Dolgopolov85
Legend
Because Laver did not do it twice in the Open Era. Pretty simple. Laver and Djokovic are the only two male players in the OE to have done it and nobody did it twice in the OE.
Djokovic can already become the GOAT in the next slam
- Thread starter Lew II
- Start date
Dolgopolov85
Legend
Your first batch of stats is as things stand. If Djokovic wins RG, he will have 16 plus another chunk of weeks at no.1. So the gap will be narrowing and the way I see it, it's gonna keep narrowing until one of the GenNext can stop him everywhere.
By the by, I don't consider NCYGS as an intangible. It was the crowning glory in tennis until Sampras came up with his own race to account for his inability to win RG. Emerson was not regarded the greatest and nobody before Sampras made much of chasing down his tally.
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Ultronians 
Shaolin
G.O.A.T.
Definitely not impossible. He's come close before and the tour probably looks like a buffet to him right now.
Nadal is low on confidence after that beatdown, Fed is slowing down and the Next Gen are a joke. Dude could run the table in 2019.
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Djokovic always peaks when everyone is basically half dead.
Shaolin
G.O.A.T.
That's smart of him!
robthai
Hall of Fame
except when he plays against players like Istomin or Cecchinato in grand slams. His peak version cant seem to beat the peak versions of these players. I cant understand why. Must be a match up problem.
duaneeo
Hall of Fame
Twice winning 4 consecutive slam titles would be impressive, but not as impressive as making 10 consecutive slam finals (8 titles), and then after a semifinal blip, making 8 more consecutive slam finals (4 titles). Icing on the cake is that it was done during a period with strong contemporaries and strong young guns.
D
Deleted member 716271
Guest
It's definitely more impressive than that lol.
Fiero425
Hall of Fame
Nadal has to have an absolute great 2nd half of the season! Nole will acquire a ton of points early on since he was still dropping matches last year around this time! He has so few points to defend until the summer; so unless he skips the USO, he should take the YE #1 I would think!
Lew II
Legend
No one cares about consistency.
Djokovic from UO 2010 to UO 2013 lost slams only to the Big4. Never heard about it as a big achievement.
Druss
Hall of Fame
So why don’t you proclaim him to be the BCGOAT?Yes.
On blue clay I found only happy pics. 100% of career wins
duaneeo
Hall of Fame
You really want to emphasize a period when a peak Djokovic won only 5 of 13 slams, with losses at two different slams to Nadal, Federer, and even to low-ranking Big-4 member Murray--a player many don't even think is worthy of being considered a Big-4? Yeah, this really supports your argument that Djokovic will be seen as the GOAT with a RG win.
Service Ace
Hall of Fame
Funny how the NCYGS, Double CGS etc doesn't matter for the men, only grand slam count. But once you have to apply that logic to Serena then suddenly we have all these other metrics that need to be taken into account hmmmm
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
SlayFunny how the NCYGS, Double CGS etc doesn't matter for the men, only grand slam count. But once you have to apply that logic to Serena then suddenly we have all these other metrics that need to be taken into account hmmmm
Lew II
Legend
Your last post was only about Slam consistency. Djokovic from Wimbledon 2010 to US Open 2016 had a 154-15 score in Grand Slams playing 29 times the Big4.You really want to emphasize a period when a peak Djokovic won only 5 of 13 slams, with losses at two different slams to Nadal, Federer, and even to low-ranking Big-4 member Murray--a player many don't even think is worthy of being considered a Big-4? Yeah, this really supports your argument that Djokovic will be seen as the GOAT with a RG win.
Murray is great and you have to accept he is called Big4 for a reason: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_(tennis)
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-NN-
G.O.A.T.
I don't think of all this gaining and dropping. Yes it can have a psychological influence on those involved but ultimately by the end of the year he who has the most points since January wins. The race effectively started at Melbourne.Nadal has to have an absolute great 2nd half of the season! Nole will acquire a ton of points early on since he was still dropping matches last year around this time! He has so few points to defend until the summer; so unless he skips the USO, he should take the YE #1 I would think!
ReeceSachs
Hall of Fame
Also reached the SF or better in 28 of the 30 slams on your list. Only missing AO 2014 and Wimbeldon 2016.
Fiero425
Hall of Fame
I'm just thinking of history; late season success has been fleeting with Nadal! He normally packs it in after the USO; sometimes not even going to events to make an appearance! Everyone's aware how lame his efforts have been at the YEC only making 2 finals! That's another reason he may never come close to winning his own Golden Masters unless he's the lone top pro in Paris! I still can't figure out his problem in Miami after making so many finals!
tennisaddict
Bionic Poster
Let us talk about this when Serbia's best gets to 20 majors.
Plus Laver's 62 Grand Slam is a farce, a nothing achievement. He wouldnt have even won 1 slam that year if it were Open Era. His 69 Grand Slam is highly impressive and done in a very strong field at age 31, but his 62 Grand Slam is meaningless. So he really only did the Grand Slam once.
duaneeo
Hall of Fame
I've always said that Murray is a Big-4, and that it refers to the dominance of the tour by 4 players. But I've also said that Murray is the whipping-boy of the Big-4, as his 5-20 slam record against them shows. Only one Big-4 has lost to the whipping-boy in a slam final---peak Djokovic, twice.
Lew II
Legend
But Djokovic met him more times than Federer and Nadal combined: 7 to 3.
You can't lose to someone if you don't play him.
Big3 have a similar slam score against Murray (D 8-2, N 7-2, F 5-1) and Djokovic has the best score outside slams (D 17-9, N 10-5, F 9-10).
I agree and nobody can beat him except Nadal
duaneeo
Hall of Fame
We're getting way off topic.
Back to my earlier post...Djokovic winning 8 slam titles by twice holding all 4 slams (something no player has done in the Open Era) would be less impressive than Federer winning 8 slam titles by making 10 consecutive slam finals (something no player has done in any era). Yes, Federer's eight titles don't include Roland Garros, but he faced peak Nadal. He didn't have the luxury of Nadal withdrawing due to injury as Nole had in 2016.
BeatlesFan
Talk Tennis Guru
And if Fognini wins MC, he is GOAT. Don't really care what anyone else says.
Novak is 5 slams away from Fed, so might as well make it 20 slams away using your logic!
Lew II
Legend
If we go by opponents there's a lot to say...
For example Djokovic met the no.1 opponent in 6 slams out of 7, while Federer only in 5 out of 10.
Djokovic also met the no.1 opponent in WI11--UO11-AO12, for a total of 9 meetings out of 10 possible in his three 3+ slam title streaks.
In the whole 2003-07 period Federer met the no.1 opponent 7 times.
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Dolgopolov85
Legend
Well, he also won a Pro Slam. So had the OE happened earlier, maybe he could have done it multiple times. But we are not dealing in could haves, so unfortunately Laver has only one Grand Slam to be reckoned with.
Lew, ok even if we concede that Djokovic is better than Federer and Nadal, how can you even determine that he is better than Laver, Sampras, Borg, Gonzales, since conditions were totally different at the time. And you can't know if Djokovic would beat them if you give them modern technology.
So, you are reaching. Let me tell you what reality is. People who care about the goat thing don't have a good job and a good woman in their lives, because people who do don't have time for childish debates.
So, you are reaching. Let me tell you what reality is. People who care about the goat thing don't have a good job and a good woman in their lives, because people who do don't have time for childish debates.
Dolgopolov85
Legend
Whilst I agree with this, your arguments have never stopped Fed fans and indeed the media and even Serena from calling Fed the GOAT. It is pretty much accepted as a truism even though he doesn't have an NCYGS nor can he ever match Sampras ' 6 straight year ending no. 1s.
Yes, but this tells me more about the psychology of fans rather than about who the goat is.
Dolgopolov85
Legend
That's because there isn't really one GOAT anyway. It's impossible to reconcile all the different eras of tennis in a meaningful way, esp so with the equipment/surface changes. This whole concept of a singular GOAT started when Fed began to chase Sampras. And because Sampras was the target, the number in mind became the slam count. And also because Fed was repeatedly stopped at the RG. I guarantee had he won the straight slam in 2004 or 2009-10 which were his best opportunities, nobody would be talking about NCYGS not being important. But again, the view will gradually come around to attaching importance to holding all 4 slams at once, at least so I believe. Nobody is saying just achieving THAT makes you the GOAT. But Novak is also close enough to other aggregate numbers that NOT assigning any value to NCYGS esp when he stands alone vis a vis his main rivals makes no sense anymore. It didn't even in 2016 and the gap has closed all over again now, and with Novak being presented another opportunity to get a NCYGS.
Lew II
Legend
Talent pool grew a lot since 1970s, when tennis became popular (TV, wealth...). Just look at the number of nations represented at the top. Until Borg's time only 4 nations won the Davis Cup.
FedFosterWallace
G.O.A.T.
Nadal's legacy has taken a real hit, no?
Where have his supporters scurried off to, btw?
Where have his supporters scurried off to, btw?
Fiero425
Hall of Fame
They're still around; just lurking with little to say! What can they say? Nadal has his moments, even at the AO where it was thought "he's back!" Djokovic handled him with ease, breaking serve at will when Rafa had gone most of the tournament holding! Nole's right on his arse in Majors, 15-17 and Nadal's best chance of holding him off is in jeopardy with more people thinking there may be a changing of the guard at the French! I'm gonna wait for it to happen before jumping on that bandwagon, but ya never know!Nadal's legacy has taken a real hit, no?
Where have his supporters scurried off to, btw?
Eren
Professional
Basically siding with Djokovic fans lol.Nadal's legacy has taken a real hit, no?
Where have his supporters scurried off to, btw?
That's your point of view. Mine is that such an achievement, whilst impressive, is still an achievement that includes losses. It even misses a victory where it counts most (all surfaces...).
It can't compare to an achievement only made of victories (and thus on all surfaces).
Yes, Nadal was a beast at RG, but that's no excuse when making history. Besides, Fed did have a chance to make a NCYGS as he did win RG (thanks to Soderling beating Nadal) but wasn't able to achieve the 4-in-a-row feat.
RF-18
G.O.A.T.
pistolPetros
New User
In an era where Roddick was his rival.
Fed fans don't understand that when they try to downplay his embarrasing h2hs against Djokovic and Nadal by saying those two aren't his contemporaries they dig a bigger hole by focusing attention on just who his actual contemporaries were: Roddick, Hewitt, Safin, Elderly Agassi etc. Not looking good guys.
Towser83
G.O.A.T.
lol I look forward to you changing your tune once Nadal becomes the slam leader.
also more slams on hc but far harder competition, evens out
Towser83
G.O.A.T.
Turning this around on you, if HC suits Djokovic's game more than Nadal's why does Nadal lead 2-1 at the USO? You always go on about this. They have the same amount of titles and Nadal leads Djokovic in the h2h. You've stated that Nadal is better at the USO. So obviously Nadal is better on SOME hardcourts right?
from this year -
from July last year -
So how is it an advantage to Djokovic to have 2 slams on hc when according to you, Nadal is a better player at one of those slams?
I know you'll ignore this, because once again you have wonderfully defeated your own arguments and have no valid point anymore. It's just the constant goal shifting to give Nadal "the win" is starting to get rather tiresome now.
pistolPetros
New User
And Fed peaked when everyone was half grown #Kingofteenagerivals
