German star players- all underachievers?

[NadalAgassi]

Are the key German tennis players all underachievers?

Just looking at the names:

Boris Becker- 6 slams is an amazing career, but when he burst on the scene winning those Wimbledons so early I think everyone expected he would do even more.

Michael Stich- 1 slam. He seems like a huge underachiever given his talent. He could play well on every surface, he made a major final or won a major title on all surfaces including clay (96 French Open finalist) and carpet (93 ATP World Championship winner over Sampras).

Anke Huber- Generally regarded an underachiever, was expected to be a future slam winner in her youth.

Tommy Haas and Nicholas Kiefer- Major underachievers.

Kohde Kilsh, Hanika, and Bunge- it seems the general consensus is people were expecting each to last a bit longer near the top and do a bit more than they did.

Is there any noteable German player who wasnt an underachiever.

[Mustard]

I think Hans Nusslein did extremely well after being banned from the amateur game for life when he was just 15 years old. He carved out an excellent career for himself in the professional game.

Gottfried von Cramm was a huge underachiever. He won 2 French Championships, but was 3 times runner-up of Wimbledon, a runner-up of the US Championships and lost a decisive Davis Cup match to Don Budge. Then he was jailed for a year because he opposed the Nazis, so they nabbed him on a homosexual activity charge. Soon after getting free, von Cramm won 1939 Queen's Club by beating Bobby Riggs (who would be that year's Wimbledon champion) 6-0, 6-1. Von Cramm was then scandalous banned from 1939 Wimbledon by the All England Club due to that homosexual activity conviction, and the US authorities followed suit before the 1939 US Championships, refusing him a visa.

[thejackal]

there are rec players with nicer looking strokes than florian mayer, but he's done well on the tour. made the semis or the quarters at wimbledon once.

[krosero]

Originally Posted by Mustard

Gottfried von Cramm was a huge underachiever. He won 2 French Championships, but was 3 times runner-up of Wimbledon, a runner-up of the US Championships and lost a decisive Davis Cup match to Don Budge. Then he was jailed for a year because he opposed the Nazis, so they nabbed him on a homosexual activity charge. Soon after getting free, von Cramm won 1939 Queen's Club by beating Bobby Riggs (who would be that year's Wimbledon champion) 6-0, 6-1. Von Cramm was then scandalous banned from 1939 Wimbledon by the All England Club due to that homosexual activity conviction, and the US authorities followed suit before the 1939 US Championships, refusing him a visa.

Those losses in the majors and in Davis Cup are not really signs of underachievement. He did the best he could at those events. The other stuff is true though. He underachieved due to external circumstances.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by krosero

Those losses in the majors and in Davis Cup are not really signs of underachievement. He did the best he could at those events. The other stuff is true though. He underachieved due to external circumstances.

I suppose we could say he had a lot of bad luck. He either ran into an on fire Fred Perry, was jailed just as his rivalry with Budge was heating up and then got discriminated against by the authorities for that homosexual activity conviction just when his chances of big success seemed stronger than ever in 1939 with Budge having moved on to the professional game.

[NLBwell]

Do you think Steffi Graf was an underachiever?

[krosero]

Originally Posted by Mustard

I suppose we could say he had a lot of bad luck. He either ran into an on fire Fred Perry, was jailed just as his rivalry with Budge was heating up and then got discriminated against by the authorities for that homosexual activity conviction just when his chances of big success seemed stronger than ever in 1939 with Budge having moved on to the professional game.

Bad fortune all around. As far as tennis, he was unfortunate to be playing during the prime years of Perry and Budge -- though he did beat Perry once at Roland Garros.

[NadalAgassi]

Originally Posted by NLBwell

Do you think Steffi Graf was an underachiever?

Probably. People expected her to win 4 or 5 Calendar Slams when she won her first at only 19, and she only managed that 1, and failed to dominate the game consistently long term as expected, having very non dominant years in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, basically most years after her teenage dominance reign until she began to really fall off with age and injury starting in 1997.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by krosero

Bad fortune all around. As far as tennis, he was unfortunate to be playing during the prime years of Perry and Budge -- though he did beat Perry once at Roland Garros.

Yes, von Cramm double bagelled Perry in the 1936 French Championships final, although it went 5 sets (6-0, 2-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-0), but then Perry absolutely pummelled von Cramm in the 1936 Wimbledon final with what I think was the most one-sided scoreline in a major final ever (6-1, 6-1, 6-0) along with Connors vs. Rosewall (6-1, 6-0, 6-1) in the 1974 US Open final.

[krosero]

Originally Posted by Mustard

Yes, von Cramm double bagelled Perry in the 1936 French Championships final, although it went 5 sets (6-0, 2-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-0), but then Perry absolutely pummelled von Cramm in the 1936 Wimbledon final with what I think was the most one-sided scoreline in a major final ever (6-1, 6-1, 6-0) along with Connors vs. Rosewall (6-1, 6-0, 6-1) in the 1974 US Open final.

That was the match in which von Cramm strained a thigh muscle in the second game and could barely move afterwards. In the first game he had pushed Perry to 9 deuces, a good start.

[kiki]

Bungert underachieved a lot, too

[galain]

To be fair to Haas, his injuries affected his career at really the worst time for him.

[kiki]

For a while, Karl Meiler was expected to become a tennis star, but felt short of.

[suwanee4712]

I would've given a kidney to be able to grant Bunge the resolve and confidence to be a champion. Her game was extraordinary. The backhand was one of the all time great one handers. She had great instincts at the net and was a popular doubles partner.

Khode has a sweet nature about her and her ranking rose when she learned to stick up for herself and not be intimidated by the better players. Although I would say she never quite got over Chris. She hit hard and flat and when her timing was on she was a threat to anyone.

Hanika had game. She produced heavy topspin strokes on both sides. If her lefty serve had been better she could've made better use of her ample net skills. Remember, she beat Martina for a YEC title. Thats big. She didn't make a lot of friends on tour though. Not popular at all especially with Graf and Mandlikova.