Best clay courters ever!!

J

JohnThomas1

Professional
Here is my list

1. Ivan Lendl
2. Bjorn Borg
3. Mats Wilander
4. Gustavo Kuerten
5. Thomas Muster

i think a prime Lendl would beat Borg, he took him to 5 sets very early in his career. Lendl also used to beat wilander when both were playing their best. Any other idea's? :)
 
Borg 7 French titles , obvious choice but his record stands alone . Lendl always seemed to be kind of "fragile" type ; when he won his 1st French against McEnroe he was spent thru up after he won a steady player but he couldn't carry Borgs rackets.
 
If saying of all time i think you have to throw Vilas in there. he once went like a whole clay court summer season w.o losing a match. he was a warrior on the clay. ed
 
Yeah i considered Vilas too. The Lendl that beat McEnroe wasn't a shell of the Lendl of say 1986. Borg would be the concensus choice tho, but i like the latter day Lendl. Evert on the womens front for sure. I think Seles would be mine for first tho. Pre accident. Hingis was good too.
 
I think Guillermo Vilas was probably the best clay court player I have ever seen. His spins from both sides were amazing and his serve was also quite effective on clay. He is also such a powerfully built athlete and when he steps on court his opponent was usually overwhelmed even before the match started. Muster would probably be a close second.
 
1. Borg - complete dominance of his era; six titles is amazing
2. Lendl - early 80s was still a boy; late 80s he was a man among boys
3. Kuerten - three RG titles in an era of unparalled parity
4. Wilander - played his best when it counted; three RG
5. Courier - not a lot of respect these days, but still 2 RG titles & a final
6. Brugera - 2 titles & final, why not top 5? 97 final, that's why
7. Vilas - Ouch - 1 title but 4 finals! Corretja I know how you feel...
8. Muster - much higher on this list without Key Biscayne accident
9. Agassi - 1 title & two finals; could have had more in early 90s
10. Ferrero - beats out Moya because he is more likely to win again

As you can see I think French results trump just about everything else. Vilas over Borg? Six to one, six to one...
 
Borg is the GOAT on clay IMO - here's why.

Here are some stats to think about pertaining to this discussion:
Borg lifetime record on clay 137-19 (88%), from '73 to '81 he was 134-11 (92%), 6 French titles out of 8 tries, Head to Head 10-3 against Vilas (5-1 head to head on clay including a 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 thumping in the '78 French Final, hard to imagine anyone putting Vilas ahead of Borg) 5-2 against a young Lendl
Lendl lifetime on clay 318-73 (81%) Head to Head against Wilander on all surfaces 15-7, on clay 6-4, at the French 2-2
Wilander, Vilas, and Muster all had lifetime 77% win ratios on clay as follows: Wilander 264-80, Vilas 414-124, Muster 414-126
Muster's summer of '95 was incredible, winning Estoril, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Rome, Roland Garros, St. Polten, and Stuttgart with a 1st round loss at Gstaad in between St. Polten and Stuttgart being the only blemish during that run, 65-2 on clay for the year - WOW.
But, BORG was the MAN on clay.
 
I don't think either Coria or Ferrero can be considered as the greatest Clay courters ever, YET!!

I mean they only have one French between them.

I however do think that in time they will both become very strong candidates for the title of "Best ever Claycourter".

Liam
 
Nobody comes anywhere close to Chris Evert.
7 Roland Garros titles with a 72-6 record there.
Won 125 matches in a row on clay during the 70's while winning 24 tournaments.
'Nuff said.
 
Muster had the most brilliant stretch of clay court play I can remember. I think it was 95' when Muster ran the table in route to a victory at Roland Garros.
 
Kobble said:
Muster had the most brilliant stretch of clay court play I can remember. I think it was 95' when Muster ran the table in route to a victory at Roland Garros.
Click to expand...

Yes, but in '77 Vilas won 50 straight matches on clay, a record which may be threatened only this year by the new Guillermo, Coria.

It should be noted that Vilas' 50-match streak was broken by Ilie Nastase playing with a then-legal spaghetti strung racket. A day or two after Nastase beat Vilas with the string job, the ILTA made it illegal. Vilas went on to win 9 or 10 more matches in a row. Had the ILTA made the string job illegal a couple of days sooner, Vilas' record may well have been 60 straight matches.

Yet, for as good as Vilas was on clay, he was never any match for Borg. Vilas did everything Borg did, Borg just did everything better than Vilas.

Camillio - you're right. It was a stretch to figure out who was second best behind Evert. She is the all-time clay queen.
 
I never knew Vilas won that many straight. It is very impressive.I really don't know much about the details of clay courters earlier than 90', so I am not surpirsed to learn of such a record.
 
Rabbit, Vilas won those 50 straight matches in 77 when the US Open was played on Har-tru and well documented by those Monday nite finals on PBS with Donald Dell and Bud Collins. Who needed ESPN.
 
Dang...I haven't thought of those in forever. I can still remember Bud Collins talking about the Armitraj brothers in a dubs final. I knew I learned to dislike Donald Dell somewhere early on.
 
Records are good but i don't think Vilas would actually beat any of my top 5 on the court. Wilander bested him in the French final when about 17 from memory. Vilas must have been close to his prime. Pretty sure Lendl went ok against him too, a prime Lendl would have covered him. Borg needs no comment. Guga would be a bit powerful i think and Muster was an improved model. His record was super tho.
 
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