Re: The Goat Debate
Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2023 6:05 pm
Ferrer was #3, Berdych was #7. I would not say this is "rounding up". They had Gasquet at #9, which Tony and you conveniently did not mention.
We still talk about tennis. And much more.
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Ferrer was #3, Berdych was #7. I would not say this is "rounding up". They had Gasquet at #9, which Tony and you conveniently did not mention.
Every top ten from 2013 (maybe even before that) to March of this year when Nadal dropped out of the top ten was stronger than the current top ten and will be until Djokovic drops out.skatingfan wrote: ↑Sat Oct 07, 2023 4:45 am Top in 2013 had 45 quarterfinals, 42 semifinals, 26 finals, 39 Grand Slam titles through the end of 2013. Weakest link was Gasquet who'd only made 2 semifinals. 8 of the those players had made at least one Grand Slam final in their career to that point, and the other player who hadn't was Wawrinka.
The current top ten have 36 quarterfinals, 25 semifinals, 22 finals, 27 Grand Slam titles - of that Djokovic accounts for 10, 11, 12, and 24 of those respectively. Weakest links now are Rune, and Fritz who have only made 3, and 2 quarters respectively. 6 of the current top ten have made at least one Grand Slam final - in addition to Rune, and Fritz, Rublev, and Sinner have yet to make a final.
Now the current top 10 is a lot younger than the top ten in 2013 so these comparisons are a little unfair, and maybe in ten years the current crop will look better, but I kind of doubt it.
You're falling to the same trap: Judging 2013 top 10 basing on their whole careers. 2013 was not a good year for Federer - he had injuries and finished a year at #6. Also why bring Tiafoe? He is #14 now. In 2013 Ferrer was #3. Are you having him as better player than Medvedev?ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 08, 2023 11:29 pm Take Novak out, because he is in both groups. Do the crop of Tiafoe, Fritz, Rublev, Rune, Stefanos, Daniil, Casper and Jannick inspire any awe? Carlitos yes, the rest are very good players yet to leave a deep impression.
And... saying "if you take Roger, Rafa, Novak and Andy out" is about the same as saying "if you take the engine out, a Ferrari is pretty much like any other car".
Then we are looking at this thing in different ways. Do the 2013 crop, after their careers have almost all ended, are way better than what we have now? That is different than: at the time in 2013, were they better than what we have now?mick1303 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 16, 2023 9:34 pmYou're falling to the same trap: Judging 2013 top 10 basing on their whole careers. 2013 was not a good year for Federer - he had injuries and finished a year at #6. Also why bring Tiafoe? He is #14 now. In 2013 Ferrer was #3. Are you having him as better player than Medvedev?ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 08, 2023 11:29 pm Take Novak out, because he is in both groups. Do the crop of Tiafoe, Fritz, Rublev, Rune, Stefanos, Daniil, Casper and Jannick inspire any awe? Carlitos yes, the rest are very good players yet to leave a deep impression.
And... saying "if you take Roger, Rafa, Novak and Andy out" is about the same as saying "if you take the engine out, a Ferrari is pretty much like any other car".
Just for the record David Ferrer in 2013 was in the midst a run of 10 straight Grand Slam quarters or better including the 2013 French Open Final.ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 7:19 pm Then we are looking at this thing in different ways. Do the 2013 crop, after their careers have almost all ended, are way better than what we have now? That is different than: at the time in 2013, were they better than what we have now?
I still say yes. But the questions are not the same.
Tony Nadal for some mysterious reason matched Medevedev against Nadal in his rant, which in my view invalidates his point. Or rather makes his argument dishonest. Nadal was #1 in 2013. Medvedev is #3 in 2023 and shall be compared to Ferrer, not to Nadal. Let's compare apples to apples. Davis Ferrer won just one TMS for his whole career. And was in one Slam final. Medvedev, who's career is far from over has 6 TMS + 1 YEC + 1 Slam (and 4 more runner-up finishes). We are excluding Djokovic and this puts Nadal against Alcaraz. Of course, we can't compare achievements, but we already can safely say that Alcaraz is a generational talent and nobody in the history of tennis would have easy time with him. My point is - the overall comparison of 2013 vs 2023 is far from clear.skatingfan wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 7:38 pmJust for the record David Ferrer in 2013 was in the midst a run of 10 straight Grand Slam quarters or better including the 2013 French Open Final.ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 7:19 pm Then we are looking at this thing in different ways. Do the 2013 crop, after their careers have almost all ended, are way better than what we have now? That is different than: at the time in 2013, were they better than what we have now?
I still say yes. But the questions are not the same.
We're looking at this issue in a different way. Of course, if you combine the achievements of 2013 top 10 vs any other era top 10, then the trio of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal wins. But if you'll put that top 10 in a match against other top 10, this is where it gets far from clear. Because there are 7 other players in top 10.ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 10:29 pm My point being that: NO OTHER GENERATION can compare to the 2013 class because the top 3 players of the time will end their careers with a minimum of 66 Slams. That is:
Sampras + Borg + Lend + Agassi + Connors + McEnroe + Wilander + Guga.
The 2013 class is not comparable with any other era. Everything else pales in comparison.