From that article you may have already noticed the following: Total number of times past greats have become No. 1.
McEnroe: 13 times.
Sampras: 11.
Connors: 9.
Lendl: 8.
But more importantly most of the former number ones regained that spot within a month. Federer is at seven already.
There are some fundamental differences in the previous eras and the one we are in today to suggest that Federer may have dropped out for good.
1. These jokers who reclaimed the No. 1 rank so quickly did it largely at the expense of a clown from their own era. Either due to the competition being ‘intensier’ then or Federer’s talent was just superior in his time, the gap in previous ages was not much.
I mean Sampras was fighting Agassi and Connors, Borg and McEnroe were fighting amongst themselves. They just stripped each other of the spot.
2. The age difference of these above clowns was minimal. Federer, in eliminating all threats from his era, may now be about to pay a price for it. To reclaim that spot from a clown five years younger when you are already 28, is a lot tougher than the above scenario.
3. Player size, strength and athleticism has improved exponentially to make even the slightest slowing down on your end – physically, an insurmountable hurdle than in years past.
4. Technology improvements have only accentuated the above physical disparity to the level where it’s just blown out of proportion. The prospect of a 28 year old joker consistently beating a 22 year old to bridge a 7 month 4000 point gap is over for good.
5. Slowing of courts has further eroded a niche players had in the past on a particular surface, to gain points and play catch up. You think Wimbledon titles and grass helped Sampras in those No. 1 rank points? You bet!!!
Unless BOTH Nadal and Murray falter BIG time for whatever reason(s), Federer’s window to reclaim the top spot is OVER and DONE.
Ali: Most talented athlete EVER considering how much BS he carried on his plate - other than boxing - while routinely pummeling jokers into submission.
Jordan: Mental toughness.
Louganis: Fact that the number of clowns opting to become a professional diver nosedived drastically in view of utter helplessness against this mountain of talent.
Borg: Has there been another tennis player EVER as unflappable as him?
In tennis, wasn’t the 2004 US Open final annihilation of Hewitt by Federer the closest anyone has come? 6-0, 7-6, 6-0.
Michael Johnson’s 400 meters?
Greg Louganis:
Nadia’s perfect 10:
Kobe’s 81:
Don Bradman’s 99 run average per outing. For rock people, that means he scored almost a century every freaking time he came out to bat. WOW!!! The best anyone has done since, with that long a career, is what 55?
If it’s because of the slump Federer is in, then how about Nadal?
Sampras-Nadal encounter should attract about the same audience if not more, don’t you think?. Or are you not even thinking about it because of the huge likelihood of getting your face smashed in by Nadal’s camp?
Shouldn’t Nadal then be accused of not making himself available to promote the sport?
You see, the BS that you have to go through just taking care of basic stuff while on the tour is a massive task – from travelling to hotels to practicing etc. etc.
To add anything to that already hectic schedule is bound to take it’s toll sooner or later. Remember Sampras talking about how much he sacrificed by being totally focused by eliminating everything not relating to him getting better – rudely?
Why do you think he is into exhibitions now? He has had his fill. But the reason no one asked Sampras for exhibitions during his playing days, with the regularity someone else has faced, is partly due to the regimen he had.
There was just no time. And like he said, he was not in it for limelight or any other crap. What did he say? ‘You can’t have the cake and …..?’
Djokovic temporarily went after that cake after that AO win, but now seems to have realised the folly and is righting the ship one step at a time.
Freaking point is this: You have to decide at the outset what you are after. You cannot just sway mid stream just because you have achieved unexpected success and the perks that come with that windfall are just too much to resist.
If you do, what will follow will lay squarely on your shoulders, as it’s as predictable as death and taxes.
Unless you have the single-mindedness of a Le Bron, Kobe, Jordan etc. to the ABSOLUTE exclusion of everything else, the bigger prizes will always shy away like lion from fire.
Travelling, I think, is the biggest drain on the human body on the tour. It has a cumulative effect over time and could be one of reasons for the tennis peak to be at just 26.
If you have ever travelled constantly you will know what I am barking here. Otherwise just believe it. Geeeeezzzz!!!!!
If you doubt any of the above, just ask Uncle Tony.
Clowns calling themselves Prince, King, Royalty and other BS.
Dude, you are just another joker like the rest of us. Somehow elevating yourself to some made up BS doesn’t make you superior in ANY way.
And then to use that position to inflict pain on other people to maintain that status is beyond stupid and cruel.
How hollow an existence it must to enjoy those perks with no achievement to boast of. Anything gained without merit and hard work only destroys the recipient like no other weapon can.
No wonder most lottery winners end up worse than they were before they got that money within five years.
The fact that he hasn’t been playing well for almost a year now and just reaching the finals here more than exceeded his own expectations.
Beating Nadal on clay after this poor showing for such a long time was far beyond what even Djokovic could even dream of.
That may have been the main reason Djokovic was unable to close the deal. He just couldn’t believe it. Simple as that.
That BS may not have been that bad if you didn’t have a bull in Nadal across the net.
So Djokovic is extremely happy that he not only reached a final with the top dogs in attendance, for the first time this season, but he also was able to push Nadal on clay - no small feat under ANY circumstances.
Could this be the spark Djokovic needed to regain his footing on the tour? Could be.
“You could see him at 5-1 in the third set, he played like it’s 5-5. He really doesn’t care about the result. He just wants to give his best every single point. That’s why he’s very unique and that’s why he’s the best now.”
How difficult is that to emulate? If you are in it for the big prizes, why won’t you instantly cling to that strategy given the results Nadal has produced ever since he burst on the tour.
If you are doing anything else, you are leaving money and trophies on the table that will come to haunt you when you are 30 and look back on the carnage.
When you adopt that thinking you win EVERY time, irrespective of the result.
I may be wrong, but how can a same size car with about the same everything under the hood and elsewhere be thousands of dollars more.
Like that Porche 911. Even if you compare it to a Toyota Corolla, you have got to be studding diamonds somewhere for the difference to be what sixty thousand dollars?
Granted some of it is advertising aimed at associating prestige with the car, but still sixty freaking thousand dollars? Where? Where?
If I am right about this, then how stupid do you have to be to buy into that. And if you have friends and relatives who think more of you because of that stupidity of yours, you are in that typical ‘birds of feather, flock together’ BS.
