2019 Running Tennis thread

Until the 90s, nobody (other than Australians) wanted to play Australia. Facilities were low-rent, and it was held around Christmas. Then came Flinders Park, a switch to mid-January, and now everyone goes there. That's good for several of the Big 3's major titles.

Connors played it twice, won it (1974) and was runner-up (1975). Skipped it 19 times. Borg played it once.

 

The Big 4 is rapidly dwindling. Murray has retired, Nadal and Federer are hanging on, and that leaves Djoker, who is 32, to be dominant for the next 3 years. Who's the next foil? Wawrinka was a late bloomer and his window has come and gone.

 

Murray was very good, certainly, but other than a couple of brief spurts was he ever on the same level as those other three? He always struck me more as an Andy Roddick type -- a contender, a guy who could win some big tournaments and even a few Grand Slams, but never as consistently great as Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

 

I think I heard that there isnt one mens major winner under 30 years old.

That is incredible.

 

You are correct. Roddick won ONE grand slam title. He doesn't deserve to be farted in the same air as those other three you've mentioned.

 

Few players do. They've lapped the field.
Another amazing stat: Federer (Wimbledon), Nadal (French Open) and Djokovic (Australian Open) each hold the record for most titles at one of the grand slams. And Federer is tied with Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors for most U.S. Open titles in the open era. Three old-timers won it seven times apiece, so he probably won't break that record but he might get the modern record.

 

Thought this Brian Phillips account was terrific.

Novak Djokovic’s Lovely, Victorious Crisis

 

He can take players apart with surgical ruthlessness, as he did against poor David Goffin in the Wimbledon quarterfinals Wednesday; he won the second set of that match 6-0, and it didn’t feel that close.

 

I misread your post, by the way, and should note that Murray won three Grand Slam titles. Still not in the same stratosphere. Roddick is someone I rooted for heavily but never really could break through against the big guns.

 

Exactly. He could have written something like, "Djokovic destroyed David Goffin in the quarters, even shutting him out, 6-0, in the second match. " That's the same message. But it couldn't be delivered more differently. The word that comes to my mind when I read Phillips is: elegant.

 

Djokovic became the first man to win Wimbledon after facing match points since Bob Falkenburg in 1948.