Tennis: Players Records Vs. Top 10 at Slams ...

How far behind Edberg do you have Becker?

 

So how do you separate Agassi from Mac and Jimmy? For me, there was never a year during Agassi's career when I felt he was the 'best' player on any surface, so I'd rate Mac and Jimmy ahead probably.

 

I liked Stefan a lot and hated Becker (and Lendl of course). I look back now with surprise that I didn't like Boris. I do now and he was the type of character I always root for (like Jimmy C).* Hated screaming skull Ivan of course. Always will.




* Must have been a Teutonic thing. :yep

 

Completely forgot about him atsch Come to think of it, Becker would probably rate ahead of Edberg

 

fair enough. but neither Mac or Jimmy had Pete Sampras to in their way during their entire primes. Connors was no 1 for 2 years before Borg came along and hit his prime and Mac won quiet a few of his slams after Borg faded away.

 

Hated him too. Liked Andre though, liked Goran. Borg was probably my first ever sporting hero. I like Roger (but if/when he breaks Sampras' record I want someone else to start winning) which is unusual because it always pissed me off when people root for the favourite.

 

They had Borg.

This is fair I suppose. I might squeeze Andre in ahead of Jimmy but probably behind Mac.

 

Lendl was actually my favourite player

Loved the big hitting and topspin groundies. I actually used him as a role model in trying to improve my own game, after Borg he cemented the looping backswing on the forehand amd ushered in the modern mentality of huge aggressive groundstrokes with enough topspin for consistency. I've never seen anyone get down so well to hit thru a topspin one handed backhand.

His demeanor was dull and many times sour, and in real life he had a very warped sense of humour if you can believe that

The last Australia day tourney (Country town and carnival event where taems come to Rockhampton from far and wide) i played about two years ago, a guy called Shane Barr (Who now plays top level non pro left handed after serious injury) who was at one time the number 1 junior in the world during Lendl's peak, winning a couple of GS titles. Anyways he got plenty of work as Lendl's practise partner (Sampras got the same well later on) at Ivan's home, i think it was in Conecticut. Anyways a few of the things Ivan found unbelievably funny included

Taking you on one of his trademark 40km or so bike rides where he would get you totally lost then put on the pace to leave you in the middle of no-where absolutely lost and not come back

Just like in tournament play, trying to put a ball clean thru you when he had you totally set up at the net

Taking potshots at Shane's dad's balls on an unexpected basis, his dad was there gathering balls for them as they hit :yikes Apparently his accuracy was astounding

And the other i remember is getting his trained attack dogs to make sure you couldn't leave the tennis court after a huge session while he went to the house and started refreshments

His sense of humour is so weird it's almost funny

Becker was the epitome of an unbelievable competitor, one who can really rise to the occasion and mentally destroy you. His competitive brilliance is fully shown in his Davis Cup record, a record i find fascinating. He is an astounding 38-3, with 2 losses to Casal of all people and the other past his best. In 1985 while still slightly unproven (Many thought Wimbledon a bit lucky) he beat both Wilander and Edberg convincingly in 4 to keep Germany well in the hunt. In Sweden 1988 he absolutely flogged Edberg then partnered Jelen to beat the vaunted Edberg/Jarryd combo. All the above were in finals. In 1989 he turned the trick on Agassi and the best in the world Flach/Seguson in the semi's then decimated both Wilander and Edberg in the final as well as taking the dubs for a Germany win. The man is an absolute animal in Davis Cup. What a record.

Whenever i think of Edberg i can't help but wonder how someone can be so perfectly graceful and athletic in every facet but have that goddamned ugly forehand

I've never seen anyone so fluid, until he hits that thing. It did however get the job done and he is one of the greatest i have ever seen. The most beautiful looking one handed backhand to ever grace a tennis court. He lost a little serving sting later on because his trademark kick serve with huge back bend ended up stuffing his back.

We need to find you some love for the skull!!

:happy

 

I must say Seles IMO would have ended ahead of Graf if not for the stabbing. She was just hitting her peak and pretty much owned Graf and co on all surfaces. Totally fukked her career.

 

They are close, Becker tho has some astounding Davis Cup stats as i just showed among other things. Two great players mate.

 

They also had a peaking Lendl for their latter stages, which killed off any chance of them winning a Grand Slam title out of the blue. Lendl killed them both off numerous times in Grand Slams from the U.S. Open 1985 forward. If they got past him who knows what might have happened with wind in their sails.

 

I agree, it's very close between Federer and Sampras at the elite of the great tennis players. If Federer were to retire right now, I don't think he would be as great as Sampras (hasn't reached his Grand Slam record, hasn't faced and beaten as good of opposition), but with a couple more years of dominance, he may overtake Pete.