Consecutive Finals Reached in Open Era
- Thread starter Tchocky
- Start date
ACE of Hearts
Bionic Poster
As a Fed fan, no!That record looks to tough.
ACE of Hearts
Bionic Poster
The problem with that record is that its too early to tell.The fact that he is on that list is nice.Not many players can do that.
Quality of tournaments?
Lendl took 8 months to reach 18 finals...
Vilas took 4.5 months to reach 13 finals...
McEnroe took 7 months to reach 12 finals...
Federer took 10.5 to 11 months to reach 12 finals...
Did Lendl and Vilas play 1 week tournaments and never rest at all???
Are the quality of the tournaments that Lendl & Vilas compete in of high standards?
The tournaments that Federer takes part in are at least International Gold Standard, and no small tournaments. I just feel that if you reach many finals but these finals are from small tournaments, it is not an fair basis of comparision.
Lendl took 8 months to reach 18 finals...
Vilas took 4.5 months to reach 13 finals...
McEnroe took 7 months to reach 12 finals...
Federer took 10.5 to 11 months to reach 12 finals...
Did Lendl and Vilas play 1 week tournaments and never rest at all???
Are the quality of the tournaments that Lendl & Vilas compete in of high standards?
The tournaments that Federer takes part in are at least International Gold Standard, and no small tournaments. I just feel that if you reach many finals but these finals are from small tournaments, it is not an fair basis of comparision.
Shabazza
Legend
They had many "smaler" tourney's back then, where it was practically a given that the top players reach the finals, so it's true that the comparison is not really "fair". However, a record is still a record and if you have played 18 tourneys and got to the final every time, it's an outstanding achievement and shows just how tough and consistent Lendl was!ctbmar said:
But, if Federer is able to reach the final here, in Hamburg and RG, I would put him above Lendl imo, though the record books would show otherwise.
Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
Federer was injured shortly after the US Open '05, so he basically missed the indoor season. He & Mac circa '84 played a similar amount of events with apporitiate rest in between.
Lendl & Vilas are 2 of the fittest players ever(much more than Mac & Fed)
So, yes they could play every week. Vilas played best when he played a lot.
Lendl of '82 was still early in his career, he was most concerned about making a lot of cash(as many players from communist countries were during the 80s)
He set the record for most prize money in a season in '82(even though he never was ranked 1 that year & didn't win any slams that year)
Money was also very important to players in the 60s/70s. Laver played a ton of events in '69 because that was his only way to make good money(no big endorsements, exhibitions to supliment income)
Laver won 17 events that year & only won $100,000.
Its a shame that so many think players today have it harder, when they make so much more money(so can bepicky on their schedule, can afford personal coaches, trainers, masseuses, nutritionists, private jets, stringers)
Federer has a much easier life today than Laver ever did in his entire career.
He could't afford to rest or be injured. Much tougher guy than today's pampered players IMO.
You know, I enjoy talking about records as well, but is a record really that important if no one knows about it? I seriously doubt Lendl even knows he has this record. And that Borg knew he had won 46 straight matches on clay. This sort of thing wasn't really known back in the day. No one cared.
Good for Nadal & Federer with all their records. But any tennis fan knows that the only important records are these:
6 French Opens
7 Wimbledons
14 major titles
6 year end #1's
and 2, as in only 2 men have ever won the calendar Grand Slam(Budge & Laver)
I find this record very impressive. In the Open Era, Borg & Sampras won at least one major a year for 8 straight years.
No one else had done that for more than 4 straight years!
Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
"International Gold" is just a recent creation. Everything in 80s was Grand Prix/WCT. Some big events, some medium, some small. Not sure how to compare, since the tour was totally different structure. Many of the tour events of the 80s don't exist anymore.
Here is Lendl's streak of '81/'82, he certainly was beating some great players on many surfaces:
Madrid (clay) def Arraya 32 draw
Barcelona (clay) def Vilas 64 draw
Basel(indoor hard) def Clerc 32
Vienna (indoor hard) def Gottfried 64
Cologne(indoor hard) def Sandy Mayer 32
Buenes Aries(clay) def Vilas 32
Masters(indoor carpet) def Gerualaitis 8-round robin
Delray Beach(clay) def McNamara 16(much bigger prize money than others, so must have been a big event)
La Quinta(outdoor hard) lost to Noah 64
Genova(indoor carpet) def Gerulaitis 32
Munich(indoor carpet) def Smid 32
Strasbourg(indoor carpet) def Mayotte 32
Frankfurt(indoor carpet) def McNamara 32
Monte Carlo(clay) lost to Vilas 32
Houston(clay) def Clerc 32
Dallas(indoor carpet) def McEnroe-this event was huge in the 80s, bigger than a masters series event today, big prize money & prestige, etc
Madrid(clay) lost to Vilas(that's crazy, going from carpet to clay within a week!) 32
Forest Hills(clay) def Dibbs 64
Lendl was 15-3 in finals during this streak, facing all top 10/20 players in finals during that span on 3 different surfaces(though Har-Tru clay is a bit different from red clay)
8 on clay
6 on carpet
3 on indoor hard
1 on outdoor hard
sandiegotennisboy
Banned
i wonder if those older players that played like horses on crack ever got drug tested...
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