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Greatest tennis rivalry and why?


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Greatest tennis rivalry and why?  

21 members have voted

  1. 1.

    • Federer-Nadal
      3
    • Nadal-Djokovic
      6
    • Sampras-Agassi
      4
    • Borg-McEnroe
      2
    • Lendl-McEnroe
      1
    • Evert-Navratilova
      3
    • Graf-Seles
      1
    • Graf-Navratilova
      2
    • Venus-Serena
      0
    • Other
      1


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I find Federer-Nadal to be the best, followed by Federer-Djokovic. 


I rate rivalries based on a) quality of tennis and b) contrast of the players.

 
A baseline aggressive retriever like Djokovic vs an attacking baseline/volleyer Federer is fundamentally a more engrossing encounter than Murray-Djokovic or Federer-Raonic type matches, simply because there is a much greater contrast to their tennis. 

This is why i rate Agassi-Sampras to be a better rivalry than Goran-Sampras and those two also had some epic encounters. Simply because its more fun seeing Agassi running around the baseline coming up with impossible shots while Sampras slamming down aces and being all efficient than it is to see 'Sampras and slightly inferior Sampras slamming down aces at each other' or  'Agassi and a worse Agassi clone like Kafelnikov trying to pound it back to each other'.

 

Fedal is the best rivalry IMO, because almost all their matches are played at very high level and they are polar opposite players. Not only are they different handed (right-left) that intricately adds more excitement to the contest as new angles are created, they are also polar opposite styles. Federer plays silken smooth and comes off as he is a British Royal out for a tea party, Nadal makes it look like every point is battle of Stalingrad. One comes with all the shots in the book and then some and peppers 'OMG can you believe what he just did shots' throughout the match, the other trusts his bread and butter shots more and does the whole 'if it aint broke, don't fix it' routine.

 

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On 4/7/2017 at 10:14 PM, Muloghonto said:

I find Federer-Nadal to be the best, followed by Federer-Djokovic. 


I rate rivalries based on a) quality of tennis and b) contrast of the players.

 
A baseline aggressive retriever like Djokovic vs an attacking baseline/volleyer Federer is fundamentally a more engrossing encounter than Murray-Djokovic or Federer-Raonic type matches, simply because there is a much greater contrast to their tennis. 

This is why i rate Agassi-Sampras to be a better rivalry than Goran-Sampras and those two also had some epic encounters. Simply because its more fun seeing Agassi running around the baseline coming up with impossible shots while Sampras slamming down aces and being all efficient than it is to see 'Sampras and slightly inferior Sampras slamming down aces at each other' or  'Agassi and a worse Agassi clone like Kafelnikov trying to pound it back to each other'.

 

Fedal is the best rivalry IMO, because almost all their matches are played at very high level and they are polar opposite players. Not only are they different handed (right-left) that intricately adds more excitement to the contest as new angles are created, they are also polar opposite styles. Federer plays silken smooth and comes off as he is a British Royal out for a tea party, Nadal makes it look like every point is battle of Stalingrad. One comes with all the shots in the book and then some and peppers 'OMG can you believe what he just did shots' throughout the match, the other trusts his bread and butter shots more and does the whole 'if it aint broke, don't fix it' routine.

 

Very true ,actually I find fedovic rivalry more enthralling than any amongst the 3 because their h2h is very similar in each surface and both have different contrasting style .level wise probably Nadal and fed rivalry was the best because Nadal entered his peak early as compared to novack (by then fed was past his prime) 

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Fed probably is playing at his best now. After he reinvented his backhand and started getting a hang of his longer racquet.. IMO he is currently the man to beat.

 

Djoker is slowly but surely getting back, I think he will be at his physical best by the US open time.

 

Nadal also has got more aggressive with his backhand after hiring Moya fulltime and giving Uncle Tony a break.

 

Exciting times for tennis fans. Hope Murray and Stan also get back into shape soon.

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On 6/9/2015 at 2:49 PM, bones said:

Overall Nadal - Djokovic. Their battles are legendary. They played in so many finals and big matches. Just think about this year. What is the biggest match in terms of audience numbers around the world? It's Nadal - Djokovic. Their rivalary is one for the ages because of the ebbs and flows. One guy getting better, then the other then back to the other. Unlike most other rivalries, Djokovic - Nadal is very close in the H2H and will probably be like that when they both hang up their boots.

Only close because of WTA BO3. Nadal is Novak's daddy in BO5 10-4 

 

Btw, nice to see you chicken out and absent since  Novak turned 30. After all the crap you posted about Djokovic beating peak Federer in his 30s, it is amazing to see Noquack getting his clock cleaned at a younger age by Cecchinato, Istomin, Berdych, Goffin, Thiem, Taro Daniel etc. Karma is great.

 

No doubt you will show up if your hero vultures this Wimbledon somehow...

Edited by Dil Dil India
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19 hours ago, kumar713 said:

Djokodal 54 coming soon :fight:

Done and dusted. Djokovic really should've just given a walkover or key Diego/delpo deal with nadal if he was gonna be this tired/bad. He should've let it happen at RG. Still a 10% tiredovic who was clowning with horrible shot selection from time to time, managed to take a set of Rafa. He's still in Rafa's head, a fresh Djokovic at his best vs Rafa will be a tough battle.  He'll fancy his chances.

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