To spice up today's ATP Top 20, if you could bring back 2 players each from the last two decades...

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nikdom

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... who would it be?

Obviously they have to be retired players, and futhermore they have to be NON slam winners.

Justify your choices with why they would do well today and how their games would square off against the current crop
 
Nice topic idea.

I would say

1) Nikolay Davydenko- this guy was absolutely punishing to play, and he was consistent as well. Couldn't hack it against Fed, but he is well known for destroying Nadal time and again on hardcourts. The prequel to Djokovic. It'd be great to see him destroy these youngsters today.

2) Robin Soderling- his back to back RG final runs in 09 and 10 were stuff of legends. During that time he was the most powerful ball striker on tour. He was only getting better too, before he got injured. Was sad to see him go, he was on the path to being a slam champion.
 
In this situation would careers pan out the same way in terms of illnesses and etc.? Would Söderling still get mono, wrist injury killing Davydenko's career.
 
papertank said:
Nice topic idea.

I would say

1) Nikolay Davydenko- this guy was absolutely punishing to play, and he was consistent as well. Couldn't hack it against Fed, but he is well known for destroying Nadal time and again on hardcourts. The prequel to Djokovic. It'd be great to see him destroy these youngsters today.

2) Robin Soderling- his back to back RG final runs in 09 and 10 were stuff of legends. During that time he was the most powerful ball striker on tour. He was only getting better too, before he got injured. Was sad to see him go, he was on the path to being a slam champion.
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Agree on the first choice. I was debating between Blake and Davydenko, but the latter was more consistent although not as flashy.

Soderling is also a solid choice from the 00's. Although just for kicks, Santoro would be a fun addition to today's game. Would frustrate the heck out of some of these baseline huggers.
 
papertank said:
Nice topic idea.

I would say

1) Nikolay Davydenko- this guy was absolutely punishing to play, and he was consistent as well. Couldn't hack it against Fed, but he is well known for destroying Nadal time and again on hardcourts. The prequel to Djokovic. It'd be great to see him destroy these youngsters today.

2) Robin Soderling- his back to back RG final runs in 09 and 10 were stuff of legends. During that time he was the most powerful ball striker on tour. He was only getting better too, before he got injured. Was sad to see him go, he was on the path to being a slam champion.
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Agree on the first choice. I was debating between Blake and Davydenko, but the latter was more consistent although not as flashy.

Soderling is also a solid choice from the 00's. Although just for kicks, Santoro would be a fun addition to today's game. Would frustrate the heck out of some of these baseline huggers.
 
Im(moral) Winner said:
In this situation would careers pan out the same way in terms of illnesses and etc.? Would Söderling still get mono, wrist injury killing Davydenko's career.
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Just assume they're healthy. I reckon the analysis is based more on game style than actual career arc.
 
MasturB said:
PRIME FEDR
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I kinda like RF 2.0 where we are right now.

May lack the explosiveness and killer forehand, but more than makes up for it with focus, efficient play, tactical smarts and a better shot-selection on the BH side especially.

Many don't remember but '04-'06 Fed went on mental walkabouts too. Semi against Safin in '05 was a prime example.
 
No ideas yet for the 90's?

Marcelo Rios would be one of my options from the 90's. Him against Kyrgios would make for an entertaining match all round.
 
nikdom said:
I kinda like RF 2.0 where we are right now.

May lack the explosiveness and killer forehand, but more than makes up for it with focus, efficient play, tactical smarts and a better shot-selection on the BH side especially.

Many don't remember but '04-'06 Fed went on mental walkabouts too. Semi against Safin in '05 was a prime example.
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AO 05 semi ?
fed went on mental walkabout in that one ? where ? when ?
 
nikdom said:
Just assume they're healthy. I reckon the analysis is based more on game style than actual career arc.
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Söderling would be one pick then. Would be interesting to see how his career would pan out if not for his mono.
I thought about Mecir too. One of the great talents but his back problem would probably be the same regardless of era. Tim Henman would be a pick for a player with long healthy career.
The likes of Rios, Nalbandian and Phillippousis would waste their careers regardless.
 
nikdom said:
No ideas yet for the 90's?

Marcelo Rios would be one of my options from the 90's. Him against Kyrgios would make for an entertaining match all round.
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What about Corretja and Muster? Not the greatest players but they would make the clay season more competitive.
 
Mo2N_8Uegb8I74P-.jpg


Guillermo Coria

paranoidandroid said:
What about Corretja and Muster? Not the greatest players but they would make the clay season more competitive.
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Muster won the French Open.
 
nikdom said:
Losing match points playing a tweener!
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it was one MP.
watch that point again. He made 2 spectacular stretch volleys in that point before playing the tweener.
Safin would've probably put away any shot he played. don't really blame fed for the tweener. If anything, I blame fed for SnVing on 2nd serve on that point.

Regardless, its just one point, a point which he had no guarentee of winning,even if he had kept his head.
 
abmk said:
it was one MP.
watch that point again. He made 2 spectacular stretch volleys in that point before playing the tweener.
Safin would've probably put away any shot he played. don't really blame fed for the tweener. If anything, I blame fed for SnVing on 2nd serve on that point.

Regardless, its just one point, a point which he had no guarentee of winning,even if he had kept his head.
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The point is that he had too many options and did not end points quickly enough in many instances. He'd win a set pummeling an opponent and would seem like he got bored in the next set playing loose and letting them back into the game.
 
nikdom said:
The point is that he had too many options and did not end points quickly enough in many instances. He'd win a set pummeling an opponent and would seem like he got bored in the next set playing loose and letting them back into the game.
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agree in general. But AO 05 SF is not a case of that.
AO 06 4R vs Haas is a good example of that. up 2 sets to love,including bagel in the 2nd set. lets haas back in and it goes to 5 sets.
 
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Wander said:
In what universe does Sam Groth make it to the top 20 to "spice" it up?

Maybe Tim Henman to bring S&V back some more.
Söderling to beat Nadal at the French again.
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Henman had a great game. Too bad nobody plays like that anymore (except Misha Zverev perhaps)

Ancic was another great grass court player.
 
Hmmmm.

It will be between Nalbandian, Gonzalez, Rios, Coria, Davydenko and Sjoderling.

If the purpose is to indeed spice the things up a bit, I will have to go with Gonzo and Nalbandian.

:cool:
 
Tennis_Hands said:
Hmmmm.

It will be between Nalbandian, Gonzalez, Rios, Coria, Davydenko and Sjoderling.

If the purpose is to indeed spice the things up a bit, I will have to go with Gonzo and Nalbandian.

:cool:
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Nalbandian I get, but why Gonzo?
 
nikdom said:
... who would it be?

Obviously they have to be retired players, and futhermore they have to be NON slam winners.

Justify your choices with why they would do well today and how their games would square off against the current crop
Click to expand...

With these choices i'm assuming they didn't have careers cut short by problems

80's Mecir; His crafty intelligent graceful game would have a field day against baseline bots like Thiem and Zverev. Would win majors
Leconte; Probably too inconsistent to win majors but would add some great shotmaking! We'd all love him yet be frustrated with him at the same time, like with Kyrgios.

90's Hemnan. As well as Murray has done, nothing can ever replace Henmania. He'll bring back serve volley.
Rios; Shame his career got hampered by injuries

00's Coria; If only to knock Thiem off his "biggest threat to Nadal on clay" perch
Soderling; would like to see him have longer on tour without the mono. Crushed David Ferrer 6-2 6-2 (that scoreline flattered Ferrer) in the final of a claycourt tournament in 2011, never played another match. A waste that his career got cut short.
 
George Turner said:
With these choices i'm assuming they didn't have careers cut short by problems

80's Mecir; His crafty intelligent graceful game would have a field day against baseline bots like Thiem and Zverev. Would win majors
Leconte; Probably too inconsistent to win majors but would add some great shotmaking! We'd all love him yet be frustrated with him at the same time, like with Kyrgios.

90's Hemnan. As well as Murray has done, nothing can ever replace Henmania. He'll bring back serve volley.
Rios; Shame his career got hampered by injuries

00's Coria; If only to knock Thiem off his "biggest threat to Nadal on clay" perch
Soderling; would like to see him have longer on tour without the mono. Crushed David Ferrer 6-2 6-2 (that scoreline flattered Ferrer) in the final of a claycourt tournament in 2011, never played another match. A waste that his career got cut short.
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I thought about the big cat as well!

The problem was the specified time frame.

8-)
 
Dang I was disappointed to see that non slam champs was one of the rules. If slam champs were allowed, Agassi and Rafter would have just made it. :P
 
Enga said:
Dang I was disappointed to see that non slam champs was one of the rules. If slam champs were allowed, Agassi and Rafter would have just made it. :p
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Well think of it this way. A lot of people complain about the lack of talent/skills/focus/whatever with the new generation. So the idea was if previous generations were stronger, then what if some of the non-slam winners from those generations got a chance in this current one? Which ones would deserve a second chance?
 
papertank said:
Nice topic idea.

I would say

1) Nikolay Davydenko- this guy was absolutely punishing to play, and he was consistent as well. Couldn't hack it against Fed, but he is well known for destroying Nadal time and again on hardcourts. The prequel to Djokovic. It'd be great to see him destroy these youngsters today.

2) Robin Soderling- his back to back RG final runs in 09 and 10 were stuff of legends. During that time he was the most powerful ball striker on tour. He was only getting better too, before he got injured. Was sad to see him go, he was on the path to being a slam champion.
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Top choices.
 
Tennis_Hands said:
Because I want to watch that FH again, and because he was a true multifaceted player.

:cool:
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Gonzo had a very defined peak, some interesting elements to his game, but I daresay he wasn't as much a threat for most of his career. I just checked and was surprised to see that he had a 0-6 H2H against Davydenko for example.
 
I could've worded the title better - my original idea was to get 2 players each from the 90s and 00s, instead I wrote 'last two decades' as the title was getting long; clearly not the same thing

So to clarify - a total of 4 players of your choice who did not win a major, 2 each from the 90's and 00's
 
letstakeourshirtsoff said:
retired non slam winners? nobody cares.

i want marat & goran back; spicing up the tour a little...
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With slam winners, it's almost too easy. If you could give a second chance, isn't there a bigger pool of talented/quirky players around who did not win the big prize?
 
nikdom said:
With slam winners, it's almost too easy. If you could give a second chance, isn't there a bigger pool of talented/quirky players around who did not win the big prize?
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doesn't matter as fedr goat still playing so nobody gonna win ****.

at least goran & marat make things a bit funnier and unpredictable
 
nikdom said:
I could've worded the title better - my original idea was to get 2 players each from the 90s and 00s, instead I wrote 'last two decades' as the title was getting long; clearly not the same thing

So to clarify - a total of 4 players of your choice who did not win a major, 2 each from the 90's and 00's
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90s-Rios and Corretja
00s-Nalbandian and Blake

Thanks for making it more clear.
 
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