Men's #1 & #2 seed BOTH out in the 2R of a slam. When did this last happen? What has happened to the men's tour?

Aussie Darcy

Aussie Darcy

Bionic Poster
When was the last time the top 2 seeds were both knocked out so embarrassingly early at a slam? Whether on the men's tour or the women's tour, surely not for a long time. It's awful. Not just the #1 seed losing in straight sets in the 2R but then the #2 seed losing in 4 sets the next day?

At least one of the top 2 seeds usually goes deep or y'know, makes the 3R. But Nadal and Ruud lose in the 2R. Going 1-6 in sets against unseeded opponents.

What has happened to the ATP? Is this the future?
 
In the 2002 AO both the #1 seed Hewitt and #2 Kuerten lost in the first round

2004 FO was also pretty bad, #1 seed Federer lost to the aforementioned Kuerten with a broken hip in the third round, while #2 seed Roddick lost in the second round

These are the worst appearances by the top 2 seeds since the seeds have been expanded to 32 (2001 FO was the last major with 16 seeds)
 
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No surprise, the AO is always a problem, because players are either too rusty after a holiday or too worn-out after having no holiday....
 
Kralingen said:
Strongest and deepest field ever. Tennis has evolved

So much parity in the game now, anyone can beat anyone

I went down to the town square in my rural southern town yesterday, and my fellow Americans were saying things like “Mackie McDonald and Jenson Brooksby are Slam winners in any other era”
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Well done sir
giphy.gif
 
jm1980 said:
In the 2002 AO both the #1 seed Hewitt and #2 Kuerten lost in the first round

2004 FO was also pretty bad, #1 seed Federer lost to the aforementioned Kuerten with a broken hip in the third round, while #2 seed Roddick lost in the second round

These are the worst appearances by the top 2 seeds since the seeds have been expanded to 32 (2001 FO was the last major with 16 seeds)
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Yup found that out just after I posted this but put it on the match thread. That was a very bad performance in 2002 and was part of the dark era of men's tennis. Is this a sign of what's to come?

Aussie Darcy said:
Embarrassing low for men's tennis.

I think that's the earliest exist for the top 2 seeds since Hewitt and Kuerten both lost in the 1R of the Aus Open in 2002.
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Kralingen said:
Strongest and deepest field ever. Tennis has evolved

So much parity in the game now, anyone can beat anyone

I went down to the town square in my rural southern town yesterday, and my fellow Americans were saying things like “Mackie McDonald and Jenson Brooksby are Slam winners in any other era”
Click to expand...
Only time depth was higher was the peak year of Maestro, 2006, when Ljubicic reached #3, Blake #4 and Robredo #5.
 
tennis_error said:
No point for this thread... Novak is real No1... Everyone know that, I mean everyone... Official ranking is pure politics not sport...

So, real question would be "how's possible we let the politics ruining the sport, and why we don't raise the voice against?"
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Novak is the real number 5
 
rick kerr said:
The real number 1 seed is still in the draw.

Phonies are out, no big deal.

Casper Ruud seeded 2 itself is a big joke, even Nadal should not be seeded 1.
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Ruud made 2 Slam Finals last year and the Final of the ATP Finals!
And Nadal won TWO Slams and Wimbledon SF, and deserved year-end-#1 A LOT more than Alcaraz.
 
thepaint19 said:
No surprise, the AO is always a problem, because players are either too rusty after a holiday or too worn-out after having no holiday....
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Are you kidding? I think you're thinking of the US Open or Wimbledon because their finals have been the lowest in recent years compared to the Aus Open....

2022: AO Nadal v Med 5 sets . Wimbledon? Djokovic v Kyrgios 3 sets. US Open: Alcaraz v Ruud 4 sets.
2021: AO Djoko v Med 3 sets. Wimbledon: Djoko v Berrettini 4 sets. US Open: Med v Djokov 3 sets.
2020: AO Djoko v Thiem 5 sets. No Wimbledon. US Open: Thiem v Zverev 5 sets.
2019: AO Djoko v Nadal 3 sets. Wimbledon: Djoko v Fed 5 sets. US Open Nadal v Med 5 sets.'
2018: AO Fed v Cilic 5 sets. Wimbledon: Djoko v Anderson 3 sets. US Open: Djoko v DelPo 3 sets
2017: AO Fed v Nadal 5 sets. Wimbledon: Fed v Cilic 3 sets. US Open: Nadal v Anderson 3 sets.

Aus Open has had 4 fantastic 5 setters in the last 6 years including the 2017 Fed v Nadal epic and 2022 Nadal v Med epic. The finalists have all been slam champs (Nadal, Med, Djoko, Thiem, Fed and Cilic). While Wimbledon and USO can boast such epic 3 setter finals like Kevin Anderson losing in straight sets to Novak at Wimbledon in 2018 or losing in straight sets to Nadal at the 2017 US Open or hey how about Alcaraz v Ruud at the USO .

Can't believe you posted such nonsense.
 
As I mentioned in my thread (mods please delete that one as I created it at the same time as this one) WTA had it as recently as 2021 French Open and also 2018 US Open and 2014 French Open
 
Mainad said:
I think we all know that the real #1 seed is still very much in the mix and likely to win the title again.

Nadal sprung yet another injury and Ruud had already said that he plans to take a long break from the tour after the AO so seems to be suffering from some sort of burn-out.
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If he was the real #1 seed then he'd be the #1 seed lol.
 
Mainad said:
You know very well what I mean. If the ATP had stopped playing silly beggars and allowed Djokovic his ranking points for winning Wimbledon (he was the only one getting punished, certainly not Wimbledon) we would not have to be talking about real #1 seeds as opposed to official ones.
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If Wimbledon points counted, Alcaraz would still have been the top seed. Obviously he withdrew so Novak would've been bumped up but Novak wouldn't have been #1 going into the Australian Open despite what so many here argue.
 
Aussie Darcy said:
If Wimbledon points counted, Alcaraz would still have been the top seed. Obviously he withdrew so Novak would've been bumped up but Novak wouldn't have been #1 going into the Australian Open despite what so many here argue.
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So who would have been #1 seed in this scenario ie. Djokovic with his Wimbledon points?
 
Aussie Darcy said:
If Wimbledon points counted, Alcaraz would still have been the top seed. Obviously he withdrew so Novak would've been bumped up but Novak wouldn't have been #1 going into the Australian Open despite what so many here argue.
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Alcaraz wouldn't have been #1 with the Wimbledon points, because Novak won Adelaide
 
Aussie Darcy said:
If Wimbledon points counted, Alcaraz would still have been the top seed. Obviously he withdrew so Novak would've been bumped up but Novak wouldn't have been #1 going into the Australian Open despite what so many here argue.
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Stop cheating readers, troll. Counting Wimbledon points for both would still make Djokovic #1.

1. Djokovic 7070 (5070 + 2000)
2. Alcaraz 7000 (6820 + 120)
 
tennis_error said:
No point for this thread... Novak is real No1... Everyone know that, I mean everyone... Official ranking is pure politics not sport...

So, real question would be "how's possible we let the politics ruining the sport, and why we don't raise the voice against?"
Click to expand...
cookers be cookin...
 
Did anyone actually think those 2 were the real top 2 seeds anyways? For me it was always Djokovic/Medvedev that were the contenders with outside chances for Zverev and Tsitsipas. Nadal was on a loss streak and was clearly not a contender and Ruud had a great 2022 but isn't a consistent top tier player and was always in danger of a shock loss.
 
Terenigma said:
Did anyone actually think those 2 were the real top 2 seeds anyways? For me it was always Djokovic/Medvedev that were the contenders with outside chances for Zverev and Tsitsipas. Nadal was on a loss streak and was clearly not a contender and Ruud had a great 2022 but isn't a consistent top tier player and was always in danger of a shock loss.
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Zverev?! hahahahha
 
Aussie Darcy said:
When was the last time the top 2 seeds were both knocked out so embarrassingly early at a slam? Whether on the men's tour or the women's tour, surely not for a long time. It's awful. Not just the #1 seed losing in straight sets in the 2R but then the #2 seed losing in 4 sets the next day?

At least one of the top 2 seeds usually goes deep or y'know, makes the 3R. But Nadal and Ruud lose in the 2R. Going 1-6 in sets against unseeded opponents.

What has happened to the ATP? Is this the future?
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1) Ruud isn’t the actual #2. He’s going to tumble out of the top 10 soon enough. Additionally, the player he lost to is much more talented anyway
2) Worst generation of players ever
3) Nadal looks closed to done
4) WTA has been much worse than this for forever, so don’t try to compare, i.e., the real reason for your post
 
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aus89 said:
Zverev?! hahahahha
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Why not? Zverev beat Novak in an exo match right before the slam and has beaten Novak 2 of the last 3 times they've played, taking him to 5 in the other match. He is a threat to Djokovic on hard and a good player. Maybe thinking he's a contender right after he comes back from injury is expecting too much and right now he's struggling against a nobody but still, he can be a scary opponent sometimes.
 
Aussie Darcy said:
When was the last time the top 2 seeds were both knocked out so embarrassingly early at a slam? Whether on the men's tour or the women's tour, surely not for a long time. It's awful. Not just the #1 seed losing in straight sets in the 2R but then the #2 seed losing in 4 sets the next day?

At least one of the top 2 seeds usually goes deep or y'know, makes the 3R. But Nadal and Ruud lose in the 2R. Going 1-6 in sets against unseeded opponents.

What has happened to the ATP? Is this the future?
Click to expand...
RG2000 when defending champion and #1 seed Agassi lost 2R to Kucera 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-0 and #2 seed (LOL) Sampras lost 1R to Scud (8-6 in the fifth)
 
Terenigma said:
Did anyone actually think those 2 were the real top 2 seeds anyways? For me it was always Djokovic/Medvedev that were the contenders with outside chances for Zverev and Tsitsipas. Nadal was on a loss streak and was clearly not a contender and Ruud had a great 2022 but isn't a consistent top tier player and was always in danger of a shock loss.
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The point is, they were the top 2 seeds! All this commentary on they weren’t the “real” top 2 seeds, yes they were. Look at the draw, look at the number beside them. You can argue that Wimbledon points should be counted which is valid and would have changed things but real means reality. And the reality as we live in and breathe, is that they were the number 1 and number 2 seed. We can’t change reality.
 
socallefty said:
So, you don’t believe Nadal when he says the balls favor flatter hitters after a few games? Can’t be good for Tsitsipas, Nadal, Ruud, Sinner etc.. Big servers like Medvedev, Fritz, Hurkacz might thrive better than usual in the second week along with those like Medvedev, Djokovic who can flatten their groundstrokes and still be consistent.
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Two of the high spin top seeded players out to flatter hitters - many players including Djokovic have talked about the balls fluffing up now. Let’s see if Fritz can pull out of his tailspin today. Wondering if Tsitsipas and Sinner will be affected by these balls too.
 
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