Tennis
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CatalinR10
Senior Member
Gnidrologist
Senior Member
Just to chime in. Don't consider it as a troll post. But isn't Federer a player that mostly wins, while waiting opponents mistakes, by dishing out precise floating backhands and safe shots through the middle? Like Ivan Lendl of yore.
I stopped watching tennis, when my favorite generation declined (Saprass, Agassi, Becker, Muster, Ivanisevic, Coretja, Kafelnikov etc.). Sort of the same that happened after Bulls broke down after MJ retired for good and most other teams lost their mojos. As much respect as i have for athleticism of Nadal, Fedrer and Jokovic, i found their play stile incredibly tedious so i quickly lost interest in that new generation of tennis. Am i the only one in this respect?
I stopped watching tennis, when my favorite generation declined (Saprass, Agassi, Becker, Muster, Ivanisevic, Coretja, Kafelnikov etc.). Sort of the same that happened after Bulls broke down after MJ retired for good and most other teams lost their mojos. As much respect as i have for athleticism of Nadal, Fedrer and Jokovic, i found their play stile incredibly tedious so i quickly lost interest in that new generation of tennis. Am i the only one in this respect?
Mitchell1978
Senior Member
Federer can play serve and volley, attacking tennis etc but is pretty allround, Nadal and Djokovic are more 'defending' players but also are somewhat allround.
You have to be if you want to achieve the succes they have.
Federer style is anything but boring and you clearly sound as someone who hasn't watched tennis in a very long time.
Neeraj
Senior Member
The only thing missing to undoubtedly put down any whisper of contention against Roger being the GOAT is winning the slam. I know he's already pretty much cemented GOAT status, but I feel that last piece is incomplete (and the fact that Novak has it sort of..sticks). He's 35 and playing great. Won the first 2 this year, while the other 3 are struggling with injuries. Obviously Nadal stands in the way of French, but in case he continues to struggle with injuries, I wonder if Roger can pull off a miracle there. If he does...well the fairy tale would be wrap up the US, cement GOAT status and bow out in style. Only problem is it seems too much of a fairy tale to be true..but one can dream!
Gnidrologist
Senior Member
I give you that. Really, i stopped follwing tennis around early 00s. But one of my gripes because i actually did it was because all tennisists, both great and mediocre played exactly the same style. It was like day and night when comparing to 90's generation, when everyone had their quirk. 00s seemed like susbstituting humans with cyborgs. Still spectacular, but lacked the individuality, passion and flaws of individiaul personalities. Ivanisevic bes example. Absolute best serve and volley and at the same time incapable of break even weak servers + all the emo drama. It was so fun to watch. Or like thetmatch between Agassi and Medvedev, when Agassi won his first and only RG, that was something. From 0:2 down, seemed like no chance and then thios turaround. Like in hollywood movies.
Richard.H
Senior Member
I don't think there are any GOAT arguments left. To think that the guy has been winning slams since I was in 6th grade is nuts. He won this slam at age 35... Do any of you realize that most tennis players retire around 32???
It's crazy what we're witnessing. It's truly a moment to cherish and one that will never occur in our lifetimes again. He may be the greatest athlete of all time. GOAT of all GOAT's.
It's crazy what we're witnessing. It's truly a moment to cherish and one that will never occur in our lifetimes again. He may be the greatest athlete of all time. GOAT of all GOAT's.
Richard.H
Senior Member
I will agree that a lot of players in the 90's generation had a lot of personality. They all had their own styles. Players nowadays are like robots in terms of personality, everyone is too nice. Roddick was the last guy on the tour who was cocky and not afraid to express his thoughts on the mic.
I will disagree however, and say that the quality and level of tennis being played right now is much higher than the 90's generation. There were players in the top 10 in the 90's who couldn't keep a rally of more than 5 shots. Game now is much more about being well rounded and having solid ground strokes. Players like Nadal, Djokovic, Murray essentially suited their playing styles to completely counter Federer: Good returns of serve to counter Fed's precise serving, amazing passing shots to prevent Fed from coming up to net, and extremely accurate groundstrokes to attack Fed's backhand (although his backhand this year has been really good).
Agassi and Sampras era, the top two of the 90's, were all focused on a few VERY GOOD/FLAWLESS playing styles: Sampras with the amazing serve and volley, and Agassi with the amazing groundstrokes. Nowadays, you not only need a good serve, but also good groundstrokes to even break top 10/top 5.
Neeraj
Senior Member
Centauri B
New member
Rafa is 4 majors behind Roger and Novak is 7 majors behind. One of them needs to come up with something spectacular to bridge the gap. Rafa could potentially win two more French Opens and with some luck 1 more US/AUS/WIM or with a lot of luck, two more. In that case, the debate will well and truly be on.
Richard.H
Senior Member
Rafa is a weird case. He gets knocked out by random top 100 players in the hard court/grass court majors lately. AO he had some very close matches that were 50/50. RG he still has 2 or 3 more in him given that he doesn't get injured.
Novak, well I always somehow strangely thought he was younger but he is 30 years old. At 30 his body is deteriorating at a faster pace than Nadals. I do not think he will catch up at all.
EDIT: Now that I think about this more, I think Nadal has a chance of catching up if does what Fed did. Take a break from tennis for 6-7 months. Maybe even skip some seasons entirely. His whole game is designed for the clay season.
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Mitchell1978
Senior Member
Djokovic won 4 straight but not in the same year, Rod Laver has done that twice but that was a long time ago.
At this stage of his career its possible that Federer never again plays the french or even on clay anymore.
This really is the goat period of tennis with 3 top 5 players of all time playing at the same time.
Centauri B
New member
Rafa can still win 1 or even two non-clay majors. I am certain of this. Just look at how much failure Federer had to endure in recent years, until 2017 came along.
In the AO, Rafa came a whisker away from winning it, as he was actually a break up in the final set.
I think that Rafa's best bet (outside of RG, of course) is the US Open. I would not be surprised if Rafa won that this year, and split the year's majors with RF.
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