MoS Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Have at it. Serena Williams - Ric Flair. Excellent from the beginning and amazing longevity. There were others better at their peak, but no one has had the kind of longevity she has enjoyed. Steffi Graf - Toshiaki Kawada, most probably. Not as long a career as Williams, but when she was at her peak, there was no one better, except for Monica Seles, who was threatening to spoil the party before a lunatic stabbed her. Martina Navratilova - Jerry Lawler. Great at singles, great at tags, great on so many levels. Margaret Court - Hmm.... probably Ray Stevens? Not enough footage exists, and competition was easier in her time, but was dominant in a huge way. Suzanne Lenglen/ Helen Wills - Jim Londos. The first superstars, and amazing talents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Serena is like the "smark" view of Cena-- shitty babyface who always wins. And is super-doped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJH Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 At Wimbledon she did the greatest touring NWA title defence against Heather Watson. Just note perfect in every way. Also, the French this year (talking men's now) was the shittiest booking I've ever seen. Even Russo at his worst wouldn't've booked something so terrible. By all means put Novak over Rafa, but in straight sets in the 1/4s, only to then have Wawrinka take the final ("look, the other semi final wasn't a joke!")... urgh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 I think that Wawrinka is Novak's best feud and that it isn't close, though. Federer and Nadal are grossly overexposed as matches and Djokovic-Murray is like Angle-Benoit to me, they're so even that I just don't find myself engaged; Stan's inconsistency makes the Slam matches with Djokovic actually compelling. Cena-Cesaro is just too easy to make as the comparison but it's true. Last year's USO on the men's side ended up with some terrible booking. It needed to be Monfils-Nishikori in the final. Monfils was RED HOT over and Kei is an amazing babyface. Plus, a black Frenchman and a Japanese permanent resident of America? That's beyond leaving money on the table. I like Cilic, but that wasn't a story that needed to be told. You couldn't just escape the Federer match, but to put Monfils on Ashe on a Thursday night (the casual crowd of casual crowds) against Fed was such a hit job. I think that Halep should have gone over Sharapova at the French last year, too. I think that Sharapova's career Slam with only four tournament wins was a perfect way to describe her career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 I don't think Flair was physically dominant enough to be Serena. Serena doesn't really have the showmanship/charisma side to her to be Flair, either. If anything she's the Brock Lesnar of women's tennis if Brock Lesnar had won the world championship multiple times. Likewise, I can't see how Graf was Kawada. In Japanese wrestling terms, Graf was an ace, which would automatically make her Misawa to Seles' Kawada. My favourite women's player in recent times was Henin, who reminds me of Mayumi Ozaki. Both were short in stature, incredibly skilled and prone to flippant behaviour. My favourite player growing up was Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, but I can't think of a good comp for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 At Wimbledon she did the greatest touring NWA title defence against Heather Watson. Just note perfect in every way. Also, the French this year (talking men's now) was the shittiest booking I've ever seen. Even Russo at his worst wouldn't've booked something so terrible. By all means put Novak over Rafa, but in straight sets in the 1/4s, only to then have Wawrinka take the final ("look, the other semi final wasn't a joke!")... urgh. Are you kidding me? Djokovic is nowhere near as beloved as the great babyface champions like Bruno. There was an element of the fanbase that was delighted to see Wawrinka go over. History be damned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yo-Yo's Roomie Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Serena as Cena seems to make sense, given the resistance to her in certain circles as the ace, and GOAT contender. Whereas as the years have gone on, her critics have seemed to warm to her more, and kind of accepted her place in the pantheon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yo-Yo's Roomie Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Hingis is Shawn. Super talented brat, career-ending injury, successful comeback. Sharapova as Windham? Crazy successful really early, could have been an all-time great, but plateaued. Questions of motivation. Mauresmo would be an Eddie Guerrero type. Wonderful to watch, no-one thought would ever win the big one, finally broke through in crowd-pleasing manner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 I'm too big of a Hingis fan to want to accept that, but that's probably right on the nose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Comfort yourself with the knowledge that Shawn was never the best in the world. Hingis at least reached the mountain top. I was thinking about Sampras. Maybe Bob Backlund? Dominant long-term champion who was dismissed as boring and now seems more forgotten than he should be. Although Sampras hasn't flipped out in his retirement years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 First instinct tells me to put Sampras, Agassi, Courier, and Chang as the Four Pillars. Does that make Mal Washington Kikuchi? I have no clue. But Sampras and Backlund is a pretty good pairing. The pre-Vince II era has a reputation for dryness not unlike the serve boom of the '90s, of course. I've always thought that Sampras was a bit of a heel promo, though. He's absolutely the heel against Rafter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted September 5, 2015 Report Share Posted September 5, 2015 Those three set Serena Specials, man. Mattek-Sands had such a hope spot in the last game of the second set, too. And then come the six games of doom bagel at the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted September 5, 2015 Report Share Posted September 5, 2015 That Serena match was Umaga vs Jeff Hardy, where the little guy takes it to him and gets one too many hope spots before Umaga goes "Fuck this!" and just BAM-BAM-BAM-DEAD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donsem43 Posted September 5, 2015 Report Share Posted September 5, 2015 In Canada, Genie Bouchard is basically '97 Bret Hart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted September 9, 2015 Report Share Posted September 9, 2015 Serena-Venus is tennis's HBK-HHH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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