Who is the true goat in Tennis ?

pepsi · Feb 21, 2021

PonsfordMagpie said:
Overall GOAT debate is still up for discussion.

But one thing is clear. Djokovic is the Australian Open GOAT.

And Rafa the RG GOAT. Those 2 things cannot be debated.

The rest can I would say.

BobbyMorri · Feb 21, 2021

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)

PonsfordMagpie · Feb 21, 2021

BobbyMorri said:
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

Nadal
Thiem
Djokovic
Rublev
Tsitsipas

BobbyMorri · Feb 21, 2021

PonsfordMagpie said:
French Open favourites

Nadal

Thiem

Djokovic

Rublev

Tsitsipas

yeah, fair. Would have Stefo in 4 and perhaps Zverev in 5. Novak will have scars after last years final. Think only Thiem could beat a fit Nadal.

PonsfordMagpie · Feb 21, 2021

BobbyMorri said:
yeah, fair. Would have Stefo in 4 and perhaps Zverev in 5. Novak will have scars after last years final. Think only Thiem could beat a fit Nadal.

Zverev has the weapons, but doesn't have the mental toughness at this stage.

juss · Feb 21, 2021

PonsfordMagpie said:
French Open favourites

Nadal

Thiem

Djokovic

Rublev

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.

FreoRicci · Feb 21, 2021

Novak on 18. 2 more for 20. The one that has consistently bettered Nadal and Federer at their prime.
Tears will be delicious once Federer is third all time.
‘But he has everything’.

eaglespremiers · Feb 22, 2021

FreoRicci said:
Novak on 18. 2 more for 20. The one that has consistently bettered Nadal and Federer at their prime.
Tears will be delicious once Federer is third all time.
‘But he has everything’.

Still 5th in the ATP rankings despite not playing in over 12 months.

Lethality · Feb 22, 2021

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.

FreoRicci · Feb 22, 2021

eaglespremiers said:
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 · Feb 22, 2021

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.

Roobs321 · Feb 22, 2021

I think Novak has been the goat for some time now, a few years at least. The slam tally is just the last to know about it.

UnitedWarrior93 · Feb 22, 2021

Nadal the goat for me

Lethality · Feb 23, 2021

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.

Xtreme · Feb 23, 2021

Until anyone goes past 24, the goat is Margaret Court. With Queen Serena Williams the next best goat.

yaco55 · Feb 24, 2021

Heaven help's anyone who wins 18 major tournaments with possibly more to come.

Roobs321 · Feb 24, 2021

Lethality said:
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.

The City Boyz · Feb 24, 2021

Dan Evans shouted me a dart once so I'd have to go with him

Lethality · Feb 24, 2021

Roobs321 said:
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.

I think he was 16 that year.

NSWCROW · Feb 24, 2021

You're all wrong !

Sweet Jesus · Feb 24, 2021

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.

Roobs321 · Feb 24, 2021

Lethality said:
I think he was 16 that year.

He turned 16 in mid-02

mcgarnacle · Feb 25, 2021

Xtreme said:
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.