Quote:
Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis
Because if longevity isn't a factor, then it's simply a "who, at their absolute best, is the best ever", and then the list becomes a lot harder to put together.
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I dunno how much weight the "best at their absolute peak" factors into the goat list. certainly anybody in the top tennis.com's top 10 had periods in their careers where they were totally invincible. but then a lot more players outside the hall of fame also have those moments. for example Cilic at USO 2014 stomped on his final 3 opponents like some angry tennis kaiju, and nobody from any era was going to stop it. but then he never reached that level again, except for like 1 set in the final last month.
I agree that peak Djoker likely takes down prime Fed and Rafa, especially on hard court. but I don't think it's enough to cover the majors spread. if he comes back healthy for clay, is able to take advantage of an ailing or possibly even absent Rafa, then he might be the first of the 3 to grab two of each slam...then that scale starts to tip a bit more his way.
speaking of which, it would suck to lose Rafa again for a big chunk of this year, but if the worst happens and he's not there to defend Roland Garros, does Fed give it one more try? I'm still gonna guess no, but it would be fascinating to see how his current game translates. would it actually work or would he just end up looking like Sampras out there?