Andy Murray appears to have made a psychological leap. He has had the playing skills to win a slam for about 2 years, but lacked the mental strength. Today he got a lot closer and I think now understands what it will take. I think he will win wimbeldon in his lifetime. I hope he does. It will be great to watch.
Roger Federer at 30 Ain't going away anytime soon ! He wins for 3rd time in 2012 !
- Thread starter Bargnani_
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Outstanding results from teh Canadian Juniors. Hopefully they make it big so more kids will play tennis instead of that thug "sport" hockey.
You're right about the golden era. Us fans are the winner for it.
I think one of the announcers brought up the point that it's not really the big 4. But rather the big 3 meaning that Murray doesn't have any majors therefore, he doesn't deserve to be in the same level as Fed, Rafa and Djoko. If you measure it based on # of slams then yes, he's not a member yet. But I think it should be measured on how Murray performs against the other 3 in the slams. He knocked off Rafa in Aussie last year. This year, he pushed Djoko to 5 sets in the semis. Today, Fed was just playing some exquisite ball. So to me, Murray is part of the big 4. He's consistently in the semis of 3 of 4 slams per year now.
I hope Murray's first major title is Wimbledon. It's the one that will mean the most. But his game suits the hardcourts very well so I wouldn't be surprised if his 1st slam is either the U.S. or the Aussie Open.
The Olympics will be on grass. Maybe he can come back next month and grab the gold. It's not a slam but it's a pretty big deal.
I wonder if Fed will go on a tear now. He seemed to slump after his kids were born.. big change after all.. even if you are loaded. Now he seems to have refocused on the game. I did think he would win more slams, but I did not think #1 was in the cards. Amazing!!! Now I wonder if the US open is also plum for the picking.
There's plenty of doubt.
There are many who still consider Rocket Rod top dog. Today's win narrows the gap.
Have you watched any of those games recently? Compared to the current mens game, I thought the video was playing in slow motion. Those men may have been the greats of their day. But in every aspect of athletic performance they are surpassed by todays top players. No the golden age is now. Rafa, Fed, Dojovic and Murray are practically supermen. I'm not even sure they are the same species as mere human beings.
Rod Laver was great, but he did not have anywhere near the depth of field the current greats must play in. But it is true that no one has done one slam, let alone two. The players are now so specialize I doubt anyone will be good enough on all surfaces to win all four in a calender year let alone a season.
Great Match! I too feel bad for Murray. Like everyone said, he has the game to win a grand slam.
So true . I experienced the same feeling when Roger Beat Andy in a Wimbledon Final . Both you wished their didn't have to be a loser
Some will look at the Wimbledon win which got him number 1 but what got him to that point is after the U.S Open he went on a 15-0 run which resulted in 3 ATP wins one including the Year End Event and in 2012 he is 47-6 with 1 Grans Slam and 4 ATP event wins . Compine that since the U.S Open he is 62-6 with 7 ATP tour event wins , Two Grand Slam Semi Finals and now a Grand Slam . Not bad for a 30 year old eh .
1 Federer, Roger (SUI) 11,075
2 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 11,000
3 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 8,905
4 Murray, Andy (GBR) 7,460
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Some will look at the Wimbledon win which got him number 1 but what got him to that point is after the U.S Open he went on a 15-0 run which resulted in 3 ATP wins one including the Year End Event and in 2012 he is 47-6 with 1 Grans Slam and 4 ATP event wins . Compine that since the U.S Open he is 62-6 with 7 ATP tour event wins , Two Grand Slam Semi Finals and now a Grand Slam . Not bad for a 30 year old eh .
1 Federer, Roger (SUI) 11,075
2 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 11,000
3 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 8,905
4 Murray, Andy (GBR) 7,460
You're absolutely right. It's no easy feat to pass Djoko considering the tear he's been on for the past 18 months. Fed cleaned up the end of last year. And he grabbed a couple more titles this year. Wimbledon was the final piece to it all.
In the last few years, I always got the impression that Fed was putting all his energy into the slams. As he should, since I believe the record that means the most to him is the most grand slam titles. All the other tourneys were secondary to Fed. Including the Masters level ones. But in order to get the #1 ranking back, he had to start winning other events.
I think Rafa knows time is running out for him to catch Fed. Which is why he took his 2nd round defeat so hard. Right now, Djoko is better than Rafa on hard courts which means the only sure thing slam for Rafa is the French. Rafa needs to win the French and Wimbledon for the next few years. If he just wins the French, he will not catch Fed. The record that Rafa will hold for a very long time will be the most French open titles. He started winning the French at a young age. There's no young player right now who can dominate the clay courts.
Fed mentioned that playing more is what allowed him to up his level and win again. So you can expect he will be playing more, getting even better and with his incredibly efficient game, wearing down the pretenders to the throne. To think that Fed won, and he was not even serving at his best. In the semis his serving was simply spell binding.
Number 1 and 2 are very close and number 3 and 4 are fairly close. Is there a big drop off to numbers 5, 6 and 7?
Novak could have spoiled Rogers party if played in a tournament this week but all Big guns are taking a vacation till the Olympics .
5 David Ferrrer 5430
6. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 5230
Roger Federer breaks another record this week and he didn't even play . A record that even Roger's biggest fan didn't think he would break when he lost his number 1 ranking 2 years ago ..
Roger Federer has surpassed Pete Sampras to set the record for the most weeks at No. 1 in the ATP rankings.
After winning Wimbledon a week ago, Federer returned to the top for the first time since June 2010 and his 287th week at No. 1, one more than Sampras.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion says he's "extremely proud and honoured to have beaten Pete's record as he was my childhood hero and I have always looked up to him."
The Swiss star will enter the Olympics next week as the world's top-ranked player.
Sampras says "the hardest thing to do in sports is the ability to stay on top. Roger has been able to do so by great play and durability."
Reasons I love this Man:
-he exemplifies the idea that age is nothing but a number
-an unstoppable force of will and endurance
-always gracious
-nice hair!
-reminds us all that it's up to you when you hit your stride
(same way I feel about Lance A, they both inspire me)
-he exemplifies the idea that age is nothing but a number
-an unstoppable force of will and endurance
-always gracious
-nice hair!
-reminds us all that it's up to you when you hit your stride
(same way I feel about Lance A, they both inspire me)
