OT: French Open

[huskiesnyc]

Rafael Nadal is one set away from winning his 12th major. When all is said and done I think he has a very good chance to be the all time grand slam leader, and best player of all time. He is also 20-10 all time over Roger Federer. The only thing that can stop him is injuries, because he plays such a physical grueling game.

Also: some jackass protester just ran out on the court holding a torch. Top notch security

 

[Fishy]

I'm not a tennis fan and do not follow the sport, so I have no idea how good he is, etc.

However, I'd bet your life that he's loaded to the gills with PEDs.

 

[Drame]

He may or may not be but Im pretty sure he's been on the record for saying there needs to be more testing / transparency on the tennis tour.

 

[huskiesnyc]

Unfortunately you have to question every top player in their respective sport these days. Tennis has a hard enough time drawing interest especially since every American sucks now. That would be an absolute killer to the sport if Nadal got caught doping. But Drame is right, he has been outspoken about more testing.

 

[husky91]

Maybe all time GS, but at top of games Ferder better and more versatile.

I think the prettiest game of last 25 years is Edberg, but be never won as many as he should have

Rafael Nadal is one set away from winning his 12th major. When all is said and done I think he has a very good chance to be the all time grand slam leader, and best player of all time. He is also 20-10 all time over Roger Federer. The only thing that can stop him is injuries, because he plays such a physical grueling game.

Also: some jackass protester just ran out on the court holding a torch. Top notch security

 

[alexd]

Maybe all time GS, but at top of games Ferder better and more versatile.

I think the prettiest game of last 25 years is Edberg, but be never won as many as he should have

The problem for Edberg was that he came up in the time of McEnroe, then Lendl, Becker then Courier and Agassi. A lot more depth in the men's game back then.

 

[superjohn]

You could make a case that Edberg was the best serve and volly guy ever but he didn't have the complete game. While I agree there was more parity during the prime of Edberg's career, guys like Courier and Agassi who came later couldn't hold Federer, Nadal and Djokovic's jocks.

 

[huskiesnyc]

Pete Sampras is currently the best player of all time in my opinion, and dominated the golden age of tennis. Federer cleaned up a bunch of grand slams during a black hole in tennis, and was dominated by Nadal (20-10). The competition was much higher when Pete played, and he retired with the most slams ever.

 

[alexd]

Pete Sampras...I knew I forgot someone when mentioning Edberg's contemporaries...

 

[superjohn]

Sampras was amazing but he caught Lendl, Becker and Edberg at the tail ends of their careers, the best generation was right before Sampras with Lendl, McEnroe, Borg, Connors, Becker, Edberg, Wilander etc. Sampras was great but never won the French, Federer is the best and most complete player of all-time in my opinion.

 

[huskiesnyc]

Sampras was amazing but he caught Lendl, Becker and Edberg at the tail ends of their careers, the best generation was right before Sampras with Lendl, McEnroe, Borg, Connors, Becker, Edberg, Wilander etc. Sampras was great but never won the French, Federer is the best and most complete player of all-time in my opinion.

Federer beat Robin Soderling in the French fina..l. Like I said black hole. Fed gets dominated by not only Nadal but also Djoker. Can't be the best if you can't beat your contemporaries

 

[superjohn]

Sampras never even made a French finals, Federer would have a few French wins if it wasn't for Nadal who is so much better than anyone in history on that surface. Federer beat Soderling, so what? Sampras beat Cedric Pioline in the Wimbeldon and US Open finals. Yes Nadal has gotten the best of Federer head to head and I think the matchup with Djokovic is pretty even but you can also read that as Federer would have a bunch more majors if it wasn't for those two. Sampras' only real rivalry was with Agassi who was a great player but not at the level of Nadal and Djokovic.

 

[Fishy]

I find it hard to believe that someone could win 17 majors without 'beating his contemporaries'.

I am sure Federer is 4-6 years older than Nadal and the other dude.

That seems to be a lifetime in tennis.

 

[husky91]

I agree, Agassi and Courier would not be among the top 3 if they played today.

Murray is probably a guy who could have gotten 4-6 majors in a different era.

You could make a case that Edberg was the best serve and volly guy ever but he didn't have the complete game. While I agree there was more parity during the prime of Edberg's career, guys like Courier and Agassi who came later couldn't hold Federer, Nadal and Djokovic's jocks.

 

[Hoophound]

Agassi is one the most talented tennis players ever. Unfortunately, he wasted his prime years on drugs, girls and lazy practice habits.

I am pretty sure that today's players are loaded up on hgh and their accomplishments are almost irrelevant to those of Sampras, Agassi etc.

 

[husky91]

I don't know how he wasted anything. Dude is worth like $175mil, has 8 majors including only 1 of 2 players with career grand slam and hot wife (yes, like Steffi). He is also incredibly philanthropic.

Maybe he could have had 2-3 more, but he played when Pete dominated grass and hard courts and lots if clay court specialists

Agassi is one the most talented tennis players ever. Unfortunately, he wasted his prime years on drugs, girls and lazy practice habits.

I am pretty sure that today's players are loaded up on hgh and their accomplishments are almost irrelevant to those of Sampras, Agassi etc.

 

[husky91]

Also, saw where Rafa's French record is 59-1, 1 loss in 2009 and won every match from 2005 on. Amazing. One of the top couple records/streaks in sports history.

 

[Hoophound]

Agassi mailed it in during his prime. He didn't even tour through large portions of it. From the mid to late 90's he was out of shape and it resulted in several injuries and crappy play. He got back to training and being serious in 99 or so and had a nice run. He could have done much more.

Keep in mind, this is a guy that skipped Wimbledon like 3 times just because he didn't want to wear white. Not exactly serious about things at that point.

I'm not disparaging him, he's a great guy who's done some great things. He just could have done much more in tennis.

 

[progrocks]

Totally agree that Agassi wasted his talent more than any person that I have seen.

Nadal is not just a 1 surface player, but his dominance on that one surface means you have to come up with a metric to properly evaluate how he viewed historically and how his contemporaries should be viewed historically considering his dominance in it. Overall, I think Roger is the greater player. and I think Pete is behind the two of them.

80's tennis was dominated by serve and volley and now there are no serve and volley players around. Something about how they changed the grass surface so the bounce is different. Maybe Lendl would have won a Wimbledon if current conditions existed back then

 

[superjohn]

Totally agree that Agassi wasted his talent more than any person that I have seen.

Nadal is not just a 1 surface player, but his dominance on that one surface means you have to come up with a metric to properly evaluate how he viewed historically and how his contemporaries should be viewed historically considering his dominance in it. Overall, I think Roger is the greater player. and I think Pete is behind the two of them.

80's tennis was dominated by serve and volley and now there are no serve and volley players around. Something about how they changed the grass surface so the bounce is different. Maybe Lendl would have won a Wimbledon if current conditions existed back then

Lendl has always been underrated in my eyes. Not many people liked him because he was so old world and serious out there. He was a marvelous player and dominated for a long time, nice to see him turn Andy Murray into a winner.

 

[huskiesnyc]

This is my top 5:

1) Pete Sampras (played in the golden age against the best competition and always rose to the occasion)
2) Rafa Nadal (12 majors and still going)
3) Bjorn Borg (quit tennis at age 25 yet still won 11 majors)
4) Roger Federer (won a ton between 03-07 black hole of tennis against stiffs like Roddick and partiers like Safin. He was dominated against Djokovic and Nadal head to head)
5) Rod Laver (don't know much about him but the greats say he was the best player ever)

 

[superjohn]

This is my top 5:

1) Pete Sampras (played in the golden age against the best competition and always rose to the occasion)
2) Rafa Nadal (12 majors and still going)
3) Bjorn Borg (quit tennis at age 25 yet still won 11 majors)
4) Roger Federer (won a ton between 03-07 black hole of tennis against stiffs like Roddick and partiers like Safin. He was dominated against Djokovic and Nadal head to head)
5) Rod Laver (don't know much about him but the greats say he was the best player ever)

Roger Federer at #4 is just ridiculous.

 

[bmayuc]

This is my top 5:

1) Pete Sampras (played in the golden age against the best competition and always rose to the occasion)
2) Rafa Nadal (12 majors and still going)
3) Bjorn Borg (quit tennis at age 25 yet still won 11 majors)
4) Roger Federer (won a ton between 03-07 black hole of tennis against stiffs like Roddick and partiers like Safin. He was dominated against Djokovic and Nadal head to head)
5) Rod Laver (don't know much about him but the greats say he was the best player ever)

You beat who is in front of you. Federer did that for almost 5 years uninterrupted. Even now he is relevant, and his dominance of wimbeldon is also staggering.

#4? LOL what a joke.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[UConnPuneet]

This is my top 5:

1) Pete Sampras (played in the golden age against the best competition and always rose to the occasion)
2) Rafa Nadal (12 majors and still going)
3) Bjorn Borg (quit tennis at age 25 yet still won 11 majors)
4) Roger Federer (won a ton between 03-07 black hole of tennis against stiffs like Roddick and partiers like Safin. He was dominated against Djokovic and Nadal head to head)
5) Rod Laver (don't know much about him but the greats say he was the best player ever)

Federer vs Djokovic all-time: 16-13, 6-5 in grand slams. Not sure where you're getting this idea that Djoker dominated him H2H.

 

[Waquoit]

5) Rod Laver (don't know much about him but the greats say he was the best player ever)

Rod Laver won the Grand Slam in 1962, didn't play a major event for six years (24 total), then won the Grand Slam again in 1969. I'm thinking he might have won a few more in between if he was eligible.