<p>The game has changed too much over the last 50 years. The rackets are more powerful and the players and stronger and faster. Tennis in the 50s relied a great deal more on consistancy, style and smarts. There was an elegance to the game that no longer exists. Well, Edberg, Sampras and Federer did have a certain degree of elegance and simplicity to their game that is remeniscent of the game of old. But most players in the modern era, like Becker, Agassi, Nadal etc… rely on power and athleticism. My favorite players of all time are, in no particular order:</p>
<p>MEN:
Andre Agassi
Bjorn Borg
Ivan Lendl
Jimmy Connors
John McEnroe</p>
<p>Federer and Sampras were dominant like few players ever were, but they weren’t/aren’t fun to watch. For some reason, I am not a fan of any current male tennis player. </p>
<p>WOMEN:
Chris Evert
Hanna Mandlicova
Maria Sharapova (she is fun to look at!)
Martina Navratilova (I have great respect for what that lady did for women’s tennis)
Steffi Graf</p>
<p>Yes, it was truly an exceptional match. This is one of those games where there shouldn’t be a loser. Unfortunately, there can be only one!</p>
<p>"I’m a Laver/Rosewall/Hoad/Gonzales-era player/fan. I have to wonder how hard these players today could hit if they were using wooden racquets. "</p>
<p>That was a little before my time. I still have three wooden racquets in my closet (Dunlop Maxply, Spaulding Natural, Bancroft Players Special) and I still have three small aluminum (Head Pro) racquets. Andy Roddick said that the modern game is possible due to the introduction of poly strings. They are able to tame the enormous power of the large racquets today. Many players hit with poly for a short period of time and then go to another racquet. I’ve read that poly goes dead after about an hour of play. I like poly for the durability but it’s not the best thing in terms of arm health.</p>
<p>It’s interesting to see how the average height of the best players has changed over time. Rosewall and Laver were short compared to players today. In my time, many of the best players were 5 10. Now they’re about 6 1. The disadvantage of larger size is the additional weight that has to be carried which can cause problems with joints as the player gets older. Rosewall and Laver had long careers. Connors and McEnroe had long careers too. Connors hit fairly flat shots and McEnroe hit balls that frequently used the pace of his opponents. In contrast, many players today retire in their late 20s.</p>
<p>“McEnroe advocated returning to wooden racquets a while back in order to slow things down and make for better rallies.”</p>
<p>It’s pretty hard to put the genie back into the bottle. Table Tennis has the same problem. It’s even worse in Men’s doubles. It’s all bang, bang, bang with someone winning when someone has a bad service game or someone misses in the tiebreaker.</p>
<p>“It’s clear to me that the top players from my era couldn’t stay on the court with these guys today. Have you ever seen films of any of the old '50s-'60s matches? They seem to be in semi-slow motion.”</p>
<p>Yes, there’s far more athleticism in the game today. Have you ever seen the slow-motion vidoes of Federer. He makes it look effortless but you can really see how hard he works if you watch his feet and legs in slo-mo.</p>
<p>Awesome, awesome, awesome match…we were rooting for Nadal all the way. It was like Eli Manning vs. Tom Brady for us. McEnroe hugging Federer and making him cry was too much in the post interviews, that did kind of touch me.</p>
<p>On another note, did anyone notice that during interviews, Boris Becker was wearing a jacket for his new corporate plug that was three sizes too small for him? It looked too small during the commercials, too, in which he was wearing it. Oh, well. it’s not the Masters, apparently they don’t have an on site tailor. I love BB but for some reason that jacket thing was bothering me.</p>
<p>I’m a bit disappointed that Becker is doing ads for pokerstars.net now. There have been some allegations of players throwing matches in the professional ranks and I’d prefer not to see links between gambling in general and professional tennis.</p>
<p>Becker just started a racquet company (or bought one and put his name on it) and it has some nice products from what I hear. Becker has lived a pretty flashy lifestyle, just like his tennis. He certainly added excitement to the game.</p>
<p>Alexandre, as much as I admire Chris Evert, she was one of the first–perhaps THE first–baseliners-only players. Booooring. How about Billie Jean King?</p>