, anticip. was required! One false move & the pt. was over the court was so fast! There also wasn't a lot of backcourt so easy to run into padded walls!
***The Browns are 2-3, & the combined total pts of the 3 losses is 8 pts. We yet again snatch def. from the jaws of victory. Truly incredible to watch.***
ReplyDeleteThe Browns are cursed! No other exp. club has taken this long to turn around their fortunes! I go back to SeaHawks, then Carolina & Jacksonville! The old Cleveland team didn't adjust to merger & the expansion club sucks as they have always sucked! They had a chance w/ Bernie Kosar, but the team was jinxed & had the worst luck poss. when on the cusp of = making a SB!
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Brady gives > reasons to hate his guts! ATL was coming all the way back from a 21-0 deficit! The Falcons mhg too close @ 21-15 so the refs stepped in & "faux called" an "unnec. roughing" on a sack of Brady who rolled comfortably to the ground! His head wasn't slammed, but you'd think he was lifted into the air & slug down like a bag of potatoes! BS! Brady, the chronic whiner he is was imploring for a call that shouldn't have been made!
***We’re heading into wk. 6 & Geno Smith leads the NFL in QBR & completion %. Who the Hell could have predicted that?***
No one! I wasn't = a Jets fan, but heard Gino was awful! What happened? Now he's a game manager?
***The funny thing is, he’s not just a game manager. He ranks 3rd in deep ball attempts. He’s = 7th in TD’s. He’s been legit. 1 of the best QBs in the NFL this yr.
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Whoa! Looks like the Raiders are ON tonight. Up 17-0 over the Chiefs in the 2nd Qtr. of MNF.***
Still have a whole 1/2 to go! Let's see if they can complete the upset! Haven't seen so many punts in a while! Update: KC wins 30-29!
***Dumb. Raiders should've kicked the extra pt. At least would have had a chance in OT.***
The 2-pt. chart suggests going for the win if on the road! Yrs ago Minn. had the same opp. vs The Cowboys in Dallas! Went for the tie, then lost the game after KO of OT! The 1st play from scrimmage had Emmitt Smith running for a TD, 60+ yards!
***Not when you're 1 & 3, playing a div. rival. - ! did you have hopes of actually beating the Chiefs. I've been a Chiefs fan since the Schottenheimer era. ***
Those were some > teams B4 Derrick Thomas was killed! The Chiefs were just unlucky t/b good @ the same X, other teams were > like Buffalo, Indianapolis, & Denver! They had the players w/ Montana QB'n & Marcus Allen running majestically thru the lines! Their regular season recs defied the playoff results! They were just terribly unlucky @ X's!
***The Steelers have some serious rebuilding to do. Tomlin has been around a long X & the Rooneys don't like to change coaches. Don't know if he's part of the prob. or part of the solution.***
It's not as much a coaching issue as they need a QB! All the teams failing now have a QB issue from Pittsburg to Denver! The Rams have a QB, but no O-line to protect Strafford so he's barely surviving on life-support w/18 sacks on him so far this season!
***I don't think so. Pickett looks good. He's only played one game, but my $$'s that he'll turn out > >er > Roethlisberger. Pittsburgh lucked into the best QB that they could find this yr., now all they need is to find competent coaching to light a fire under the rest of the team. ...Mike Tomlin's bluffing his way thru games & has never once in countless yrs had his team up & ready, prepared for a single game. Each wk. they come out playing like the players just met on the street 30 mins. ago. Other than that, the Steelers are a force t/b reckoned w/! If an asteroid hits the planet, they might = make it to the mid-season bye B4 fans stop = showing up for the games.***
***Fed also lost an OGM match to Murray on Wimbl. Centre Court. Some say he's the best Wimbl. player ever.***
ReplyDeleteAnother rec. to go down in flames w/i 2 yrs! Novak's on his way to owning AO & Wimbl.! That was another reason to believe Fed was the GOAT winning 5 str. Wimbls. & the USO, but only intermittantly +ed to his totals since! His USO feat will last the longest it seems!
***Winning an OGM meant so much to Novak, he forgot that the CYGS was slipping away.***
Djokovic blew it! Was too greedy! Going to Tokyo for the Olympics was a huge mistake; his father argued vs him going! A real shame!
***Massive mistake. I suppose he saw the GCGS as a given w/ Rafa missing. Who could stop him but himself? - Djokovic blew it or Medvedev won it?***
Both IMO! I mentioned B4 the USO began that for Novak to have a chance to win, Medvedev had t/b upset! Going to Japan only made the job harder for him! BO3 matches on a slow or fast HC was only going to test his nerves = > while holding 3 other majors in '21! He had a target on his back & was blown away 3 X's; 2 in Tokyo & 1 in USO final! Mentally Novak had a >er chance in NY w/o dropping unncess. matches in Japan! I was shocked he recovered enough to take Paris Masters over Daniil!
***Novak currently holds the rec. for > defeats in a slam final there!***
Djokovic's rec. @ Majors shows he owns AO, "down under," taking 3 in a row twice, w/ 9 Chps. overall! Wimbl. m/b his as well soon holding 7 titles & def. the "so called" grass GOAT 3 X's in finals! As for the USO, IDK what else he can do to show his dom. sans winning the title >? He's been in the final 9 X's, winning 3! The FO > Fed who had > opps.! After this Wimbl. we find out Novak's the only player w/ 80+ match wins @ all 4 Majors, well ahead of Fedal who own > USO's & FO Chps. respectively! His Nole-Slam stands alone along w/ sev. occasions he won 3 majors in a row to m/b complete 2 or 3 >! So many of Novak's accomplishments standalone in the rec.bk.! - ...Weak? Novak only made 9 finals, 1 > anyone else like Lendl who made all his in a row! How weak could he be if he's making all these finals from '07-21? How many has Nadal made; 5? When was the last X Fed made a final; 2015? ND Weak? I think not!
***Impressive! But they all have recs. that standalone e.g Nadal 14 RG titles. ...I think Nadal has faced either Fedovic or both on route to 11 out of the 14 titles which makes it = > astounding. - Fed's old now. He was 35 in '15? Djokovic didn't make the final @ the USO this yr. @ the same age.
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Rafa has 4 USO's; 4 out of 9 tries in the last 15 yrs. @ a tourn. many said he'd never win.***
It looked bleak for Nadal in NY w/ so many bad losses early on in his career! He never got to a final until '11! He seemed tired after winning those FO's so it was understandable the doubt he'd ever win, but after all this X he's still no king of HC's that's for sure! That moniker belongs to Novak w/ 12 Major HC wins to Nadal's 6!
***Likewise Novak's no "King of Clay;" 14 to 2.***
Novak's @ least a "Prince" w/ many wins over Nadal on clay; > anyone else; esp. Roger who s/b embarrassed AF w/ so many opps!
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Djokovic has redefined the standards of excel. If & when he wins 8 Wimbls., he w/b grass court GOAT given he has beaten Fed 3 X's in finals!
***TBF Fed’s master's win in Paris was super susp. ...When shit went down w/ the tourn. dir. admitting that he wanted Fed to win it. They lit. asked Fed what surface he wanted it t/b & then made it that (& changed it delib. to help him win).***
A lot >'s suspect during Fed's early yrs.! I just watched a You-Tube video showing evidence w/ "statistics" that major draws were fixed to give an advantage to Fedal! It's amazing how sleazy it's been & never really discussed! Nole seemed t/b in Fed's 1/2 while Murray in Nadal's! It worked for a few yrs. until Novak came into his own & started beating Roger like a drum, esp. "down under" in Austr.! So after all's said & done, = w/ the help of tourn. dir., Fed's inflated #'s won't be enough! He'll still wind up in 3rd place behind Djokovic & Nadal!
***9 USO Finals for Novak is nice for the stat sheet, but only 3 wins amongst them. For a HC specialist is pretty poor. Remember, it's sport, & the main thing is holding up the trophy. Sure, Rafa took some X to get his legs on HC in a bigger way. And he was often pretty beat up from front-loading his season by the X the USO rolled around. A lot of people thought he'd never win the USO. Still, he did by '10, becoming the youngest player in the OE to have the CGS. And he won 2 of 4 titles directly @ the hands of Novak. Keep trying to downplay his success there. He's still got 1 > Novak, & likely always will.***
ReplyDeleteI'm trying not to downplay Nadal's accomp. believe it or not! I'm just saying in comparison to Novak & Fed's quality, it w/b hard to ever think of him as the Ult. GOAT due to his resume being so "clay heavy!" In the end, = if he wins 2 or 3 > majors > Djokovic, he'd still wind up only 2nd "all X" on my list! Every yr. Novak's acquiring another stand-alone rec. that Fedal aren't = close to accomplishing & he did it sooner; @ 34 getting close to immortality w/ a CYGS! I know I couldn't imagine such a thing when 1st watching, playing, & teaching the game in the 70's! By 35, > Sr. players are lucky to make 1 major final, much < 3 or 4 in a season as Novak's done on numerous occasions! Again, it's not like he's a fave of mines! The #'s just say he's superior to all others w/ 3 or 4 of his seasons that overwhelm past >'s entire careers! I could go on, but you know the rec. already!
***Given how hard you have tried over the yrs., believe it or not, I don't believe the undermining/downplay. I think we've all begun to agree there w/b no "Ult. GOAT" amongst the 3. But again w/ the "clay heavy?" Rafa has 8 Majors off of clay, which puts him in Connors, Lendl & Agassi terr. for their total haul. Take off HCs, Novak's best surface, & he lands @ 9.
Plenty will still argue that he did all of that as his two main rivals got 'longer in the tooth.' And almost getting the CYGS is sort of like your argument that he's made 9 finals @ the USO, while only winning 3. Sure, he's been plenty dom., but it took some X to develop. Did he just get to form late, or is it that he couldn't compete w/ Fedal well-enough B4 they'd beaten each other up pretty good? Chicken or egg? Prob. > a lit'l of both. You can put Novak wherever you like, but I think the 3 will always be inextricably intertwined, w/ no real answer.***
The "long in the tooth" argument can't be taken seriously for Nadal who's only a yr. older > Novak! Come on! Why do that? If Fed wants to use his age as an excuse, that's up to him, not me who thinks if he's out there on court, he's ready to compete & win! He did beat Nadal 5-6 X's in a row a few yrs. ago! No one talked about his age or the poss. of some kind of PE help! "M/b the racket!"
***Bro @Fiero425's a fave poster of mine, but he has a blind spot that makes him forget that not only is clay a slam surface & so titles there ct. the same as slams won off clay. It’s actually the hardest surface to win on & yet Rafa does it routinely every yr. His 14 FO's stand w/ Rogers’ 5 in a row Wimbos & USOs, & Novaks “Nole Slam” as the 3 imperial crowns in this era. So it’s really unfair & impossible to separate them in >ness…***
The FO's on par w/ all the other majors, but it's not really thought of > if you look @ the history of tennis comp.! Borg won 6 & it was a marvelous accomp. @ the X, but > people bring up his Wimbl. efforts & frustration of not winning "what I consider" the hardest slam to win in the USO! Lendl went thru the same fruit< efforts, making 8 str. finals, but only winning 3 USO's! It happens! Luck or a lack thereof comes into play! Like I said, Med's nowhere near the >est player, but @ this moment, he's giving Djokovic trouble & he put an end to his hopes of a CYGS last yr.!
***...In terms of the history of tennis the AO is BY FAR the least prestigious one, like not = close.***
The same c/b said about Novak, yr. in / yr. out making SF & Finals in every tourn. he played! That has to take something out of him!
***No one says Djokr hasn't been amazing, but it did come after the best of the Fedal era. It made it a bit easier.***
ReplyDeletePandering to Fedal & fans by undermining Novak's achievements; surprise! You're saying he had no comp. out there during his dec. long reign! I thought all 3 are inextricably linked, but so > love using that trope of Fedal 'was done' while still winning majors in that same truncated dec. of excel. from NDj! So you're in essense saying to the world, "if not for Novak, Fedal'd cont. trading #1 ranking btw them!" BTW that's what actually happened when Novak was 'in the weeds' from '17-early '18! You've elev. Novak! I'm being stubborn since I grew up w/ #'s ruling sports! For some reason "passions run high" w/ this tennis argument! B/c Fed made it look effort<, many think he's the Ult. GOAT! IMO it's a > irrational w/ Nadal who's excelled on 1 surface! Then there's Novak w/ > of the #'s in his favor & only popularity seems to keep him from being anointed the Ult. GOAT!
***It doesn't matter Nadal records will last longer > Fedovic records, specifically 14 RG titles basically he's the Goat of Big 3 @ least. ...Greatest feat in sports history.***
Go ahead & hang your hat on that! It'll work for the die-hard Nadal fans, but true tennis historians will only give credit for the feat; not affirm GOAT-dom b/c of it! It's just the way it is! Wimbledon is "The Championship" w/ the USO a close 2nd in relevance! The FO is a major, but not quite as reputable as the others! IMO it's still in front of the AO which took it's X becoming relevant in the major race! B4 Sampras, 'The Ranks" were > about a season, how many W's & USO's, not a whole career! No one seemed to care about the major's race until it was broken by Pete in 2000! Lit'l did we know that those early #'s w/b blown out of the water by the Big 3 that have owned the tour like no others in the past & m/b the future! The games so fast, it's brk'n down these kids B4 their X!
***Sorry, but slams all same value & been this way long X now mate. Stop living in the past; not '80s any>.
I'd rank slams in this order-
1. AO
2. RG
3. Wimbledon
4. USO
Wimbledon Grass is barely surface these days, been a joke recently w/ 0 ranking pts., & being closed tourn. It's just a tourn. hanging onto old history, not any >er > the other slams IMO.
AO players are @ their freshest & has highest quality of matches; 3 Roofs, def. best slam.
RG close 2nd w/ having best surface in tennis & Paris is just dream to.
Wimbledon barely 3rd having 0 Masters or other big tournaments leading into it.
The other slam's a close 4th.
Not to mention U.K. people are horrible & clue< fans. They're @ Wimbl. cheering players DF'S.***
The delusion is real around here! The reason Wimbl. has no major lead in event is b/c there never was one "way back when!" It initially started a wk. after FO w/ Queens the only warm-up tourn.! People have mused about making it a Masters event since the sched. has been updated so much over the yrs! Borg winning Wimbl. so soon after FO victory is what made him a LEGEND! Taking the "Chan'l-Slam" of FO & Wimbl. 3 str. yrs. will keep his name on historians' lips! Nadal needed a few wks brk taking it in '08 & '10 while Fedovic got 1 each; '09 & '21 respectively!
***Grass is use< surface that only makes up 5% of the Tour w/ 0 big Tournaments apart from Wimbl.
Djokovic not the Goat, won too many AO's titles.
I fully expect you to never mention your '18 wrong prediction again of Nadal surpassing Fed in majors seeing as you lost it & I won.
22-21 is all > people care about @ end of day mate.***
Oh, so I'm the only one in the world who didn't think Nadal would surpass Roger's major total? Hmmm! Really? And you of course are the only one in the world who knew he would? I bet you thought Novak would never come close as well! Fortunately I'm much too busy to scower old posts from 4-5 yrs ago! I feel for you! Why arent you talking about the weak comp. of Nadal's when pumping him up so much about those FO wins?
***Fed belongs w/i the top 4 all-X.***
ReplyDeleteIt's what happened to Sampras when surpassed it seems! Even w/o a FO final, he was proclaimed the GOAT! Now that his #'s have been obliterated, he's now dropped below Laver again! Poor Roger seemed to have it all after acquiring the major's rec. in '09, but his reign was short when Nadal & Djokovic took over the tour!
***Nadovic would've fared < well > Fed playing w/ wood racquets. Their strange 2-handed BH grips were dependent on the lighter current racquets. Djokovic attempted to play w/ wood & found it impossible. I rate Fed w/i the top 4 all-X, but he w/b the only current player in that supreme group.
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Nadal can finish #1 if he does well in Paris Masters. Therefore, he might as well give it a shot.
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Have you seen the pt. diff. in their race rankings? For Nadal to dethrone Alcaraz, he'll have to win in Paris for the 1st X ever & that's w/o Alcaraz himself advancing into 3rd Rd. But = then, he'd need to outperform Alcaraz @ ATP finale. Yeah right...good luck w/ that! LOL
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Yeah, but who knows in this weak era. Alcaraz could lose early again. He seems to struggle indoors; as does Nadal, but if he gets a decent draw, then he might as well give it a shot.
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You don't get it...do you? He has to WIN the whole thing...you know...while Djokovic is playing & in the draw. In other words, he'll need to beat Djokovic for the title. Now let's chk when was the last X he beat Djokovic on HC's? Right,'13. And when was the last X he beat him indoors? oops...never happened = in his prime. You gonna make me believe he can do it now? Or you really think someone's gonna take Djokovic out, when Nadal's in the draw? Gimme a brk.
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Paris has probably produced more Masters > any other Masters tourn.***
So many reasons why Paris was so beneficial to the "also rans" of the tour, hungry for a big "scalp" & chp. win possibility! It's the end of the season, top players are tired, so no amt. of accom. was going to help him un< they were on their game! Novak's been the > durable, winning 6 w/ another final! He owns all the recs. @ that Masters! "Back in the day," players like Sampras c/b gone in his 1st match! I recall in Pete's waning yrs, he asked Becker to drop out so he could take his place in the draw for the pts! He lost anyway, but somehow held onto his #1 ranking; hence capping his run of YE #1's @ 6! The court's lightning fast & indoors so weather doesn't come into play! I know I've played my > "zone'd" best tennis indoors! I won in all 3 club disciplines! In dubs I could play well w/ just about anyone! Got to the SF's w/ my mother once! She'd just say "yours!" Worked out until the big guns showed up!
***That said, 9 #1 ranked players including 4 of the last 6 have won titles in Bercy (Nadal made 1 final in '07 & the current #1, Alcaraz, yet to make his mark). A lot of top players have enjoyed success there.***
You're living too > in the now! Historically this event has produced quite a few victories to players outside the elites of the game!
***Hmmm.......would you call former champs Edberg, Becker, Ivanisevic, Sampras (twice), Agassi (twice), Safin (three X's) outside the elites of the game?***
How does that compare to Novak w/ 6? Why not go look? Names like Forget, Gottfried, Enquist, & Vines show up as winners! What's it you don't understand?
***I'm simply pointing out that many top players won titles in Bercy in +tion to the < distinguished guys. That's all.***
...And all I was saying is that due to circumstances, outside stars can win Paris! That was the basis of the commentary by you, @Mainad that the event produces > Masters' winners! I was agreeing w/ you! Upsets galore have happened very early in this late, but big event!
I keep thinking & debating w/ others that if Fed had retired after Wimbl. wins of '12 or '18, he could've @ least left a credible debate; "what if?"
ReplyDelete***If Fed had won Wimbl.'19, he'd've beaten both Nadal & Djokovic enroute to a GS. That'd've +ed a lot > to his ATG status. Unfortunately his mental weaknesses vs Nadal /Djokovic showed up again @ 40-15.
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If the gap btw Roger to Djokovic & Nadal was actually 10 yrs., then Roger could've gotten away w/ it. Nadal's 1st slam wouldn't arrive B4 '10 & his peak would only begin in '13. Novak's would begin in '15 only. Roger would've crossed 20 B4 '13 itself & = if he retired in 2 yrs (say '15), then people would say 'ok, now next-gen. are taking over & Roger's own era is finished. But sadly they're not a full Gen. apart, so they all arrived in the 2000s itself just a few yrs. after Roger started winning slams.***
I'm sure Nadal was shocked AF when he went down to 'Old Man' Fed "down under" & @ Wimbl. in '17! Roger did Rafa the favor of getting to yet 1 > FO SF to lose in '19!
***Absolutely. Fed was on a completely diff. plane in '17. He beat Rafa 4 X's no < (AO '17, IW, MI, & SH). The '19 loss was in some sense inevitable as '17 was a clear outlier in terms of his performances during '10-19 overall.
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Open Era Ranking:
1 Federer
2 Sampras
3 Djokovic
4 Nadal
5 Lendl***
M/b 10 yrs. ago! Prob's Djokovic had 3 career seasons after turning 30! Nadal continued to own RG after personally stopping Roger was getting > his 1 "vultured" win after the upset by Soderling! Even if Djokovic hbd after '16 campaign, his '15 season set him apart from every pro since the computer started keeping tabs on the pro game! If Fed had the Major's rec., he'd have lit'l else since Nadovic took over lead in Masters events & they both have H2H lead over him! If Fed had retired after Wimbl. wins in '12 or '17, we could've finessed an ATG moniker that was above Nadovic being able to muse "what if?" Hanging on for 5+ yrs to + 3 majors, I just didn't think it worth his legacy! He wasted last 2 yrs!
1. Djokovic - w/ > signif. recs. save 1 major < Nadal, 2 GM's, 2 CGS, 7 YE #1's, 373 wks. @ #1
2. Fed - Best I can do < in majors. Has 8 Wimbls, 5 str. USO's, but H2H < Nadovic, & down 2 YE #1's
3. Nadal - The > Majors @ 22, not very prolif. holding #1 ranking, has rec. 14 FO, 2 CGS's, 5 YE #1's
4. Laver - Has 2 CYGS (Am./Pro), lost 5-6 B4 OE Tennis, never won WCT Final
5. Sampras - Was the GOAT for 8+ yrs B4 Roger > 14 in '09, has 7 Wimbl. vics., & 5 USO's
***Djokovic ties Fed w/ a title in a *19th* different country:
Netherlands
France
Australia
USA
Portugal
Canada
Austria
Italy
China
UAE
Serbia
Switzerland
Spain
UK
Monaco
Qatar
Japan
Israel
Kazakhstan
---
# of players w/ @ least TEN top 10 Wins in the yr.
'92 - 4 (Ivanisevic 11, Courier 10, Sampras 10, Krajicek 10)
'93 - 2 (Stitch 14, Sampras 13)
'94 - 4 (Agassi 14, Sampras 13, Becker 11, Kafelnikov 11)
'95 - 3 (Sampras 14, Muster 12, Enqvist 10)
'96 - 1 (Sampras 13)
'97 - 1 (Sampras 13)
'98 - 0
'99 - 4 (Agassi 12, Sampras 10, Keifer 10, Enqvist 10)
'00 - 2 (Hewitt 11, Kuerten 10)
'01 - 1 (Hewitt 13)
'02 - 2 (Moya 11, Federer 10)
'03 - 0
'04 - 1 (Federer 18)
'05 - 1 (Fed 15)
'06 - 2 (Fed 19, Nadal 10)
'07 - 2 (Fed 17, Nadal 11)
'08 - 3 (Nadal 17, Murray 12, Djokovic 11)
'09 - 5 (Fed 15, Djokr 15, Murray 14, Nadal 14, Del Po 11)
'10 - 3 (Fed 16, Nadal 11)
'11 - 4 (Djokovic 21, Nadal 16, Fed 10, Tsonga 10)
'12 - 4 (Djokovic 24, Fed 16, Murray 12, Nadal 11)
'13 - 2 (Nadal 24, Djokovic 24)
'14 - 3 (Djokovic 19, Fed 17, Nishikori 11)
'15 - 3 (Djokovic 31, Fed 15, Murray 12)
'16 - 2 (Djokovic 21, Murray 16)
'17 - 2 (Fed 14, Nadal 12)
'18 - 2 (Djokovic 15, Nadal 10)
'19 - 0 (Nobody had 10 wins that yr.)
'20 - 1 (Djokovic 10)
'21 - 3 (Djokovic 14, Zverev 12, Med 11)
Federer dom. '04-07 wasn't b/c he's Godly & then suddenly grew too old ? Nope. He dom. b/c everyone was inconsistent for a few yrs. & then the guys a few yrs. younger were > consistent. That's it, no gen. gap. M/b a 1/2 gen. gap, thats it.***
***Bill Mahar of "Real Time" says it perfectly..."the worse a candidate is, the more it says to Democrats, do you see how much we don't like what you're selling?" He has a point!***
ReplyDeleteUnhappy w/ things doesn't or shouldn't give license to give up on our Democracy! I'm appalled & disgusted w/ my country; allowing such a creature anywhere near the presidency! I know I keep hearing forgiveness is necess. to move on, but it isn't getting any >er! It would make sense if the nutzos out there believed they made a mistake, but that isn't happening! These idiots are doubling down, looking for loser, stupid candidates trying to prove a pt. that just isn't there! I also burned my feminist card in '16 when women supported Trump > Hillary! These are the same people bitching about a lack of representation, but as the majority, fewer women have won elections statewide around the country! That's whack AF & I can't wait to leave this rotten Earth w/ this many stupid ass people on it! This phenomenon is happening everywhere, not just the USA!
***I kind of agree w/ you a lot here, & disagree w/ Bill Maher, unusually, b/c he’s been killing it recently. I get the logic, as @Federberg quotes him, "the worse a candidate is, the > it says to Dems, do you see how much we don't like what you're selling?" I can see the logic of this, but an = >er approach would surely be to put in good candidates, if you can find them, & not loonies, liars & wife beaters.***
I was such a fan of Mahar's & I still watch "Real Time" every Fri., but he made me very unhappy going back to his endorsement of Ralph Nader! The good X's were rolling w/ Clinton & his economic based admin.! It wasn't enough for him & sabotaged Gore back in 2000 allowing "W" to come in & turn the fk'n country upside down! It just couldn't get > worse w/ the economy instantly going into the toilet, the stock market crashed, & of course 911! All those things chb avoided, but no one brings it up now! I was one that almost moved abroad; actually flew to Europe scouting areas in '01! If not for my elderly parents, I prob. w/b there now! I had already turned down a pos. in Austr. back in '97 for that reason! I regret it everyday! This country has been a fk'n mess for the last 20 yrs. & only getting worse w/ Trump-ites out there trashing Democracy everywhere they can in the name of conservatism, White Nationalists, misogynists, & other haters of independence & freedom!
***Where bouts in Europe did you look @ to live in?***
I traveled a few miles outside of Amsterdam on a train & thought about settling in Haarlem! It seemed quite reminiscent of a Chgo. suburb I lived in yrs. ago called Oak Park! A mall area was almost an exact replica w/ cobblestone sidewalks like on Warmestradt!
***Oh brother, you should've come to Ireland. You’d have fit right in w/ no language difficulties.***
A bud of mines loves Ireland &'s visited a few X's! I've avoided the British Isles over the food offered! I'd have to cook > to compensate!
***Why do you think Guinness is so popular? It’s strong enough to wash down the spuds!***
That's the other thing; never been a big drinker & have never touched a "dark beer" or ale in my life!
***I’m impressed!***
***Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole on the court. I think it said he knocked him cold. In front of all the fans. Now his teammates dont trust him.***
ReplyDeleteFor the sake of the team, it looks as if they've gotten by it, but IDK how you get past an assault?
***A part of me says we've become too soft where this is going too far. Yes, I agree it's not cool to sucker punch someone but shit probably happens in locker rooms like that all the time. Should we evolve? Yes. Is it unacceptable? Yes. Not arguing. But I think we're seeing him and Chris Rock are just fine. Better than the rest of us who can't get over it.***
IDK how Jordan's supposed to get over being assaulted like that after the video went viral? I can imagine most thinking he should be the bigger person and forgive the act! "Bigger person," meaning being a sucker allowing insult and ignorant behavior from others!
***I listened to Draymond explaining it from his perspective. Looking on the bright side after everyone on the planet has seen you at your worst. It can only go up from here he said. Hopefully he's right. I always expect guys like him will get in trouble with the law after sports. But so far Meta World Piece hasn't gotten into any trouble as far as I know. ...I can't imagine what it's like to be 29 and retired after 10 years of the NFL or NBA. Ten year career. Multi millionaire. But still you want to work and be making money. Or own a business. Something. Not just do nothing the next 70 yrs.
OH, I had the greatest of ideas last night. Poole gets to sucker punch Draymond Green in public any time he wants and Draymond can't do shit back. But it will happen during an NBA game this year. The Warriors should announce this is the deal Draymond has agreed to. Do you know what would happen? Ratings through the roof. If I were Poole I'd clock him 2nd to last game of the year. An away game where the fans will LOVE IT!
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Jordan Poole just signed a huge new contract, and Draymond is a free agent next year. I expect Green to get traded, and that's a big hole in Golden State's line-up they'll have to fill.
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If he is still the vital piece that this team needs to win, they won't trade him. You need a Draymond Green to win a championship. Not a lot of guys that good around the league. Maybe if you could trade for someone like him but I wouldn't take the chance. I think Poole isn't as big as a snowflake as the rest of you all are. He'll be alright. But if I were him, I'd knock Draymond Green the fuck out in public when he wasn't expecting it. Who would complain?
===
I can name 5 players that mean > to New Englander's > Tom Brady!
Bill Russell
Ted Williams
Larry Bird
Bobby Hull
Carl Yazstremski
So fuck Tom Brady! He's not = in NE's top 5!***
***1950s born gen. - Connors, Borg, Navratilova, Evert
ReplyDelete1960s born gen. - Lendl, Becker, Edberg, Wilander
'70s born gen. - Sampras, Agassi, Ivanisevic, Henman, Seles, Pierce
'80s born gen. - Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Serena Williams, Sharapova
'90s born gen. - Kyrgios, Med, Zverev, Thiem, Khachanov, Barty, Halep, Muguruza
2000s born gen. - Alcaraz, Sinner, Musetti, Rune, Coco Gauff, Raducanu, Swiatek
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Fed played Nadal+ Djokovic a combined 90 X's. That's the > he has played vs 2 players. W/b a laughable argument once their careers are done that they played about 40 X's min., but weren't of the same gen. Why were they = playing if not for being in the same gen?***
That's what's so crazy when people use the "age" argument to explain Fed's era closing & the losses to Nadovic! The only other rivalry > long-standing & relevant was Navratilova/Evert who played 80 X's; (M-43, C-37)! These kinds of rivalries may not exist again! Most of the > ones like Graf/Navr. or Borg/McEnroe rarely got to 20 matches! The conisistency was/is their >est asset allowing the Big 3 to rule the tour for almost 20 yrs.!
*** The hypothetical you posted =ing Pete's '02 w/ Roger's '12 is wrong b/c it doesn't take into acct. the age shift in Tennis.***
...Pete was on "fumes" by the X he made that last USO final in '02! He hadn't won a tourn. in over 2 yrs., his ranking dropped outside the top 20! ...the confidence of being able to best his life-long pigeon in a memorable stage like that, it was a > "sendoff!" Sampras admitted it was the serve that clicked in Flushing & w/ the luck of the draw did the improbable yet again vs Agassi! Roger OTOH was @ the ht. of his powers, @ #1 w/ another Wimbl. win! It didn't last; faltering wks. later @ Olympics on Centre Court! Nadovic took over until a "new life" in '17 getting back to #1 yet again into his mid 30's! He had free reign as Djokovic was getting over an injury to his elbow & discord!
***Roger reaching 2nd wks. in '03-16 isn't @ all exceptional. After '16 i.e after 35, yes that's exceptional. Which player from Fed's gen. was reaching 2nd wks. @ slams in '14-16? Nobody; except'l. And if you excl. Ferrer, nobody since like '11. Safin retired in '09, Ferrero & Roddick in '12, Nalbandian in '13, Davydenko '14. Hewitt kept on playing, but not doing > & @ 1 pt. just doubles, same for Haas.
Fed's longevity was unique. Nobody else from that per. had similar longevity except for Feliciano Lopez, & = then he wasn't really a top player any> & he was never an elite player.
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Normally the Big 3 played high level Tennis (1st to last slam final) for around 14-16 yrs. which is a very long per.!
This means taking 14 yrs. as an avg. span ....Their gen. of rivals who c/b an ATG would +7 above them to -7 below them, that is a full 14 years of athletes they play against each other. This means if an ATG 7 yo'ldr to Nadal born in '79, then that person can play until 37 (i.e.'16) &'d have a lot of matches vs Nadal if that older ATG's still making the SF's & Finals of slams. Sameway an ATG 7 yrs younger to Nadal born in '93 also has the chance meeting him in slams in '11 or '12 & playing enough matches til '23 to form a rivalry of sorts.
Depends on Nadal's luck whether he gets an older ATG to pair w/ or a younger one, but he has to beat that one never the less. Can't make excuses like "Ohh, I'm too old...."
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I'm not saying Fed was @ his peak & best level of his career when Djokovic was beating him in '14,'15,'16,'18 or '19. However, we also can't overlook the fact that Fed was a top 3 player for > of those yrs. He was one of the 3 best players in the world & beating everybody. It w/b diff. if he was floundering around outside the top 10 like Sampras was in '01 & > of '02, or like Lendl falling outside of the top 5 in '92 for the 1st X in a decade when Edberg had started turning the tables on him.***
***5-6 yrs. is a gen. It's just revisionist BS & lack of context to state otherwise.
ReplyDeleteYes, Lendl-Wilander:
Lendl also leads Becker despite 7 yrs. diff.
But what about Nastase who leads Connors in H2H despite 6 yrs. gap? Nastase might not be an ATG, but 15-12 is a lot of matches.
Nastase also leads Orantes in H2H who's 3 yrs. er players, so these ex. shouldn't exist.
Roger was losing to Nadal in the heart of his prime. It was never a physical issue, the issue was his BH which was punched by Nadal's FH & lack of mental toughness by Roger. Nadal was always gonna outrun Fed & reach his BH on any court where the ball rises high, inevitable.
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Fed vs Rafal H2H's garbage precisely b/c Rafa was too trash & young on HC & grass during Fed's peak to meet him during those slams. Rafa was worse > Andre, Roddick & Baghdatis. Where was Rafe in '05 again Fed? Just the FO. Where was he in '06, '07? Nowhere t/b found vs prime Fed. Only in '08 he finally found his footing & we're to believe they're of the same gen. when @ the pt. Fed has been on tour for 10 yrs? Complete delusion by Blake. Same story w/ Novak, but = worse. Novak didn't start getting the best of Fed until Fed was long in his downward spiral in the 2010s, when > legends of tennis would've retired by then. That was when Novak hit his peak. Blake's statement's crap b/c > athletes are terrible @ analysis in the sports they excelled at. It's part of human psychology t/b terr. @ analy. your own success & the success of others in your own field. That's why outsiders like Bollettieri was a legendary coach yet dog-shit @ tennis.
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Might want to read & understand properly. Lendl-Wilander's only exception among ATGs of OE.
Lendl-Becker is 1 match ahead for Lendl, but Becker's 5-1 in slams, which's massive. So Becker has the edge in H2H taken in context.
Why only ATGs? B/c you need t/b @ a min. level t/b an ATG.
An ATG past his prime c/b >er > an excel. prime non-ATG player or vice versa. < predictable.
But we do know prime ATG is almost always better than pre -prime or post-prime ATG.
Fed was 5-2 vs Nadal off clay in '04-07. Leading Nadal on grass + HC til that injury per. of '13-early 14.
Fed reclaimed by beating Nadal badly in '15-19. H2H off clay's 14-10. CHB easily 14-7 if not for so many matches in '13-early 14. (Only 1 match in '15 in contrast).
Nadal of course had the edge in H2H on clay always & hit his clay prime in '05 itself.
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All ATGs who played entirely in the OE: Connors, Borg, Mac, Lendl, Wilander, Becker, Edberg, Sampras, Agassi, Fedalovic
Where there's a 4-6 yr. gap b/w ATGs:
Borg leads Connors: 15-8
Mac leads Connors: 20-14
Lendl leads Wilander: 15-7
Becker trails Lendl 10-11: (leads GS h2h 5-1)
Edberg leads Lendl: 14-13
Sampras leads Becker: 12-7
Agassi leads Becker: 10-4
Agassi leads Edberg: 6-3
Sampras leads Edberg: 8-6 (trails 0-2 in GS h2h, Edberg didn't meet Sampras in GS after AO '93 & was when Sampras' prime started)
Nadal leads Fed: 24-16
Djokovic leads Fed: 27-23
The only instance in the OE where the older ATG had the edge is Lendl vs Wilander.
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...Djokovic's fans get carried away, like it's all destiny that Djokovic wins it all.***
Djokovic already has just about "won it all!" Give him another 2 or 3 yrs. of play & he might "own all the recs." meant to have! He just needs 2 YEC's, 2 Wimbl., & m/b 1 > USO! Don't want t/b greedy!
***Yeah 16-24 is b/c of Roger's 1-handed BH faring badly vs Nadal, = outside clay their H2H's 10-14, wouldn't have been this close if Fed had a double hander.
Few of our fans are still following the 1980s & 1990s convention in '22, they still think every 5 yrs. the change of guard is "entitled," but Fed's dom. over the field in 2010s is only a testimony to the fact that now change of guard happens every 10 yrs. & not 5 yrs.
Fed himself contrib. along w/ Djokovic & Nadal for the destruction of everyone young in '10-16. There've been 0 people < 23 yrs. of age in YE Top 10 from '10-16. Now finally from '17 when top 10s have started to emerge young.***
They all have comeback stories:
ReplyDeleteFederer getting back to #1 '12 &'17 on a Fedal Redux run while Djokovic injured.
Nadal so many mini-brks, but mid '14-17 was ugly B4 bringing back the old days w/ Roger in '17-18.
Djokovic had his 1st major resurgence mid-2018 stealing another Wimbl. & USO B4 taking over YE #1. Owned it until AO ban this yr.!
***It's the Big 3 combined who beat them again & again. Roger in his 30s was beating Raonic, Dimitrov & early 90s boys who're 10 yrs. younger to him. Similarly Djokovic & Rafa are also beating Med-Zed who're 10+ below them. Zed-Med-Kyrgios & other have also had the same upbringing as the early 90s borns since they are only a few yrs. younger to those. How can >er players magically emerge?
'00 - 2 People < 23 top 10 & (1 Person who's 30+ in top 10)
...
'10 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (0 who's 30+ in top 10)
'11 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (2 who're 30+ in top 10) (Fed+ Fish)
'12 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (2 who're 30+ in top 10) (Fed+Ferrer)
'13 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (2 who're 30+ in top 10) (Fed+Ferrer)
'14 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (2 who're 30+ in top 10) (Fed+Ferrer)
'15 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (5 who're 30+ in top 10) (Fed+Ferrer+Stan+Berdych+Tsonga)
'16 - 0 People < 23 top 10 & (4 who're 30+ in top 10) (Stan+Monfils+Nadal+Berdych)
'17 - 1 People < 23 top 10 & (3 who're 30+ in top 10) (Fedal+Stan)
'18 - 1 People < 23 top 10 & (7 who're 30+ in top 10) (Novak+Fedal+Potro+Anderson+Cilic+Isner)
'19 - 2 People < 23 top 10 & (5 who're 30+ in top 10) (Novak+Nadal+Fed+RBA+Monfils)
'20 - 1 People < 23 in top 10 & (3 who're 30+ in top 10) (Novak+Nadal+Fed)
'21 - 2 People < 23 in top 10 & (2 who're 30+ in top 10) (Novak+Nadal)
'22 - 3 People < 23 in top 10 & (2 who're 30+ in top 10) ((Novak+Nadal)
When 3 Godly players born in close proximity ('81,'86 &'87) means those born from '90-94 are < 23 in '10. ...Dimi, Rao & others, = Thiem was lucky to win that Slam in the absence of Big 3. Thats why from '10-16, nobody young was in top 10. They were > below.
Those born from '95-99 are far enough from Roger, but not far enough from Djokovic & Nadal, so they too are unable to win slams.
Those born after 2000 will have a full normal career, they'll start winning slams from their early 20s as normal ATGs should.
Hence proved, 1990s is 1 Big Gen. of Players affected by Big 3. We have to live w/ it.
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One thing that really differentiates the female 3-headed GOAT from the male is the era gap. Navratilova was born in '56, Graf in '69, Serena in '81 - that's a span of 25 yrs., which each separated by 12 or 13 yrs. Now of course Martina had Evert just 2 yrs. >er, though Chris peaked earlier, & Steffi had Seles born 4 yrs. later, but then her tragic attack shortened her peak. So they weren't just all on their lonesome w/o other inner circle greats except for Serena. She played alongside a bunch of < greats, but no one in the same vicinity.
One thing that makes Navratilova so impressive is that despite playing > of her matches vs Graf in the latter 1/2 of her career (from '85-94), she was still 9-9 in the H2H. Actually, Evert vs. Graf was also very close (6-7), though Chris won their 1st 6 matches & Graf their last 7. Martina & Steffi were > bal., though Martina won 5 of their 1st 6 & Steffi won 8 of their last 12.
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Actually, your H2H info of Steffi v both Martina & Chrissy is very interesting. I wouldn't have guessed it. Also, I don't agree that Serena only played " other recs, but it doesn't mean that the GOAT convo doesn't include all eras on the men's side too.
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Navratilova winning into Graf's prime is what, IMO puts her ahead on my GOAT list. Had Navratilova won '94 Wimbl., I feel there w/b no debate. I rank Graf behind b/c her 2 main rivals, Seles & Capriati, missed yrs. of what shb their primes.***
***I always ended up w/ rather disconcerting things, like GOAT Pts. ranking Connors & Lendl above Sampras. I understand the logic; both were very consistent & played a ton of matches, winning a lot > titles than Sampras, but literally no one ranks them >er > Sampras. ...Part of >ness is longevity & consistency.
ReplyDelete...The Big 3 lit. dwarf everyone else's era; = Sampras. If we were to extend back during the Pro/Am. Era, Laver & Rosewall'd look similar. It's also interesting to note that Sampras doesn't look that > dom. > the trio of Borg, McEnroe & Lendl, w/ Connors a bit behind w/ his career being > spread out, & thus not the same "dom. bulk" as those 4. Then Agassi's interesting career, which really looks like 2 smaller careers, followed by Becker, Edberg, & Wilander, whose prime per. was rel. short. Further>, this chart also shows how Murray's career looks closer to those 3 > it does to the next group down.
The array of diff. players across X, w/ that huge gap in the late 90s to early 2000s, when the careers of Sampras & Agassi were winding down, B4 the rise of the Big 3. The proverbial "Wild West" era. OTOH, this also illustrates the clustering of all-X >s in the mid-80s to early 90s. You can also see how the first 1/2 decade of the OE was still dom. by top players from B4 (> notably Laver & Rosewall), as well as a group of s, B4 the new cohort (lead by Connors & Borg) really took over in '74.
The Big 3 are similar. It's hard to say one looks > dom. > the other, w/ the caveat that I'd prob. give Novak the slight edge over Rafa & Roger, who're very close, simply w/ a diff. pattern of dom.
The Late Careers of the Big 3. Finally, we can clearly see one way the Big 3 are diff. > all the other >s of the OE: All had a pt. in their 30s when it looked like, if they'd followed typ. career arcs, they'd have wound down. For Roger it was '13 or '16. For Rafa '15-16, for Novak '18. B4 those pts., they'd still have > impressive careers > anyone else B4 them, but w/ < of a gap btwn. them & the pack. It's the "extra padding" they +ed that put everyone else far in the rearview. We can also see that Murray didn't have the same bounce-back, w/ very lit'l after his big '16 season.
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Nadal is an interesting study in contrasts btwn. his words & actions.
- His actions seem to indicate that he sets up his sched. to participate in tourns. where he has a high chance of winning & brk'n recs. includ. the YE #1 ranking, career match-winning %, etc. is a big priority for him. Yet, he says the opposite that he doesn’t care about recs.
- He fights like a crazy warrior til the end on court in his matches, but's one of the worst @ never giving enough credit to opps. who beat him & also making injury excuses after losses.
- He acts like a preening peacock on court (fist pumps, crazy style, Vamos yells), then talks like he's very humble off court.
- He seems to use gamesmanship to his advantage whenever possible, but talks like following rules are very important to him.
It seems like he was brought up to know exactly what to say to come across as a decent gentleman, but he doesn’t live his life by that code. Fed was amongst the best in having his words & actions match. - He's so fake. But the worst part is that most humanity can't see it.***
Rafa's literally taken his sweet X over the yrs., held up play w/ a hand un< it's library quiet, & no one walking around! WTF? I played most of my tennis on a public court w/ cars, trucks, & sirens from fire trucks! Not only that, it was next to the basketball court, baseball fields, vollyball nets, & a kid's playground! Today's players make me sick!
I apprec. those days when a darkhorse picked off a major every once in a while! It happened esp. w/ court specialists on grass or clay; hence Cash @ '87 Wimbl. & FO champs. like '90's Gomez & '02's A. Costa! People just don't remember many winners outside of the Big 3 who've owned the men's tour for the last 20 yrs! It wasn't enough to win a lion's share of the majors, they took > of the Masters 1000 events as well! It got easier for them to hoard them since the tour went to BO3 finals over the > draining BO5! Djokovic whh a hard X making 8 finals & winning 6 of them as he did in '15 if he was extended in any of those finals; esp. ones on clay!
ReplyDelete***I don’t think it would make a diff. He won IW's, Miami, MC, Rome, Shanghai & Paris. None of those tourns. are B2B, = IW's & Miami have a few days inbtwn. And if exhaustion isn’t a problem, then BO5's an ADVANTAGE for the >er player. Also don’t forget only SOME Masters had BO5 finals = B4 '07. Agassi won only 7 of his 17 Masters titles in BO5 matches (1 > was a walkover that whb BO5).
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Does Rafa bring out the Capri pants 1 < X?***
OMG, I hated that look! I was already past it & retired by then, but I'm pretty sure I didn't see much of it on anyone besides Rafa! Back in the 90's, every lit'l boy & teen wanted to look like Agassi w/ the shag hair, undergear, & headbands! IMO, Borg & his wearing of Fila changed style around the world! I loved the stuff, but refused to blow that > $$ on 2 tennis outfits & a warm-up! I played too > so my wardrobe had t/b extensively full of tennis clothes to get by in the 70's! I see pros on TV now looking like they just woke up & fell out of bed! What has become of STYLE?
***I'd agree w/ you except that I hated Agassi‘s style or lack thereof as much as I hate Nadal’s. I also think that men’s style in gen. includ. on court has gone down the drain esp. in the US & w/ American brands. I think Lacoste still makes a lot of classy clothing for tennis & that’s what I wear these days.
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Rafa's pretty much the only > player to never have won the YEC. It's w/o a doubt a strike vs him if he doesn’t win it.***
Rafa's had so many opps. = if only making the final twice! I've always believed he's physically done by the X the FO's done overall! He's had a handful of successful Summers, but few Fall wins! He may never win Paris Masters; so hard to NOT see that huge HOLE in his resume!
***If playing the YE finals; not sure why he'd want to do that? It does nothing in prep. for AO'23. RAFA's efforts are really only to win majors.***
If he's reading us, I make a huge deal that Rafa doesn't have a YEC Chp.! Rafa fans love to sport the OGM, but lit'l > an exh. sport to me when Edberg won it back in '84! Graf gave it > legit. when winning hers in '88 ...+ed the CYGS! ...In all the yrs. Nadal's played, he's only made the final twice! Some GOAT! He m/b trying to + another YE #1 to his resume; then 1 behind Novak's 7!
***RAFA NOT winning the YE Final... dude. No way he can do it w/ that foot.
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RAFA must stay away from YE Final & just practice @ home, then play a tourn. in Jan. to prepare for AO. BEST advice I can give him. - ...Clearly un< it was DC (if mattered) he just didn't GAF after the last slam of the season.***
Paris (Bercy), = though a Masters, wasn't taken seriously; mainly due to top players being just plain tired by the X it rolled around! It only remained important to players on the cusp of making the YEC & needing the pts. to quailify! It's amazing how Djokovic has pretty much owned this event when past players were lucky to win = one! We're still waiting for Rafa to complete the Paris double, but so far he's been shutout!
***Indoor events favor flat-hitting players, & those who get discombobulated by wind & otherwise elements. End-of-the-season events do suit Novak, that's true. - I'd say > Novak fans are rat'l people. And > Fedal fans are emot'l people which refuse to look @ facts if it hurts their idol image. "It's easier to fool people > to convince them that they're being fooled."***
***People here sayed Hewitt is an ATG. Lol***
ReplyDeleteHe got the > out of his talent! He wasn't powerful or crafty! It was all about hustle & retrieving IMO! It was a > accompl. to win 2 majors & be #1 = for short X! He got all he could out of his abilities unlike Murray who chd > & underachieved = though the Big 3 thwarted him his entire career!
***If we agree to call Vilas an ATG, I don’t have any problems in calling Murray so.***
Murray has 3 majors, but Vilas not only has 4, he went on a winning streak of over 50 matches on clay & a YEC on grass! Murray's consistency was nowhere near that good!
***How many X's did Vilas lose to ATG in finals?***
That's why it was hard to proclaim him #1 in '77 = w/ 2 majors won; the USO over Connors! He still had a losing rec. vs the Big 2; Connors & Borg!
***It doesn't matter what # Novax is, I don't recall him having a hard draw for yrs.***
It's b/c he's been the best player for the last decade +! He's def. > top 10 players in history along w/ consistently making SF & finals!
***You have to admit he pretty much always gets some pretty avg. players in the early Rds. of tourns., @ #1 it's prob. earnt, but he seems to get an easier draw > often > not.***
The prob. you're seeing is the rest of the tour plainly stinks! They aren't = comp. = though physically they have the ability!
***I'm hoping for a Cinci. '13 match if both make SF in Bercy.***
Wow, you had to go "way back" for that one! I'd like to see another '19 AO Final blowout! Nadal was playing well & had held serve 60+ X's in a row en route to the final! Looked like it w/b close w/ Djokovic looking a lit'l shakey in prev. matches! Novak took control early & often of every rally, not just the match! It was the most dom. exh. of tennis I'd ever seen from the baseline! Rafa couldn't begin to move to shots where the dir. of the ball was surprisingly happening! Nadal grimaced > a few X's absol. help of that going on @ the top "back in the day!" Allowing Rafa to accum. all those FO's proves the pt. that = though able, when it counted, the rest of the tour was weak & allowed Fedalovic to own the tour for the last 20+ yrs.! As impressive as their rec., it says a lot for the comp. over sev. gens. of young players! Fedalovic were re-writing the rec.-bks & the NG'rs w/b respons. if they allow them to keep winning until the wheels fall off!
***You can blame the comp., or you can just flat out admit that Roger, Rafa & Novak have been head & shoulders above the rest. The 2nd part's the > reasonable argument. As to Rafa's 14 RG titles, he did beat Roger & Novak for > of them. ...And yes, Rafa & Novak may keep winning big titles until "the wheels fall off." That's about quality of player, not lack of comp.
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Novak could sweep the end of season.***
For the avg. player, this is a career yr. = though excl. from 1/2 the events this season! Funny how this won't = reg. in his recs. compared to his '11,'15,'18 finish, & the > season since Laver's CYGS,'21; 1 match from his own CYGS!
***I do think that Djokovic truly relishes the comp. tbh. He lives for it. One thing I respect about him.***
ReplyDeleteW/ such a limited sched. against his WILL & ability to compete >, taking away opps may've extended Novak's career! He misses it & treasures every moment he's out there now > likely! Some around his age w/b entering 250 events to edge out of the game! Tele Viv revived Djokovic & put on display showing the world "I'm still here!" Astana cemented the deal & I couldnt be > proud of the guy! Anything after this is gravy w/ so many forces thwarting his ascen. to being "The BEST!"
***Yeah, this has re-ignited his passion for the comp. = >. This can only be a great thing moving forward. - ...But Novak rarely says something off the rails. He’s usually very careful w/ his words.***
That says a lot for someone who speaks 11 languages includ. Chinese! He has to deal w/ the soft feelings of people he doesn't know! Wow, being diplomatic! Who wants such behavior around our kids? Just goes to show, few'll ever be truly satisfied w/ rivals or threat to their fandom!
***Greedy man he is. He's already GOAT, but he wants t/b Grass GOAT, Hard GOAT, & Indoor GOAT. "Give other humans a chance dude." It ain't fair. If Nadal didn't exist, he w/b clay GOAT too. He'd lit. GOAT on every surface. He'd prob. find a way t/b GOAT on carpet if they had it.
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My mind is telling me Sinner could deny him 5 str. Wimbls. if he gets his serving to around 60-65% serves in, along w/ +ed belief, similar to how Fed denied Sampras of 5 str. in '01.***
Sinner's got to get out of the 1st Rd. of a tourn. to challenge Novak! I'm a fan, but was very disappointed how easily he went down in Bercy today to M-A Hüsler!
***New rules @ ATP Next Gen. Finals In Milan! - "The > interesting innovation's the red. of the X limit btw pts. when it's obtained w/ an ace, a winning serve or a DF. The shot clock'll ct. down 15 secs. instead of 25 after the umpire announces the score."***
Makes sense to me! I recall 40 yrs. ago, Lendl was playing vs Jose Luis Clerc! They were going to the towel = after an ace! WHY?
***If the receiver's stalling, putting their hand up, toweling off, or just not getting into a ready position. Can the server just serve anyway? I thought the rule said yes, & if so, servers should do that. I believe > players, pro & am., prob. wait out of courtesy, but when the receiver's deliberately trying to stall, they should just serve anyway. I guess one practical consideration's that the receiver's stall tactic c/b distracting to the server.***
Nadal's the worst offender; esp. when receiving! The server s/b allowed to just go ahead & serve w/ that idiot toweling off & yanking on his junk & draws!
***Maybe they can introduce this rule on the regular tour in the near future as well.***
I thought that was the idea of the tourn.; testing new scoring & other rules B4 enforcing on the tour! I'm truly hoping they do something to cut these match X's down! No-Ad & a TB @ 4 all makes so much sense w/ matches lasting 3+ hrs. or > w/ 5 sets!
***I don't think that the majority of tennis comm. wants or is ready @ least for changes in the scoring system; @ least not yet. But changes regarding the shot clock w/b very welcomed methinks.***
***Stan vs. Andy is a great exercise in combat'n "Slam absolutism." While it's prob. true that Stanimal @ his best was > dangerous player > Andy ever was. Andy's overall career was signif. >er. After those 3 Slams, Stan has 1 big title (Masters) to Andy's 17 (a WTF, 2 OGM's, 14 Masters).***
ReplyDeleteAnother great underachiever! Stan had all the shots & a > 1-handed BH! His prob. was def. in his head! If you recall, when he finally won something, he pt.'d to his head as if he was telling his coach he was mentally there! Winning only 1 Masters' the > embarrassing since = the worst have 2 or 3! His >est hurdle was obviously playing his countryman, Fed! There was such a mental block, it rivaled Gerulaitis' rec. vs Connors & Borg! He had a lit'l success vs Djokovic & stole 3 majors from him over the yrs.!
***Fed's going to get a belated Wimbl. tennis farewell in '23. His “real” goodbye. They prob. will set up some sort of ceremony on Centre Court & Rolex, Uniqlo, etc involved will get plenty of advertising/marketing mileage out of it.***
It m/b 2 > by way of Novak tying him up @ 8 Wimbls. apiece, then the following season if Novak goes by after winning his 9th!
***...That's when the centre of the tennis world shifted to the USA, and it was Texas where it went. There are all kinds of sports thriving in TX. They didn't just pick the place out of a hat.***
I need to reiterate Lamar Hunt in Houston & his support of tennis created the WCT Tour which was > financially promoted > all the majors combined!
***I have been saying this for past few yrs. & we have ardent WTA enthusiasts who think the GS crowd's entirely to watch women play & how > they deserve t/b paid the same as ATP. This is the real state of WTA. There are no takers @ all. Women’s tennis in GS's are merely forced. Nobody gives a flying Fk. about women’s tennis. It has been in such bad shape = when Serena was around. She beat a bunch of nobodies & padded up her GS ct.
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Iga's playing Daria now & the amt. of empty seats is insane.***
The women needs stars just like the men! As much as we like IGA as #1, the name isn't pulling fans like Osaka, Barty, Azarenka or Pliskova! The men might = have trouble after Fedalovic hangs it up for good!
***Lot of guys have their panties in a bunch over WTA crowds. So much caring for something they constantly proclaim they don't care about!***
I know I stopped caring yrs. ago & my panties are none of your business! Women's tennis has been in trouble since Serena able to come & go as she pleased!
***Not saying we should take away anybody's pay, but the WTA Finals have a $5M prize pool. I doubt there are any ATP tourns. w/ that kind of prize $$ & low attendance.***
There w/b in=ties trying to get women's sports the respectability & competitiveness to get the masses to care! What's worse is in college, taking $$ from men's programs to support the ladies when there isn't = full participation! The men continue to pay the freight of women's sports w/ lit'l in the way of gratitude!
***I'm starting to notice that the equality BS is starting to fade a lit'l though. M/b this'll help. lol.***
***What does prize $$ on the WTA have to do w/ the ATP? They’re separate tours. And if the WTA can't sustain this level of prize $$ based on turnout, then it’ll shake out in the future, but I thought it was pretty clear that attendance has nothing to do w/ prize $$.***
ReplyDeleteTech., there's always a drain from somewhere else if you start making $$ right away! The growing pains of the WTA were BJK, Wade, Court, & others being signed to their contracts for a $1 back in the early 70's! The VS Tour was brand spankin' new! Ted Tinling became prominent designing sexy, but wearable dresses! BJK promised t/b the 1st woman to win $100 K in a season! It was all but assured since price $$ jumped to $10 K for tourn. champs! She was women's tennis!
I think women's tennis prob. tried growing faster > it should; IDK! I recall @ 1 X all the top players met in the same events! They didn't have 3 or 4 going @ the same X! That's why it was the "Martina & Chris Show" every wk. for a few yrs.! As soon as they acquired a few extra stars like Sabatini, Graf, Sanchez-V., & Seles, they started spreading themselves thin w/ 2 events @ the same X; Graf & Sabatini in FLA final, while Navratilova & Seles duked it out in a Paris Indoor event! They aquired the $$, but not the real fandom one'd think w/ all the promoting of their players yr. Rd.! Of the Sports Ladies "winnings," tennis players dom. the list w/ golf a distant 2nd! The WNBA hasn't captured the imagination of the country after huge infusions of $$ directly from the NBA! What'll they be remembered for in the foreseeable future; a star player in a Russian prison? Women's soccer's popular worldwide, but they ain't making BANK here in the USA!
***Rafa rights the ship & takes the opener 6-3 over Tommy Paul in Bercy.
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Papa should've stayed home & changed > diapers this wk. He's playing like his diaper is soiled. Lost 2nd set in TB. Now down a brk in the 3rd.***
..And this is w/ Rafa getting to the tourn. early to practice! I wonder what it whb like if he arrived just a day B4?
***He's never been extremely good on indoor HC. I don't expect that to change in '22 no matter how many extra days of practice he got.***
I don't understand, how can Rafa be The GOAT if absol. help< & win< in the Fall in events run after the USO? No Paris Masters or YEC!
***If he was smart, he would've teamed up w/ someone to play dubs this wk. so he'll have some extra matches B4 he has another wk. off***
Here we go! Nadal's PR Agent's @ work making excuses for him! Courier went right to the "injury card!" OMG, WTF? "Not to take anything from Tommy's play," he says! He just did! Absolute SCUM move! If Rafa starts bitching in the news conf., I'm going to fillet him for the rest of his miserable life!
***Rusty perf., but T. Paul played amazing. I wonder if Nadal will play the ATP finals now? He seems kind of disinterested/down @ the end. M/b he'll take a brk. until next yr. Courier can say what he wants about anyone, but Nadal hasn’t said anything yet; so stop creating drama as usual.***
You're deluding yourself! If Nadal has a chance to take YE #1, he participates! He usually mentally signs-off after the USO; some say the FO & doesn't care about the rest of the season! He knows he has serious holes in his resume that c/b held over his head includ. YE #1's, Wks. @ #!, & no GM's! Rafa has the rec. in RG & 1 > major over Djokovic! That's just not a lot & IDK how you can think it's going t/b overlooked by tennis historians!? ;-)
***Raiders/Saints matchup w/b one of the best games of the wkend.***
ReplyDeleteYou were saying? Just chk'd Half-X score; Raiders already down 17-0 to the woeful Saints! M/b LV c/b labeled the best 2-5 team in the league now! They have a 2nd 1/2 to turn it around I guess! My Bears so far are being embar. on Nat'l TV by the Cowboys! Chgo. had intercp. to close it to 28-17, but score run back up 49-29!
***I love it that the Chokeland Faiders are getting their asses kicked. That’s almost as > special to me as when the Cheatriots lose or the Bucs & Shady Brady.
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Andy Reid's another from the Holmgren coaching tree who has taken 2 teams to the SB, 1st w/ Donovan McNabb & the Eagles, then Mahomes w/ the Chiefs.***
I give Reid > credit w/ Phili.; so injury rampant from Donovan to their #1 draft pick RB always on the shelf! It's a wonder they were as successful, but it helped that The Cowboys' org. was still in flux after Jimmy fired! The yr. they made the SB, WR T. Davis was out for wks. after being horse-collared shattering his ankle! W/ KC, he has a wealth of talent! They keep talking about being w/o Tyreek Hill, but have no idea why as they're on course to make the Conf. Chp. game yet again!
***...Mahomes can make any of us look like a > coach as Brady did w/ Belicheat & Elway did for Mike Shannahan; neither being good coaches IMO. It was his X in Philly where he proved Reid was a really good coach. The Eagles firing him was a God-send for the Chiefs. The Bills look like they have a > coach as e well to join the ranks of Marv Levy. They have X injury’s to pretty much 1/2 the team & yet have only lost one game this yr. To beat the Chiefs in KC w/ those kinds of injurys, there's no stopping this team from winning it all. I just can’t see it. They have a good coach & the talent that I can easily see them being the 1st team since the Cheatriots to win B2B SB's. I hope so. Would like to see a LEGIT team pull that off. The last one that did it was the Broncos. That’s been a long X.***
It's delusional behavior where these guys are willing to give it all up for just 1 > game! Sick AF; esp. Brady!
***I'll agree Brady should've went out on top. But that's me. He may want to leave it all out there on the field B4 he leaves. I think it's weird Gisele wanted him to quit. Usually the spouse is worried too > hubby being @ home all the X'is going t/b too >. And he's young. If they weren't getting along, why would she care that he's gone? Except for the kids. But come on! It's only 1 > yr. Also, Brady's only 1 game out of 1st place still. Not just 1 > game, 1 > chp. The rest of your life, you'll wonder if m/b you had 1 > in you. If you crash your last yr., then you know you overstayed your welcome.
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Bills won 27-17 on SNF. Not the blowout I was hoping for, but a loss is a loss. That's 4 losses in a row for the Pukers. Hopefully many > to come. So I'm 10-4 going into Monday Night's game btw the Bengals & Browns. - Yeah, from what you were telling me I figured it w/b a blowout as well; dissapointed it wasn't.***
Rodgers' still Rodgers! It's not like anyone should feel sorry for him, but he did it to himself! His salary's the biggie & as a result, GB hasn't been able to attract receiver talent! The ones they had have left! Poor Aaron! The Bills coasted in the 2nd Half of the SNF game!
***The Pukers trading Davante Adams has been disastrous for their offense. Kind of funny that Adams hasn't really been a big impact for the Raiders. Now both teams suck.
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That kind of performance may come back & bite them in the ass if they try that against a team capable of a comeback.***
You mean like KC? Just give them 13 secs. & you're in trouble!
***Exactly. There’s a lot of opportunistic teams out there that can hurt you if you get lackadaisical or lazy & let up on the gas.***
Happens every Sunday, Monday or Thursday! ;-)
***Novak didn't defend any of those last 3 big titles in '16, & Andy won all 3. Novak choked, & Andy took advantage & played the best tennis of his career to steal the YE #1 - arguably ending his career to do so.***
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you said it! That was the beginning of the end of Murray overplaying like that! He was finished, done, caput after that! He did it to himself!
***Fiero loves this line of thinking, but I disagree. Murray's injury in early '17 was elbow. He's had hip issues since early 20s, by all accts. I don't believe that Murray's hip issues were from making a run in the last months of '16 & getting to #1. He has osteoarthritis. That takes a long X to become a prob.
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Well, I said "arguably." But certainly he overplayed & wore his body down to the pt. that it never fully recovered, resulting in injury & surgery.
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Dude, I was aiming @ Fiero, who never stops saying that Murray blew himself out passing Novak @ the end of '16. ...The degen. of the hips was coming to him for much of his tennis life. ...Yes, he was 78-9 on the yr. But Novak was 82-6 the yr. B4. Who's to say what's too many matches?
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Alcaraz WD's from ATP Finals. He has an abdominal strain of some sort. Nadal now has a chance @ YE #1 w/ good showing @ the YEC.***
OMG, Alcaraz out for the rest of the season! Have to hope Djokovic's in Nadal's group!
***Lol @ this thinking Nadal's going to show up in Turin & run 4-0 to the Finals after losing to Tommy Paul. - Rafa doesn't care about #1. He won't = know his ranking in Turin let alone the pts scenarios. If he's not bothered by it, neither am I.
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I think we both know that's not true. LOL, Rafa's very much calculative about YE #1. Recall '17? He'd play just enough in Paris, = when unwell so he gets to #1 & then retires once he got the spot.***
It's ridiculous how we have to remind fans of Nadal about their guy when they know damn well what's the truth! Why do they do it? Delusion, a psychosis?
***Anybody look @ the H2H btwn. Novak & Stefanos? 8-2, & the Greek hasn't beaten Djokovic in 3 yrs. He's 24! He's definitely going in the wrong dir.***
Well Paris' over on TV! Djokovic tried to give the match to Tsitsipas, but he couldn't take it! Novak had all kinds of brk pts., but allowed 3rd set TB!
***Just weird to hear Federites say the major rec. "no biggie" when it comes to GOAT-dom. The cult of his "Total Majors rec." was so ingrained for yrs.***
It took Sampras decades to brk Emerson's rec. & just over 8 for Fed to brk Sampras'! Who'd think 2 other players would overtake them all?
***In fairness, I don’t think anyone was trying to brk Emerson's rec. until Pete decided to. Borg could've sleepwalked by it if it was considered t/b a thing back then, but as you know, it wasn’t.***
There are a few new things that's happened in the last 20-50 yrs. of tennis! Besides the TB becoming a staple, terms like CGS were created! Since Graf successfully completed her CYGS, the Martina-Slam, Serena-Slam, & Nole-Slam aren't taken seriously = though no one else has been able to accomp. it!
***Yeah, I think Agassi originated the career-slam. ITA, the Martina-Slam incl. 6 slams in a row. Martina’s loss vs Sukova in '84 still hurts as much as Borg’s def. to McEnroe in NY in '80. Serena & Novak both held all 4 @ one stage & came so close to winning the CYGS. So many epic achievements by > players. We’re fortunate to witness them.***
***I've been working on a formula called GS Equivalencies (GSE) that is meant to translate a player's total accompl. & peak level into 1# & came up w/ the following Top 10 for the OE:
ReplyDelete1. 24.71 Federer
2. 24.41 Djokovic
3. 17.38 Sampras
4. 16.73 Borg
5. 15.74 McEnroe
6. 15.63 Lendl
7. 15.58 Connors
8. 15.52 Nadal
9. 12.22 Agassi
10.11.01 Laver
Federer's 1st, w/ Novak prob. to surpass him @ some pt. Nadal's 8th, just behind Connors. He has a chance to pass the next 3 to reach the Top 5 players of the OE, but prob. won't go >er.
In other words, the real quest for GOAT is btwn. Fed & Djokovic, w/ Rafa > in the same tier w/ Connors, Lendl, & McEnroe.***
Makes sense to me! People think I'm trolling when I pt. out holes in Rafa's resume which was prob. to the detriment of his #'s in this "GSE!"
***I want Nadal t/b stopped @ 22 & Novak @ 24/25. Otherwise it w/b ridiculous if the game didn’t move on w/ the new sets of players.***
I know what you mean, but we're wasting our X thinking anyone in the near future will brk. any of these recs. held by Fedalovic! It'd take 20 yrs. of play so I'm sure I won't see ANY of the recs. broken; Majors, Masters, YEC, YE #1, Wks. @ #1, etc.! Carlos needed to keep it going, but's fallen off since USO win!
***Fed & many of his fans rode that train hard emphasizing the importance of Majors started during the Sampras era & his efforts to overcome Emerson. Wks @ #1 is a factor, but again, since tennis is on a sliding cal. pt. system, ending the year #1, = if you didn't have the most wks that yr.
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Slams are obviously hugely important, but they're not everything. At most, I'd say they make up about 40-50% of a player's total resume. I think rankings are also hugely important, & may = be > indicative of a player's overall >ness!
But yes, I do agree that majors are the big events, & I don't disagree @ all that 2 Slams should get you in the running for YE #1 & Rafa's in the running.***
I don't think majors s/b the only metric when it comes to anointing the best players! Regard< of what anyone thinks, IMO Navratilova's the BOAT man or woman! You just can't beat her overall rec. & dominance! It's was just a shame she got a late start getting spoiled by American life! It took her longer to get where she wanted to be! For the men, Fed couldn't be denied, not just an ATG, but a measuring stick for the sport the way he took over the ranks so shortly after Pete retired! Unfort. for him he was owned by 2 youngster & he hurt his legacy by hanging on too long! I already said +ing those 3 extra majors wasn't worth seeing him flounder for yrs; esp.'20! Even though he's not my fave to watch, Novak has all the recs. but majors & = that's negligable! My old self would've said Laver's rec. can't be beaten; esp. for the X's as an Am. & Pro, he did take 2 CYGS ('62 & '69)! Borg owned his era IMO; = though short! Then Sampras had his X, & I guess we have to give Roger a bone! But after all's been said & done, the rec.-book's replete w/ Novak's name all over it in "Standalone" achievements!
***Aaron Krickstein's the youngest player to win a title in the OE - Tel Aviv in '83 @ age 16, 2 mo., 8 days. I vaguely recall @Fiero425 ranting about him being a disappointment.***
Like all the kiddies of that era, they broke down trying to play men & women w/ wooden sticks! Austin & Jaeger were the early victims of greedy, Fan-Ho parents pushing their kids to the brink of dispair! Then there was Arias & Krickstein! AK's only disappointment was to himself not finishing off Connors in that USO match! Last I read about him, it has something to do w/ Marine Biology! The 2nd wave of girls were put under = > pressure as $$ c/b made in endorsements so "looks" were a premium w/ Basset, Temesvari, Sabatini, & of course Anna Korn. much later! Andre Agassi admitted in his book how much he hated tennis & the people he had to deal w/ in those teen yrs.! It seems Sabatini & Graf avoided a lot of injuries; so Amazonian IMO!
***Enjoyable WTA Tourn., but sad that it was held where it has the atmosphere of a 250/500 event.***
ReplyDeleteA lot of it has to do w/ name recog. of the players & these ladies aren't capturing the minds & hearts of the avg. tennis fan! It hurt when Osaka started having troubles & then Barty retired! That couldn't have helped the tour! There's a vacuum @ the top; sorta like when we lost Sampras, Courier, Agassi, etc.! Swiatek needs to step it up & stabalize the ranking b/c it's a mess!
***Best Seasons of the Big 3:
Nole -'11> '15 > '12 > '13 ~ '16 > '14 ~ Wim'18-Wim'19 (prime level) >>> AO'20 > '21 > '22
4 Fraud -'06 ~ '05 >= '04 > '07 > '09 > '08 > '11 > '12~'10 > '03 > '17 ~ '15 > '14, rest irrelevant
4 Nadal -...toughest ...oft injured & isn’t always yr. Rd: '10 ~ '08 >= '07 >= '05 ~ '11 ~ '13 > '06 > '09 > '12 > '14 > '17 > '18 > '19 > '20 > '22***
Nole prob. thinks '21 is his best season! One match from a CYGS; how could he not? Obviously '15 is his > successful season! No one'll come close to winning 3 majors, in the final of the other, then + 6 Masters, making 8 finals he played! Who else can come = close w/o dropping dead? Even the haters have to take note & say "hmmmm!"
***Only Fed came close in '06, w/ 3 major titles, final of the 4th, 4 masters, overall 6 finals played, + WTF. But Djokovic's '15 still edges him out overall.***
I know it seems =valent, but if a FO final is lost, there s/b no talk of a CYGS! Many past champs who owned 3 are > signif. since their one loss was @ the USO!
***I just watched the video of Novak's peeps preparing his "juice." The guy in black looks as if he's trying to obstruct observers.***
Shocking! Nole's people prob. thought people would go fk'n nuts & try to concoct some nefarious reason why he's still playing so good in his mid 30's = though Roger played until he was almost 40! The hypocrisy's mind-numbing, but this is the world we live in! We're all FOS & look to undermine accomp.! I = do it w/ Nadal! Even though Nadal's career is not bal. w/ the majority of his success on clay, he still owns 22 Majors! I have > respect for Fedovic who had success over all surfaces including sev. YEC's which Rafa's never gotten a sniff of after all these yrs.!
***“Ages off tour” only ages an aging player = >***
So ridiculous! Novak loses 1 match since Wimbl. & he's considered ancient or "aging off the tour!" Ridiculous! He won 3 Majors last season! Those idiots on TCC keep referencing The Laver Cup matches which is = > ridiculous of them as they played on the tour! The LC's lit'l > a glorified exh.! It just shouldn't ct. in the H2H! I seem to recall Novak losing 2 LC matches in '18 after his huge comeback! He went on on to collect 7 majors since then! This shortened season might = be rejuvenating for all we know after such a tough '21 being a match from a CYGS & def. @ the Olympics!
***Fed's stubborn AF & that's also why he took way too long to change to the >er racquet. He should've changed racquets & started to hit the BH w/ > aggression & < slice yrs ago. ...of course it can only take something as basic as changing strategy or improving your weaknesses (BH) to beat an opp. A few pts determine everything. Just look @ Wimbl.'19 final.***
By the final, it was Roger's FH that was a bit wild & that's where UFE's cost him, esp. in those TB's; 3 of them! He had 11 UFE to Nole's 0!
***Well I was alluding > to the 2 wasted MP's, but, yeah, the TB's he played sucked royally! He was ahead in all key stats & still lost.***
Well NG'rs are starting to get over reverance of the B3! Nadal's been run ragged! Rune doesn't GAF & couldn't care < about the elites of the game as he def. 5 top 10'rs in a row!
***It's taken them a long X to get to this pt. I thought The B3 w/b run out of the game by the late 2010s. As it turns out, I couldn't have been > wrong. The Lost Gen. was a total flop & the heavily hyped NG has not fared much >er.***
***In the 90s, people didn't talk about McEnroe or Connors in this reverential way. That was reserved for 2 guys: Borg & Laver. Guys who weren't just impressive, but inspirational.
ReplyDeleteThen Pete kind of joined that group, but his lack of expressiveness prevented him from truly connecting. We never really felt like we 'knew' Pete & he didn't help that by becoming a near hermit after retirement. Laver & Borg still show up to way > stuff & they're > older (esp. Rocket).
And then Roger came along, taking "The Beautiful Game" to new athletic hts., while bringing some of Sampras' stoicism, but balancing it w/ a full range of human emotions that we all experienced along w/ him. That's why ppl idolize him & that's not going to change for a while. I can't see anyone filling his shoes for a long X, m/b ever @ffw2 @vive le beau jeu!
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The only guy who transcended the sport > Fed was Borg. A supreme winner w/ style, class, & rockstar status. He was a huge cultural icon. Fed's the only guy who get's close. Thing about Borg is, this per. of X was actually pretty short. He walked away from the game very early, then tried to come back...and was terrible.
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Fed never did anything like that. He only built on his successes, & when he couldn't, he re-doubled his efforts & never stopped trying. And for the > part, he was a top player to the end.
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Sorry — Borg is obviously a legend, but he w/b but a footnote compared to Fed’s legacy.
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Fed def. had a much >er career & >er impact on the game, but Borg, although short-lived, created a media frenzy wherever he went, he was a rockstar. There was also a per. where the players lost the match = B4 walking onto the court. They were in awe.
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The awe factor @ RG was strong, but @ Wimby it was quite diff. Oddly enough, his 1st of his 5 str. title runs was the smoothest. From '77, his 1st defense, he had to go 5 in 6 of his 28 matches. Victor Amaya was almost a precursor to Ivo Karlovic, trying to oust a def. champion in 1R in '78, just one set away B4 Borg rallied to win in 5. In '76, B4 he had est. surface versatility, Borg did not drop a set. That was prob. a combo of overconfidence on the part of his opps & a fairly weak draw. When '77 rolled around, there was no overconfidence & he started to play a succession of players not intimidated to a level they weren’t ready to make Bjorn work for the wins.
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Comparatively no, Borg was on the cover of all the fashion mags, had an entourage whenever he went, high sec., & screaming fans, >ly young girls following him wherever he went. It was always a circus w/ tons of media coverage.
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Rosstour, don't get me wrong, but no, not @ the same level.
Federer had a long career, in his 1st 10 yrs., he was big, huge, in the tennis world, but not beyond that.
Later on he became what he is today, an icon.
Borg didn't take 15 yrs to become an icon, he was one from the get go.
Borg got invited to places w/ strict dress codes, & he showed up wearing jeans, & allowed in b/c he was Borg.
When Borg played, the place w/b swarmed w/ young females going crazy about him.
That never happened w/ Fed.
Both are icons, but w/ Fed there was never the frenzy that surrounded Borg, 2 diff. things.***
Thanks! ;-)
***Been following the Bears & wonder is Justin Fields another bust for the Bears in their search for a starting QB? One thing I've never understood about the Bears org. is their desire to draft a QB in the 1st Rd. when they have a miserable X developing that position?
ReplyDelete---
I think the prob. in Chgo's mgmt. & coaching. Fields was a 50/50 guy coming out of OSU IMB. W/ the right org. @ development, I think he chb a pretty eff. QB. But w/ the Bears, not so much.
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Yeah, the team need t/b sold & have new ownership to install >er mgmt. that can develop players >er. M/b the best thing the Bears can do is trade him to a team that can fix what's wrong & he c/b a good bkup. choice.
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I don’t think the Bears have had a > QB since Sid Luckman in the leather helmet days. Jim McMahon was good in his prime.
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He was OK. Don't think he ever had > 15 TD passes in a season. He had an injury plagued career & much of it was spent in a bkup. role.***
McMahon was a > leader of men! It's just too bad the O-line couldn't keep him upright for long! Even their SB season of '85, Fuller & Tomczak had to win quite a few games while Jim was on the shelf! They wound up being 15-1 dropping the one game I predicted vs Miami & Marino's Dolphins! They annihilated the playoff victims of The Giants & Rams! Watching the Bear Defense beat up the opp. was as entertaining as watching the Offense! There was neg. yardage in the 1st Half vs NE in New Orleans! They had the audacity to create a video during the SB run; "The SB Shuffle!" Wow; no team as dom. since; = those Balt. defensive teams!
***Yeah, that '85 Bears defense was just incredible. I haven't seen any defense compare, & that includes the Pitt.'s Steel Curtain, Vikings Purple People Eaters, Cowboys Doomsday, LT's Giants, 2000 Ravens, or the '02 Bucs. They just flat out dom. their opps. They were the strength of that Bears team. McMahon was OK, & they had Walter Payton & Willie Gault. McMahon mhb a > QB if he could've just stayed healthy.
===
We're @ HalfX in the NFL season. Lots of interesting games t/b played out. This wk...
Thurs. Night Game - Falcons @ Panthers - I'll take Falcons.
Sunday Games:
Seahawks @ Bucs - Didn't the Seachix recently play in London? I'll take them over the Bucs in Munich.
Cowboys @ Packers - Wish there was a way for both teams to lose. If the Pukers can't = take care of the Lions, I give them lit'l chance to beat the Cowpies.
Vikings @ Bills - My game of the wk. Not sure ...on Allen's elbow. I know the Bills are favored, but I can't go vs my Vikings. They've figured out how to win close games & I expect they'll do it again.
Lions @ Bears - Black & Blue div. matchup. Looks like the Bears offense is starting to click. I'll take the Bears @ Home.
Browns @ Dolphins - I'll go w/ the Fish @ Home.
Broncos @ Titans - Neither team seems able to pass. Titans have Derrick Henry. I'll take Titans @ Home.
Texans @ Giants - I'll take the Jersey Jints @ Home.
Jaguars @ Chiefs - Chefs shouldn't have > trouble here.
Saints @ Steelers - Toss up. I'll go w/ Home team Steelers.
Colts @ Raiders - 1st game as HC for Jeff Saturday. Not sure who to pick. The Raiders s/b > >er given their talent. I'll go w/ the Raiders @ Home.
Cardinals @ Rams - Rams have been crapping the bed this yr. The Cards haven't been any >er. I'll go w/ the Rams @ Home.
Chargers @ 49ers - I'll go w/ the Bolts over the Santa Clara Whiners.
MNF Game - Commanders @ Eagles - Hope the Commies can win here, but doubt that happens. Div. games can go in unexpected ways though.***
Thanks! ;-)