quote:

Originally posted by Eric:
Federer will eclipse Sampras as the greatest of all time, IMHO he beats a prime Sampras 7 out of 10 times Sampras had that amazing serve and his on the run passing shot, but Federer is complete in every sense his serve was amazing today.

Federer is a more complete player for sure (though Sampras had more power), but you can't really compare players that way. As humans we are getting bigger, stronger, smarter, etc. so of course new generations could beat old ones. Mary Pierce would kill Chris Evert if they each played in their prime, but Chris Evert is still a superior player as she won 18 majors. Federer is now chasing the record books, and it will be interesting to see if he can hold off Nadal, Gasquet, etc. and break Sampras' record of 14 majors.

Nadal needs to prove he can be a factor on hardcourts, if he can it will be interesting what Surprised me though is Agassi saying Federer is the best he's ever played.

quote:

Originally posted by Eric:
Nadal needs to prove he can be a factor on hardcourts, if he can it will be interesting

I think he's already proven that with a win over Federer on hard courts, a final in Miami this year, and a win in Toronto.

quote:

what Surprised me though is Agassi saying Federer is the best he's ever played.

I'm not surprised, since most people say Federer is the best ever.

<<Well, I'm going for Pierce to beat Dementieva and Clijsters to beat Sharapova in a close one. As for the men, I'll take Federer over Hewitt and Agassi over Ginepri. If that all happens, then I pick Clijsters over Pierce and Federer over Agassi.>>

WooHoo! I called it. What a great weekend of tennis. Agassi-Ginepri was good but the fact that it took Agassi five sets did not bode well for him against Federer. It was nice to see Hewitt play well against Federer, but when Federer ripped that tiebreak 7-0, you knew it was over.

I'm sooooo glad for Clijsters. She so deserved that title and to get that damn 'choker' label off her. It couldn't have happened to a nicer gal.

Agassi/Federer was a gem wasn't it? I was thrilled to see Agassi play so well in the first *almost* three sets. But once again, Federer played outstanding in a tiebreak and rolled from there. Once Federer stopped chipping the backhand return, it was a done-deal. Man, that guy is good. Still, it was great watching both men and seeing their genuine admiration for each other come through after the match. Just a great match. This whole tournament was great and great for tennis!

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I think he's already proven that with a win over Federer on hard courts, a final in Miami this year, and a win in Toronto.

Well, the win over Federer on hardcourts happened when Federer was ill. Nadal should have beaten Federer in Miami but he fell apart after losing the third set (after being up a break). As for clay, well there's no doubt that Nadal is the man to beat on that surface. Has Nadal played Roddick or Hewitt on hardcourts? If he can play them close like he did Federer...then I'll give him more props for hardcourt. Right now I consider him a clay-court specialist. But don't get me wrong, I think Nadal is very good and can be great.

Gee...where are all the tennis fans?

What did everyone think of that Davis Cup match between Roddick and Rochus? I hated that the match was basically decided by a bad call. Roddick may still have broken Rochus as he was up 15-40 when the call happened, but I don't know. The umpire was completely wrong not to replay the point. Replays showed that the ball was in.

Roddick was tiring, so had he not been given that break, who knows what could have happened? Anyway, it was a very sad ending to what *was* a great match.

Petrova is in the final at Bangkok, can she win her first title? I say NO!

Mary Pierce is in another final, can she pass Amelie Maueresmo and end the year ranked as #4? I say YES!

James Blake is in the finals at Stockholm, can he win his second title of the year? I say YES!

Ivan Ljubicic is on a 11 match winning streak, can he make it 12 in a row with a victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero? I say NO!

Good to see Juan Carlos Ferrero and James Blake in finals this week. Blake is back in the top 30, Juan Carlos jumped six spots. If he gets RED HOT, he can sneak into the top seven and get into the Tennis Master's Cup. Next week is his best chance because so many big names are missing from the Master's Event.

I think Nadia will win her first title but I'm not sure how this will really help her at all. I mean sure the monkey will be off her back but it's ot like she beat Venus, Kim, and Maria back to back to back to win this title so...... I like both James Blake and Juan Carlos Ferrero, I hope they both win their titles. And Venus might as well not play the YEC now. I don't think one tournament (philly) is going to be enough for her to gain her form to play the "top" 8 players of the year.

Blah, I was 3 for 4. The one I really wanted to be true come true didn't. JCF does jump to number 11, and can still grab a spot in the Master's Cup. He has Max Mirnyi first round at this next tournament though, and big servers can kill Ferrero.

I think JCF was ousted in Madrid wasn't he? I know Nadal was complaining about his knee but he looked fine in his first match. I would like to see a Roddick/Nadal final but we'll see.

Shanghai is sure going to be interesting with everyone hurt. Who knows if Federer will even play? Could be Survival of the Fittest.

I think Rafael Nadal is the best tennis player on the planet.

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think Rafael Nadal is the best tennis player on the planet.

Well, he's the second-best player on the planet. He's lucky to have won today, though. Talk about neither player wanting to win this match! Stepanek should have won. Nadal got a gift. We'll see how he does against Ginepri.

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Originally posted by Steerpike60:

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think Rafael Nadal is the best tennis player on the planet.

Well, he's the second-best player on the planet. He's lucky to have won today, though. Talk about neither player wanting to win this match! Stepanek should have won. Nadal got a gift. We'll see how he does against Ginepri.

Nah, I take him over Federer. I think Nadal will take over the number one ranking in the world soon after the AO next year, and keep it. I think the only thing Federer has on Nadal is experience, and now that Nadal has finally played a full year on tour, I think he's got the experiene too. Not to mention that they are 1-1 this year, which I think would have been 2-0 if Nadal was a bit more experienced.

I'd pick Nadal every time they play on clay, and 50% of the time they play on a hardcourt.

8 Master's Series events so far this year, the same two people have won them all. I can't think back to a time where there were two players dominate at the same time!

I like Nadal personall a lot more than Federer and I think Nadal certainly has the potential more so than anyone else right now to really be able to trouble Federer. I think he still needs a bit more experience on other surfaces besides clay, especially Grass, but he's certainly making very large strides.

I like both Federer and Nadal. Congrats to Nadal for pulling out that Madrid final. Lubijic (sp?) should have won that match but Nadal hung in there and was definitely helped by the crowd.

There is no denying that Federer and Nadal are easily 1 and 2 in the world. They have dominated everyone else. But Federer is the better all-surface player for now. Next year should be fun with the two of them fighting it out. Hopefully they will play each other more than twice. And if Roddick, Hewitt, and Safin can get healthy and get their games together...it could be a real fun 2006.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <Steerpike60>,

Petrova has a title.

Juan Carlos didn't have the year I thought he was going to, but he has improved greatly over last year. He's simply just not done being one of the elite players in the world. Next year, I think he'll win a slam.

This is his last chance to win a title this year. It's pretty much impossible for him to qualify for the Master's Cup. I think he has a good chance, as the draw wasn't too hard on him. Just wish he could have done more last week, then he'd be in contention. Oh well. I hope he finishes with a final apearance or a win here though. A win would put in him in the top ten in the world, which will come in handy at the AO.

My other favorites, Marat and Serena, I am more disappointed in. They both showed so much promise by winning the AO this year, and both of them will finish the year outside of the top ten.

Now word is that Roddick may pull out of Shanghai. Man, everybody is injured this year, aren't they? Still, the matchup everyone wants to see is Nadal/Federer...so if we get that, then all will be well.

I almost didn't watch the WTA Finals because I figured between Pierce and Mauresmo...one of them would choke. How nice to see both of them fight to the very end. I'm so glad I changed my mind and watched the match. Big congrats to Amelie for finally winning a big one.

It's a shame at the ATP Finals that everyone has dropped out. Especially disturbing was Nadal pulling out one hour before his match, and Agassi pulling out after losing. Not very convincing.

At least Federer is still in and fighting despite his injury. His being able to pull out wins against Nalbandian and a very on-fire Ljubicic is astounding considering he is not 100%. I imagine the final will be Fed and Ljub again...and I can't wait!