If you had to bet your life on it, which player during a specific event would you bet on to save your life?

Pheasant

Pheasant

G.O.A.T.
This isn’t for an entire event. This is for a single match.

I am taking John McEnroe at the 1984 Wimbledon final(shocker, I know). He got 73% of his first serves while bombing 10 aces with 0 double faults against one of the best returners ever. These numbers were unheard of during that era of crummy rackets. He made a total of 4 unforced errors. Quite simply, Mac was unplayable during this final. I know that there are some other great candidates.

Who do you have?
 
Pheasant said:
This isn’t for an entire event. This is for a single match.

I am taking John McEnroe at the 1984 Wimbledon final(shocker, I know). He got 73% of his first serves while bombing 10 aces with 0 double faults against one of the best returners ever. These numbers were unheard of during that era of crummy rackets. He made a total of 4 unforced errors. Quite simply, Mac was unplayable during this final. I know that there are some other great candidates.

Who do you have?
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No No No it should be an event that the player did NOT play, that we can't go back in history and check out how they actually did by what score.

Evert did not play the 1977 Women's' RG final. Mima Jaušovec defeated Florența Mihai in the final, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 6–1 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 1977 French Open. But I am willing to bet my life she would have beat either if she entered it, undoubtedly without losing a set. I would be willing to bet the lives of everyone in Washington DC, that she would have won that final.
 
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Pheasant said:
This isn’t for an entire event. This is for a single match.

I am taking John McEnroe at the 1984 Wimbledon final(shocker, I know). He got 73% of his first serves while bombing 10 aces with 0 double faults against one of the best returners ever. These numbers were unheard of during that era of crummy rackets. He made a total of 4 unforced errors. Quite simply, Mac was unplayable during this final. I know that there are some other great candidates.

Who do you have?
Click to expand...
I'd take Nadal at some random FO.
 
If my life is on the line, I'm taking no chances: Suzanne Lenglen for me, please. Something like the 1925 Wimbledon final.

It was a 64-player draw and she received a walkover into R2. Thereafter she beat Bunny Ryan 2 & 0, Elsie Goldsack 1 & 0, double-bagelled both Geraldine Beamish and defending champ Kitty McKane, and then swept the final 2 & 0 against Joan Fry. Looking at the linked bios of the players I didn't know, it actually seems to have been a tough draw by the standards of the 1920s. But Suzanne lost five games in five matches, topping her performance at the French Championships the month prior where she lost seven games in five matches. I don't think there's ever been anyone in tennis history who was further ahead of their competition than La Divine.

Restricting myself to the modern era, McEnroe in the Wimbledon final is a good shout, or either Nadal at the French in '08, or Borg at the same venue in '78. Might also consider Jimmy Connors' two mismatched slam finals in '74 against Ken Rosewall. On the women's side Graf vs Zvereva at Roland Garros in '88 wasn't likely to produce an upset. That last match might be the safest one of all to bet on if you didn't know the result in advance.
 
I’ll take Steffi in the 1992 Wimbledon final. Obviously this wasn’t one of her greatest years, even though it was still a sold #2 season. It just seemed like something clicked in her match against Gaby in the semifinals where she suddenly realized she was not only a better player, but a better athlete than anyone else on tour and grass was the place to prove it. It kind of felt like she was channeling her 1988/89 aura and no one was going to stop her from flying that weekend. I would have loved Martina to have been on the other side of the net that rainy afternoon.
 
King_olaf_the_hairy said:
If my life is on the line, I'm taking no chances: Suzanne Lenglen for me, please. Something like the 1925 Wimbledon final.

It was a 64-player draw and she received a walkover into R2. Thereafter she beat Bunny Ryan 2 & 0, Elsie Goldsack 1 & 0, double-bagelled both Geraldine Beamish and defending champ Kitty McKane, and then swept the final 2 & 0 against Joan Fry. Looking at the linked bios of the players I didn't know, it actually seems to have been a tough draw by the standards of the 1920s. But Suzanne lost five games in five matches, topping her performance at the French Championships the month prior where she lost seven games in five matches. I don't think there's ever been anyone in tennis history who was further ahead of their competition than La Divine.

Restricting myself to the modern era, McEnroe in the Wimbledon final is a good shout, or either Nadal at the French in '08, or Borg at the same venue in '78. Might also consider Jimmy Connors' two mismatched slam finals in '74 against Ken Rosewall. On the women's side Graf vs Zvereva at Roland Garros in '88 wasn't likely to produce an upset. That last match might be the safest one of all to bet on if you didn't know the result in advance.
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Nice call on Lenglen. I remember Graf quite well in 1988. I followed her entire season. I don’t think that she dropped a set at a slam until she played Martina at Wimbledon. She was completely slaughtering her opponents at the slams. Her level slipped a bit at the USO, due to all of the attention and stress that the CYGS chase was giving her(she was throwing up before matches). But yeah, she was unplayable at the AO and FO for sure. And only the Wimbledon GOAT could manage a set off of her at Wimbledon.

If I remember correctly, Zvereva won less than 30% of her FIRST service points off of Graf in that 32-minute final.

Anyway, nice picks. I wasn’t thinking about women’s matches when I created this thread. But I certainly should have.

Including women, it’s probably:

#1. Lenglen
#2. Graf.

I’d have to study Court a bit more. She’s was insanely dominant as well. But Graf and Lenglen are solid picks.
 
I would bet on Jesus Christ to save my life.

But to win a tennis match, I would pick the two young superstars of all time, Hoad and Alcaraz, to give their best performance in a major tournament showdown at Wimbledon.

They have both already displayed the ability to show up in top form in the biggest matches. Winning the world No. 1 ranking as teenagers shows the inherent character and refusal to be intimidated.
 
images
Bjorn Borg at the 1978 French Open. He lost only 32 games for the tournament.
 
I remember Connors saying that if he had to pick one player it would Pancho Gonzalez. He wasn't not picking a specific surface or event.

going off of one tournament, it's really hard to say. Some good picks have already been made.
Never liked Lendl, but at the 1985 US Open he was in the zone.
 
If I could choose the location, then definitely Nadal at RG.

If I couldn't choose surface/conditions, but it stays in the 21th century, then Djokovic.

If it's a hypothetical random time travel to any possible equipment and surface since 1877, then Federer.
 
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