Fun to watch but who wins? Rod vs. Mac

[robow7]

I'm sure this would have been an entertaining match up to see both lefties near their prime, Mac with the temper vs Rod so focused like a rock, but both could be such artists with their athletic skills and shot making ability. On clay you have to give the edge to Laver but on grass or fast hard court, who do you think would prevail.

[pc1]

Originally Posted by robow7

I'm sure this would have been an entertaining match up to see both lefties near their prime, Mac with the temper vs Rod so focused like a rock, but both could be such artists with their athletic skills and shot making ability. On clay you have to give the edge to Laver but on grass or fast hard court, who do you think would prevail.

The McEnroe of 1984 would give Laver problems on any surface.

I suppose if we break it down I would give the edge to McEnroe on serve but Laver also had an excellent serve. McEnroe may have a slight edge on the volley but it's very close. Laver is faster and more powerful off both wings. I think Laver had a better return but McEnroe wasn't exactly bad off the return.

I suppose I would give the edge overall to Laver but it's not like anyone in history could bad John McEnroe in his prime all the time.

[pc1]

I suppose with the both of them it would not really matter if wood or current racquets would be used but I would tend to think that because of Laver's superior groundstroke power and spin the modern racquet may favor Laver.

[corners]

It's gotta be Rod. Otherwise, all the GOAT formulations have to be scrapped and the whole discussion started from scratch. You see, Mac isn't even in the first tier of GOAT candidates, while Rocket is in the top 3 for everyone but Jack Kramer. So if Mac beats Rod all these lists have to be redrawn, which would require hundreds more horribly boring and pedantic threads wherein middle-aged armchair historians fight with each other like teenage girls. If Mac is better than Rod than he's better than Rosewall, and maybe even the supernaturally talented Lew Hoad!!! (And if Mac is as good as Hoad then it would come down to who had the better back, in which case Mac is the GOAT!)

No, no, no. Laver beats McEnroe 9 times out of 10 regardless of surface. I've watched 5 hours and 36 minutes of Laver highlights on Youtube, so you can trust me on this.

[kiki]

I don´t know what´d happen if it featured 1967-1969 Laver against 1983-1985 Mac, but it may have been one of the best matches ever as far as shotmaking is concerned.it would be worthy tons of bugs, all I can say.