Before we say good-bye to Melbourne and the Australian Open, let's take a look at a point Pat McEnroe made on the air a few days ago regarding the tournament (an observation I secretly had been hoping to save for the book we're producing together, Hardcourt Confidential: Tales from 25 Years in the Pro Tennis Trenches). Now that the cat's out of the bag, we may as well hash it out.
Roger Federer now has 16 majors, a mind-boggling number - and he's shown no sign of stopping yet. He shattered the former mark (14, held by Pete Sampras), which fell just a few months short of lasting a decade (remember, it was that 13th major, which Pete bagged at Wimbledon in 2000, that set the new mark - the 14th title was gravy). The previous mark of 12 was established by Roy Emerson, the Aussie star, and it stood for longer than 30 years.
And while all bets are off until we see just how badly injuries are going to impact Rafael Nadal's career, let's remember that at this time last year, people bandied about numbers like 15, 18, and 21 when they speculated on how many majors Rafa might win. He certainly got off to faster start than even Federer, despite playing in the same era.
What, did everyone suddenly get real good, real fast?
Well, that's true to some degree. The game, according to the most trustworthy sources, does get incrementally better as time goes on. I think it was Brad Gilbert who said that anyone in the Top 50 today would easily have been in The top 10 or 15 just a few tennis generations ago.
The point Pat made, though, is that the Grand Slam title fell so quickly not just because Roger Federer is thought to be the greatest player of all, but also because he's had 25 percent more Grand Slam events at which to collect titles, compared to many of the icons who have been left behind in the dust. That's because until the Melbourne Park era began in 1988, pro tennis in the Open era was mostly a three-Slam game.
The title has existed since 1905, and it was accorded elite, Grand Slam status more or less from the beginning. But some of the greatest names of the Open era simply didn't care enough about that to play the event. And it had an enormous impact on their results.
Bjorn Borg won 11 majors in fewer than 10 years on the tour. He won the French Open and Wimbledon, back-to-back, a mind-blowing three times, and Wimbledon five consecutive times.
His record winning percentage in majors is a no less impressive 89.8, and he remains the only man to have won six titles at Roland Garros, a record that at this time last year Nadal seemed destined to topple. Until his knee problems began, Nadal seemed a lock to win, oh, 10 titles in Paris - if not more.
Roger Federer now has 16 majors, a mind-boggling number - and he's shown no sign of stopping yet. He shattered the former mark (14, held by Pete Sampras), which fell just a few months short of lasting a decade (remember, it was that 13th major, which Pete bagged at Wimbledon in 2000, that set the new mark - the 14th title was gravy). The previous mark of 12 was established by Roy Emerson, the Aussie star, and it stood for longer than 30 years.
And while all bets are off until we see just how badly injuries are going to impact Rafael Nadal's career, let's remember that at this time last year, people bandied about numbers like 15, 18, and 21 when they speculated on how many majors Rafa might win. He certainly got off to faster start than even Federer, despite playing in the same era.
What, did everyone suddenly get real good, real fast?
Well, that's true to some degree. The game, according to the most trustworthy sources, does get incrementally better as time goes on. I think it was Brad Gilbert who said that anyone in the Top 50 today would easily have been in The top 10 or 15 just a few tennis generations ago.
The point Pat made, though, is that the Grand Slam title fell so quickly not just because Roger Federer is thought to be the greatest player of all, but also because he's had 25 percent more Grand Slam events at which to collect titles, compared to many of the icons who have been left behind in the dust. That's because until the Melbourne Park era began in 1988, pro tennis in the Open era was mostly a three-Slam game.
The title has existed since 1905, and it was accorded elite, Grand Slam status more or less from the beginning. But some of the greatest names of the Open era simply didn't care enough about that to play the event. And it had an enormous impact on their results.
Bjorn Borg won 11 majors in fewer than 10 years on the tour. He won the French Open and Wimbledon, back-to-back, a mind-blowing three times, and Wimbledon five consecutive times.
His record winning percentage in majors is a no less impressive 89.8, and he remains the only man to have won six titles at Roland Garros, a record that at this time last year Nadal seemed destined to topple. Until his knee problems began, Nadal seemed a lock to win, oh, 10 titles in Paris - if not more.
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