Andre Agassi: The GOAT doesn't exist, but if he does, it's more Nadal than Federer!

Nadal_Django

Nadal_Django

Legend
Andre Agassi: 'Roger Federer can't be considered the GOAT'

"Andre Agassi seemed to have changed mind about the GOAT question. After the Rafael Nadal's amazing 2013 season and the apparent Roger Federer's decline, the 'Las Vegas kid' had said the Spaniard was the greatest of all time, before saying earlier this year that the Swiss was above Nadal.

However, in an interview to Le Matin, he gives a different thought once again. 'A player can't be considered the best of all time, if he gets beaten more times by his rival', Agassi said referring to the 23 matches lost by Federer on 38 played to Nadal. 'My choice is purely arbitrary. I could be churlish and easily give an opposite wording, saying Federer is the best. This debate is not rational, it's down to 'and if...'. It's just a debate.' So Agassi doesn't really believe the GOAT exist, but if he does, it's more Nadal than Federer. However he praised the Swiss: 'Federer is unique. In everything: greatness, precision, ease. He plays a very different tennis than others. He isn't facilitated, but it seems he takes control of everything and has a solution for any issue. We can't deny Federer will mark the sport forever."

http://www.**************.org/tenni...-roger-federer-can-t-be-considered-the-goat-/
 
I remember Agassi was asked to name the 5 greatest players of all time while he was still active (late 90, i think). He answered -

"Sampras, Sampras, Sampras, Sampras and Sampras"... obviously soundbite conscious

Round about 2004-05, I heard him say in an on court interview right after a match about Federer -

"He's the best I've played".... and I was struck by the sincerity and simplicity of his delivery

Since then, he's been going back and forth between Nadal and Federer as OP noted

Think the initial shift to Federer from Sampras was a bit unfair to Pete at the time - he didn't seem to be taking into account that he himself wasn't the same player he had been when tussling with the 14 time Slam champion

Think this latest shift is a bit unfair to Federer - 5 years is not a small age gap to bridge from h2h point of view, given 2 ATGs

I can't think of anyone who did.... Connors-Borg, Borg-McEnroe, Connors-McEnroe/Lendl, Lendl-Edberg/Becker... the younger guys eventually all got the better of the elder

Only falling away to the point of rarely meeting or retirement kept some of of those final h2h records fairly reasonable compared to Federer-Nadal
 
In a sense I agree with Agassi that the GOAT concept is stupid because it's impossible to compare eras, but he has an ulterior motive here. He's only saying this now as Djokovic's coach because Djokovic has winning records over both. He can believe whatever he wants about Nadal, but he should also realize that Federer is considered the more accomplished player by the much larger number of people as it stands today, for very obvious reasons.

I also see some parallels between Agassi liking Nadal considering he was also considered second best of his own era in comparison to Sampras. I might be reading too much into it there, but I've gotten that sense from Agassi.
 
Waspsting said:
I remember Agassi was asked to name the 5 greatest players of all time while he was still active (late 90, i think). He answered -

"Sampras, Sampras, Sampras, Sampras and Sampras"... obviously soundbite conscious

Round about 2004-05, I heard him say in an on court interview right after a match about Federer -

"He's the best I've played".... and I was struck by the sincerity and simplicity of his delivery

Since then, he's been going back and forth between Nadal and Federer as OP noted

Think the initial shift to Federer from Sampras was a bit unfair to Pete at the time - he didn't seem to be taking into account that he himself wasn't the same player he had been when tussling with the 14 time Slam champion

Think this latest shift is a bit unfair to Federer - 5 years is not a small age gap to bridge from h2h point of view, given 2 ATGs

I can't think of anyone who did.... Connors-Borg, Borg-McEnroe, Connors-McEnroe/Lendl, Lendl-Edberg/Becker... the younger guys eventually all got the better of the elder

Only falling away to the point of rarely meeting or retirement kept some of of those final h2h records fairly reasonable compared to Federer-Nadal
Click to expand...
what has actually occurred, between Federer and Nadal especially this year, is the inverse of what you state.

baby Nadal owned peak Federer winning 5 of their first 6 meetings as a teen, yet Federer at 36 has won 4 in a row.
 
"'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all." —Alfred, Lord Tennyson

CjO8HsCVAAAUi5d.jpg
 
kabob said:
Hence, "half somewhat accurate." And that still doesn't change the fact that the source was a Singapore newspaper article from May 2014 that tenniswordusa and that French paper somewhat disingenuously write about as new. Come on, now.
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They are swiss, not french. And this interview is from last week. ;)

Even the swiss media is working against Granpa now. :(
 
Nadal_Django said:
They are swiss, not french. And this interview is from last week. ;)

Even the swiss media is working against Granpa now. :(
Click to expand...

Le Matin was originally a French paper. Why does a Google search show nothing about an Agassi interview last week? The only hits I got on the topic were these:

http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/...greatest-tennis-player-ever-not-roger-federer

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/05/federer-nadal-agassi-best-ever

Your source doesn't seem to be passing muster. Y'all must be bored waiting for the Nadal match after the doubles.
 
Mr Feeny said:
He never explicitly says slam h2h. He does say that he doesn' think the Goat should have a losing record against his rival. That automatically catapults Djokovic ahead of Nadal in a GOAT list, in that case.
Click to expand...

That is the REAL statement he is making here. Very clever.
 
Mr Feeny said:
He never explicitly says slam h2h. He does say that he doesn' think the Goat should have a losing record against his rival. That automatically catapults Djokovic ahead of Nadal in a GOAT list, in that case.
Click to expand...


Na! Andre doesn’t major in minors;)
 
Incognito said:
Sure, but in those 23, there’s a 9-3 in there which is the number that matters the most. I don’t think Andre majors in minors;)
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You can try to slice it however you want. He spoke about overall H2H, which means your fav, Djokovic comes out on top. You should be thrilled! :D
 
Strange time for Agassi to flip flop but most probably correct. No GOAT at the moment. Can't be Fed because of losting slam h2hs against both his main rivals, Nadal still needs to start beating Fed again and win a few more slams to be clear cut GOAT.
 
it is a strange deal for anyone trying to look at the ridiculous GOAT debate with some objectivity that federer has a losing record against his
chief rival. not only that, but mr. nadal went into his hallowed house at wimbledon and knocked him off in what everyone calls the greatest
match of all time. there is no comparable victory by mr. federer at RG over mr. nadal... no matter which one of those 2 you might choose
to be your GOAT there are always going to be some of those "yes, but..." issues. i think that's a fitting way for things to be. they are
2 great players who really both deserve it.
 
Agassi has always been a weirdo. Not sure if I wish he were sober or not when he made those weird remarks.
 
I think the author of the article interpreted Agassi's words incorrectly. It's not that he 'doesn't really believe the GOAT exist, but if he does, it's more Nadal than Federer.', it's that he doesn't really believe the GOAT exist, period.

Agassi says Federer's losses to Nadal are the reason he can't be considered the best and then says that he could 'easily give an opposite wording, saying Federer is the best.' Basically, he makes a point that you can make plenty of arguments, yet in the end 'This debate is not rational, it's down to 'and if...'. It's just a debate.' Not a word from Agassi there about Nadal being the best or better than Federer.
 
Agassi is getting in his player's head here. :D Wow and I thought Becker was a great mastermind but Agassi has a little game himself. All jokes aside, he thinks Djokovic at his best can't be stopped and he is trying to make him even better. I think he wants him to have a great career in his 30's like he did so he is trying to get him to see tennis from a different perspective. As far as there not being a GOAT because of Federer's head to head against his rival(s), he makes a good point but Federer is still the most accomplished.
 
Mugu said:
it is a strange deal for anyone trying to look at the ridiculous GOAT debate with some objectivity that federer has a losing record against his
chief rival. not only that, but mr. nadal went into his hallowed house at wimbledon and knocked him off in what everyone calls the greatest
match of all time. there is no comparable victory by mr. federer at RG over mr. nadal... no matter which one of those 2 you might choose
to be your GOAT there are always going to be some of those "yes, but..." issues. i think that's a fitting way for things to be. they are
2 great players who really both deserve it.
Click to expand...

You’re thinking of perfection. That’s doesn’t exists. Fed is closest thing.

Nadal also has a losing record against Novak. Has never beaten Novak at AO and Novak has knocked Nadal off his perch on clay many times
 
He's entitled to his opinion, but all I'm seeing here are his several losses to Federer.
 
Incognito said:
I wish Andre could have said that, but he never did :( Anyway, I’m just happy Nole is the best when it comes to h2h at minors. Yay!!!:)
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Agassi will never come out and say it directly, he is his coach, he is too clever for that.

And as far as Nole owning Rafa is concerned...can you really be considered GOAT when you have been dethroned as defending champion of a slam on all three surfaces by the same man??? Nothing minor about that...unless you think Rafa is minor, which I am sure a well balanced, unbiased Novak fan like you would neverrrrr do.

The war is over, the debate is over...Djokovic is GOAT. Drink it in maaaaaan!!!! :p:)
 
killerboi2 said:
Strange time for Agassi to flip flop but most probably correct. No GOAT at the moment. Can't be Fed because of losting slam h2hs against both his main rivals, Nadal still needs to start beating Fed again and win a few more slams to be clear cut GOAT.
Click to expand...
"main rivals" both 5 years younger than him...
 
Agassi says stupid crap sometimes.

No great player can be expected to beat a younger great player if primes don't overlap. 5 years is a big deal. Lendl won like 12 of the last matches against Connors. I believe 7 year difference for them.

Then he of all people goes on to ignore surfaces? Fed leads off clay despite half of matches being after his prime.

His choking against Sampras was justified according to him because he's GOAT. Was a huge Agassi fan growing up but talks too much.
 
Hitman said:
Agassi will never come out and say it directly, he is his coach, he is too clever for that.

And as far as Nole owning Rafa is concerned...can you really be considered GOAT when you have been dethroned as defending champion of a slam on all three surfaces by the same man??? Nothing minor about that...unless you think Rafa is minor, which I am sure a well balanced, unbiased Novak fan like you would neverrrrr do.

The war is over, the debate is over...Djokovic is GOAT. Drink it in maaaaaan!!!! :p:)
Click to expand...


Nole majored 4 times at those slam h2h, that is really good. But Andre is math genius and unfortunately knows 9>4. I’ll keep that drink refrigerated for now:p
 
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