We have Rios, a world number one, not an achievement to be scoffed at. And yet, how do we think of Rios? We compare him only against the best and never accept that his reaching the top means anything…
Last week I found a quote from Tsitsipas saying that he would rather achieve no.1 position than win a slam. No wonder he doesn't have one slam so far.
and how they choked when it mattered the most. No one remembers Masters winners. The term slam winner goes with a number before it which tells how great this player is. You win a slam 1 time and you are already part of the history.
If Tsitsipas really thinks that, then he really IS just a pretty face. Such a superficial choice. Plus, who wants to be known as a Slamless #1? Fiero mentioned just the other day that Dinara Safina was one, and that was 14 years ago. Ignominious legacy, around these parts. Rios was also a slamless #1, IIRC.
There is a lot of truth in this. I'd already forgotten that Coric won Cincy last year, (forgive me, as he is your fellow Croat,) and I pay a lot of attention. Sinner winning in Toronto is a big deal for him. A 1000 is a great title, and considered a "Big Title," as they often seem to be laid out these days. However, from what I can tell, everyone feels it's a stepping stone for Sinner. If he doesn't win a Slam, there will be disappointment.
Vilas had more than a "sniff" at #1. There's a huge controversy over whether he was robbed of #1, which everyone seems to recognize but the ATP.
This is a good point. In the US, tennis gets drowned out by other sports, generally. But in many other countries, winning a Major in tennis makes you a superstar. Obviously, Serbia has a couple of big sports superstars on the international stage, Look at Li Na and how she's influenced Chinese tennis.A major's still just 1 tournament & only gets you so many points & money, but it means a lot to a player & their country! Serbia only has 2 Int'l sports champions, but they're at the top of their resp. games; Novak in tennis & Nikola Jokić in the NBA (Basketball)!
Watching Sinner since 2021 season, he has high ambitions on himself and his career. He might not show it like other players, but he wants to win those big titles and be the best version of himself. It is why I love his reaction and his team's reaction. He was happy and relieved, but the same time it is the only beginning of hopefully a great tennis career!
I think part of the problem is that most folks tend to think of the very top (and the GOAT question), and of course Rios doesn't belong in the conversation. But how would you compare him to Gaudio or Johansson? It is easy to say Novak > Andy Murray > Marcelo Rios, but what about players closer together? All the factors matter, when you want more than subjectivity and faulty memory or, worse yet, Slam Absolutism.
The second sentence is true, but the first is just absurd. No, it is not that simple. That's what I call "Slam Absolutism." You cannot simply make a list of players by Slam count and then rank them that way. That is hugely simplistic and leads to such absurdities as "Jan Kodes was greater than Ilie Nastase" or "Johan Kriek was greater than Vitas Gerulaitis."
