tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post6669679842465097507..comments2024-03-26T22:14:18.179-05:00Comments on Jamie - Fiero425's Personal BLOGs: What's Up? Topic #19; entries from 5/16 - 07/16Jamie / Fiero425http://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-22178071783322419882016-07-31T17:00:21.801-05:002016-07-31T17:00:21.801-05:00***...Majors success is--obviously--about winning ...***...Majors success is--obviously--about winning the title, a completely separate matter, so "cons. finals" means nothing. The goal--the achievement is winning the majors, not trivia.***<br /><br />Lendl making 8 str. USO finals seems to get more "ink" than actually winning it 3 X's in a row '85-87! Streaks are important to me; love looking @ the record books for that reason! It's impressive & stands out in the annals of tennis history! It gives texture to the level of comp. & high level achieved by a single player who's dominating! I didn't think Nole could outdo '11, but he almost buried it in '15 w/ an extra Masters (1st 3 & another rec.) & the addition of the YEC! He filled the lone "major" hole in winning Paris 2 months ago, is on course to complete the Masters career-set in Cincy, & might even compete in Rio to top it all off w/ OG!<br /><br />***Federer btw London & Rio Olympics...<br /><br /> 222-52 @ 81%<br /> 76-20 @ 81% at majors<br /> 13-5 @ 72% at WTF<br /><br /> 13 singles titles<br /> 4 Masters titles<br /> Davis cup win<br /><br /> 28 finals<br /> 3 Major finals<br /> 3 WTF finals<br /> 10 Masters finals<br /><br /> 8 Major semis (3A, 3W, 2U)<br /><br /> 7-11 vs Djokovic<br /> (compare to Murray + Nadal: 8-28 vs Djokovic)<br /> 14-18 vs Big 4<br /><br /> (since Aug. '13, i.e. based purely on post-London)<br /> 48 wks @ #2<br /> 60 wks @ #3<br /><br /> That's a pretty damn good career right there.<br />---<br /><br />There's a wk off btw Cincy & USO; Nole could recover. It's not like the 1st wk @ the USO w/b that tough. Anyways, it depends what he does at the Olympics & how much he cares about it. Wouldn't surprise me to see him withdraw last min. due to risk w/ Zika like so many athletes. I know I'm in the minority here, but to me winning Cincy & therefor having won every MS-1000 at least once is a >er achievement than the Olympics. Also if I'm Djokovic, I don't risk my health over it either. - I think Cincy is a >er achievement than the Olympics from a tennis perspective (as are some of the other M1000), but Djokovic wants to win a medal for Serbia.***<br /><br />Another milestone; happens each X Nole takes the court! This Canadian Open's his 30th Masters, 4th Can. title, and is on course to set records we thought Roger would hold alone for decades!<br /><br />***Don't get carried away please. Roger was never gonna be ahead in Masters given he played Nadal in so many on clay, but he's well ahead in most of the biggest records.<br />---<br /><br />... when Federer was 29 (at the end of '10)?<br /><br /> Federer at 29 (Djokovic as of now)<br /> GS titles: 16 (12)<br /> GS match wins: 208 (223)<br /> Masters titles: 17 (30)<br /> Total titles: 66 (66)<br /> Total match wins: 743 (732)<br /> Total match played: 917 (882)<br /> Weeks @ #1: 285 (209+)<br /> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djokovic–Federer_rivalry<br /><br />Djokovic has already surpassed Federer @ 29 in 2 categories (GS match wins & Masters titles), tied in 1 (total titles) and closed the gap in all others. Aside from GS titles & wks @ #1, Djokovic will end '16 ahead in 5 out of 7 categories above, which is absolutely amazing.***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-90726620862612548252016-07-30T21:00:04.726-05:002016-07-30T21:00:04.726-05:00***Of all the records Serena is shooting for &...***Of all the records Serena is shooting for & has been discussed to possibly take, this is 1 rarely talked about. ...She is only 2 Wimbledons behind Navratilova, and is the clear fave for the forseeable future just based on how she is serving. Can she get to 9 or even to 10?<br /><br />If she does get to 9, I would probably rate her as the grass & Wimbledon GOAT over Navratilova. She has had way tougher comp. than Martina there since:<br /><br /> Venus >> Evert on grass<br />---<br /><br />Kerber, Radwanska, Muguruza... tough comp? Really? I think Serena is playing in the weakest era of all X's.<br />---<br /><br />Really? ...The WTA has only been more than 2 players deep 1 X, & that X included Jennifer, Lindsey, Martina, Justine, Serena, Venus, Mary Pierce.<br />---<br /><br />Martina is clearly the GOAT on grass, & Chrissie is 2nd, not Serena. Chrissie & Martina having each other as rivals is the only reason Serena even gets a casual mention in the GOAT discussion, b/c w/o each other, either 1 has 30+ slams.<br />---<br /><br />...Mid 90s to early/mid 00s... So much variety in the game, diff. styles, surprise champions, lots of diff. personalities. Players like Kuerten, Moya, Rios, Rafter, Ivanisevic, Becker, Krajicek, Arthurs, clay court specialists like Mantilla, Bruguera & Costa, Safin emerging out of nowhere in 2000 & taking over, super aggressive young Roddick, early Fed…and oh yeah, Pete & Andre. I feel very privileged to have watched tennis during this X.***<br /><br />If you think variety was the spice of life then, you should have grown up in my era w/ Borg, Vilas, Connors, Orantes, Ramirez, Gerulaitus, Nastase, Newcombe, Laver, Rosewall, Ashe, McEnroe, Tanner, The Bagel Twins (Solomon/Dibbs), & so many other colorful characters! That isn't even counting some of the best doubles players who made their mark; Smith/Lutz, Gottfried/Ramirez, Hewitt/McMillan, Stewart/McNair, Connors/Nastase, & even Borg/Vilas! Yep, singles stars played doubles!<br /><br />***Nole's getting his 1st shot at plying the GURU since Paris '14. We all know what that spurred: Novak had experienced 3 str. 1-slam yrs in the middle of his prime, but the lesson from the GURU propelled him into a historical run of >ness, culminating in the Nole-slam. ...<br />---<br /><br />...Monfils has never lived up to his potential. I think someone may have reminded him of this. I got Monfils finally getting off the snide today.***<br /><br />Who hasn't? OTTH Dimitrov, Simon, Wawrinka, Tsonga, Murray, Isner, Querrey, Kei, Milos, & any # of other players who have all the shots, but can't complete the deal when it counts!<br /><br />***Novak gets broken in the 3rd game. He shb broken in the 1st itself. But, he is trying to eke out a win w/o playing well.***<br /><br />He's been doing that all season as far as I'm concerned! He hasn't played "lights out' tennis since he annihilated Nadal in Qatar! He's been playing "just well enough to get by," but has had more than a few close calls, being taken to the limit; esp. in Masters 1000 this season! - Monfils' suckin' wind! He's toast already!<br /><br />***My Lord, you're a Debbie Downer already.***<br /><br />Just a historic inevitability IMO! I get so frustrated w/ some players who have the goods, but think they can "outlast" an elite player instead of taking it "to them!" How many has Murray "given" to Nole b/c he thinks his training'll sustain him? It's idiotic when there are other aves of winning! Berdych, Ferrer, Cilic, Tsonga, & Monfils epitomize what I'm talking about being owned by "The Big 4!" They can't break out of their "comfort zone" to finish off a close match.<br /><br />***In fairness, Monfils plays this way not just vs elite players, but against anyone. Monfils simply does not have an aggressive bone. He does not even attack a weak 2nd serve.***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-39468386344296463602016-07-30T01:02:39.445-05:002016-07-30T01:02:39.445-05:00***Djokovic mhb a better player for Nadal final of...***Djokovic mhb a better player for Nadal final of '14 AO than Wawrinka; reason being everyone expected Rafa to win. ...the pressure was huge from a historical pt. Nadal was playing to = Sampras. He was also playing to = Laver's double CS, & be the 1st in the Open era to do so. Stan had lost a dozen X's to him and never even took a set. The expectation was so high on Nadal being the overwhelming fave that the pressure played a significant part in Nadal's back muscles seizing up under the tension even before the match began; causing the injury.<br /><br />...I personally think it took until W'14 final for Novak to return properly, so I can understand my friend's suggestion that mentally he was vulnerable at AO'14.<br /><br />In hindsight, the AO'14 final was the perfect storm for Rafa to lose. Everything was just vs him in that match. Pressure, expectation, history, being the overwhelming fave, & inspired GOATing opp. who played the ultimate underdog.<br />---<br /><br />As I've argued before, Roger was the best player in the game from '04 until mid-'08; then from mid-'08 to early '10, Roger & Rafa were =s. But from mid-'10 on, Rafa or Novak has been the best in the sport, w/ Roger usually 3rd best (rankings aside).<br />---<br /><br />Dude, of course only Agassi, Connors, Laver or Rosewall are the 1's w/ comparable or > longevity. BUT can you name a former world #1 who has a 'runner up' streak of 3 Slam finals combined w/ 3 WTF finals, all on his top 3 surfaces (grass/indoors/fast-HC)? - Or look at it this way. Borg never lost an RG final. Sampras never lost a Wimbledon Final. Nadal never lost an RG final. Nole never lost an AO final. The latter 2 still might, but it's not likely. Until last month Roger had never lost a Wimbledon SF & he found a way to do it.<br />---<br /><br />Let's take a look at all players w/ 5+ major titles--including Pro, Amateur, & Open Era Slams--going back to William Renshaw, who could be considered the 1st all-X great player. Here they are listed by year of birth, w/ the yr of their 1st Slam & their age @ the X in parentheses.<br /><br /> 1918: Riggs ('39, 21)<br /> 1921: Kramer ('46, 25)<br /> 1927: Sedgman ('49, 21)<br /> 1928: Gonzales ('48, 20)<br /> 1930: Trabert ('53, 22)<br /> 1934: Rosewall ('53, 18)<br /> 1934: Hoad ('56, 21)<br /> 1936: Emerson ('61, 24)<br /> 1938: Laver ('61, 22)<br /> 1944: Newcombe ('67, 23)<br /> 1952: Connors ('74, 21)<br /> 1956: Borg ('74, 18)<br /> 1959: McEnroe ('79, 20)<br /> 1960: Lendl ('84, 24)<br /> 1964: Wilander ('82, 17)<br /> 1966: Edberg ('85, 19)<br /> 1967: Becker ('85, 17)<br /> 1970: Agassi ('92, 22)<br /> 1971: Sampras ('90, 19)<br /> 1981: Federer ('03, 21)<br /> 1986: Nadal ('05, 19)<br /> 1987: Djokovic ('08, 20)<br /><br />I think that list shows us 2 things: One, teenage Slam winners are not totally unheard of, but very rare in tennis history. IDK about players w/ < than 5 Slams, but the only 2 5+ Slam winners who won their 1st as teenagers before Borg were Rosewall & Vines. Two, as we know there was a cluster of them in the 80s-90s, unlike any we have seen in tennis history.<br /><br />Rafa's RG title in '05 doesn't look that out of place in terms of its rarity. What's out of place is that cluster of teenagers in the 80s-90s. It was "only" 15 yrs since the last teenage Slam title, whereas before Borg in '74 you have to go back 21 yrs to Rosewall in '53.<br />---<br /><br />Borg is not a good comp b/c he retired @ 25 yo. Sampras played his last Wimbledon final @ 28 yo, Rafa his last (so far) @ 28 yo, & Novak @ 28 yo (so far). It isn't fair to compare those to Roger @ 32, 33, & 34--the ages he was @ the '14 Wimbledon, '15 Wimbledon, & '15 USO. To put it another way, Borg, Sampras, Rafa, & Novak never--or have not yet--played @ an age & level similar to Roger's the last few yrs.***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-23114264863531612016-07-29T00:41:52.199-05:002016-07-29T00:41:52.199-05:00***Fed =
GOAT grass + Wimby
GOAT rebound ace AO...***Fed =<br /><br /> GOAT grass + Wimby<br /> GOAT rebound ace AO<br /> GOAT USO<br /> 2nd GOAT clay peak level<br /> GOAT peak level of play<br /> GOAT playing style and aura<br /><br />You are spouting off your desire, which has no connection to historical fact.<br /><br /> The facts @ the majors:<br /><br />•1st, no Grand Slam, so he's no GOAT.<br />•U.S. Open - tied w/ Connors & Sampras. Surpassed by Larned, Sears & Tilden.<br />•AO - he's in no "best of" category here, being surpassed by Emerson & Djokovic, & being in a 4-way tie w/ Crawford, Rosewall & Agassi.<br />•FO - 2nd in what? He only has 1 FO title, & is surpassed by 25 players.<br />•Wimbledon - tied w/ Renshaw & Sampras.<br />There's no rewriting or denying actual majors victories, or rambling about trivia. History firmly places Federer in his proper place--not being a GOAT player, which was not going to happen by failing to win the GS.<br />---<br /><br />Is he really the GOAT of all that? I know the word GOAT & Federer is synonymous these days and I don't really want to stoke the fire, but t/b tech, in the Open Era, Federer has roommates, but Djokovic & Nadal live alone. What I mean by that is that based on #'s, he can't outright claim GOAT at any 1 Slam, but they can. Nadal's RG GOAT (by far) & Djokovic's AO GOAT & they have the #'s. Fed shares his Wimbledon court w/ Sampras & his USO court w/ Sampras & Connors.<br /><br />He shares the record @ those tourneys, but his overall beautiful to watch game, aura & presence edge him over Sampras for both. <br />---<br /><br />...Be that as it may, there is still an argument for Murray being an ATG b/c of this. Let's take Becker for instance. How often do people really talk about his other titles & stuff. Most people remember him for what he did at Wimbledon. - I think a lot of people talk about his 6 Major titles, handful of WTF titles, & collection of "Masters Series" titles.***<br /><br />Murray w/b =lent to Becker if he had just taken a couple of those AO's! Those were a lot of semi's & finals! It's not like his opps made it easy for him, but not even trying to change it up makes it look all the worse! It's 1 of the reason players like Berdych, Ferrer, Tsonga, Cilic, Del Po, & so many others who NEVER change their approach; staying w/i their comfort zone only made it easier for Roger, Rafa, & Nole to own them "lock, stock, & barrel! Wawrinka broke out of that group & sneaked a couple majors & Masters! Btw the rest Cilic & Del Po have lone Slams @ USO & they share a handful of Masters! Andy has more in him than that super-defensive game, pretty much just running everything down & waiting for his op to keel over! I've seen him volley, but he still rather let the ball bounce than to take it out of the air & attack to finish pts off quicker! Silly after so many chances so if he's not even close to Becker w/ more of a game, it's his own fault!<br /><br />***When Djokovic defeated Federer at the '08 AO, this was his 1st match win over that GS's defending champion.<br /><br /> I think Djokovic has the record for this w/ 7 match wins.<br /> '08 AO, '11 AO, '11 Wimbledon, '11 USO, '15 AO, '15 FO, '15 USO.<br /><br /> Sampras & Agassi both did this 6 X's in their career. Federer did it twice. Nadal did it once.<br />---<br /><br />OTTH: Murray did it twice ('12 USO, '16 FO), Del Potro once ('09 USO), Söderling once ('09 FO), Wawrinka once ('13 USO), Dimitrov once ('14 Wimbl.), even Stakhovsky once ('13 Wimbl.). I guess Djokovic has certainly achieved yet another notable record in doing it 7 X's!***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-5858122511333595172016-07-28T18:16:14.838-05:002016-07-28T18:16:14.838-05:00Did anyone try watching Trump's news conferenc...Did anyone try watching Trump's news conference? It looks more like something satirically created for background noise in the back of a bad movie? He's railing vs Hillary & Bill, his polls, & ranting about emails! This is what Reps want to elect to the most powerful office on the planet! He throws out a couple names, pretends he's meeting w/ them, & that makes it seems like he has ideas! This can't be real; just doesn't look like reality! Now he's back on Hillary's server! "Donald, give us solutions, not your daily spin of your bizarre and < than memorable comments of bigotry, misogyny, sexism, & total ignorance of current affairs!" I hope his straight-jacket w/b ready when he goes down in flames! He will not be able to handle it! - Funny, FNC's "Out#'ed" bimbos would rather talk about DNC convention instead of what just happened! Hilarious that they're too embarrassed to talk about it now or they're still in shock over his comments!<br /><br />***Yes, it was surreal; & TREASONOUS. - LOL!! Great post Fiero. - Trump is a loon. He w/b a disaster as President. You cons never accepted Obama. Don't tell me I have to accept Trump. I don't & I won't.***<br /><br />As bad as Hillary's supposed t/b, what does that say about your candidate? His polls have t/b worse or he wouldn't be on the attack so much! He has no solutions, only an ability to tell us why we're so bad off in comparison to the rest of the world! "Thanks Donald; at least you know what you think of us!" He thinks us to be as stupid as he is to believe any of his BS!<br /><br />***OH REALLY...HILLARY LIES TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC ON A DAILY BASIS & YOU THINK TRUMP THINKS WE ARE STUPID...GET A GRIP! LOL - Trump does attack, he always has. It is his way of putting others on the defensive I suppose. However, his attacking does not mean he has no solutions. He's challenging Hillary's solutions (since you believe she has solutions). As for his ability for telling us how bad off we are, I agree w/ you--we are bad off & it's ridiculous for Trump to claim we aren't.<br />---<br /><br />Oddly enough, I have actually found info favorable to Hillary in the leaked e-mails from Assange's "Wikileaks." I wasn't expecting that.***<br /><br />It's always been made up conspiracies from "the right!" Hillary has a celebrity list & trying to keep that private, ended up exposing herself to ridicule! After so many yrs of Reps after her & Bill, you would think she'd be more careful! Nothing came of it, but it hurts her polls concerning honesty & trustworthiness! I have no problem w/ her in comparison to that inveterate liar w/ the bad hair! At least she knows what she's talking about over the incessant blatherings of some carnival barker!<br /><br />***This is how biased the media is vs Trump. I watched the whole press conference, and nowhere Trump is committing treason. Clearly if you hate Trump, you'll find every way to justify your hate. Again, I don’t get it. The media is trashing Trump, yet they continue t/b his puppy dogs. He gets free media attention in the midst of an outstanding DNC convention, brilliant! And yes, Trump was clearly joking. In fact, he said Putin w/b rewarded by the press, if the 30,000 emails were retrieved.***<br /><br />What's "good for the good is good for the gander" I always say! Trump keeps bringing up emails, Benghazi, & trying to undermine the CGI! No one's been more investigated w/ hearings & press conferences bemoaning all the things Hillary's detractors have been doing! Fk him and his stupid ass followers! Who wants a nimrod like this "frat Boy" who's more guilty of offenses including fraud, theft, & chronic misrepresentation?<br /><br />***Personally, I think the fact that Trump wasn't serious about his email comment makes it *worse* not better.***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-76592436167973568212016-07-28T13:07:59.428-05:002016-07-28T13:07:59.428-05:00***Do Blks who support Rep. over Dems realize they...***Do Blks who support Rep. over Dems realize they're factually "Uncle Toms?"<br /><br />Why would any Black person want to support the Rep. party? Look how they performed unprecedented disrespect of Obama & his family! I couldn't care < how TROLLS hunt down every slight "W" got when compared to how Barack was stabbed @ every opp! These animals even criticized the Obama girls getting Secret Service protection to go to school! Rep. leadership actually made an issue of this during the budget and debt battles! To this day, factions of that party believe he's some kind of Manchurian Cand. illegally voted in as President since he's from Kenya, is a Muslim, etc.)! <br /><br />My heart sink thinking about how this man has been treated! Why would Gays support them with the open hostility! Women are little more than props in publicity shots! Callista Gingrich has t/b an android following Newt around! ...Hillary was excoriated b/c she said she'd rather not "stay home & bake cookies!" Do I need to go on?<br /><br />***...Black unemployment is a disaster, Blk on Blk crime is at all X highs & NOW, Obama called Blacks who murder police officers COWARDS after supporting them at the Dallas police memorial. ...***<br /><br />And what would you suggest he do? ...I don't think most understand where this country had to bounce back from; whites aren't that > off when it comes to wealth! We're still trying to recover w/ the foot-dragging of the opp. party! ...I know it w/b ironic if after all the vilification, things take off economically once Barack leaves in Jan. & Hillary rides the wave of his good work!<br /><br />***If you love America than you'll vote for Hillary in Nov. & make sure it's not a sad day for America.***<br /><br />Oh that ship sailed yrs ago! When the economy was teetering over an abyss, unemployment sky'd over 10%, & the Nat'l Debt ceiling needed t/b raised, Reps gambled w/ our credit rating losing $20B alone by shutting down the gov't! They proved it was more important to have Obama kicked out after 1 term than to take care of business in a timely fashion! Even w/ all their footdragging and badfaith dealings having to do w/ the budget, we've recovered & they can't stand it! Hillary will continue the work and things will turn around for good even w/ the bad actors 'on the right!'<br /><br />***DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigns - DWS fired for corruption in DNC...***<br /><br />Next X I hear or read something about a Rep. pols or cons. "egghead" bitchin' about how the MSM's so liberal and "in the tank" for Clinton, I'll point this BS out to them! ...I see a drubbing when people come to their senses about this carnival barker!<br /><br />***...Well, Trump c/b rude & crude @ X's, but he's no Hillary! ;-) ***<br /><br />You're damn right Trump is no Hillary; she's a 1st Lady of Ark. & US, twice elected US Senator fron NY, runner-up to DNC nominee, his Secr. Of St., & co-founder of a global initiative that's saved lives all over the world! Trump is a self-promoting loud-mouth who's so full of shit, he's beginning to believe his own delusions of grandeur! We can only hope his supporters come to their senses so there's no doubt anywhere in the world that this tool will only see the WH from the outside.Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-72722469392890664792016-07-28T13:07:32.115-05:002016-07-28T13:07:32.115-05:00***It's like those who want to give Borg extra...***It's like those who want to give Borg extra Slams since he retired early. Graf retired at a X she was likely never winning another slam. Her last 3 yrs on tour she had won a mere 1 slam, after winning 3 in 1 yr the 2 yrs before that, she was obviously already in massive decline, & she was only getting older & slowing down further while the strength of the womens game would only increase from '99 (when she retired) until '04 or so.<br />---<br /><br />The Graf era had long been dead when she retired. From '97-99 she even had a losing record to Amanda Coetzer. The '99 FO was a bit of a miracle for her w/ the crowd getting involved in ugly fashion, & Hingis completely unraveling. She was wise to know that w/b a high note to retire on.***<br /><br />Graf started having problems w/ a # of players starting in the 90's! Sabatini came into her own; failing to finish Steffi off @ '91 Wimbledon though! Amanda Coetzer? Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario actually became #1 in singles & dubs in the mid 90's! That 1st Rd loss to Lori McNeil @ '94 Wimbledon signaled the beginning of the end for Graf! Hingis was coming into her own, Venus was growing up, & a few other Amazons started making life tough like Lindsay Davenport!<br /><br />***...Compared to Serena, Graf had nowhere like these plays in her game b/c she simply had nothing comparable to the kind of shot selection & court craft Serena has, never mind Serena’s serve & power. Prime for prime, forget Serena, I’d say Kerber or Clijsters would win at least 13 out of 14 vs Graf.***<br /><br />No Justine Henin; Serena's last major rival? How soon we forget!<br /><br />***Novak lost the opener in Toronto doubles, but wins the opener in singles over Mueller, 7-5, 7-6.***<br /><br />Nole's barely holding on; playing just well enough to win! I keep saying he hasn't annihilated anyone since Nadal in Qatar! Murray was scary good @ the FO, but Nole got the measure & tone of the match helding him off! He's been losing sets & being taken to the limit; having to survive TB's & other close calls!<br /><br />***There was a GOAT called Roger who never managed to beat Nadal, let alone pushing him to the brink of defeat. Novak managed to instill fear which Federer clearly failed to do. Novak has more clay Masters to back up his claim as 2nd best clay courter after Nadal in this gen. Federer not.<br />---<br /><br />Both Nole & Fed have very strong resumes, given that they were stopped by Rafa so many X's. Federer has more Slam & Masters 1000 finals. If he had won more vs a peak Nadal, then he w/b ahead in both title tiers. ...Novak has a couple more Masters 1000s. It basically comes down to each person's subjective opinion of how good Federer & Djokovic were in their primes on clay & which had to deal w/ a stronger version of Nadal. Personally, I'd give a slight edge to Federer, but I think both deserve a lot of recognition. Glad they both finally won the FO after so much effort.<br />---<br /><br />B/c winning 8 Slams in an era w/ dozens of Slam contenders, drastic differences btw the surfaces, players who have trained to specialize in those diff. surfaces, & a player talent pool culled from the largest group in history in an era when tennis was the #1 junior sport worldwide, is a lot more impressive than winning 12 in an era w/ 3 Slam contenders, no diff. among surfaces, & a talent pool of players so barren that 30+ yo's are hanging on long enough to get into the top 20 by attrition.<br /><br />It becomes more impressive when you realize that there were really only 3 Slams per year, since nobody counted (or played) AO & that Connors missed out on numerous Slams he'd have been the prohibitive fave to win during his prime, thru no fault of his own. Novak's 6 extra AO titles don't make up for all that. Connors isn't just > Novak. He's at least >>> Novak.***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-63543359170496564352016-07-27T21:47:36.865-05:002016-07-27T21:47:36.865-05:00***Novak's much more accomplished than Connors...***Novak's much more accomplished than Connors.... Novak left Connors in the dark a long X ago...***<br /><br />The FO alone sets them apart! Connors had a storied career, but was made more significant by his rivals; Nastase, Borg, McEnroe, & Lendl! Even w/ all his winning, his weaknesses were glaring & by hanging on for so many yrs after his prime, he ended up hurting his legacy & #'s in general! Borg immortalized himself by leaving early! No 1 will bring up Connors' name next yr or in the next millennium! Like Rafa, most of his success was @ 1 place & rarely was able to defend majors; esp. outside of NY!<br /><br />***Watch Novak lose the next 2 Slams, then defend Roland Garros. :D ***<br /><br />It wouldn't bother me; just like him blowing AO & FO in '14, but salvaging his season & the #1 ranking by taking his 2nd Wimbledon!<br /><br />***Djokovic will win his last Slam at the '17 AO - Here's why:<br />Federer - 1st Slam - '03 Wimbledon. Last Slam - '12 Wimbledon. Exactly 9 ys. 1st & last Slam at his fave Slam.<br />Nadal - 1st Slam '05 FO. Last Slam '14 FO. Exactly 9 yrs. 1st and last Slam at his fave Slam.<br />Djokovic - 1st Slam '08 AO. Last Slam '17 AO. Exactly 9 yrs. 1st & last Slam at his fave Slam. It would all make sense.***<br /><br />True enough, but Nole's a trailblazer who might turn history on it's head; esp. w/ his fortitute overcoming the 2 pre-eminent GOATs in Fedal!<br /><br />***Interesting stat, but you have to add in the fact that Nole had a 3 yr period btw '08-11 where he didn't win a Slam. Nadal won Slams in 10 diff. yrs, Fed in 9 diff. yrs & Djokovic is in his 7th yr.***<br /><br />Like Agassi, Nole might continue winning the AO until he's 33! Who has started the season this well yr after yr winning the AO, then the 1st 2 Masters 1000s automatically! Last season he took the 1st 3 for a new record, and there's no reason it couldn't continue for the next several yrs!<br /><br />***Yeah, Novak's a serious threat to 2 of Feds most important records, Slams & wks @ #1. There's still a lot of work t/b done though, & he has to stay fit & free of injuries.<br />---<br /><br />We've had threads for general discussion of young players on tour, but I thought I'd start a fresh 1. ...let's look at the players currently age 24 & younger in the top 100 Live Race to London rankings:<br /><br />Live Race to London Rankings - < 25 (7/20/16)<br />- 6. Dominic Thiem (22)<br /> 14. Nick Kyrgios (21)<br /> 17. Lucas Pouille (22)<br /> 22. Bernard Tomic (23)<br /> 23. Alexander Zverev (19)<br /> 38. Jack Sock (23)<br /> 47. Borna Coric (19)<br /> 48. Jiri Vesely (23)<br /> 53. Kyle Edmund (21)<br /> 56. Taylor Fritz (18)<br /> 73. Damir Dzumhur (24)<br /> 74. Thiago Monteiro (22)<br /> 80. Diego Schwartzman (23)<br /> 81. Yoshihito Nishioka (20)<br /> 82. Renzo Olivo (24)<br /> 84. Adam Pavlasek (21)<br /> 86. Jordan Thompson (22)<br /> 89. Karen Khachanov (20)<br /> 90. Bjorn Fratangelo (23)<br /> 98. Jozef Kovalik (23)<br /> 99. Taro Daniel (23)<br /><br /> Also worth mentioning are some younger (< 21) players in the top 200:<br /> 123. Elias Ymer (20)<br /> 127. Quentin Halys (19)<br /> 128. Frances Tiafoe (18)<br /> 131. Stefan Kozlov (18)<br /> 142. Daniil Medvedev (20)<br /> 164. Duckhee Lee (18)<br /> 165. Jared Donaldson (19)<br /> 167. Andrey Rublev (18)<br /> 169. Hyeon Chung (20)<br /> 198. Noah Rubin (20)<br /><br /> And here are the top ranked players under 18 in the top 500:<br /> 255. Denis Shapovalov (17)<br /> 278. Stefanos Tsitsapas (17)<br /> 458. Casper Ruud (17)<br /> 494. Louis Wessels (17)<br /><br /> And then of course...<br /> 621. Felix Auger Aliassime (15)***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-24456716774485989592016-07-26T18:08:38.308-05:002016-07-26T18:08:38.308-05:00...I was quite satisfied w/ Nole finally taking hi......I was quite satisfied w/ Nole finally taking his 1st FO, so I ceded Wimbledon to Andy! ...not wanting t/b bothered w/ the CYGS pressure along w/ Olympic hopes!<br /><br />***I think Djokovic feels the FO is a bit diluted as he didn't beat Nadal. That I think caused the big let down @ Wimbledon. He knows a lot of people have said Fed didn't get past Nadal to get the FO, so as satisfying as it is to get the monkey off the back, given what Nadal achieved at the FO, it w/b a diff. level of win to beat him. I think it's human nature. Let's say u and me were massive rivals. U were a clay court Goat & had beat me 6 X's @ the FO. Then a decade earlier I'd made the statement "I can beat u as u r beatable. ...Lay a few demons to rest."<br /><br />And as for Murray, I agree w/ your analysis. The only match he lost at a major he should have won when he wasn't injured was AO '12. That wasn't passiveness that lost it. It was a tech. deficiency on the BH whereby he can't hit thru the ball like Djokovic. Nadal hits across it, always has. It's why so often when he tries to hit the BH down the line flat it goes wide. Djokovic should have more majors, but he has often been too passive; the most glaring was FO '15 vs Wawrinka.<br />---<br /><br />The Djokovic - Murray H2H:<br /><br />As it stands Djoker leads this H2H 24-10.<br /><br /> This now looks like the Fedal matchup in terms of dominance.<br /><br /> But just like clay played a large part in that rivalry, the Nolandy matchup is not as one-sided as it seems.<br /><br /> We immediately take away Novak's 1st 4 victories b/c he developed into a proper pro before Andy.<br /><br /> The '08 USO swing was Murray's breakthrough to a slam-challenger level, so we start the H2H there.<br /><br /> Andy takes a 3-0 lead until Nole gets his 1st win at the '11 AO.<br /><br /> They trade 3 more victories apiece until Andy's breakthru @ the '12 USO, & Slamray leads 7-4.<br /><br /> Novak wins the Shanghai final, but we give that to Andy after all the MPs lost. 8-4.<br /><br /> Djoker gets a WTF win for 8-5.<br /><br /> Andy gets distracted by a feather in the '13 AO final so we void that match. Andy's historic Wimbledon triumph that summer counts as 2 wins so the H2H goes to 10-5.<br /><br /> Neither of Djoker's 4 '14 wins vs Backray should count. So it becomes 10-6 after the '15 AO final. Andy deserved that loss after falling for the possum antics.<br /><br /> Djoker wins the US HC Spring matches. 10-8.<br /><br /> The '15 FO SF was Andy's for the taking, but the lack of floodlights gave Djoker a lifeline. Void match.<br /><br /> Murray wins in Montreal for 11-8.<br /><br /> Djoker dominates the end of year & the start of '16 to jump to a 12-11 lead.<br /><br /> Andy pulls even in Rome, but Novak leads the H2H again after his FO 13-12.<br /><br /> After Novak losing to Querrey at Wimbledon, it's clear he would have lost to Grassray in the final.<br /><br /> So as of now, the REAL H2H btw these 2 champions is 13-13.<br />---<br /><br />Federer out of Rio and according to his FB entry, he's possibly done for the season.***<br /><br />Few are that shocked! This isn't blowing up 1/2 as much as I thought! It wasn't like he was going to take anything!<br /><br />***Federer has the records for most wks as #1, most wks in the top 2, & most wks in the top 3. He has the records for most cons. wks as #1 & most cons. wks in the top 2, but in '13 he fell out of the top 3 someway short of Connors' & Lendl's totals. He was chasing Connors down for most wks in the top 4 & most wks in the top 5. Currently, Connors leads 669-648 for wks in the top 4 & 705-675 for wks in the top 5.<br /><br />He's also on the heels of Agassi for 2nd-most wks in the top 10. Agassi currently leads 747-730, w/ Connors ahead on 817. It's possible - if unlikely - that Federer w/b in the top 10 for the next 17 wks & so = Agassi. But most likely he won't get that record, either. Will he be able to regain such a high ranking in '17?***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-19316224222275133162016-07-25T14:50:46.322-05:002016-07-25T14:50:46.322-05:00***...It's a FACT that Federer's main riva...***...It's a FACT that Federer's main rivals weren't good enuf during Fed's run ('03-07):<br /><br /> 1. Roddick wasn't good enuf to meet Federer @ the FO<br /> 2. Hewitt wasn't good enuf to meet Federer @ the FO<br /> 3. Safin wasn't good enuf to meet Federer @ the FO or the USO<br /> 4. Nadal wasn't good enuf to meet Fed @ the AO or USO<br />---<br /><br />Federer's gen. is sticking around & remaining relevant, at least in small tourneys, like none for decades. If we use the 5-yr gens, so far this yr Roger's gen. ('79-83) has won 8 tourneys--1 ATP 500 & 7 ATP 250s. Let's see how previous fared at the same pt:<br /><br /> Gen. Kuerten ('74-78) in '11: 1 title, Stepanek winning an ATP 500. This gen. would win 3 more titles in '12-13, all ATP 250.<br /><br /> Gen. Sampras ('69-73) in '06: 0 titles. Santoro would win 2 more ATP 250s in '07-08.<br /><br /> Gen. Beckberg ('64-68) in 2001: 1 title. Clavet won a single ATP 250, the last of this gen.<br /><br /> Gen. McEnlendl ('59-63) in '96: I only have info on ATP 500s >, but the last such title this gen. won was Canada Masters in '93 (Mikael Pernfors).<br /><br /> Gen. Borg ('54-58) in '91: Hard to imagine Borg's gen. active in the 90s. I only have info on Masters >, the last such title this gen. won was all the way back in '82! That w/b =lent to '07 for Roger's gen.<br /><br /> Gen. Connors ('49-53) in '86: Jimmy's last big title, a Masters, was in '84.<br /><br /> Gen. Newstase ('44-48) in '81: IDK, but this gen. hadn't won a big title since '75.<br /><br /> Gen. Ashe ('39-43) in '76: Actually, Mark Cox won a Masters =lent.<br /><br /> Gen. Lavewall ('34-38) in '71: Still going strong, w/ the last big titles being Laver winning 2 Masters =lents in '74. Rosewall won the AO in '71 & '72, & Gimeno the FO in '72.<br /><br /> ...Fed's gen.--w/ players like Ivo, Lopez, Mayer, Verdasco, Ferrer, & Roger himself; all winning titles w/i the last 2 yrs--is setting standards that I'm guessing will @ < continue w/ Gen. Nadalkovic. Rafa & Novak's gen. w/b the same age in '21 &, I think will still be around.<br /><br />It's < players who are sticking around. - ...3-4 yrs ago there were around 30-33% players over 30y in the top 100, now there are around 40-42%. There were 51 players over 30 in the main draw @ RG this yr. That went down to 48, still a huge #. - Many of the newer Djokovic fans that caught on to tennis in '11 or '15 do not truly realize how much > Nadal was in comparison to Murray.***<br /><br />Both have =ly ugly games that have lost them winnable matches but for their defensive mentality when in the crunch!<br /><br />***...Are u referring to Djokovic?***<br /><br />Definitely speaking of Murdal! Of late, Nole's problem has been more w/ closing a match out! At each of his wins that went 4 or 5 sets, more than likely he was serving for it in the 3rd or 4th set, but pulled it out after adding an hour to the clock! OTTH I'm thinking about '14 Wimbledon against Fed, '12 AO & '11 USO vs Nadal! When it comes to Murdal, do I really have to go down the list; esp. vs Nole? I can imagine Andy's still haunted by '12 final vs Nole in Shanghai! Murray was serving for it in the 2nd, hit this gorgeous lob over the head of his opp. & camped out behind the baseline! In the mean X Nole 'styled' by hitting the ball btw his legs; an easy set up for Murray if he had more guts and came into the net like a normal, high ranked player! He was subsequently broken & after smashing his racket to smithereens lost the 3rd set & the match! When Murray played his most aggressive & won convincingly under the tutelage of Lendl, they won Olympic Gold, '12 USO & '13 Wimbledon over Nole, & of late beating Nadal on clay! If you remember, I was quite satisfied w/ Djokovic finally taking his 1st FO, so I ceded Wimbl. to Andy! I don't think Nole tried that hard not wanting t/b bothered w/ the CYGS pressure along w/ Olympic hopes!Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-71328496140658236702016-07-22T02:53:57.385-05:002016-07-22T02:53:57.385-05:00***The strategy that Fed used to break Sampras rec...***The strategy that Fed used to break Sampras record is identical to what Novak is doing to break Fed. ...if Fed knew 17 was an easily achievable target perhaps he would have focused on Wimb alone from '10. Perhaps he would have skipped or tanked Masters' in the past, starting from '10. Novak knows he needs to get just 18.<br /><br />1st of all, 17 was not an easily achievable target, but if Fed thought it was why would he focus just on 1 major? Your point about skipping Masters is basically implying that after winning 16 GS titles Federer didn't try to win more b/c he didn't know how many he can win, which is BS. Federer tried to win another major and he would've skipped or tanked Masters if he thought it would help.<br /><br />Djokovic is going to try and win every Slam, just like Federer did when he didn't suck on clay. If Novak at some point decides that skipping Masters will help him to win a major, he'll do it. If he decides that, he needs to change his racket, he'll change it. ...For me Fed's the greatest ever and I don't think Djokovic is a better player than Roger.<br />---<br /><br />Djokovic has been a constant presence in the deciding stages of the USO since '07, either winning or losing to the winner except in '09 & '14 when he lost to the losing finalist.<br /><br /> Djovak vs Mandy at the USO:<br /> '07 - Djovak barely beats Stepanek, but then rolls to the finals for a tight 3-set loss to Fed; Mandy loses to Lee in 3R<br /><br /> '08 - Djovak keeps dropping sets (and is stretched to 5 by Robredo), but gets thro & puts a decent display in the SF vs Fed, losing in 4; Mandy nearly loses to Melzer, outlasting him in 5, then beats Delpo & Nadal in good matches, but's rolled over by Fed in the final<br /><br /> '09 - Djovak loses to Fed in the SF again in tight 3; Mandy is crushed by Cilic<br /><br /> '10 - Djovak close to getting beat Troicki in the 1st Rd, but then rolls to the SF, saves MPs vs Fed & has a respectable 4 set loss to peak Nadal in the final; Mandy loses to Wawrinka in 3R<br /><br /> '11 - peak Djovak saves MP vs Fed again & beats Nadal convincingly in the final, whereas Mandy is beaten Nadal in a similar fashion in the SF (also is 0-2 down vs Haase, wtf?)<br /><br /> '12 - Djovak fails to Master the wind and can't dig himself out of a 0-2 hole, credit to Mandy for winning this<br /><br /> '13 - Djovak beats Wawa in 5 & then collapses in the 4th vs Nadal; Mandy is Wawrinka's previous op. & takes a beat down<br /><br /> '14 - Djovak beats Mandy in 4 in the QF & then loses the SF to Nishikori<br /> '15 - Djovak beats Fed in the final; Mandy is 0-2 down vs Mannarino & loses to Anderson in 4R in 4<br /><br /> Djovak > Mandy in all yrs except 2008 (Djovak=Mandy) & '12 (Mandy def. Djovak) - Obvious conclusion is obvious.<br />---<br /><br />1 RG vs 1 RG<br /> 0 Rome + MC titles vs 6 Rome + MC titles<br /> 2 wins vs King of Clay vs 7 wins vs King of Clay<br /><br />In before "if it weren't for peak Nadal, Fed would have 10 RG titles... even though he lost to broken hip Kuerten in his peak"<br /><br />6 clay Masters vs 8 clay Masters<br /> Not a big diff. Djokovic's poised to add more though. The 2 are generally in the same league, anyway.<br /> It is not important what your opp. is called, only what game he plays.<br />---<br /><br />If Djokovic ends up, say, w/ 2 RGs & 10 clay Masters, he'll be obviously ahead, but still in the same league overall, b/c finals also matter. 2 RG W out of 2 finals is 2x > than 1 RG W out of 1 final, but 2 RG W out of 6 finals isn't 2x > than 1 RG W out of 6 finals. Neither of them is in the list of >est claycourters - that would require 3 RG titles.<br /><br /> (The same way Djokovic is ahead of Murray on grass, but in the same league, given Murray's OG on grass - directly beating Djokovic - which halves the gap set by a diff. of one Wimby title, & 3 vs 2.5 isn't that big a differential.)***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-62721134418255902932016-07-19T14:40:05.592-05:002016-07-19T14:40:05.592-05:00***Lets just say w/o the Williams sisters, US tenn...***Lets just say w/o the Williams sisters, US tennis w/b a joke right now on both tours. Serena & Venus have been keeping the US relevant for the last 12-13 yrs along w/ Roddick to a <'r degree (pre-retirement)***<br /><br />Well US women seem t/b coming on "of late!" They've had a decent yr & are winning events & making finals (singles & dubs) outside of the Williams' believe it or not! Keys, Stephens, McHale, Rogers, Vanderweghe, Sands, & others OTTH! It's getting better after all these yrs!<br /><br />***None of these are slam contenders w/ the exception of Keys(maybe). From AO 2000 to FO '03, most if not all of the slams were won by either Serena/ Venus/ Capriati or Davenport.<br />---<br /><br />...And we can also see the diff. btw the "< greats" like Edberg & Becker and the "> greats" like Roger; S in that the latter group tends to age better. For instance, if you compare Roger and Stefan at the end of the year they turned 25, the gap is noticeable but not enormous:<br /><br /> Stefan (thru '92): 6 Slams, 2 yr-end #1's, 37 titles, 9 Masters/WTFs<br /> Roger (thru '06): 9 Slams, 3 yr-end #1's, 45 titles, 15 Masters/WTFs<br /><br /> And then compare them after that yr:<br /><br /> Stefan: 0 Slams, 0 #1s, 5 titles, 0 Masters/WTFs<br /> Roger: 8 Slams, 2 yr-end #1's, 43 titles, 12 Masters/WTFs<br /><br />Those are just 2 players, but I think it illustrates the main diff. btw the 2 tiers of greats: the very greatest players have a longer peak and/or stronger plateau. Novak seems very much of the latter category. Actually, he started peaking later than most greats, having a massive breakout in '11 @ age 23-24. I think part of the reason he's maintaining peak form longer than Roger, Rafa, Pete, & almost everyone else, is that he was under the reign of Roger & Rafa for so long, which required him to push himself further & find the '11-16 form that we've been witnessing. ...I suspect Novak will remain the top player for another yr or 2, but when all is said and done, '11, '15, & '16 w/b his 3 best yrs, w/ '17 next, but not as good as those 3.<br />---<br /><br />Reality is a Slam will always outweigh a WTF title &/or OG.<br /><br /> For both Nadal & Djokovic, an extra Slam would benefit both of them and their legacy above & beyond what either of the other 2 titles could.<br /><br /> W/ that said their individual priorities may differ & personally they may place greater emphasis on one or the other....who knows.<br /><br /> History however will always remember Slam winners above WTF & OG Medalists (in tennis at least).***<br /><br />ITA about the USO having a lot more of historic weight! Rafa does need a YEC or he'll have another strike vs him being the GOAT! It's enough already that he's never defended a title off the dirt! That's bizarre by a lot; worst champions in history have done it! Rafter was no star, but he won the USO & took the following 1! How can Rafa even be in the conversation w/ such a short tenure @ the top of the ranking; very uneven career w/ injuries, moodiness, & other reasons discussed OT?<br /><br />***Yeah I see where you are coming from and when it's all said and done you are absolutely right, his inability to win a WTF & defend a title away from Clay will inevitably work against him in any & all GOAT debates. To me GOAT debates s/b focussed towards consistency, longevity, major titles and ones impact on the sport...while Rafa rates exceptionally well in many of these criteria I personally think there are others who outscore him quite significantly and therefore unless we see a Rafa renaissance where he goes on to win another 3 or 4 Slams (w/ some being away from FO) I can't see Nadal ever laying a genuine claim to GOAT, regardless of whether he defends a title away from clay or adds a WTF Title to his already impressive CV.***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-77978787911894131992016-07-19T14:39:30.950-05:002016-07-19T14:39:30.950-05:00Speechwriters for Trump got lazy & it was disc...Speechwriters for Trump got lazy & it was discovered by MSNBC that 22 of 26 words were directly plagiarized from speech of '08 DNC conv. given by Michelle O! Twitter seemed to blow up right away about it!<br /><br />***Some are making the pt that Michelle would not have gotten a pass if she did the same (blaming the speech writer).<br /><br />Michelle O '08: <br /><br /> "And Barack and I were raised w/ so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people w/ dignity & respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree w/ them."<br /><br /> "And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and to pass them on to the next gen. B/c we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them."<br /><br />Melania T '16:<br /><br />“From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise, that you treat people w/ respect.<br /><br />They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily lives. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son. And we need to pass those lessons on to the many gens to follow. ...”<br /><br />Seems pretty much like a slam-dunk. Her talking about the importance of treating people w/ respect and how she's going to pass those values on to her son while Donald is running his mouth in the most disrespectful way possible is just hilariously ironic.***<br /><br />Michelle keeps a low profile so she doesn't have to duck so many slings & arrows from the "rightwing" machine! They've been merciless; down to criticizing her kids getting Secret Service protection just to go to school! I'm not talking about some redneck hillbilly; more like Rep. leadership in Congress! They know how all this works, but bash the Obamas relentlessly & it hurts; the disrespect & open bigotry's too much to bear! The main reason to get rid of Obamacare is to try & wipe out his existence even living in the Wh Hse! They won't say it that way, but that's what it's all about & I thought we had gotten past that kind of thinking! It's evidenced in every action of disrespect to Barack & his family & I'm appalled thinking I saw it all w/ what was done to the Clintons back in the '90's! These A-holes have outdone themselves & I didn't think it possible, but they proved me wrong; TRUE SCUM!<br /><br />***Hmmm. Hadn't thought about this. Not inconceivable w/ the present lot of Repubs in Congress. - I read that Warren is scheduled for the 1st night of the convention. Whether or not someone is on the list is a signal regarding VP possibilities.***<br /><br />I personally wouldn't care if Warren was on the shortlist for VP, but not sure the rest of the country is ready for 2 women on the ticket! We like to think we're past all that narrow-mindedness and bigotry, but after Obama, we may not see a Black person in that chair for a while! That's how we are; "well they can't call me a bigot now that we've gotten that out of the way!" If we were so ready, why is the Rep. party and the sycophants trying to annihilate his legacy; to wipe out the very existence of his family living in the White House?<br /><br />***The presidential election s/b more about who c/b the strongest leader who can bring people together. Instead we've got 2 children throwing insults over which pokemon character is the best.***<br /><br />Agreed, but Trump & his followers don't care about issues! It's all about bluster, using the words "huge" & "big" rather than talking about the economy, jobs, education, & foreign affairs! Trump wants to talk about his polls, how stupid the MSM was to doubt him winning, & exaggerating his "worth!"Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-49792064179199826292016-07-18T17:37:11.462-05:002016-07-18T17:37:11.462-05:00***Funny how Trump suddenly become a "Nazi&qu...***Funny how Trump suddenly become a "Nazi" the minute he runs for President. Folks can call him whatever they want. Truth is, the public doesn't care. As long as he's providing jobs and keeping us safe from terrorism, that's all that matters. Trump's called dangerous & crazy yet who's the 1 who nearly got indicted over the E-Mail scandal? Who got massacred over Benghazi? Even MSNBC, the ultimate liberal channel can't stand Hilary?***<br /><br />How's Trump supposed to create more jobs than are already being created now? You sound like those geniuses in 2000 that thought peace and prosperity, a budget surplus, and low unemployment wasn't satisfactory! We needed to have a "compassionate conservative" run the country into the ground! We're still trying to recovery, but the signs are good! The DOW dropped to 6600; now well over 18.000 pts! Unemployment was well over 10%; now under 5% even if not in full employment! It's still better than losing 800,000 jobs a month in the waning era of "W!" Do I need to go on? There's plenty to make any change ridiculous & sabotaging!<br /><br />***Trump gets to "rake Hillary over the coals for it" b/c she supported Iraq before she undermined the mission like all the other Democrat traitors. Pence is honest and makes no bones about his support for the President and it makes Hillary a freaking hypocrite as well as a traitor.***<br /><br />Pence is allowed a few mistakes, but Hillary's just incompetent & unreliable! Such hypocrisy w/ trade, foreign affairs, & more! When Hillary wasn't running for President, she was great; a truly thoughtful person! That all changed quick!<br /><br />***More Blood On The Hands Of The Racial Arsonists - When you encourage political compatriots to kill innocent people, don't be surprised at what happens.***<br /><br />Stop killing innocent Black people during a normal traffic stop; PROBLEM SOLVED! Eric Garner was choked out over some loose cigarettes! Nice of you a-holes to only see the COPs' side when we all know what precipitated all this shit! No one's innocent; including those poor cops who back each other to the hilt no matter how egregious their acts!<br /><br />***What precipitated this was Darren Wilson killing that thug, Michael Brown, rather than letting Brown kill him - and the black community there not caring what Brown did...only that he was black & Wilson was white. - you aren't allowed to go around killing police. That's pretty standard. If you're encouraging racial tensions and throwing gas on the fire, you are adding to the problems.***<br /><br />The only ones adding to the problem are "stupid" cops who kill people over a traffic stop! It's happening fast & furious; don't you see & understand how people can feel about that? Did you miss the videos? You can't get away w/ LYING saying "he grabbed for my gun and I had to pump 6 bullets in his ass" w/ impunity like you used to babe!<br /><br />***Police are little more than armed security guards, not that "special" at all... 10th Amendment says nothing about citizens are t/b subordinate to police. They are employed by the pubic not in command of us.***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-44983937112711688162016-07-17T22:41:09.630-05:002016-07-17T22:41:09.630-05:00***Human Beings are Really STUPID - man alive, wha...***Human Beings are Really STUPID - man alive, what's GOD waiting for? When he obliterated this planet the 1st X I can't see how it chb any worse than what it is now.***<br /><br />You're probably right! For as long as I've been alive, humans have never given a good reason why we exist but to pollute, destroy, & self emulate from day one! We've just about destroyed the planet in the last 100 yrs & there are plenty that couldn't care < where it's going! We all know we need air to breath & water to drink to stay alive, but look how we treat those most valuable of commodities! I'm glad I'm old so I won't be around when fools are walking around in globe helmets b/c we're too stupid to see how we are affecting our environment!<br />===<br /><br />***...But it's still unreasonable to blame the entire police dept. as tainted.***<br /><br />I'm the last 1 to say all police forces are tainted, but they taint themselves when they try to protect & back "1" who did something wrong! You can support the person w/o going on TV saying "he was in fear for his life!" It just won't fly when everyone has a video of what really happened for all to see! If a cop makes a mistake, say "I made a mistake" and stop trying to justify it by looking up the record of the 1 shot! Sandra Bland in TX was pulled over for not signaling when changing lanes! That cop was heard telling his supervisor he tried to deescalate the situation and it was a flat out lie! He was fired, but she's still dead!<br /><br />***I agree that not every police station has all honest cops. But my pt is that they blame the OJ jury who blames the whole dept. for framing a man, when only 1 guy was held responsible (Furhman). ...*<br /><br />If you lived as long as me, you would understand "anything" is possible! We had a case outside of Chigo in Naperville; a fairly affluent area where some kid was murdered! They wanted this put to bed ASAP & it appears they didn't seem to care who took the rap! After all was said & done, all concerned were found t/b in cahoots in framing some Latino kid; either disbarred or run out of office! The list of offenders went from the local cops to the sheriff deputies & from the DA to the judge! It was an absolutely obscene miscarriage of justice! It happens & probably a lot more than we want to believe! Sorry to blow up your bubbles! In CAL, supposedly if you knowingly try to prosecute a person you know didn't do the crime, you're supposed to take their place and be sentenced to significant stretches of X!<br /><br />***SCOTUS has given the police Carte Blanche to harass.***<br /><br />SCOTUS has pretty much allowed cops carte blanche to do just about anything and make it justifiable! Yrs ago a Chgo case was ridiculously heard by them and they felt if a cop stopped you for anything; even a broken tail light, that gave them license to search the trunk! We've had Gestapo tactics around for yrs; how can people not see this happening? Now cops can kill you during a traffic stop w/ impunity; video evidence showing the events, but they still get off! Do I have to run down the list of shootings where charges never came down or they were deemed "not guilty?" How many X's do you think this can go on before society freaks out & starts shooting back gratuitously like in Beirut?<br /><br />***Yes indeed. Breath tests, blood draws: Americans have no protection vs mandatory breathalyzer tests at a police checkpoint, although mandatory blood draws violate the 4th Amendment (Birchfield v. ND). Ignorance of the law is defensible if you work for the gov't: Police officers who violate the law c/b granted qualified immunity if they claim ignorance of the law (Heien v. NC). That rationale was also applied to police who clearly used excessive force when they repeatedly tasered a pregnant woman during a routine traffic stop and were granted immunity from prosecution (Brooks v. City of Seattle). ...***<br /><br />Amen & hallelujah to that!Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-83980384775581336262016-07-17T22:40:41.774-05:002016-07-17T22:40:41.774-05:00***If we look at tennis age as birth age + 1/4 yr/...***If we look at tennis age as birth age + 1/4 yr/ Slam, then Novak is "29.5" w/ 2 more Slams before he turns 30. Here's how other all-X greats did from 29.5 on:<br /><br />Connors (Spring, '82): would win 2 Slams that yr and 1 more the following yr, w/ 3 of his 8 Slams (38%) coming after age 29.5. He remained a top 10 player for another 7 yrs.<br /><br />Borg (Winter, '85): retired 4 yrs before.<br /><br />McEnroe (Summer, '88): Won his last Slam 4 yrs before. Was still a good player & would finish #4 the following yr, & sticks around for a few more yrs as a top 20 player, but was done as an elite.<br /><br />Lendl (Summer, '89): Just won his 7th Slam and would win 1 more the following year. '89 was his last yr as #1; he'd remain a top 10 player for a few more yrs.<br /><br />Wilander (Spring, '94): Trying to revive his career, but he'd won his last Slam 6 yrs before. In his "latter day Hewitt phase."<br /><br />Edberg (Summer, '95): Last Slam was 3 yrs before, had fallen out of the top 10 earlier that year. Would play 1 more yr as a top 20 player.<br /><br />Becker (Spring, '97): Won his last Slam the yr previously, was in rapid decline.<br /><br />Agassi (Fall, '99): Amidst a career revival & his best yr. Won 2 Slams, finished #1. Would win 1/2 of his 8 Slams after "29.5" & remain a top 10 player for 7 more yrs (includ. '99).<br /><br />Sampras (Spring, '01): In serious decline. Would win 1 more Slam the next yr & then retire.<br /><br />Federer (Spring, '11): Still elite, but not peak. Would win a Slam the following yr, but none since.<br /><br />Nadal (Winter, '15): In career crisis, hadn't won a Slam in a yr 1/2 (or been in a final), now spanning to over 2 yrs.<br /><br />Of those 11 players, only Connors & Agassi won a significant share of their Slams after Novak's current age - 3 & 4 Slams respectively. Lendl, Sampras, Fed would win 1 more, but the rest did not win any.<br /><br />So the ??'s, will Novak be a Connors/Agassi & win a sizeable chunk of his career Slams after his current age? Or will he be a Lendl/Sampras/Federer & win only 1 or 2 more? Or will he be more like the rest, and win no more?<br /><br />Obviously it's highly unlikely that Nole doesn't win anymore. I also think he's almost certain to win at least 2 more to surpass the late careers of Lendl, Sampras, & Federer. But 3-4 more like Connors & Agassi? That seems possible, even probable. But the real ??'s whether he'll win a similar % of his total career Slams (38-50%) as they did in late career, which would mean he'll win 7-12 more, finishing w/ 19-24! That seems very unlikely. So my guess is that he wins somewhere in the 3-6 range, & finish somewhere in the 15-18 range. 4-5 more seems most likely.<br />---<br /><br />His volleys are not poor. Isner has good touch for his size & has a big FH; esp. inside-out.***<br /><br />Isner has to make every match an unforgettable classic unnecessarily! He should knock off so many players in a more timely fashion but for his limited court IQ! He has so much more talent than players of my day who were mostly "all serve" like Tanner, Alexander, & so many others, but they won titles and made major finals! They maxed out what they did best; Isner on the other hand hurts my heart seeing him waste his talents this way! He'll only be considered an afterthought even unable to win DC match at home vs some yokel from Great Britain not even ranked in the top 100!<br /><br />***I won't argue w/ you there. Although I do think Isner pretty much maxed out his potential. When you're that big, your movement & stamina will always be pretty poor. He's had a solid career - I wouldn't say he's really underachieved. ...Him and his coaches figured it would use < energy & be more beneficial than trying to break every return game.***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-92180971747852286942016-07-17T17:59:57.345-05:002016-07-17T17:59:57.345-05:00***Serena might hate to lose, but, HWM actually ra...***Serena might hate to lose, but, HWM actually rarely loses. HWM has lost only a total of 3 X's in GS matches in her whole career. Moreover, all these 3 losses are in the finals. To put it in perspective, Serena has lost 3 X's in just the last year ('15-USO through 2016-W). HWM was a trail blazer coming before MC, MN, CE and all others. So, she was not catching up to somebody's record and setting new standards. Before HWM, the record was 8 by Suzane Langlen. HWM's count was 19. More than twice the previous record.<br />---<br /><br />I think Singles Tennis has no place in The Olympics. The Olympics are primarily a comp. among athletes/players representing their nations. Even hardly known sports are given a place in Olympics b/c they're a celebration of sports and also are meant to encourage sportsmen/women in all sports all over the world. Many great sportsmen in less lucrative sports, in terms of ability, are badly in need of recognition. There are numerous Olympic gold medalists who are unemployed. Most don't get to play their sport professionally as a career.<br /><br />Tennis is more like Golf/Formula1/Nascar/Pool/Billiards/Poker/Snooker/Squash etc. If you are accomplished in these sports then you don't need the Olympics. Why do players like Federer, Murray, Djokovic, Nadal need Olympic medals? They already have all the $$ & glory in the world. If you want to make your country proud, go win the DC. ...In fact, keeping Tennis out of the Olympics increases the profile of DC which badly needs it. What's more, estab. players can happily let the < accomplished players share some fame & honor in the DC. I don't remember the men's Olympic medalists, but I remember Rios, Nalbandian, Phllippoussis, Baghdatis etc. If you have talent, the tour lets you make a living. You don't need Olympics.<br /><br />Team sports are a slightly diff. deal. The very fact that it's a team sport means that players share credit. So there's some justification for them in Olympics ...That brings me to the only justifiable reason why singles tennis might have a place in Olympics. The Stars bring $$ to the host nation & the Olympics itself.***<br /><br />I concur!<br /><br />***Murray will end up w/ a better record than Nadal at 3/4 slams - Even Djokovic doesn't have a better record than Nadal at 3; so no chance Murray will mate.***<br /><br />Huh? Nole has the best chance; 3 Wimbledons, has 2 USO, & obviously owns AO! Murray still has a chance, but Nole only needs to take 1 more USO to eclipse Rafa at 3 of the 4 majors! No one's going to care, but those are the facts! Another notch in his belt to laud over the sycophants of Fedal!<br /><br />***In BO3 matches, Fed still has Novak's # as a 35 yo by leading h2h every year. That clearly shows Novak wins by endurance in BO5.<br />---<br /><br />Well of course Fed's not as athletically agile or potent as he was in '06, i.e. You could make a better argument of after '12 since he was 29 in '10. Djokovic & Murray won the last 2 Slams & they are both 29. Federer does not have Djokovic's # & hasn't for quite a long X. Winning a match in Dubai, Cinci, or a RR match @ YEC does not equate to him having his #. Djokovic's winning vs Fed in BO5 is b/c at this pt in X, he's just a better big match player & is an overall better player. Federer has never dominated Djokovic in BO5 matches and only lead 4-2 after the '10 USO. Furthermore, his career 5 set record is rather poor for someone of his caliber.***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-71239663468942239022016-07-17T14:09:15.109-05:002016-07-17T14:09:15.109-05:00***Of the 22 GS titles won by Steffi, 11 were befo...***Of the 22 GS titles won by Steffi, 11 were before the stabbing of Monica by a German fan of Steffi. At the X, Monica's #1 in rankings and had won 9 GS's even though she was still a teenage. Considering Monica's age, her achievements by that X, it's not a stretch to say that Steffi's slam count whb considerably smaller if not for the incident. Afterwards Monica didn't play in the next 10 slams due to treatment & recovery of strength. The H2H btw them was 6-4 in Graf's favor before the incident & 4-1 after the incident (for a final figure of 10-5 which is actually misleading).<br /><br />I'm tilting towards Helen Wills Moody for the GOATESS award even though she only has 19 GS. This is b/c she just rarely loses. She has only lost 3 X's in her whole career in GS matches. As I mentioned before from '27-33 she went thru a streak of not losing a set & that streak was 180 matches long. If only she had bothered to play in all GS's btw her 1st & last apps, based on her win-loss ration, her projected # of GS titles is a whooping 50.<br /><br />Steffi Graf GCYGS> Laver CYGS> Don Budge CYGS > Connoly CYGS > Serena Slam > Djokovic Slam > Court CYGS***<br /><br />W/ Navratilova's record & longevity, she's got t/b in the mix! She won 6 in a row; '83 Wimbl. to '84 USO finally losing at AO SF when at the end of the season!<br /><br />***Well the tour w/b much more interesting if Murray can challenge Novak more regularly.<br /><br /> In '12-13, the chief rival of Novak was Rafa.<br /><br /> In '14-15, the chief rival of Novak was Aging Federer.<br /><br /> In '16-17, it looks like the chief rival of Novak w/b Andy Murray.<br />---<br /><br />...I remember thinking Rafa could challenge Rogers record and then next thing I know he is stuck at 14 for what seems like forever. Similarly, when Roger won his 17th I don't think anyone thought it w/b his last! Turning to Djokovic, with no challengers in sight besides Andy it seems the sky's the limit for him to win more slams and challenge Feds 17. Yet Djokovic only has 2 more slams before he turns 30.<br /><br />Looking at past GS winners I was shocked to see that only 10 times men won as 30 year olds, only 4 times won as 31 year olds, and only 6 times older than that. Will Djokovic suddenly hit a wall like the others did? Will he buck the trend and have his name sprinkled through those 30+ GS winner lists?<br /><br />Looking @ X winners 30+ we have Laver (4 X's- 3 at age 30, 1 at age 31), Agassi (2 X's, age 30 & 32), Conners (2 X's, age 30 & 31), & Roswell (4 X's, ages 33, 35, 36, 37). So if Novak were to match this rare list he should win max 4 more once he hits 30. ...Will Novak buck the trend & be the 1st to win 5 slams once reaching the age of 30? Will he win the next 2 slams and then tie these greats to beat Roger or will he fall off a cliff like the rest of them?<br />---<br /><br />Bags c/b a slam winner in a diff. era. - You mean in a weaker 1 than this?***<br /><br />Hey, look back! There are players you don't even know that have 1 slam; Johansson comes to mind @ AO back in '02! I do believe old man Gomez overcame a spry Agassi in '90 to win RG! Goran Ivanisevic took a WC in '01 to acquire his lone Wimbledon! It used to happen every once in a while "way back when!" Today's stars have it too easy w/ extended seedings of 32 in majors, byes in the 1st Rd of Masters and they've gone from BO5 to BO3! That was the reason we didn't have any b2b winners due to how tough it was to even make a final much less win them in cons. tourneys/wks!<br /><br />***Reasonable pts, but don't think this begins to account for the diff. - There were plenty of b2b winners in earlier eras: Laver, Newcombe, Borg, McEnroe, Becker, Edberg & Sampras at Wimbledon. Borg, Wilander, Lendl, Kriek, Courier, Agassi at AO. Kodes, Borg, Lendl, Courier, Bruguera & Kuerten at RG. Connors, McEnroe, Lendl, Edberg, Sampras & Rafter at USO.***<br /><br />I was talking about cons. Masters when they were BO5 finals! That as a rarity IIRC!Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-67723894172446644982016-07-15T20:12:29.671-05:002016-07-15T20:12:29.671-05:00***...Murray's been making all slam finals &am...***...Murray's been making all slam finals & this looks like his X to shine. - I would never say Djoker won a slam by luck.***<br /><br />Nole's had to battle just to make final vs 1 of the "Big 4!" He's had it the toughest w/ the amount of success! Murray's just barely broken thru for the most part w/ Roger, Nole, & Rafa soaring over the tour like no past 3 ATG's!<br /><br />***Yes, but when Murray REALLY sets his heart on achieving something & has Lendl in his corner & is not thwarted by back problems requiring surgery, he quite often achieves it.<br />---<br /><br />Nobody can make the argument for Andy as an ATG. Not even Judy Murray would dare suggest it b/c it's so absurd. If Andy's suddenly an ATG, that makes guys like Lendl, Agassi & Wilander SUPER DUPER ATG's. And then that makes Roger Federer God almighty. This takes fannboyism to an absurdly new level. Nobody's an ATG when they've won 3 majors and lost in 9 other slam finals. The whole suggestion is just plain laughable.***<br /><br />Amen & hallelujah to that! Hyperbole's been taken to new heights!<br /><br />***Using this logic, then "in a diff. era w/o Rafa," Roger w/b sitting on 30 majors. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. It doesn't matter what Andy whd in a diff. era. It doesn't matter what Roger whd w/o Rafa. Everyone plays the cards they're dealt & the facts are Murray is 29 & has 3 majors. He can add to that, but he's never going t/b an ATG unless he turns tennis history on its ear & suddenly peaks past the age of 30 & gets 8 more majors. That's what it's going to take for him to become an ATG. Ain't happening.***<br /><br />I try to emphasize you can only play who's in front of you! Navratilova gets little love even w/ her record b/c her major rival was Evert! It's like Martina didn't have to deal w/ BJK, Court, Wade, Goolagong, Shriver, Austin, Jaeger, Mandlikova, Novotna, Graf & Seles! All are in the HOF already! Serena lost her major rivals through retirement (Hingis & Henin), injury (Aza, Venus & Sharpa), & apathy (Kerber, Lusicki & The WTA Tour)!<br /><br />***Murray's not an ATG yet but he has definitely moved ahead of the likes of Hewitt, Roddick, etc, despite not being #1.***<br /><br />What is it they say, "there are lies, damned lies, then there are statistics?" It's unfortunate Murray's had to endure the = of "Borg, Connors, & McEnroe!" OTTH Vilas, Gerulaitis, Ramirez, Tanner, Gottfried, & so many others didn't have a chance from '74-84! Ramirez snuck in there for about a min. @ the top in singles & doubles, but Vilas wasn't even an afterthought in '77 w/ 2 majors (FO & USO on Har-tru) & about 130 matches winning "B level" tourneys on clay!<br /><br />***Holding all 4 slams is looking at results over 4 cons. slams. Holding 4 of 5 slams is looking at results over 5 cons. slams.<br />---<br /><br />You can't hold more than 4 slams @ a X (Federer can't hold "4 of 5" b/c there are only 4).***<br /><br />Hey, they proclaimed Lipton Int'l (now Miami Open) as the 5th Major back in '85; then it was the YEC! Nole's got them as covered as he could for the last few yrs!<br /><br />***I suppose the Olympics gold is somewhat more desirable than a Masters title due to its rarity, but a fraction of a Slam or WTF. But if you look at who had Olympics gold it is only s handful of greats: Edberg, Agassi, and Rafa, plus Andy, Kafelnikov, Mecir and a couple of far <er players in Rosset & Massu.***<br /><br />Didn't see any of these OG matches! I may have caught a set or 2 of the ladies when Henin won! I did watch all of Fed & Murray in '12 expecting the same result! When it didn't happen as ordained w/ Fed getting his 7th Wimbl. & 17th major overall! Who would have thought it w/b his last? He went just 2 yrs btw '10 AO & '12 Wimbledon! It's been 4 yrs! Are we to expect guys to roll over so he can have 1 more great run?Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-81053639258013583672016-07-14T22:40:40.077-05:002016-07-14T22:40:40.077-05:00***If you were looking at ATP pts (using current A...***If you were looking at ATP pts (using current ATP pts weightings - though the Olympics will drop off after this yrs games) gathered in his career - then Andy's in the Wilander/Edberg terriotory. But if you solely base it on slam wins - then he obviously isn't.<br /><br />Re. All the pts for all events where he can win 500 pts or > (again, this is NOT a >ness index - it is merely showing objectively the pts gained @ events 500 & >):<br /><br /> For ease I have reduced the weighting points down by a factor of 1000; eg Slams are worth 2 instead ATP 2000.<br /><br /> Scale is: (SV x 2) + (SEFNL x 1.5) + (SEFOL x 1.3) + (SEFRUNL x 1) + (SRU x 1.2) + (TOP9 x 1) + (TOP9RU x 0.60) + (SEFRUOL x 0.80) + (OSG x 0.75) + (SSF x 0.72) + (SEFSFNL x 0.60) + (500S x 0.50)<br /><br /> Becker = (6 x 2) + ((1 + 1) x 1.5)) + (3 x 1.3) + ((4 + 1) x 1) + (4 x 1.2) + (13 x 1) + (8 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (0 x 0.75) + (8 x 0.72) + ((2 - 1) x 0.60) + (9 x 0.50)= 57.36<br /><br /> Edberg = (6 x 2) + (0 x 1.5) + (1 x 1.3) + ((2 - 1) x 1) + (5 x 1.2) + (8 x 1) + (12 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (0 x 0.75) + (8 x 0.72) + ((2 - 1) x 0.60) + (8 x 0.50) = 45.86<br /><br /> Murray = (3 x 2) + (0 x 1.5) + (0 x 1.3) + (0 x 1) + (8 x 1.2) + (12 x 1) + (6 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (1 x 0.75) + (9 x 0.72) + (1 x 0.60) + (6 x 0.50) = 42.03<br /><br /> Wilander = (7 x 2) + (0 x 1.5) + (0 x 1.3) + (0 x 1) + (4 x 1.2) + (8 x 1) + (7 x 0.60) + (1 x 0.80) + (0 x 0.75) + (3 x 0.72) + (0 x 0.60) + (8 x 0.50****) = 37.96<br /><br /> Everything that in today's terms you can earn 500 pts & above per event is counted. That is:<br /><br />•Slam Victories (SV) 2000 ATP pts<br />•Slam R-ups (SRU) 1200 ATP pts<br />•Slam SF's (SSF) 720 ATP pts<br />•Season end F victories w/ no loss b4 the F (WTF, WCT Finals * & GS Cup *) (SEFNL) 1500 ATP pts<br /><br />•Season end F victories w/ 1 loss b4 the F (WTF, WCT Finals * & GS Cup *) (SEFOL) 1300 ATP pts<br /><br />•Season end F R-ups w/ no loss b4 the F (WTF, WCT Finals * & GS Cup *) (SEFRUNL) 1000 ATP pts<br /><br />•Season end F R-ups w/ 1 loss b4 the F (WTF, WCT Finals * & GS Cup *) (SEFRUOL) 800 ATP pts<br /><br />•Season end F SF's w/ no loss b4 the SF (WTF, WCT Finals * & GS Cup *) (SEFSFNL) ATP 600 pts<br /><br />•Masters 1000 = victories (we will call (Top 9)) ATP 1000 pts<br />•Masters 1000 = R-ups (TOP9RU) ATP 600 pts<br />•OGM Singles (OSG) ATP 750 pts<br />•500 Series =s (500S) ATP 500 pts<br />---<br /><br /># of slams where the player made semi's or ><br /> =========<br /> Murray 20<br /> Edberg 19<br /> Becker 18<br /> Wilander 14<br /><br />Yes winning slams is the most important - but this metric shows Murray's consistency going deep in a slam.***<br /><br />Which is why I've been saying that Murray will wind up being the best player never to get a sniff of the #1 ranking! These other players did w/ > consistency @ the majors!<br /><br />***If Djokovic's a sure shot for 18 majors like some folks here think, we would have to liken Andy's chances for getting 10 majors.***<br /><br />Why? Murray's won 1 major in a season 3 X's; Nole's taken 3 majors twice & on the cusp for matching Roger w/ 3 if he can somehow manage another win @ USO in Sept.! In my day, prime 70's & 80's w/ Golden Age in the 90's, I didn't think it possible to see such excellence w/ 3 ATL again! I had thought we'd have to settle for mediocrity like Hewitt, Safin, & old man Agassi trading #1 ranking after Sampras retired in '02! In quick succession we've had Roger, then Rafa, now Novak! I'm not ready to add Andy to the list j/b he took his 2nd Wimbledon!Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-66320045810146795122016-07-14T16:36:12.340-05:002016-07-14T16:36:12.340-05:00***Sampras declared Djokovic' '11 season a...***Sampras declared Djokovic' '11 season as the best he has ever seen, calling it "1 of the best achievements in all of sports." Becker called Djokovic's season "1 of the very best yrs in tennis of all X", adding that it "may not be the best statistically, but he's beaten Fed, he's beaten Nadal, he's beaten everybody that came around to challenge him in the biggest tourneys in the world." Nadal, who lost to Djokovic in 6 finals on 3 diff. surfaces, described Djokovic's performances as "probably the highest level of tennis that I ever saw." He was named '11 ITF World Champ. He also received the Golden Bagel Award by winning 13 sets w/ the result of 6–0.<br />---<br /><br />...At the '15 USO, Djokovic reached the final for the 6th X in his career, achieving the feat of reaching all 4 grand slam finals. In the final of the tournament, he faced Federer once again, defeating him in 4 sets to win his 3rd GS title of the year, his 2nd title at Flushing Meadows, and his 10th career GS singles title, becoming the 5th man in the Open Era to win 10+ GS singles titles, as well as only the 3rd man to reach all 4 Major finals in a CY.<br /><br />He returned to Beijing in Oct., winning the title for the 6th X, defeating Nadal in str. sets in the final to bring his overall record @ the tourney to 29–0. Djokovic then reached the final of the Paris Masters, where he defeated Murray in str. sets, taking his 4th title there and a record 6 ATP Masters 1000 in 1 year. After losing to Fed in the RR stage of the '15 ATP WTF's he took on the 3rd seed again in the final. He beat Federer in str. sets winning his 5th YEC title and he became the 1st player to win 4 cons. finals tournaments.<br />---<br /><br />...Djokovic defeated Andy Murray in the final of the '16 FO in 4 sets, making him the reigning champ of all 4 majors, a historic feat the media dubbed the "Nole Slam." W/ his FO triumph, Djokovic became the 8th player in history (& the 2nd oldest) to achieve a CGS, the 3rd player in history to hold all 4 GS titles at the same X, & the 1st player to win $100 M in prize $$.<br />---<br /><br />Following his tremendous success in the '11 season, Djokovic began to feature on all-X greatest lists. In late '11, Laver chose Djokovic as #6 in his top 10 male players of the Open Era. ...In April '15, Henman offered another comment on Djokovic's standing among the all-X greats, saying "it's only a matter of X before he's considered alongside Federer & Nadal as 1 of the GOATs." McEnroe put Djokovic in all-X top 5... "My top 4 are Laver, Sampras, Roger & Nadal, but Novak's @ #5 & rising."<br /><br />Nick B...Over all, almost every player has a downfall; to me he doesn’t have one. He’s perhaps the best put-together player that I’ve seen over 60 years.” Tennis pundits have classified many of Djokovic's matches as some of the greatest contests ever, w/ the '12 AO final being considered the greatest match ever seen. Some longX analysts claim that the Djokovic-Nadal rivalry ranks as the best rivalry in tennis history primarily b/c of the quality of matches they produce.<br />---<br /><br />What's a real ATG, what's true GOATness, what is the legitimate meaning of H2H? And so it goes.***<br /><br />A real ATG overachieves all expectations like Borg winning 5 str. Wimbledons! True Goat-ness has Federer having a nice run in 2 of the biggest majors & owning many records in the book! H2H has always been that; regardless of surface! We tried to give Roger cover for yrs giving him dispensation for most of his losses to Rafa being on clay! The true record shows it really didn't matter w/ him taking Roger on grass in '08, HC at '09 AO, and many Masters on all surfaces; indoor & out! Nole's passed them both; took X, but he caught up there & in the record book!Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-62295202366773367812016-07-14T16:30:13.952-05:002016-07-14T16:30:13.952-05:00***All-X rec:
Event - Since - Rec. accomp. by No...***All-X rec: <br /><br />Event - Since - Rec. accomp. by Nole - - Players tied<br /><br />Non-Cal. Yr GS - - SA<br />Highest HC match win % - (88.4%) - SA<br />ATP World Tour '70 - 34 Top-tier HC tourneys won - SA<br />10 Top tier tourneys won in a season - SA<br />18 Top tier tourney finals in a row - SA<br />15 str. finals reached in a season ('15) - SA<br />30+ match wins vs Top 10 opps in a season - SA<br />Defeated all Top 10 players in a season - SA<br />Highest overall match win % (83.0%) - SA<br />ATP World Tour Masters 1000 '70 - 29 titles overall - SA<br />6 titles won season ('15) - SA<br />2 yrs winning 5+ titles - SA<br />4+ titles at 4 diff. tourneys - SA<br />Highest Masters match win % (82.8%) - SA<br />ATP Rankings '73 Highest # of ranking pts as World #1 (16,950) - SA<br />Paris Masters '68 4 men's titles - SA<br />IW's Masters '74 5 men's titles - SA<br />China Open '93 6 men's titles - SA<br />Shanghai Masters '09 3 men's titles - SA<br /><br />GS tourneys recs - attained - - Open Era since '68<br /><br /> - '08–16 CGS (Winning 4 Majors @ least once) Laver, Agassi, Federer, Nadal<br /> - '15–16 Non-CYGS - - SA<br /> - Holding all 4 Major titles @ once - Laver<br /> - Holding all 4 Major titles on 3 diff. surfaces at once - SA<br /> - 30 cons. GS match wins - SA<br /> - '10–16 3+ cons. finals in all 4 Majors - SA<br /> - '15 All 4 Major finals in a season - Laver & Federer<br /> - '07–08 Youngest to reach the SF's of all 4 Majors (20 yrs, 250 days) - SA<br /><br />USO - '07–16 12 HC finals overall - Fed<br />'10–13 7 cons. HC finals - SA<br />'05–16 Highest HC match win % - 88.4% (114–15) - SA<br /><br />AO - '11–2012 & '15–16<br /> 2 streaks of 3 cons. Major titles - Fed<br /><br />Wimbledon - '11–15<br /> 3+ titles @ each of the 2 Majors<br /> <br />- '16 Winning AO/FO title double in a season - Laver, Wilander & Courier<br />- AO '12 Longest GS final (by duration) vs Nadal - Nadal <br />- Djokovic's the 8th man to win the CGS and 1 of 6 players in the Open Era (Connors, Wilander, Agassi, Fed, Nadal) to win GS's on 3 diff. surfaces.<br /><br />Recs @ each GS tourney - attained in the Open Era of tennis since '68<br /><br />- AO '08–'16 6 titles overall - SA<br />- 6 finals overall - SA<br />- '11–13 3 consecutive titles SA<br />- 3 cons. finals - Wilander & Lendl<br />- '11–14 - 25 cons. match wins - SA<br />- FO '09–16 6 cons. SF's apps - SA<br />- USO '12 Longest final (by duration) vs Murray - Murray <br />- Djokovic's the 1st & only player in the Open Era t/b undefeated in 6 AO finals; a perfect 6-0 record.<br /><br />ATP WTF's recs:<br /><br />- '12–15 4 cons. titles - SA<br />- 15 cons. match wins - - SA<br />- '14 - 76.1% (51–16) games winning % in 1 tourney - SA<br />- '11 Qualified the earliest – 18 wks, 6 days - SA<br />- Djokovic's the 4th man w/ Federer, Lendl & Sampras to win the WTF 5 X's<br /><br />ATP Masters 1000 records - GP Super Series began in '70<br />ATP Masters Series was introduced in '90<br />IW's '08–16 5 titles overall - SA<br />'07–16 6 finals overall - SAA<br />'14–2016 3 cons. titles - Federer<br />Miami Open '07–16 - 6 titles overall - Agassi<br />'14–16 - 3 cons. titles - Agassi<br />Shanghai - '12–15 - 3 titles overall - SA<br />'12–15 - 3 finals overall - Murray<br />'12–13 - 2 cons. titles - Murray<br />Paris - '09–15 - 4 titles overall SA<br />'13–15 - 3 cons. titles - SA<br />---<br /><br />'16 Highest # of pts accrued in ATP rankings as World #1 (16,950) - SA<br />'11–13 3 cons. yrs winning 20+ matches vs. Top 10 opps - SA<br />'11 5 cons. match wins vs World #1 player in finals (Nadal) - SA<br />'15 Most prize money won in a season ($21,646,145) - SA<br />'16 All-X prize $$ leader ($102,026,620) - SA<br />'09–15 - 6 - China Open titles - SA<br />'12–15 - 4 cons. China Open titles SA***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-30192162894004232572016-07-12T00:45:01.692-05:002016-07-12T00:45:01.692-05:00***The Open Era rankings:
Tier 1 ATG (Federer)
...***The Open Era rankings:<br /><br /> Tier 1 ATG (Federer)<br /> Tier 1.5 ATG (Sampras, Djokovic, Borg)<br /> Tier 2 ATG (Lendl, Nadal, Agassi, McEnroe, Connors)<br /> Tier 3 ATG (Becker, Edberg)<br /> Close, but no cigar: Wilander<br /><br /> Murray<br /> Kuerten/Vilas/Courier<br /> Roddick, Hewitt<br /> Rafter, Wawrinka, Bruguera, Kafelnikov, Safin<br />---<br /><br />Nadal ranked w/ Agassi, Connors, Lendl, and McEnroe? No way. Too much Slam differential, even if he is clay heavy.***<br /><br />Tier 1 ATG (Federer, Laver)<br /> Tier 1.5 ATG (Sampras, Djokovic, Borg)<br /> Tier 1.75 ATG (Nadal, Agassi)<br /> Tier 2 ATG (Lendl, McEnroe, Connors)<br /> Tier 3 ATG (Becker, Edberg)<br /> Close, but no cigar: Wilander<br /><br /> Murray<br /> Kuerten/Vilas/Courier<br /> Roddick, Hewitt<br /> Rafter, Wawrinka, Safin<br /><br />***Grass is not Nole's worst surface. He doesn't even play as many matches on grass a yr as other top players, which is why he can have an off day in the earlier Rds. He doesn't play Halle or Queens, and for 2 yrs str., he went right into Wimbledon, took care of the field, & walked off w/ the title. ...You don't walk into Wimbledon w/o any matches on the surface and win the title twice in a row if you struggle w/ the surface. Each time he's won Wimbledon, (3 X's) he did not play a warm-up tourney. Neither Federer, Murray nor Nadal can say this. Only the Wms sisters have been consistently able to do what Djokovic did and look how many they have. ...He's still pretty good on it though. X Dubai titles, Shanghai titles, a Basel title, etc.<br />---<br /><br />Only Slams where Djoko performed worse in the final I'd say are RG '12 & W '13. I'd say at all other Slams he played & reached the final he was at about the same level<br /><br />From '11 onwards:<br /><br /> '12 RG final - worse than RG 12 semi<br /> '12 USO final - worse than 12 USO semi<br /> '13 AO final - definitely worse than 13 AO semi (not even remotely close)<br /> '13 Wim - no need to elaborate<br /> '13 USO - yes, he wasn't stellar vs Stan, but he was worse in the final<br /> '14 RG - yes, played better vs Gulbis in the semi than vs Nadal in the final<br /> '15 USO - played better vs Cilic in the semi than vs Federer in the final<br /> '16 AO - played better vs Federer in the semi than vs Murray in the final<br /> '16 RG - played better vs Thiem than vs Murray in the final<br />---<br /><br />Serena's going to go down as the greatest female tennis player of all X & possibly the greatest female athlete of all X.***<br /><br />Debatable w/ true athletes like Martina & Steffi who were always on balance, rather than running w/ arms & legs flailing about like a Raggedy Ann doll!<br /><br />***If you're going to factor in "grace" as a quantifier in being considered the GOAT you damn well better be a Fed Fan!***<br /><br />I said Roger's the definitive GOAT at the present, but being challenged hard by Nole! Rafa's game is one of the ugliest, rivaled by Murray!<br /><br />***Federer owns MANY of the ATP tennis records while Serena doesn't remotely hold as much b/c most of them are held/shared by the greats; Steffi/Martina/Chris. Compare to their respective sport, Federer is ahead of Serena. There's no parallel comparison.***<br /><br />That's why it's too hard to jump on Serena's bandwagon! She & Rafa seemed to play when they wanted; plenty of success, but not sustained!Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-77794991991929072052016-07-10T17:02:20.669-05:002016-07-10T17:02:20.669-05:00***...Roger did scrap on Wed. & he should'...***...Roger did scrap on Wed. & he should've been taken out. Cilic choked away the 4th set & put up a meager effort in the 5th. Today's pretty much the opp. though certainly Cilic's collapse was much worse.<br />---<br /><br />Mal Washington played in the worst Wimbledon final ever.***<br /><br />McEnroe had 2 finals that were pathetic; '83 vs Chris Lewis of NZ & Connors' "over the hill" performance in '84!<br />---<br /><br /> 1. M Navratilova - 59 majors, 167 single's & 177 doubles, 6 majors (Martina Slam) won in a row ('83 SW19 - '84 USO when AO @ end of yr). 300+ wks @ #1, 2 CGS<br /><br /> 2. S Wms - 22 majors, 3 CGS, OG winner in singles & doubles<br /> 3. S Graf - 22 majors, 4 CGS, '88 GCYGS w/ Olympic Gold<br /> 4. C Evert - 18 singles majors, 2 CGS, 7 FO & 6 USO<br /> 5. M Court - 24 singles majors, '70 CYGS, 64 majors, 11 AO, 3 CGS<br /><br />***Doesn't Serena have numerous doubles majors as well? But I agree about Navratalova. She played a lot of doubles & in a era when dobs titles were still important, now tend t/b ignored. Johnny Mac was also from that era, & a fantastic doubles player, but that's often forgotten. Martina's 6 Slams in a row was also incredible, a triple "Martina Slam." (altho nobody ever called it that back in those days). I'd put Martina just behind Graf & Williams though.***<br /><br />That was the best I could do OTTH! Martina won final of the Wimbledon Legends again w/ Selima Star! She'll be 70 & still taking nobodies to glory!<br /><br />***Serena's played thru the following players: Davenport, Hingis, Capriati, Henin, Clisters, Sharapova, Aza. I'd cluster the 1st 3 in 1 era, the 2nd 2 in another, and the last 2 in the current 1, not to mention up & comers like, hopefully, not to jinx her ...Kerber. So does that make it a 4th era? 17 yrs is just a long X t/b winning majors. If that were McEnroe, i.e., he'd have been winning majors in '96. That's through Becker, Edberg, Courier, Agassi, Sampras, not to mention starting w/ Borg & Jimmy. Can you imagine someone on the men's side in the Open era doing that?<br />---<br /><br />I think if Djokovic got thru to the final vs Murray, we would have gotten a 5 setter; kinda like the AO only shorter pts. Murray's 2nd serve mhb the diff. But Maybe Murray just steam rolls getting to the final would have most likely killed Djokovic. - Novak isn't Milos & Murray's tears after this win tell volumes about this matchup in Slams.***<br /><br />We definitely can't tell how Murray would play if Nole there instead of Milos! We might as well compare it to '77 FO where Vilas won over Gottfried w/ Borg didn't play that season! Vilas has his FO title, won it fair & square, but contextual historians like myself will continue to be "hatin!" IMO, the headlines of the yr:<br /><br /> Nole takes his 1st FO title; continues dominance as #1<br /> Murray solidified his ranking as #2 after making 2 other major finals, wins on clay over Rafa & Nole, & takes Wimbledon<br /> Serena continued to struggle tying Graf's major count @ 22 until Wimbledon<br /> Thiem, Zverev, Cuevas, Raonic, & Pouille make their marks<br /> Fedal absent & fading<br /><br />***You're just a little bitter b/c a 34-yo Federer recovering from 2-0 sets down at Wimbledon was more epic than most of the matches in tennis this yr.***<br /><br />If that pacifies your idea of great theatre; ya got me! In the grand scheme of things, Fed was just avoiding the inevitable by a round! I've already said & affirmed Roger's "THE GOAT," but both Nadal & Nole have reason or potential to overtake that universal thought! It gets murkier year after year! No one thought Nole would outdo '11, seemed burned out in '12 & '13, but recovered his footing by Wimbledon in '14 to make Fedal fans nervous w/ an even better streak in '15! Winning FO fills a gigantic hole so I can understand meager defiance in regards to who'll rule supreme when all's said & done?!Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-854664721188119454.post-13346790425650072222016-07-06T11:28:16.943-05:002016-07-06T11:28:16.943-05:00***...Even in GS SF streaks, the top 3 are Roger (...***...Even in GS SF streaks, the top 3 are Roger (23), Novak (14) & Lendl/Laver(10?)... These 2 records bring out the contrast btw 21st & 20th centuries Open era men's tennis. Whatever homogenization of conditions (surface/balls/racquets mix) means, this record brings it into sharp focus like night & day.***<br /><br />Besides the top players being infinitely better than their comp., you have to take in consideration the homogenized courts, racket tech, and of course the extended seedings! You don't get what occurred in the past w/ #20 in the world playing a #9 seed in the 1st Rd as what happened to McEnroe @ the USO when he was upset by Paul Annacone in '86!<br /><br />***Honestly I think it w/b much more fun if we had only #16 seeds for the Slams.***<br /><br />I think it has helped the top player too much; at least the lack of variety in the winners!<br /><br />***It surely helps the top players to start smoothly into the tournament; probably much more important for the players ranked 17-32 as it greatly improves their chances to get at least the points & prize $$ for reaching the 3rd Rd. Also the top players dominating the Masters tourney where the top seeds can start vd a Top 20 player in a bo3 match to a similar degree as the Slams indicate it wouldn't change too much for them.<br />---<br /><br />It would lead to more imbalanced draws and I would expect a slight increase of early upsets, but in the constellation w/ 4 players that are clearly above the field, the probability of 2 of them reaching the final / 1 of them winning the tournament would still be very high.***<br /><br />...No one's going to care about the level of comp. 10-30 yrs down the line; Roddick still was briefly #1 while Murray hasn't had a sniff of it even w/ a fairly good stretch of winning OG, the USO, & Wimbledon in succession in < than a yr! Murray's a lot better, but his comp. was "the best" w/ 3 GOAT's!<br /><br />***You mean no 1 but people who like tennis, right? B/c tennis fans, former players, analysts, experts etc. will always bring up the competition of the day to make their case. It's like when I see Navratilova forever spitting in Steffi Graf's eye because Graf didn't go become Seles' BFF after that maniac stabbed Seles - as if that negates Graf's on-court achievements. Rolleyes It's always going to be about what someone perceives as context. My context for Murray is - he hasn't won more more Slams because of Djokovic. He's 2-5 against Djokovic in Slam finals. Roddick was 0-4 in Slam Finals against Federer. Ergo, I stand by my "context" - Djokovic is to Murray what Federer was to Roddick - a PITA who kept him from winning more Slams . We'll just have agree to disagree.***<br /><br />Not t/b an egomaniac about it, but obviously I'm being a lot more honest about the times giving Murray more credit for being better even though Roddick actually was #1 for about 5 mins! Outside of "us" historians, the cold, hard #'s will take precedent unless there's an old fogy from our era to give texture concerning conditions, technological breakthroughs, & the level of comp.!<br /><br />***See 2-2 in sets now - Cilic can't finish the job - Fed could give him a 4-0 lead in the 5th & he would still lose. - Cilic hasn't got the killer instinct to finish it. Apparently he has only ever had 3 wins over the top 4 players. It certainly showed on the 2 MP's when he had 2nd serves to look @ & couldn't even get the ball in play.***<br /><br />If it happens a handful of X's, you overall overlook it, but this is getting old! How many X's have I "gone off" on the 2nd & 3rd tier unable to finish? Querrey lucky Nole burned his challenges @ the wrong X which might have saved him on 2 cons. bad calls! Lets see if Cilic will complete this "bulimic" act yet again!<br /><br />***It's the reason why the top 3 have won almost everything. But it is tiring seeing someone play so well all match, yet play average on a MP. Did you see Goran? He must be mad.***Jamie / Fiero425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09067317321797435654noreply@blogger.com