Hall of Fame Worthy, Yes or No?

[Ricardo]

Pioline was like Gasquet with lesser backhand, good solid player but simply doesn't belong in the group of the top players. Kafelnikov i thought was equivalent in terms of his game to Davydenko, and after watching both for many years id even say Nicolay at his best was better than Kafelnikov. I think it's fair to say if Yevgeny played in the Fedal era, he wouldn't bag a single slam.....in fact its almost a certainty. In Sampras-Agassi era, he could sneak through some but really no chance with the big 3 being present.

 

[Ricardo]

Rios, like Nalbandian on his best days, was dangerous and unpredictable. Maybe David's backhand was even more wicked, and i thought Nalbandian when everything strings together for him is a step ahead of Federer (even when he plays great) and i am yet to see anyone who comes close to producing the same performance when he outplayed Nadal years ago....it was pure baseline wizardry (not the dog fight kind of match between Rafa and Novak or Federer) Unfortunately for David his frequency of A-game level is too narrow.

 

[Ricardo]

imo for HOF unrealised potential should not weigh much, as onus is on players to perform to their capability......it's a huge part of champion's quality. I think people talk up too much of the Mecirs and Rios, based on what they imagined what they could've been.....while looking down at the Hewitts, Changs and Roddicks, guys who actually earned it.

 

[scoop]

No such thing as a "weak era" of tennis as if it was easier to win a GS during the "Hewitt interlude" - It's always hard and it was equally hard then because Hewitt was the king of the sport - Kafelnikov did not win his GSs during a weak or weaker era that is fiction and myth. Sure it could be a little harder now because we have four kings who are brutally greedy and hungry and driven to win more GSs but this weak era theory holds no water.

 

[scoop]

Todd I think any player who holds the no 1 ranking deserves to be in Newport. The best in the world is one heckuva prestigious honor to hold in anything and especially tennis. Think about all the tennis players on earth - anyone who gets to the top of the tennis mountain is one remarkable genius.

 

[scoop]

Davydenko was an incredible player and a forgotten great but he did not achieve anything close to what Kafelnikov did. Davydenko would probably be a great coach for a player like Kozlov or even Djokovic.

 

[scoop]

Ricardo that is true but like in boxing the better player or boxer does not always win. Nalbandian and Rios were indeed incredibly great players but they did not win on the level of Chang Andy and Hewitt.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Bryan writes:

Yevgeny Kafelnikov has enough accomplishments at majors he should certainly be in the HOF. The others, probably not.