tennis gut

  Sinner or Alcaraz It’s the end of the year and Carlos Alcaraz is the yearend #1.   It’s not very surprising – he won two slams this year and a total of eight tournaments. And right next to him is Jannik Sinner who also won two slams this year.   Sinner was #1 last year and won eight tournaments.   This year he’s a little behind Alcaraz in the tournament and points count, but part of that has to do with missing three prime months of the year while he was serving a doping suspension that he probably didn’t deserve. On the surface, it looks like Alcaraz and Sinner have formed a duopoly.   Each has won four slams in the last two years, each was #1 for one of those years, and their tournament victory count is about the same.   The two are rapidly distancing themselves from the field – no one else seems remotely in their category or able to really challenge them. They could easily dominate the next five, seven, or even ten years. So who is better?   ...

  In this abbreviated tennis year due to covid, Novak Djokovic is the clear number one.   It marks his sixth year as number one on the ATP computer, a record he shares with Pete Sampras.   And along with Novak’s many records it prompts the question of whether or not he is the greatest ever.   For many tennis fans, the slam title derby is the de facto Greatest Of All Time determinant.   And Djokovic has only 17 slam titles compared to 20 by both Nadal and Federer.   However the slams are not the only tennis that counts, and many of the greatest players throughout history have made their greatest accomplishments outside of the slams.  On the current tours  the slams are the most important tournaments to win.   But  regardless, Djokovic has some significant accomplishments that could elevate him above Nadal and Federer into GOAT consideration. For example, he has been the dominant player of the last ten years – a length of time that...

Ken Rosewall may seem an unlikely candidate for Greatest of all Time.   The scrawny 5 foot 7 inch Australian from the 1950’s was ironically nicknamed, “Muscles.” And he never won Wimbledon.   The reason Ken Rosewall belongs in this discussion is the number 23.   As in majors.   The same number currently held by Serena Williams and the greatest number for any man.   Of course, some lists of majors show Rosewall at only eight.   Why the discrepancy?   It comes down to understanding the tennis landscape of the 1930’s to 1970’s.   It used to be that amateur tennis was the true international face of tennis.   Professional players were seen by the elite as vulgar money grubbers and open tennis didn’t arrive until 1968, but the move to change started in 1927.   That year international tennis superstar Suzanne Lenglen left behind amateur tennis and went on tour as a pro.     The impact of Lenglen can hardly be overestim...