R. Fed The Great?

Da Realist:

who is going to come out and be federer's rival? is he too good? none ofthe top players can consistently beat him. he's the favorite on every surface except clay. and he just got to the semifinals there, losing to the eventual champion.

when people talk about tiger chasing the golden bear for all-time tour wins, they always say jack's 18 majors is going to be tough to beat. but theyalso say, jack's 19 SECOND place finishes may be his most incredible record. because this means he won 18 and was in the final 2 for 19 more. in hiscareer, he was first or second in 37 majors!

well, i feel the same way about federer. it isn't the ease with which he dispatches top players that impress me. it's how he loses. he forces the other player to play on such a high level to beat him. if you're sloppy, you will get embarrassed. if you're good, you lose. if you're really good, you make him sweat before you lose. if you're incredible, you MIGHT win.

go back and look at safin-federer in this year's australian open final. safin played out of his mind tennis and almost lost (he faced a couple of match points). it lasted for 5 sets. i'm telling you, unless someone stepsup and assumes the matrix of leadership and battles federer for the next 10 years he will have tennis LOCKED UP! he is 24 years old.

Waldini:

It's a shame right now there are no main rivals to Federer b/c he has been doing his thing for years. But unlike Connors who had Borg and MacEnroe to push him, Unlike Lendl who have Edberg and Beckerto push him, Unlike Sampars who had Agassi to push him, Rog has no one to currently push him. As you said the list of contenders are actually pretenders. It;s like Big Mac taking on Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson Punchout. To beat him, you have to be near perfect. Not just good, near perfect. I was hoping James Blake, Marat Safin, hell even Nadal could challenge him. But right now he is an unstoppable machine.

Gangsta D:

His only competition is focus. When you dominate and the game becomes easy, you lose focus (hello Serena and Tiger). He could be an all time great if he keeps his head on. Focus seems to be the weakness du jure for tennis players. Remember when Hewitt was "unstoppable" a couple years ago. He got engaged to Alicia Molik and his game went south. Speaking of Alicia, I met her and her thighs could probably crush walnuts, but i digress...

No one dominates forever. Maybe Donald Young can do something in a couple years.

Da Realist:

donald young...yeah i heard of that guy. young kid from atlanta by way ofchicago, right? i heard good things about him...yeah, i remember hewitt was dominating a couple of years ago. but i thinkhe came along at the right time. kind of like the '99 spurs...just afterthe domination of the chicago bulls, just before the domination of the 00's lakers. hewitt came along after sampras' prime and just before roger federer figured things out.

Waldini:

That's his name! Man, I could not remember it. I know it was him and theFrench bruh (cant remember his name either) that folks are raving about. Aww, Hewitt, see how quickly I forgot he was handling his business. Kinda like the 75 Warriors, 78 Bullets, or 79 Sonics...no one remembers they won,lol. Although in Hewitt's case, it appears marriage hindered him, I know it helped folks like Agassi.

Oh yea is Capriati milkbox material again :-)