Countries whose greatest athlete is a tennis player

Ubitennis, Dec.05, 2017: ¤¤ Rafael Nadal Named Spain’s Greatest Sportsman Of The Last 50 Years."
Nadal received his award on Monday evening. It was presented by Felipe VI of Spain, the country’s King, at the City Hall in Madrid.¤¤
https://www.ubitennis.net/2017/12/rafael-nadal-named-spains-greatest-sportsman-last-50-years/

Rafa with Spain's King & Queen;
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Tshooter said:
Yes, but how they made it to the finals is not the same. Lets pick it up at R16 at W.

W '85: Curren beat Edberg (#14 seed) in straights in R16, put a beat down on JMac (#1 seed) in QF, destroyed Connors (#3 seed) in semis. HIs loss to Becker (#20 seed, first Major final) in the finals was a big upset at the time. Curren beats (kills in the case of JMac and Connors) three of the all-time best and puts in a decent final showing against Becker. That final match could have gone the other way.

W '18: Kandy beats P. Lorenzi in R16, just got by Olde-rer*** in the QFs and then beat a servebot in five in the semis and then put in a similar performance to the 2017 USO final.

Curren > Anderson

***Apparently the more delicate FEDR fans have convinced the censor to censor the name when used without the hyphen. :confused:
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*******??
 
clout said:
Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are all easily the greatest athlete that Switzerland, Spain and Serbia, respectively, have ever produced. Spain's produced many great athletes but I doubt any of them rank as high in their sport as Rafa does in tennis.

Bjorn Borg is probably the greatest athlete that Sweden ever produced, and the same can be said for Steffi Graf, although I'm sure a lot of German will give that to Beckenbauer.
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Spain - Alfredo Di Stefano? Xavi Hernandez?
 
bwongman said:
I might offend a lot of people for saying this ... but baseball. I think you burn more calories in a round of golf than you do a game of baseball.
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Maybe but at least in baseball you have to run sometimes. Golf is more of an extended business meeting with short intervals of physical activity where you're stationary and hit a stationary ball. And I'm not saying it doesn't take a high level of skill. So does chess.
 
Tshooter said:
Maybe but at least in baseball you have to run sometimes. Golf is more of an extended business meeting with short intervals where your stationary and hit a stationary ball. And I'm not saying it doesn't take a high level of skill. So does Chess.
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The only time you have to run is if you actually hit the ball, which only happens around 2 times a game... Or if the ball is hit to you and you have to catch it, which doesn't happen very often. Golfers don't get to sit for half the game too.
 
I'm not saying baseball players aren't athletic ... I'm just saying baseball isn't a very athletic sport.

A race car driver loses 7lbs of water weight in a race. They have to experience 4-5 g's of force constantly on their bodies. Also, their focus has to be on maximum for the entire race, 1 mistake could cost them their life. A normal person trying to drive a F1 car would not be able to hold their own head up after a few laps, their neck muscles would be completely drained.
 
bwongman said:
The only time you have to run is if you actually hit the ball, which only happens around 2 times a game... Or if the ball is hit to you and you have to catch it, which doesn't happen very often. Golfers don't get to sit for half the game too.
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You have to jog on and off the baseball field every half inning which is more than you do in golf. And while rare you do have to run full out sometimes: when you get a hit, when you are moving around the bases whether from a hit ball or stealing and when you run to catch a ball. Sometimes you even dive for a ball. You can't conduct an effective business meeting while playing baseball because you have to focus on the game and reacting quickly whereas major business transactions (and currently affairs of state) are conducted routinely while playing golf. :)
 
bwongman said:
The only time you have to run is if you actually hit the ball, which only happens around 2 times a game... Or if the ball is hit to you and you have to catch it, which doesn't happen very often. Golfers don't get to sit for half the game too.
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Baseball overall definitely requires more athleticism than golf. It's one of my least favorite sports, but I think this is undebatable really.

Hitting a baseball and golf ball are comparable in that you could argue they are more both very hard to learn skills than athletic talents, but the raw power many baseball hitters have trumps most long driving golfers. Golf ball hitting is even more of a "skill" than hitting a baseball, whereas hitting is sort of a mix of a skill but also require incredible athleticism. It has been described as the toughest thing to do in sports, I think because it requires both skill and timing but also a very athletic motion and a strong, tough but fluid upper body. It is harder in principle I think to hit a hard ball traveling up to 100 MPH from over 60 feet away with a wooden bat versus driving a still, small golf ball off the ground.

Pitching as well requires a certain kind of athletic talent, the throwing motion which again requires a ton of upper body strength and angular momentum. Driving the golf ball does as well but not as much IMO---again it's more of a pure skill I think and that's not even getting into iron play and putting, which is totally eye-hand coordination and doesn't require any special sort of athletic specimen.

The real difference is in the field though. Your representation of fielders lack of frequent duties is humorous and somewhat true, but it doesn't change what is required of them physically when they are asked to do their jobs. Pretty much every great fielder is also a phenomenal athlete. They have to "make plays", move as fast as possible to close in on a ball and often make acrobatic catches, and throws from out of position in a literal race against the runner. There is no equivalent in golf.

It is true some baseball players are out of shape--designated hitters can be big, powerful, but fat burly guys or guys who are mainly good hitters and play the bases also aren't necessarily the most chiseled guys---but so are some golfers in not amazing shape equally. The thing is to play certain positions in baseball you must be in pretty good shape, it is very difficult to be a shortstop, CF, LF, or RF and be in bad shape. The same is not true for a golfer---being in good shape might help (see Tiger Woods although some argue he has been too muscular for his own good), but it isn't a clear correlation.
 
Tshooter said:
You have to jog on and off the baseball field every half inning which is more than you do in golf. And while rare you do have to run full out sometimes: when you get a hit, when you are moving around the bases whether from a hit ball or stealing and when you run to catch a ball. Sometimes you even dive for a ball. You can't conduct an effective business meeting while playing baseball because you have to focus on the game and reacting quickly whereas major business transactions (and currently affairs of state) are conducted routinely while playing golf. :)
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I am of course just taking a jab at baseball:D. I understand everything that everyone is saying, but I am pretty sure you can have a meeting when you are in the dugout. I see lots of baseball players pranking each other or falling asleep. A few famous baseball players even took beautiful women to the locker room for a "quickie" in between innings... I don't think you can do that in any other sport I can think of. :)
 
clout said:
Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin come to mind. They're both hockey legends and although neither of them have the same "star power" as Maria, they're both still very well known and respected by the everyone in the hockey world. Hell Ovie just won the ESPY's male athlete of the year award which is VERY impressive considering how much American bias that show has
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Ilya Kovalchuk also, if he just bothered to play in NHL.
 
Fabresque said:
Just thought of a couple more.

Gilles Müller in Luxembourg

Was going to say Dominic Thiem and Austria, but Austria has numerous winter sport athletes who are accomplished, so they’re probably considered better.
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I don't think that Müller would be Luxembourg's greatest athlete, as they have had Tour de France winners such as Charly Gaul (also won the Giro D'Italia twice) and Andy Schleck. Plus they had a gold medalist in the men's 1500m at the 1952 Olympics Josy Barthel.

Regarding Thiem, he is still well below Muster at the moment. Even away from clay, Muster won big masters series titles on hard (Miami in 1997) and indoor carpet (Essen in 1995 beating Sampras in the semi-finals), and reached semi-finals and quarter-finals at the hard court majors. I think that Thiem is yet to reach a grand slam quarter-final away from RG, and won just 1 ATP title away from clay (Acapulco in 2016).
 
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The only viable answer from the more popular countries would Bjorn Borg and Sweden, and, obviously, Federer and Switzerland.

To those who say Nadal and Spain, they have no idea what football is in Spain.

8-)
 
Tennis_Hands said:
The only viable answer from the more popular countries would Bjorn Borg and Sweden, and, obviously, Federer and Switzerland.

To those who say Nadal and Spain, they have no idea what football is in Spain.

:cool:
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Football being more popular in Spain doesn't mean Nadal isn't their greatest sportsman. In fact didn't he receive an award for the greatest Spanish sportsman of the last 50 years?
 
Tennis_Hands said:
The only viable answer from the more popular countries would Bjorn Borg and Sweden, and, obviously, Federer and Switzerland.

To those who say Nadal and Spain, they have no idea what football is in Spain.

:cool:
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Spain doesn't have a big football star like Pele, Maradona, Messi or Ronaldo. Their best are maybe "Wilander/Becker/Edberg-tier" or "Lendl/Agassi/Connors/McEnroe-tier" at best.
 
Tennis_Hands said:
The only viable answer from the more popular countries would Bjorn Borg and Sweden, and, obviously, Federer and Switzerland.

To those who say Nadal and Spain, they have no idea what football is in Spain.

:cool:
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Fed devotee (aka Rafa basher), you are yet again showing a lack of knowledge about Rafa.

Spanish sports newspapers' staffs surely know what is what in Spain. Rafa was voted/named the greatest Spanish sportsman of all time by daily sports newspaper Marca (at the end of 2013) and of the last half-century by daily sports newspaper AS (at the end of 2017). The AS named him the greatest athlete of the last half-century because the newspaper celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Euroweekly, 04 January 2014: ¤¤ Rafael Nadal - Spain’s greatest sportsman of all-time.
RAFAEL NADAL was voted the greatest Spanish sports person of all-time. The winner of 13 Grand Slam titles and the current number one in the ATP world rankings, he received the award at the Gala for the 75th anniversary of the Spanish sports paper Diario Marca.
Chosen by readers of the aforementioned newspaper, Rafa finished a clear first, ahead of five-time Tour de France winner, Miguel Indurain with Pau Gasol, without doubt, the greatest Spanish basketball player of all time, third.
This is some achievement for Rafa, considering how many other famous Spaniards have graced the sporting world over the last 60 years, men like fellow tennis Open champions Manuel Orantes and Manuel Santana, top golfers Severiano (Seve) Ballasteros, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Sergio Garcia and José Maria Olazábal, Formula 1 stars Fernando Alonso and Pedro de la Rosa, rally driver Carlos Sainz, former captain of the Spanish women’s national team Amaya Valdemoro, road cyclist Alberto Contador, Spain’s national football team coach, Vicente del Bosque, Real Madrid players Iker Casillas, Ricardo Zamora, Antoni Ramallets, Francisco Gento, Alfredo Di Stefano (a naturalised Spaniard), Sergio Ramos, Fernando Hierro and Raul Gonzales, the Barcelona midfield trio of Xabi Alonso, Xavi and Andreas Iniesta, plus Fernando Torres, David Silva, Telmo Zarra and Emilio Butragueño. ¤¤
https://www.euroweeklynews.com/sports/117987-rafael-nadal-spain-s-greatest-sportsman-of-all-time
 
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Im(moral) Winner said:
Spain doesn't have a big football star like Pele, Maradona, Messi or Ronaldo. Their best are maybe "Wilander/Becker/Edberg-tier" or "Lendl/Agassi/Connors/McEnroe-tier" at best.
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It depends on how you perceive the "greatest athlete".

Is it in the eyes of the nation (which is what I was referring to), or as part of any list of players within the sport.

If you go by the second, sure, Nadal is one of the most forward positioned spanish athletes in any sport.

Still, it would put him in the company of Indurain and Contador, and maybe Sainz.

:cool:
 
Tennis_Hands said:
It depends on how you perceive the "greatest athlete".

Is it in the eyes of the nation (which is what I was referring to), or as part of any list of players within the sport.

If you go by the second, sure, Nadal is one of the most forward positioned spanish athletes in any sport.

Still, it would put him in the company of Indurain and Contador, and maybe Sainz.

:cool:
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Even though football is bigger in Spain I can see RAFA being held on a higher position in the eyes of the nation since RAFA is closer to being the best tennis player while the best Spanish football players are just solid team players.
A bit repetitive of my previous post.
 
TheGhostOfAgassi said:
@Incognito
Is BB still huge in Sweden? Is he the biggest ever there?
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He is, but some Swedes will probably say Peter Forsberg or Salming in hockey are equally impressive, Gunde Svan or Stenmark in Skiing, Karolina Klüft in athletics and even Zlatan in football. I love tennis so Borg is for me is the greatest Swedish athlete ever, although Klüft would give him a run for his money on anything but tennis.:)
 
Im(moral) Winner said:
Even though football is bigger in Spain I can see RAFA being held on a higher position in the eyes of the nation since RAFA is closer to being the best tennis player while the best Spanish football players are just solid team players.
A bit repetitive of my previous post.
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So are you going by popularity in the nation or by placement within the sport?

Your previous post didn't clarify that.

8-)
 
Tennis_Hands said:
It depends on how you perceive the "greatest athlete".

Is it in the eyes of the nation (which is what I was referring to), or as part of any list of players within the sport.

If you go by the second, sure, Nadal is one of the most forward positioned spanish athletes in any sport.

Still, it would put him in the company of Indurain and Contador, and maybe Sainz.

:cool:
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It doesn't matter where you, Rafa basher, want to put Rafa.
 
Fabresque said:
Was going to say Kevin Anderson but then remembered Ernie Els and Oscar Pistorius. Shame about the latter, was a national hero. Too bad he murdered his beloved.
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Pistorius? Wayde van Niekirk(sp?) is a better runner, and forgetting the murder, Pistorius also has the honor of arguing his blades make no difference so he should be allowed to run with the able bodied athletes, only to complain the other guy had bigger blades when he was beaten in the paralympics.
 
Race car drivers are certainly athletes, the issue I have with Schumacher(or Hamilton or Vettel) being on a list like this is that so much is dependent on the car. If you're in the best car, you win just by virtue of having the best car. It would be as though Federer has a special racquet with more capabilities no one else has.

Russia's greatest hockey player is likely a choice between Ovechkin, Vladislav Tretiak, and Valeri Kharlamov. Malkin is a great player, but he's not on that level.

Spain, I'm not sure I can say Nadal over Indurain. 5 Tours in a row is something pretty crazy. Even with a team with a huge budget and a bunch of guys who could win themselves, Froome couldn't do it. Nadal has won once at every major, but his total is so skewed to clay....
 
Bluefan75 said:
Race car drivers are certainly athletes, the issue I have with Schumacher(or Hamilton or Vettel) being on a list like this is that so much is dependent on the car. If you're in the best car, you win just by virtue of having the best car. It would be as though Federer has a special racquet with more capabilities no one else has.

Russia's greatest hockey player is likely a choice between Ovechkin, Vladislav Tretiak, and Valeri Kharlamov. Malkin is a great player, but he's not on that level.

Spain, I'm not sure I can say Nadal over Indurain. 5 Tours in a row is something pretty crazy. Even with a team with a huge budget and a bunch of guys who could win themselves, Froome couldn't do it. Nadal has won once at every major, but his total is so skewed to clay....
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Nobody ranks Indurain ahead of Nadal in Spain. Literally, nobody. He doesn't have a case for top 3 ever in his sport, he's in the top 5 at best. Nadal does have a case for top 3 ever in tennis.
 
For Croatia without a doubt it's Kostelic family. No matter how Modric is popular, he doesnt have EC or WC gold under his belt.
 
Russia: must be Lev Yashin. The only GK to win FF Golden Ball. The award for best GK of Fifa Wc is also named after him.
 
Checkmate said:
Umm???? Football is 100 x more popular than tennis.

Top 50 of Football All Time means as much as Top 10 Tennis Players of All Time.
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No, it doesn't. It doesn't work that way, and that's without taking into account that you're talking team sports. In and of itself you're going to be a less dominant figure in team sports than in individual sports.

And it's a no question in Spain anyways, as I told you already. No one with a clue ranks any football player over Nadal in Spain. They are all just too far behind and most folks don't even consider Di Stefano, who is literally the only one you could make a case for, Spanish.
 
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