Who has the biggest "ego" ?

[spinbalz]

Please share your opinion

Mine is :

- ATP : Monfils

- WTA : Williams sisters

And please don't call me a racist, because it has nothing to do mith my choice <I'd chose Blake as the pro player who has the nicest charactcter and the most class>

 

[Mr.Federer]

Why Gael Monfils? I understood why you picked Serena, but Monfils?

 

[ctbmar]

should have done a poll, it would have been interesting...

 

[companzo]

Please share your opinion

Mine is :

- ATP : Monfils

- WTA : Williams sisters

QUOTE]

I agree with yours...and no I'm not racist either.

 

[spinbalz]

Why Gael Monfils? I understood why you picked Serena, but Monfils?

One exemple : The interview he gave after that Nadal easily destroyed him this year at the Monte Carlo open.

The interviews he gave before the 2005 French open, where he basically said that he will put the fire on the courts, and once on the tennis court, he totally failed to backup his pretentions <everybody know how poor he played during that French open>

Some more reasons, I won't list them all, but he really seems to like very much the hype around him, like if he find it "normal" for him.

 

[Talent]

Please share your opinion

Mine is :

- ATP : Monfils

- WTA : Williams sisters

And please don't call me a racist, because it has nothing to do mith my choice <I'd chose Blake as the pro player who has the nicest charactcter and the most class>

Don't mind those people here that are so quick to instigate. I thought you wouldn't go against the grain by nominating Monfils, but that really gives you a lot of respect from me. Your choices are right on the spot, IMO.

 

[Fee]

Well, Spinbalz, you are in France, so you hear much more about him than those of us who do not live there. I have to wonder when a player speaks with some type of bravado before a match or before a tournament, expecially the male players. Is it some type of locker room code that you can't show weakness or respect before the match or you have to seem the most confident coming in?

The Williams sisters, on the other hand, say stupid things after their matches, and I have lost just about all respect for them. Shame, really, I have to wonder if these quotes and some of the other behavior in the last year or so might mar their legacy in tennis somehow.

 

[Talent]

Well, Spinbalz, you are in France, so you hear much more about him than those of us who do not live there. I have to wonder when a player speaks with some type of bravado before a match or before a tournament, expecially the male players. Is it some type of locker room code that you can't show weakness or respect before the match or you have to seem the most confident coming in?

I liken this to a boxer about to go into a boxing match. There is just something in the water when you go into a one-on-one battle.

The Williams have been bashed to the pulp from what I observe on these forums, and I too have lost respect in them. The few that do show the least bit of support for them, what possesses you to question why so many dislike them?

 

[Mr.Federer]

Ok...I see now, I understand now why you choose him.Very understandable.

 

[35ft6]

Federer and Sampras.

Serena and Justine.

 

[OkStateFan]

ATP- Roddick

WTA- Probably the 15 yr old girl that beat serena at the FO from bulgaria that said before playing maria sharapova "I'm going to kick her @ss off"

 

[35ft6]

WTA- Probably the 15 yr old girl that beat serena at the FO from bulgaria that said before playing maria sharapova "I'm going to kick her @ss off"

Good call. In an interview she said something about herself being really hot. It may have been tongue-in-cheek but, regardless, she has a very healthy esteem of self, no doubt.

In general, it seems like the WTA has a lot more trash-talking, drama, and ego. The dudes on the ATP all just seem to want to get along. Just like real life.

 

[Breaker]

ATP- Roddick

WTA- Probably the 15 yr old girl that beat serena at the FO from bulgaria that said before playing maria sharapova "I'm going to kick her @ss off"

Kirilenko? Haha, well I guess she got her wish at the China Open (although it was a default). But she was making Sharopova miss alot of shots and gave her a good "butt kicking" as the commentators put it.

ATP- Spadea maybe?
WTA- Serena

 

[Silky Sampras]

Federer and Sampras.

Serena and Justine.

" I'll never say I'm great. But I will say that, at times, I felt like I mastered the game."

- Pete Sampras

Is that what you call ego, 35ft6?

 

[Aykhan Mammadov]

Among first 20:

Gaudio
Roddick
Hewitt

I'd add also Safin, because IMHO just his ego doesn't let him play relaxed especially against second category players.

 

[LendlFan]

Making a statement regarding what you are going to do to your opponent doesn't necessarily constitude 'EGO'. However, I would tend to define it in terms of Tennis Players as one who thinks they are so good that they can basically walk out onto the court without preparation and win .. which would be

Serene Williams without doubt. She is living in a dream World now and doesn't take Tennis seriously anymore. I see it as her attempts to pick up another appearance check to buy more stuff and hang out with her Performer Friends.

Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Williams

 

[35ft6]

" I'll never say I'm great. But I will say that, at times, I felt like I mastered the game."

- Pete Sampras

Is that what you call ego, 35ft6?

That's a good example. Never knew he said that.

 

[Fee]

Sesil Karantcheva is the one with the big mouth. She has since stopped talking so much because she hasn't been able to back it up with consistent results, and Sharapova pretty much 'kicked her ass off' instead of the other way around. Sesil was 14 or 15 when she made that comment, and might have been more interested in showing off her Englsih skills than actually making any sense. Only in tennis, figure skating, and gymnastics are the words of a 15 year old girl taken so seriously.

 

[jhhachamp]

" I'll never say I'm great. But I will say that, at times, I felt like I mastered the game."

- Pete Sampras

Is that what you call ego, 35ft6?

Sounds pretty modest to me, I never thought of Pete as having a huge ego.

 

[Free_Martha]

" I'll never say I'm great. But I will say that, at times, I felt like I mastered the game."

- Pete Sampras

Is that what you call ego, 35ft6?

Sampras like Federer learned of art of false humility.

 

[spinbalz]

Originally Posted by Silky Sampras
" I'll never say I'm great. But I will say that, at times, I felt like I mastered the game."

- Pete Sampras

Originally Posted by 35ft6

Is that what you call ego, 35ft6?

That's a good example. Never knew he said that.

That's a good example. Never knew he said that.

Sure that Sampras has a very big ego, his commitment to achieve greatness is the proof of it, but his sentence quoted above is more the reflect of some realism, manifested in a pretty humble way, more than the manifestation of an overdeveloped ego.

 

[matchpoint54]

The girl that beat Venus at French, I think that was Sesil Karantechevia. or however you spell her name

 

[156MPHserve]

Hewitt gets my vote with Fed close behind.

"I'm an outside chance at Roland Garros but my focus is really on Wimbledon where it is realistically between me and Roger Federer to win."
-- Lleyton Hewitt. Huh? Were you in the final last year and we missed it? Or the year before?

"I can definitely beat him, yeah. But it's not going to be easy and I think I know as well as anyone he's definitely the man to beat at the moment."
-- Lleyton Hewitt on Roger Federer, who he has lost his last six matches against, including five bagel sets. Yeah, maybe he'll twist an ankle.

"I know I can beat him on any surface."
-- Roger Federer, eating some of his ego after losing to Rafael Nadal in the French Open semifinals.

For women. Williams sisters

"I'm an unbelievable designer. I don't know how I know and just do these things. I just start sketching and then I just know the colors and I always know the forecast. I know green and purple are going to be hot. I was born to be a designer. I worked hard to be a tennis player, I don't work hard to be a designer."
-- The modest Serena Williams on her design talents.

"I'm excited because I haven't won a title since March and that's not like me."
-- Serena Williams after winning the Beijing title.

 

[JackRabbit]

<<<"I'm an outside chance at Roland Garros but my focus is really on Wimbledon where it is realistically between me and Roger Federer to win."
-- Lleyton Hewitt. Huh? Were you in the final last year and we missed it? Or the year before?>>>

Although he was not in the finals he lost to the eventual champ. It really is between him and Rog at Wimbledon.

 

[35ft6]

Sure that Sampras has a very big ego, his commitment to achieve greatness is the proof of it, but his sentence quoted above is more the reflect of some realism, manifested in a pretty humble way, more than the manifestation of an overdeveloped ego.

Nobody is saying a big ego is always bad I hope. I certainly don't feel that way. Yes, without a big ego, Sampras probably wouldn't have won 14 slams. To win that much requires an almost irrational level of self belief.

And I do think that quote is pretty egotistical. Unjustifiable? No. Just egotistical. He begins by saying he's not "great" then goes on to say that sometimes he's perfect. It strikes me as being similar to somebody saying 'I'm not always right... but sometimes I think I'm never wrong."

 

[supremebeing]

ego or jerk

It is ok tho have a big ego, I don't think yiu can go out to play in the pros without it. What I dont like is disrespectful behavior after the match is won. The other player, who hads just lost, does not need that, and nether do the fans.

 

[35ft6]

^ That's true. Being a sincerely gracious loser and winner is maybe the most telling sign of a player.

 

[Kobble]

Monfils has a big ego. An outright primadonna. As for the rest, I think you have to try and distinguish the people who don't believe their own b.s. from the ones that do. Personally, I don't think Serena and Roddick believe what they want us to believe them. Same goes for many celebrities, it is just acting. People want to believe that there are these people who never doubt themselves and have all the answers they need to have, and aspire to be such a person. It is crap. Connors and McEnroe would probably tell you that if you knew them well enough.

 

[TENNIS2]

I think this discussion need some clarification. I offer mine:
- knowing one's true self worth is not egotistical. Ex: Pete Sampras, "I'll never say I'm great. But I will say that, at times, I felt like I mastered the game." I think we all agree that he mastered the game.
- overestimate one's self worth is not necessarily egotistical, it's mainly stupidity.
- regardless of one's ability, if he shows contempt for his fellow players then that's egotistical.
- though Merriam-Webster simply said egotistical is "the practice of talking about oneself too much".

 

[Deuce]

Kirilenko? Haha, well I guess she got her wish at the China Open (although it was a default). But she was making Sharopova miss alot of shots and gave her a good "butt kicking" as the commentators put it.

ATP- Spadea maybe?
WTA- Serena

No, of course it was not Kirilenko. She is not the type of individual to 'trash talk' - far from it. This is the type of false gossip that can totally unjustifiably damage one's reputation - because too many people simply believe whatever they read - even on a tennis message board.

As for ego - one need look no further than Jimmy Connors & John McEnroe.

 

[jhhachamp]

And I do think that quote is pretty egotistical. Unjustifiable? No. Just egotistical. He begins by saying he's not "great" then goes on to say that sometimes he's perfect. It strikes me as being similar to somebody saying 'I'm not always right... but sometimes I think I'm never wrong."

I think you are overanalyzing the quote a bit. If you just read the actual words, there is nothing egotistical there. How can you argue that there were never times where it seemed he had mastered the game. For me an egotistical version of that quote would be "I'll never say I'm great, but when I play my best I know no one can beat me."

 

[Andres]

I think you are overanalyzing the quote a bit. If you just read the actual words, there is nothing egotistical there. How can you argue that there were never times where it seemed he had mastered the game. For me an egotistical version of that quote would be "I'll never say I'm great, but when I play my best I know no one can beat me."

Actually, Serena Williams SAID on february "when i'm focused, it's almost impossible anycan can beat me".

 

[pound cat]

My definition of ego is a positive sense of self. Anyone in the top 500 of ATP has a big ego or else he wouldn't be there.

 

[FREDDY]

i say the fans. they talk like they know the guys plus what poundcat sed

 

[35ft6]

I think you are overanalyzing the quote a bit. If you just read the actual words, there is nothing egotistical there. How can you argue that there were never times where it seemed he had mastered the game. For me an egotistical version of that quote would be "I'll never say I'm great, but when I play my best I know no one can beat me."

I'm not reading much into it. He starts off with claiming not to be "great", then goes on to claim something way more braggadocios than if he had simply said "I'm great." Truth is, if any athlete said they were great, not matter how true it was, they'd get ripped. So maybe I should cut Sampras some slack for the way he declared his own greatness.

 

[jhhachamp]

I'm not reading much into it. He starts off with claiming not to be "great", then goes on to claim something way more braggadocios than if he had simply said "I'm great." Truth is, if any athlete said they were great, not matter how true it was, they'd get ripped. So maybe I should cut Sampras some slack for the way he declared his own greatness.

I don't think the claim he makes is way more braggadocious(I hope I am assuming correctly what this means) than saying he is great, but I guess we just differ on opinion there. How should he answer the question without sounding egotistical or just plain stupid? He probably didn't have a lot of time to contemplate how to answer the question also. I don't really think Sampras had a big ego. I think he was very humble and modest about his abilities. He obviously had a lot of belief and confidence in his game, but he failed to show overconfidence and also did not seem to brag/gloat about himself. These are the things I think of with egotistical and I just didn't see those things in Sampras.

 

[Phil]

" I'll never say I'm great. But I will say that, at times, I felt like I mastered the game."

- Pete Sampras

Is that what you call ego, 35ft6?

No, that's what I call "Speaking the truth." What do you expect him to say? Any ego that Sampras may have demonstrated, was more than backed-up by his results.

 

[joy]

In my humble opinion, you can't come to an apt conclusion for this question. We can't guess player's attitude from press or media interviews because in the interviews and in front of media, any intelligent person would always conduct himself very well in order to safeguard his/her public image and to create a good impression about him/her. No body knows what's in a particular person's mind and according to me, ego is related to mental state, mind and thought process rather than what you leak out through your lips. In my own experience, I have come across people, who seem to have a lot of ego inside but act like very polite and soft outside. There are also people the other way around who just don't know what to speak and how to speak and give away a lot of loosetalks which may create a bad imopression. Thus we cant judge these things unless we make a thorough scan of somebody's brain. It may be a possibility that Serena doesn't know the art of speaking and thereby creates an impression that she is an egoist which need not be the actual case. This is just my opinion.

 

[go_nadal]

hewitt is the worst

 

[westside]

hewitt is the worst

Just a question, Why do you think Hewitt the worst

 

[Rafa Nadal]

Hewitt !!!

 

[35ft6]

I don't think the claim he makes is way more braggadocious(I hope I am assuming correctly what this means) than saying he is great, but I guess we just differ on opinion there. How should he answer the question without sounding egotistical or just plain stupid?.

You're right. There's nothing he could really say especially in America where people will take false humility over truth any day.

Sampras' default position was that he was going to let his racket do the talking, that he was an old school athlete that wasn't going to perpetuate the hype, blah blah blah. But I never got the impression that he really bought into this own lines, I always got the impression that he was a bit peeved at people like Agassi overshadowing him, and occasionally he would subtly remind people that he was the best player around. He was like the guy who tells people "I don't care what other people thinks" and then quietly stews in the corner for being ignored by everybody. No, I'm not getting all this out of that one statement, this is how I've always felt about Sampras. I feel like he feels bitterly under-appreciated. It's probably justifiable, and maybe I was too quick to rule that quote as being egotistical.

 

[Silky Sampras]

Sure that Sampras has a very big ego, his commitment to achieve greatness is the proof of it, but his sentence quoted above is more the reflect of some realism, manifested in a pretty humble way, more than the manifestation of an overdeveloped ego.

How, particularly, is his commitment to acheive greatness proof of ego?? He has acheived greatness, and this would give him liscense to say alot of indisputable things...none of which he has. Oh, I see, but you agree that his quote reflects humility.

 

[Silky Sampras]

No, that's what I call "Speaking the truth." What do you expect him to say? Any ego that Sampras may have demonstrated, was more than backed-up by his results.

Yes, of course, but nonetheless he did not demonstrate any ego, did he?

 

[whistleway]

In my humble opinion, you can't come to an apt conclusion for this question. We can't guess player's attitude from press or media interviews because in the interviews and in front of media, any intelligent person would always conduct himself very well in order to safeguard his/her public image and to create a good impression about him/her. No body knows what's in a particular person's mind and according to me, ego is related to mental state, mind and thought process rather than what you leak out through your lips. In my own experience, I have come across people, who seem to have a lot of ego inside but act like very polite and soft outside. There are also people the other way around who just don't know what to speak and how to speak and give away a lot of loosetalks which may create a bad imopression. Thus we cant judge these things unless we make a thorough scan of somebody's brain. It may be a possibility that Serena doesn't know the art of speaking and thereby creates an impression that she is an egoist which need not be the actual case. This is just my opinion.

good point, anyone who had met hewitt knows how soft spoken and gentle he is. media is whole another animal to tame for sure.

 

[Grimjack]

No, that's what I call "Speaking the truth." What do you expect him to say? Any ego that Sampras may have demonstrated, was more than backed-up by his results.

Why do people automatically construe ego as a negative? Of course this answer was a demonstration of a huge ego at work. A justifiably huge ego, of course (which is an important distinction), but a huge ego nonetheless.

The ego free answer would be something like, "Greatness is something for the fans and media to judge; I just try to play the best I can." Doesn't mean that's a better answer -- in fact, I think it sucks. The egotistical answer is often the best one, and can even be refreshing when the player whose ego is on display has show by his actions that his ego is justified. It's why I admire Fed's interviews. His ego seems in-line with his accomplishments to the extent that the answers he gives -- even though they sometimes seem obliquely belittling to his opponents -- never come off as absurd or inappropriate.

It's when a player's ego far outraces his/her abilities that he or she becomes a joke. It seems to me that gap is what the discussion here is about, whether we've acknowledged it or not.

 

[Phil]

Yes, of course, but nonetheless he did not demonstrate any ego, did he?

I don't know-I think that any time a person makes a comment about themselves, their ego (or lack thereof) shines through to some degree. Ego, as another poster said, is not a bad thing. We all HAVE one. For what Sampras accomphished, he SHOULD demonstrate some ego. I think he was relatively modest throughout his career, considering his place in the history of the game.

 

[spinbalz]

How, particularly, is his commitment to acheive greatness proof of ego??

He wanted to let his trace in the history, and for that, he did all the efforts needed. When someone wants to let a trace in the history, or wants to be remembered as the best ever, it is a proof that that person has a big ego, even the way Sampras quited tennis <after a major win> was a proof a big ego. And having a big ego is not automatically a bad thing, as it has been said before, it is a trait of character that is probably needed when someone wants to become a professional athlete, the problem is when someone can't backup his overdeveloped ego with his results on the courts, Sampras didn't have that kind of problem, the Williams sisters now do have that problem.

 

[RafaN RichardG]

monfils? there are far worse. hewitt(whose pic is on my wall, but lets face it hes got issues), coria( pretty much the one of the smallest guys on tour, and yet he has one of the biggest mouthes)
as for the wta, shes one of my favs to WATCH but she needs to give more credit when credit is due- Serena.
i dont see su much whats bad about venus, if someone here gives me a couple direct quotes then i may see what you mean, but ppl usually just put them together cuz theyre sisters, but i dont think venus is bad at all
hmm, and the W. sisters cant back it up? im not sure i see what you mean spnblz, considering both are in the top 11 and had major wins this year. i dont think thats bad for them only playing 15(V.), and 12(S.) tours., especially compared to people like hantuchova who played 2 times as many tours as serena, and being ranked 2 times as worse, or patty schnyder who is ranked only 1 spot higher safter playing more than 2 times as many tours as serena...please...elaborate

 

[Rodzilla]

Coria - the reasons have been covered enough, he seems quick to push anyone's and everyone's buttons