Underrated Rivalries
- Thread starter Wynter
- Start date
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Deleted member 307496
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That wasn't much of a rivalry. Their H2H is 7-7, but Safin had the upper hand most of the time they played in my opinion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPXObkCQAkM
Gary Duane
G.O.A.T.
Federer-Hewitt since around 2010. They are 2/2 since then, and Hewitt. Both Hewitt wins were in finals, Halle and Brisbane. I think that if Hewitt had stayed healthy the overall H2H might be closer, but even so it is 18/9. Something to think about.
Hewitt has done better against Fed than Fed has done against Nadal.
Hewitt has done better against Fed than Fed has done against Nadal.
rossi46
Professional
7-7, that's more of a rivalry than Federer-Nadal.
Manus Domini
Hall of Fame
Rosewall-Hoad
Rosewall-Laver
Rosewall-Federer (somehow they both went undefeated :shock
Rosewall-Laver
Rosewall-Federer (somehow they both went undefeated :shock
rossi46
Professional
Better to squeeze lemon juice into your eyes or ********** with a cheese grater than to watch a match between those two.
Manus Domini
Hall of Fame
BringBackSV
Hall of Fame
Agreed, it's more competitive than the overrated rivalry of Rafa-Roger
Mr.Lob
G.O.A.T.
I can attest that this is true
Freaky. One or both?
Mustard
Bionic Poster
These are rivalries that had needle in them at some stage:
Ilie Nastase vs. Clark Graebner
Jimmy Connors vs. Arthur Ashe
Jimmy Connors vs. John McEnroe
Jimmy Connors vs. Ivan Lendl
John McEnroe vs. Ivan Lendl
Pat Cash vs. Ivan Lendl
Jimmy Connors vs. Andre Agassi
Ivan Lendl vs. Andre Agassi
Ivan Lendl vs. Horst Skoff
John McEnroe vs. Bill Scanlon
John McEnroe vs. Brad Gilbert
Andre Agassi vs. Pete Sampras
Boris Becker vs. Michael Stich
Vitas Gerulaitis vs. Wojtek Fibak
Vitas Gerulaitis vs. Ivan Lendl
Thomas Muster vs. Horst Skoff
Thomas Muster vs. Brad Gilbert
Thomas Muster vs. Andre Agassi
Thomas Muster vs. Wayne Ferreira
Thomas Muster vs. Jeff Tarango
Thomas Muster vs. Felix Mantilla
Thomas Muster vs. Pat Cash
Horst Skoff vs. Pat Cash
Alex Antonitsch vs. Pat Cash
Goran Ivanisevic vs. Mark Woodforde
Guillermo Coria vs. Gaston Gaudio
Guillermo Coria vs. Nicolas Massu
Guillermo Coria vs. Mariano Zabaleta
Patrick Rafter vs. Pete Sampras
Jim Courier vs. Andre Agassi
Boris Becker vs. Andre Agassi
Michael Chang vs. Andre Agassi
Lleyton Hewitt vs. Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Lleyton Hewitt vs. Alex Corretja
Lleyton Hewitt vs. David Nalbandian
Lleyton Hewitt vs. Juan Ignacio Chela
Lleyton Hewitt vs. Guillermo Coria
Lleyton Hewitt vs. Jose Acasuso
Marat Safin vs. Andy Roddick
Andy Murray vs. Juan Martin del Potro
David Nalbandian vs. Tim Henman
Rafael Nadal vs. Tomas Berdych
Rafael Nadal vs. Robin Soderling
Novak Djokovic vs. Andy Roddick
Ilie Nastase vs. Clark Graebner
Jimmy Connors vs. Arthur Ashe
Jimmy Connors vs. John McEnroe
Jimmy Connors vs. Ivan Lendl
John McEnroe vs. Ivan Lendl
Pat Cash vs. Ivan Lendl
Jimmy Connors vs. Andre Agassi
Ivan Lendl vs. Andre Agassi
Ivan Lendl vs. Horst Skoff
John McEnroe vs. Bill Scanlon
John McEnroe vs. Brad Gilbert
Andre Agassi vs. Pete Sampras
Boris Becker vs. Michael Stich
Vitas Gerulaitis vs. Wojtek Fibak
Vitas Gerulaitis vs. Ivan Lendl
Thomas Muster vs. Horst Skoff
Thomas Muster vs. Brad Gilbert
Thomas Muster vs. Andre Agassi
Thomas Muster vs. Wayne Ferreira
Thomas Muster vs. Jeff Tarango
Thomas Muster vs. Felix Mantilla
Thomas Muster vs. Pat Cash
Horst Skoff vs. Pat Cash
Alex Antonitsch vs. Pat Cash
Goran Ivanisevic vs. Mark Woodforde
Guillermo Coria vs. Gaston Gaudio
Guillermo Coria vs. Nicolas Massu
Guillermo Coria vs. Mariano Zabaleta
Patrick Rafter vs. Pete Sampras
Jim Courier vs. Andre Agassi
Boris Becker vs. Andre Agassi
Michael Chang vs. Andre Agassi
Lleyton Hewitt vs. Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Lleyton Hewitt vs. Alex Corretja
Lleyton Hewitt vs. David Nalbandian
Lleyton Hewitt vs. Juan Ignacio Chela
Lleyton Hewitt vs. Guillermo Coria
Lleyton Hewitt vs. Jose Acasuso
Marat Safin vs. Andy Roddick
Andy Murray vs. Juan Martin del Potro
David Nalbandian vs. Tim Henman
Rafael Nadal vs. Tomas Berdych
Rafael Nadal vs. Robin Soderling
Novak Djokovic vs. Andy Roddick
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kiki
Banned
Good choices but...yuou forgot ( or undervalued) Connors and Tanner.IMHO
Mustard
Bionic Poster
Perhaps. Connors vs. Tanner is a long competitive rivalry, going back to when they were kids, but was there really that much needle in it?
kiki
Banned
Tanner exhuded in total hapiness when he beat Connors at their last meeting , the 81 Masters.That eliminated Connors from the semifinals stage...loved their bruttal violence on court, when both were going at each other, like trying to show their respective weapons were bigger than their opponent´s best weapon.
In this case, both weapons went against each other, as Roscoe had the fastest serve of his generation and Jimmy had the fastest return.
Las Vegas and Palm Springs 1979 are two other great matches with one win apiece, both tournaments played on hard courts.
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pc1
G.O.A.T.
Problem with Tanner and Connors is that even though Tanner at his best can beat almost anyone I just felt the rallies weren't that great. Tanner couldn't match Connors off the ground and Tanner would often serve aces or service winners. Not as fun to watch to make a compelling rivalry.
I like a lot of your choices Mustard. Connors and McEnroe was a super rivalry as it was when you toss Lendl into this mix. Another rivalry I liked was Agassi and Rafter, especially some of their Wimbledon matches.
kiki
Banned
Mustard
Bionic Poster
Skoff would make a lot of excuses if he lost, was feisty as heck, and did things like heading the ball back when match point down against Edberg at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Skoff was then accused of "going against the olympic spirit", but Skoff responded by saying that he found the whole thing very funny.
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Mustard
Bionic Poster
Muster and Skoff had a really hostile rivalry. The head-to-head ended 6-5 in Muster's favour. They were also Davis Cup teammates, with Austria coming within a whisker of reaching the final in 1990, when they lost 2-3 to the USA on clay in Vienna. Muster later refused to play Davis Cup in 1992 and 1993 due to Skoff being on the team. It had gotten that bad. They were back together on the same team in 1994, though, against Germany.
That's correct. And unlike Muster, Skoff didn't have the intimidating physical presence.
Mustard
Bionic Poster
Becker and Stich had a complex relationship. It was a mixture of hostile rivalry, and a healthy respect. They were also pretty good as a doubles team in 1992. Becker suffered one of his biggest humiliations on a tennis court in the 1991 Wimbledon final, when Stich (a fellow countryman) came onto centre court and outplayed Becker for so long. Becker was completely unprepared for such a thing to happen to him. I don't think Becker has ever been closer to having a complete mental breakdown on a tennis court.
However, in 1993, Becker got revenge, when an in-form Stich (who was playing well on all surfaces, and had beaten Becker on his way to winning the 1993 Queen's Club tournament), was beaten by Becker in 5 sets in their 1993 Wimbledon quarter final.
kiki
Banned
In my opinion, that hostility was due to the pressure from german tabloids, who can be worse than the british ones.
As for 93, the germans had a great year and Stich won singlehandedly both, DC and Masters, trouncing Sampras at the Festhalle.He was certainly one of the most talented players of the 90´s.
vive le beau jeu !
Talk Tennis Guru
for those 2 rivalries, the matches i enjoyed the best are:
- AO 2004 QF: safin d. roddick [1] 26 63 75 67(0) 64
it was really close ! it was hard to guess who would win...
(same goes witht the safin-agassi SF)
- USO 2008 QF: djokovic [3] d. roddick [8] 62 63 36 76(5)
djokovic started the match so rageously... upset by roddick's comments ! i was impressed... but then roddick managed to make it tight, and wasn't far from winning the 4th. could have been even more interesting...
Capulin Zurdo
Hall of Fame
Simon - Murray
I actually really like their tactical play.
I actually really like their tactical play.
Capulin Zurdo
Hall of Fame
Also,
Del Potro - Soderling
Soderling - Verdasco
Safin - Nalbandian
Nalbandian - Davydenko
Davydenko - Soderling
Del Potro - Soderling
Soderling - Verdasco
Safin - Nalbandian
Nalbandian - Davydenko
Davydenko - Soderling
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
Or, in other words, Lendl, McEnroe, Connors, Muster, and Hewitt were all obnoxious jerks and no-one liked them. (Same with Coria and Agassi to a lesser extent).
How about Kyrgios vs. Wawrinka?
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
Probably Novak Djokovic vs. Roger Federer, as well.
It's interesting, given that Djokovic and Federer fans seem to me to tend to cheer for the other if their favorite is out, while Nadal and Murray fans tend to cheer for the other, that Djokovic and Federer do not get on (Becker's recent "revelation").
BGod
G.O.A.T.
The last 5 matches between Wawrinka and Djokovic at Slams:
Djokovic wins in 5, 12-10 final set
Djokovic wins in 5, comes back down 1-2
Wawrinka wins in 5, final set 9-7
Djokovic wins in 5
Wawrinka wins in 4 after losing opening set
I mean....right at this moment this is the best matchup to see.
Historically it's absolutely Nalbandian/Federer.
Djokovic wins in 5, 12-10 final set
Djokovic wins in 5, comes back down 1-2
Wawrinka wins in 5, final set 9-7
Djokovic wins in 5
Wawrinka wins in 4 after losing opening set
I mean....right at this moment this is the best matchup to see.
Historically it's absolutely Nalbandian/Federer.
Federev
Legend
Federer Nagal
Federev
Legend
Novak v Djokovic
