Do you really consider the Grand Slams to be of equal value?

[Fiero425]

Djokovic alluded to this i think afer the match saying how the AO is progressing and i thought he was making a subtle dig at the other 3 Majors. You think USA is bad..try living in UK!! It is basically the Middle East on tour!

Our Nat'l tourney has been a disgrace for decades; from it's psychotic changes to controversial draw pulls! It was bad enough when gun shots heard in the neighborhood and a patron getting murdered on the train platform, now the place is falling apart! Why put a roof on a stadium that will probably have to come down in a few years or so? I remember when they first opened FM in '78, the players were unanimous is saying the place needed to be "A-bombed!" Look it up! ;-)

 

[Gary Duane]

I still think it below USO but it is rapidly catching up. America needs to produce some players. America is the key market for tennis, its where the money is.

I think the USO will be far better when it gets at least a roof and we don't have to see matches played on Monday, or a match split so that it ends the next day.

Other than that it seems to me that as long as all the best players in the world are competing all the slams are equally important. After all, in the end it's all about the money and the points.

 

[Gary Duane]

Our Nat'l tourney has been a disgrace for decades; from it's psychotic changes to controversial draw pulls! It was bad enough when gun shots heard in the neighborhood and a patron getting murdered on the train platform, now the place is falling apart! Why put a roof on a stadium that will probably have to come down in a few years or so? I remember when they first opened FM in '78, the players were unanimous is saying the place needed to be "A-bombed!" Look it up! ;-)

What is "FM"?

 

[StannisTheMannis]

Wimbledon>>>>FO=US>>>>>>AO

Hmm. Almost like you're trying to create a narrative against a certain someone.

 

[tennis_pro]

Hmm. Almost like you're trying to create a narrative against a certain someone.

Wimbledon is the most presitgious. AO is the least prestigious. FO and US are roughly in the same place. If you disagree, tell us what's your opinion?

 

[Fiero425]

What is "FM"?

Obviously Flushing Meadows opened in '78! Thought you were a geezer like me! ;-)

 

[Bobby Jr]

RG requires a more niche skill set. No slow major will ever be valued the most, because it rewards a kind of tennis that is not at the heart of the game. I think RG has had the fewest winners, because it's a surface for specialists. Players who excel at Wimbledon also excel elsewhere. The great champs at Wimbledon have won numerous other majors... but it doesn't go the other way.

Yep, and generally less skill overall imo.

Clay has always been about guys who don't need to have good all-court skills, huge serves, volleys or gameplan options up their sleeve. Succeeding on clay is rooted primarily in being ridiculously consistent. Look at guys like Lendl, Courier, Nadal, Muster, Kuerten, etc - guys who struggled for their entire careers by comparison off clay (when you consider how many more hard court events there are). They are all also known - infamous in many cases - for not being as adept at all-court play in general as their peers of the same eras.

Back to the OP though.. Wimbledon clearly holds significantly more value in terms of how much fame it brings a winner. Winning Wimbledon is the pinnacle single tournament achievement in tennis - bar none - regardless of the ranking points.

 

[Gary Duane]

Obviously Flushing Meadows opened in '78! Thought you were a geezer like me! ;-)

Oh Crap. Of course I know that name. But I just couldn't put it together!

I've never been there, but apparently the whole facility is in bad shape?

Man, I remember when planes practically dive-bombed that place. It got so noisy you couldn't hear anything, the crowd or the players!

 

[StannisTheMannis]

Wimbledon is the most presitgious. AO is the least prestigious. FO and US are roughly in the same place. If you disagree, tell us what's your opinion?

Wimbledon is slightly above the rest which are equal. It's as simple as that. The only reason you'd say other wise is due to bias against or for somebody. And it's clear that you do, so your opinions mean nothing.

 

[tennis_pro]

Wimbledon is slightly above the rest which are equal. It's as simple as that. The only reason you'd say other wise is due to bias against or for somebody. And it's clear that you do, so your opinions mean nothing.

You think the AO is as prestigious as the FO and USO ?

 

[duaneeo]

Why are the 7 matches won for a Wimbledon title more valuable than the 7 matches won for a US, FO, or AO title? If two players have equal stats except one has all Wimbledon titles and the other all AO, FO, or USO titles, they're equal. All else is subjective (level of competition, difficulty of tournament, etc).

 

[90's Clay]

I would say Wimbleon used to be far and away the most prestigious and important but not anymore. You don't even see anyone improving their grass game.

Pretty much everyone is trash on grass apart from Fed and Nole. To a lesser extent Murray. Hes ok. But if Wimbledon was so important now, you wouldn't have had such a shortage of good grass court players over the last 10-15 years

 

[Emperor of Belgrade]

You think the AO is as prestigious as the FO and USO ?

A few decades ago? No.
Now? Yes.

 

[tennis_pro]

Because

A few decades ago

was

No.

then the question whether the AO is on par with the FO/Wimbledon in prestige is still

No

 

[Emperor of Belgrade]

Because

was

then the question whether the AO is on par with the FO/Wimbledon in prestige is still

Replacing USO with Wimbledon all of a sudden? I am not blind you know.
I said early in the thread that Wimbledon has the claim to be more prestigious (with how ancient and traditional it is and blah blah blah) than the other three which are equal. AO is no longer inferior to others though. That much is pretty clear.

 

[tennis_pro]

Replacing USO with Wimbledon all of a sudden? I am not blind you know.
I said early in the thread that Wimbledon has the claim to be more prestigious (with how ancient and traditional it is and blah blah blah) than the other three which are equal. AO is no longer inferior to others though. That much is pretty clear.

Not in my eyes. If it was equal to the FO and US Open (and Wimbledon obviously) it wouldn't've been downgraded to a tier3 tournament in the 70's and 80's. It was slowly getting there in the mid 80's but even in the 90's someone like Agassi skipped it several times to finally play at the AO for the first time in his career in 1995 at the age of almost 25. Can you imagine a top player skipping a Slam tournament for several years for whatever reason now?

 

[Emperor of Belgrade]

Not in my eyes. If it was equal to the FO and US Open (and Wimbledon obviously) it wouldn't've been downgraded to a tier3 tournament in the 70's and 80's. It was slowly getting there in the mid 80's but even in the 90's someone like Agassi skipped it several times to finally play at the AO for the first time in his career in 1995 at the age of almost 25. Can you imagine a top player skipping a Slam tournament for several years for whatever reason now?

Like I said, it was not a prestigious tournament back then, but it very much is now. Nobody is daring to skip it. The Happy Slam is a curtain raiser to every season.
Also, thanks to no top tier tournaments being played prior to it and hard court having bigger competition, is also tough to win, but that is another story.