Who is a better tennis player?

[peter eldergill]

Who so you think is a better player in their prime?

Roger Federer, Pete Sampras or Ivan Lendl?

Personally I think Federer. Any others?

Pete

[NASA Fan]

My Mom?

She is a great tennis player on the fun league level.

On the professional level. Mats Vilander, Stefan Edberg...what can I say I have a weakness for cute Swedes.

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Federer and Lendl great players but did they face Pete Sampras most powerful first serve, perhaps the best serve of all time hence why he was named 'Pistol Pete' the German Becker was also very good on grass but Sampras beat him. Federer does have a good chance to beat Pete's record.

[Maksutov]

Who so you think is a better player in their prime?...The one who switches to the Chargers beating the Raiders on MNF. http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/566/iconwink6tn.gif

[PhantomWolf]

Sampress has said that Federer is better then he was, so who's gunna argue with him?

[suntrack2]

I will vote for Martina Navratilova, Federer, sharapova, justin Hennin, Pit Sampras, Rafel Nadal, Aranksa Sanchez, Steffy Graph, Andre Agassi etc.
Like Villiams sister, Martina Hingis

But mostly the game of Martina Navratilova was found very fine, in short all above are fine. Tennis playing is a great exercise, your racket must be good, your grip on the racket must be good, your stamina must be good, your presentation of service must be good, your playing fowl less is much good, but many players I have seen were out 6-1,6-3, 7-2,6-0 sets.

And one name I can't recall who break the tennis racket on the tennis court, who was that player, ..? Was he a john macanrow?

Since my birth I have not played this game of "Lawn-Tennis", but the game is nice. even those people are also fine looking when pick up the balls and stand with a great discipline in the portion of back of the players, even there is great credit for the "judge of this game" who use to seat on the higher side near the net. who says..."Advantage Peter Eldergill." :)

It’s a nice topic. Peter.

Thanks

sunil

[farmerjumperdon]

Sampress has said that Federer is better then he was, so who's gunna argue with him?

Tough to argue with 3 in a row, and probably more to come. He appeared to beat the rest of the world this time without even needing the high gear.

[Argos]

Gustavo Kuerten would have been the greatest of all, if his hip hadn´t plagued his carreer.

[Parrothead]

How about Borg? He retired after 7 or 8 years, amassed quite a few Grand Slam wins and second place finishes, eventhough he usually skipped playing the Aussie Open. The matches between him, Conners and McEnroe were classics. There was the one Wimbeldon Final that included a tie-breaker lasting more than 30 pts. Hard to compare when there aren't many head to head match ups, or they are from different times.

[Moose]

And one name I can't recall who break the tennis racket on the tennis court, who was that player, ..? Was he a john macanrow?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McEnroe

[Argos]

How about Borg?

Elegant, precise, strong. The last romantic hero of the Tennis. Great guy.

[Strider1974]

How about Rod Laver
He was world No. 1 player for 6 consecutive years. More famously, he is the only player in tennis history to have twice won all four of tennis' Grand Slam singles titles in the same year—first as an amateur in 1962, and then again as a professional in 1969.

[peter eldergill]

Rod Laver was before my time so I hadn't thought of him. I suppose you could count Arthur Ashe as well?

Gustavo Kuerten would have been the greatest of all, if his hip hadn´t plagued his carreer.

I tell my students that I would've been in the NHL if weren't for my bad knee...(and talent...size...skating ability, if I could shoot well....). They usually get a good kick out of that.

Pete

[Argos]

I tell my students that I would've been in the NHL if weren't for my bad knee...(and talent...size...skating ability, if I could shoot well....). They usually get a good kick out of that.

Pete

Have you been #1 at NHL? :)

[sarongsong]

The one who switches to the Chargers beating the Raiders on MNF. http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/566/iconwink6tn.gifBeating??? They annihilated them!
Poor Roger:...Federer, meantime, is approaching the point where he would be perceived as boring. Twenty straight triumphs in the past three U.S. Opens. Nine Grand Slam championships, all fitted within the past four years. Wimbledon-U.S. Open doubles for three straight seasons. Ho-hum...
San Diego Union-Tribune (http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060912/news_1s12tencol.html)

[geonuc]

Who so you think is a better player in their prime?

Roger Federer, Pete Sampras or Ivan Lendl?

Personally I think Federer. Any others?

Pete
Federer. Anyone disagree now?

[mahesh]

That was a given, geo.... nobody else has been on the horizon, for a while.
For consistency and grace and charisma and ...

By the way, some one was telling me yesterday, we got to talking about his 'cows'....that he's pretty tough about them. I hope, in a nice way. Can't see Federer, not being not nice, about anything.

[mike alexander]

Paul Beardsley. Especially since he is so nervous about it.

[Argos]

Bjorn Borg forever!

[geonuc]

Bjorn Borg forever!
Borg is my all-time favorite player and one of the true greats. But he could not win the US Open.

[PraedSt]

Federer. But Boris Becker will always be my favourite.

[Kaptain K]

Rod "the Rocket" Laver!

[geonuc]

The Rocket was good, real good. Certainly the best of his era, which is my mind is divided by the surface change(s) at the US Open. Others call the divide when the game opened up to pros, which before that certainly created problems for Laver and the other pros.

Before the US Open went to clay, it was a grass court tournament, like Wimbledon and the Aussie Open. Hence a good serve and volleyer stood a good chance at three of the four majors, with the French Open being the main hurdle. Laver got over that hurdle twice.

But after the US Open changed to its present hardcourt configuration (it was a clay tournament only briefly), I think it's too hard to compare players before and after in terms of how many majors they won. The Australian Open also went through a surface change, but for a long time (Borg's era) it really wasn't important, so many players skipped it (like Borg, who could have won it several times, I believe).

So I hesitate to even include Laver, Rosewall, Smith, Emerson, et al in the discussion with Federer, Sampras, Connors, Borg, Lendl, Agassi (until this weekend, Agassi was the only modern-era male player to win all four).

[peter eldergill]

Cripes I didn't recognise the post that I made! I thought to myself .."I have no recollection of writing this...was I dunk?"

Well..I wrote this almost 3 years ago :)

SO maybe yes, maybe no .. HA!

I would definitely add Nadal to that list now, though.

Pete

[mike alexander]

I always felt Arthur Ashe was just elegant as a player.

[slang]

Federer. Anyone disagree now?

Game, set, and match. Navratilova doesn't count, right? Safina's too nervous.

[peter eldergill]

Navratilova doesn't count, right?

I actually wasn't considering women's tennis when I wrote this. Oopsie, 'cause women's tennis rocks. Awesome rallies.

I wish women's tennis was 5 sets in the majors, it would make for some killer matches to be sure!


Pete

[geonuc]

Cripes I didn't recognise the post that I made! I thought to myself .."I have no recollection of writing this...was I dunk?"

Well..I wrote this almost 3 years ago :)

SO maybe yes, maybe no .. HA!

I would definitely add Nadal to that list now, though.

Pete
I'm adept with the search feature. :)

Nadal? Maybe. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to being dethroned. He needs to win the US Open, too.

[geonuc]

Game, set, and match. Navratilova doesn't count, right? Safina's too nervous.
Considering men and women together is even more difficult than Laver and Federer.

Besides, although I like Navratilova and have seen her play a few times, Steffi Graf would get my vote on the women's side.

Lendl was the consumate choker early on in his career and went on to win eight majors. Perhaps Safina will get over her yips. More likely, her star will fade; she's really not that good.

[agingjb]

Had the open era started before Laver turned pro, then a reasonable estimate of the number of majors he would have won is about twenty, so the records of Emerson, Sampras, and Federer would not have been relevant. Whether Laver would have been such a dominant player in the modern game is a different question.

[gzhpcu]

Federer is the sixth player to win a career Grand Slam, which Sampras never did.

With the exception of Nadal, Federer has not had any quality opponents. This kind of makes comparisons with other eras difficult.

During the Sampras era there was Becker, Agassi, Edberg.

Federer would never have won the French Open if Nadal hadn't gotten his knee injury. I like the style and strokes of Federer, but prefer the fighting spirit and humility of Nadal. Hope Nadal will overcome his injuries.

Rod Laver was certainly a great player. Being only 5'8" tall would be a handicap nowadays, however. Laver was the only player to have won the Grand Slam twice, once as an amateur, then latter as a professional. Winning the Grand Slam means winning the four majors all in the same year.

My sentimental favorite is Pancho Gonzales, who I used to see training at the Los Angeles Tennis Club when I was a little kid.

[geonuc]

Twenty majors for Laver sounds about right, had been allowed to play in the slam tournaments during those five years. But I still contend that the surface change at the US Open is too big a variable to allow a reasonable prediction of how well he'd do in the modern era. Laver never won a hardcourt major tournament.

[geonuc]

Federer would never have won the French Open if Nadal hadn't gotten his knee injury.
I'm not willing to go that far and I don't think the knee was the reason Nadal lost. Soderling's play was the reason.

[gzhpcu]

I'm not willing to go that far and I don't think the knee was the reason Nadal lost. Soderling's play was the reason.
Disagree. Last meeting Nadal demolished Soderling 6-0, 6-1. Nadal's groundstrokes were short because he could not load his legs properly.

[mahesh]

...
My sentimental favorite is Pancho Gonzales, who I used to see training at the Los Angeles Tennis Club when I was a little kid.

Hmmm. Nice.
Did you also manage to bump into Groucho Marx and Andy, his son?

[gzhpcu]

Hmmm. Nice.
Did you also manage to bump into Groucho Marx and Andy, his son?
No, but Gorgeous Gussy Moran (shocked Wimbledon by wearing lace panties...) and Pancho Segura...

My Dad used to play mixed doubles with Gussy, and my mother was none too pleased...:)

[geonuc]

Disagree. Last meeting Nadal demolished Soderling 6-0, 6-1. Nadal's groundstrokes were short because he could not load his legs properly.
I do hope that Nadal gets healthy for Wimbledon. I missed last year's final (I just bought the DVD and will have to find time to watch in the next couple of weeks).

[gzhpcu]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8085394.stm


The 22-year-old pulled out of Queen's with knee trouble and has been undergoing tests in Barcelona.
"I will give 200% to be at 100% for the most important date in world tennis," said Nadal in a statement on Tuesday.
The Spaniard, who beat Roger Federer in a classic final in 2008, will now undergo intense rehabilitation ahead of the start of Wimbledon on 22 June.
"I have two difficult weeks ahead of me, especially because I won't be doing what I like doing most, which is to play tennis.
"I will be working on my recovery through physiotherapy treatments as well as recovery work on the specific muscular area."
The world number one has been suffering ongoing problems with both of his knees and he admitted he had been playing through the pain over recent months.
"The pain was limiting certain movements in my body, which affected me mentally as well," he said.

His unexpectedly early exit from the French Open, where he was beaten in the fourth round by Robin Soderling, allowed him to travel to Barcelona to investigate the problem.

He has been diagnosed with tendonitis in both quadricep tendons as well as a small amount of fluid on the kneecaps.