Truth & Rumors > Tennis
Depth showcased on men's tour
Perhaps not since the days of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, among others, has there been so much talent clustered at the top of men's tennis. "This is as deep as the men's game has been since the early '80s," said Larry Stefanki, a coach and pro for 30 years. "This is as good as I've seen it. You have 10 guys every week challenging for titles." The men's tour ended up here by natural evolution, as speed and power became more important, marginalizing the marginal athlete, even one with superior technical skills. Stefanki said tennis now looked more like its table tennis cousin, with balls flying rapidly across the net, snapping the necks of spectators back and forth. Stefan Edberg watches the current pros, and he said in a telephone interview that they exhibited a physicality that was not evident during his career. In particular, Edberg points to [Rafael] Nadal, all the grunts and the way he lunges at the ball, viciously attacking it, as evidence of the way the modern game has changed. Combine that power with the speed and athleticism on the tour, and [Roger] Federer said it was no longer enough for professionals to win with technical precision, or superior strokes. "Talent is not enough anymore," Federer said. "I'm talking about talent, let's say, in your hands. Like about touch and feel and spin. I'm not saying that it used to be. But it used to bring you a long way before and not anymore."
More FanHouse Blogs
- Amir Sadollah Bloodies Phil Baroni
- Mark Martin Remains Sentimental Favorite
- UFC 106 Results
- Nate Robinson Shoots at Wrong Basket
- Broadcasters Suspended for Haddadi Comments
- UFC 106 Fight Card
- Stefanie Spielman Dies at Age 42
- Bears Shun NBC for Sunday Night Game
- Parisyan Pulls Out of UFC 106, Dana White Says Move is Career Ender
- Questions Surround ESPN's NBA Latino Power Rankings
Stub Hub
The 2009 schedule has been released. Search for tickets!
Truth & Rumors
MOST POPULAR
-
1
Bills owner wanted Gruden
- Views
- 50375
- Comments
- 381
-
2
Raiders players happy with new QB
- Views
- 9476
- Comments
- 85
-
3
Why Knicks passed on Iverson
- Views
- 21567
- Comments
- 84
-
4
Yankees keeping eye on Halladay
- Views
- 41999
- Comments
- 81
-
5
Seahawks interested in Holmgren?
- Views
- 8632
- Comments
- 54
Most Active Users
Comments + Blog Posts + Throwdowns
Message Boards
-
NCAAF > General NCAAF
Are college football coaches…
- Views
- 362
- Replies
- 52
-
NCAAF > General NCAAF
CFB Game Day 11/21/2009
- Views
- 275
- Replies
- 141
-
NCAAF > General NCAAF
2009's most disappointing team
- Views
- 270
- Replies
- 20


Jessica White
Taylor Walker



Comments (6) Add A Comment
Yes, the game is a lot more physical and today's players are probably more well-rounded athletes than their 1980's counterparts. But the statement that there's more parity atop the men's game than even the 1980's would be a lot more believable and credible if it weren't just Federer and Nadal winning all the Slams.
Like it or not, the Slams are where it really counts in the record books. Other than the minor blip of Djokovic in the 2008 Australian (and right now, Djokovic is NOT playing like one of the top guys, at least not for the last 3 months) and Safin in the 2005 Australian (and he's basically a supremely talented head case, who wasted all that talent, and is retiring at year's end), who's been winning the Slams for the past 5 years now??
In the 1980's, you regularly saw the top guys trading places at No. 1, and each of them winning multiple Slams (McEnroe, Connors, Lendl, Wilander, Edberg, Becker, all of them #1's and multiple Slam winners during the era of early/mid-80's to early 90's).
Where is that kind of parity now? Doesn't exist (...yet, of course).
po_ali
Austin , TX
Total Comments (10)
Where's the boobs?
Chitownblues
Total Comments (1484)
Here's another link about the quality of men's tennis right now:
http://jonwbecker.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/why-mens-pro-tennis-is-better-t han-womens-right-now/
jonwbecker
Atlanta , GA
Total Comments (4)
Could it just be that the newer technology enables pros to hit the ball with lots of pace, giving everyone a punchers chance? Not so much equal talent as technology covering up the "lack" of talent?
cvofuh
Total Comments (104)
Zzzzz....
Babbling fool.
BUBBLES
Total Comments (1464)
SLY 1
Pompano, FL
Total Comments (2680)
Comment
Remember to keep your posts clean. Profanity will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed.