Softball Bat wrote: ↑Tue May 03, 2022 9:54 am
I posted this list at Stucknut about 5 years ago...
Top 10 male tennis champions of the last 50 years, imo
10. Mats Wilander - 7 slam titles, B. Becker and S. Edberg were considered for this spot
9. A. Agassi - Sampras' top rival, 8 slam wins, career slam
8. J. Connors - the Pete Rose of tennis, electric
7. I. Lendl - 8 straight U.S. Open finals
6. J. McEnroe - gifted, high-strung artist, greatest doubles player ever
5. N. Djokovic - racked up 12 grand slam titles, career slam
4. B. Borg - 5 straight Wimbledon wins, 6 French titles
3. R. Nadal - leads Federer head-to-head, 10 French titles, career slam
2. P. Sampras - dominant, 7 Wimbledon and 5 U.S. Open titles - zero French finals
1. R. Federer - most slams, career slam, best all-around player, imo
Becker and Edberg might be 11 and 12.
If I *updated* this, Djokovic would move -----> UP.
Nadal might move ahead of Sampras (maybe), but I would still rate Federer #1.
I think his best was better than anyone else on the list, except he would have had a helluva time beating Pete at Wimbledon when Sampras was in his prime. That serve was as tough as tough can be.
Federer had the greatest forehand I have ever seen, and there have been a
lot of great forehands in tennis history.
Of course there are many players from the "pre-modern era" who would be considered strongly for a top 10 all-time list.
R. Laver, B. Tilden, D. Budge, J. Kramer, P. Gonzales, and others.