Agassi Underrated

[Power Player]

Originally Posted by hoodjem

No he did not. He won a career grand slam.

HUGE DIFFERENCE. Look it up.

The point was that it is EXTREMELY rare to do that in tennis.

[Chopin]

Originally Posted by boredone3456

I would agree with this. Agassi can be argued, by virtue of his acheivements, to be above Nadal all time as of now...but I think Nadal will surpass Andre by the end of his career in this area. As for who is better...I would give Nadal a slight overall edge except on Hardcourts.

Yeah, I mean, it's same thing I've been saying about Laver. Pound for pound, the guy would probably be a mediocre pro today, but he's still one of the all time greats.

I agree with your assessment of giving Nadal a slight edge except on hardcourts though.

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by grafselesfan

Honestly I cant think of Agassi as being a better player than Nadal. JMO though.

Originally Posted by boredone3456

but I think Nadal will surpass Andre by the end of his career in this area. As for who is better...I would give Nadal a slight overall edge except on Hardcourts.

I agree with both of you. Nadal will probably surpass Agassi, and certainly has the potential to do so, but we must wait and see.

For me tennis rankings are about the past and present, not the future. In my befuddled finite way, I try to compare achievements not peak head-to-head hypotheticals. That way lies little but unfounded speculation and biased preferences.

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by Power Player

The point was that it is EXTREMELY rare to do that in tennis.

You are exactly correct; the career slam is extremely rare in singles tennis: Winning all four major Slam tournaments during a career is termed a Career Grand Slam. To date six men and nine women have accomplished this feat in singles play.

Yet a true Grand Slam, original meaning, is rarer still. It is statistically and in actuality far more difficult. In men's singles tennis it has happened only once, during a period when there were no restrictions on tournament entry.


Trivia question: what man has won the most major slam singles titles in a row? (Hint: not Roger Federer.)

[grafselesfan]

6 months ago I actually thought it would be Nadal, not Federer, but actually Nadal who was on his way to challenging Laver's current consensus position as the greatest mens player of all time down the road. I and many others thought he was probably going to complete the Calender Slam this year and take his first big step to getting there. I actually thought the U.S Open would be the only one that would even be a serious test, I wasnt the only one that was alone that lines of thinking at the time either the way Nadal's momentum seemed to be at that point. Of course here we are 6 or 7 months later and how things change. So yes I agree it isnt too safe to presume too far into the future, and to hedge your bets wisely. Sadly with Rafa who is my current favorite mens player if he and team dont manage their schedule more wisely, and perhaps now even alter his game style further to accomodate his now possibly chronic bad knees, the hedging will continue to go in a lower base expectation all the time.

[helloworld]

1.Laver
2.Federer
3.Pete
4.Borg
5.Lendl
6.Connors
7.McEnroe
8.Agassi
9.Wilander
10.Edberg

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by grafselesfan

6 months ago I actually thought it would be Nadal, not Federer, but actually Nadal who was on his way to challenging Laver's current consensus position as the greatest mens player of all time down the road. I and many others thought he was probably going to complete the Calender Slam this year and take his first big step to getting there. I actually thought the U.S Open would be the only one that would even be a serious test, . . . .

I wondered this also. I did believe that it was (and remains) extremely difficult. Nadal might make it, but his chances were slim and he needed to remain in top shape and with unshakable focus. Didn't happen. He stumbled first on his best surface.

With a career Slam you have many opportunities to succeed. With a Grand Slam, one bad day, one ill-timed injury, one unfortunate accident, one single opponent playing "out of his mind" and all is lost. Start over next year.

[Chopin]

Of course, the Grand Slam has never been won by anyone when the slams were played over three distinct surfaces.

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by helloworld

1.Laver
2.Federer
3.Pete
4.Borg
5.Lendl
6.Connors
7.McEnroe
8.Agassi
9.Wilander
10.Edberg

Open-Era GOATs?

[35ft6]

He's probably the most significant tennis player of the past 30 years. He was admired by players in other professional sports in a way that no other tennis player has been since, not even Federer. People thought of him as a true jock. And if you asked the top 100 to name their favorite players, the ones who inspired them, he would show up the most. He's a great ambassador and what he's doing now with kids is just world class. When he appears on court for something, people have a visceral reaction, cheering wildly without thought, in a way that they just don't for Sampras or anybody else. In terms of how much people love him and his influence on the game both technically and off the court, he is the greatest player of the open era. He's also philosopher warrior of the sport when it comes to commentating, explaining subtle nuances in ways that are interesting to the casual fan.

And I don't even consider myself a huge Agassi fan.

[Enlightened Coelacanth]

Underrated? It's hard to see how.

Agassi had his tremendous up and downs and didn't or wouldn't even consider playing on grass for the first third of his career (and when he did win Wimbledon it was against less than stellar competition).
His slam wins have come at the expense of the likes of Todd Martin, Andrei Medvedev, Kafelnikov and Goran Ivanisevic.
He was a non entity as a doubles player and was an extremely mono-dimensional player.
Put up next to Sampras, Federer, Laver, Borg, or Lendl (who was the template for Agassi and his get fit and hit hard style) it's hard to see him as a top five open era player.

You can give Agassi his due in many ways but to call him underrated? I think not. He's rated by most right where he should be.