Kolek planning to go pro
As soon as the best tennis player in history broke Berrettini's first service game of the 2nd set, I told Mrs. 82 it was over.
Berrettini actually played better in the 3rd and especially 4th set. The guy is just too good. It would be amazing if he wins the calendar gs whether people like the guy or not. The potential of the CGS and the 21st GS title on the same day is pretty remarkable.
I'll root for Rafa, because I always do. But if Novak is in the U.S. Open final against anybody else, I will be pulling for him to get the slam. It would be a great accomplishment, and one very much deserved.As a tennis fan, it's been so wonderful to get to watch Novak, Rafa, Roger and Serena all playing in the same era.
Ane Mintegi Del Omo becomes the first Spanish player to win the Girls Junior Singles Wimbledon Title, winning over Germany’s Natasja Schunk.Samir Banerjee defeats Victor Lilov in an All American Boys Junior Wimbledon Final. Novak Djokovic one of the best Men’s players of his era, captures the Men’s Wimbledon Singles Title over Matteo Berrettini. Slow start in multiple sets for Matteo for different reasons. Djokovic also struggled 2nd serve earlier on. But both were very solid overall, not enough from Matteo on the backhand pass off of the cross court slice approach from ND. And, Djokovic got in to the net quite a bit and he was very solid 34/48 at the net to go along with the often strong service return. Berrettini has the game and grass track record to win it. He had won 22 of 24 on grass. One has to be willing to play longer rallies with Djokovic, with variety, and be aggressively strategic about short points. Djokovic as do many top players often times, play the big points better. Not an easy task. The Olympics and the North American swing upcoming. Updated Women’s WTA 2021 Points Race:BartySabalenkaKrejcikovaSwiatekPliskovaOsakaMuguruzaPavlyuchenkova JabeurGauffAmerican Desirae Krawczyk, is into the mixed doubles finals with Neal Skupski.
It’s tough because I’m not sure any of their primes really lined up. Federer racked up a lot of majors before Rafa was really a threat on anything other than clay. Novak has racked up a lot as Rafa and Roger have slowed down. Rafa has been able to extend his career long enough to rack up a bunch of French Opens. Granted his non-French count gets him 1 behind Agassi.I’m a big Rafa fan, but I can’t see how Novak isn’t thought of as the best. He’s far and away the best hard court guy in my opinion. You could argue he’s the best on grass. Clay you have to give Nadal, but Novak is probably 2.Once Novak got his mental and fitness game up to a championship level, he’s been a machine.
I agree 82, it is nitpicking primes a bit. It is incredible to have 3 guys be this good for this long. I always forget just how good Andy Murray was due to how long the Big 3 careers have lasted.
I agree 82, it is nitpicking primes a bit. It is incredible to have 3 guys be this good for this long. I always forget just how good Andy Murray was due to how long the Big 3 careers have lasted.I agree Muggsy. My rankings were more of the 3. But yes, there’s probably better clay or grass players than these guys on a given day. Also tough with how surfaces have changed. I believe the Wimbledon grass is far different now than when Sampras played. When Nadal started being competitive on grass, it sounded like it slowed down.
Exactly. Comparing and contrasting players begins and ends with one’s own era. And for many that’s great and plenty good enough. As Pete Sampras said when asked what he would do in today’s game, he said, “I think I would have adjusted.”Let’s take a look. Novak Djokovic, great player, one of best in his era and therefore one of the best all time in tennis. But just as one could look a little closer at any other player, one can do that with him too. More than half of his Grand Slams have come since Federer turned 34. He’s never missed an Australian Open in his career, not one time. That’s his favorite and the one he’s won the most. Bjorn Borg played it once. Jimmy Connors played it twice, winning once, finals the other time. McEnroe played it five times. Rod Laver won 5 of 6 straight slams, turned pro, and was therefore banned from playing slams the next 5 years, 20 straight slams missed. He also won 8 other times in Paris, London, New York, in events that were not considered as or counted as slams. The examples are pretty endless. Draws and luck matter too. Surfaces and technology have changed a lot. Today’s Wimbledon is a baseline tourney not a serve and volley tourney. It’s been that way for a while. The four surfaces ate much closer to being the same as opposed to being very different than each other in the past. Some people get caught up in the moment. It’s more of a personality trait than a reality trait.It’s like an NFL player up for the Hall of Fame. Perhaps that player broke records rushing or receiving. And years later as the game changes in many ways, perhaps their record(s) are broken more often by more players. But that doesn’t change what the original player in the discussion did at the time. “At the time” is the key phrase. Nothing can take away what happened during that particular time. And, each period in time can only work with the resources in that period. With these three particular players, their skill sets and where and how they have achieved what they have achieved varies a bit. That doesn’t take away from any of the three. They have all been the best of their overlapping eras. Good for them Good for the sport. There are reasons why Djokovic stops by Sampras’ house when he’s in L.A. Rhere are reasons why Sampras mentions Laver quite frequently and spends time with him in San Diego, and so on. The players and many others recognize and understand it more than some superficial observers.
Where I would disagree is the idea that you can only compare players within the same era. I think you can look at each era and depth and greatness of the field of players. Also, while it's true Djoker has dominated the AO and it's the least prestigious GS tournament, all the top players have gone to Melbourne unlike back in the day. The surface and technology changes are important to fully analyze but the fact is this particular era has three 20 win GS winners. The vast, vast, majority of legends like Laver and Sampras, as well as tennis historians, would certainly put all three of these players on their best of all-time list. On the flipside when Emerson led in GS titles no one considered him a top 5 player ever. The one person historically that imo is the hardest to judge vs modern players is Bill Tilden.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't like the electronic line calling where it shows a recreation (for lack of a better word) of the ball placement. Maybe its my distrust of not being able to see the actual ball. I liken it to video poker. No way would I put my money in a video poker machine.Some electronic line calling systems have been tested a long time with great accuracy before being used. That’s why they are in use. The French Open doesn’t use any yet because repeated testing has reached a good enough standard to use it. Testing is rigorous.
So yes, glad we all agree with everybody not on Scoop that by the time he's through, Novak Djokovic will be recognized as the great tennis player ever.
I look at the baseliners from the Sampras era and frankly the Big 3 would smoke these guys. Agassi was great but nowhere close to these players. Sampras imo had the best serve ever. On fast grass or a hard court he had the game to perhaps overpower them on a particular day. However, the overall skills and court coverage of the Big 3 are on a completely different level. The more that I think about it, and having watched some older matches recently, the more convinced I am that if you compare the B3 to the Sampras/Aggasi era it's not remotely close.
Truth.
So yes, glad we all agree with everybody not on Scoop that by the time he's through, Novak Djokovic will be recognized as the greatest tennis player ever.
This is what gaslighters do when they are unable to discuss specific facts of a situation.
Would you agree that Agassi was one of the best players of his era after Sampras? I'm curious how you think he would have done against Nadal, Fed, or Djoker when they were all in their prime whether it be the 90's or today? You seriously believe that he was near their level?As far as "facts" this is a speculative conversation.