mtenis.com.pl

Eduardo Afini

Tennis has a huge number of candidates who could be considered the greatest of all time.

Bill Tilden, Jack Kramer, Roy Emerson, Pancho Gonzales, Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer are the ones who are most often mentioned.

Determining the GOAT seems to be an endless discussion and impossible to resolve, mainly due to the difficulty in comparing players from different eras.

The sport has evolved and changed tremendously, it wouldn’t be accurate or fair to make assumptions on possible head-to-head battles between players whose careers took place decades apart from each other.

Perhaps the vast majority of the people reading this article are fortunate enough to have seen both Pete Sampras and Roger Federer play, although never against each other in their prime.

These two geniuses clashed only once, at the 2001 Wimbledon, when the Swiss prevailed in five sets in the round of 16. Federer was at the beginning of his career and would win his first major only two years later, while Sampras was in the later part of his career and would retire in the next year.

Since Sampras and Federer are the latest names in the GOAT discussion list, fans and experts always imagine what their match-up would have been like, had they played against each other when both were in their prime.

In order for this analysis to be fair, it would have to consider matches played on each of the three different surfaces of the Grand Slam events: clay, grass and hard.

The clay court match:

Roger Federer had much more success on clay than Pete Sampras.

The highlights of the American’s clay court career were a title in Rome in 1994, and a semi-final appearance at the French Open in 1996. He won a total of three clay court titles.

Roger reached the final in Roland Garros five times and won one. He also won four times the Masters 1000 of Hamburg. Overall he won nine clay court titles.

Although clay is neither player’s favorite surface, the Swiss obviously feels more comfortable on it.

In a clay court match between them we would see Federer playing mainly from the baseline, working the ball around and handling Sampras's pace.

The American would not be able to serve and volley all the time, as he liked to do, but would try to get to the net on every opportunity he had.

Federer probably would have had the edge on their clay encounters.

The grass court match:

Pete Sampras won seven Wimbledon titles, while Federer has won six. Overall, Federer has 11 grass titles and Sampras had 10.

Grass is both players’ favorite surface and they are very accomplished on it.

In this match we would probably see Sampras being very aggressive, serving and volleying on every point, both first and second serves, and taking the net on every chance he had.

Federer’s tactic would probably be to keep the American on the baseline as much as possible, get a large percentage of 1st serves in and avoid Sampras to chip and charge on his second.

The aggressiveness of Sampras would eventually pay off and he would have come out ahead in their grass battles, especially if we assume that the matches would have been played on the grass of Sampras's era, which lead to faster games.

The hard court match:

Roger Federer has four Australian Open titles, while Sampras captured two down under. Each player won the US Open five times.

Overall the Swiss won 45 titles on this surface and Sampras won 36.

Hard courts would definitely have hosted the closest and toughest matches between these players.

Federer would play mainly from the baseline, although aggressively, with a few charges to the net, sometimes behind a first serve.

Sampras would be aggressive as usual, serve and volley most of the time, sometimes coming behind the second serve as the element of surprise.

It is easy to see the players evenly splitting their matches on hard courts, with intangibles determining the winner on every occasion and most of the encounters going the distance.

As everyone might expect, Federer vs. Sampras would have featured great battles and it could have been perhaps the greatest rivalry of all time, had they belonged to the same generation.

So the big question is: who would have had the edge on hard courts, which would have been the key to determining who the best player was?

I certainly can't answer that one...can you?

TENNIS – Here are the strongest according to our (questionable) opinion. Some think that the greatest is Guillermo Vilas, others support Guga Kuerten's cause. After all even in tennis its always Brazil vs. Argentina. The opinions of Guillermo Salatino, Juan Salas, Enrique Cano, Roberto Nappo, Benjamin Benzaquen, Juan Ignacio Ceballos, the great Italian journalist Rino Tommasi and the Ubitennis staff.

Andrea Appiani

Pace and long rallies, tactical smartness, schemes and geometries: these are the secret of success for clay-court specialists, often forced to play in hard and different conditions, because clay-courts rarely have the same speed.

Generations of South American players grew on the clay, although in recent times they were able to reach important victories on hardcourts like Juan Martin Del Potro who won the Us Open in 2009. He, and the Argentine players, wrote the history of tennis in South America, though we could talk, as well, of the "Brazilian school" and consider there have been successful players from Chile, Ecuador, Peru pr Pataguay.

We tried to draw a special ranking of the best 15 South American players knowing it's impossible comparing different periods. This is just a game that considers on the one sides victories in Grand Slam events and the Davis Cup but also intangible qualities like the "appeal" of these champions.

15. Victor Pecci (Paraguay) The Paraguayan tennis player from Asunción was number 9 in 1980 and he won 10 singles titles in his career, all on clay. He was very tall and partial to playing at the net (he even won 10 doubles titles). As for the Slams, he played a leading role in Paris in '79 where he beat Connors and Vilas before loosing in the final to the Swedish “bear”. Two years later he repeated himself in the French capital reaching the semifinal. In Davis cup his record is 17-8 in singles and 11-5 in doubles.

14. Enrique Morea (Argentina) Enrique Morea was an Argentine player born in 1924 who played in 50's and 60's. He reached the semifinal at the French Open in two occasions, in '53 and '54. He played for 10 years in Davis Cup both as player and captain. He triumphed at the Panamerican Games of '51, both in singles and doubles. At the moment he is the honorary president of the Argentine federation (AAT).

13. Pancho Segura (Ecuador) Francisco Olegaro Segura was born in 1921 at Guayaquil, Ecuador. Naturally right-handed, he had peculiar characteristics: he hit the forehand with both hands and the back hand with one. The great Jack Kramer once described his “anomalous forehand” as the greatest “shot” produced in the history of tennis. He passed to professionalism in 1947 and he won the US “Pro” Championships three times in a row, from 1950 to 1952. “Pancho's” best result in a Grand Slam in the Open era was a semifinal reached at the US Open. In 1952 he was number 1 in the Pro rankings. He retired in 62 and was the “mentor” for Jimbo Connors as he started coaching him when he was 16 years old.

12. Luis Ayala (Chile) Luis Ayala was a Chilean player born in 1932 and his career developed in the 50's and 60's. He reached the final of the French Open in two occasions: in 1958 against Mervyn Rose and in 1961 where he lost in 5 sets to “our” Nicola Pietrangeli. Ayala also reached the quarter finals at Wimbledon for three consecutive years, from 1959 to 1961, displaying a versatility for all playing surfaces. In 1959 he won the Italian Open.

11. Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) Gonzalez is a Chilean player who is still playing. He is know for his terrifying forehand that gave him his nick-name “Mano de piedra” (hand of stone). Fernando is a complete player who's career is coming to an end. He was able to reach the quarter finals in all four Slams and a final at the AO 2007 lost against Roger Federer. At the ATP level he lifted the Champions trophy on 11 occasions reaching the fifth position in the world rankings. At 31 years of age he is battling with injury to his hip and is on the downwards slope of his brilliant career.

10. Guillermo Coria (Argentina) Class of 82, this player will always be remembered mostly for the physical prowess that mother nature denied him in exchange for the extraordinary ability to find angles impossible for most. His crystalline pure talent earned him the nickname “El Mago”(the magician). Regrettably for him also his minute physique was … crystalline. It robbed him of a career that could have been more successful and durable. He was able to win 9 ATP titles in singles missing out on the most important one in 2004 where he lost when he was 2 sets up against his compatriot Gaston Gaudio. Tennis fans will never forget the amazing final lost in Rome in 5 memorable sets against Nadal.

9. Gaston Gaudio (Argentina) Gaudio was an Argentine player born in 1978. His career that just ended was made to be excellent thanks to the “surprise” win at the RG 2004 against Coria. That success allowed him to reach the 5th place in the world rankings. He won 8 ATP titles, all on clay. He will be remembered for his flawless one handed backhand, one of the most beautiful shots in tennis history.

8. Josè Luis Clerc (Argentina) The Argentine Josè Luis Clerc became a professional in 1977 and retired in 1988. During these 11 years he managed to collect 25 ATP titles (2nd place in the Argentine ranking). He reached the fourth place in the world rankings. His favoured weapon was his regularity and, thanks to it, he reached the semifinal at the RG 81 and again the following year. He reached the Davis Cup semifinal in 1981 (after thirty years his “grandsons” will try to win it, will they manage?)

7. Marcelo Rios (Chile) His nickname was “El Chino”, born in 1975 in Santiago in Chile. He was a player with an extraordinary talent, alas not supported by an adequate mental strength. His “loco” personality prevented him from winning any Grand Slams (finalist at the AO 98 against Peter Korda, quarter finals at RG and US Open), but he was the only male player to reach the number 1 spot in the rankings without winning a Grand Slam title (Vilas probably wouldn't agree...). His amazing “flying”backhands will not be the only thing we remember, but also incidents and statements outside tennis, highlighting his capricious character. He once defined grass as being a surface suitable for grazing cows or to play football, not for tennis. He retired in 2004 due to a severe knee injury. He now takes part in the Senior Tour.

6. David Nalbandian (Argentina) From talent to talent. Now its David Nalbandian's turn, a fantastic player who is still playing and managed to reach number 3 of the rankings. Most of all he managed to reach the semifinals in all four Slams (finalist at Wimbledon 2002) thanks to his solid basic shots. Those skills also allowed him to win a Masters Cup in 2005 and to be one of the few players to beat the two giants of the game, Federer and Nadal. Being a bit overweight at times caused him many injuries that stopped his career. If Rios is the only number one never to win a slam, David can be considered the greatest South American player never to win a “major”. Yet his career is not over, the Davis Cup final against the very strong Spanish side is waiting for him. A success would be the classic “icing on the cake” of a career that was extraordinary anyway.

5. Andrès Gòmez (Ecuador) Andrès Gòmez was a very talented left handed player who's career spanned across the 80's and 90's. His technique was exceptional and he had a very composed style, as if he was a “Teacher”. His biggest achievement was the 1990 double Rome- Paris, where he beat a young Agassi. In 1984 he had already reached the quarter finals at the US Open and Wimbledon. He hoarded titles in both singles (21) and doubles (33, including a US Open with Zijvoinovic and a French Open with E.Sanchez). He reached number 4 in singles and number 1 in doubles.

4. Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) At only 23 years of age “Palito” is already considered the best South American on the circuit, having reached his best ranking (4) in 2009, after his extraordinary win at the US Open where he beat Roger Federer in an epic final, and the semifinal in Paris (lost in 5 sets against Federer). At the ATP level he already won 9 titles in singles, most of them on American hard courts. After he lost a whole year to recover from a fractured wrist, we are all waiting to see him back to his level. In December he will play the Davis Cup final for his definitive comeback.

3. Alez Olmedo (Peru) Alejandro Rodriguez Olmedo was born in Peru in 1936. He was NCAA university champion in 1956 and 1958 and dominated the majors in 59 becoming number 1 at the time. That year he won Australian Open, Wimbledon (destroying Laver in the final) and was a finalist at the US Open (winning the doubles title). In 1960 he became a professional and his short career ended in 1965, before the “Open” era. He was entered in the “Tennis Hall of Fame” in 1987.

2. Guillermo Vilas (Argentina) The great left handed Argentine who played in the 70's and 80's deserves the highest place on the podium in this special list for the incredible amount of successes in his career. His definitive moment was missed by never reaching the number 1 spot of the rankings, which was exclusively occupied by the great Borg. Vilas built his tennis fortunes on clay courts where he managed to express all the basics to dominate on this surface. He is the South American who won the most “majors”: two Australian Open,a French Open, and a US Open. He also reached two “honourable” quarter finals at Wimbledon considering it was in the middle of the Borg era. His best year was 1977 where he managed to do the double Paris – Forest Hills and he also won 16 ATP titles in a single year (62 at the end of his career) setting an amazing record that year of 145 wins and 15 losses and 53 consecutive matches won on clay. In Davis Cup he is in the all time top 15 for singles wins. He reached the final in 81 and two semifinals in 1977 and 1980.

1. Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil) Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten shocked the world in 1997 by winning in Paris even though he wasn't even seeded. On his way he beat three past champions like Muster, Kafelnikov and Brugera. He managed to establish a fantastic rapport with the courts and particularly with the crowd of Bois de Boulogne which helped him to a second win in 2000 and a hat-trick in 2001. Those who think that Kuerten was just a clay court player are wrong as he managed to beat Pete Sampras and Andrè Agassi on his way to the Masters Cup 2000 becoming the first South American to become world number 1. Like Gaudio he had an amazing one handed backhand (maybe even better both for efficiency and aesthetics). Unfortunately a “wonky” hip ended his career early in 2008.