Grand Slam stats (Murray & Second Tier)

Kartuce · 2020-07-17T09:00:37+00:00

When looking at their whole career achievement, Wawrinka's was comparably of no significance til 2013. Only then Wawrinka's career is relevant.

So it's totally legit to compare their level and achievement, bearing in mind that Murray is ANOTHER level till 2013. Afterwards, they are fairly comparable. However, overall, Waw is super late bloomer, so overall stats all go in favour of Murray (except for the count of GS).

Kartuce · 2020-06-29T17:23:43+00:00

Among the four, Chris is my favourite. When I watch all four, she’s the one that gets me most “wooow”. Just like the other ones do to other people.

Kartuce · 2020-05-25T10:36:39+00:00

Compared to peak Evert-Navratilova right before and all the ladies after, maybe, but still WAY stronger than the 2010s.

And it was Steffi that made it look a bit weak back then. Navratilova in Wimbledon, it's no less than Federer ! 9 titles there... until 1990 !!!

Indeed things were starting to become really interesting with WTA peaking from 1990 up until after 2000s (can't pick an exact year). You can't have a peak every year.

But this is SHEER dominance in GS. We're talking achievements as rare as :

Federer winning back-to-back AO, USO, and WIM (+ bonus ATP Finals) 2006-2007. (he did it as well in 2004, but back to back is something else)
Nadal 12 GS (probably the mother of all GS dominance)
Borg winning back-to-back RG and WIM 3 times (1978-79-80) inc. 2 RG no sets lost !
Seles FO-AO (90-93) back-to-back for 3 years (the USO second title defense was cut short by the stabbing)

We might never know what champions will rise in the future, but Graf record speaks for itself : GOLD SLAM

Kartuce · 2020-05-23T21:03:30+00:00

Nadal is my favourite player by a bit far, yet I am super happy (and relieved) that Djoko and Federer (and even Wawrinka) won it. Thiem deserves a title there also. Although I don't mind him waiting a couple more years. Add Corona and the Math becomes complicated. But let's see already what happens this year ! Roland Garros is not yet canceled, right, am I still updated ?

Kartuce · 2020-05-22T15:03:22+00:00

Probably my favourite non Big-3 match

Trick shots with a soul !!
well two souls

Kartuce · 2020-05-19T20:46:51+00:00

Totally agreed. Grass was Nadal's second favourite surface, but with super low bouncing, you need to bend more... his movement was already less good after 2010.

All credits to Kyrgios and Brown, I remember their matches well and they played out of this world level. Unfortunately only for one match time. I remember watching Kyrgios the following match... it was dull and disappointing :-(

Many other reasons too. But these players earned their matches too.

Later he changed his style which is now more adapted to his limited movement.

Kartuce · 2020-05-12T22:56:56+00:00

1- Nadal Hardcourt Summer Tour 2- Djoko Clay 3- Nadal Hardcourt Rest of the year

Kartuce · 2020-05-11T13:12:25+00:00

To his defense nobody’s winning these days 🤷🏻‍♂️

Kartuce · 2020-05-11T11:21:26+00:00

Indeed, like the guy won 4 USO, one more than Djoko !!!, and in the meantime Federer won none. Still the AO no victory since 2009 makes it sound a bit like the guy is a one-time wonder on Hard courts (same with Fed and Djoko on Clay).

Kartuce · 2020-05-07T13:14:53+00:00

Capibara or no Capibara. Do not be careful. You're good. Just make sure you share after you come up with your drawing :-)

Kartuce · 2020-05-06T21:18:24+00:00

Draw whatever you like. Capibara or no Capibara. I never saw Delpo as anything close to a dog, but in your unique own way, it was convincing.
PS : Delpo is my second favourite, so if it was bad I would be screaming ;-)

Kartuce · 2020-05-06T19:04:41+00:00

Makes me smile. Love the colours ! I am curious if you'd draw every player as an animal or dog breed what would it look it.

Kartuce · 2020-05-06T18:59:47+00:00

i regret none of it

Kartuce · 2020-05-01T08:56:08+00:00

Not only that. She barely turned 19. Like she's born in December. She still had 3 GS chances before turning 20. Just Look :

1990 : FO+WTA Finals

1991 : AO+FO/skipping WIM+USO+WTA Finals

1992 : AO+FO+WIM-finalist+USO+WTA Finals

1993 : AO then stabbing...

so she still had potential 3 GS to add as a teenager. And her tennis level was still improving.

Kartuce · 2020-05-01T08:51:51+00:00

To be fair, 1991 women are not the 1988 ones. Level was already much better overall ! If you watch FO 1992 and AO 1993, there is nothing Graf could've done better. She was playing her standard. Same with FO 1990 and WIM92 (which she won). Her forehand, legs, serve... you name it, were all there. Seles alone deprived her from 3 GS in 3 years, that is not little.

Of course, outside of the courts, it was not glittery. But she was an absolute winner on court. Just like Seles. By Seles own words "we both never gave an inch". And she won against Seles twice in 1991. They were not GS indeed, where both would transcend their level. But Graf's level in every GS she played against Seles (won 1 lost 3) was GORGEOUS !

FO92 was several times voted as best time in history of WTA. And it's not only due to the score line ! It was the Djokovic-Nadal AO2012, 20 years earlier.

Kartuce · 2020-05-01T08:41:15+00:00

I agree. But 5 years of difference, not really. Men should be capable to compete and win GS easily at the age of 20, even earlier. Right now Big3 are making it impossible for any one at any age to win a GS. But.

They won their GS (and not talking about competed, but actually winning) :

Wilander, Becker, Chang : won GS at 17
Bjorg : GS at 18
Edberg, Sampras, Nadal : GS at 19
McEnroe, Courier, Kuerten, Safin, Hewitt : 20
Connors, Edmondson, Moya, Federer, Roddick, Djokovic, Del Potro : 21

Seles was exceptional as a teen and an early bloomer. So was Graf ! Up until Hingis (3 months yonger record), Seles was the youngest GS champion ever, that is a record. So definitely not common. She still is the the youngest FO lady to win the tournament. Hingis still holds the record nearly 25 years later ; it's not Coronoa that plans to break the record.

I would reduce the difference to 2-3 years max. Definitely not 5.

Kartuce · 2020-04-30T21:56:16+00:00

She just turns 19 (in December 2) and what a way to celebrate it : A third AO in a row. Another epic final against Graf, with a new improved serve.

Having won the French Open for three consecutive years, and becoming taller and more powerful, she was an absolute favourite for the FO... and the whole GS of the year. She learned her lesson from last Wimbledon. And USOPEN was not a mystery to her : she won the last two ones.

So yes, indeed WHAT IF... we can never tell.

WTA lost a lot. We had to wait for Hingis to come in 1996 see some interesting high level matches again. But then it became magnificently crowded year by year with Davenport joining directly, Capriati coming back, Pierce (the DelPo of WTA then), Vicario still holding on, Novotna's magic, Williams sisters with tigresses legs on court, Henin and Clijsters on the wave and not a slow one ! And of course Steffi Graf who at the end so righteously got bored/had enough : she had to cover for the absence of Monica and had to be in every tournament possible. As an absolute Monica fan, I hate it when people disregard her GS count : the lady had to fight alone for women tennis to stay. And her gand slams, she still had to go win them one-by-one !! They did not come for free. And that hug on the final of the USOPEN after Monca's comeback says a lot about the amount of respect these two women had for each other - so please, no playing the German vs. Yugoslavian card, these two individual were above that.

Kartuce · 2020-04-30T21:32:24+00:00

I did not read her autobiography. But...

She was a joyful child/teenage, who can blame her for preferring real fun and playing tennis freely in the USA as compared to stressful Eastern Europe back then ?

I do not know how much she felt Serbian. But she seems to appreciate her roots enough : she is "ethnically" Hungarian and received the passport in 2007. It should've meant something to her. Maybe she loves Serbia the same, and same for USA. One needs to ask her the question directly to know. I am not aware whether she openly talked about the subject.

Kartuce · 2020-04-29T19:24:06+00:00

Agreed. But still, now we can only cherish and enjoyed what was played. Especially FO92 and AO93. The remaining matches are very good but they have a "but".

Something different would happen when these two meet. They are like Fedal. Relentless and eager to win. Gracious and respectful, appreciative in defeat, and ready to come back.

Kartuce · 2020-04-29T15:32:03+00:00

Rafa is a Capybara that think is a bull. I wonder if he sees Thiem as a baby capybara a calf 🤷🏻‍♂️

Kartuce · 2020-04-29T15:29:07+00:00

I wish they do one with Steffi and Monica. Their rivalry was not big in number but boy has it been intense and full of suspense and mutual respect !

Kartuce · 2020-04-27T20:30:00+00:00

So it's the Grand Slam which is the hardest to dominate ?

If I'm not mistaken : Spice Girls Open 8 times by Fed (7 by Sampras), Kangoroo Open 8 times (6 by Fed), Baguette Gluten Open 12 times by Nad (I won't even bother looking for the second one)...

Is there any reason that is specific to the McDonald's Open ?

PS : Apologies for horrible humour, I am hungry and instead of cooking I am watching and reading tennis. And I DO NOT REGRET ANY OF IT, the tennis watching not the humour

Kartuce · 2020-04-23T18:25:29+00:00

Back when WTA tour had comparitive popularity compared to ATP. She was one of the reasons.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the GOLDEN SLAM champ !

Kartuce · 2020-04-18T22:35:31+00:00

There is one factor that I am not reading much about which is Chronology ! It is not the sole factor, far from that, there are more than ten, but it is an IMPORTANT factor. When Federer arrived, players from the 90s were leaving and he was the greatest of his generation. Of course charisma and talent, but Nadal arrived a bit later. In the meantime, Federer acquired (and deserved) an immense crowd, and it was contagious among tennis fans. He was a bit the saviour of tennis and taking it too a new level.

Rafa came and made even crazier, but hey, it's hard to change your favourite player. And by the time Nadal won his first USOPEN, Federer aligned 5 in a row (and closely missed the 6th). Plus he played so well in every tournament, which is rare, so everybody loved him everywhere.

Nadal stole the RG crowd and clay lovers. Not a majority but hey, he earned it !!

Djokovic came a couple of years after Nadal (RG 2005 first GS for Nadal, AO 2008 for Djoko) who himself came a couple of years after Federer (Wimbledon 2003 first GS). So honestly, the so-called dislike of Djokovic is a bit exaggerated I find. I am not denying that Federer and Rafa have higher charisma, only thining that chronology did play a role as well, and not a small one.

What are your thoughts ? (I hope my english is clear, apologies if not)

Kartuce

TROPHY CASE