I think the best comeback I ever watched was Todd Martin against Carlos Moya, which I mentioned upthread. Martin lost the first two sets in tiebreaks but won in five. It was a US Open night match and ended well after midnight. When it got late, they let all the remaining fans move down to the best seats, so there was more energy in the crowd. After Martin finished it off, he broke his racquet on the ground and did a lap around the court, slapping hands with everyone who’d stayed to watch.
Speaking of comebacks, Chang’s five set epic against Lendl has to rank up there as perhaps the greatest. Here are some clipsof the game as well as his final victory over Edberg.
In fact I would rank Chang's victory over Lendl as the single greatest feat in the history of sports. It was a great comeback against a great champion after suffering from serious cramps and achieved amazingly by a teenager playing mindgames against a vastly more experienced pro. I didn't see the game unfortunately though I did see his win over Edberg some days later.
Did Kuznetsova then question if Carillo has finally lost all touch with reality? Good Lord but that woman drives me insane. The sound of her voice is like nails on a chalkboard!
If Federer wins does he become the greatest of all time? IMO yes. He will equal Sampras with 14 slams and at the same time become the second player in 35 years to complete his career grand slam. His negative record against Nadal is a blemish but not a fatal one IMO. Of course if Nadal ends up with a similar number of slams he becomes a very strong contender himself but until that happens Federer will be the greatest if he pulls it off tomorrow.
Meh. He’s ahead of Sampras (assuming he doesn’t retire tomorrow) but still behind Rod Laver. Laver won 11 Grand Slams and would have eclipsed Sampras’ 14 quite comfortably had he not skipped 6 years’ worth of majors prior to the Open era. Plus, he has an 82% (I think) winning percentage even though he kept playing until he was 38 (Federer’s is 80.6%). Plus, he was the de facto world #1 for well over five years (there were no computerized rankings when he played).
ETA: Also, Laver completed the Grand Slam, not just a career Grand Slam.
Rod Laver is obviously up there as well but in his day three of the four slams were played on grass so a grand slam isn’t as remarkable an achievement as today. You could argue that Federer’s achievement of winning three and reaching the final of the fourth ( and only losing to perhaps the greatest clay-courter of all-time) is at least as good. Plus I don’t think world tennis was as competitive and intense in the 60’s as today.
Your first point might be valid, but certainly not the second. Laver’s contemporaries included Pancho Gonzales, Arthur Ashe, Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson and Lew Hoad- all arguably among the top 25 male players of all time.
I take nothing away from Federer, especially if he wins today, but I don’t think he’s quite there yet. Assuming that he maintains his present level of play for two or three more years, he’ll certainly be the greatest ever.
I agree the best players in Laver’s time were exceptional but the extra depth today lies in the lower ranked players like,for example, Soderling. There is vastly greater money in tennis today and a broader talent pool of players who train much harder. That’s true of most sports really.
Twice. I put Laver out there ahead of everyone. He won the Grand Slam in 1962, then turned professional and missed the next five years. In 1968 he won Wimbledon, then in 1969 won the Grand Slam again.
In his time as a professional he won the US/English/French professional championships eight times. So even though there were only three professional “grand slam events” versus the current four, if you add these to his grand slam total he has 19 major wins - well ahead of Sampras and Federer.
And in the mid-sixties, the best players were professional and barred from the slams. Laver beat all the amateurs comfortably in 1962, but on turning professional was soundly beaten by Rosewall and Gonzalez at first. He had to raise his game before being able to dominate the professional tour - which he did in 1964 onwards.
I’m really disappointed that Safina couldn’t pull out a Grand Slam victory. She has worked really hard and deserves to win.
Serena and Venus were both off this event. The French crowd is just plain rude to them.
I can barely watch women’s tennis anymore, it’s gotten so shrieking annoying. That awful shrieking really detracts from the game and borderlines on unsportsmanship.
Soderling is on fire but really disliked by the other players. So I’m rooting for Rog to complete his career grand slam, though it’ll pain me if he surpasses Borg’s French Open record.
I really wish the sportswear designers would shorten men’s shorts. Definitely not as short as they were in the 80’s, but mid-thigh would be awesome. Tennis players have some of the best legs in sports (next to soccer players).
[ Eric Idle ] I bet she does I bet she does. [ /Eric Idle ]