Williams sisters and fedal in both finals after nearly 10 years since the last time they faced off in a major final. The pure nostalgia probably won’t be matched again
Sorry but AO17 is literally 4 of the most iconic players in the last 20 years playing in a final 8 years since the last time it happened.
Nadal’s comeback from 0-2 in the final was great and fun to watch and I’m not saying there’s an asterisk on his win but outside of that final, what else about the tournament was great? If Nadal was healthy Wimbledon 2022, I think that could have been another classic considering the circumstances of it finally having Novak and Rafa on opposite sides as well as Nadal holding 2 slams but we didn’t get it
Oh my apologies I though you were just talking about the men’s finals (RF v RN) vs (DM vs RN)
Overall yea 2017 was way cooler. Any Fedal final at a slam plus the Williams sisters is basically unbeatable haha
But in terms of the match I prefer the 2022. But also might be recency bias - better go watch 2017 again
The overall match was good and probably slightly better than 2022 in terms of quality but the main focus is probably the 5th set in 2017.
It also depends who you were cheering for, too, I guess 😅
Most common M/W pair winning the same tournament in the same year:
# Slam-specific:
- French: **Borg/Evert** (4 times)
- Australian: **Federer/S. Williams** (3)
- Wimbledon: **Federer/S. Williams** (3)
- US: tie between **Connors/Evert** and **Sampras/Graf** (3)
# All Slams combined:
- 7: **Federer/S. Williams** (3 A, 0 F, 3 W, 1 U)
- 6: **Sampras/Graf** (1,0,2,3)
- 5: **Borg/Evert** (0,4,1,0)
- 4: **Courier/Seles** (2,2,0,0) and **Nadal/S. Williams** (1,1,1,1)
- 3: **Wilander/Graf** (1,1,0,1), **Lendl/Graf** (2,1,0,0), **Connors/Evert** (0,0,0,3), **McEnroe/Navratilova** (0,0,2,1), **Nadal/Henin** (0,3,0,0), **Djokovic/Osaka** (2,0,0,1)
- 25 pairs tied at 2, but by my estimates only 3 where both players are still active and thus possible to join the 3+ club: **Djokovic/Azarenka** (2,0,0,0), **Djokovic/Kvitova** (0,0,2,0), and **Nadal/Swiatek** (0,2,0,0).
Fwiw, Sabalenka is 3-0 vs Rybakina. All of them were 3 setters. Either way it's at least a toss up or Sabalenka is the favorite. Rybakina has a GS under her belt so maybe that could give her the edge, but to say she's a shoe in I don't think is accurate. Sabalenka is also showing a lot of poise, winning a lot of matches where she isn't playing her best.
Granted the way this tourney has gone itll likely be Linette vs azarenka in the final lol
I am just saying that Ostapenko was extremely dominant over Rybakina and Rybakina dismissed her.
Rybakina does better against Sabalenka than she does against Ostapenko, she never even got a set off of Ostapenko until yesterday.
If Sabalenka serves like she just did against Vekic then Rybakina is going to club her.
Agree she's playing well, but outside of matches where one of the big 3 are playing someone outside the big 3, I've found predictions aren't worth much.
True. Everything else is working for her though and her serve had been (I think/too lazy to look up stats) pretty good this tournament until this match.
I think it’s highly unlikely.
There is the so called “five year gap” in tennis when it comes to long breaks between Slam titles. Only 3 players in the open era have managed to win a Slam after a 5 year gap (Becker, Sanchez Vicario and Pierce), with Kuznetsova and Federer also coming close with 4 and a half years. The longer you don’t win a Slam, the more difficult it gets to win one again and history suggests that once 5 years pass, your Slam winning window is shut.
For comparison, Azarenka hasn’t won a Slam in TEN years and has only made it past the QF twice in those ten years. She’s been past her prime since basically 2016 (perhaps even before that).
Obviously, statistics are statistics and someone is bound to do it eventually, but I’m just pointing it out so that people don’t get their hopes up too much.
Vika's timeline is all effed because mat leave and custody issues :(
I really think she would have won slams 2016-2017-2018 otherwise. She was in good form and won the Sunshine Double. And her pigeon Kerber (no shade) went on to become world number 1 and win US open lol.
Pigeon is slang for someone who loses all the matches. Azarenka has won 10/11 matches she's faced against Kerber. The one match Kerber won was Australian Open QF 2016, which she then went on to win!
Recent two slam winners are Iga and Elena. Iga has already done more than Vika at her age. Rybakina is finally living up to her potential. Granted the competition is weaker than when Vika broke through but they might do better than Vika's career a decade from now
Yes those are facts. You said you wanted Vika to win so that people don't compare her career to the recent slam winners who are still young and atleast one is on track to a better career than Vika. Rybakina too has a solid game and might end up with a more slams than Vika in the coming years
I said 2 slam winners not most recent winners of the last 2 slams. I'm talking about Kvitova, Muguruza, and Halep. Iga for example is a 3 slam winner, Osaka a 4 slam winner etc.
It will be like ye old year of 2017 where Serena and Roger came back in a blast from the past.
Williams sisters and fedal in both finals after nearly 10 years since the last time they faced off in a major final. The pure nostalgia probably won’t be matched again
Honestly sad Venus didn't win that :(
Venus really should have won one slam that year. What an insane and unexpected return to form
Getting bageled at Wimbledon after a close first set (7-5) was pretty lame
AO2017 and AO2022 are the two greatest fairytales in tennis in recent memory, I’ve never been happier 😅
AO 22 final was fun but it’s not even close to AO17
Not even close is a bit of an overstatement. That 2022 final was biblical
Sorry but AO17 is literally 4 of the most iconic players in the last 20 years playing in a final 8 years since the last time it happened. Nadal’s comeback from 0-2 in the final was great and fun to watch and I’m not saying there’s an asterisk on his win but outside of that final, what else about the tournament was great? If Nadal was healthy Wimbledon 2022, I think that could have been another classic considering the circumstances of it finally having Novak and Rafa on opposite sides as well as Nadal holding 2 slams but we didn’t get it
Oh my apologies I though you were just talking about the men’s finals (RF v RN) vs (DM vs RN) Overall yea 2017 was way cooler. Any Fedal final at a slam plus the Williams sisters is basically unbeatable haha But in terms of the match I prefer the 2022. But also might be recency bias - better go watch 2017 again
The overall match was good and probably slightly better than 2022 in terms of quality but the main focus is probably the 5th set in 2017. It also depends who you were cheering for, too, I guess 😅
I’m a Nadal fan but I love fed too. I think fed is the goat. I think I was cheering for fed. But I think I was more just confused
Serena didn’t really come back from anything. She was #2 in the world and won Wimbledon just months prior to the AO. Her win wasn’t at all unexpected.
I think there talking about the 2 finals as a whole, not just one player
Most common M/W pair winning the same tournament in the same year: # Slam-specific: - French: **Borg/Evert** (4 times) - Australian: **Federer/S. Williams** (3) - Wimbledon: **Federer/S. Williams** (3) - US: tie between **Connors/Evert** and **Sampras/Graf** (3) # All Slams combined: - 7: **Federer/S. Williams** (3 A, 0 F, 3 W, 1 U) - 6: **Sampras/Graf** (1,0,2,3) - 5: **Borg/Evert** (0,4,1,0) - 4: **Courier/Seles** (2,2,0,0) and **Nadal/S. Williams** (1,1,1,1) - 3: **Wilander/Graf** (1,1,0,1), **Lendl/Graf** (2,1,0,0), **Connors/Evert** (0,0,0,3), **McEnroe/Navratilova** (0,0,2,1), **Nadal/Henin** (0,3,0,0), **Djokovic/Osaka** (2,0,0,1) - 25 pairs tied at 2, but by my estimates only 3 where both players are still active and thus possible to join the 3+ club: **Djokovic/Azarenka** (2,0,0,0), **Djokovic/Kvitova** (0,0,2,0), and **Nadal/Swiatek** (0,2,0,0).
Rafa/Serena with the hidden career grand slam
The Booty Siblings Slam
Also with 3 McEnroe/Navratilova (W 83 & 84 and US 84)
you missed djoker - kvitova (W '11, '14) among the active pairs
Federer/S. Williams dominating the list, how suprising.
Wouldn't be surprised if Alcaraz and Swiatek gets up here. They're both so proficient on clay and hard
Nadal win the French nearly every year and yet no woman managed to get up here on this list with him. I would love Iga to get to 3
👍, except last paragraph, Barty has retired mate..
Connors / evert had Wimbledon 1974 too so should be a bit higher up the combined list
It’s going to be like Wimbledon last year instead
Yeah, nobody's beating Rybakina.
Fwiw, Sabalenka is 3-0 vs Rybakina. All of them were 3 setters. Either way it's at least a toss up or Sabalenka is the favorite. Rybakina has a GS under her belt so maybe that could give her the edge, but to say she's a shoe in I don't think is accurate. Sabalenka is also showing a lot of poise, winning a lot of matches where she isn't playing her best. Granted the way this tourney has gone itll likely be Linette vs azarenka in the final lol
Ostapenko was undefeated against Rybakina too.
Good thing I didn't say "Sabalenka will beat Rybakina"
I am just saying that Ostapenko was extremely dominant over Rybakina and Rybakina dismissed her. Rybakina does better against Sabalenka than she does against Ostapenko, she never even got a set off of Ostapenko until yesterday. If Sabalenka serves like she just did against Vekic then Rybakina is going to club her.
She was 2-0 and they hadn’t played since 2021. That’s not even close to “extremely dominant.”
Rybakina is just playing stupid good right now. Not sure what anyone else does matters, and I'm pretty sure past head to heads go out the window.
Agree she's playing well, but outside of matches where one of the big 3 are playing someone outside the big 3, I've found predictions aren't worth much.
Sabalenka is serving like a 4.0 weekender right now though ☹️
True. Everything else is working for her though and her serve had been (I think/too lazy to look up stats) pretty good this tournament until this match.
U never know with women's tennis, unpredictable asf
This is pretty much equivalent to ‘imagine if vika wins AO’
someone went bonkers with downvotes in this
Hope they didn’t spend so much time they forgot to take their medications.
Novak looks exactly the same today. Guy doesn't age
I'll be rooting for one of them
I won't be
Same, LOL
I think it’s highly unlikely. There is the so called “five year gap” in tennis when it comes to long breaks between Slam titles. Only 3 players in the open era have managed to win a Slam after a 5 year gap (Becker, Sanchez Vicario and Pierce), with Kuznetsova and Federer also coming close with 4 and a half years. The longer you don’t win a Slam, the more difficult it gets to win one again and history suggests that once 5 years pass, your Slam winning window is shut. For comparison, Azarenka hasn’t won a Slam in TEN years and has only made it past the QF twice in those ten years. She’s been past her prime since basically 2016 (perhaps even before that). Obviously, statistics are statistics and someone is bound to do it eventually, but I’m just pointing it out so that people don’t get their hopes up too much.
Vika's timeline is all effed because mat leave and custody issues :( I really think she would have won slams 2016-2017-2018 otherwise. She was in good form and won the Sunshine Double. And her pigeon Kerber (no shade) went on to become world number 1 and win US open lol.
>And her pigeon Kerber Sorry what do you mean by that?
Pigeon is slang for someone who loses all the matches. Azarenka has won 10/11 matches she's faced against Kerber. The one match Kerber won was Australian Open QF 2016, which she then went on to win!
Super agree. Vika won the Sunshine double in 2016 and then she got pregnant. Convinced that 2016 would've been a great year for her.
what you are saying is basically "record can not be broken", which is not true. you might be right this time but in general your argument is invalid.
Safin also had 5 years gap.
His was 4 years and 4 months.
that would be pretty neat, actually. but as a longtime fan of the sport, I’m a “let the best man/woman win” type of person.
yeah definitely would be cool and provide some good nostalgia
I want Vika to win another slam so bad so we can stop pretending like any of the recent 2 slam winners are comparable to her career.
Recent two slam winners are Iga and Elena. Iga has already done more than Vika at her age. Rybakina is finally living up to her potential. Granted the competition is weaker than when Vika broke through but they might do better than Vika's career a decade from now
Damn didn't realise Elena won her second slam already /s
Iga has 3 slams and Rybakina has 1
Yes those are facts. You said you wanted Vika to win so that people don't compare her career to the recent slam winners who are still young and atleast one is on track to a better career than Vika. Rybakina too has a solid game and might end up with a more slams than Vika in the coming years
I said 2 slam winners not most recent winners of the last 2 slams. I'm talking about Kvitova, Muguruza, and Halep. Iga for example is a 3 slam winner, Osaka a 4 slam winner etc.
Well you've put the kibosh on them now lol
Rybakina gonna win the women’s singles title
It could also happen that both men's and women's finals are played by exclusively Russian players.
Best timeline.
Yeah, hopefully not. It'd be better for Tennis as a whole if someone else won the Men's side.
They make a nice couple.
I don't know why but Vika is my secret crush.
Is that a Rolex