The Official Tennis Thread (1 Viewer)

s4tch

Senior Member
Mar 23, 2015
27,868
yeah, federer was the first ufo we've ever seen holding a racket. then came nadal on a claycourt, and djokovic after 2010 as a winning machine on basically all surfaces. all of them deserve credit for plenty of achievements, but when it comes to the quality of their top tennis, it's no contest, prime federer is the best ever. and this is coming from a die-hard sampras fan.
 

JuveJay

Senior Signor
Moderator
Mar 6, 2007
72,082
Actually I think that head to head favors Djoko.It is now 25 to 23.
Rf started 9-4 to 2009 but djoko recovered .
This coming from a scratch and sniff fan. :)
Age is surely a factor here. Federer winning when Djokovic was younger and more inexperienced, and then Djokovic winning more as he peaked and Federer aged. Since Federer reached about 30 (2011) Djokovic took over their H2Hs and it was only going to get harder for Federer year-on-year. Tbh he's had something of a resurgence these last 2-3 years after a fairly barren run during Djokovic's prime years, and that's a credit to him.

As Djokovic gets older I'm not sure any of the up and coming players will get much change out of him for the next few years. If Andy Murray had stayed fit he would have pushed him for a bit longer, perhaps.
 

s4tch

Senior Member
Mar 23, 2015
27,868
...As Djokovic gets older I'm not sure any of the up and coming players will get much change out of him for the next few years. If Andy Murray had stayed fit he would have pushed him for a bit longer, perhaps.
that already started: djokovic lost to zverev and thiem on serious occasions (london final, garros semi) and to khachanov on his best surface (indoor, paris final) lately.

i quite miss a good murray. he's a frustrating player to watch, i often get the feeling he's holding his shots back for safety reasons, still, his effortless technique, especially his backhand is special.
 

kappa96

Senior Member
Jun 20, 2018
6,884
I meant the impact he's had on Tennis as a whole. It's not even close.
yeah, federer was the first ufo we've ever seen holding a racket. then came nadal on a claycourt, and djokovic after 2010 as a winning machine on basically all surfaces. all of them deserve credit for plenty of achievements, but when it comes to the quality of their top tennis, it's no contest, prime federer is the best ever. and this is coming from a die-hard sampras fan.
Age is surely a factor here. Federer winning when Djokovic was younger and more inexperienced, and then Djokovic winning more as he peaked and Federer aged. Since Federer reached about 30 (2011) Djokovic took over their H2Hs and it was only going to get harder for Federer year-on-year. Tbh he's had something of a resurgence these last 2-3 years after a fairly barren run during Djokovic's prime years, and that's a credit to him.

As Djokovic gets older I'm not sure any of the up and coming players will get much change out of him for the next few years. If Andy Murray had stayed fit he would have pushed him for a bit longer, perhaps.
Agree that Federer has had the greatest impact on tennis. He is so good that took another 2 all time greats to even compete with him. Without those 2 rf would probably win 40.

I consider prime nadal better than prime Federer. Prime Nadal the 2008 one or slim nadal ,not this buffed up version.

That's why I think nole is going to surpass both of them . Currently nole>rf>rn. Although I consider Rafael to retain his roland gaross crown for at least another 2 years, the only way I can see him winning another grand slam is if both nole and roger gets eliminated by someone else.
Yeah Andy was one of the few that could've gone against the big 3.
 

JuveJay

Senior Signor
Moderator
Mar 6, 2007
72,082
that already started: djokovic lost to zverev and thiem on serious occasions (london final, garros semi) and to khachanov on his best surface (indoor, paris final) lately.

i quite miss a good murray. he's a frustrating player to watch, i often get the feeling he's holding his shots back for safety reasons, still, his effortless technique, especially his backhand is special.
But do you think they will take grand slams in the next 3-4 years?
 

Pegi

Senior Member
Feb 22, 2019
1,808
Really hoped Federer to win, but Djokovic is just a mental giant and probably the GOAT. Guy seriously has it all, being this competitive on all surfaces while having best movement, best returns, best ground strokes overall and mentally he's probably the toughest. I don't know how he does it, how many time he needs to be pushed down but he always finds a way to make that comeback, it's just ridiculous and almost absurd.

Federer won most of his slams between 2004-2008 or something when Nadal and Djoko both were 17-22 and after that, he hasn't won but like 7 slams and from 2010> when only 5. 2010 Federer started as a 28 year old, basically like the prime age and Djokovic/Nadal both were 23-24 and had established themselves into top 3 so after that 2010, Like i said above, Federer managed to win only 5 GS's which sounds pretty unbeliavable. He sneaked to like 13 slams before these guys really came around and after all 3 had won atleast once, Federer haven't been nothing but a third wheel - as much as it hurts me to say it. Federer is probably the most gifted player ever to hit the ball, he makes it look way easier than anybody else but he just never was good as these other 2, as those statistics prove. If he had better backhand on those earlier years, i think he would have been best of the 3 but since he had not, it's just stupid speculation.

Massive respect for Federer for what he's doing at 37 and Djoko/Nadal are definitely done way before that.
 

s4tch

Senior Member
Mar 23, 2015
27,868
But do you think they will take grand slams in the next 3-4 years?
why not? and us open is probably the best place for an upset: both cilic's and del potro's debut gs wins came out of the blue there. also, thiem played two very strong garros campaigns in a row. nadal gets injured (or sits out an other silent ban) and thiem automatically becomes a top 2 contender. zverev winning last year's season ending tournament was quite a statement too. tsitsipas started to beat the big boys too: federer in melbourne, nadal in madrid, and he already played his first gs semi at the age of 20. i can see them all winning their first slam in the next couple of years.
 

Pegi

Senior Member
Feb 22, 2019
1,808
why not? and us open is probably the best place for an upset: both cilic's and del potro's debut gs wins came out of the blue there. also, thiem played two very strong garros campaigns in a row. nadal gets injured (or sits out an other silent ban) and thiem automatically becomes a top 2 contender. zverev winning last year's season ending tournament was quite a statement too. tsitsipas started to beat the big boys too: federer in melbourne, nadal in madrid, and he already played his first gs semi at the age of 20. i can see them all winning their first slam in the next couple of years.
There ain't a single guy born in the 90s with a GS win, neither any under 30 year old players with a GS win from the current players and Cilic being the youngest. It definitely will happen, but when i look the results now, this year again all slams for big 3, AO final was between big 3, RG was between Nadal and Thiem and now Wimbledon between big 3, so it seems that it ain't even close. The guys you mentioned, alongside with couple others they're good but it takes way too much, atleast currently. These 3 guys are mentally so much ahead, they're always the crowd favourites and winning that GS means you you need to beat over 15 time GS champions twice in 3 days basically. It's like Berrettini who had great grass season, didn't lose his serve but couple times past 10 matches and then comes Federer and literally demolishes him in 1 hour. Like, that was just all about having the big stage, your idol against you and breaking that wall in a 5 set match just seems to be impossible.

This years US open, will still go to one of these guys and it ain't even close that someone could pull the upset and i mean, not even close. Djoko and Nadal are clear favourites in there and it will probably be Djokovic again.
 

Vlad

In Allegri We Trust
May 23, 2011
22,474
Really hoped Federer to win, but Djokovic is just a mental giant and probably the GOAT.
He is incredible. Mentally prolly the toughest player out there, not only in this generation. We have witnessed it again today when RF got a break in 5th set and served for the match. Djokovic started to play more dire, looked better as the pressure was building up. After that I couldnt see him losing. Between him and Federer, looking at their prime years are only nuances and both are the most complete tennis players Ive seen.
 
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Bianconero81

Ageing Veteran
Jan 26, 2009
39,075
I'm a Federer fan, but Djokovic is a beast. I hope Federer can win 1 or 2 more slams, and that no one surpasses him, but to disregard Djokovic is asinine.

As for Scratch and Sniff, I was never a fan.

Murray the Moping Cunt is a level below.
 

Cerval

Senior Member
Feb 20, 2016
26,829
he's 38 or something, he can't play intensive 5 setters consistently anymore.
True, but still. Didn't watch their match, but Dimitrov (whom I also like) has had so many errors in this match and played in the hands of Medvedev. If Fed couldn't beat him in this tournament then this is pretty sad to be honest.
 

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