kiki
Banned
foursomes have been again fashion stuff since the consolidation of the Federer/Nadal/Djokovic/Murray group but foursomes explain a lot of different tennis eras.Of course, their greatness is linked to results, achievements and dominance but also to its intrinsec and magnetic power to attract fans and to set new standarts for the game as well as leaving it far bigger and more popular than when they entered it.
The Golden Era has its pattented foursome, Borg-Connors-Mac and Lendl placed, in the early 80´s tennis to new standarts.
But in terms of variety and quality, however, I think that the best ever ( although limited because of the pro-am split) is the 63-65 one with Laver-Rosewall-Gonzales and Hoad.
The three mousk and Tilden were great in the 20´s and their rivalry made tennis have a big leap and become a wordlwide sport, yet the lack of mass media obvioulsy was a big handicap.
Budge-Perry-Vines -Riggs was just almost as good and they made prot ennis make such a big leap forwards in spite of the suspitions that professionalism arose in thsoe days...and in spite of a big World War getting right in the middle of what could have been the best years for that foursome.
The early 90´s group with Sampras,Agassi (or Courier when Agassi was off),Becker and Edberg was great too, and certainly they created a great interest for many of the newer generations fans.
In the women´s ranks, we had the big US foursome of the 50´s, with Hart,Gibson,Fry and the great Mo Connolly although the clear dominance of the latest one made it quite less appealing for the average fan.
The middle 70´s were huge with King,Court,Evert and Goolagong which is one of the best ever in quality and variety terms...and the early 80´s group, Evert-Navratilova-Mandlikova-Austin also set new standarts of popularity and excitment for the women´s pro tour even if Austin left too soon.
And had Mandlikova hold on a bit better, to me, one of the best ever without any kind of doubt could have been Graf-Navratilova-Evert-Mandlikova, but it would have lasted 2-3 years ( 85 to 88 at most) so it would be shortlived.However, the contrast of styles and strengths of this quarter remains unmatched.
later on, Steffi,Monica,Hingis and Venus Williams, had the fourt grils hold on strongly together would have been also one of the historical quartets; and maybe the last truly good one is the Williams sisters vs the belgians but fact is that the belgians had injuries and the two sisters lacked consistency and focus for some of the years that this foursome operated duing their prime years.
which is the best one?
In terms of quality, for me it is either the 64 pro one of the 80 open one for men and the mid 70´s and mid 80´s for women.Agree or disagree
The Golden Era has its pattented foursome, Borg-Connors-Mac and Lendl placed, in the early 80´s tennis to new standarts.
But in terms of variety and quality, however, I think that the best ever ( although limited because of the pro-am split) is the 63-65 one with Laver-Rosewall-Gonzales and Hoad.
The three mousk and Tilden were great in the 20´s and their rivalry made tennis have a big leap and become a wordlwide sport, yet the lack of mass media obvioulsy was a big handicap.
Budge-Perry-Vines -Riggs was just almost as good and they made prot ennis make such a big leap forwards in spite of the suspitions that professionalism arose in thsoe days...and in spite of a big World War getting right in the middle of what could have been the best years for that foursome.
The early 90´s group with Sampras,Agassi (or Courier when Agassi was off),Becker and Edberg was great too, and certainly they created a great interest for many of the newer generations fans.
In the women´s ranks, we had the big US foursome of the 50´s, with Hart,Gibson,Fry and the great Mo Connolly although the clear dominance of the latest one made it quite less appealing for the average fan.
The middle 70´s were huge with King,Court,Evert and Goolagong which is one of the best ever in quality and variety terms...and the early 80´s group, Evert-Navratilova-Mandlikova-Austin also set new standarts of popularity and excitment for the women´s pro tour even if Austin left too soon.
And had Mandlikova hold on a bit better, to me, one of the best ever without any kind of doubt could have been Graf-Navratilova-Evert-Mandlikova, but it would have lasted 2-3 years ( 85 to 88 at most) so it would be shortlived.However, the contrast of styles and strengths of this quarter remains unmatched.
later on, Steffi,Monica,Hingis and Venus Williams, had the fourt grils hold on strongly together would have been also one of the historical quartets; and maybe the last truly good one is the Williams sisters vs the belgians but fact is that the belgians had injuries and the two sisters lacked consistency and focus for some of the years that this foursome operated duing their prime years.
which is the best one?
In terms of quality, for me it is either the 64 pro one of the 80 open one for men and the mid 70´s and mid 80´s for women.Agree or disagree
Last edited:
Sampras/Agassi/Chang/Courier