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Hall of Fame
So up until 1990 clay court tennis was dominated by about 2 to 3 players at time, you had Borg in control in the 70s basically, Lendl and Willander took it for most of the 1980s, but then from 1990-2004 there were so many forces. Sure Lendl and Willander only won 3, but it was 6 out of 10 for the decade with one going to Borg and two random lucky winners. However the 90s and early 2000s was filled with randomness. So many clay court power houses existed but so many never really stepped up.
To name a few:
Jim Courier - Only 5 clay titles, 2 French Open titles (91.92), 1 runner up (93) one semi
Sergi Bruguera - 14 clay titles, 2 French Open titles (93,94), 1 runner up (97) and one semi finish
Thomas Muster- 40 Clay Court Titles, 1 French Open title (95), 1 semi final
Gustavo Kureten- 15 clay court titles, 3 French Open titles (97, 00, 01)
Carlos Moya- 16 titles on clay, 1 French Open (98)
Andre Agassi- 7 clay court titles, 1 French Open (99), 2 runner ups (90,91),
1 semi final
Alberto Berasategui- 14 clay court titles, 1 runner up (94)
Yevgeny Kafelnikov- 3 clay court titles, French Open (96)
Albert Costa - 12 clay court titles, 1 French Open (02)
Alex Corretja- 11 clay court titles, 2 French Open runners ups (98, 01)
Marcelo Rios- 9 clay court titles, no runner ups.
Juan Carlos Ferrero- 1 French Open (03), 8 titles
Guillermo Coria- 8 clay titles, 1 runner up FO
Gaston Gauido- 8 clay titles, 1 French Open (04)
So now here comes the questions.
1) Who got the luckiest?
2) Who had the worst luck?
3) Who is the most overrated?
4) Who never lived up to their potential?
5) Who was the best?
1. I think Courier was the luckiest, I think he just fell right into place were there was time with no real clay courter. He beat Agassi a young inconsistent player and Korda who never made it past the quarters outside of 1992 and never won a clay title. He only won 5 clay court titles and as stronger Clay Court specialist came around his clay court days quickly faded. His clay court game was good, but I think he benefited from a lack of really strong clay courters.
2. Alex Corretja I think had the worst luck, he just never caught a break. He had two shots at winning that one grand slam, but he just could not do it. His game was very good, but he seemed to suffer from some case of cold feet in the final and never could push it.
3. Although Marcelo Rios seems a perfect fit for this category it is hard to just hand him the award. Agassi is a great player, but I always would like to look at his win in 1999 with a bit of luck in his favor, but he was playing phenomenal so I am going to have to give this to Marcelo Rios. Sure Marcelo Rios was a great clay court player in his prime, but he just could not seem to get past the quarters in the French Open. He might have won all the master series and held the number one rankings, but the guy couldn't play the big game. Everyone is quick to jump on his bandwagon but I just feel a bit of upset towards him, his slam final came on a hard court but the surface he was so dominate on he struggled on in slams so much.
4. So I think almost all are up for this you have Marcelo Rios obviously a leading candidate, let us not forget Guillermo Coria and his famous flake out after winning the first two sets (one 6-0) losing the final, you have Moya who won French Open at 22 in 98 but then never could make it to a semifinal after that even though he won 12 clay court titles after that win, Costa whose one slam came 3 years after his prime and so many more. However I honestly have to give this one to Thomas Muster. 40 Clay Court Titles, but only one was a French Open. Only one French Open final? It is absurd. From 90-96 he accumulated tons of clay court titles, and set records on the surface, but could only get one French Open Title. He exited early so many times in the French Open. In 93 and 96 he beat so many top level clay courters in tournaments outside of the French Open, but the minute he stepped foot there he just stopped knowing how to win. His record on clay in 93 was 55-10 and a whomping 43-3 in 96. Yet he had no French Open from either of those years. He was so destructive on clay but never won more than one french open.
5. The best, Sergi Bruguera just not Kuerten fan, Bruguera played a better game in my opinion just ran into a couple of tougher opponents but I think Bruguera played better clay court tennis overall and had more consistent performances.
Interesting to see all your opinions.
To name a few:
Jim Courier - Only 5 clay titles, 2 French Open titles (91.92), 1 runner up (93) one semi
Sergi Bruguera - 14 clay titles, 2 French Open titles (93,94), 1 runner up (97) and one semi finish
Thomas Muster- 40 Clay Court Titles, 1 French Open title (95), 1 semi final
Gustavo Kureten- 15 clay court titles, 3 French Open titles (97, 00, 01)
Carlos Moya- 16 titles on clay, 1 French Open (98)
Andre Agassi- 7 clay court titles, 1 French Open (99), 2 runner ups (90,91),
1 semi final
Alberto Berasategui- 14 clay court titles, 1 runner up (94)
Yevgeny Kafelnikov- 3 clay court titles, French Open (96)
Albert Costa - 12 clay court titles, 1 French Open (02)
Alex Corretja- 11 clay court titles, 2 French Open runners ups (98, 01)
Marcelo Rios- 9 clay court titles, no runner ups.
Juan Carlos Ferrero- 1 French Open (03), 8 titles
Guillermo Coria- 8 clay titles, 1 runner up FO
Gaston Gauido- 8 clay titles, 1 French Open (04)
So now here comes the questions.
1) Who got the luckiest?
2) Who had the worst luck?
3) Who is the most overrated?
4) Who never lived up to their potential?
5) Who was the best?
1. I think Courier was the luckiest, I think he just fell right into place were there was time with no real clay courter. He beat Agassi a young inconsistent player and Korda who never made it past the quarters outside of 1992 and never won a clay title. He only won 5 clay court titles and as stronger Clay Court specialist came around his clay court days quickly faded. His clay court game was good, but I think he benefited from a lack of really strong clay courters.
2. Alex Corretja I think had the worst luck, he just never caught a break. He had two shots at winning that one grand slam, but he just could not do it. His game was very good, but he seemed to suffer from some case of cold feet in the final and never could push it.
3. Although Marcelo Rios seems a perfect fit for this category it is hard to just hand him the award. Agassi is a great player, but I always would like to look at his win in 1999 with a bit of luck in his favor, but he was playing phenomenal so I am going to have to give this to Marcelo Rios. Sure Marcelo Rios was a great clay court player in his prime, but he just could not seem to get past the quarters in the French Open. He might have won all the master series and held the number one rankings, but the guy couldn't play the big game. Everyone is quick to jump on his bandwagon but I just feel a bit of upset towards him, his slam final came on a hard court but the surface he was so dominate on he struggled on in slams so much.
4. So I think almost all are up for this you have Marcelo Rios obviously a leading candidate, let us not forget Guillermo Coria and his famous flake out after winning the first two sets (one 6-0) losing the final, you have Moya who won French Open at 22 in 98 but then never could make it to a semifinal after that even though he won 12 clay court titles after that win, Costa whose one slam came 3 years after his prime and so many more. However I honestly have to give this one to Thomas Muster. 40 Clay Court Titles, but only one was a French Open. Only one French Open final? It is absurd. From 90-96 he accumulated tons of clay court titles, and set records on the surface, but could only get one French Open Title. He exited early so many times in the French Open. In 93 and 96 he beat so many top level clay courters in tournaments outside of the French Open, but the minute he stepped foot there he just stopped knowing how to win. His record on clay in 93 was 55-10 and a whomping 43-3 in 96. Yet he had no French Open from either of those years. He was so destructive on clay but never won more than one french open.
5. The best, Sergi Bruguera just not Kuerten fan, Bruguera played a better game in my opinion just ran into a couple of tougher opponents but I think Bruguera played better clay court tennis overall and had more consistent performances.
Interesting to see all your opinions.