Wayne Ferrera is GOAT

[Olorin]

Yes, I don't expect this thread to be taken seriously, I mean, South African tennis players, not much substance there, right ?

But there was a particular tennis player from South Africa, one who was a force to be reckoned with. Wayne had the potential to beat the top players in the world (in his time), including GOAT contender, Pete Sampras.

Actually, Wayne beat Sampras a number of times. In fact I think he lead the h2h. That's pretty phenomenal for a South African tennis player. :neutral: A major, major force Wayne Ferrera was. He could beat Sampras at his worst and lose to an unseeded player at his best.

You have to give him props for that. Fellow S.A posters, chime in and discuss the legacy of Wayne Ferrera (I'm pretty sure I'm spelling his surname wrong but I can't edit my posts so what the hell).

Regards,

 

[nomie]

Bleg. Wayne could have been great if only he learnt how to control his emotions.

His only real accomplishment except for reaching nr 6 in the world is:
"Ferreira holds the record for the most consecutive Grand Slam tournament appearances in men's tennis. He participated in 56 consecutive Grand Slams between 1991 and 2004"

A lot of trying but not a lot of results.

 

[eugenius]

Lots of ability married to the mind of infant.If he had any sort of stability from a temperament point of view,he would have been able to contend for winning a major or 2

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

His only real accomplishment except for reaching nr 6 in the world is:
"Ferreira holds the record for the most consecutive Grand Slam tournament appearances in men's tennis. He participated in 56 consecutive Grand Slams between 1991 and 2004"

i think he also has the record for the longest lapse of time between 2 SF appearance in a slam...


he was relatively fun to watch.

 

[SLD76]

Well, south africans can kinda sorta maybe claim Federer as well through his father so...there ya go.

 

[Jchurch]

Well, south africans can kinda sorta maybe claim Federer as well through his father so...there ya go.

I thought it was his mother that was South African

 

[Olorin]

Great. So the greatest tennis player who ever lived was, kind of, sort of, perhaps-ish, South African ? That's just fantastic news.

I always knew we had world-class talent.

 

[Olorin]

Yes, Federer's mother is South African.

 

[Olorin]

Wayne could have been great if only he learnt how to control his emotions.

I used to have these massive tantrums whenever I watched Wayne play. Those are the memories I'll probably have etched in my mind forever.

If Wayne had to play Federer, then Federer had better pray for death ! I think the most disappointing performance, for me, was when Wayne reached the Quarter-finals in Wimbledon and was knocked out by Todd Martin.

Damn. I almost destroyed my TV that day.

 

[bruce38]

I remember Wayne. I thought he was great and had the potential to go far. But alas, things just did not work out for him. C'est la vie.

 

[Olorin]

If Wayne had to play Nadal, trust me, he would wipe the floor with Nadal. He would scare Nadal right off the courts. One look into Ferrera's (Federer incarnate ? ) eyes, and Nadal is toast.

 

[B A Y]

I used to have these massive tantrums whenever I watched Wayne play. Those are the memories I'll probably have etched in my mind forever.

If Wayne had to play Federer, then Federer had better pray for death ! I think the most disappointing performance, for me, was when Wayne reached the Quarter-finals in Wimbledon and was knocked out by Todd Martin.

Damn. I almost destroyed my TV that day.

It was it the year 2000 that was bad for me, he got to the round of 16 and after beating a few big names (Krajicek) and lost to Vladimir Voltchkov! He would have then played Byron Black from Zimbabwe in the quarters who he would have surely beaten then to face Sampras (who he had at the time the best H2H record against) in the semis! I was soooo annoyed!

 

[MAXXply]

Those cheekbones! That jutting jawline! The baggy FILA shirts! The plain white hat he wore that looked like an oversized baseball cap...that loose-limbed, flailing armed, windmill-like action on his forehand exaggerated by his low-placed grip on Dunlop racket... Edit: I mean, that's what his groundstrokes looked like to me at the time, compared to other players. Just my recollection. Maybe I should revisit him on YouTube.

 

[marc45]

Yes, I don't expect this thread to be taken seriously, I mean, South African tennis players, not much substance there, right ?

But there was a particular tennis player from South Africa, one who was a force to be reckoned with. Wayne had the potential to beat the top players in the world (in his time), including GOAT contender, Pete Sampras.

Actually, Wayne beat Sampras a number of times. In fact I think he lead the h2h. That's pretty phenomenal for a South African tennis player. :neutral: A major, major force Wayne Ferrera was. He could beat Sampras at his worst and lose to an unseeded player at his best.

You have to give him props for that. Fellow S.A posters, chime in and discuss the legacy of Wayne Ferrera (I'm pretty sure I'm spelling his surname wrong but I can't edit my posts so what the hell).

Regards,

7-6 pete, but he definitely caused trouble for mr. sampras with that forehand

 

[Bart]

Some more funny facts:

Ferreira has very positive H2H against Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Lendl, Kafelnikov, Rafter, Ljubicic, Federer and good H2H against Sampras (6-7). But he was terrible against Chang (0-7), Courier (2-9) and Agassi (0-11, sets 1-24!).
What a lucky guy - has beaten greatest players of 4 decades.