OT: Djokovic one match away from Calendar Grand Slam

[Bergmaniac]

GOAT discussions in tennis are even more pointless than in most other sports. The changes in racquet technology, court surfaces and the balls have changed the sport so much over the years that comparisons between the eras are pretty much impossible. Then there is the pro/am division pre-1969, the fact that until the mid 80s the top players didn't play the Australian Open, etc, etc...

Djokovic is about to overtake Nadal and Fed (I think he's already ahead even if he doesn't win on Sunday), good for him. But given how much the circumstances have changed over the years I don't see how anyone can make an adequate comparison between Djokovic and Borg, or Djokovic and Laver. Even Sampras' era which wasn't that long ago was very different than the one of the Big 3 since the the difference between the surfaces were way more pronounced and you couldn't play on grass almost the same way you do on clay.

[rzzzzz]

Roger…Safin

Their Australian Open semi-final, which Safin pulled out, was an amazing spectacle. Just unbelievable stuff. Safin is an interesting character. Incredible athlete, but he admits that he had no incentive to work on his game. He was talented enough to breeze through most of the rounds of the top tennis tournaments, which was enough for him to enjoy carousing with the ladies at every venue. A couple of grand slams and years of international playboy partying. His sister was a lot more dedicated to working out, but not near as gifted. Not sure anyone was, except Federer at the time.

[Sgt Major]

Djoker is right there but due to the fact most of his career he played against extremely weak competition. If Djokers age aligned with Rogers...we wouldn't even be having this convo

Ahahahahahahahahhhyhahhyhhhhahahaah
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Did you really write this?

[Cerohero]

The rager

[azcatz11]

Joker has had such a weird career. Started out a huge baby unwilling to finish matches and now he has arguably the best mind in tennis.

With that said, he’s not the goat. He has no fan base and people just don’t enjoy watching him play. It’s a very boring, methodical playing style that’s all defense. Nadal could easily do what Joker does but he doesn’t because that’s not what sells tickets.

[wco81]

And he already won each GS twice, unlike Nadal and Roger.

Well he hasn't had the injury problems of Nadal and Federer has been mostly healthy but now his body is failing him.

I think more than the issue of the Big 3, it's the fact that a lot of young players have yet to break through consistently. Always promise but they just haven't been able to sustain success at the highest levels after the initial showing.

Is it that the pipeline has run empty or maybe the younger generation isn't as driven? Because you can make a great living without winning a lot of majors. Just play on the tour, maybe win some minor tournaments. That's enough to make a lot of money, both in tournament winnings and sponsorships.

Was it Safin a few years ago or some other young player who was preoccupied with driving expensive sports cars very fast.

When you can live the life, who cares about piling up majors?


Djokovic has improved his game, particularly his serve in the last few years. But whatever his accomplishments, you see crowds in the US and Europe don't like him. They were obviously rooting for his opponent in the semifinal.

You see him do stuff like scream and punch the air when his opponents make unforced errors.

Probably not popular among the other players either.

He is the GOAT at having the most punchable face.

[FinnTheHuman]

Lmao I’m thoroughly enjoying the tears of the GOATovic haters. One guy even claims that Nadal is playing a worse brand of tennis purposely because it sells more tickets

[MVP1992]

Unwatchable obnoxious turd.




Like Trae Young's foul baiting offence.

[Mickey8]

Roger is the Greatest of All Time. That isn't even a debate.

Nadal is the King of Clay. That isn't even a debate.

Djoker is right there but due to the fact most of his career he played against extremely weak competition. If Djokers age aligned with Rogers...we wouldn't even be having this convo

The only tennis player who have played in a weak era and has racked so many grand slams during that period is Federer, as soon Nadal and Djokovic came to the scene, Federer domination was stopped , Djokovic have beaten top players throughout his career and beating them currently as well , Djokovic have a winning records against both Federer and Nadal Djokovic vs Fedrer 27-23, Djokovic vs Nadal 30-28, Djokovic is a goat even if he doesn't win on Sunday.

[Mickey8]

Can you elaborate why he's an a.....e, because Western media demonizes him like they did Lendl??? Do you live with him, did you spend any time alone with him so you know that from the experience I am pretty sure he's loved and respected in the other countries outside of the Western Hemisphere He pooped at Federer's and Nada's party, owned both of them head to head and he's on the brink to cement the Goat status , haters gonna hate

djokovic is an anti-vaxxer, but other than that, i don't think the media demonises him all that much

he's just not as marketable as federer or nadal, because he plays brick wall defensive tennis

He never said he was against vaccines nice try, its a western media that are spinning and twisting his words, it should be the personal choice anyways , only morons can trust snake oil salesmen like doctor Fauci.

Warning:

Let's stick to sports please.

-Dirk

[azcatz11]

Lmao I’m thoroughly enjoying the tears of the GOATovic haters. One guy even claims that Nadal is playing a worse brand of tennis purposely because it sells more tickets

It's true to an extent...he's just not an enjoyable player to watch. That's why literally every crowd doesn't get behind him lol

[Mickey8]

The Joker literally stole two grand slam titles from Roger. A US Open and a Wimbledon where Roger had multiple championship points on his racquet to serve out, and theJoker burst through at the end. No doubting this guy’s greatness. BUT:

I’m old enough to remember what the sport was before Lendl took advantage of the new big headed graphite racquets to hit nothing but massive top spin from the baseline, and change Tennis into Ping Pong. No more serve and volley. Fleet coordination was lot less important. Soon the game became a lot less fun to play and a lot less interesting to watch. Kind of like what baseball would degenerate into if they let batters used those metal/poly bats that you see in softball. Running up the score, eliminating the value of playing the field when instead all you want is a bunch of big beaters.

He didn't stole anything, he played great under the pressure against his opponent and disgusting crowds. Yeah they should go back to the wooden racquets and play amateur tennis

[Noctilux]

Djokovic is the only anti-vaxxer I give a free pass. The rest can drop dead. He’s my second favorite player of all time, behind the great Borg.

[Mickey8]

Lmao I’m thoroughly enjoying the tears of the GOATovic haters. One guy even claims that Nadal is playing a worse brand of tennis purposely because it sells more tickets

It's true to an extent...he's just not an enjoyable player to watch . That's why literally every crowd doesn't get behind him lol

He;s actually very enjoyable to watch he has perfect blend of defense and offense , and the great athleticism, people don't cheer for him in UK a, US ,Australia because of media narrative and not because of his playing style , they were hyping Federer and Nadal and Djokovic came over and crap all over them. Djokovic is very popular in Asia, in non western European countries, he's loved in Italy for an example. And you can't tell if he really isn't loved or loved, because tennis crowds at the stadium are the small percentage of population whos watching tennis , usually bunch of rich spoiled people.

[DirtyDez]

Joker has had such a weird career. Started out a huge baby unwilling to finish matches and now he has arguably the best mind in tennis.

With that said, he’s not the goat. He has no fan base and people just don’t enjoy watching him play. It’s a very boring, methodical playing style that’s all defense. Nadal could easily do what Joker does but he doesn’t because that’s not what sells tickets.

Brady is the GOAT and I’d rather watch Marino/Mahomes. What does boring have to do with being the GOAT?

Novak is the only guy to beat Nadal in all 4 slams including the French on clay. He also is dominant vs Federer. He’s pretty much untouchable at this point.

[Hroz]

The finals vs Medvedev are not a gimme, but at 27-0, he's very close.

Also makes you wonder how the Olympics play out if they were best-of-5's instead. If this match was best-of-3 I think Zverev could have expended all of his energy and won the third.

Crazy that Djokovic has turned his greatest weakness (durability and stamina) into perhaps his greatest strength.

If Djokovic wins he is the Goat.

The Olympics though I think Djokoc was exhausted. People forget he lost the bronze medal Match & his doubles semi & pulled out of the bronze doubles Bronze medal Match. Plus vs Djokoc he lost like 10 of the last 11 ganes.
He was exhausted. French Wimbledon then Olympics was too much.
He shouldn't have played the doubles.

[rzzzzz]

He didn't stole anything, he played great under the pressure against his opponent and disgusting crowds. Yeah they should go back to the wooden racquets and play amateur tennis

I wasn’t dissing Joker. Quite the contrary. With two serves to win the US Open, Federer hits a great shot wide of his forehand that could have been an ace. Joker practically dives for it and hits it with everything he’s got and slams it into the near corner. Just brilliant. The next serve, Fed goes for a serve and volley, which he again executes perfectly, and then, somehow, manages to push the gimme volley into the net. He was shook, and Joker closed him. As I said, he just damn stole that title.

When I saw McEnroe play Borg, in Richmond, I assure you they didn’t look amateur. True, Connors had his 2000 when I saw him play Borg, same place, but that small head was just wild enough to keep him from the boring top spin game. Back in ‘79-‘80 we used to drive from court to court, looking for a free one. People used to hang their wooden rackets up on the board to get into line to play a set. Everybody playing back then, and it was hellacious fun.

[Nate505]

Not that I know a ton about tennis, but with the resumes of Federer/Nadal/Djokovic it seems the argument on which one is the greatest ever is a pretty small one.

[Eric Bieniemy]

The Joker literally stole two grand slam titles from Roger. A US Open and a Wimbledon where Roger had multiple championship points on his racquet to serve out, and theJoker burst through at the end. No doubting this guy’s greatness. BUT:

I’m old enough to remember what the sport was before Lendl took advantage of the new big headed graphite racquets to hit nothing but massive top spin from the baseline, and change Tennis into Ping Pong. No more serve and volley. Fleet coordination was lot less important. Soon the game became a lot less fun to play and a lot less interesting to watch. Kind of like what baseball would degenerate into if they let batters used those metal/poly bats that you see in softball. Running up the score, eliminating the value of playing the field when instead all you want is a bunch of big beaters.

Is Sampras the last great serve and volleyer? Where does that dude rank?

[Michael Lucky]

Novak won all four in a row before from 2015-2016, just not in the same calendar year.