Only slams matter for GOAT status: Part 2
In my first article on this topic, I argued that slams won and performance in slams are the key criteria for being the modern-era…
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In my first article on this topic, I argued that slams won and performance in slams are the key criteria for being the modern-era…
Fans have been incredibly privileged to witness the era of the Big Three of men’s tennis, with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer…
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As a Pies supporter, I have of course always been fascinated by the Machine, Collingwood’s four-in-a-row flag team from 1927 to 1930. Competing a…
I think it’s ‘cute’ that everyone wants to focus on his demeanour and style of play, but tennis is a super simple sport – it’s all about ‘the slams’ and that’s really what the sport is all about at the elite level in essence — you just have to listen to the players talk about what’s really important to them (even Kyrios recently expressed this view!). So the GOAT is the one with the most slams – however, just in case I seem to be raining on everyone’s parada, the Fed is pretty close to my favourite all-time player, but ‘it is what it is’ — just a pity Nadal / Djoker has passed him on slams
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Personally, I just enjoyed the NBA references – v creative, esp the Ewing award for Nat Fyfe. Also, enjoyed the Dallas Mavs 2011 reference for the Pies, although I don’t think Pendles is quite Dirk at this stage of his career (would be nice if it is true!)
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Big fan of how Maynard goes about things. We were in the rooms a few years ago in Sydney (2019?) when GWS belted us during the H&A season and only a handful of players came out to say hi to friends, family, onlookers etc. Maynard was the clear exception – he stood there having a chat with a few friends on our side of the ropes for a good 20 mins – he just looked like any old footballer having a drink with mates after a game.
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Hey Pete – the interesting question is i like our youngsters, but how many end up A or close to A class players? N & J Daicos clearly. Quaynor likely. Ginnivan – potential. I like McCreery and Henry. Of course, if a good chunk of the rest are B graders, plus Maynard/Adams/Moore etc, it would still be a sound team.
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I’m a bit late to the party but I always find reactions to Nick interesting. Firstly, good article, although I’m not sure about Nick being ‘defiant’ in the latter stages of the match – maybe it was just his nerves, but I thought the match was pretty insipid after mid-way through the 3rd set, as Novak pretty well dominated the match after that (Novak was easily winning his service games and Kyrios was struggling to win his and the 4th set tie break white-wash felt inevitable). I don’t think Kyrios played particularly well for the last 1.5+ sets (moreso than Novak played well – Novak acknowledged that he’d let Nick beat himself to a large extent). Secondly, I’m not sure that Nick has much control over his emotional reactions under pressure – I think some commentators treat him like he’s being intentional or ‘should’ be able to do better – sure, his actual behaviour is often poor towards others, officials in particular, but I think there’s potentially more going on than meets the eye when it comes to Nick. Lastly, Novak isn’t the GOAT yet – has to catch Nadal…
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Thanks for the memories Pete – I recall when I was 12 having a friend who was super-passionate about the Pies and convinced me, on a few occasions, to go to Vic Park from the start of the Reserves curtain raiser in standing room, as well as the Seniors game, and there were certainly a few characters who started drinking from the start of the reserves and were pretty sozzled by the time seniors game started. Great article btw to the author – I didn’t know about the 1910 and 1938 melees. I do remember thinking in those days that Collingwood was very working class, with Carlton being a bit more upmarket, but interesting how near the suburbs were to each other, which no doubt fuelled the rivalry.
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Lol Paul – ‘cannon fodder’ for the Warriors – I think you might be sleeping a bit there on the Grizzlies – I’m tipping the Warriors of course to win if (as i if expect) the Grizz make it through, but I don’t think it will be a walk in the park.
Also, I’m always conscious of not writing people off on their public persona, but I agree with your sentiments on Ben – it really doesn’t look promising in terms of his mental approach / commitment to the game (LSU, end at Philly, non-commtiment to Boomers, etc) — further, although he’s rather prone to hyperbole (!), Stephen A Smith made some interesting comments a while ago about Simmons’ entourage and tendency to only tell him what he wants to hear. It would make a good movie one day, if he can turn this around and make the most of his sizeable talents, but it’s not looking good right now – he has to ‘do the work’…
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It’s a great article indeed – enjoyed it. Now if only the ATP (tennis) could take a leaf out of the AFL’s book and back their umpires a little…
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Like the rest of you, just LOL! (a wilted lettuce leaf @Nick – fantastic). Talk about a weak penalty and what a crappy message to send to up and coming tennis players re ‘umpires are sacrosanct’. I believe there are some precedents that they might be following for similar (but i’d argue less severe) behaviour in the past, but surely, it’s worth testing those precedents and setting an example, even if the ATP is challenged and loses, and surely, it would be worth using the result of any challenge to make any necessary modifications to relevant regulations going forwards. Sigh – I guess if he actually hit the umpire and say broke his ankle, he might have got a 6 month suspended sentence??
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Yeh, I’m not even a Swans supporter and I agree re McVeigh – I remember going to I think it was the 2012 semi-final against the Blues in Sydney and he had a truck-load of possessions (from memory, it might’ve been his career high) and I remember my then 11 year old son laughing every time he got another possession, which seemed like every 2nd possession…
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I agree – I hope he at least gets the 12 month suspension, but I have a feeling they might make it less – I can’t recall seeing a worse incidence of intentional violent behaviour directed towards an umpire in professional tennis – if the ATP doesn’t come down hard, it really sends a poor message — referees and umpires, amateur and professional, have to be protected from behaviour like this and a strong message needs to be sent.
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Nice article – I’m late to the party – I read it a few days ago and one thing that didn’t sit well with me was the choice of Leonard — I don’t disagree that he has a lot of the attributes of a classic modern day player, but there’s 4 forwards I’d pick ahead of him, consistent with the ESPN rankings too – Barkley, Baylor, KG, and possibly Erving. Given you’re looking more at modern day, I’d take KG over Kawai in your list or possibly Barkley, who could really run the floor.
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I think you’re under-playing how good a player Simmons is, even if he hasn’t played for half a year (yes, he has to make FTs though!), and over-playing how good a fit Harden is – there’s quite a lot of talk about Harden and Embiid potentially not meshing that well in terms of playing style and potentially, even in terms of egos, not to mention Harden isn’t in great shape this year — I agree though that it could go pear-shaped for the Nets really easily, but I wouldn’t be surprised if things go a bit pear shaped for the 76ers as well (losing Curry will hurt come play-off time)
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Nice one @Yatuzzi – I think it’s a clear victory for the Nets (did you see Stephen A Smith’s rant about Morey being fleeced by the nets!) — I could understand adding Seth Curry to the trade, but not the two first round picks as well… if Simmons can just address his FTs, they will be a very good team. However, I think both Nets and 6ers are really very good 2nd tier teams this year – the mid-season nature of the trade and lack of conditioning / chemistry with each of Simmons / Harden will hold them back this season – they will give Warriors / Suns / Bucks / Heat etc a run for their money, but I don’t think either team will be champions this year.
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Thanks for your article – I didn’t have an issue with them appointing langer post sanderpaper gate – he has high standards from what I can gather and there was a need for that post that incident, but that approach isn’t necessarily needed now. I agree with your sentiments that it’s ironic when the 1990s / 2000s players take a moral stance given the way they played their cricket (‘mental disintegration’), but it goes back further than that, to the likes of Chappelli, Lillee and Marsh in the 1970s and 80s – also, I find it additionally ironic that the 1990s / 2000s players go into bat for ‘their mate’, without recognising that they probably wouldn’t have tolerated a coach who tried to be too controlling of them.
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I’ve just got to say I’d completely forgotten that Rafter made the semis at the french – he was really good (2 US opens, 2 wimbledon finals if my memory serves me) and his style stood-up well to make semis on clay. I’m not high on our chances of Aussie players progressing far at the French — thanks for the break-down.
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Nice one @Sheek – a good list for future reference. You know I don’t of course equate the Pro tournaments with the Slams, but nice to see Gonzalez getting some shine. Also, I know your list is just the numbers ‘as they stand’, but I don’t think I’ve ever really heard anyone rate Rosewall above Laver have they?
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I know there’s a few comments to work through but have a look for Sheek’s comments in the comments section for this article – he and I had a few discussions about it there – I think the summary version is the best players were playing Pro (which I do use to down weight Emerson’s achievements) BUT the fields were small – I see them as similar to ATP year end tournament, although that’s probably being a bit tough on them.
https://www.theroar.com.au/2022/01/31/all-time-classic-rafa-secures-21st-slam-in-aus-open-comeback-for-the-ages/?comment_id=8347150#comments-section
Who tops a combined list of tennis championship wins?
Thanks for the further research Sheek – intuitively, my guess is that the pro field of 7 / 8 players you recognised was quite a lot stronger than the amateur field of 6 /7 players, as some of the players you listed above in the pro field were super-stars of the game. I think you’re right re the pro tournament making it too attractive for the best players not to play (a bit like WSC in the 70s). Correct me if I’m mistaken, but I believe there’s a good reason why I’ve never heard of Emerson mentioned as a GOAT candidate even though he held the slam record for 30 years — since he did this during the 60s.
ALL-TIME CLASSIC! Rafa secures 21st slam in Aus Open comeback for the ages
Good article although I’m a bit ‘on the fence’ on this issue. On one hand, the comments referring to allowing constant noise in tennis don’t appear to be fully understanding the nature of tennis – it’s a relatively closed-in ‘performance environment’, with the need to focus and concentrate, especially when serving, and constant noise will probably impact the quality of tennis we’re watching (I’d be interested to hear how the trials of ‘noise’ in non-ATP events are turning out though). I don’t think it’s at all similar to cricket, for instance, on a much bigger playing field, although no one is allowed to stand directly behind the bowler and move during the run-up and bowling action (which is probably similar to the distraction caused by noise during serving). Probably similar to golf I assume, although some might criticise golf for being out of touch as well I suspect!
On the other hand, however, I don’t see any issue with spectators cheering for whoever they want between points, even if clapping a player’s poor shot – as long as it’s not during play.
Lastly, Medvedev certainly hasn’t helped himself at all – he appears to blame others when he gets frustrated which doesn’t endear himself to crowds, so he probably needs to have a think about that!
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Thanks for the extra research Sheek – can’t deny they had the best players in those tournaments at the time, even if a few names I’ve not heard of.
ALL-TIME CLASSIC! Rafa secures 21st slam in Aus Open comeback for the ages
Yes rather distracting — I used to play a lot of competitive tennis and had enough difficulty with serving on big points, without having to contend with people deliberately yelling out whilst concentrating on ball toss / top-spin or slice serve etc!
ALL-TIME CLASSIC! Rafa secures 21st slam in Aus Open comeback for the ages
Wow, that’s impressive re cricket stats – very all inclusive! (and I always though Tony Greig was an interesting case too).
The reason I struggle to include the pro-era is that from what i understand the tournaments were more like the ATP finals, with a very small cohort of players, and sometimes, I believe they even had to round-out the tournament fields with relatively lesser known performers (this might be anecdotal though). That’s why I can’t consider the pro-era tournaments vs the breadth / duration of the Slam tournaments — I understand the ‘best of the best’ were playing Pro in that era, but for me, it just ‘is what it is’ – that was their (very) understandable choice to play Pro, but for me, the non-slam years pulls them down a peg in any GOAT discussions (although Laver comes bloody close doesn’t he with 2 Grand Slams!!)
ALL-TIME CLASSIC! Rafa secures 21st slam in Aus Open comeback for the ages
I don’t think Borg belongs in any legitimate GOAT discussion, as incredible as his performances were – he never won 2 of the grand slams (although in his era, the Aust open was admittedbly by far the poorest cousin of the slams and players didn’t bother to make the journey down under) and 11 total grand slams just doesn’t quite ‘cut it’ when talking GOAT – the psychological strain of playing at that level may have taken its toll which means we can’t really predict what would’ve happen if he played longer – happy though to discuss him in the context of the most talented players of all time!
ALL-TIME CLASSIC! Rafa secures 21st slam in Aus Open comeback for the ages
What a touching story re meeting Fed through Make a Wish and it sounds like he handled himself with the grace and warmth with you that we’d probaby expect of him — I presume (or hope) that you’ve overcome those challenges and thanks for the personal perspective on the Fed.
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