Who is the true goat in Tennis ?

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Oct 3, 2013
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What an era in mens tennis.

French Open this year will be very very interesting. Thiem is a huge wildcard. Stefo could annoy. Only 3 months time

(and that is ignoring the womens side with Osaka ability on this surface)

French Open favourites
  1. Nadal
  2. Thiem
  3. Djokovic
  4. Rublev
  5. Tsitsipas
 

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Feb 23, 2009
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French Open favourites
  1. Nadal
  2. Thiem
  3. Djokovic
  4. Rublev
  5. Tsitsipas
I still think Thiem is on the slight up while Rafa is on the ever so slight decline. Same with Tsitsipas, on the upwards side of the improvement curve and his best tennis.

This could be Thiem's year at the French finally.
 
Oct 23, 2014
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Novak is probably the GOAT. He has a good record against Fed and Nadal. At his best he's unpassable, and his shots are so reliable compared to the other two, while also being flat and deep.

Federer got a headstart during a weak era, and Nadal relies too much on French Opens. Whereas there's no question on Djokovic's record that I'm aware of.

I still think Federer has the best skills we've ever seen, wherever it all ends up.

The next evolution will probably be baseliners who are just as athletic as Djokovic, but they're 6"5. Perhaps we'll reach a point where it's physically impossible to pass them, and the game just becomes about unforced errors.
 
Sep 22, 2011
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Still 5th in the ATP rankings despite not playing in over 12 months.
Rankings are relevant? Okay... Ash Barty is world number 1 despite not playing for 12months. The system isn’t a true reflection.

Federer will always be a true shot maker, for sure. Just Novak finetuned the rallies aspect and is so hard to beat. Almost every serve is returned and just crushes opponents mentally. Federer dominated a weak era of tennis. Probably one of the worst for decades, before Novak, Nadal and Murray went pro.
 

Redline

Norm Smith Medallist
Jul 18, 2006
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I think it's hard to go past Novak as the GOAT for a number of reasons mentioned already, for the record books he probably needs to overtake the other two for most Grand Slam titles. To do that he probably needs four more as I think Nadal will win the French this year.

I think Federer is done in terms of titles.

To win four more won't be easy for Novak, he needs at least one more this year maybe even both Wimbledon and the US.

Who is the best player to watch, most natural and most likeable are all different discussions.
 

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Apr 28, 2008
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Nadal turned pro in 2001. That means 7 titles outside the French Open, in 20 years. And in one of those, he didn't face a Top 20 player. His record is really all about dominating at one tournament.
You can’t use 2001. He was 14/15 then and still doing Futures/Juniors. He didn’t really become a Challenger/main tour regular until 2003.
 
You're all wrong !

andrew-ille.jpg
 
Dec 20, 2014
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Surely it's simply a question of whoever finishes with the most major titles. That's really the KPI in men's tennis. I'm not sure what other metic people would propose.

At this stage, you'd have to put your money on Djokovic. He's less than a year younger than Nadal but seems to have more gas left in the tank and is a better chance at three of the four majors.
 
Dec 2, 2003
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Until anyone goes past 24, the goat is Margaret Court. With Queen Serena Williams the next best goat.

The only sport a woman could be a GOAT is netball. A top woman in the WTA would struggle to defeat any of the top 100 men on the ATP tour. This isn't misogynistic. It's biological fact.

I'd like to see a match up though. I'm not talking about a Bobby Riggs hit n giggle either. A bloke plying their trade right now on the ATP tour. At least the women wouldn't be forced to play more than 3 sets, because it would still be 3-0 in favour of the bloke in a best of five.
 
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