Hall of Fame Worthy, Yes or No?

[scoop]

Not every champion tennis player can get into the Hall of Fame but there are several candidates who curiously have yet to be inducted and enshrined into Newport. Let’s take a look…

Yevgeny Kafelnikov: The superb Russian won Roland Garros singles and doubles in the same year as well as the Australian Open, an Olympic gold medal, Davis Cup and also he held the world no. ranking. Kafelnikov’s achievements outshine those of Marat Safin who was inducted last year.

Petr Korda won the 1998 Australian Open and doubles in Australia with Stefan Edberg in ’96. Korda got to no. 2 in the world and had a chance to become no. 1 at four tournaments but lost to Rios, Kucera, Henman and Krajicek at those four ATP tournaments. Korda also won Hopman Cup in ’94 and the Grand Slam Cup in ’93 defeating no. 1 Pete Sampras and no. 2 Michael Stich in the SF and F, respectively, both in five sets. The knock on Korda is that he tested positive for banned PED Nandrolone at Wimbledon in ’98 the year he won his only singles major.

Carlos Moya is rarely discussed as a Hall of Fame candidate but the Spaniard has very similar accomplishments to Safin. Moya won the French Open in ’98 and played the Australian Open final in ’97, and won the Davis Cup in 2004. Moya was no. 1 in the world for two weeks after reaching the final of Indian Wells in March of ’99. Moya also won three Masters Series titles – in Cincy (Hewitt), Rome (Nalbandian) and Monte Carlos (Pioline). Moya always behaved with impeccable class and sportsmanship through his entire career and if it were not for Edberg, he would be worthy to have the ATP Sportsmanship Award named in his honor.

Johan Kriek won two Australian Open titles (811, 82) and reached no. 7 in the world. The South African has career wins vs Agassi, Connors, Borg, McEnnroe, Vilas, Edberg, Chang, and Gerulaitis. Kriek has also founded and operated tennis academies in Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina.

Marcelo Rios was not the best behaved or popular player on the pro tour during his ten year ATP career. Still he became the first South American to hold the ATP world no. 1 ranking when he defeated Andre Agassi in three straight sets at the 1998 Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne. This win inspired many great South American players such as Kuerten, Coria, Nalbadian, and Gaudio who saw Rios compete on the South American junior circuit. Earlier in ’98 Rios reached the finals of the Australian Open losing to Petr Korda, a loss he avenged a month later in straight sets at Indian Wells. Roger Federer said two years ago he would vote for Rios to be in the Hall of Fame.

Mary Pierce won the 1995 Australian Open and 2000 French Open in singles, also she won a doubles slam with Hingis (2000 French Open) and also the 2005 Wimbledon mixed with Bhupathi. In total Pierce played in six Grand Slam singles finals. Pierce also won the Fed Cup with France in ’97 and ’03.

If you asked me to vote, I would say yes for five and possibly all six of these great champions of tennis.

 

[Moxie]

Kafelnikov doesn't have a better resume than Safin, by your accounting. Safin also won Davis Cup for Russia and held #1. I love Carlos Moya, but I'm not sure he qualifies. Along with the rest. I'd put in Kafelnikov, if you insist, but otherwise, aren't you just watering down the qualifications?

 

[britbox]

I don't think Rios belongs in the Hall.

 

[El Dude]

I don't know enough about the tennis Hall of Fame to comment, but in baseball it is rather subjective and it seems there's always the problem of precedent. There are some players who have been inducted that are lesser than those listed above - e.g. Chuck McKinley, Rafael Osuna, Yannick Noah, etc.

Given the precedents, I'd say yes to Kafelnikov, maybe to Moya, no to Korda, Kriek, and Rios.

 

[scoop]

If Chang and Roddick are in the Hall of Fame why not Moya?

 

[scoop]

Britbox; Federer said he would vote Rios in. I asked Federer this question at US Open two years ago and he said he did not know the criteria but based on his opinion of Rios he would vote yes.

 

[scoop]

Kozlov beats Johnson. Lost to Steve in Delray Beach this year in two sets. Very big win for Kozlov who plays Cilic or Isner next.

 

[scoop]

The Wawrinka and Annacone partnership is off to a poor start. Lopez looking like a serious darkhorse to do damage at Wimbledon. It's really a valuable win for Kozlov who has not won but a very few ATP main tour level matches.

 

[El Dude]

If Chang and Roddick are in the Hall of Fame why not Moya?

I'm not sure who you are replying to as the posts by folks other than you and Dan from the blog don't translate to the forum for some reason, but if I were to play Devil's Advocate I'd say that both Roddick and especially Chang were a bit better for a bit longer than Moya, but the difference isn't huge.

Again, it depends upon where you draw the line. I think the baseline should be players who were more than just one-Slam wonders - meaning, players who were good to very good players who won a Slam, but weren't consistently in the elite of their era - so not players like Mark Edmondson, Thomas Johansson, Andre Gomez, Gaston Gaudio, Pat Cash, Albert Costa, etc. I'd probably include Korda in that group. Obviously Moya was better than those guys, but how much better? And if Moya why not Stich, Ferrero, or even more so, Muster? Actually, I'd say Thomas Muster is currently the most accomplished player of the Open Era who is not in the Hall of Fame, so if you vote someone else in he has to be better than Muster - and the only player on that list who was is probably Kafelnikov, and they're pretty close, I think.

Rios is a special case because he was #1 and elite for a couple years, but never won a Slam. If you vote him in, you probably have to vote in David Ferrer and Tom Okker, who are probably the two most accomplished players of the Open Era never to win a Slam. Neither was as good as Rios at his best, but were both consistently very good for a very long period of time.

I'd also say no to Johan Kriek, who has the dubious honor of being by far the worst multi-Slam winner of the Open Era, winning two Australian Open titles that were equivalent to ATP 500s in terms of the field.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

I may be wrong but I think there are way more Slam winners out there than folks that made it to #1. To me, that is important. Being #1 means at some point in your career, you were the best in the world. Maybe for a short period of time but you still managed to get there. To me that is HOF worthy.

 

[Busted]

Let's be honest here - the TOF is going to have to lower their standards for inductees because the last 15 years has been dominated by 3 guys - 4 if you want to throw in Murray. You can throw in Stan if you squint really hard. Other than that? Who else would qualify?The women's side is even more sparse. Among active players you've got Serena and Venus as sure things. After that? I can't think of another active female player other than Cheaterpova - and maybe Kvitova - who deserves to get an automatic entry unless they relax the standards. Having said that - with so few current players worthy - they're going to have to start letting in some of the older players that they passed on before.

 

[DarthFed]

No way to Korda, he was a juicer and that's all you need to know. I'd say yes to Kafelnikov and maybe to Moya. Rios is best known for talent and being a volatile character in court, I don't think that should be enough to get him in.

 

[scoop]

Agree jg that Rios had a very aesthetic and attractive way of playing. His play style was and his a big inspiration for many players today including Donald Young Alex Dolgopolov Yoshihito Nishioka and Roger Federer. I think anyone that Roger Federer cites as a tennis hero and inspiration/favorite player to watch should automatically qualify on that basis alone

 

[MartyB]

If Chang and Roddick are in the Hall of Fame why not Moya?

Exactly...We know why Roddick is in don't we?

 

[Denis]

No way to Korda, he was a juicer and that's all you need to know. I'd say yes to Kafelnikov and maybe to Moya. Rios is best known for talent and being a volatile character in court, I don't think that should be enough to get him in.

This. Kafelnikov also played in the Agassi Sampras era whereas moya shined in the Hewitt interlude between Agassi/Sampras and the big 4. Competition matters too I think.

 

[Ricardo]

Agree jg that Rios had a very aesthetic and attractive way of playing. His play style was and his a big inspiration for many players today including Donald Young Alex Dolgopolov Yoshihito Nishioka and Roger Federer. I think anyone that Roger Federer cites as a tennis hero and inspiration/favorite player to watch should automatically qualify on that basis alone

a couple things Federer isn't good at: hawk eye challenge, he is known to be probably the worst on tour. And picking HOF worthy players

 

[Haelfix]

B/c Roddick and Chang are obvious HOfers and the rest really aren't. It isn't close either.

Kafelnikov probably will get in at some point, but I don't think any of the others should. Moya was a solid player but he's an extreme long shot. Rios could have been a HOFer but his existence on tour was like 3 very volatile years which didn't amount to a slam. So he's a definite no.

 

[El Dude]

Rios can be in the Hall of Underachievers, along with Nalbandian, Mecir, Pioline, and eventually Dimitrov.

 

[Ricardo]

Rios can be in the Hall of Underachievers, along with Nalbandian, Mecir, Pioline, and eventually Dimitrov.

Pioline? how was he known so much as an underachiever? if anything he bagged more than fair share of what his tennis ability allowed.

 

[DarthFed]

Pioline? how was he known so much as an underachiever? if anything he bagged more than fair share of what his tennis ability allowed.

Yeah I was thinking the same. The guy made 2 major finals and watching him play it felt like two more than he should've made.