Tennis 2018

[The Firestarter]

Time violation and DelPo break back. I am falling to sleep really.

 

[Mihajlovic]

Have I by any chance mentioned the appalling crowd’s behaviour?

 

[The Firestarter]

That break point was Novak summed in a nutshell.

 

[wr8_utd]

Have I by any chance mentioned the appalling crowd’s behaviour?

It's a thing with crowds with America. They're so heavily biased towards Fed and Del Po that they get unbelievably hostile and unruly.
I find it pretty pathetic when there are massive cheers for faults and double faults.

 

[The Firestarter]

Brilliant !

 

[Bojan11]

It's a thing with crowds with America. They're so heavily biased towards Fed and Del Po that they get unbelievably hostile and unruly.
I find it pretty pathetic when there are massive cheers for faults and double faults.

Most crowds are like that when it comes to Fed. Wimbledon isn’t any better.

 

[Raees]

Beastly performance... puts himself in a great position for GOAT discussions if he continues like this next season. Feel for DelPo though, last guy you want to see in tears after all he’s been through.

 

[wr8_utd]

Most crowds are like that when it comes to Fed. Wimbledon isn’t any better.

Yeah I often find myself muting the TV when Federer plays. It's almost like Davis Cup atmosphere when he's playing.

 

[The Firestarter]

Most crowds are like that when it comes to Fed. Wimbledon isn’t any better.

Nothing compared to this cesspit.

 

[wr8_utd]

Beastly performance... puts himself in a great position for GOAT discussions if he continues like this next season. Feel for DelPo though, last guy you want to see in tears after all he’s been through.

I think the scary thing is he's still not playing as well as he can so he really can go up a couple of levels more. Like even today he's won in straights despite his serve not being all that great and his bhdtl not really firing.

 

[Don Alfredo]

Beastly performance... puts himself in a great position for GOAT discussions if he continues like this next season. Feel for DelPo though, last guy you want to see in tears after all he’s been through.

Has he done it? I couldn‘t watch it anymore, need to get some sleep.

 

[Carolina Red]

I’m starting to feel bad for Del Potro.

 

[Sylar]

I’m starting to feel bad for Del Potro.

Early injuries were the killer

Djokovic played a good tournament. I think the matchups throughout suited him but still, he's still going along and can see another 4 GS at least

 

[wr8_utd]

Early injuries were the killer

Djokovic played a good tournament. I think the matchups throughout suited him but still, he's still going along and can see another 4 GS at least

I think only Nadal could have tested him from the entire field.
Think Djoko is clear favorite for Australia. Interesting to see if he can keep his motivation up this time if he starts winning them all again.

 

[The Firestarter]

Why just not let the legend award the trophy ?

 

[Raoul]

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[Raees]

I think the scary thing is he's still not playing as well as he can so he really can go up a couple of levels more. Like even today he's won in straights despite his serve not being all that great and his bhdtl not really firing.

Agreed and with Fed losing gas and Nadal not being consistent fitness wise outside of clay, it’s looking like Djokovic could keep slaying.

 

[Raoul]

Djokovic now with realistic striking distance of catching Nadal in the next couple of years. His game over the past three months has been pretty dominant.

 

[Zen]

Forget overtaking the Slam numbers.....if he gets another Nole Slam, which is highly favoured to be going into the French chasing....then how much longer can he be genuinely ignored for GOAT status?

Do wonder if he can re-find a clay game to contest though, he was ruthless in chasing Nadal on clay for a good 2-3 years, put everything into it. May not have to do that kind of effort again, but it'll have to be close. Really can't afford anomaly losses like he had against Federer and Wawrinka either this time.

 

[wr8_utd]

Agreed and with Fed losing gas and Nadal not being consistent fitness wise outside of clay, it’s looking like Djokovic could keep slaying.

It honestly all depends on his motivation levels. If he can keep them up this time, he's got a great chance of coming within a slam or two of Federer too.
Outside of the top 3 and Del Po, it's a very very poor field.

 

[Raoul]

Forget overtaking the Slam numbers.....if he gets another Nole Slam, which is highly favoured to be going into the French chasing....then how much longer can he be genuinely ignored for GOAT status?

Do wonder if he can re-find a clay game to contest though, he was ruthless in chasing Nadal on clay for a good 2-3 years, put everything into it. May not have to do that kind of effort again, but it'll have to be close. Really can't afford anomaly losses like he had against Federer and Wawrinka either this time.

I don't think he can be ignored in the present. But all things said, he won't be taken seriously unless he retires with the most slams.

 

[wr8_utd]

Forget overtaking the Slam numbers.....if he gets another Nole Slam, which is highly favoured to be going into the French chasing....then how much longer can he be genuinely ignored for GOAT status?

Do wonder if he can re-find a clay game to contest though, he was ruthless in chasing Nadal on clay for a good 2-3 years, put everything into it. May not have to do that kind of effort again, but it'll have to be close. Really can't afford anomaly losses like he had against Federer and Wawrinka either this time.

Unfortunately people only look at number of Slams when it comes to GOAT and I don't really agree with that. If he gets another Nole Slam and can end up even 2 Slams lesser than Fed, he's GOAT for me. I love Nadal but Djoko is just a far more consistent and dominant player across surfaces

 

[Raoul]

Unfortunately people only look at number of Slams when it comes to GOAT and I don't really agree with that. If he gets another Nole Slam and can end up even 2 Slams lesser than Fed, he's GOAT for me. I love Nadal but Djoko is just a far more consistent and dominant player across surfaces

No one will care about "Nole Slams" when its all said and done. They will care about who has the most slams combined with all the other usual markers people look at - most tournaments won in a career, most weeks spent at #1 etc.

Remember...Laver won two actual proper grand slams and still isn't considered the greatest.

 

[wr8_utd]

I don't think he can be ignored in the present. But all things said, he won't be taken seriously unless he retires with the most slams.

If he has the most Slams, there will be absolutely no discussion anyway.
But imo, he doesn't need max Slams to be GOAT. He's had by far the toughest path to his Slams. Having to deal with Fed AND Nadal and still be this dominant is amazing. He's also 6 years younger than Federer.

 

[Zen]

Well I for one, consider it and have seen many others bring it up ..... so your "no one" is already false. And that's just doing it once, forget twice.

 

[Raoul]

If he has the most Slams, there will be absolutely no discussion anyway.
But imo, he doesn't need max Slams to be GOAT. He's had by far the toughest path to his Slams. Having to deal with Fed AND Nadal and still be this dominant is amazing. He's also 6 years younger than Federer.

The toughest path thing is a hypothetical/thought experiment that can be interpreted differently from person to person. What matters are hard facts.

If I wanted to play the hypothetical game then I might ask if Borg is the greatest because he had 11 slams when he retired at age 26 and during that time, he didn't bother to play the Aussie. What if he retired at 33 and did play the Aussie ? Its irrelevant in the end.

 

[wr8_utd]

Well I for one, consider it and have seen many others bring it up ..... so your "no one" is already false. And that's just doing it once, forget twice.

Federer fans definitely will take into account stuff like weeks at number 1 and tournaments won.

If Novak does another Nole Slam, he'd have two things Fed won't ever achieve.
a) Hold all 4 Slams at one time.
b) Win every Slam atleast twice.

But yeah I'm sure Weeks spent at #1 vs Andy Roddick is the kind of thing that impacts.

 

[Raoul]

Federer fans definitely will take into account stuff like weeks at number 1 and tournaments won.

If Novak does another Nole Slam, he'd have two things Fed won't ever achieve.
a) Hold all 4 Slams at one time.
b) Win every Slam atleast twice.

But yeah I'm sure Weeks spent at #1 vs Andy Roddick is the kind of thing that impacts.

The Nole Slam is not a category. Great accomplishment, but it doesn't magically give him more slams than he actually has.

 

[wr8_utd]

The toughest path thing is a hypothetical/thought experiment that can be interpreted differently from person to person. What matters are hard facts.

If I wanted to play the hypothetical game then I might ask if Borg is the greatest because he had 11 slams when he retired at age 26 and during that time, he didn't bother to play the Aussie. What if he retired at 33 and did play the Aussie ? Its irrelevant in the end.

By toughest paths I mean he's had to deal with both Fed and Nadal and even Murray.
Fed had 3-5 years of nobodies where he racked up the numbers. Even Nadal atleast had a couple of years where he only had Federer to face. Djokovic having won 14 Slams at 31,despite having to face two of the GOATs his entire career is an absolutely stupendous achievement and if he finishes at around 18 Slams, within 2 of Fed, he's got legit claims of GOAT.

 

[wr8_utd]

The Nole Slam is not a category. Great accomplishment, but it doesn't magically give him more slams than he actually has.

Holding 4 Slams simultaneously is the biggest achievement there can be other than the Calendar Slam. To win 4 Slams in a row is pretty much unheard of.

 

[Zen]

Federer made a whole generation meaningless. That's something neither Nadal or Djokovic have, it's all fun writing that generation off as rubbish, but it wasn't....for 3-4 years, Federer was simply unreal and a level above.

 

[Raoul]

By toughest paths I mean he's had to deal with both Fed and Nadal and even Murray.
Fed had 3-5 years of nobodies where he racked up the numbers. Even Nadal atleast had a couple of years where he only had Federer to face. Djokovic having won 14 Slams at 31,despite having to face two of the GOATs his entire career is an absolutely stupendous achievement and if he finishes at around 18 Slams, within 2 of Fed, he's got legit claims of GOAT.

And I'm saying that people don't consider those things as they are "what ifs". What if Federer and Nadal's careers didn't overlap ? What if Sampras played at the same time as Federer ? At the end of the day thing only things people remember are the hard numbers.

 

[wr8_utd]

Federer made a whole generation meaningless. That's something neither Nadal or Djokovic have, it's all fun writing that generation off as rubbish, but it wasn't....for 3-4 years, Federer was simply unreal and a level above.

He was brilliant and a class above but Djokovic has had similar seasons WITH Nadal and Federer around. Not Roddick, Hewitt etc.

 

[Raoul]

Holding 4 Slams simultaneously is the biggest achievement there can be other than the Calendar Slam. To win 4 Slams in a row is pretty much unheard of.

There is no other slam than the grand slam - winning all four major tournaments in one year. You don't get to invent a new category if you take it into another year.

 

[wr8_utd]

There is no other slam than the grand slam - winning all four major tournaments in one year. You don't get to invent a new category if you take it into another year.

I said holding all 4 Slams simultaneously. Neither Federer or Nadal have ever done and never will either.

 

[Raoul]

Federer made a whole generation meaningless. That's something neither Nadal or Djokovic have, it's all fun writing that generation off as rubbish, but it wasn't....for 3-4 years, Federer was simply unreal and a level above.

For all his high level of play, I think winning 3 slams at age 35/36, a time when most players are retired, will be looked back as one his biggest accomplishments.

 

[Zen]

Novak's similar years were 4 years apart......it took a Safin classic and still one of the finest matches I've ever seen to stop Federer having that kind of season 4 years in a row.

He changed the game. Shifted the focus for everyone to be all-court players, though the courts tweaked to make this easier too.

 

[Zen]

There is no other slam than the grand slam - winning all four major tournaments in one year. You don't get to invent a new category if you take it into another year.

Thus why they are called "Tiger Slam", "Serena Slam" or the "Nole Slam"......

 

[wr8_utd]

Novak's similar years were 4 years apart......it took a Safin classic and still one of the finest matches I've ever seen to stop Federer having that kind of season 4 years in a row.

He changed the game. Shifted the focus for everyone to be all-court players, though the courts tweaked to make this easier too.

Because in between those you had Rafael Nadal who was having one of the all time great seasons himself.
It's a lot tougher to have those sort of seasons 3 years in a row when you're competing with Nadal, Federer and Murray.

 

[Zen]

Or it's also just exceptionally hard to sustain that kind of consistency for 4 years.....I clearly know that Nadal, Djokovic and Murray existed, but thanks. Stop downplaying legit everything. We all get it already.