A complete nobody twice reaching the QF of Wimbledon

[Start da Game]

alexander popp

reached the quarters of wimbledon in 2000 and 2003......i remember watching his quarterfinal against philippousis in 03, he was so close to winning......he was blazing guns and leading 2-0 sets and there was a rain delay breaking his momentum, philippousis went on to win the rest of the three sets post rain delay......

literally a nobody with a few challenger titles and career prize money of less than a million......these days he is teaching classes in a university.......

 

[r2473]

Popp was poop?

Brad Pearce played Lendl in 1990.

 

[NatF]

He had a higher win percentage on grass than a finalist like Kevin Anderson Lost to the eventual finalist on three occasions at Wimby, QF to Rafter (2000), QF to Scud (2003) and 4R to Roddick (2004).

 

[Mainad]

Definition of a real flash-in-the-pan. I recall him creating quite a stir at Wimbledon in those 2 years. With Henman and Rusedski on the way out, the British media looked around for a likely successor and discovered that Popp might fill the bill as his mother was British. They talked of offering him British citizenship on that basis but Popp said thanks but no thanks. He remained loyal to the Fatherland. Wonder what might have happened if he had taken up the offer?

 

[Start da Game]

Definition of a real flash-in-the-pan. I recall him creating quite a stir at Wimbledon in those 2 years. With Henman and Rusedski on the way out, the British media looked around for a likely successor and discovered that Popp might fill the bill as his mother was British. They talked of offering him British citizenship on that basis but Popp said thanks but no thanks. He remained loyal to the Fatherland. Wonder what might have happened if he had taken up the offer?

interesting.....

 

[King No1e]

Why is Alexander Poop always the go-to example for a journeyman? It's always either him or Dustin Brown I hear whenever someone gives an example of a journeyman.

 

[Moose Malloy]

alexander popp

reached the quarters of wimbledon in 2000 and 2003......i remember watching his quarterfinal against philippousis in 03, he was so close to winning......he was blazing guns and leading 2-0 sets and there was a rain delay breaking his momentum, philippousis went on to win the rest of the three sets post rain delay......

literally a nobody with a few challenger titles and career prize money of less than a million......these days he is teaching classes in a university.......

philippoussis saving a break point in the fifth with a diving volley was one of the most clutch shots I’ve ever seen. Thanks to @The Green Mile for uploading that match.

I’ve posted this before, but I think Popp was a key figure in the new baseline era of Wimbledon. He reached the QF in 00(before any slowing of grass) by serving and staying back. pretty much no big server had ever played that way on grass before. Mac kept saying, can you believe this 6’7” guy is playing from the baseline at Wimbledon? He couldn’t believe it. One of many reasons I don’t believe the changes in surfaces were responsible for this baseline era.

 

[DSH]

 

[NatF]

philippoussis saving a break point in the fifth with a diving volley was one of the most clutch shots I’ve ever seen. Thanks to @The Green Mile for uploading that match.

I’ve posted this before, but I think Popp was a key figure in the new baseline era of Wimbledon. He reached the QF in 00(before any slowing of grass) by serving and staying back. pretty much no big server had ever played that way on grass before. Mac kept saying, can you believe this 6’7” guy is playing from the baseline at Wimbledon? He couldn’t believe it. One of many reasons I don’t believe the changes in surfaces were responsible for this baseline era.

Pat Cash in the 2000 Queens final was bemoaning the slow death of S&V, he did blame the surfaces though - which is interesting as it was a year before the grass change at Wimbledon.

 

[Moose Malloy]

Pat Cash in the 2000 Queens final was bemoaning the slow death of S&V, he did blame the surfaces though - which is interesting as it was a year before the grass change at Wimbledon.

when Edberg retired in 1996, there were many articles saying he would probably be the last serve and volleyer to win a major. Food for thought on how that style of play was perceived then. When you look at the top 100 in 2000 I don’t see many serve and volleyers(esp compared to say 1990). All through the 90s, guys like Fred Stolle were saying academy style tennis was pretty much dooming S&V. Sampras probably would have been a baseliner if not for Pete Fischer(who wasn’t part of an academy)

 

[ibbi]

You can't call someone with 2 slam quarters (and I believe a 4th round there as well) a complete nobody. I mean clearly multiple folks in this thread alone have heard of him... He played well on the fast stuff... Particularly over best of 5, it seems! I think the other notable results of his life were on carpet, so he was definitely born about a decade too late.

 

[Im(moral) Winner]

Pat Cash in the 2000 Queens final was bemoaning the slow death of S&V, he did blame the surfaces though - which is interesting as it was a year before the grass change at Wimbledon.

Wasn't there some change after 1994 in response to the men's final?

 

[NatF]

Wasn't there some change after 1994 in response to the men's final?

I think the balls may have changed?

 

[ibbi]

I think the balls may have changed?

It's true.

https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/26/...ps-here-says-sampras-as-wimbledon-starts.html

 

[The Green Mile]

Surprised they're still up after all this time, the amount of videos that have been recently blocked of mine......

 

[NatF]

when Edberg retired in 1996, there were many articles saying he would probably be the last serve and volleyer to win a major. Food for thought on how that style of play was perceived then. When you look at the top 100 in 2000 I don’t see many serve and volleyers(esp compared to say 1990). All through the 90s, guys like Fred Stolle were saying academy style tennis was pretty much dooming S&V. Sampras probably would have been a baseliner if not for Pete Fischer(who wasn’t part of an academy)

Grass was like the last bastien for grass tennis besides maybe carpet.

 

[bjsnider]

I thought from the title you were predicting my future. I was all prepared to fight for the SF.

 

[Cashman]

philippoussis saving a break point in the fifth with a diving volley was one of the most clutch shots I’ve ever seen. Thanks to @The Green Mile for uploading that match.

I’ve posted this before, but I think Popp was a key figure in the new baseline era of Wimbledon. He reached the QF in 00(before any slowing of grass) by serving and staying back. pretty much no big server had ever played that way on grass before. Mac kept saying, can you believe this 6’7” guy is playing from the baseline at Wimbledon? He couldn’t believe it. One of many reasons I don’t believe the changes in surfaces were responsible for this baseline era.

It must be noted that the players Popp defeated were terrible grasscourters, and the minute he ran into a legitimate S&V proponent he invariably keeled over.

Whilst the grass wasn't slowed until the early 2000s, it was substantially improved in quality during the mid-'90s which killed off a lot of the variable bounce. IMO that was a huge factor in making the baseline game more viable, which was only exacerbated by slower grass, more powerful racquets and copoly strings.

 

[Start da Game]

who knows what would have happened had he edged out philippoussis......he made it look so easy before the rain delay and was up by 2-0 sets......

 

[Poisoned Slice]

Definition of a real flash-in-the-pan. I recall him creating quite a stir at Wimbledon in those 2 years. With Henman and Rusedski on the way out, the British media looked around for a likely successor and discovered that Popp might fill the bill as his mother was British. They talked of offering him British citizenship on that basis but Popp said thanks but no thanks. He remained loyal to the Fatherland. Wonder what might have happened if he had taken up the offer?

So far removed from his British roots that he may as well be Danish.

 

[Start da Game]

Why is Alexander Poop always the go-to example for a journeyman? It's always either him or Dustin Brown I hear whenever someone gives an example of a journeyman.

brown is a nobody here with no notable slam showings, not even a fourth round once......popp was born to play at wimbledon and teach lessons at uni......

 

[Mainad]

So far removed from his British roots that he may as well be Danish.

Isn't that Junior from the Sopranos? What's he doing in Denmark?

 

[Poisoned Slice]

Isn't that Junior from the Sopranos? What's he doing in Denmark?

Looking for a hot water crust with apple.

Yeah, he is Junior.

 

[Tennis is evolving]

Anything was possible in the weak era.

 

[RF-18]

Strong era of tennis back then. Todays game is a shadow of that time.

 

[TheGhostOfAgassi]

alexander popp

reached the quarters of wimbledon in 2000 and 2003......i remember watching his quarterfinal against philippousis in 03, he was so close to winning......he was blazing guns and leading 2-0 sets and there was a rain delay breaking his momentum, philippousis went on to win the rest of the three sets post rain delay......

literally a nobody with a few challenger titles and career prize money of less than a million......these days he is teaching classes in a university.......

He has probably more tennis things to brag about to his grandkids one day, than GPPD section combined.

 

[RelentlessAttack]

Grass was like the last bastien for grass tennis besides maybe carpet.

I have a carpet court near me which I play on semi regularly. Pretty interesting experience. Fast, low bouncing. Bounce is unpredictable in a different way than grass. Hard to move around on, often feel like just a centimeter away from an ankle injury. Definitely advantageous to S&V or just generally play aggressively

 

[Start da Game]

grass and carpet, players like popp........those times will never return........

 

[bluetrain4]

Why did they get rid of carpet - injury risk? Traditionally, a lot of indoor tournaments are played in non-tennis facilities where a court has to be put down. Is a temporary hard court any easier to put down than carpet?

 

[RelentlessAttack]

Why did they get rid of carpet - injury risk? Traditionally, a lot of indoor tournaments are played in non-tennis facilities where a court has to be put down. Is a temporary hard court any easier to put down than carpet?

Not any kind of historian but I do remember a lot of players complaining about the injury risk including Federer and Nadal

 

[Musterrific]

Why did they get rid of carpet - injury risk? Traditionally, a lot of indoor tournaments are played in non-tennis facilities where a court has to be put down. Is a temporary hard court any easier to put down than carpet?

You haven't seen the footage of Michael Stich rolling his ankle on indoor carpet, have you?

 

[bluetrain4]

You haven't seen the footage of Michael Stich rolling his ankle on indoor carpet, have you?

I have but I've seen people roll their ankles on every surface. While that was particularly bad, I'm not aware of the overall injury stats. So, you're saying that the risk is bigger with carpet?