Besides Rafa at Roland Garros, which player has dominated their "pet slam" the most?

Most dominant at their "pet slam"

  • Total voters
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clout

clout

Hall of Fame
No one dominates any major the way Rafa does in Roland Garros, there's no questioning that. But who comes in second? They're a few nice candidates here:

Djokovic at the Australian Open: 8 titles (record), unbeaten in the semis/finals, and is 13-1 against his four biggest rivals since his first title down under
Biggest hole: Lost to "lesser" players a handful of times (Chung in 2018, Istomin in 2017, Roddick in 2009, and Tsonga in 2010) and never won more than 3 in a row

Federer at Wimbledon: 8 titles (record), won 5 titles in a row, made 7 straight finals, and won over 100 matches in total
Biggest hole: Lost 4 finals against his two biggest rivals

Sampras at Wimbledon: 7 titles, unbeaten in the finals, and won 7/8 Wimbledon's between 93-00
Biggest hole: Federer broke his titles record

Borg at the French Open: 6 titles, unbeaten in the semis/finals, finished career with 28-match win streak, and lost only one match from his sophomore year onward
Biggest hole: Nadal has more than doubled his output

All great candidates, but I think I might go with Pete at Wimbledon. Excluding Rafa at the French, no player, at least in OE, was more of a "sure thing" to win any major than Pete Sampras was at Wimbledon in his hey-day. His game mixed with the surface was a match made in heaven that turned him into an unbeatable machine.
 
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NoleFam said:
This thread is too early. We have to wait and see what happens Sunday 1st.
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With all due respect to Thiem or Zverev, I think Novak has this one in the bag. He's playing way too well right now to let this one slip away and and looks to be 100% healthy. Whoever comes out of semi #2 will have to play the match of their life to make it close
 
Sampras at Wimbledon: 2 R1 exits, 2 R2 exits, 1 R4 exit, 1 QF, 1 SF + 7 wins
A decent baseline.

Novak at AO: 2 R1 exits, 1 R2, 2 R4, 3 QF, 7 wins.
Worse than Sampras, but not by a whole lot. A couple more great showings without an early exit could see Novak get ahead of Sampras.

Borg at RG: 1 R4 exit, 1 QF + 6 wins
This is the challenger to Sampras' domination.

Let's compare. Borg won 6 RGs in 8 years. Sampras won 7 Wimbledons in 8 years. Advantage Sampras. Sampras took 5 years to win a Wimbledon title. It took Borg 2 years to win an RG. Advantage Borg. Borg suffered only 2 defeats at RG over his career, winning 6 times. Sampras suffered 7 losses compared to his 7 wins. Advantage Borg.

Borg comes out of this comparison a decisive victor. He dominated a surface unlike anyone until Rafa.
 
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Is it bad that I still don't think about Novak in Australia when I think about "dominating?" Maybe it's unfair but his wins are all so spaced out compared to the others. Had he won in 2014 to give himself 6 in a row I'd probably feel a lot different.
 
MeatTornado said:
Is it bad that I still don't think about Novak in Australia when I think about "dominating?" Maybe it's unfair but his wins are all so spaced out compared to the others. Had he won in 2014 to give himself 6 in a row I'd probably feel a lot different.
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I definitely think of 2011-2016 as the Djokovic era of the Australian Open. Won 5 of 6 in that span, losing just one match to goating Wawrinka 9-7 in the fifth. Not too far removed from Sampras or Fed at Wimbledon. His period of domination was shorter, for sure, and I kind of agree I don’t think of his domination in the same breath as Pete at SW19 or Borg at Roland Garros. He’s more hit and miss than they were – in his off years he’s way off – but when he’s in form and makes it deep he does have a pretty similar aura of invincibility.
 
TripleATeam said:
Sampras at Wimbledon: 2 R1 exits, 2 R2 exits, 1 R4 exit, 1 QF, 1 SF + 7 wins
A decent baseline.

Novak at AO: 2 R1 exits, 1 R2, 2 R4, 3 QF, 6 wins.
Worse than Sampras, but not by a whole lot. A couple more great showings without an early exit could see Novak get ahead of Sampras.

Borg at RG: 1 R4 exit, 1 QF + 6 wins
This is the challenger to Sampras' domination.

Let's compare. Borg won 6 RGs in 8 years. Sampras won 7 Wimbledons in 8 years. Advantage Sampras. Sampras took 5 years to win a Wimbledon title. It took Borg 2 years to win an RG. Advantage Borg. Borg suffered only 2 defeats at RG over his career, winning 6 times. Sampras suffered 7 losses compared to his 7 wins. Advantage Borg.

Borg comes out of this comparison a decisive victor. He dominated a surface unlike anyone until Rafa.
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Djokovic has 7 wins. Lol. Come on fellow Djoko fan.
 
clout said:
With all due respect to Thiem or Zverev, I think Novak has this one in the bag. He's playing way too well right now to let this one slip away and and looks to be 100% healthy. Whoever comes out of semi #2 will have to play the match of their life to make it close
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You just never know though. I don't think it's in the bag if he plays like he did in that first set of that Federer match.
 
Must be a bitter pill for Federer to swallow,he had won Australian Open numerous times before Djokovic came and rolled over the top of him there and then at Wimbledon,his best slam,he is 0-3 against Djokovic in finals
 
MeatTornado said:
Is it bad that I still don't think about Novak in Australia when I think about "dominating?" Maybe it's unfair but his wins are all so spaced out compared to the others. Had he won in 2014 to give himself 6 in a row I'd probably feel a lot different.
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that and another thing is that most of his finals were against Murray and they were all bland, forgettable and they all followed a very similar script, which makes them blend together, if you know what I mean.
 
SamprasisGOAT said:
That will change when nadal loses a few years running
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His legacy is already cemented. Whatever happens from here-on-in, Nadal will be the undisputed king of clay unless someone outdoes his achievements on clay, which I doubt will ever happen. No one can say the same about any other player on any other surfaces.
 
Federer. Djokovic can tie him Sunday but I’ll still take Fed unless Novak gets 9.

The real bad losses for me were 2010-2011. Right at the need of his late prime period, 2 poor losses to guys he previously ate for breakfast.
 
Pistol Pete forever at Wimbledon. Without a shadow of doubt.
King of swing, the humble champion, not a day passes that the great American is not remembered.
 
In what world is winning 7 out of 14 finals worse than 7 out of 7? Are you really dominating when you lost a lot of times before QF/SF?
 
Federer.

On top of his 8 titles he has additional 4 finals. Dominance is not only about winning the title.

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Clearly Borg. He only lost twice at the French and won it twice without dropping a set. His 78 run was even more dominant than every run Nadal ever had. Until his retirement he was very well Nadals equal in terms of dominance. Federer and Sampras had a few early round exits at the beginning of their career and also lost at their peak. Same with Djokovic at the Australian.
 
BeatlesFan said:
I don't see how anyone could vote for Borg over the sheer numerical superiority of 8 Wimbledon titles for Fed, 7 for Pete or Djokovic with 7 AO's. And no, I'm not counting it as 8 until the final is played and concluded.
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Its about being more dominant though. Borg had won 6 titles by 25, most years beating people hardly dropping sets throughout the tournament. He only ever lost to one guy there (Panatta). He was the closest thing to a sure bet other than Rafa at the same tourney.
 
If you do an apples to apples comparison, with Nadal following Borg into early retirement, their resume is basically identical.

Borg - 6 titles, 2 losses, not allowed to compete for 1 probable title due to WTT ban.

Rafa - 6 titles, 1 loss. Eligible to play every year.
 
Federer. He's played as many finals at Wimbledon as Nadal has at Roland Garros, the 8 titles, the long span of time he's been doing it. Not even close.
 
Usually it should be either Djokovic or Federer due to the amount of title wins but out of Sampras, Federer and Djokovic I think Federer had to fight the most to win his titles. He went several times into 5 and 4 set matches (Djokovic did too partly) wheareas Sampras only went once into a 5 set final against Ivanisevic.
 
clout said:
Federer at Wimbledon: 8 titles (record), won 5 titles in a row, made 7 straight finals, and won over 100 matches in total
Biggest hole: Lost 4 finals against his two biggest rivals.
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That’s actually no hole at all, since it doesn’t devalue his 8 titles but rather is the biggest possible addition. 4 additional finals, and only beaten by another GOAT candidates.

So as of now Federer is the clear "winner" here. If Djokovic wins another AO title while Federer stays at 8 Wimbledons, he'll overtake him of course.
 
Federer is number two.

Both Djokovic and Federer have 8 titles. Strip those away and what does Djokovic have? Federer still has 4 RUs and one semi. Novak gets a QF at best.

If Djoke wins number 9 then he obviously is number two over Federer, but as things are now? Federer over Djokovic.
 
ChrisRF said:
That’s actually no hole at all, since it doesn’t devalue his 8 titles but rather is the biggest possible addition. 4 additional finals, and only beaten by another GOAT candidates.

So as of now Federer is the clear "winner" here. If Djokovic wins another AO title while Federer stays at 8 Wimbledons, he'll overtake him of course.
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Thing is though, these other candidates never lost in the business end of their "pet slam." Federer would be in the Nadal at RG territory, but the only difference (a big one) is Rafa never got beat by Fedovic at RG, while Fed lost 4 times to Djokodal at WB
 
It's clearly Djokovic that is most dominant now (outside of Rafa). He's never lost in a SF or a Final at his pet Slam, going 8-0. His record against his rivals and challengers is also off the charts.
 
NoleFam said:
It's clearly Djokovic that is most dominant now (outside of Rafa). He's never lost in a SF or a Final at his pet Slam, going 8-0. His record against his rivals and challengers is also off the charts.
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"Clearly". For someone who started watching yesterday.

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NoleFam said:
Ok Scrooge. I hope your day was as good as mine. :cool:
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I would guess that it was at least ten times better than any day you ever had, so, yeah.

BTW, 8 titles plus 4 additional Finals is a bigger domination than 8 titles and zero other finals: I thought that since you haven't learned anything I can teach you something. Everyone starts somewhere, and you will have to too.

smiley_emoticons_santagrin.gif
 
clout said:
Thing is though, these other candidates never lost in the business end of their "pet slam." Federer would be in the Nadal at RG territory, but the only difference (a big one) is Rafa never got beat by Fedovic at RG, while Fed lost 4 times to Djokodal at WB
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Yeah, that’s exactly why Nadal is the clear #1 and Federer the clear #2. I never disputed Nadal’s massive lead here, it was only about the next ranks, as the opening post suggested.
 
ibbi said:
Federer. He's played as many finals at Wimbledon as Nadal has at Roland Garros, the 8 titles, the long span of time he's been doing it. Not even close.
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Federer is out of contention since he has been owned by 1 guy in Wimb finals.

I would think differently if he won even 1 of these finals against Novak, but losing all 3 with no wins really brings his record down.

In my eyes he will never be the grass GOAT. He is the worst antone has ever been at their best slam.
 
clout said:
Thing is though, these other candidates never lost in the business end of their "pet slam." Federer would be in the Nadal at RG territory, but the only difference (a big one) is Rafa never got beat by Fedovic at RG, while Fed lost 4 times to Djokodal at WB
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His biggest issue is not necessarily getting beaten by them, it's never beating Novak in a Wimb final. He is the only player in the Open Era to be someone's b!tch at his pet slam.
 
ChrisRF said:
Yeah, that’s exactly why Nadal is the clear #1 and Federer the clear #2. I never disputed Nadal’s massive lead here, it was only about the next ranks, as the opening post suggested.
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Nah, Djokovic is easily number 2. He is the only one after Rafa to win at least 8 titles and never lose a semi or final.

If Fed won one of those Wimb finals against Novak, he would be my number 2. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. His Wimb legacy is clearly hurt.
 
Tennis_Hands said:
Who cares about what you think when you publicly display lack of capacity to do so?

smiley_emoticons_santagrin.gif
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I used to think differently, but throughout the Open Era, every dominant champion has never lost a semi or final at his best slam. Federer is the first to do so.

Such dominance at the later stages of your pet slam matters to me.
 
mike danny said:
Nah, Djokovic is easily number 2. He is the only one after Rafa to win at least 8 titles and never lose a semi or final.

If Fed won one of those Wimb finals against Novak, he would be my number 2. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. His Wimb legacy is clearly hurt.
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Losing a SF or F generally is better then losing earlier. But I agree that those losses will likely lead to Federer being on the down side at the end, so his big wins will give Novak the edge in the years to come because they will lead to a higher total number.

I only talked about how it is now if no one will win more titles (which most likely won’t happen though).
 
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