Comments on: Top 15 Greatest Tennis Records of All Time

By: John

John — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:42:59 +0000

MOST GRAND SLAM SINGLE TITLES – nobody would want to see Steffi Graf left out of this list, but this record truly belongs to Margaret Court. Your attempted justification just does not wash.
Firstly, during the period of her grand slam singles titles (1960-1973) there was no professional women’s tennis until the start of the open era in 1968. This was Australia’s golden era of tennis with Court dominating the women’s ranks, Laver Rosewall and Hoad the professionals, and Emerson Stolle and Newcombe the amatuer ranks. The Auustralian Open was a prestigious tournament then because the best players in the world were all Australian.
Yes, Margaret Court won 11 out of 14 Australian titles during this period, but she also won 13 other GS titles during this time. Her nearest rival, Billie Jean King, only won 9 of the non-Australian GS tournaments in the same period.
Notably, Margaret Court had two periods of temporary retirement. Firstly, for almost two years until the start of the open-era, and then for about a year for the birth of her first child during 1971-72. Her winning record would obviously have been much higher without these breaks. It is also significant that 5 of Billie Jean King’s 12 GS titles came during Court’s temporary absences from tennis.
There is no doubt this title rightly belongs to Margeret Court..
ROD LAVER. OK, by now you have guessed that I’m an Aussie, and an old one at that. No argument about your writeup on Rocket (we’re from the same home town). Just to expand a little, during the ten years 1960-69, Laver won 11 of the 19 GS singles tounaments that he was eligible to enter.His pre-open professional career was the peak of his playng years, and had he been eligible to play GS tournaments for all of that period, 22 GS single titles would be a conservative estimate. I have no doubt that Federer is the best player we have seen since Laver, and yes, I think that 22 GS singles titles is not beyond his reach.

A great list.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:22:22 +0000

@Chris

Too true. But to be fair I’m working on a ‘Best Use of 1980’s Era Hairpieces at Men’s GS Finals’ list and didn’t want to reveal my hand too early. It’s a short list.

@Giri

1. I could have included the finals record, too, but a) he already appears 3 times on the list (plus an honorable mention) and didn’t want to be accused of too much pro-Fed bias, and b) I decided the consecutive semifinal appearance was more impressive. But that’s not to take away from the accomplishment — 10 straight GS finals is probably as unbreakable as the current semifinal run.

2. As for Mr Gerulaitis: you kind of answered the question for me already. Fed didn’t beat his record but he *almost* did; in choosing these records, I went for ones that I thought had the least chance not only of someone not beating but of nobody coming close. (Of course, I can already hear the doubters saying, “But Fed almost broke McEnroe’s dominant season record in 2005!” See #1.)

By: Giri

Giri — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:31:45 +0000

What about Roger’s 10 straight GS finals? He now has 7 straight but this is a great accomplishment too. On the womens side, I think Chris Evert has 13 straight.

I would also think that Vilas’ 47 straight match wins should be on this list. It’s been 30 years and the record still stands. Federer came close with 42, but that is another tough one to beat.

I think you could group #4 and #5 together.

All in all, this is a good list. These records will be tough to beat. Whoever comes along to beat these records will be in the conversation of GOAT.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:03:25 +0000

Nathan, I am disappointed, you didn’t mention the record for most consecutive tennis matches played in a mullet/hair piece. Andre Agassi deserves some recognition for such an amazing feat. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iauXuLZpCt61G8uznYgM2qEWV0eg

Oh and record for most matches with hair like Richard Simmons, a record which belongs to John McEnroe.
Richard: http://www.dreamnotoftoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/simmons.jpg

John McEnroe: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01296/john_mcenroe3_1296771c.jpg

By: Nathan

Nathan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:51:44 +0000

By the hammer of Thor, you’re (both) right! Egads, however did that escape the editorial board’s quality control review? I suppose we’ll have to start paying our copyediting monkeys in more than bananas…

Really, I just threw that in there to see which readers were paying attention. You both win, and a correction will be forthcoming.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:11:10 +0000

Actually, Martina Hingis is the youngest female Grand Slam winner – Australian Open 1997 – when she was 16 years, 3-4 months old.

By: Gemma

Gemma — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:22:24 +0000

Great list. As a Roger fan, I am glad you considered his 22 consecutive semis as the greatest record. It is an unparalleled feat and a live streak. Still, I would have traded that with 1 calendar Grand Slam on today’s multi-surface. And he had chances to do it in 3 different years! Sigh. But who am I kidding? I am just a greedy fan.

On another note, where were you when Martina Hingis won the Australian Open in 1997 at 16 yrs, 3 mos & 26 days? She is the youngest major Slam champion bar none.