To all you NOLE fans:

I am gonna go waaaay out on a limb here a suggest that Novak won't win the French.  Now I know you all know he hasn't ever taken a set from Rafa.  But does that really matter?  I mean Nole wins on hard once or twice and is clearly the number one player so far in the fragment of the year.  Nole can do anything right???

If Nole is the best player then eventually he will rise to number one on the computer.  There are many players who have won more majors than he has.  When he starts winning multiple majors we can compare Nole to Connors, Mac, Laver, Rosewall, Gonzales, not Kramer, Lendl, Agassi, not Sampras, Vilas, Wilander, Rafa, --- see he has many players between himself and Roger.  Safin sprang onto the scene much stronger than Nole with much more talent and much more convincing wins.  I think we should porbably be discussing the similiarities between Nole and Safin at this point.  When Novak's resume is a little more complete you can start discussing Roger's homecooked meals.  Until then come on there really is no comparison.  I really think it is completely disrespectful to Roger, a very gracious and humble champion, for people to be comparing Nole to Roger when their records are so completely disparate.

Lendl,

You're a man who clearly looks only at the stats of how many titles a player has one to determine his future greatness. To compare Safin and Djoker is surprising to me, b/c even when Safin won the Open, maybe he was 20 then, too, like Djoker is now, he was undeniably brilliant, but one sensed that he had loose screws in the head and that he was a player of seismic mood and ability changes. This is not what champions are made of.

Djoker is the complete opposite. The guy is cool under pressure, always seems to have a reserve of common sense in storage, and while emotional, his emotions don't tend to over-boil toward the negative the way Safin's did and do then and now. In order to predict future greatness, you have to look at a player's game, but also just as importantly, his fighter's spirit and his actions under pressure. 

A big difference between Safin and Djokovic was that Safin never really believed he was destined for greatness. Safin responded to questions about how he beat Pete in New York by explaining that he won because there was no pressure on him. While everyone else touted Safin as being a future great, I don't know how much he believed it and therefore he never really wanted it. Talent wise, there's no comparison between Novak and Marat as Marat is way way better, but Djokovic has that belief that he can become a great player and it shows as he's working on improving his weaknesses and putting in the hard work that Marat never did.

To you LENDLFAN

What in the world are you talking about? Nole's beaten Nadal easily on harcourts and he's getting closer on clay. I wonder if you were watching the Hamburg semis with your eyes closed because Nole had a huge lead in the first set and took the second set 6-2 on Nadal's best surface. It took Nadal over 3 hours and several match points before he finally won (and Fed still couldn't beat him in the final).

What does the records have to do with it anyway? That's all past tense. We are talking about right here and right now. Roger Federer is not the best player on tour right now.

Nole's been better than Fed all year long. It's time to get over it. I mean seriously....Roger Federer is not a religion, he's not a god, we don't need to worship him! Acknowledging someone better is not disrespectful.

Now that we have HB we no longer need computers or rankings because she will tell us who is the best...  Thank you.

I appreciate the thoughtful commments that actually do touch on similiarities and contrasts.  I am not sure a loose screw ever prevented Johnnie Mac from kicking butt.  I believe Marat had some trouble with some injuries before he came back to win the Australian.  Also Marat ended one of Fed's streaks at 26.  That was the number of consecutive wins Roger had over top ten players.  Another stat I know but what else is there if we are going to compare???  the HyancinthBrady report???   Plus many players and media have in fact focused historically on the number of Majors won.   I really would be surprised if Nole didn't win a few more but there are alot of records he would have to set or achieve in order for him to realistically be considered a player of Roger's status overall.  So today for all you fans of Nole it is his birthday, he's 21!  He is Number One per the HB rating list!

 I would also like to give a little credit to Nole for making the Aussie Open doubles final.  And Johnnie Mac should get a ton more credit for mixed titles to---FOR REAL!!! it's great for the game!!!    If Nole played mixed and did well with Ivanovic he would win lots of points here- as if he wants them.  My bet is that he just focuses on the short term and lets all the computers take care of themselves, including ours.

I just don't agree with people knocking Roger's girlfriend when she is clearly part of his entourage and success, AND should be considered almost neutral.

To you Lendlfan

Again, what in the world are you talking about?? The Atp race, which shows the points for the current year puts both Nole and Nadal ahead of Fed. That means both Nadal and Nole have been better this year than Fed. Furthermore, both Nole and Nadal have 2 Masters title and Nole has a grandslam. Fed is 0-6 in all major tournaments this year and one minor title in Estoril. If you don't know these things you should look it up instead of embarrasing yourself with ignorant replies.

Understand also that Fed's records are past tense. You wouldn't say Sampras or Emerson is the first or second best player on tour if they came out of retirement and rejoined the tour, would you? When all the players are retired then it would be FAIR to compare their career achievements.

Some people can't bend their heads around the apparent info that Fed is no longer the king. But he has lost too many matches this year, the last two in such complete flops (yes, they were against Nadal on clay, but still 4-0 and 5-1, and he lost both sets and the matches), to see or expect him to continue to dominate the tour. While Djoker has excelled in Aust., U.S. and even on the red clay of Europe. Hey, the experts didn't see Sampras coming, they didn't see Fed coming, and now many refuse to give Djoker their due. Just like with Sampras and Fed, Djoker's dominance won't be unchallenged, but have no doubt, he will dominate the tour and be its best player for the next five years.

Clearly, Djoker has has the best season of any player on the tour. No question about that. And, IMO, he will be the next #1. He has the most well-rounded game of anyone pursuing the top spot, he has the desire to be #1 and he has proven he can compete and win on all surfaces. My disagreement wtih you is when you say Djoker will win more career majors than Fed and dominate as Fed has done in recent years. The reasons I disagree are:

1. Federer reached 10 straight major finals. That is unprecendented in the history of tennis. Laver did not do it. Sampras did not do it. Borg did not do it. Lendl did not do it. These are champions who dominated their eras to varying degrees. Djoker is playing in an era with arguably the best clay-court player in history who is only 21 years old. If your'e telling me Djoker is going to reach 10 straight Grand Slam finals, I disagree.
2. The guy has won 1 major. Now he could go out and win the French (if Nadal got hurt or upset), he's a contender at Wimbledon, he was in the US Open final last season. No doubt about it: Djoker could win multiple majors this season. But there's a big difference between potential and actual achievement.
3. To dominate as Federer has you must be a little lucky in staying healthy. You must stay healthy for an extended period. Djoker has retired from more major matches than Federer and Nadal combined. Djoker has retired from more major matches than any other player in the top 10. He has a history of retiring from matches in majors and Masters Series events. He has to prove, IMO, that physically he can consistently compete and complete major matches. Djoker has played 3 French Opens in his career and has retired from 2 of them. He retired from the Wimbledon semis last July. He pulled one of the most blatant injury timeout scams I've seen in recent years vs. Monfils in the opening round of the 2005 US Open stopping play for 20 minutes to recover. He basically mailed in the effort at Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai losing every match and not looking all that interested in competing. You can't do that if you're going to dominate. Now, history is filled with players who became better competitors and tougher athletes as they matured: Sampras is one, Agassi, who used to blow off Wimbledon earlier in his career is another, even Edberg, one of my favorites, was once regarded as too nice of a guy to win grueling matches and look how he turned that label around. Lendl was considered a choker early in his career and he went on to reach 8 straight US Open finals. Federer was considered soft by some (one Grand Slam champion told me early in Fed's career he didn't have the "fire in the belly") but obviously he turned that around. So  I am not saying Djoker won't develop into a better and more consistent competitor, I am saying at this point in his career he has not shown he can physically complete major matches on a consistent basis and you cannot dominate if you can't even complete a major match.
4. It's an entirely different pressure being #1 than it is pursuing #1. As Hingis used to say: "It's much easier being the hunter than the hunted." Maybe he will thrive under that pressure as #1 as Fed has, as Sampras did or maybe it will be an added challenge for him. No one knows the answer to that right now, but we will find out.
5. The game has become even more surface specific in recent years therefore it is more difficult to dominate on all surfaces. Sure, everyone talks about the grass being slower at Wimbledon, but  big servers like a Roddick, Karlovic, etc. are obviously still  huge threats and you get into tiebreaks on grass in those situations it can be a crapshoot. Even some of the most successful players in Wimbledon history - Sampras is an example - suffered upsets against guys having big serving days (Goran, Krajicek, etc.).
6. To me when you say Djoker is going to dominate for the next 5 years it devalues just exactly how hard it is to do what Fed has done and diminishes the variables invovled: staying healthy, getting good draws, getting the breaks, the fact that these guys are human not robots and can't be on every match let alone every major tournament for a 5-year period.

Absolutely agree Djoker will be the next #1, but do not see him winning more majors than Federer. 

What am I talking about??? come on Hyacinth are you really so jaded as not to look at this site's homepage where they list THE LATEST WEEKLY RANKINGS???  if you scroll to the upper left and click on homepage you can find it.  Points race for the year Novak may have more in the last 5 months, Happy Birthday.   2008 Belongs to Novak--So far, since he won the one Major that has been play so far this year.  Talk about religion... you must think Novak winning the Aussie was the second coming.

Lets compare Novak v Roger, just a little.  Roger wWON his first seven Major Finals.  Novak was 0-1, now 1-1.  You may have blocked out the US Open Final???  Right after Novak gagged his chance to serve out the first set, he said good night New York.  

Roger has won the last FIVE Wimbledons AND the last FOUR US OPENS.  Roger is 14-2 overall in Major Finals, his two losses were to Nadal at the French.  Maybe you are aware that Nadal has not lost at RG? to anyone?

Please don't expect the French Open or Wimbledon to seed NOLE number one based on your computer or the ATP Points race because you will just be disappointed.  Maybe you need to phone up the tournament directors about who is most likely to win the tournament and who deserves to be top seed.  Maybe they will put Novak number one now that you have him proclaimed "better than Roger this week."    maybe

And last week both Roger and Novak lost to Rafa, so this week Rafa is playing the best tennis in the world obviously.  Maybe last week is all that matters.

Are Roger's titles all "past tense?"  Then Nole's Aussie win is too.  Roger is the current Wimbledon AND US OPEN champion, he holds TWO majors, currently.

Hyacinth, your history goes back to Jan 1st, 2008.  Maybe you should go back just one more major.  I won't suggest a whole 365 days.  No I wouldn't proclaim Sampras or Emerson number one on the computer because they haven't played in the last 365 days.  Roger is ranked at the top of the aforementioned list on this site's homepage because of his achievements of the last 365 days and NOLE is 3rd.

Hyacinth you also make a mistake to sugges that "Fed is 0-6 in all major tournaments this year."  Most tennis fans recognize four tournaments as Majors each year.   Maybe you should do your homework.

Hey RP this is well thought out and focuses on a more meaningful time span than "so far this year."

If someone wants to compare two players I was unaware that they thought in terms of "the calender year so far."  So in that regard my apologies if I mistook your claim.  I don't disagree that Novak is Best Player so far this year, with not quite half the year finished.

Rios was number one and Safin was number one too, for 9 weeks.

 If ANY player starts winning a major 3 times in a row then we can start thinking about how they stack up with The Fed and Nadal.  Until then it's just allllllllllllllllllll potential.  Coulda fits right in with shoulda (US OPEN 07) and woulda.

 

I don't think The Fed is 0-6 in majors this year.  If anyone thinks I am incorrect here please let me know.

hmm I didn't think I would have to do this, but it's clear I need to. You may be a fan, but you don't know your tennis, sorry.

The tennis season starts in January of every year. At the start of the season the ATP race starts to keep track of all the points accumulated during the year. One of the reasons the ATP race is so important is because in a year like this one when the previous season's dominant player is no longer dominant, the entry rankings will still show him as the top ranked. The ATP Race makes no mistake about who the top performer of the season is. Again, it's not Roger Federer!

When I said Fed's records are past tense...I meant, as they would say in the fashion industry "it's so last season." Nole's big wins are past tense but they are from this season.

When I said he's 0-6 in major tournaments, I meant the grand slams as well as the Masters events, which should be obvious to someone with any kind of tennis knowledge. For more about the masters events click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_Series

We can continue this conversation if you've learned something. If you still insist on posting arrogant and embarrassingly ignorant replies then consider this conversation over.

apparently not