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Thread: Roger Federer

  1. #1
    Potential Lunch Winner Dom Heffner's Avatar
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    Roger Federer

    I'm going to get creamed here, but the conversation will no doubt turn to Roger Federer being the greatest player ever.

    I'm going to vote no, for the simple reason that he has beaten absolutely nobody over the past 5 years or more.

    The only person to challenge him has beaten the pants off of him for a good two years running, and the only reason he won the French was because he wasn't playing against that person.

    I don't like Pete Sampras, but at least you can say he had to play other guys who had won majors.

    I can't remember there ever being a time where the tennis field had such thin talent.


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  3. #2
    MLB Baseball Razor Shines's Avatar
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    Re: Roger Federer

    Quote Originally Posted by Dom Heffner View Post
    I'm going to get creamed here, but the conversation will no doubt turn to Roger Federer being the greatest player ever.

    I'm going to vote no, for the simple reason that he has beaten absolutely nobody over the past 5 years or more.

    The only person to challenge him has beaten the pants off of him for a good two years running, and the only reason he won the French was because he wasn't playing against that person.

    I don't like Pete Sampras, but at least you can say he had to play other guys who had won majors.

    I can't remember there ever being a time where the tennis field had such thin talent.
    Pete was my favorite, and I think in his prime he'd beat Roger. I think Agassi in his prime would have given Roger a good run.
    "I know a lot about the law and various other lawyerings."

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    Re: Roger Federer

    Agassi's prime is kind of hard to define. Between at least two of his GS victories, he had fallen to below 200 in the world.

    It was Agassi's up and down that made many say the same thing about Sampras(didn't beat anyone.)

    The real problem that started to manifest itself in the 90's and seems to have continued today is the degree of specialization.

    In the 90's you had guys like Berasategui and Muster on clay, and Ivanesivic on grass who wouldn't win anywhere else.

    Now finally with Federer and Nadal you have two guys who are a threat on any surface but yeah its' really just those two. Djokavic can't be trusted to not be throwing a match and Murray has been hyped but hasn't produced much in Grand slams.

  5. #4
    Member NJReds's Avatar
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    Re: Roger Federer

    It's so hard to compare contemporary players with the players in the wooden raquet era. McEnroe, Borg, Connors, Cash, Wilander were not the musclebound athletes that many of todays players have become.

    It was more of a speed and accuracy game back then. You had to hit numerous shots, you had to paint the lines and you had to be able to run and move for hours. They weren't serving 150 mph. Federer is a throwback in that sense, as he has a very diverse game.
    "The players make the manager, it's never the other way." - Sparky Anderson

  6. #5
    RZ Chamber of Commerce Unassisted's Avatar
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    Re: Roger Federer

    It amazes me that Federer is accomplishing so much in the tennis world, but isn't a higher-visibility presence on the endorsement scene in the US. Compared to Borg, McEnroe, Connors and even Becker, Federer is more photogenic than any of them, but practically invisible outside of sports news.

    Going by commercial endorsements, you'd think that the only tennis players anyone in the US cares about are the Williams sisters and Sharapova.
    /r/reds

  7. #6
    Rally Onion! Chip R's Avatar
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    Re: Roger Federer

    Quote Originally Posted by Unassisted View Post
    It amazes me that Federer is accomplishing so much in the tennis world, but isn't a higher-visibility presence on the endorsement scene in the US. Compared to Borg, McEnroe, Connors and even Becker, Federer is more photogenic than any of them, but practically invisible outside of sports news.

    Going by commercial endorsements, you'd think that the only tennis players anyone in the US cares about are the Williams sisters and Sharapova.

    Federer does the Gillette commercials with Tiger and Jeter.
    Quote Originally Posted by Raisor View Post
    I was wrong
    Quote Originally Posted by Raisor View Post
    Chip is right

  8. #7
    Waitin til next year bucksfan2's Avatar
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    Re: Roger Federer

    IMO there are a few things that work against Federer in the "greatest ever" debate.

    1. No great rival. Nadal has come on lately, but during Federer's dominance Nadal only recently challenged him on anything besides clay.

    2. No great American. Roddick is bum. He is to worried about the spotlight and being a celebrity. If there were a great american then maybe he would be in the spotlight more. Maybe more people would care about the tournaments that weren't majors.

    3. Personality. Federer is as class of an individual as I can imagine He is clean cut, doesn't lose his temper, and goes about his job by winning. He isn't hollywood, isn't a bad boy, doesn't lose his temper, doesn't do anything outlandish. Heck the general public probably wouldn't know who he is if he didn't do the Gillette commercials with Jeter.


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