How Pancho would do in the modern era...

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
I couldnt find the "Club Tennis" Section, so I posted it here.

I dont think he falls in the top 100.

Here is my list of 100 players that would be better than him if he played in the modern era.

5gsyck.jpg


@Nole Slam @Phoenix1983 @megamind @Poisoned Slice
 

Harry_Wild

G.O.A.T.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Gonzales

Poncho was one of the legends of Tennis - U.S. players and probably top 30 in men's tennis ranking. His record is shown below:

Singles
Grand Slam Singles results
Other tournaments
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Career record1250–561 (69.05%)[1]
Career titles111[1]
Highest rankingNo. 1 (1952, Tennis Hall of Fame)
Australian Open3R (1969)
French OpenSF (1949, 1968)
Wimbledon4R (1949, 1969)
US OpenW (1948, 1949)
Professional majors
US ProW (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961)
Wembley ProW (1950, 1951, 1952, 1956)
French ProF (1956, 1961)
TOCW (1957, 1958, 1959)
Career record43–30
French OpenW (1949)
WimbledonW (1949)
WimbledonQF (1968)
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Gonzales

Poncho was one of the legends of Tennis - U.S. players and probably top 30 in men's tennis ranking. His record is shown below:

Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Grand Slam Doubles results
Doubles
Other tournaments
Grand Slam Singles results
Singles
Career record1250–561 (69.05%)[1]
Career titles111[1]
Highest rankingNo. 1 (1952, Tennis Hall of Fame)
Australian Open3R (1969)
French OpenSF (1949, 1968)
Wimbledon4R (1949, 1969)
US OpenW (1948, 1949)
Professional majors
US ProW (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961)
Wembley ProW (1950, 1951, 1952, 1956)
French ProF (1956, 1961)
TOCW (1957, 1958, 1959)
Career record43–30
French OpenW (1949)
WimbledonW (1949)
WimbledonQF (1968)
A lot of fishy numbers and tournaments in there...
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Hmmm, seeing that Pancho G has been 6 ft under for more than 25 years, he might not fare so well on the tennis courts today.

Peak PG is a different story tho. All he needs is to learn to jump on his serve. Give him modern equipment & a couple of months to become accustomed to it and he's beating Kyrgios, Zverev & Tsitsipas in no time.
 

Harry_Wild

G.O.A.T.
A lot of fishy numbers and tournaments in there...
Pro tennis aka The Open Era did not come around till the late 1960s!

The open era of tennis began in 1968 when most world-class tournaments first allowed professional players as well as amateurs to enter. Prior to the open era, only amateurs could enter the world's most prestigious tennis tournaments, including the grand slams, leaving many of the top players of the day out of the competition.

https://www.liveabout.com/definitio...968,players of the day out of the competition.
 

Harry_Wild

G.O.A.T.
I will do ten a day. No particular order.

1. Fed
2. Rafa
3. Sampras
4. Djoker
5. Laver
6. Serena
7. Venus
8. Maria
9. Roddick
10. Zverev
11. Ferrer
12. Berdych
13. Murray
14. McEnroe
15. Other McEnroe
16. Tsonga
17. Lendl
18. Agassi
19. Becker
20. Chang

Guess you have no tennis history to go by before the 1990s. LOL! There is the great Don Budge, Helen Woody Moody, Margaret Court, etc... You even left out Stefie Graf, Agassi wife! Wow!

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1390330-best-tennis-players-by-decade-since-the-1930s
 
Last edited:

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
A lot of fishy numbers and tournaments in there...
It's rather confusing since Pancho G went pro long before most other top players of the time did.

Perhaps one of the greatest rivalries of all time was between Pancho G and Rod Laver. They played over 50 times against each other with Rod winning a little more than 60% of those head-to-head matches.
 
Last edited:

Dan Lobb

G.O.A.T.
It's rather confusing since Pancho G went pro long before most other top players of the time did.

Perhaps one of the greatest rivalries of all time was between Pancho G and Rod Laver. They played over 50 times against each other with Rod winning a little more than 60% of those head-to-head matches.
Gonzales played in four very long tennis rivalries, including the two longest rivalries, against Rosewall (203 matches), and Hoad (182 matches).

 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Gonzales played in four very long tennis rivalries, including the two longest rivalries, against Rosewall (203 matches), and Hoad (182 matches).

Gr8 find.

There seems to be quite a bit of variation / disagreement on total number of matches between players of that era. You'll get different numbers from different sources. It might be due to the pro-amateur thing. Or it might have something to do as to which events were considered "official" and which were exhibition or somewhat "casual" / unofficial.

According to two sources (with somewhat different numbers), Laver won about 64% of their 54+ meetings. OTOH, one source has Pancho G with 56% over Hoad and a very dominant 70% over Rosewall in their h2h meetings.
 

Dan Lobb

G.O.A.T.
Gr8 find.

There seems to be quite a bit of variation / disagreement on total number of matches between players of that era. You'll get different numbers from different sources. It might be due to the pro-amateur thing. Or it might have something to do as to which events were considered "official" and which were exhibition or somewhat "casual" / unofficial.

According to two sources (with somewhat different numbers), Laver won about 64% of their 54+ meetings. OTOH, one source has Pancho G with 56% over Hoad and a very dominant 70% over Rosewall in their h2h meetings.
It seems that the two greatest rivalries of all were the Gonzales/Rosewall and Gonzales/Hoad, both gigantic series, quite a bit more matches than any other rivalries.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
It seems that the two greatest rivalries of all were the Gonzales/Rosewall and Gonzales/Hoad, both gigantic series, quite a bit more matches than any other rivalries.
OTOH many considered Laver & Gonzales to the top, most talented, players of that era with Rosewall coming in at 3rd.
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
T
The only positive to any of your garbage trolling in this thread…a closeup of a classic Kneissl stick in Pancho’s hand.

You are entirely skilled to be able to produce a thread where I actually am part of the Tom, Dan & Harry gang. Kudos to King Troll Lleyton!
 

JW10S

Hall of Fame
People always ask how players from past eras would do now but I'm more interested in how modern players would do if they had to go back in time. How would modern players do against Bill Tilden if they had to use a 14-16 oz. wood racquet with a 65 sq. in. head with no cushy overgrip and no polyester strings? How would modern players do if they had to play in long pants and long sleeve shirts with canvas shoes instead of their hi-tech Nike or Adidas shoes? Would be interesting.
 

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
People always ask how players from past eras would do now but I'm more interested in how modern players would do if they had to go back in time. How would modern players do against Bill Tilden if they had to use a 14-16 oz. wood racquet with a 65 sq. in. head with no cushy overgrip and no polyester strings? How would modern players do if they had to play in long pants and long sleeve shirts with canvas shoes instead of their hi-tech Nike or Adidas shoes? Would be interesting.

I was just thinking about this the other day while watching an old Borg match. Athletes adapt to their equipment and exploit it as much as they are able. Good point.
 

Dan Lobb

G.O.A.T.
People always ask how players from past eras would do now but I'm more interested in how modern players would do if they had to go back in time. How would modern players do against Bill Tilden if they had to use a 14-16 oz. wood racquet with a 65 sq. in. head with no cushy overgrip and no polyester strings? How would modern players do if they had to play in long pants and long sleeve shirts with canvas shoes instead of their hi-tech Nike or Adidas shoes? Would be interesting.
I doubt that some of the stroke and grip configurations of today would work with the old racquets. The two-handed strokes of Djokovic and Nadal would not work for sure with wood racquets.
 
Top