BGod
G.O.A.T.
Much of what gets lost with Federer's dominant period is how well he played when favoured and when out in front.
The Next Gen, including LostGen has suffered from the very real mental problem of expectation.
Today was a prime example. Alcaraz has been the #1 (fraudulently or not) and is now expected to cruise to Semis and Finals of a Slam. Zverev rightly or not was a 5-1 underdog (you know I took that action) and Alcaraz came out flat. However when Zverev was up a break and serving for the match he began to choke (ala 2020 USO). So Alcaraz seemed pumped and with all the momentum on his side went on to get broken to open the 4th set, then broke back and at 4-4 pissed himself. But it's not like Zverev stopped trying to give Alcaraz more hope, it's just that Alcaraz outchoked Zverev,.
This is ROUTINE my God.
So now by default some of these young stars have won but even in their wins they often just become about who outchokes the other. Musetti finally winning a Final comes to mind last year.
Say what you want but at least Federer choked in mostly matches he was expected to win or dead even. It doesn't excuse the choking but he wasn't expected to win those matches. Of course all Big 3 DID have some bad losses but overall in their careers for big matches at Slams???? Extremely rare. Novak himself arguably only has 2012 USO Murray and 2021 USO Daniil as his absolute worst expected victories (Yup, I'm invoking Stanimal being a bad matchup in later Slam rounds).
And this explains a lot of these ON PAPER marathon matches. They're just out there seeing who chokes last. Now of course as they get older SOME wisdom will set in but this is another reason the future of tennis is doomed.
Just watch what happens if/when Sinner, Rune, Alcaraz, etc truly take over. Not one of them will be able to dominate for 2-3 year stretches or even close. I HOPE I'm wrong.
The Next Gen, including LostGen has suffered from the very real mental problem of expectation.
Today was a prime example. Alcaraz has been the #1 (fraudulently or not) and is now expected to cruise to Semis and Finals of a Slam. Zverev rightly or not was a 5-1 underdog (you know I took that action) and Alcaraz came out flat. However when Zverev was up a break and serving for the match he began to choke (ala 2020 USO). So Alcaraz seemed pumped and with all the momentum on his side went on to get broken to open the 4th set, then broke back and at 4-4 pissed himself. But it's not like Zverev stopped trying to give Alcaraz more hope, it's just that Alcaraz outchoked Zverev,.
This is ROUTINE my God.
So now by default some of these young stars have won but even in their wins they often just become about who outchokes the other. Musetti finally winning a Final comes to mind last year.
Say what you want but at least Federer choked in mostly matches he was expected to win or dead even. It doesn't excuse the choking but he wasn't expected to win those matches. Of course all Big 3 DID have some bad losses but overall in their careers for big matches at Slams???? Extremely rare. Novak himself arguably only has 2012 USO Murray and 2021 USO Daniil as his absolute worst expected victories (Yup, I'm invoking Stanimal being a bad matchup in later Slam rounds).
And this explains a lot of these ON PAPER marathon matches. They're just out there seeing who chokes last. Now of course as they get older SOME wisdom will set in but this is another reason the future of tennis is doomed.
Just watch what happens if/when Sinner, Rune, Alcaraz, etc truly take over. Not one of them will be able to dominate for 2-3 year stretches or even close. I HOPE I'm wrong.
