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Tennis

LatK7

First Grade
Messages
6,256
Guess I was naive to think Fed fans would only hide behind slam wins...now the hardcorts are too slow.

Too slow is subjective, but they’ve been slowed down considerably, favouring grinders. The tour has few genuinely fast courts, which have favoured attacking players.

As one of the previous comments pointed out, HCs aren’t the same and Djokovic is the king of the slow stuff and Federer the master of the fast court.
 

Game_Breaker

Coach
Messages
13,476
Federer won his first 7 slams with plenty of inconsistent players around him that were not in the same league as some of the greats. He capitalised on a lull in quality and good on him.

Djoković has never had that luxury.

Agassi was still No.1 for Feds first slam, and was still around a couple years after that for his late career purple patch
Safin was inconsistent, but still no push over when he was on his game - which Fed faced a few times on his was to Slam victories
 
Messages
14,167
I honestly can't see Federer or Nadal winning anymore than 1 one grand slam each now.
Djokovic will overtake Federer with grand slam wins. Its just a matter of time
 

Bazal

Post Whore
Messages
99,404
There's no denying Federer is an all time great. But the GOAT talk is as premature for him as Fed fans allege it is for others given a bloke like Djokovic and even Rafa (although Rafa is much less likely now) is still going strong, is a lot younger and has consistently been as good or better when fully fit.

At the end of the day the true GOAT will be just a discussion for a few years yet. Very hard to go past Djoko though given where their careers are, but he could get injured and give it away in a years time for all we know.
 

Danish

Referee
Messages
31,835
There's no denying Federer is an all time great. But the GOAT talk is as premature for him as Fed fans allege it is for others given a bloke like Djokovic and even Rafa (although Rafa is much less likely now) is still going strong, is a lot younger and has consistently been as good or better when fully fit.

At the end of the day the true GOAT will be just a discussion for a few years yet. Very hard to go past Djoko though given where their careers are, but he could get injured and give it away in a years time for all we know.


There are only a dozen players who’ve ever won slams over 30. Only 2 to ever do it over 35. So history is against him.

Djokovic has in all likelihood has 1-2 years in which to dominate once feds and Nadal retire. Whether he catches feds or not will depend on if any of the young crop of players actually stand up to fill the void.


Personally I think the more likely to overtake feds is Rafa. He could win the French another 10 times if he wanted
 

Wizardman

First Grade
Messages
8,504
So many factors at play here to determine the GOAT. There is a lot of talk about the next gen, but when it comes to the crunch, I've seen nothing yet that can truly overcome the big three in a grand slam.

Tsiptas/Medvedev look very dangerous on a hardcourt. Their defensive game is nowhere near the big three though....that will take time. Zverev....lol....all mental for him. He competes well in smaller tournaments but turns to shit in slams...something he needs to work on.

I think Fed will go until the end of next year. If the other two guys are fit, I see this years Wimbledon as his biggest opportunity to add a slam.

Nadal is clearly the best clay courter of all time. Despite Novak being the best on the planet atm, I think Rafa is the big danger to Fed. The next two French Opens pretty much look like his atm which would take him to 19. Djokovic's insane form and Theim's improvement by the year are his minor threats over the next two years. He has the ability to take a hc gs if the other two have negative things go against them. His health will play a massive part.

Novak, he fact that there are two hardcourt slams in a gs season go in his favour. 2019 and 2020 will determine if Novak will be the greand slam goat. He is clearly the best player in the world and will need to strike while the iron is hot and the next two years will be his best opportunity to make inroads. Tsitipas will certainly be a hc slam factor two years from now, Medvedev maybe.

When all of the big three are done, the slam count will be tight.
 

LatK7

First Grade
Messages
6,256
They could do it. Nadal needs his body to hold up and Djokovic needs to avoid mental lapses (2009-10, 2012-14, 2016-17 he went walkabout after great seasons).
 

Bazal

Post Whore
Messages
99,404
There are only a dozen players who’ve ever won slams over 30. Only 2 to ever do it over 35. So history is against him.

Djokovic has in all likelihood has 1-2 years in which to dominate once feds and Nadal retire. Whether he catches feds or not will depend on if any of the young crop of players actually stand up to fill the void.


Personally I think the more likely to overtake feds is Rafa. He could win the French another 10 times if he wanted

True. Rafa could just boss the French til he was fifty in all likelihood.... But if that was the only reason he overtook Fed, would we really call him the GOAT? On clay, sure...
 

Wizardman

First Grade
Messages
8,504
True. Rafa could just boss the French til he was fifty in all likelihood.... But if that was the only reason he overtook Fed, would we really call him the GOAT? On clay, sure...

I hate the "Rafa cannot be the GOAT because all his win are on clay" argument with a passion.

If Rafa passes Fed's 20 grand slam wins, then he is the GOAT without a shadow of a doubt. GS victories are the main barometer of a players career and you can bet your ass that the big three are desperate to be ahead of that particular count when their careers are done.

If anything, winning the vast majority of his slams on clay should ENHANCE his GOAT credentials, not weaken them. Only one grand slam a year is played on clay. If two of the grand slams were played on clay, the GOAT discussion would already be well and truly done and dusted in Nadal's favour.
 

Bazal

Post Whore
Messages
99,404
I hate the "Rafa cannot be the GOAT because all his win are on clay" argument with a passion.

Except I didn't say that.

I said that, if his only reason for overtaking Federer from here was clay wins, would he genuinely be considered the GOAT?

Personally, no. The greatest of all time does not come with a conditions caveat, so if he can't manage it by at least winning a respectable number of slams on other surfaces, then he wouldn't be the GOAT. Just an excellent player who was unbeatable in his favoured conditions and managed to milk that at the end of his career.
 

Wizardman

First Grade
Messages
8,504
I'd say 6 slams on other surfaces is pretty damn respectable....more than most have achieved in their careers. Novak and Fed have only won one clay court gs each. The fact that Nadal has only one opportunity per year to take a clay gs title and claims it more often than not is a massive credit to him.
I don't know of a better barometer of a players career than their grand slam count.
Even if he won all 21 slams on clay over a 21+ year span, I'd still consider him the GOAT due to career longevity and unbelievable dominance on a surface he has only once a year to take advantage of.

Slam count is a massive deal....it would be what they would want most too.
 

LatK7

First Grade
Messages
6,256
Great work from Fed to reach 100 career titles this morning.

What was perhaps more impressive was they way he went about beating Coric and Tsitsipas in straights, after these two had caused him grief in their past few match ups. Really dialed back the clock. Good on ya old man!
 

Valheru

Coach
Messages
17,509
Kyrgios won Mexico after beating seppi, nadal, wawrink, isner and zverev on consecutive days.

Will this finally be the catalyst for more consistent performances?
 

LatK7

First Grade
Messages
6,256
The old man’s done well since Melbourne. W F W, 101 titles. Can’t believe he won Miami again...that’s practically a Clay Masters 1000. Will be interesting to see how he goes in Madrid. Expecting Djokovic and Nadal to ramp it up this time of year...
 

Danish

Referee
Messages
31,835
Serena with another tremendous display of your brand of grace in defeat... kicking out another player mid-press conference because she was having a tanty about waiting her turn.

Going to be a great day when this clown retires having never equaled Court’s record
 

Valheru

Coach
Messages
17,509
Serena with another tremendous display of your brand of grace in defeat... kicking out another player mid-press conference because she was having a tanty about waiting her turn.

Going to be a great day when this clown retires having never equaled Court’s record

As with everything else, this wasn't her fault...
 
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