The Player that brought YOU the most joy in your lifetime

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Many believed he wouldn't make it that far, and he proved them wrong.
 
Azure said:
Cool choice :D
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He does weird stuff, like instead of hitting a fh volley winner, does this weird thing where he takes the other side of the ball and makes into a bh. Bascially hitting the backside of an incoming ball, so skilled.

Wish youtube had more vids of him. Greatest shot maker of all time
 
Azure said:
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I remember Seles from before she was stabbed. Steffi, who seemed almost invincible used to get annihilated by Seles. I really thought she would end up the women’s GOAT.

Her game to me wasn’t pretty and the shreiking at the time was scandalous and looked like gamesmanship. But no denying the power and influence of her game.

Another teenage wonder was Capriati before the scandals.

The wta these days is lame compared to the 90s
 
NKDM said:
I remember Seles from before she was stabbed. Steffi, who seemed almost invincible got annihilated by Seles at times. I really thought she would end up the women’s GOAT at the time.

Her game to me wasn’t pretty and the shreiking at the time was scandalous and looked like gamesmanship. But no denying the power of her game.

Another teenage wonder was Capriati before the scandals.

The wta these days is lame compared to the 90s
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If you notice the general preference of my player lists in both WTA and ATP it's the ones with the greatest mental strength. I admire people who show the greatest mental fortitude.
 
1. Agassi: I grew up watching the last 6 years of his career and he is what got me into tennis from watching at the USO stands.
2. Nadal: This guy is pure emotion. Grew up on him too as a kid and loved his capris and sleeveless shirts. I related to him the most since I grew up hitting thbh on both sides and hit with non-dominate arm.
 
I loved watching Stefan edberg. Loved his service motion, and serve, volley style. Pat rafter was great to watch as well. I wanted to play just like him. His backhand smash volley was spectacular! Then came Federer, which as it stands, has the most complete game that I have ever watched. I would get excited as a boy watching edberg and rafter but with Fed it’s pure emotion!


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NKDM said:
Since everyone is discussing their influences, lemme chime in with mine.

I’m 4 years older than Roger so my childhood influences are similar to his - mostly serve and volley players.

Edberg, Stich, Becker, Krajicek, Rafter, Cash, McEnroe, Navratilova and Steffi.

Agassi was a big departure for me in terms of game style but as a teenager his hair and aura probably made a bigger impact than anything else. :)

I’m a guy so never really understood when girls were fascinated with their Prince Charming fantasies but the closest I came was when Andre married Steffi. I seriously thought (or wished) Jaden Gil was going to be the perfect tennis child.

Little was I anticipating Roger to come along and sweep me off my feet. Love at first sight I tell you. I knew long before the media had started mentioning the GOAT angle that this guy would forever change the game.
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I am four years younger than Fed. So I have a similar list of 90s favourites as you. Would add Goran and Kuerten. Oh but I did like Sampras, my favourite before Fed came along.
 
Dolgopolov85 said:
I am four years younger than Fed. So I have a similar list of 90s favourites as you. Would add Goran and Kuerten. Oh but I did like Sampras, my favourite before Fed came along.
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My brother is ‘85 too. :)

Thankfully both of us bonded over our choices in tennis players Agassi and Fed. Otherwise there would be tensions in the family hehe
 
it was a tight race but it looks like the Baghdatis-conquering genius is just starting to edge ahead with the pollsters
 
slice bh compliment said:
Some really Great players mentioned above. Cool thread. So much joy.

Clearly, Federer has brought many tennis fans a lot of great moments over two decades of remarkable tennis.
But, on the less obvious side of this.... Personally i am thankful for the joy of:
Guga kuerten, marko baghdatis, hicham arazi, marcelo ríos, yannick noah, stan Wawrinka,
Dreddy tennis mon, karim alami, paddy rafter, johnny mac, Patrick cash, henri Leconte, guy forget, ronald agenor, goran ivanisevic, manuel orantes, and boris Becker. I only saw rod laver once. Joy.
Ah, and on the women's tour,
justine henin, amelie mauresmo, both martinas, and evonne goolagong.
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Justine, Maria Bueno, Goolagong, Mauresmo. Did not like either Martina, personality wise.
 
Federer. I started following tennis in the Sampras Agassi era, liked them both while favoring Andre more. When Federer came to power somehow his level felt like a level above all those previous greats. His ability of taking control of a neutral rally within 2 or 3 shots was really eye opening. In 2005 or 2006 there was a NYT tennis column deeming watching Fed play was a “religious” experience, which was an exaggeration but the fact that term was used says a lot of the prime Fed.

How many slams would Fed hold now if there weren’t Nadal and Djokovic? We are looking at ridiculous numbers like 30 or even 40. We should thank Nadal and Djokovic for saving tennis from a one man show. But they never reached the greatness scale like Fed did (and they are already old). I can understand why the younger tennis fans who didn’t experience Fed’s prime think Rafa and Novak are the best, but I know the reason was they didn’t watch Fed like when he was ruling the field.
 
Subway Tennis said:
Great image. I think for most of us whenever we see an illustration or photographic montage that includes either the 2012 or 2014 RG celebrations the emotions run pretty high. I wonder if the artist has done an updated version of that now to include 2018's result?
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I'm glad you mentioned 2012. It doesn't get much notice but I think for Rafa and his family and his team, it was one of the most notable. They managed to keep the dire injury to his knee out of the media and only the backstagers knew how bad it was. That's the year Rafa scrambled up into the stands and hugged his mom and dad and then looked for Toni and leaped up on him with his legs around his waist knocking the water bottle out of his hands.
While Rafa was being greeted by all the others in the box (including that incredible big bear hug from Pau Gasol where both had tears running down their cheeks), Toni went off to a chair on the side and put his face in his hands and sobbed and sobbed. None of them expected Rafa to be able to pull the win off with an injury serious enough that he played the match with his knee anesthetized.
After losing early at Wimbledon, he didn't play another match in 2012 or even early 2013. It was an incredible and amazing achievement for him to win that RG.
 
Roger Federer, even when I compare across all sports I follow(ed). For me he surpassed Tendulkar after 2011; something unimaginable for most Indians.
 
Got to be Lendl. There is always something special about your first memories, while back then there were times when I used to care about him winning more than I cared about enjoying the game. That hasn't been the case for a long time, which is why I have easily enjoyed watching each of the Big 3 members a lot of times without fanboyism involved.
 
vernonbc said:
I'm glad you mentioned 2012. It doesn't get much notice but I think for Rafa and his family and his team, it was one of the most notable. They managed to keep the dire injury to his knee out of the media and only the backstagers knew how bad it was. That's the year Rafa scrambled up into the stands and hugged his mom and dad and then looked for Toni and leaped up on him with his legs around his waist knocking the water bottle out of his hands.
While Rafa was being greeted by all the others in the box (including that incredible big bear hug from Pau Gasol where both had tears running down their cheeks), Toni went off to a chair on the side and put his face in his hands and sobbed and sobbed. None of them expected Rafa to be able to pull the win off with an injury serious enough that he played the match with his knee anesthetized.
After losing early at Wimbledon, he didn't play another match in 2012 or even early 2013. It was an incredible and amazing achievement for him to win that RG.
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I guess the only downside to Rafa's dominance on clay is that it's hard for individual achievements to stand out?
 
From my citizenship standpoint:
* Vilas 1977, the reason why I started playing tennis
* I also have to mention Del Potro heroics at Davis Cup 2016. Finally winning after so many letdowns: first of which, Cincinnati 1981 (Vilas-Clerc odd couple team), and toughest of which: Mar del Plata 2008.

Federer, as already said, always a religious experience (as David Foster Wallace once wrote)
 
John McEnroe is the one that got me hooked on tennis for life. When I first started watching in the late 1970's, Borg was just too dominant. My family rooted against this legendary clutch player, mainly because Borg's insane winning pct made tennis boring. So I learned to not like Borg either. I guess that's what you do when you are a kid. However, the rest of my family hated McEnroe while I liked him a lot. After all, he ended Borg's dominance in tennis by winning 3 out of his 4 matches vs Borg in slam match play. McEnroe did what everybody wanted him to do(end Borg's run). Granted, Mac's behavior is something that I wouldn't like today. But as a kid, I didn't really care. I also loved the play Mac played the game too.

On the flip side, the player that I hated the most of all time was Ivan Lendl. Once he was dialed in, he was practically unbeatable. I couldn't stand this guy. Nowadays, I really respect Lendl. But in the 1980s, I couldn't stand him. He is the one player that I treated like a villain and hoped that he lost. After all, he took down my childhood hero, which was a no-no back in the day.
 
Pheasant said:
John McEnroe is the one that got me hooked on tennis for life. When I first started watching in the late 1970's, Borg was just too dominant. My family rooted against this legendary clutch player, mainly because Borg's insane winning pct made tennis boring. So I learned to not like Borg either. I guess that's what you do when you are a kid. However, the rest of my family hated McEnroe while I liked him a lot. After all, he ended Borg's dominance in tennis by winning 3 out of his 4 matches vs Borg in slam match play. McEnroe did what everybody wanted him to do(end Borg's run). Granted, Mac's behavior is something that I wouldn't like today. But as a kid, I didn't really care. I also loved the play Mac played the game too.

On the flip side, the player that I hated the most of all time was Ivan Lendl. Once he was dialed in, he was practically unbeatable. I couldn't stand this guy. Nowadays, I really respect Lendl. But in the 1980s, I couldn't stand him. He is the one player that I treated like a villain and hoped that he lost. After all, he took down my childhood hero, which was a no-no back in the day.
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Interesting. Same feelings as mine regarding Borg - McEnroe. I was rooting for Borg in Wimbledon 1980, but after that one, I only rooted for Borg to win the US Open, which he could not.
Afterwards, I wanted Johnny Mac to always win.
I really did not like that McEnroe lost to Lendl in the RG 1984 final, but was happy for Lendl's first Slam.
 
Pheasant said:
John McEnroe is the one that got me hooked on tennis for life. When I first started watching in the late 1970's, Borg was just too dominant. My family rooted against this legendary clutch player, mainly because Borg's insane winning pct made tennis boring. So I learned to not like Borg either. I guess that's what you do when you are a kid. However, the rest of my family hated McEnroe while I liked him a lot. After all, he ended Borg's dominance in tennis by winning 3 out of his 4 matches vs Borg in slam match play. McEnroe did what everybody wanted him to do(end Borg's run). Granted, Mac's behavior is something that I wouldn't like today. But as a kid, I didn't really care. I also loved the play Mac played the game too.

On the flip side, the player that I hated the most of all time was Ivan Lendl. Once he was dialed in, he was practically unbeatable. I couldn't stand this guy. Nowadays, I really respect Lendl. But in the 1980s, I couldn't stand him. He is the one player that I treated like a villain and hoped that he lost. After all, he took down my childhood hero, which was a no-no back in the day.
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This may be very unfair to Novak’s talent and hardwork but somehow he’s got that reputation as a Lendl-like automaton which I believe may be the reason he doesn’t get the adulation he deserves. Do you see a parallel having watched Lendl?
 
NKDM said:
This may be very unfair to Novak’s talent and hardwork but somehow he’s got that reputation as a Lendl-like automaton which I believe may be the reason he doesn’t get the adulation he deserves. Do you see a parallel having watched Lendl?
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Sudacafan said:
Interesting. Same feelings as mine regarding Borg - McEnroe. I was rooting for Borg in Wimbledon 1980, but after that one, I only rooted for Borg to win the US Open, which he could not.
Afterwards, I wanted Johnny Mac to always win.
I really did not like that McEnroe lost to Lendl in the RG 1984 final, but was happy for Lendl's first Slam.
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The 1984 FO final killed me as a teenager. To this day, that is the most painful loss as a tennis fan and it isn't even close. With that being said, I like Lendl these days.
 
Federer, without a doubt. I've literally watched the guy since 1999 (I'm 36, btw). In a way I've felt like I have grown with him over the years. There have been times that I have literally jumped off of my sofa screaming at ridiculous shots/points that he has played, as well as screaming at him through the tv over silly shots/points he has played. There have been some epic highs and epic lows, but it has been one of hell of a ride watching him. For me, it will be a very sad day when he decides to hang up the racquets for good, and I know that day is coming very soon. It will sorta be the end of an era. I'm just happy for the all of the memories that he has brought and continues to bring me.
 
Is lleyton hewitt mentioned in this thread?
Much joy seeing him compete, even though i never liked his game, or his backhand. Or his serve. What an intense mover. Fiery competitor. Respect.

I loved seeing guga beat him in the indy sf, 2000.
He brought out the best in all of his more stylish opponents. Joy for the spectators.
 
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