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weslgarlic

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Hooray! Steffi stands alone another day. :cheer:

But eventually Serena will catch and pass her 22 major titles.

Now...who do I root for between Djokovic and Murray in the Men's Final? No question...gotta go with Djokovic.

Edited by Strider
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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...

No Fed in this year's French Open! Roger Federer just announced he is not playing the French this year, as he feels his overall fitness isn't up to snuff. :(

Guess I'll have to root for Djoko this year.

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  • 1 month later...

Another dismal Wimbledon. I was cheering for the oldies this year...Roger and Venus. Both got knocked out in the semis. :(

Now Serena has tied Steffi's record. Which, as a huge Steffi fan, bums me out.

I won't even bother watching the men's final between Andy Murray and whoseit. Sigh.

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  • 6 months later...

The Tennis Gods smiled on the Australian Open this past weekend. In a sport where anyone over 30 is old and 35 is positively ancient, all four of the finalists in both the women's and men's finals were skewing the age curve way up.

Due to the time difference between Australia and the U.S., I could only watch the Aussie Open in fits and starts. I only now just finished watching the men's final between Nadal and Federer. I put myself on a sports news blackout all day Sunday and today.

As a Federer fan, what a delicious and completely unexpected march to victory these past two weeks have been. And from a #17 seeding position, no less.

Way to go, Roger Federer! Major title number 18 further cements your place in the game. Who knows? Maybe he has another Wimbledon in him?

Serena's victory was not as surprising...the women's game is not that deep in talent. Especially when she got Venus as her opponent in the final. Venus hasn't beaten her sister in ages.

As one who loved Steffi Graf's game (power and grace without the grunting) I am not happy Serena passed Steffi in total major titles, 23 to 22...but I was resigned to the fact that it would eventually happen. Serena is one shy of Margaret Court's record and the odds are she will get it and more.

She will never replace Steffi in my heart, or Martina and Evert for that matter. But Serena will be known as the greatest women's player before the year is through.

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  • 1 year later...

Tom Brady is getting massive attention for still being an elite quarterback at age 40, and rightly so.

But there is another athlete that is defying Father Time. Thirty-six year old Roger Federer just won his 20th Major Title and his third in the past year, at an age when most tennis players have long stopped being threats. Usually the titles start to dry up after age 30. Jimmy Connors created pandemonium just by reaching the US Open semifinals at age 39 after a lengthy drought, although that was as far as he got.

But Federer isn't just having one miracle run in a tournament. He is having a late-career sustained run of brilliance. The fact that he is doing it with such grace and style leads many, I suspect, to undervalue and underrate his achievement. Because he makes it look so easy, so effortless, people don't give him the credit for working so damn hard to stay in match-shape.

Commentators and fans will rave about Nadal's work ethic and admire the effort and will he puts into his tennis, while denying Federer the same accolades. As if all Federer does is just show up on the court and magically conjures up his game.

But no matter to those of us who appreciate great tennis. 20 major titles says a lot...he's now six ahead of Sampras and four ahead of Nadal. There is no debate anymore. For now, Roger Federer is the greatest player of all-time.

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20 hours ago, Strider said:

Tom Brady is getting massive attention for still being an elite quarterback at age 40, and rightly so.

But there is another athlete that is defying Father Time. Thirty-six year old Roger Federer just won his 20th Major Title and his third in the past year, at an age when most tennis players have long stopped being threats. Usually the titles start to dry up after age 30. Jimmy Connors created pandemonium just by reaching the US Open semifinals at age 39 after a lengthy drought, although that was as far as he got.

But Federer isn't just having one miracle run in a tournament. He is having a late-career sustained run of brilliance. The fact that he is doing it with such grace and style leads many, I suspect, to undervalue and underrate his achievement. Because he makes it look so easy, so effortless, people don't give him the credit for working so damn hard to stay in match-shape.

Commentators and fans will rave about Nadal's work ethic and admire the effort and will he puts into his tennis, while denying Federer the same accolades. As if all Federer does is just show up on the court and magically conjures up his game.

But no matter to those of us who appreciate great tennis. 20 major titles says a lot...he's now six ahead of Sampras and four ahead of Nadal. There is no debate anymore. For now, Roger Federer is the greatest player of all-time.

One of the stats that absolutely blows my mind about Federer is that, in addition to his winning his 20th major (an incredible statistic in its own right), he has made it to 30 major finals - THIRTY! Are you kidding me?

On top of that - do the math...Federer has won 2/3 of all the major finals he has ever appeared in - he has won twice as many major finals as he has lost! And it hasn't been during an era with weak competition either - Roddick, Nadal, Djokovic, Wawrinka, and Murray (among many others) have been in the way during his career. Winning half of your appearances in major finals would be an unbelievably good stat - I don't know if there is a word for winning 2/3, especially going to 30 in the process...

I thought, among many others, that Sampras' major mark would stand for decades - now there are two who have won more. Mind-boggling. IMHO, I agree - Federer has to be considered #1. This era of men's tennis has to be considered among the very best too.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

🇩🇪 Wunderbar! Congratulations to Germany's Angelique Kerber winning Wimbledon Women's Championship.

Hooray for Djokovic beating Nadal in the Men's semifinal.

Waiting for him in the final is the survivor of the other men's semifinal, South Africa's Anderson. Five sets, almost seven hours of match time. 26-24 in the fifth. It'll be something if he has any legs left for the final.

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6 hours ago, LedZed66 said:

Großartig - 22 years after Steffi Graf.  Congrats to Angelique. :hurrah:

Impressive that she was able to beat Serena Williams.

Yes it was. Serena usually owns her.

Go Djokovic! With Federer knocked out, Djoko is my next rooting interest on the men's side. Congratulations to Djokovic!!!

And how sporting of him to make such quick work of Anderson that the match didn't overlap too long with the World Cup final.

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  • 3 years later...

Not John McEnroe. Not Ivan Lendl. Not Boris Becker. Not Pete Sampras. Not Andre Agassi. Not Roger Federer. Not Rafael Nadal.

Instead, it is Novak Djokovic, of all people, who stands on the cusp of history. One more victory away from the first men's Grand Slam in 52 years...since Rod Laver accomplished the feat in 1969. I barely remember Rod Laver, as I wasn't into tennis at that age, but I remember the excitement I felt watching Steffi Graf achieve her Golden Slam (Aussie, French, Wimbledon, U.S., and Olympic championships) in 1984.

Go Joker!

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/32184180/novak-djokovic-powers-alexander-zverev-five-sets-face-daniil-medvedev-us-open-final

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3 hours ago, ebk said:

Sorry Sean, but I have to say that I'm very happy that Novaxx lost.  He's a total jerk, and this way, hopefully the story will be the ladies final, which was fab. 

Agreed and agreed. I hope those young ladies start a new era of women’s tennis. I thoroughly enjoyed Saturday’s finale. 

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