The Quest for THE GRAND SLAM: The Final Leg

Sunny014 said:
Agassi is a more complete player than Sampras.

Had he focussed more in his early years then he would have had 10-12 slams and had the courts been like the modern day then Agassi would have been on 15 slams and Pete would be on 10 slams.

Agassi rocks !!!
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Again. This is a thread about players who were able to go for the Grand Slam.

If you want to debate Agassi and Sampras create your own thread.
 
SECOND ROUND

1933 JACK CRAWFORD (Australia)
Crawford beat former World #8, Seligson, 6-4, 6-3, 6-1
No. 1 seed Vines made easy progress in straights, while Fred Perry also progressed, dropping a set.

No 13 seed, Ito of Japan, was eliminated in straight sets.
 
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SECOND ROUND

1938 DONALD BUDGE (USA)
Budge lost only one game to American, Van Horn (future US pro champion)

Bobby Riggs lost a set but No.1 international seed, John Bromwich won in straights.

#13 seed Nakano was the only seeded player eliminated.
 
Spencer Gore said:
SECOND ROUND

1938 DONALD BUDGE (USA)
Budge lost only one game to American, Van Horn (future US pro champion)

Bobby Riggs lost a set but No.1 international seed, John Bromwich won in straights.

#13 seed Nakano was the only seeded player eliminated.
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Only one game? Two bagels, looks like Budge was on fire that day
 
SECOND ROUND

1956 LEW HOAD (Australia)
Hoad lost the first set but eventually defeated Dodson of the US, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-1.

Rosewall won in straight sets but Fraser and Seixas both lost a set.

No seeds were eliminated
 
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Spencer Gore said:
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I do not consider McDonalds a restaurant, but a fast food take out place.
 
Sunny014 said:
Call me when Novak is a Billionaire
Call me when Novak is not booed
Call me when Novak has 8 Wimbledons
Call me when Novak has 5 US opens
Call me when Novak has the most matches won in this century
Call me when Novak has the most titles won in this century
Call me when Novak has 6 WTFs
Call me when Novak has an impressive semi finals streak of at least 20+ in slams
Call me when Novak has a peak where he made 19 slams and made the finals in 18 of them
Call me when Novak is considered the GOAT in the media by the majority

Actually don't bother, you never will ......
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Of course not because your arguments are ridiculous. What most makes a player an ATG or GOAT are: Slams, YE and weeks at #1, Masters Titles, then WTF
 
thrust said:
Of course not because your arguments are ridiculous. What most makes a player an ATG or GOAT are: Slams, YE and weeks at #1, Masters Titles, then WTF
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People are like me in the real world, deal with it, nerds like you who give a lot of stress to stats to declare GOAT are in the minority, majority of us we decide by the eye test and iconic status.

Federer is the GOAT for the majority, you can keep your stats with you and feel happy, nobody cares.
 
Sunny014 said:
People are like me in the real world, deal with it, nerds like you who give a lot of stress to stats to declare GOAT are in the minority, majority of us we decide by the eye test and iconic status.

Federer is the GOAT for the majority, you can keep your stats with you and feel happy, nobody cares.
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First of all I did not say Novak is the GOAT, yet as neither he or Nadal have retired yet. In the tennis record books though, stats are what counts not who is most popular, richer or had the prettier game.
 
thrust said:
First of all I did not say Novak is the GOAT, yet as neither he or Nadal have retired yet. In the tennis record books though, stats are what counts not who is most popular, richer or had the prettier game.
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In the real world money matters..... Stature matters.

Rod Laver still comes to hand over trophies at slams while nobody invites emerson / rosewall, statswise emerson has most slams and rosewall has some great records too.... but Laver's class is permanent

Same is Fed, his stature is second to none.

Plus records will all broken, so it doesn't matter who has what, stature is more important than records.
 
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Sunny014 said:
In the real world money matters..... Stature matters.

Rod Laver still comes to hand over trophies at slams while nobody invites emerson / rosewall, statswise emerson has most slams and rosewall has some great records too.... but class is permanent

Same is Fed, his stature is second to none.

Plus records will all broken, so it doesn't matter who has what, stature is more important than records.
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Rosewall does get invited but he just ends up dissing the Next Gen publicly (I think Thiem was next gen at RG 19?) and so he's banned now lol.
 
Devtennis01 said:
Rosewall does get invited but he just ends up dissing the Next Gen publicly (I think Thiem was next gen at RG 19?) and so he's banned now lol.
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Rosewall is NOT banned, he is nearly 87 years old and has no desire now to travel from Australia to present trophies thousand miles away. He was nearly as great as Laver, having a good record vs Rod in Big matches, and just as classy a person as Rod is. Like it or not stats are what determines ATG or Goat players. Stats wise, Federer is NO longer the GOAT- ACCEPT THE REALITY!
 
thrust said:
Rosewall is NOT banned, he is nearly 87 years old and has no desire now to travel from Australia to present trophies thousand miles away. He was nearly as great as Laver, having a good record vs Rod in Big matches, and just as classy a person as Rod is. Like it or not stats are what determines ATG or Goat players. Stats wise, Federer is NO longer the GOAT- ACCEPT THE REALITY!
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Statswise Federer has the most wins and most titles, has most streak records, multiple wimbie, uso type records that signify peak levels, is still 2nd on weeks at 1, levelled at slams but even if loses lead there he will still be leading in titles on, overall his legacy even statistically is supreme.

But his true greatness is his iconic status and of course his brand value, he is the modern day laver, novak is emerson at max
 
Sunny014 said:
Statswise Federer has the most wins and most titles, has most streak records, multiple wimbie, uso type records that signify peak levels, is still 2nd on weeks at 1, levelled at slams but even if loses lead there he will still be leading in titles on, overall his legacy even statistically is supreme.

But his true greatness is his iconic status and of course his brand value, he is the modern day laver, novak is emerson at max
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TOTALLY RIDICULOUS- LOL!
 
Sunny014 said:
Like I said, you think that way but you are in the minority.

The world is filled by people like me who consider Fed the biggest icon and the GOAT.
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Sorry, but once world was also filled by people who believed that earth was flat and Galileo was wrong.
And regarding Rosewall and Laver , Rosewall also earned quite big in his era, he is more than 80 years old, can't travel now
 
SECOND ROUND

1962 ROD LAVER (Australia)
Laver beat clay court specialist, Zuleta of Ecuador, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
Osuna struggled through in five sets against Schmidt of Sweden.
Emerson faced a new-comer called Arthur Ashe, beating him in straight sets.
All the seeds made it through.
 
SECOND ROUND

1969 ROD LAVER (Australia)
Laver beat Chilean clay courter Pinto-Bravo 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
Rosewall, Emerson, Ashe, Gimeno, Santana, Gonzales, Newcombe and Roche all progressed.
#7 seed Graebner had to retire and # 12 seed, Stan smith, lost to an exciting newcomer called Nastase.
 
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SECOND ROUND

2021 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (Serbia)
Djokovic entered the second round after a less than convincing first round where he allegedly mistook the cheers of 'Rune' for the fans booing him.

His opponent was Dutch #2, Tallon Griekspoor; ranked #121 in the world. Surely he couldn't mess this one up?
 
@Spencer Gore - just love this way of tracking historic events. Thanks for this thread.

Infact, I made this account after reading this post of yours!

GOAT discussions vs actually following tennis with an eye at history - love the second one more.

Keep up the good work like these threads on historical contexts.

#newuser
 
mahatma said:
@Spencer Gore - just love this way of tracking historic events. Thanks for this thread.

Infact, I made this account after reading this post of yours!

GOAT discussions vs actually following tennis with an eye at history - love the second one more.

Keep up the good work like these threads on historical contexts.

#newuser
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Thank you mahatma, I'm glad you're enjoying it!
 
SECOND ROUND COMPLETE

2021 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (Serbia)
Djokovic had a comfortable 6-2,6-3,6-2 victory over Griekspoor of the Netherlands.

Elsewhere, the seeds continued to tumble, including #8 seed, Ruud and #10, Hurkacz, -who had bagelled Federer in his final (to date) set at Wimbledon earlier in the year. But Seppi was too strong for him in the second round here. Bublik (31),Gavin (16) and Dimitrov (15) also exited.
 
Spencer Gore said:
SECOND ROUND COMPLETE

2021 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (Serbia)
Djokovic had a comfortable 6-2,6-3,6-2 victory over Griekspoor of the Netherlands.

Elsewhere, the seeds continued to tumble, including #8 seed, Ruud and #10, Hurkacz, -who had bagelled Federer in his final (to date) set at Wimbledon earlier in the year. But Seppi was too strong for him in the second round here. Bublik (31),Gavin (16) and Dimitrov (15) also exited.
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THIRD ROUND

1933 JACK CRAWFORD (Australia)
Crawford fought a tough four-setter against Tidball of the US, coming through 6-2, 6-8, 6-2, 7-5.

Vines maintained his ominous progress, disposing of Britain's Avory in straight sets. Perry returned the compliment, straight setting America's Hecht.

Frank Parker (US) was the only seed to fall.
 
THIRD ROUND

1938 DONALD BUDGE (USA)
Budge was made to work a little in his straight sets victory over Kamrath of the US, 6-3, 7-5, 9-7.

But the #1 international seed, Bromwich, found himself in serious trouble, two sets down and 8-8 in the third set. He prevailed 10-8 in that set and won the match in five. Riggs was also taken to five sets by Shayes of the US.

Two seeds fell. Cooke (5) and Kovaks(6), both of the US.
 
1956 LEW HOAD (Australia)

Hoad struggled to win the first set 11-9 against America's Maylan but came through 11-9, 6-3, 6-4.

Seixas (US) struggled through 8-6 in the fifth, but Rosewall (Australia) was a comfortable straight sets victor.

#7 seed Schmidt of Sweden was the only seed to go out in this round, losing in four sets.
 
1962 ROD LAVER (Australia)

Laver made his usual infamous slow start before easily beating Nitsche of Germany (not that one) 9-7, 6-1, 6-1.

Emerson and McKinley went through in straights. Osuna struggled through in five punishing sets.

Lundquist (6) of Sweden was the only seed to fall.
 
If he does it great. But I have no expectations. Beating Med AND Zev en route will be a challenge
 
1969 ROD LAVER (Australia)
Laver had the toughest of his three South American challenges at Forest Hills, against Fillol of Chile, but still won handily: 8-6, 6-1, 6-2.

All the big names made it through without much fuss, apart from the 41 year old Pancho Gonzales (amazingly still going) who eventually won in five against Ulrich of Denmark -whose main claim to fame is that he is the father of the drummer in Metallica!

All 12 remaining seeds made it through.
 
vex said:
If he does it great. But I have no expectations. Beating Med AND Zev en route will be a challenge
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Of course it will be a challenge. It's the biggest challenge in tennis.

There is a reason why only four previous players have even put themselves in the position Djokovic is in: it's incredibly difficult to win the first 3 in a row, much less the Grand Slam.

Keep your expectations low. The odds are only slightly in his favour that he can do it. Two of the previous four players failed at the this last hurdle.
 
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I'm pulling for Novak to win the US Open and complete the calendar year grand slam.

Even though I've never really been a huge Djokovic fan (Federer and Nadal were my favorite players growing up) I still have a lot of respect for him.

He has proven himself to be a worthy champion and the fact that he now has 20 grand slams (at 34 years of age) is nothing shy of incredible.

I think if Djokovic manages to pull this off, then tennis wins.

It's been 52 years since Rod Laver pulled this off.

I hope that Djokovic will win the title next weekend.

 
THIRD ROUND COMPLETE

Djokovic fans would have been forgiven for feeling a twinge of unease as their favourite lost the first set to Nishikori (the only man left in the draw who had beaten him at the US Open), but the Serb recovered to win 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.

The bonfire of the seeds continued. Only 9 of the original 32 survived after Rublev (5), Shapovalov (7), Monfils (17), Bautista Agut (18) and Karatsev (21) all fell.

The major upset was the defeat of third seed and villain of toilet-gate, Tsitsipas, at the racquet of 18 year old, Alcaraz.

Steady progress was made by Medvedev (2), Zverev (4) and Berrettini (6) (all possible future opponents of Djokovic).
 
FOURTH ROUND

1933 JACK CRAWFORD (Australia)
Major Upset! -Defending champion and #1 seed, Ellsworth Vines, loses in straight sets to "Bitsy" Grant. At 5 feet 4 inches (162 cm) and 120 lbs (54 kg), Grant was the smallest American man to win a championship on the international tennis circuit. A right-handed retriever, he was able to beat heavy-hitting greats such as Don Budge even when playing on grass. His nickname was "Itsy Bitsy the Giant Killer".

Crawford makes it through in four sets against Wood of the US, while Fred Perry scrapes through in a close five setter.

Three seeds, Lee, Allison and Satoh bite the dust.
 
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I visit tennis.com daily

but i only glance headlines 90% of the time without reading news articles in detail most of the time

How about u????

I get much more tennis info from this forum + wikipedia than any other tennis websites
 
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FOURTH ROUND
1938 DONALD BUDGE (USA)

Major Upset!

Number two seed, future World No 1 and arch enemy of Billie-Jean King and women everywhere, Bobby Riggs is beaten in five sets by Gilbert Hunt of the US (who went on to become a mathematics professor at Princeton with a theorem named after him! )

Budge continues his imperious progress, beating Hare of the US, 6-3, 6-4, 6-0.

Bromwich wins in straight but seeds Quist, Puncee, Petra and Kukuljavic fall.
 
FOURTH ROUND

1956 LEW HOAD (Australia)
Hoad's heavy hitting is too much for Golden of the US. He is dispatched in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5

His main rivals continue to make steady progress through the draw, with Seixas, Rosewall and Fraser all winning in four sets.

All of the remaining seeds make it to their allotted berths in the quarters.
 
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FOURTH ROUND

1962 ROD LAVER (Australia)
The great Mexican Davis cup team member, Palafox is no match for The Rocket, going down 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

His team mate, Osuna, continues his progress, winning in four. McKinley makes easy progress in straight sets but Emerson is made to fight for his life, scraping through in a tight five-setter.

All of the other seeds go through.
 
1969 ROD LAVER (Australia)
The fourth round sees an incredible line-up.

The crowd cheer loudly for Laver's fourth round opponent, Dennis Ralston of the US (seeded 16) on a bright, sunny day at Forest Hills. And he responds, going two sets to one up, the crowd in a frenzy. Not booing Rod, but not cheering for him either. Laver rallies, however, and takes it to a fifth. In the vital seventh game Ralston misses an easy put away at break point down. "one shot can make the difference" says Laver. It does. He goes through 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Third seed, Roche, defeats the veteran Gonzales, Rosewall beats Nastase, Ashe beats Santana, Emerson wins in straights while Newcombe takes four sets to see off Riessen (the score in the fourth set 25-23!).

Of the original 16 seeds, seven survive.
 
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Sunny014 said:
In the real world money matters..... Stature matters.

Rod Laver still comes to hand over trophies at slams while nobody invites emerson / rosewall, statswise emerson has most slams and rosewall has some great records too.... but Laver's class is permanent

Same is Fed, his stature is second to none.

Plus records will all broken, so it doesn't matter who has what, stature is more important than records.
Click to expand...

There he goes counting other people's money again....poor peasant. :( :(
 
FOURTH ROUND

2021 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (Serbia)
Djovokic is in serious trouble against the 20 year old, Brooksby (US) who barely makes any unforced errors in a 6-1 demolition of the Serbian in the first set. The Grand Slam contender regroups as the young Californian runs out of steam. The final score is 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

Medvedev and Zverev make untroubled progress. The fallen seeds are Schwartzman, Sinner, Opelka and Evans.
 
QUARTER FINALS

1933 JACK CRAWFORD (Australia)
The last eight sees Crawford making easy passage; a 6-3, 6-3, 6-5 winner against Clifford Sutter (seeded 4)

Fred Perry continues to make ominous progress through the draw, straight sets and a bagel against #8 international seed Quist of Australia.

Frank Shields, the number two US seed makes his appointed semi-final place to face Gentleman Jack.
 
QUARTER FINALS

1938 DONALD BUDGE (USA)
Budge's quarter final opponent is the legendary Australian coach Harry Hopman (whose pupils dominated tennis in the 1960s). Budge dominates him on this day, however, winning 6-3, 6-1, 6-3.

Number 2 seed, Bromwich, drops a set to Hunt of the US but secures his place in the semis.

Making shark-like progress into the semis is Budge's doubles partner, Gene Mako.
 
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QUARTER FINALS

1956 LEW HOAD (US)
Hoad has to face his fellow Australian -and slam record holder of the future -Roy Emerson in the quarters. Hoad wins in three sets, 8-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Seixas (seeded 4) and Rosewall (seeded 2) both struggle through tough five setters.

Three out of the four top seeds make it to their semi spot.
 
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