"And what would Djokovic do to someone like Sampras? It would be a cleanup."

[weakera]

Nick Kyrgios on comparing today’s Tennis game to those in decades past:

“The game was so slow back then. I’ve watched Boris Becker and I’m not saying they weren’t good in their time, but to say that they would be just as good now, it’s absurd. A big serve back then was like 197 to 200 KM/H. People like me, we serve 220 consistently, to corners. It’s a whole different ball game.

I’m not saying they wouldn’t have found their way. But serve and volley, to do it all the time now, you need to be serving 220, because if you serve anything less than 220, bro, Djokovic eats you alive. He eats you alive.

Bro Lleyton Hewitt destroyed Sampras one year at the U.S. Open. That was the first prototype of someone who could return serve. He made Sampras look like sh*t. And what would Djokovic do to someone like Sampras? It would be a cleanup. If Hewitt was doing it, Djokovic would destroy him. He would eat him alive.”

Source: The Athletic ️

 

[weakera]

Kyrgios is essentially saying he is better than Boris Becker and Pete Sampras. Is he right?

 

[Mustard]

Safin destroyed Sampras one year at the US Open. The following year at the US Open it was a different story.

Sampras playing well didn't give opponents rhythm. He was big serve, aggressive play, looking to shorten points but could rally if he had to. He tended to shut opponents out. This was nothing like the Nadal or Djokovic approach of grinding you down. Nadal, in contrast to Sampras, likes rhythm, and is even prepared for his opponent to have a rhythm because Nadal trusts that his consistent play, relentlessness, fitness etc. will prevail. Sampras' approach was a rhythm killer for his opponent, often making them feel helpless.

 

[Musterrific]

Watch highlights of Becker vs Sampras at the year end championships and tell me that's "slow" tennis with a straight face.

 

[Kralingen]

Kyrgios believes the game evolves.

 

[MichaelNadal]

Watch highlights of Becker vs Sampras at the year end championships and tell me that's "slow" tennis with a straight face.

Seriously lol looks like they’re on ice

 

[pirhaksar]

Nick Kyrgios on comparing today’s Tennis game to those in decades past:

“The game was so slow back then. I’ve watched Boris Becker and I’m not saying they weren’t good in their time, but to say that they would be just as good now, it’s absurd. A big serve back then was like 197 to 200 KM/H. People like me, we serve 220 consistently, to corners. It’s a whole different ball game.

I’m not saying they wouldn’t have found their way. But serve and volley, to do it all the time now, you need to be serving 220, because if you serve anything less than 220, bro, Djokovic eats you alive. He eats you alive.

Bro Lleyton Hewitt destroyed Sampras one year at the U.S. Open. That was the first prototype of someone who could return serve. He made Sampras look like sh*t. And what would Djokovic do to someone like Sampras? It would be a cleanup. If Hewitt was doing it, Djokovic would destroy him. He would eat him alive.”

Source: The Athletic ️

Kyrgios is an idiot. The game evolves sure but those champions will find a way to adapt and evolve as well. In no scenario can I see Pete getting manhandled by Djokovic or the Big 3. Maybe at the FO.

 

[weakera]

Kyrgios is an idiot. The game evolves sure but those champions will find a way to adapt and evolve as well. In no scenario can I see Pete getting manhandled by Djokovic or the Big 3. Maybe at the FO.

"Maybe" at the FO?

lol

 

[dr325i]

Kyrgios is essentially saying he is better than Boris Becker and Pete Sampras. Is he right?

He is not saying that. He is saying that tennis is played totally different in this era vs. the Sampras Era vs. the JMac era, etc.
Yes, the guys from old era would not stand a chance against the today's game. Does not make them any less valuable during their eras...

I am wondering how much more can the game evolve so that we can say that jokovic would get "eaten alive" by the players from 2040s...

 

[BeatlesFan]

Nick needs to stop dissing past legends. In 25 years, any male pro could play 2011 Rafa on clay and beat him. So what? It doesn't detract from the greatness of Nadal. Nick really needs to shut up, he's not very bright and it oftentimes shows.

 

[Honza]

Nick wouldnt serve 150kmh with strings and rackets from back then.
Equipment made such a huge leap, they even had to slow courts and balls down. Its much easier to play and return fast balls today.

 

[AnOctorokForDinner]

Thugios disrespecting legends of the game as usual.

 

[travlerajm]

Kyrgios is essentially saying he is better than Boris Becker and Pete Sampras. Is he right?

Kyrgios couldn’t hold a candle to the scab on baby boom boom’s bloody elbow after a dive volley match point save.

 

[pirhaksar]

"Maybe" at the FO?

lol

It’s a hypothetical, so we won’t know if Pete gets manhandled. He will likely lose every match vs the Big 3 on clay but I can’t see how he loses badly, perhaps against the best version of Rafa.

 

[Mustard]

"Maybe" at the FO?

lol

Sampras beat two 2-time French Open champions, Bruguera and Courier, during his 1996 French Open run to the semi finals.

 

[sportsfan1]

Kyrgios totally ignores the equipment , the fast low bouncing surfaces that they played on back in the day in his assumption. Or the top spin and heaviness of the sampras serve.
Then he just broad brushes the entire tour of the day, including Agassi, as weaker returners compared to Djokovic. He calls hewitt the first prototype of someone who could return serve.

Doesn't seem thought through.

 

[RS]

Is he right or wrong?

 

[weakera]

Sampras beat two 2-time French Open champions, Bruguera and Courier, during his 1996 French Open run to the semi finals.

Have you seen what Nadal has done to FO champions?

 

[The Blond Blur]

Kryngios poasts on here as a member of the Bot Brigade confirmed.

 

[NoleFam]

Is he right or wrong?

Wrong. Doesn't sound like he has any idea how lethal Sampras was on faster surfaces.

 

[RS]

Wrong. Doesn't sound like he has any idea how lethal Sampras was on faster surfaces.

A sizeable chunk of NoleFam legit believe it though.

 

[Mustard]

Kyrgios' comments about serve speed are also off the mark. Sampras' fastest serve, I think, was 140mph, which is about 225kph.

Philippoussis did 142mph (around 229kph), Rusedski broke that with 143mph (230kph) and I think went up to 148mph (238kph). Roddick did 155mph (249kph). Tanner in 1978 allegedly did 153mph (246kph) with a metal racquet. Ivanisevic never did better than 136mph (219kph), but it was hard to read.

Serve speeds largely went up more in the mid 1990s.

 

[NoleFam]

A sizeable chunk of NoleFam legit believe it though.

It's not limited to them but to people who haven't been watching the game for long, and I've heard stuff like this from people who aren't his fans. I don't think Kyrgios himself is knowledeable about the game's past history.

 

[Poisoned Slice]

Expectations

Reality

 

[Mustard]

It's not limited to them but to people who haven't been watching the game for long, and I've heard stuff like this from people who aren't his fans. I don't think Kyrgios himself is knowledeable about the game's past history.

Yes. And knowing stats on paper (like the 2001 US Open final result, Hewitt beating Sampras 7-6, 6-1, 6-1) is also not the same as drawing the correct conclusions about how things were in that era. That requires a deeper, more intimate understanding of the tennis world at that time. Rewatching those matches and those players helps a lot. Sampras was a rhythm killer for opponents when he was playing well.

 

[TripleATeam]

It’s a hypothetical, so we won’t know if Pete gets manhandled. He will likely lose every match vs the Big 3 on clay but I can’t see how he loses badly, perhaps against the best version of Rafa.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you actually believe what you're saying.

Sampras has a sum total of 3 QFs and 1 SF at the FO. No finals, no slam wins. By the numbers, he's behind David Ferrer at RG. A David Ferrer who lost every RG match the two played, got a single set, and was given 2 bagels in those 13 sets they played. That's being manhandled, and Ferrer at least made a final, another semifinal on top of that, and 4 more quarterfinals.

Nadal vs. Sampras at the FO wouldn't be close. Ever. And I'm not particularly convinced even the best Sampras (who was bageled by Kafelnikov in 96, barely edged out Courier and Martin) would beat decent versions of Djokovic or Federer.

 

[MichaelNadal]

Expectations

Reality

Lol brilliant

 

[BauerAlmeida]

Kyrgios is an idiot. The game evolves sure but those champions will find a way to adapt and evolve as well. In no scenario can I see Pete getting manhandled by Djokovic or the Big 3. Maybe at the FO.

Sampras doesn't stand a chance against Nadal on clay, come on.

 

[Razer]

Kyrgios is that Beta Male who lacks self respect, no wonder he can talk trash on Sampras.

If Kyrgios had an attitude of an alpha then he would have put in a lot of effort and beaten Big 3 at Slams to win Slams, instead he decides to simp for Djokovic like a nice little pet chihuahua and thus gain some glory by making comments about Becker/Sampras whose shoes he is not worth licking, typical Nick.

Any champion with self respect will put in his 100% effort every time and will also not diss those from other eras who put in 100% effort and triumphed, this is beyond Kyrgios's capacity.

 

[NoleFam]

Yes. And knowing stats on paper (like the 2001 US Open final result, Hewitt beating Sampras 7-6, 6-1, 6-1) is also not the same as drawing the correct conclusions about how things were in that era. That requires a deeper, more intimate understanding of the tennis world at that time. Rewatching those matches and those players helps a lot. Sampras was a rhythm killer for opponents when he was playing well.

Yea because Sampras was depleted in that final. If he played like he did against Agassi in the quarters, good luck to Hewitt because he's going to need it. Just to comment on your #22 post, the one that really stands out to me is Rusedski. It was a monstrous serve and he was breaking the serve speed records at Wimbledon, and how monstrous his serve was was talked about a lot. So him saying guys topping out around 200 km/h is so far from the truth and tells me he doesn't watch older tennis matches.

 

[pirhaksar]

A sizeable chunk of NoleFam legit believe it though.

It’s silly to say Nolefam. There are enough Fedal fanbois who believe their guy is God too.

 

[T&M Returns]

Radar guns also measure a bit differently than they did back then. The speed is taken right off the racquet now and I believe it was not like that in the 90s.

And for Kyrgios to suggest that Sampras wasn't hitting lines or corners ...

 

[RS]

It's not limited to them but to people who haven't been watching the game for long, and I've heard stuff like this from people who aren't his fans. I don't think Kyrgios himself is knowledeable about the game's past history.

Everyone but mainly Djokovic fans. Don't know if all of them watched a lot of Sampras though that depends.

 

[pirhaksar]

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you actually believe what you're saying.

Sampras has a sum total of 3 QFs and 1 SF at the FO. No finals, no slam wins. By the numbers, he's behind David Ferrer at RG. A David Ferrer who lost every RG match the two played, got a single set, and was given 2 bagels in those 13 sets they played. That's being manhandled, and Ferrer at least made a final, another semifinal on top of that, and 4 more quarterfinals.

Nadal vs. Sampras at the FO wouldn't be close. Ever. And I'm not particularly convinced even the best Sampras (who was bageled by Kafelnikov in 96, barely edged out Courier and Martin) would beat decent versions of Djokovic or Federer.

Yes I do believe that. But for a Rafa at his highest level at FO I don’t see Pete getting destroyed. He will likely lose all matches sure but getting thrashed not really.

 

[Mustard]

Yea because Sampras was depleted in that final. If he played like he did against Agassi in the quarters, good luck to Hewitt because he's going to need it.

A lot of people have probably already forgotten that the US Open back then had men's semi finals on the Saturday and then the men's final on the Sunday. It was consistently like that until 2007, and then every US Open from 2008-2013 had weather trouble that forced the men's final to the Monday. 2014-2015 then had the men's final deliberately scheduled for the Monday, and then in 2016 the US Open switched to the same format as the other majors with the men's semis on the Friday and the men's final on the Sunday.

 

[NeutralFan]

Is he right or wrong?

Right but totally ignored the context. Game is not same thanks to the equipment, ofcourse Sampras playing serve and volley will be destroyed by the likes of Nadal and Djokovic today. Game has changed so much so that you may call it a different code of tennis . I don't know why people are mad at Kyrgios.

 

[NoleFam]

A lot of people have probably already forgotten that the US Open back then had men's semi finals on the Saturday and then the men's final on the Sunday. It was consistently like that until 2007, and then every US Open from 2008-2013 had weather trouble that forced the men's final to the Monday. 2014-2015 then had the men's final deliberately scheduled for the Monday, and then in 2016 the US Open switched to the same format as the other majors with the men's semis on the Friday and the men's final on the Sunday.

Yea I remember and if you had a long SF match, you were at a disadvantage in the final. I think that was when CBS was covering the tournament so they put the final in between Sunday football. This resulted in higher tennis ratings, but players were often exhausted for the final. I think when they switched the tv rights, the schedule changed.

 

[MichaelNadal]

Radar guns also measure a bit differently than they did back then. The speed is taken right off the racquet now and I believe it was not like that in the 90s.

And for Kyrgios to suggest that Sampras wasn't hitting lines or corners ...

Pete would eat him up

 

[Razer]

Radar guns also measure a bit differently than they did back then. The speed is taken right off the racquet now and I believe it was not like that in the 90s.

And for Kyrgios to suggest that Sampras wasn't hitting lines or corners ...

Speed Guns in many sports were like that.

In Cricket as well the Fast Bowler's ball speed in 70s & 80s was measured by factoring the ball reaching the batsman after the release, but now it is measured at the quickest i.e when it releases from the hand...... so it must be same for Tennis as well in old times, thats how the speed guns were designed.

 

[Azure]

And he is now a tennis commentator!!

 

[NoleFam]

Everyone but mainly Djokovic fans. Don't know if all of them watched a lot of Sampras though that depends.

I don't agree but ok.

 

[The Blond Blur]

It’s silly to say Nolefam. There are enough Fedal fanbois who believe their guy is God too.

My brother in Christ, there’s only one fanbase on here who consistently pushes the “tennis always evolves” narrative.

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

It’s a hypothetical, so we won’t know if Pete gets manhandled. He will likely lose every match vs the Big 3 on clay but I can’t see how he loses badly, perhaps against the best version of Rafa.

He beat Bruguera and Courier at the FO and has overall good H2H on clay against next to all good clay courters of the 90s so he would definitely not loose every match vs the Big 3 on clay lol. Maybe against Nadal but definitely not against Fed or Djokovic. Even Nadal he would catch on an off-day in Bo3 once.

 

[RS]

My brother in Christ, there’s only one fanbase on here who consistently pushes the “tennis always evolves” narrative.

 

[Razer]

If John Isner can stretch Nadal to 5 on a court where Federer couldn't then why not Sampras ? Can't rule anything out on a good day.

 

[Jonesy]

Don't know why people are getting mad at a pro player playing the hipothetical game that so many here love to play.

In the end the result is all the same, in dreamland everything goes. It doesn't matter if you think your fiction is better than his fiction.

 

[pirhaksar]

Don't know why people are getting mad at a pro player playing the hipothetical game that so many here love to play.

In the end the result is all the same, in dreamland everything goes. It doesn't matter if you think your fiction is better than his fiction.

I will agree generally with the my fiction better than your fiction hubris here…but Nick takes this to the extreme me thinks. Becker and Pete are great champions and to think they won’t evolve or adapt to the modern games and get blown away is far fetched.

 

[wang07]

Apparently Kyrgios can't differentiate between a big serve and a great serve? Sad if that's the case, but hopefully he's just trolling/desperate for attention though, as usual.

 

[Jonesy]

I will agree generally with the my fiction better than your fiction hubris here…but Nick takes this to the extreme me thinks. Becker and Pete are great champions and to think they won’t evolve or adapt to the modern games and get blown away is far fetched.

We all know Nick, he probably didn't think or care that much, nothing to see here really. If you are triggered he already won.

 

[matterer]