Most unplayable player in a tournament?

vanioMan

vanioMan

Legend
What's the highest level that a certain tournament has "seen" from a certain player?

Like this:

AO - (insert player X from year Y)
IW -
Miami -
MC -
Rome -
Hamburg/Madrid -
RG -
Wimbledon -
Canada -
Cincinnati -
US Open -
Shanghai/Madrid -
Paris -
WTF -

Like:

Monte-Carlo - 2010 Nadal
Rome - 2012 Nadal
RG - 2008 Nadal/1980 Borg ?

Including the past players, of course.
 
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Nadal RG 08 takes the cake...wouldn't say Rome '12, at least not the final vs. Djoko

Djoko AO '11 comes close

Fed has had several unplayable matches, probably more than either Rafa or Nole, but not a whole tourney, at least not in Grand Slams (easier for me to mentally restrict it to this)

Murray almost lost in the QF of Wimby '13 and the USO '12 final, so no go for him.
 
Djokovic in 2015 - in every tournament. The guy doesn't let you hit winners - he gets everything back (the *******! lol) and he doesn't make unforced error (the son of a *****! lol). In 2015, he epitomises the perfect tennis player.
 
AO - (insert player X from year Y)
IW -
Miami -
MC -
Rome -
Hamburg/Madrid -
RG -
Wimbledon -
Canada -
Cincinnati -
US Open -
Shanghai/Madrid -
Paris -
WTF -

That's what I meant.
 
Fully retired players (so they don't even play legends or champions tour or whatever it's called).
 
I'm only doing "recent" years at it makes the most sense for this era.

AO - Djoko 2011/ Federer 2007
IW - No-one (maybe Federer 2005)
Miami - No-one (again, maybe Djoko 2012)
MC - Nadal 2008/2010
Rome - Nadal in most years, Djoko 2011
Hamburg/Madrid - No-one
RG - Nadal 2008
Wimbledon - Federer 2005/2006
Canada - Nadal 2013
Cincinnati - Federer 2005/2007/2009/2012/2015
US Open - Federer 2006/Nadal 2010
Shanghai/Madrid - Djokovic 2015
Paris - Djokovic 2014
WTF - Federer 2006/2007/2010, Djoko 2012/2014
 
Krish872007 said:
I'm only doing "recent" years at it makes the most sense for this era.

AO - Djoko 2011/ Federer 2007
IW - No-one (maybe Federer 2005)
Miami - No-one (again, maybe Djoko 2012)
MC - Nadal 2008/2010
Rome - Nadal in most years, Djoko 2011
Hamburg/Madrid - No-one
RG - Nadal 2008
Wimbledon - Federer 2005/2006
Canada - Nadal 2013
Cincinnati - Federer 2005/2007/2009/2012/2015
US Open - Federer 2006/Nadal 2010
Shanghai/Madrid - Djokovic 2015
Paris - Djokovic 2014
WTF - Federer 2006/2007/2010, Djoko 2012/2014
Click to expand...

Nice. Very objective post :)
 
Loved that Montreal 2013 SF.
Seriously high quality match.
 
vanioMan said:
Nice. Very objective post :)
Click to expand...

Thanks, I try :)
Tbh, the whole "tournament" thing is interesting as it's more difficult to pin down/maintain high level across 4, 5, 6 or 7 matches. Only real obvious one was Nadal 2008 RG.
At Indian Wells, for instance, almost all the winners every year managed to clown away a few sets before produce fantastic performances in the SFs or Final.
 
Firstservingman said:
Loved that Montreal 2013 SF.
Seriously high quality match.
Click to expand...

Yeah, though both players were too close to each other and so neither were remotely unplayable in the Canadian Open. I can't think of a good choice for the Canadian Open. There aren't super obvious choices for many of the tournaments and some are almost impossible to pick for, such as the Canadian Open or IW.
 
Nathaniel_Near said:
Yeah, though both players were too close to each other and so neither were remotely unplayable in the Canadian Open. I can't think of a good choice for the Canadian Open. There aren't super obvious choices for many of the tournaments and some are almost impossible to pick for, such as the Canadian Open or IW.
Click to expand...

IW modern times I just went with '05 because no set was dropped. No-one really plays that well in Canada though lol
 
Krish872007 said:
IW modern times I just went with '05 because no set was dropped. No-one really plays that well in Canada though lol
Click to expand...

I understand but just can't do it for Federer. I could give him Cincy 2012 (serve not even broken right?) but I just don't think Federer's level on slower HC is that special and that the following generation collectively provided much stiffer opposition on that sort of surface than Federer's rivals in the early periods of his dominance.

So yeah, hard for me to ever see Federer as the most unplayable at IW or Miami or any slow HC... one of the best or arguably the best sure, just not unplayable.


As for RG, even that's difficult. Obviously, if we go by recent years it's Nadal, but Borg holds the record actually for the most dominant RG performances by games won and lost. I think 2008 comes third.
 
Nathaniel_Near said:
I understand but just can't do it for Federer. I could give him Cincy 2012 (serve not even broken right?) but I just don't think Federer's level on slower HC is that special and that the following generation collectively provided much stiffer opposition on that sort of surface than Federer's rivals in the early periods of his dominance.

So yeah, hard for me to ever see Federer as the most unplayable at IW or Miami or any slow HC... one of the best or arguably the best sure, just not unplayable.


As for RG, even that's difficult. Obviously, if we go by recent years it's Nadal, but Borg holds the record actually for the most dominant RG performances.
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He did the serve not broken thing at Cincy again this year lol, facing Novak in both tourneys too.

Borg RG 1978 = crazy.
 
Firstservingman said:
He did the serve not broken thing at Cincy again this year lol, facing Novak in both tourneys too.

Borg RG 1978 = crazy.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think Federer's Cincy record is incredible and suitably dominant to select him for that event at least considering more recent years. Imagining him against Sampras there is quite delicious and it goes without saying that greats playing at their best can all beat each other sometimes in most conditions but I'm fairly happy to give the nod to Federer for Cincy.

Borg and Nadal at RG are crazy in terms of sheer dominance over the field, with special mentions for 1978, 1980 and 2008.

There are certain HC conditions where I see Djokovic as virtually unplayable also.
 
Nathaniel_Near said:
Yeah, I think Federer's Cincy record is incredible and suitably dominant to select him for that event at least considering more recent years. Imagining him against Sampras there is quite delicious and it goes without saying that greats playing at their best can all beat each other sometimes in most conditions but I'm fairly happy to give the nod to Federer for Cincy.

Borg and Nadal at RG are crazy in terms of sheer dominance over the field, with special mentions for 1978, 1980 and 2008.

There are certain HC conditions where I see Djokovic as virtually unplayable also.
Click to expand...

I'm of the opinion that Federer at his best is better than Djokovic at his best everywhere. I simply value Federer's all court arsenal of weapons more when he's firing on all cylinders. What Djokovic has is a higher average and more consistent top level on slower HC's and maybe also clay.
 
NatF said:
I'm of the opinion that Federer at his best is better than Djokovic at his best everywhere. I simply value Federer's all court arsenal of weapons more when he's firing on all cylinders. What Djokovic has is a higher average and more consistent top level on slower HC's and maybe also clay.
Click to expand...

Everywhere? Slower surfaces is really not the only conditions where djoko can beat the best of federer.

Federer had arguably one of his best forms ever at Wimbledon and USO this year (if we look at stats and personal records he broke, also how he was playing) and Djokovic dismantled him in 4 sets at two of Feds best tournaments.

Djokovic has shown enough everywhere that he could challenge the best of Federer. It is not a silly thought at all.
 
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Djokovic's average level is a tad closer to his peak that Fedal's average levels. That's why he is so good.

We can discuss smaller events too, like Doha, Dubai, Barcelona, Halle, Queens, Beijing, Tokyo and etc.
 
RF-18 said:
Everywhere? Slower surfaces is really not the only conditions where djoko can beat the best of federer.

Federer had arguably one of his best forms ever at Wimbledon and USO this year (if we look at stats and personal records he broke, also how he was playing) and Djokovic dismantled him in 4 sets at two of Feds best tournaments.

Djokovic has shown enough everywhere that he could challenge the best of Federer. It is not a silly thought at all.
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I didn't say Djokovic couldn't challenge Federer everywhere did I? I said I would favor Federer at his very best against Djokovic at his very best. I could have meant Federer to edge Djokovic in 5 set thrillers everywhere...
 
Krish872007 said:
I'm only doing "recent" years at it makes the most sense for this era.

AO - Djoko 2011/ Federer 2007
IW - No-one (maybe Federer 2005)
Miami - No-one (again, maybe Djoko 2012)
MC - Nadal 2008/2010
Rome - Nadal in most years, Djoko 2011
Hamburg/Madrid - No one
RG - Nadal 2008
Wimbledon - Federer 2005/2006
Canada - Nadal 2013
Cincinnati - Federer 2005/2007/2009/2012/2015
US Open - Federer 2006/Nadal 2010
Shanghai/Madrid - Djokovic 2015
Paris - Djokovic 2014
WTF - Federer 2006/2007/2010, Djoko 2012/2014
Click to expand...
Djoko 2011 again? ;)
 
Krish872007 said:
I'm only doing "recent" years at it makes the most sense for this era.

AO - Djoko 2011/ Federer 2007
IW - No-one (maybe Federer 2005)
Miami - No-one (again, maybe Djoko 2012)
MC - Nadal 2008/2010
Rome - Nadal in most years, Djoko 2011
Hamburg/Madrid - No-one
RG - Nadal 2008
Wimbledon - Federer 2005/2006
Canada - Nadal 2013
Cincinnati - Federer 2005/2007/2009/2012/2015
US Open - Federer 2006/Nadal 2010
Shanghai/Madrid - Djokovic 2015
Paris - Djokovic 2014
WTF - Federer 2006/2007/2010, Djoko 2012/2014
Click to expand...

Djokovic2011 said:
Djoko 2011 again? ;)
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Nope. That award goes to Federer Hamburg 2005.

He beat;

Verdasco, Berdych, Robredo, Coria, Davydenko and Gasquet in a row without dropping a set.
 
NatF said:
So in other words...you are the moral victor.
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Not at all. I am a Rafa fan, but even I am not petty enough to try to detract from Djokovic's superiority to every single player in tennis right now and I think he was and is the most unplayable player in any tournament in 2015 (how else do you explain him being the favourite for EVERY SINGLE TOURNAMENT he participates in). I proudly admit it and I praise him for it. If Rafa fans and Fed fans cannot handle that, that's their problem - not mine. Morality doesn't even begin to come into it.

Note: Even in his most dominant years, 2005 & 06, Federer was never the favourite for EVERY SINGLE TOURNAMENT he participated in.
 
Levi_Ackerman said:
Not at all. I am a Rafa fan, but even I am not petty enough to try to detract from Djokovic's superiority to every single player in tennis right now and I think he was and is the most unplayable player in any tournament in 2015 (how else do you explain him being the favourite for EVERY SINGLE TOURNAMENT he participates in). I proudly admit it and I praise him for it. If Rafa fans and Fed fans cannot handle that, that's their problem - not mine. Morality doesn't even begin to come into it.

Note: Even in his most dominant years, 2005 & 06, Federer was never the favourite for EVERY SINGLE TOURNAMENT he participated in.
Click to expand...

You missed the joke :(

I've given Djokovic lots of props for this. It's on the way to being the second best year of the Open Era.
 
Federer still remains the only player to have not lost a set on his way to winning a HC slam. Djokovic could have been another but he lost a set to Dodig at the AO in 2011.
 
Krajicek was unplayable at Wimbledon 1996. He lost a set, but he straight-setted both Sampras (three time defending champion) and Stich, both Wimbledon champions, and didn't give any opportunity to his opponents. When his serve was on and he was confident, he was probably one of the most, if not the most, unplayable player in tennis history - on medium-fast/fast surfaces.

Also, Borg's run at the FO 1978 deserves to be mentioned - arguably the most dominant performance in a Major tournament in Open era.
 
Krish872007 said:
The loss to Gonzo wasn't fantastic, but it was definitely one of the great modern WTF tournaments - finishing with exhibition showings against Roddick, Nadal and Ferrer in succession.
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I think I may have meant 2006 after all, though 2007 certainly was amazing too hahaha :D

That old Shanghai court was a blast.
 
SpinToWin said:
I think I may have meant 2006 after all, though 2007 certainly was amazing too hahaha :D

That old Shanghai court was a blast.
Click to expand...

Definately not 2006, he was down match points to Roddick and dropped the first set to Nalbandian. His overall form at the 2007 YEC was better, he just happened upon a GOAT'ing Gonzalez.
 
AO - Rosewall 1971 or Federer 2007 (Honorable mention to Agassi 2003, Safin 2005)
IW - Federer 2005 (HM to Becker 1987)
Miami - Federer 2006 or Djokovic 2007 (HM to Muster 1997, and Rios 1998)
MC - Borg 1980 (HM to Rios 1997)
Rome - Vilas 1980 (HM to Agassi 2002)
Hamburg/Madrid - Federer 2005 (HM to Carlsson 1988, Aguilera 1990, Medvedev 1997)
RG - Borg 1978 or Nadal 2008 (HM to Nastase 1973, Vilas 1977)
Wimbledon - Borg 1976 (HM to Budge 1938)
Canada - Vilas 1974
Cincinnati - Federer 2015 (HM to Sampras 1999, Edberg 1987)
US Open - Sedgman 1952 or Trabert 1955 (Honourable mentions to Agassi 1994, Federer 2004)
Shanghai/Madrid - Becker 1990 (HM to Federer 2006)
Paris - Ivanisavic 1993 (HM to Enqvist 1996, Henman 2003)
WTF - Lendl 1986
 
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