"The 40 Greatest Players of the Tennis Era"(2005)who would be in, who would be out???

juanparty

juanparty

Hall of Fame
In celebration of their 40th anniversary (1965–2005), Tennis Magazine put together a detailed listing of the 40 best players of the last four decades.

1. Pete Sampras
2. Martina Navratilova
3. Steffi Graf
4. Chris Evert
5. Björn Borg
6. Margaret Court
7. Jimmy Connors
8. Rod Laver
9. Billie Jean King
10. Ivan Lendl
11. John McEnroe
12. Andre Agassi
13. Monica Seles
14. Stefan Edberg
15. Mats Wilander
16. John Newcombe
17. Serena Williams
18. Boris Becker
19. Roger Federer
20. Ken Rosewall
21. Roy Emerson
22. Martina Hingis
23. Evonne Goolagong Cawley
24. Guillermo Vilas
25. Venus Williams
26. Jim Courier
27. Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
28. Ilie Năstase
29. Lindsay Davenport
30. Arthur Ashe
31. Justine Henin
32. Tracy Austin
33. Hana Mandlíková
34. Lleyton Hewitt
35. Stan Smith
36. Jennifer Capriati
37. Gustavo Kuerten
38. Virginia Wade
39. Patrick Rafter
40. Gabriela Sabatini

please no GOAT discussion!!Ok the question is simple..., if the list be released at this moment in your personal opinion, who would be out of the list, and who would be in. (1965-2011)

Only rule: Milos Raonic is banned in this thread..
 
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Obviously Federer will move in the Top 5.
Nadal will enter the list and move into Top 8.
Henin will move up the ranking.
Djokovic will enter the ranking.
 
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Federer in the top three, certainly. Nadal somewhere between 9-11. Sorry Pat, but I think we can officially replace him with Djokovic now.
 
Few thoughts
1. Clijsters would be on there, probably in the top 30
2. Henin would be higher, 2006 and 2007 were arguably her 2 best years
3. Federer would definitely be a LOT higher, safely in the top 5, probably number 1 or 2
4. Pete, down you go
5. Serena would be a few spots higher
6. Djokovic might make the list now
7. Rafa easily in the top 15, probably closer to number 10, and possibly in the future even higher

So adding in Kim, Rafa and Novak that bumps off Sabatini, Rafter and Wade.
 
boredone3456 said:
Few thoughts
1. Clijsters would be on there, probably in the top 30
2. Henin would be higher, 2006 and 2007 were arguably her 2 best years
3. Federer would definitely be a LOT higher, safely in the top 5, probably number 1 or 2
4. Pete, down you go
5. Serena would be a few spots higher
6. Djokovic might make the list now
7. Rafa easily in the top 15, probably closer to number 10, and possibly in the future even higher

So adding in Kim, Rafa and Novak that bumps off Sabatini, Rafter and Wade.
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clever decision.
 
Vilas better than McEnroe or Edberg or Becker, because he won on clay and grass, Edberg, Becker and McEnroe only on fast courts.
 
jean pierre said:
Vilas better than McEnroe or Edberg or Becker, because he won on clay and grass, Edberg, Becker and McEnroe only on fast courts.
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4 should NEVER be > than 7. They all won 3 out of 4. And to be fair, Edberg, Boris and Mac they all won Wimbledon.
 
Federer and Nadal, as a few have pointed out would enter the list but relatively speaking they would not be ranked over Navratilova, Evert and Graf. I don't have any idea how Sampras, with 60 some odd tournament wins and 14 majors would rank over Navratilova with 167 tournament wins and 18 majors, Evert with 154?? (could be 155) tournaments won and 18 majors or Graf with 107 tournament wins and 22 majors.

I think Kim Clijsters should be on the list, maybe in the twenties somewhere. Maybe Gaby or Capriati could be off the list.
 
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pc1 said:
Federer and Nadal, as a few have pointed out would enter the list but relatively speaking they would not be ranked over Navratilova, Evert and Graf. I don't have any idea how Sampras, with 60 some odd tournament wins and 14 majors would rank over Navratilova with 167 tournament wins and 18 majors, Evert with 154?? (could be 155) tournaments won and 18 majors or Graf with 107 tournament wins and 22 majors.

I think Kim Clijsters should be on the list, maybe in the twenties somewhere. Maybe Gaby or Capriati could be off the list.
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my thoughts exactly.. Graf has won each GS tournament at least 4 times - no other tennis player, male of female has even come close. the editors who came up with the ranking must have had fried eggs for brains.
 
boredone3456 said:
Few thoughts
1. Clijsters would be on there, probably in the top 30
2. Henin would be higher, 2006 and 2007 were arguably her 2 best years
3. Federer would definitely be a LOT higher, safely in the top 5, probably number 1 or 2
4. Pete, down you go
5. Serena would be a few spots higher
6. Djokovic might make the list now
7. Rafa easily in the top 15, probably closer to number 10, and possibly in the future even higher

So adding in Kim, Rafa and Novak that bumps off Sabatini, Rafter and Wade.
Click to expand...

Sorry, can't add them, it's up to 2005, not after 2005. Which means all of Nadal's winnings after that RG aren't included. so :razz:

@OP, is the list there for their ranking or for counting purposes?
 
Manus Domini said:
Sorry, can't add them, it's up to 2005, not after 2005. Which means all of Nadal's winnings after that RG aren't included. so :razz:

@OP, is the list there for their ranking or for counting purposes?
Click to expand...

I don't know if you are joking or not, but I get the fact that this list is up to 2005...but the OP asked if the list were redone now, how might it look different, as it says counting from 1965-2011...so in other words how would it change if we factored in everything that happened since 2005, is the OP's question in posting this list, as he says.

If the list were re-released using those years (1965-2011) as parameters, my decisions wouldn't be so unreasonable.
 
boredone3456 said:
I don't know if you are joking or not, but I get the fact that this list is up to 2005...but the OP asked if the list were redone now, how might it look different, as it says counting from 1965-2011...so in other words how would it change if we factored in everything that happened since 2005, is the OP's question in posting this list, as he says.

If the list were re-released using those years (1965-2011) as parameters, my decisions wouldn't be so unreasonable.
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Oops, didn't read that part. I stand corrected.

/embarrased :oops:

Still, is the list for ranking purposes or just as a counting method?
 
Well, I look at it this way - if they released a list in 2010, it would be to celebrate the 45th anniversary, so it would have 45 players. (too early for 2011 anniversary).

So, if I had to add 5 more players to the list who are not already on it (no ordering):

Nadal
Clijsters
Djokovic
Venus Williams
??? (Safin maybe? - not really any other strong candidates for inclusion)
 
OrangePower said:
Well, I look at it this way - if they released a list in 2010, it would be to celebrate the 45th anniversary, so it would have 45 players. (too early for 2011 anniversary).

So, if I had to add 5 more players to the list who are not already on it (no ordering):

Nadal
Clijsters
Djokovic
Venus Williams
??? (Safin maybe? - not really any other strong candidates for inclusion)
Click to expand...

I think Venus is there already but maybe she could be higher now.
 
pc1 said:
I think Venus is there already but maybe she could be higher now.
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Venus might be a little higher, although I don't know how much. She did add 2005, 2007 and 2008's Wimbledon's as well as the 2008 YEC, so depending on when in 2005 the list was made (I remember reading it when it was first published but can't remember exactly when), she could stand to move up a few spaces. She's at 25 now, so maybe like, 2 or 3 spots? I wouldn't put her in the top 20 thought, her record is to Wimbledon Centric for me.
 
OrangePower said:
Well, I look at it this way - if they released a list in 2010, it would be to celebrate the 45th anniversary, so it would have 45 players. (too early for 2011 anniversary).

So, if I had to add 5 more players to the list who are not already on it (no ordering):

Nadal
Clijsters
Djokovic
Venus Williams
??? (Safin maybe? - not really any other strong candidates for inclusion)
Click to expand...

Since Venus is on the list aready, Safin should make it easily.
 
juanparty said:
In celebration of their 40th anniversary (1965–2005), Tennis Magazine put together a detailed listing of the 40 best players of the last four decades.

1. Pete Sampras
2. Martina Navratilova
3. Steffi Graf
4. Chris Evert
5. Björn Borg
6. Margaret Court
7. Jimmy Connors ...
Click to expand...

LOL!
Navratilova ahead of Graf, Evert ahead of Court!
Who has more than 20 slams and a Grand Slam?

And Connors ahead of Laver - can it get any dumber??


Please stop trolling.
 
what i want to know about the original list in '05 is how Borg and Connors are higher than Laver, yet whenever the GOAT discussion begins it's always Laver's vs Fed or Pete around this forum and even in sports critics talk
 
pc1 said:
I think Venus is there already but maybe she could be higher now.
Click to expand...

My bad, didn't notice her on the original list.

Kinda sad really how there are not really that many great players who surfaced between 2005 and now, other than Nadal and Clijsters, and maybe Novak (although I don't really think of him as a 'great' yet)
 
boredone3456 said:
So adding in Kim, Rafa and Novak that bumps off Sabatini, Rafter and Wade.
Click to expand...

Agree with that. Rafa goes somewhere in the top 15, Djoker just cracks the list and Kim goes a bit ahead of Djoker.

For those saying Safin should go ahead of Djoker or Hewitt, settle down. We know they all have 2 majors each, but let's compare the career winning percentages of the 3 and the number of overall titles won.

Safin- 61.2% and 15 titles.
Djoker- 75.9% and 19 titles
Hewitt- 73.6% and 29 titles.

On his best day, Safin was awesome. But a guy that loses almost 39% of his career matches doesn't deserve to be ahead of Hewitt or even a young Djokovic.
 
forzamilan90 said:
what i want to know about the original list in '05 is how Borg and Connors are higher than Laver, yet whenever the GOAT discussion begins it's always Laver's vs Fed or Pete around this forum and even in sports critics talk
Click to expand...

The original article said, if I remember correctly, is that it only counted achievements from 1965 and on. I believe it expressly said if entire careers were counted, both Laver and Rosewall would rank much higher.
 
Joe Pike said:
LOL!
Navratilova ahead of Graf, Evert ahead of Court!
Who has more than 20 slams and a Grand Slam?

And Connors ahead of Laver - can it get any dumber??


Please stop trolling.
Click to expand...

no but do they have American citizenship
200px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png
 
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