Slasher must know why Guillermo Salatino said ATP "eated" 8 draws doing the rankings in 1975. What was Salatino talking about?
I don't know the exact quote of Salatino, but it looks to me he would talk about the fact that there are tournament draws which the ATP does not have in their database, they no longer have their record, but they were played, and they counted for ATP points. Not necessarily in 1975. For example, the tournament draw of Palmetto 1973 is not present in the ATP database, but the tournament counted for ATP points.
It is clear it comes down to Vilas,Borg and Connors.The other interesting point is...who was the fourth best? Gerulaitis? Gottfried? Tanner? Stockton?
ATP indica Gerulaitis 4°, Gottfried 5°, Stockton 10°, Tanner 15° .
Tanner that year played badly .
Gerulaitis pretty well for me though was clearly Gottfried 4th and 5th Stockton .
Gottfried ago 15 finals (winning a few) , including but Palm Springs (the current Indian Wells , heavy) . 15!!!
Stockton is very strong in the WCT circuit and wins in Philadelphia ( heavy ) .
For both the ATP does not calculate the final of Stockton to Dallas and the semifinals of the Masters Brian NY , as 8draws .
But both have much relevance .
Yes, Gerulaitis and Tanner excelled at the majors, with Vitas winning Rome and that fabulous Wimbledon semi and Tanner winning the Australian against Vilas.But in the second string tourneys, Stockton and Gottfried did very well and had a far more solid season.I´d place Gottfried and Gerulaitis tied for number 4, and then Stockton and Tanner in the top ten ( with a few others like Dibbs,Orantes,Panatta and Ramirez)
I'm fine .
Just a note : the Australian were cheap .
Philadelphia ( Stockton ) and Palm Springs ( Gorrfried ) were worth more than Rome in those years .
Still ok .
Tanner beat guys like Teacher,Dent and Fleming besides Vilas, in a grass court competition, it is not that weak¡
I agree Stockton´s win at the US Pro was great and quite unexpected.
similarly, while Connors was the best player in 1976, Borg did better at the majors and should be awarded the number one
74 Connors
75 Ashe
76 Borg ( Connors a close second)
77 Vilas ( Connors a close second)
78/79 Borg
In 1978 Connors was a close second and in 1979 Mc Enroe was also a close second, yet Borg should be regarded as the number one in both seasons.
similarly, while Connors was the best player in 1976, Borg did better at the majors and should be awarded the number one
74 Connors
75 Ashe
76 Borg ( Connors a close second)
77 Vilas ( Connors a close second)
78/79 Borg
In 1978 Connors was a close second and in 1979 Mc Enroe was also a close second, yet Borg should be regarded as the number one in both seasons.
74 Connors
75 Ashe
76 Connors, Too much stronger than Borg . He won too much more .
77 Connors for me , but it's good enough Vilas . Borg third , far.
78 Connors , Borg but not far .
79 Borg
80 Borg
81 Mac
82 I don't know
83 i don't know
84 Mac
85 Lendl
86 Lendl
88 Lendl
.......
....
in 82 it is Connors, with Lendl second and Mac quite far below.In 83, while Wilander and Connors played great tennis, it is Mac who had the best season, with the Masters,Wimbledon and the WCT titles under his belt.He was the best player in 1983 without any reasonable doubt.
In a way, Mac started very well the 82 season with his Philadelphia win and then went onto a big slump but recovered in October-November to win 4 indoor titles in a row beating people like Connors,Mayer and Gottfried very easily.He also played a great DC final against France, on clay.I think Mac said this was the best tennis he had played up to date, even if he kept on losing to Lendl in the unofficial events like Antwerp, AKAI and Barcelona.The 1982 domination of Lendl over Mc Enroe is very similar to that of Borg over Connors in 1979: 7-0 if we include the unofficial events.
Lendl´s WCT run is one of the best achievements of the open era, yet seems to be forgotten.That 1982 season he won all, yes all of the 10 WCT regular events he entered and all, yes all WCT finals he entered ( 3).I think it was amazing.
Yes Lendl's amazing acheivements in 1982 are largely forgotten today. If he had found a way to win just one more match - the US Open final - he would have been uncontestabily the number 1 for the year. He was just so far ahead of Connors and McEnroe under every other criteria. As it was Connors won Wimbledon/US Open so regardless of this other achievements the YE#1 goes to him.
Just by way of Comparison:
1982
Lendl - 15 official tournament wins out of 20 official finals. On top of that 3 unoffical tournament wins (Toronto (over McEnroe), Melbourne (over Gerulaitis) and Antwerp (over McEnroe)). Also made US Open final. Best 3 official tournaments wins (WCT Finals, Masters, Cincinnati)
Connors - 7 official tournaments wins out of 11 official finals. On top of that 3 unofficial tournament wins (Rosemont (over McEnroe), Montreal (over Borg) & North Miami Beach). Won Wimbledon and the US Open. Best 3 official tournament wins (Wimbledon, US Open, Las Vegas?)
McEnroe - 5 official tournament wins out of 10 official finals. On top of that 2 unofficial tournament wins (Manchester & Perth (over Borg)). Also made Wimbledon final. Best 3 official tournaments wins (Philadephia, Tokyo Indoor, Wembley).
As you can see if Lendl's record was much stronger than the two other contenders (except against Connors slam record).
Yes Lendl's amazing acheivements in 1982 are largely forgotten today. If he had found a way to win just one more match - the US Open final - he would have been uncontestabily the number 1 for the year. He was just so far ahead of Connors and McEnroe under every other criteria. As it was Connors won Wimbledon/US Open so regardless of this other achievements the YE#1 goes to him.
Just by way of Comparison:
1982
Lendl - 15 official tournament wins out of 20 official finals. On top of that 3 unoffical tournament wins (Toronto (over McEnroe), Melbourne (over Gerulaitis) and Antwerp (over McEnroe)). Also made US Open final. Best 3 official tournaments wins (WCT Finals, Masters, Cincinnati)
Connors - 7 official tournaments wins out of 11 official finals. On top of that 3 unofficial tournament wins (Rosemont (over McEnroe), Montreal (over Borg) & North Miami Beach). Won Wimbledon and the US Open. Best 3 official tournament wins (Wimbledon, US Open, Las Vegas?)
McEnroe - 5 official tournament wins out of 10 official finals. On top of that 2 unofficial tournament wins (Manchester & Perth (over Borg)). Also made Wimbledon final. Best 3 official tournaments wins (Philadephia, Tokyo Indoor, Wembley).
As you can see if Lendl's record was much stronger than the two other contenders (except against Connors slam record).
I also would be glad if Vilas if revision shows that Vilas was number one in 1975. Specially understanding that rankying system, it has a logic. He also had an amazing winning streak in the previous tournaments to the US Open, the difference with 1977 is that he lost against Orantes in Indianapolis(semifinals) and against Borg in Boston(final), then again against Orantes in the US Open. He didn´t have to play against them in 1977(not saying he would not have beat them) He selected other tournaments(many of them big) Maybe it was part of the planiffication. Some of luck + maybe the experience from 1975 made him do some things different and he finished winning the US Open. In 1975 Vilas reached also the French Open final, losing to Borg. Once Vilas said he don´t think he would have won the US Open not winning before the French Open. Not saying if he had won in 1975 he would have won the US Open that year too, but just it´s an interesting note. In 1975 he had better results in Rome and Wimbledon, a great result in San Francisco, very good in Madrid and Barcelona and was the current champion of the Masters, in which they say he play the best tennis of his career. Then there are other great things in 1977, but 1975 was great too and he already had the conditions like to win French and US Open. Just in 1977 he had a little more of luck, better planification and experience specially for the Slams he won. But 1975 was great too, and he had a cooler personality So I would like if revision shows he was number one in 1975.
My ranking 1974-1988
74 Connors
75 Ashe
76 Connors, Too much stronger than Borg . He won too much more .
77 Connors for me , but it's good enough Vilas . Borg third , far.
78 Connors , Borg but not far .
79 Borg
80 Borg
81 Mac
82 I don't know
83 i don't know
84 Mac
85 Lendl
86 Lendl
88 Lendl
.......
....
I don't think you will find many who agree with your assertions that Connors was number 1 in 77 or 78. I would say that just about everyone had Borg as clear No 1 over Jimmy in 78 and to most 77 is a straight fight between Borg & Vilas. but both were a clear notch above Connors.
5 years ago I thought otherwise. Now I think like this:I don't think you will find many who agree with your assertions that Connors was number 1 in 77 or 78. I would say that just about everyone had Borg as clear No 1 over Jimmy in 78 and to most 77 is a straight fight between Borg & Vilas. but both were a clear notch above Connors.