FrontHeadlock
Hall of Fame
Which of the ATG players has seen his legacy be devalued the most by the Big 3 era?
Pete Sampras is a possibility since he was considered the GOAT and now isn't even top 3, but given that he didn't win RG there were always arguments against him, and his 7 Ws and 5 USOs are still very highly regarded.
Bjorn Borg is a real possibility. The Big 3 bumped the number of players with the CGS from 2 to 5, so even though Borg had 11 Majors and dominated across clay and grass, he's now arguably no longer top 5 AND he's missing 2 legs of the CGS.
John McEnroe also only won 2 legs of the CGS (all on fast courts), and given the style of play prevalent today he's looked upon as someone who might have struggled in more modern tennis.
Boris Becker never even made a final at RG and was essentially a Wimbledon specialist (he made only one final combined at RG/USO in his career), and his low number of weeks at No. 1 and lack of YE #1 threatens his continued place as an ATG.
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Ultimately, I think Borg has taken the biggest hit. He's dropped from #2/3 all time to #5 at best, and #6 if you rank Laver ahead of him. And now that the CGS has become more prevalent and important, his inability to win at either the AO or the USO really hurts his career.
Pete Sampras is a possibility since he was considered the GOAT and now isn't even top 3, but given that he didn't win RG there were always arguments against him, and his 7 Ws and 5 USOs are still very highly regarded.
Bjorn Borg is a real possibility. The Big 3 bumped the number of players with the CGS from 2 to 5, so even though Borg had 11 Majors and dominated across clay and grass, he's now arguably no longer top 5 AND he's missing 2 legs of the CGS.
John McEnroe also only won 2 legs of the CGS (all on fast courts), and given the style of play prevalent today he's looked upon as someone who might have struggled in more modern tennis.
Boris Becker never even made a final at RG and was essentially a Wimbledon specialist (he made only one final combined at RG/USO in his career), and his low number of weeks at No. 1 and lack of YE #1 threatens his continued place as an ATG.
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Ultimately, I think Borg has taken the biggest hit. He's dropped from #2/3 all time to #5 at best, and #6 if you rank Laver ahead of him. And now that the CGS has become more prevalent and important, his inability to win at either the AO or the USO really hurts his career.