Best Grand Slam Finals in History???

[ptennisb]

Some of you may have read(and disagreed) with my list of worst grand slam finals in history. Here's my list of the best. Again keep in mind that I did not watch much tennis pre-2000:
10: US Open 2009: Just such a good high quality groundstroke match. An absolutely worthy final.
9: Wimbledon 2019: An amazing match, but just so many strange turnarounds that kind of made me doubt the quality of the rest of the match.
8: US Open 2011: Probably can rank much higher and overall was absolutely amazing.
7: Australian Open 2009: The first of the Federer-Nadal finals in Melbourne, and, although an amazing match, still ranks lower than 2017.
6: Australian Open 2017: This was without a doubt their best matchup in my opinion. Not necessarily their best match, but their best head to head slugfest.
5: Wimbledon 2009: Probably the greatest final in terms of drama. The circumstances of this final really were amazing.
4: French Open 1984: Definitely my favorite match to watch in the 1980s.
3: Wimbledon 1980: Obviously this timeless classic deserves a place on anyone's list of greatest matches ever.
2: Wimbledon 2008: Keep in mind, that this and first place are very closely interchangeable. Just this was kind of a strange match in many ways, but there is not denying its greatness.
1: Australian Open 2012: Just a 5 and a half hour slugfest of massive proportions.

Honorable Mentions(in no particular order):
French Open 1989
French Open 1983
French Open 2014
Wimbledon 2007
Australian Open 2018
French Open 2015
US Open 2019
Wimbledon 2014
French Open 2004

 

[JaoSousa]

Explain to me how Wimbledon 2007 is ranked lower than USO 2011.

Otherwise, a pretty decent list. I prefer the tennis of AO 2009, Wimbledon 2007, and Wimbledon 2008 to AO 2012, so my list would be a bit different.

 

[ptennisb]

Explain to me how Wimbledon 2007 is ranked lower than USO 2011. And how is 1980 Wimbledon not even on the Honorable mentions?

Otherwise, a pretty decent list. I prefer the tennis of AO 2009, Wimbledon 2007, and Wimbledon 2008 to AO 2012, so my list would be a bit different.

1980 Wimbledon really set the centerpiece for extremely long, dramatic, and 5 set Wimbledon finals. It was a very influential final and was very high quality. That's why I put it at #3. For me, USO 2011, based on shear quality of play, was the second highest quality match ever played in a grand slam. It was just so powerful and had such long rallies. Honestly, 2007 Wimbledon was really just that long Wimbledon final before the classic that is 2008 Wimbledon. It could have easily made the list, but I felt that it lacked the memorability, drama, and overall was not the multi-faceted battle that we saw in 2008. 2007 was a much more one-dimensional final than 08.

 

[BeatlesFan]

How can you say your list comprises the best major finals “in history,” when almost all are from the past decade? It’s insanity not including anything prior to 1980. Tennis existed long before 1980. Your list reeks of presentism, sorry.

 

[JaoSousa]

1980 Wimbledon really set the centerpiece for extremely long, dramatic, and 5 set Wimbledon finals. It was a very influential final and was very high quality. That's why I put it at #3. For me, USO 2011, based on shear quality of play, was the second highest quality match ever played in a grand slam. It was just so powerful and had such long rallies. Honestly, 2007 Wimbledon was really just that long Wimbledon final before the classic that is 2008 Wimbledon. It could have easily made the list, but I felt that it lacked the memorability, drama, and overall was not the multi-faceted battle that we saw in 2008. 2007 was a much more one-dimensional final than 08.

Sorry didn't see the 1980 W at #3

 

[JaoSousa]

How can you say your list comprises the best major finals “in history,” when almost all are from the past decade? It’s insanity not including anything prior to 1980. Tennis existed long before 1980. Your list reeks of presentism, sorry.

I feel like there are only a handful of people on this forum who watched tennis before 2000. Besides you and me, I haven't seen too many people on here comment on matches that were prior to 1980.

 

[ptennisb]

How can you say your list comprises the best major finals “in history,” when almost all are from the past decade? It’s insanity not including anything prior to 1980. Tennis existed long before 1980. Your list reeks of presentism, sorry.

No problem. Before the list began I did state I mostly watched tennis from the 2000s. I do know there are many classic major finals between Laver and Rosewall and Mac and Connors etc., but aside from a few spots that may have changed, I still stand firm with my list. All of these finals are, in my opinion, indeed some of the greatest finals in history. All of them I feel have deserved spots on this list.

 

[tonylg]

I did state I mostly watched tennis from the 2000s

Your list is like someone only watching the last few minutes of Rocky III when Rocky and Apollo are talking sh1t about a rematch and then compiling a "Best Of" the first 3 movies.

 

[Street]

How can you say your list comprises the best major finals “in history,” when almost all are from the past decade? It’s insanity not including anything prior to 1980. Tennis existed long before 1980. Your list reeks of presentism, sorry.

Whenever someone makes a list, people on this board are complaining about recency-bias, i mean at least 95% of people here didn't watch tennis before the 2000, of course it's not going to include the 1877 Wimbledon second round thriller between F.W. Oliver and J. Marshall. I bet most people complaining about recency bias couldn't name 10 matches before the 80s without looking it up.

 

[skaj]

 

[ptennisb]

Forgot to write in the title, but only male matches. Probably will make a separate list for females.