This is why tennis is THE BEST SPORT!! … And this is the best era.

Federev

Federev

G.O.A.T.
This tribute to Andy from Roger, Novak, and Rafa, and Venus…

What other sport is like this???

It’s like - they fight SO HARD against each other - and then - at the very end - they are FOR each other.

It’s just like how Rafa, Novak, and Andy treated Roger.

In the end their greatest rivals are their only teammates.

I don’t believe it’s just a gimick or PR. I refuse to believe it. These guys have mad respect for each other. And in the toughest moments that respect turns into compassion.

I’ve never seen anything like it in all of sport.

IT’S FREAKING BEAUTIFUL.

 
Federev said:
This tribute to Andy from Roger, Novak, and Rafa, and Venus…

What other sport is like this???

It’s like - they fight SO HARD against each other - and then - at the very end - they are FOR each other.

It’s just like how Rafa, Novak, and Andy treated Roger.

In the end their greatest rivals are their only teammates.

I don’t believe it’s just a gimick or PR. I refuse to believe it. These guys have mad respect for each other. And in the toughest moments that respect turns into compassion.

I’ve never seen anything like it in all of sport.

IT’S FREAKING BEAUTIFUL.

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This is awesome. Love it... Nobody can say that Andy did not give it all for tennis. What a fighter. Kudos to the Big3 and Serena for this.
 
Happy Andy got to play Wimby one last time though it was unfortunate he couldn’t play singles. Still getting to share the court with his brother must have been special. I’m also sad to see him go since he was a big part of what made tennis so special during the bulk of my viewing history.

That being said, this isn’t the best era by a long shot lol :X3:
 
The Blond Blur said:
Happy Andy got to play Wimby one last time though it was unfortunate he couldn’t play singles. Still getting to share the court with his brother must have been special. I’m also sad to see him go since he was a big part of what made tennis so special during the bulk of my viewing history.

That being said, this isn’t the best era by a long shot lol :X3:
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I don’t know enough to really judge it. The level of tennis from the Big 3 is the best I know I’ve ever seen.

But what ices it for me is the way they try to walk it all out with class.

That’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Some people like the animosity and open belligerency of jMac and later Kyrgios. But that’s not my taste at all. To me that ruins sport and makes it cheap.

And I know it’s not like they are saints. But when they do stuff like this - the big 3 celebrating Andy almost with one voice today - and at Laver in ‘22: Rafa playing w Fed to see him off and Fed saying stuff to make Novak cry and Novak leading a lift up of Fed - I’m sorry for the cynics. No one is is paying them to do that. Thats going beyond the call.

I think - even if there have been issues - they recognize they have a very special fraternity that won’t likely ever be replicated.

And I think all three of them - and Andy - probably want to protect that aura with respect.

Man - maybe I’m a sucker. But that video for Andy just got to me.

It was all class from 3 warriors and Venus to a 4th.
 
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Federev said:
I don’t enough to really judge it. The level of tennis from the Big 3 is the best I know I’ve ever seen.

But what ices it for me is the way they try to walk it all out with class.

That’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Some people like the animosity and open belligerency of jMac and later Kyrgios. But that’s not my taste at all. To me that ruins sport and makes it cheap.

And I know it’s not like they are saints. But when they do stuff like this - the big 3 celebrating Andy almost with one voice today - and at Laver in ‘22: Rafa playing w Fed to see him off and Fed saying stuff to make Novak cry and Novak leading a lift up of Fed - I’m sorry for the cynics. No one is is paying them to do that. Thats going beyond the call.

I think - even if there have been issues - they recognize they have a very special fraternity that won’t likely ever be replicated.

And I think all three of them - and Andy - probably want to protect that aura with respect.

Man - maybe I’m a sucker. But that video for Andy just got to me.

It was all class from 3 warriors and Venus to a 4th.
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That’s the thing, I don’t consider this the Big 3 Era anymore. To me the latest you could say it was still going would be 2019, so we’re half a decade past that point.

Now if we were talking about 2007-2013 that’d be different.
 
The Blond Blur said:
Happy Andy got to play Wimby one last time though it was unfortunate he couldn’t play singles. Still getting to share the court with his brother must have been special. I’m also sad to see him go since he was a big part of what made tennis so special during the bulk of my viewing history.

That being said, this isn’t the best era by a long shot lol :X3:
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The Wimbledon 2007 trophy presentation was the most amazing sports thing I've ever seen that wasn't an actual game

Can you see ANY other past player blubbering like a kid when his greatest rival retires, the way Rafa did?

That one moment and his quote about "a part of me has gone with him" completely changed how I look at the guy, and I struggle to find any other example of this in sports. I think OP is on target
 
Federev said:
I don’t enough to really judge it. The level of tennis from the Big 3 is the best I know I’ve ever seen.

But what ices it for me is the way they try to walk it all out with class.

That’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Some people like the animosity and open belligerency of jMac and later Kyrgios. But that’s not my taste at all. To me that ruins sport and makes it cheap.

And I know it’s not like they are saints. But when they do stuff like this - the big 3 celebrating Andy almost with one voice today - and at Laver in ‘22: Rafa playing w Fed to see him off and Fed saying stuff to make Novak cry and Novak leading a lift up of Fed - I’m sorry for the cynics. No one is is paying them to do that. Thats going beyond the call.

I think - even if there have been issues - they recognize they have a very special fraternity that won’t likely ever be replicated.

And I think all three of them - and Andy - probably want to protect that aura with respect.

Man - maybe I’m a sucker. But that video for Andy just got to me.

It was all class from 3 warriors and Venus to a 4th.
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Agree. And others took notice. Agassi said that Federer made him realize "how broken we all were", that all the animosity between players just ate at their souls.

The post-Sampras era lasted for twenty years and was a time of untold prosperity, marketability and sportsmanship. Now we're in an uglier era where players idolize Andrew Tate and beat their chests (and their girlfriends)
 
Rosstour said:
The Wimbledon 2007 trophy presentation was the most amazing sports thing I've ever seen that wasn't an actual game

Can you see ANY other past player blubbering like a kid when his greatest rival retires, the way Rafa did?

That one moment and his quote about "a part of me has gone with him" completely changed how I look at the guy, and I struggle to find any other example of this in sports. I think OP is on target
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I agree with the part where he’s saying how these guys have a tremendous amount of respect for each other vs being jerks like the old rivalries that we used to have. But the part about the era as in the competition has been terribad for a long time now. In that sense we haven’t been in the Big 3 era for a long time now.
 
Not a fan of the scripted comments. A person's life sounds weird in a movie trailer with no actors in it.

Mury GOAT, nonetheless!
 
The Blond Blur said:
I agree with the part where he’s saying how these guys have a tremendous amount of respect for each other vs being jerks like the old rivalries that we used to have. But the part about the era as in the competition has been terribad for a long time now. In that sense we haven’t been in the Big 3 era for a long time now.
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100%
 
The Blond Blur said:
I agree with the part where he’s saying how these guys have a tremendous amount of respect for each other vs being jerks like the old rivalries that we used to have. But the part about the era as in the competition has been terribad for a long time now. In that sense we haven’t been in the Big 3 era for a long time now.
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2002-2022 sound about right for Golden Era of the Tennis?
 
Rosstour said:
2002-2022 sound about right for Golden Era of the Tennis?
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I always consider 2007-2013 to the heart of the Big 3 Era since that’s when they were all on the scene competing for the biggest titles with their primes overlapping. That and we had several gatekeepers: Ferrer, Berdych, Tsonga, Delpo, Sod etc. making things interesting.

I said in an earlier post that 2019 would be the absolute cut off point for me in terms of the “Big 3 Era”. Between the pandemic and Fedal missing so much time with injuries it’s essentially been Joker vs kids who don’t know how to fight.
 
The Blond Blur said:
I always consider 2007-2013 to the heart of the Big 3 Era since that’s when they were all on the scene competing for the biggest titles with their primes overlapping. That and we had several gatekeepers: Ferrer, Berdych, Tsonga, Delpo, Sod etc. making things interesting.

I said in an earlier post that 2019 would be the absolute cut off point for me in terms of the “Big 3 Era”. Between the pandemic and Fedal missing so much time with injuries it’s essentially been Joker vs kids who don’t know how to fight.
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How is this (2007, 08, 09, 10) a "prime" for Djokovic. Djokovic did not enter his prime until 2011, so not a proper comparison.
 
The Blond Blur said:
I always consider 2007-2013 to the heart of the Big 3 Era since that’s when they were all on the scene competing for the biggest titles with their primes overlapping. That and we had several gatekeepers: Ferrer, Berdych, Tsonga, Delpo, Sod etc. making things interesting.

I said in an earlier post that 2019 would be the absolute cut off point for me in terms of the “Big 3 Era”. Between the pandemic and Fedal missing so much time with injuries it’s essentially been Joker vs kids who don’t know how to fight.
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Can't argue with this. I used Golden Era to refer also to the Williams sisters per the OP. So basically those ladies + B3. I thought 22 was a reasonable cutoff since that's the last time we saw Federer as half a Fedal doubles team, and the last time Rafa won 2 Slams in a season

2007-13 could even more accurately be drilled down to the peak of the Big 4 era, IMO. Murray was right there and then broke through with the OG and then we had the glorious parity season that was 2012
 
Does not make tennis a less lonely sport. Sure, when you retire everyone will say nice things about you. When you are competing against other players to make a living, thats a different story. Tennis is not just about the big 3 or big 4.
 
Personally think that true rivals, cannot be real friends. At least while they're playing. But the respect is there, no doubt. They have no choice but to respect each other.
 
Federev said:
Let them.

They wouldn’t know a thing about it.

They don’t train and sacrifice all their lives to fight for the titles with all their heart.
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TRUE! Some people seem to have the need to make everything seem phony. As the old saying goes- It Takes One To Know One. Andy, Roger, Novak and Rafa trained very hard and sacrificed much to be as successful as they are, therefore, respect each other.
 
Rosstour said:
The Wimbledon 2007 trophy presentation was the most amazing sports thing I've ever seen that wasn't an actual game

Can you see ANY other past player blubbering like a kid when his greatest rival retires, the way Rafa did?

That one moment and his quote about "a part of me has gone with him" completely changed how I look at the guy, and I struggle to find any other example of this in sports. I think OP is on target
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Wimbledon 2007?

What happened there? Did you mean 2008?
 
The Blond Blur said:
I always consider 2007-2013 to the heart of the Big 3 Era since that’s when they were all on the scene competing for the biggest titles with their primes overlapping. That and we had several gatekeepers: Ferrer, Berdych, Tsonga, Delpo, Sod etc. making things interesting.

I said in an earlier post that 2019 would be the absolute cut off point for me in terms of the “Big 3 Era”. Between the pandemic and Fedal missing so much time with injuries it’s essentially been Joker vs kids who don’t know how to fight.
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Yup - I can see this.

I did mean the Big 3 era, however you map it out.
 
Bubcay said:
How is this (2007, 08, 09, 10) a "prime" for Djokovic. Djokovic did not enter his prime until 2011, so not a proper comparison.
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I said their primes were overlapping the most between 2007-2013. That includes Fedal’s…and Joker was definitely playing prime tennis in 2008. And he fell off in 09-10 but that’s on him for not being able to sustain the high level he showed in 08 when he was competing for the #1 ranking.

Besides, both of Fedal were past their primes in 2014-onwards. So it’s not like we’re going to get a better timeframe to choose from regarding the best of the Big 3 years.
 
Rosstour said:
Can't argue with this. I used Golden Era to refer also to the Williams sisters per the OP. So basically those ladies + B3. I thought 22 was a reasonable cutoff since that's the last time we saw Federer as half a Fedal doubles team, and the last time Rafa won 2 Slams in a season

2007-13 could even more accurately be drilled down to the peak of the Big 4 era, IMO. Murray was right there and then broke through with the OG and then we had the glorious parity season that was 2012
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See I don’t follow women’s tennis basically at all, so I was limiting it to basically the best of the Big 3 years.
 
The Blond Blur said:
I said their primes were overlapping the most between 2007-2013. That includes Fedal’s…and Joker was definitely playing prime tennis in 2008. And he fell off in 09-10 but that’s on him for not being able to sustain the high level he showed in 08 when he was competing for the #1 ranking.

Besides, both of Fedal were past their primes in 2014-onwards. So it’s not like we’re going to get a better timeframe to choose from regarding the best of the Big 3 years.
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Federer may have been slightly past his prime in 14, but Nadal should not have been as he is only about one year older than Novak.
 
thrust said:
Federer may have been slightly past his prime in 14, but Nadal should not have been as he is only about one year older than Novak.
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Ok…I’ll ask this again since no Joker fan is willing to answer it. It Nadavic ate only a year apart, then why did it take so long for Joker to get going? RAFA won his first GS title in 05, while Joket won his in 08. Joker then had to wait 3 more years before he won his 2nd GS title. In the timeframe between 2005-2010 RAFA had already completed the golden CGS and was a 9x GS champ and had reached ATGhood. If they’re only a year apart then why did it take Joker so long to reach that same point in his career?
 
The Blond Blur said:
Ok…I’ll ask this again since no Joker fan is willing to answer it. It Nadavic ate only a year apart, then why did it take so long for Joker to get going? RAFA won his first GS title in 05, while Joket won his in 08. Joker then had to wait 3 more years before he won his 2nd GS title. In the timeframe between 2005-2010 RAFA had already completed the golden CGS and was a 9x GS champ and had reached ATGhood. If they’re only a year apart then why did it take Joker so long to reach that same point in his career?
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How many slams did Rafa win, off clay by 07? No doubt Rafa's game matured earlier than Novak's but there was more tough competition off clay, throughout the careers of the Big 3. Nadal owned clay, Roger owned Hard and grass till 11, the Novak began to dominate on hard and at Wimbledon. Rafa probably won his last slam in 22, Novak in 23.
 
thrust said:
How many slams did Rafa win, off clay by 07? No doubt Rafa's game matured earlier than Novak's but there was more tough competition off clay, throughout the careers of the Big 3. Nadal owned clay, Roger owned Hard and grass till 11, the Novak began to dominate on hard and at Wimbledon. Rafa probably won his last slam in 22, Novak in 23.
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Ah, so we just get to wipe away an entire surface because it doesn’t suit your agenda? This is such a lame excuse. By the time of the Big 3 Era everyone was playing with poly and knew how to properly move on clay. The dominant play style by that point was to hit heavy topspin from the back of the court. Meaning the field on clay was deeper than you think by default. And the field on grass was actually deeper in the 00’s than it was by the time Joker broke through to win his first Wimby and would only get shallower as the Big 3 Era went on.

What this means is that if RAFA matured earlier (which he did) then it means he declined earlier (which he did). After his back injury in the 2014 AO F his level and results fell off of a cliff. Are you seriously going to argue he was still in his prime in 2015-2016?
 
The Blond Blur said:
Ah, so we just get to wipe away an entire surface because it doesn’t suit your agenda? This is such a lame excuse. By the time of the Big 3 Era everyone was playing with poly and knew how to properly move on clay. The dominant play style by that point was to hit heavy topspin from the back of the court. Meaning the field on clay was deeper than you think by default. And the field on grass was actually deeper in the 00’s than it was by the time Joker broke through to win his first Wimby and would only get shallower as the Big 3 Era went on.

What this means is that if RAFA matured earlier (which he did) then it means he declinedearlier (which he did). After his back injury in the 2014 AO F his level and results fell off of a cliff.
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In reality, it is the player's final statistics that count, not when their games peaked or declined. Injuries are part of the game which could be due to bad luck or game style. With your logic, we should discount players slam wins past their or discredit a player's wins because their opposition is injured, which is pure nonsense.
 
thrust said:
In reality, it is the player's final statistics that count, not when their games peaked or declined. Injuries are part of the game which could be due to bad luck or game style. With your logic, we should discount players slam wins past their or discredit a player's wins because their opposition is injured, which is pure nonsense.
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Show me where I said any player’s stats don’t count. The point of my first post in this thread was being happy/sad for Murray while saying that the Big 3 era has been over for longer than people think. I was then asked what I consider to be the golden era of tennis. To which I responded with 2007-2013 since that’s when the Big 3’s prime overlapped the most. You’re the one making huge assumptions here, not me.
 
it cannot possibly be the best era ever. Kyrios is not in it to win it., lol.

Although I am starting to see Paul, Fritz, and even Tiafoe (at the moment) play very well.
Americans are stepping up.

With Gio the Giant, we're getting back to the isner/Karlovic era.
 
The Blond Blur said:
Ok…I’ll ask this again since no Joker fan is willing to answer it. It Nadavic ate only a year apart, then why did it take so long for Joker to get going? RAFA won his first GS title in 05, while Joket won his in 08. Joker then had to wait 3 more years before he won his 2nd GS title. In the timeframe between 2005-2010 RAFA had already completed the golden CGS and was a 9x GS champ and had reached ATGhood. If they’re only a year apart then why did it take Joker so long to reach that same point in his career?
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The reply was Djokovic only discovered he had the gluten allergy during the 2010 Xmas season. You could see it by the matches he defaulted. Before 2011, he defaulted numerous times; after and until 2017, he didn't. He defaulted in 2017 at WB because of the elbow.
 
SonnyT said:
The reply was Djokovic only discovered he had the gluten allergy during the 2010 Xmas season. You could see it by the matches he defaulted. Before 2011, he defaulted numerous times; after and until 2017, he didn't. He defaulted in 2017 at WB because of the elbow.
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And RAFA had far more injuries throughout his career mostly due to his congenital foot condition. He was even advised that he should retire at the end of the 05 season when he fractured his navicular bone. And yet he was not only able to breakthrough sooner, but he also maintained his winning form for 10 years straight before his prime ended without any lull.

Compare that to Joker who won his first schlem almost 3 years later (AO 08 vs RG 05) and then went an additional 3 years before he won his 2nd schlem and we can clearly see that they had vastly different career trajectories that played a much bigger role than their close ages.
 
The Blond Blur said:
And RAFA had far more injuries throughout his career mostly due to his congenital foot condition. He was even advised that he should retire at the end of the 05 season when he fractured his navicular bone. And yet he was not only able to breakthrough sooner, but he also maintained his winning form for 10 years straight before his prime ended without any lull.

Compare that to Joker who won his first schlem almost 3 years later (AO 08 vs RG 05) and then went an additional 3 years before he won his 2nd schlem and we can clearly see that they had vastly different career trajectories that played a much bigger role than their close ages.
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Under appreciated reality of Rafa epicness.

Just as they aren’t the longevity kings they could have been because of epic Novak, Novak isn’t the early bloomer and peak age champion he could have been because of epic Roger and epic Rafa.
 
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Rosstour said:
maybe. 2002-22 is a neat number and covers the Williamses, Roddick, Agassi...even PETE's last Slam.
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Hmm...I seem to remember the WTA being a bit of a train wreck during the late 2000s through the mid 2010s.

In fact, Serena was one of the only things that saved it during that time.

1970s through early '90s was probably the golden era of women's tennis.
 
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