The GOAT Debate & Poll.
by Jsz on Oct 12, 2009 5:06 PM EDT
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PrintWith the tail end of the tennis year approaching (and only 2.5 more meaningful tournaments left) I'd like to start the debate on who the Greatest Of All Time was/is. Its not the most meaningful debate, but I've always found it fun. I know it's hard to compare Eras, but lets do it anyways.
Just say who you think the GOAT is and lay down your case.
Me first: Roger Federer- Federer is the one of the few to complete the Career Slam, as you all know. He was ranked #1 for 237 consecutive weeks, the only man to win two separate majors 5 times in a row, the only man to win the USO 5 (or 4) times consecutively, reached 22 and counting major semifinals in a row (over double the old record), has reached 21 finals including a record 10 in a row, most consecutive wins on grass and hard-court, and just generally dominated the Open Era like no one else.
Ok, so not a very original choice. GO!
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It’s gotta be Federer. The other person in the conversation should be Sampras, but Sampras never came close to matching Federer’s sustained dominance on every surface.
The whole Open Era thing makes Laver tough to quantify, though, and I definitely people who pick him, or at least put an asterisk near him on any of these lists.
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I sometimes look at it like they do in Boxing like who you beat. I really don’t think a lot of the guys he faced were that consistent even when they didn’t play him.
He had around 6-7 Slams by the time I thought Nadal started to improve on other surfaces. Then got beat by Nadal 3 straight times in finals now Nadal is plagued by injuries. But of course most is on Clay still he beat him convincingly Federer beat Nadal at Wimbledon like that once the other two times were pretty heated.
Sampras I still saw a lot of hurdles and obstacles he had to overcome. Some people think that shows hes just less dominant but I thought it showed more character its a sport about will and I think he had the strongest. So I honestly think both of them are just great champions but if we took both in their prime and you asked me who I thought would win I’d probably say Sampras. If it was Nadal vs Sampras in their prime I’d have an even tougher time picking.
There are just some players that make things irrelevant in a lot of sports. Like a Peyton Manning (if I even spelled his name right) or Derek Jeter or Tim Duncan. (just listing current athletes)
I really don’t know label someone the greatest all the time though. In sports I always say the only clear greatest was MJ and Ali both of them destroyed arguments against it. Also I want to say Mia Hamm too.
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