Quote:
Originally posted by Benzene
These are pretty terrible opinions.  Nobody considers Court the GOAT because she earned many of her AOs at a time when top players didn't even bother with it. CYGS is a great achievement, but Serena has already held all four slams twice. There's a reason she was being considered the GOAT even when she was still at 17.
Steffi's record is cute but I will never forget her top rival being stabbed. For me the GOAT debate is and has always been between Serena and Martina. |
Well, you're entitled to your (wrong) opinion
At the end of the day, once hype and the media bias toward players who are active and currently marketable dies, what matters is #s. When she reached 18, she tied Chrissie and Martina. At 19, she surpassed them. She needs 23+ slams to surpass Steffi and be the GOAT, preferably by a bigger margin than that which is possible in the next two years. Because people can always bring subjective criteria like the stabbing in, just like they can say Serena also benefited from her two main rival's
ban
unexpected retirement while #1 and unexpected autoimmune disease, respectively, both when they were ~25 and could have given her a lot more competition. If anything, that subjectively puts Chris and Martina ahead of BOTH Serena and Steffi since they had a world class GOAT rival who didn't get stabbed/retired/diseased for the entirety of their careers. Either player might very well have 30 Grand Slams in a different era. But of course, their competition outside of each other (and on RARE occasion, Mandlikova/Austin) was abysmal. That's why final #s matter.
I almost feel more annoyed because I feel like 2016 will be 2014 2.0, where the pressure to reach a benchmark number (22) ****s with Serena's head. I was really banking on her winning 22 here, then playing freely to get 23 like she did between #18 and #21
Next year we're in for a TON more crybabyRena, tough three setters, Razzanno/Cornet/Vinci ****ery, etc
Quote:
Originally posted by Benzene
I've had 4 people text me saying "sorry about Serena." |
I hate this
Like, they don't know that it's best to STFU and not bring it up
I'm still waiting on my mom to hear about it on the 6PM news or Facebook and bring it up to me
It's significant that Serena beat Graf in 1999 because she was 17 and not even close to her prime---Graf SHOULD'VE been winning those matchups. Peak Serena vs. Peak Steffi is a Serena win.