The best RG moment?

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It has to be Novak Djokovic finally winning Roland Garros and completing the NCYGS.

So be it.

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is there a chance this year's french open could be cancelled ? Tennis channel was talking like it could be. but i haven't heard anything to this regard from the french tennis federation
 
Even tho it was at the expense of Murray, i have to say that it was Djokovic finally winning it. I feel like everyone watching wanted him to finally get it after the heartbreaking loss to Wawrinka the previous year and when he got it, it just felt right. Nadal getting beaten by Soderling was also pretty damn satisfying.
 
So many huge moments.

Just from recent memory:

Rafa's 2012 title (his most emotional RG win?)

Rafa's first major title, and the beginning of the narrative and immense pressure on Federer to complete the career GS

Muster finally winning one

GUGA's victories and signing of the court, and the arrival of poly as the most important tennis tech innovation since graphite.

Federer career GS in 2009

Hingis having the wild meltdown against Steffi

Schiavone coming from the clouds against Stosur

Sharapova's career GS and outliving her own hilarious "Cow on Ice" remark

Djokovic endless pursuit of the career GS and epic losses to Rafa, and eventually overthrowing in 2015, and finally the title in the chaotic, rained-out 2016 RG
 
Subway Tennis said:
So many huge moments.

Just from recent memory:

Rafa's 2012 title (his most emotional RG win?)

Rafa's first major title, and the beginning of the narrative and immense pressure on Federer to complete the career GS

Muster finally winning one

GUGA's victories and signing of the court, and the arrival of poly as the most important tennis tech innovation since graphite.

Federer career GS in 2009

Hingis having the wild meltdown against Steffi

Schiavone coming from the clouds against Stosur

Sharapova's career GS and outliving her own hilarious "Cow on Ice" remark

Djokovic endless pursuit of the career GS and epic losses to Rafa, and eventually overthrowing in 2015, and finally the title in the chaotic, rained-out 2016 RG
Click to expand...

I would add Chang's remarkable run to the title in 1989 and the stunning turnaround of 2004. Who would ever have expected outcomes like that?
 
Nole Slam said:
It has to be Novak Djokovic finally winning Roland Garros and completing the NCYGS.

So be it.
Click to expand...
I can never reconcile the fact that the same people who downplay clay get so much satisfaction from their favourite player winning on it. No further evidence is needed that the reason they malign clay is simply sour grapes that Rafael Nadal dominates it from start to finish.
 
Last edited:
Terenigma said:
Even tho it was at the expense of Murray, i have to say that it was Djokovic finally winning it. I feel like everyone watching wanted him to finally get it after the heartbreaking loss to Wawrinka the previous year and when he got it, it just felt right. Nadal getting beaten by Soderling was also pretty damn satisfying.
Click to expand...
Lol...Yeah, poor Djokovic "only" won 3 slams in a row before that, lots of masters, WTF. Yet everyone should feel bad for him because he lost 1 match in this period? I guess it means you hope he will never lose a match again, after all he has to make up for the 180+ losses he had in his career.
 
Chang's RG run was the most dramatic and impressive (since the late '80s), but my fave is Guga's last hurrah where he famously saved a MP vs. Michael Russell in the 4th round and proceeded to put on two consecutive exhibitions in the SF and F vs. top dirtballers in Ferrero* and Corretja, culminating in that beloved I-heart-you-all celebration which Novak of course awkwardly tried to copy.

*I didn't get a chance to expand on this in the other thread, but it's rare to see a member of the 60% Club defeating another one so comprehensively en route to a FO win as Guga dispatched Ferrero (61.2% vs. 60.8%, both career highs) in the '01 SF. For comparison here are the remaining 60er-vs.-60er examples since 1991 (encompassing entire CC seasons but excluding DC), with career highs marked "CH" and non-finalist runs/5-set victories in brackets:

1993 QF [& F] - Bruguera (62.1% but a historic 68.8% at RG) def. Sampras (CH 60.3%) [and Courier (co-CH 64.3%, along with '92)]
1995 F - Muster (CH 62.0%) def. Chang (an exact 60%)
[2003 QF - Coria (CH 64.1%, inflated from playing Buenos Aires, Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel & Sopot outside the regular CC season) def. Agassi (61.3%, ditto from playing Houston)]
2005 SF - Nadal (a similarly misleading 65.1%) def. Federer (CH 60.7%)
2008 SF - Nadal (a whopping 67.8% and an even more historic 75.7% at RG!) def. Djokovic (61.3%)
[2011 3R - Djokovic (CH 63.1% but a more pedestrian 60.9% at RG) def. del Potro (CH 60.7%, though skipping Monte Carlo and playing Estoril did help)]
2012 SF - Nadal (CH 68% and another historic 71.0% at RG) def. Ferrer (60.9%, again inflated as David played Buenos Aires, Acapulco and Bastad outside the regular CC season)
2015 QF [& SF] - Djokovic (62.3%) def. Nadal (60.7% - also misleading as Rafa played Rio, Buenos Aires & Hamburg in addition to the regular CC events) [& Murray (CH 60.1%)]

So we've got only 4 straight-set beatdowns visited upon fellow 60ers at RG since '91, and once you understand that '12 Ferru and '15 Rafa look better than they really were you're left with the '95 final and the '08 SF only, both of which were pretty competitive (Chang gave Muster a real scare early in the match despite the lopsided scoreline). Now you can see why many observers feel Kuerten when on might have been the most dangerous dirtballer ever, and also why his similar beatdown on Fed at '04 RG was due less to Roger still finding his footing - he won 59.7% of his games on clay that year, his 3rd highest % to date though he did play and win Gstaad after Wimbledon - than to Guga turning back the clock for one final masterclass.

A few more things about the list:

- The fact that we've got more examples from the '00s and '10s even though there were more members of the 60% Club in the pre-Fedal era has to do not only with its superior depth but also the oft-overlooked expansion of seedings from 16 to 32.
- Looking back Fed and even Novak never had more than a puncher's chance to dethrone prime Nadal at RG. Borg is the only dirtballer of the modern era who has shown similar dominance on clay, and while I do think the likes of Lendl, Wilander, Courier, Bruguera and Kuerten at their peak would've had a better shot to steal a FO or two from lesser versions of Rafa even they'd be hard-pressed to get the job done in '08 and probably '12 (maybe push him to 5 sets, but that's it).
- I didn't go into detail re: Bruguera's and Muster's own participation in lesser CC events because surface specialization was indeed a thing in the '90s and rankings then are a poor measure of players' surface prowess (especially for the Spaniard who'd often go through the motions before and after RG), but for completeness' sake here are the extra events Sergi and Thomas played outside the regular CC season: Gstaad, Stuttgart, Hilversum, Prague and Palermo for Bruguera ; Mexico City, St. Polten, Gstaad, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, San Marino, Umag and Bucharest for Muster.
 
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