clout
Hall of Fame
Inspired by @King No1e's age thread a month or so ago about Thiem being a now-gen rather than a next-gen - same applies to Kyrgios. He's turning 25 this year and has barely done squat despite many claiming him to be "elite" or "as talented as Federer" or "he's still young." Here are what all the OE ATG players already achieved by the time they were Kyrgios' age (i.e. January of their age 25 season):
- Federer: 7x grand slam champion, spent 2 years as the world number one and was kick-starting the best year of his career (January 2006)
- Nadal: 9x grand slam champion, spent 2 years as the world number one, and already completed the career grand slam (January 2011)
- Djokovic: 5x grand slam champion, spent 1 year as the world number one, and completed one of the most dominant 12 month stretches ever (January 2012)
- Sampras: 7x grand slam champion, spent 3 years as the world number one, and 3 straight multi-slam years (January 1996)
- Borg: 10x grand slam champion, spent 2 years as the world number one, won 3 consecutive channel slams, reigning champ at the last 4 RGs and 5 WIs, and was entering his last full season on tour (January 1981)
- McEnroe: 5x grand slam champion, spent 3 years as the world number one, and was entering arguably the greatest season of all time (January 1984)
- Connors: 4x grand slam champion, spent 3 years as the world number one, and completed the best year of his career in '74 (January 1977)
- Agassi: 3x grand slam champion, held the last 2 majors, and was entering the best year of his career level-wise (January 1995)
- Becker: 5x grand slam champion, already won his last Wimbledon and USO titles, and was on the decline (January 1992)
- Edberg: 4x grand slam champion, reigning world number one, and already won his last AO and WI titles (January 1991)
- Wilander: 7x grand slam champion, just completed his best year in '88 and never won a major again (January 1989)
- Lendl: 1x grand slam champion (okay Lendl achieved the least among OE ATGs heading into year 25 of his life, but still, he'd already been ranked number one, won a slam, a ton of titles and lost in 4 GS finals against ATG comp.) (January 1985)
Even if we look at non-ATG players (prominent players who won 1-4 slams):
- Murray: Yes I know he didn't win any majors or make it to number one at Nick's current age, but he was number four for 4 years in a row, won a ton of other titles, and always made it to the semis/finals only to lose to the GOAT three in their primes/peaks (January 2012)
- Courier: 4x GS champion, 1 year as number one, already won his last slam, and never made it to another GS or Masters final again (January 1995)
- Kuerten: 2x GS champion, reigning number one, and was entering the last year of his prime (January 2001)
- Hewitt: 2x GS champion, 2 years as number one, and had not only won his last slam, but by the time Hewitt was NK's current age, he never made another slam SF again (January 2006)
- Safin: 2x GS champion, and would only make it past the R16 at a major one more time for the rest of his career (January 2005)
- Del Potro: 1x GS champion, won to this date his only GS title and beat prime Fedal b2b to win it (January 2013)
- Chang: 1x GS champion, already won his last and only GS title, won his last Masters title, and was entering his last year as a top 10 player (January 1997)
- Kafelnikov: 2x GS champion, reached number one and won all his slams (January 1999)
The vast majority of slam winners in recent decades had already achieved a lot by the time they were Kyrgios' current age and given how one-dimensional his game is to go along with his unstable mental state, he'll never reach the level of any of these players. He is NOT a young player nor is he an up-and-coming player - if he really was that good, he'd be in the middle of his prime/peak right now regularly competing for big titles.
Also, I know someone will bring up Wawrinka, but we gotta realize, Stan is a massive outlier and not a trend/regular pattern
- Federer: 7x grand slam champion, spent 2 years as the world number one and was kick-starting the best year of his career (January 2006)
- Nadal: 9x grand slam champion, spent 2 years as the world number one, and already completed the career grand slam (January 2011)
- Djokovic: 5x grand slam champion, spent 1 year as the world number one, and completed one of the most dominant 12 month stretches ever (January 2012)
- Sampras: 7x grand slam champion, spent 3 years as the world number one, and 3 straight multi-slam years (January 1996)
- Borg: 10x grand slam champion, spent 2 years as the world number one, won 3 consecutive channel slams, reigning champ at the last 4 RGs and 5 WIs, and was entering his last full season on tour (January 1981)
- McEnroe: 5x grand slam champion, spent 3 years as the world number one, and was entering arguably the greatest season of all time (January 1984)
- Connors: 4x grand slam champion, spent 3 years as the world number one, and completed the best year of his career in '74 (January 1977)
- Agassi: 3x grand slam champion, held the last 2 majors, and was entering the best year of his career level-wise (January 1995)
- Becker: 5x grand slam champion, already won his last Wimbledon and USO titles, and was on the decline (January 1992)
- Edberg: 4x grand slam champion, reigning world number one, and already won his last AO and WI titles (January 1991)
- Wilander: 7x grand slam champion, just completed his best year in '88 and never won a major again (January 1989)
- Lendl: 1x grand slam champion (okay Lendl achieved the least among OE ATGs heading into year 25 of his life, but still, he'd already been ranked number one, won a slam, a ton of titles and lost in 4 GS finals against ATG comp.) (January 1985)
Even if we look at non-ATG players (prominent players who won 1-4 slams):
- Murray: Yes I know he didn't win any majors or make it to number one at Nick's current age, but he was number four for 4 years in a row, won a ton of other titles, and always made it to the semis/finals only to lose to the GOAT three in their primes/peaks (January 2012)
- Courier: 4x GS champion, 1 year as number one, already won his last slam, and never made it to another GS or Masters final again (January 1995)
- Kuerten: 2x GS champion, reigning number one, and was entering the last year of his prime (January 2001)
- Hewitt: 2x GS champion, 2 years as number one, and had not only won his last slam, but by the time Hewitt was NK's current age, he never made another slam SF again (January 2006)
- Safin: 2x GS champion, and would only make it past the R16 at a major one more time for the rest of his career (January 2005)
- Del Potro: 1x GS champion, won to this date his only GS title and beat prime Fedal b2b to win it (January 2013)
- Chang: 1x GS champion, already won his last and only GS title, won his last Masters title, and was entering his last year as a top 10 player (January 1997)
- Kafelnikov: 2x GS champion, reached number one and won all his slams (January 1999)
The vast majority of slam winners in recent decades had already achieved a lot by the time they were Kyrgios' current age and given how one-dimensional his game is to go along with his unstable mental state, he'll never reach the level of any of these players. He is NOT a young player nor is he an up-and-coming player - if he really was that good, he'd be in the middle of his prime/peak right now regularly competing for big titles.
Also, I know someone will bring up Wawrinka, but we gotta realize, Stan is a massive outlier and not a trend/regular pattern
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