2022 Tennis Thread

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

What FedFan isn't rooting for Kyrgios or Norrie lol.

I like watching him play but I hate the man. I don't want him to win any major unless he does a total 180 with his behaviour.

[dash_pinched]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1545040928372658176

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by Izzle

Ultimately, that's what counts. Total grand slam titles. By that metric Nadal is the current goat.

in every sport, greatness is measured by counting up the biggest trophies in the display case. golf majors, Stanley, Lombardi, O'Brien, etc. everything else is just tiebreakers. and any argument of "if this or that happened instead" is worth less than the electrons used to display it on screen.

to say the goat debate is officially settled before any of them have even retired is dumb as hell. but Novak has to be at least tied for most majors or he has no claim, period. it hurts his fans to acknowledge, but how good of an ambassador you are for the sport and how beloved you are by fans and historians actually does count for something. it's another one of those secondary tiebreakers.

[GirlySports]

Federer could have really cemented his GOAT status but he really struggled mentally early in his career. Some thought he was going to be a bust.

He famously beat Sampras at Wimbledon in the fourth round in 2001 before his 20th birthday but lost in the next round to Henmen.

Didn't win a Grand Slam until two years later at Wimbledon and then started his 2004-2007 run. Between his Sampras win and his first grand slam, didn't make it past the 4th round of a major.

2001 US Open (13) Federer lost to (2) Agassi (4th round)
2002 Aus Open (11) Federer lost (7) Haas (4th round)
2002 Fr Open (8) Federer lost to Arazi (1st round)
2002 Wimbledon (7) Federer lost to Ancic (1st round)
2002 Rogers Cup (10) Federer lost to Canas (1st Round) (Canas won the tournament)
2002 Cincinnati (10) Federer lost to Ljubicic (1st round)
2002 US Open (13) Federer lost to (32) Mirnyi (4th round)
2003 Aus Open (6) Federer lost to (10) Nalbandian (4th round)
2003 Fre Open (5) Federer lost to Horna (1st round)
2003 Us Open (2) Federer lost to (13) Nalbandian (4th round)

[Inglewood Jack]

Fed is the greatest natural talent the sport has ever seen, and got the absolute maximum out of his game that was possible, given how aggressive it is and how that can fall apart on a bad day.

Nadal and Djokovic aside from their generational talent are the pinnacle of baseline era play, racquet technology, sports medicine, and most of all casino house odds consistency. their extremely reliable groundstrokes already have a 52-55% advantage over other players over the course of a match, and that goes up in pressure situations when the rallies get longer. yes there's a mental strength advantage, but it helps when you can swing the racquet the exact same way over and over and be confident it's going to land where you want. steady, high floor beats hot and cold at majors almost every time.

[dash_pinched]

Not sure how many are watching this Halep - Rybakina match, but the young lady from Kazakhstan is tearing the cover off the ball in this opening set.

[GirlySports]

in 2004 when Federer lost to Kuerten at the French but won the other 3 slams, he probably figured, I'll get a few chances to win the French over the next few years

[dash_pinched]

Simona's serve has been possessed with the spirit of Shapo today.

Edit: Yeesh, that toss is all over the place today and she's decelerating badly especially on her second serve.

[dash_pinched]

My goodness, 119 and 121 MPH aces out wide by Rybakina.

Edit: Rybakina breaks Simona to advance to the final - 6-3 6-3

[Inglewood Jack]

Patrick Mouratog-lose

[Nadal Fan]

Wimbledon: Let's ban Russian players.....proceeds to have a player born in Moscow in the final. Isn't it ironic just a bit?

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

Wimbledon: Let's ban Russian players.....proceeds to have a player born in Moscow in the final. Isn't it ironic just a bit?

I think she represented Russia until 2018 as well. Meh, the ban was dumb to start with and she now represents Kazakhstan, so it's fine by me.

/I'm cheering for Ons in the final though

[GirlySports]

Kazakhstan is basically Russia-lite. Their president just wasnt dumb enough to declare official support for the war like Belarus did. They just started to protest against Russia now.

[Senator Clay Davis]

So a couple of things

1. Obviously 04-07 Fed is the peak of the sport, maybe the peak of any sport. Anyone would objectively admit this. But at the same time Novak from 11-15 is arguably in the conversation. That period is the only comparable period another player has had, and that obviously matters. Nadal's peak, probably 08-11, is at least a tier below Fed and Novak's peaks.

2. Majors are important in the GOAT debate, without a doubt, but majors always have a fair amount of luck involved. To me the biggest factor for GOAT should be weeks at #1. You can't stay at #1 for any significant amount of time by luck, and the tennis ranking system with defending points makes staying at #1 even harder. You can win quite a few majors with draw luck, injury luck, or plain dumb luck. Novak will probably end up with 100 more weeks at #1 than Fed, and double the weeks at #1 as Nadal. Certainly matters a lot.

3. Novak's likability path with the fans is kinda hilarious when you think about it. When he showed big talent, but was always losing to Nadal and Fed, he was quite liked as you recall. Then when he started winning more than he lost to them, the fans started to turn. And then of course in that 11-15 run, when he was the dominant force by far, he became utterly despised. Just funny that the biggest reason fans hate him is he blocked Fedal from more majors. The dick behavior really started after that, and I kinda like that he embraced full heel. Sport would have been more boring otherwise.

[Nadal Fan]

Nadal expected to pull out of Wimbledon, Kyrgios into the final damn

Edit: It's official the Calendar Slam is over

[Izzle]

This says otherwise

https://www.eurosport.co.uk/tennis/w...85/story.shtml

Edit: yup he's withdrawn.

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

Nadal expected to pull out of Wimbledon, Kyrgios into the final damn

Edit: It's official the Calendar Slam is over

Well, that's too bad, but the prospects of a Novak - Nick final is still mouth-watering. If Nick wins, does he do the Novak celly to the fans?

[Izzle]

The most Kyrgios thing would be to win a slam final that carried no points.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Honestly should let Fritz play, he only lost because of the stupidity of the 6-6 superbreaker. At least make Kyrgios earn it.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Honestly should let Fritz play, he only lost because of the stupidity of the 6-6 superbreaker. At least make Kyrgios earn it.

Fritz couldn't beat a player that had limited movement, no 1st serve, and only a slice backhand for half the match, he doesn't deserve to move on regardless.