Wimbledon: Richard Krajicek 96 vs Novak Djokovic 14 or 15

[Plamen1234]

Krajicek imo.But it also depends how fast is the grass.Back in the days it was faster than now. Also Federer should have won the 2014 match.2015 match was clear that Djokovic will win it but 2014 was missed opportunity for Federer.

 

[ibbi]

You ask who is better on current grass? I mean I guess that is the qualifier that needs to be added to make a contest of this. If Anderson and Cilic could push Novak as close as they did on todays stuff then Krajicek will like his chances.

Despite a prevalence for serve and volley that could cost him playing in the modern game he was not at all out of his element on slower surfaces, so who knows? Maybe edge to Novak, but it'd be super close.

 

[zep]

I may be big Nole fan but there is no way Nole was winning on old grass against the Richard which played the 96 Quaterfinal.

Nobody cares, if Novak was born 15-20 years before he would have played differently. These fast grass, slow grass comparisons make no sense.

 

[Sysyphus]

Given modern tech, Nole would eat his liver for lunch. Players like Nole made players like Krajicek extinct.

This whole 'fast grass' thing is so overblown. The old Wimby grass had 30% red fescue, same as Easbourne has today, and significantly less than what Queen's has. Yes, the tennis at the grass warm-up tournaments is still a little bit different from the tennis at Wimbledon these days, but it's not like 90s tennis dominates those tournaments and the best baseliners can't dominate on such grass when they show up (see e.g. Murray at Queen's). Modern strings and modern baselining makes 90s tennis against someone like Novak a losing proposition no matter the composition of the grass.

 

[metsman]

Given modern tech, Nole would eat his liver for lunch. Players like Nole made players like Krajicek extinct.

This whole 'fast grass' thing is so overblown. The old Wimby grass had 30% red fescue, same as Easbourne has today, and significantly less than what Queen's has. Yes, the tennis at the grass warm-up tournaments is still a little bit different from the tennis at Wimbledon these days, but it's not like 90s tennis dominates those tournaments and the best baseliners can't dominate on such grass when they show up (see e.g. Murray at Queen's). Modern strings and modern baselining makes 90s tennis against someone like Novak a losing proposition no matter the composition of the grass.

Remember the Stepanek match in 2014?

Also the biggest change resulting in the "green clay" Wimbledon is only partially due to the composition.

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

Yes, the tennis at the grass warm-up tournaments is still a little bit different from the tennis at Wimbledon these days, but it's not like 90s tennis dominates those tournaments and the best baseliners can't dominate on such grass when they show up (see e.g. Murray at Queen's). Modern strings and modern baselining makes 90s tennis against someone like Novak a losing proposition no matter the composition of the grass.

Murray was beaten by Mischa Zverev at the AO (when it went a little faster there), Nadal was beaten twice by Dustin Brown on grass (once on really fast grass in Halle). Both these players are absolute joke Serve and volley players compared to the Serve and Volley players of the 90s. The reason why 90s tennis isn't dominating the grass court warm ups is that there is no elite player anymore who plays the style of the 90s (why should anyone focus on a playing style just to perform good on a handful of ATP 500s in the year). A guy like Krajicek is ten times the player Zverev and Dustin Brown are and guys like Djokovic and Nadal need some long rallies in order to find rhythm.

 

[Djorau]

Richard Krajicek was an epitome of the classic quote in football: "Form is temporary, class is permanent". He was simply an average servebot who suddenly had a hot fortnight. Outside that he was a mug, just like Cilic/Raonic/Tsonga/Berdych or even worse.

 

[Prabhanjan]

That 14 propelled to a win in 15 should be a good metric that Nole's 2014-15 run and overall picture than Krajicek's in 1996.

 

[Djorau]

That 14 propelled to a win in 15 should be a good metric that Nole's 2014-15 run and overall picture than Krajicek's in 1996.

The big Dutchboy was simply a one-tricky pony, even more so than Cilic.