Talk About Tennis 2.0

I remember reading once that some of the houses in WImbledon (the village) get rented by the top players for such a high price that the owner live of that for the rest of the year.
Incredible how such a remote thing as a war in Ukraine can even affect these details.

About Tsonga.
I always liked him but he was not like my player to die for. I liked Ferrer much better.
But I have never heard anybody disliking him, so I will not ask about if he will be missed. Certainly some people will.
I do wonder: with that game, did he Over, Under or just achieved the right level in the sport? I know he lived his entire career dealing with the Big 4, but I wonder about that opinion.
A poll has been opened, if you want to tell.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 12:53 pm About Tsonga.
I always liked him but he was not like my player to die for. I liked Ferrer much better.
But I have never heard anybody disliking him, so I will not ask about if he will be missed. Certainly some people will.
I do wonder: with that game, did he Over, Under or just achieved the right level in the sport? I know he lived his entire career dealing with the Big 4, but I wonder about that opinion.
A poll has been opened, if you want to tell.

I said underachieved, just slightly. Without thinking deeply about it, I believe he (and Berdych) could have made a bigger dent in the Big 4. Wawrinka, JMDP and even Cilic mustered a little more, and I think Tsonga could have..

To me, with the quality of that game, he underachieved a bit too. He had a monster FH, the serve was very, very good, to say that he had the physique is an understatement. He was very powerful, and also very fast.
I say the BH was not up to the level of the rest of the game, but it was also not a liability. It was not as if the recipe was "hit to his BH", and that would be it.
Sincerely, he is one of those players that tell me how little I know about this sport, because I can't figure out why he did not win more. Other than the top 4 guys being such a wall.

I often put him as one of the best players to not win a slam by his actual tennis. Not sure if it was his mentality that stopped him, or his injury problems. But he beat all the big 3 while they occupied the number one ranking so the potential was there. Didn’t he beat all 3 of them at slams too?

Liamvalid wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 5:34 pm I often put him as one of the best players to not win a slam by his actual tennis. Not sure if it was his mentality that stopped him, or his injury problems. But he beat all the big 3 while they occupied the number one ranking so the potential was there. Didn’t he beat all 3 of them at slams too?

Tsonga beat all of the Big 4 at majors. Only two other players did that, Wawrinka and Berdych. Which you'd expect based on the rankings.

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 5:49 pm

Liamvalid wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 5:34 pm I often put him as one of the best players to not win a slam by his actual tennis. Not sure if it was his mentality that stopped him, or his injury problems. But he beat all the big 3 while they occupied the number one ranking so the potential was there. Didn’t he beat all 3 of them at slams too?

Tsonga beat all of the Big 4 at majors. Only two other players did that, Wawrinka and Berdych. Which you'd expect based on the rankings.

What major did Wawrinka defeat Federer?

patrick wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 6:33 pm ...

What major did Wawrinka defeat Federer?

QF at RG 2015.

Not a fan of this poll. How about Option 4, had a fantastic career during the Big 4 era.

Because that one is understood. Nobody is saying his career was not damn good, and that any young player that wants to emulate him or has been inspired by him is doing the right thing.
No need to ponder the obvious.

ti-amie wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 11:33 pm

That is really interesting. I guess Steffi and Chris didn't play quite long enough to rack up 300. And when Chris started, I think top seeds got a bye in the first round of many of the Slams. That seems so antiquated. And no Jimmy, or Andre, or Pete. I guess they also didn't play enough years and had off years where they didn't win as many matches. Cool post!

Kevin

I'm putting this highlight reel in this thread because it's awesome and shows ARV wasn't standing around doing nothing. He fought.

dmforever wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 11:49 pm ...

That is really interesting. I guess Steffi and Chris didn't play quite long enough to rack up 300. And when Chris started, I think top seeds got a bye in the first round of many of the Slams. That seems so antiquated. And no Jimmy, or Andre, or Pete. I guess they also didn't play enough years and had off years where they didn't win as many matches. Cool post!

Kevin

Steffi simply did not play enough slams, or long enough, to reach 300. She played in 56 slams, and if you were to win every single slam you enter, you would need 42 to reach 300. Retiring at 32-33 yo is not a good recipe to reach 300. Therefore, Pete was never even close, as neither was Andre. Jimmy not being there is kind of a surprise, as he played into his 40's. You would assume he should have made it, having the most wins of all times. But he missed the Aussie and RG on several occasions, so that must be it.