A sizable chunk of posts on this board are directed to the subject of GOAT in various sports. And a sizable chunk of that sizable chunk would, blissfully, have never been written if only the person initiating the GOAT discussion had clarified the question to be answered. In other words, what in the hell does GOAT even mean? Or, what do you want it to mean?

1. Who played the game at the very highest level that it's ever been played? Or,

2. Who had the most accomplished career?

Most of the GOAT talks around here center on point #2, and the result of that is posts that resemble the following:

"Let's just wait until it's all said and done and then we can talk about who the GOAT"

Yeah, great idea, dipshit. You know what else is a great idea? You never reproducing. You want an even better idea? Take the easy way out. There's no shame in it.

Anyway, that was a long way of saying that I find question #1 far more interesting and amenable to conversations that don't include the above-quoted anonymous but ubiquitous words of anti-wisdom. And so I'm starting this thread to discuss tennis players with question #1 as our guide.

Check out this interview between Mats Wilander and Pete Sampras from 2011: And yes I realize that this was when Djokovic was at the absolute peak of his powers, but the analysis from Sampras and Wilander is about his game, not merely his recent results, and so it still applies:

LINK /

quote:
Mats Wilander: World Number 1 Novak Djokovic. For me if there was a world record in tennis [for playing at the highest level ever], you might hold it because you played some matches where you were unbeatable because you serve so well and hit your forehand big and obviously you close in so well. But Novak Djokovic, to me, has played some tennis in the lat four or five months that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.

Pete Sampras: He’s lost one match in eight months. It’s incredible. Great mover. Mentally he’s turned the corner. He’s so much more positive. To win two majors this year and to lose only one match, it’s one of the best achievements in all of sports not just tennis. It’s incredible.

Mats Wilander: I mean, he has something in common with you to me, which is I hate to play you. Everybody hates to play you. They love to play you because you’re a great player. But your style…you knew what was coming and you’re just hoping you’re not playing at your best because you know you”re in trouble.

With Federer, there’s a certain way to force unforced errors. With Nadal, you take the ball early and try to drill it into his forehand. But Djokovic….he just neutralizes and absorbs power.

Pete Sampras: There are no holes in his game.

Mats Wilander: how do you approach a match like that? Do you just close your eyes and go for wiinners?

Pete Sampras: Well I think you have to get to this net right here, and chip and charge. And his second serve, he can miss that sometimes if you can get that in his head. My service games I would serve and volley on both serves and try to get into the net and try to be aggreessive.

These long rallies that he gets into, he’s such a good mvoer. and especially off his backhand side he just sort of flicks and his defensive game is incredible. he’s the best mover out there, his forehand is big. I mean, he has no holes in his game.

You felt like Novak a few years ago he would go up and down a little bit with his emotions. Now he’s much more positive and he hits a bad shot and he recovers quickly. You can see it.

And ooooph, I mean, it’s a tough matchup. Even as good as I thought I was in my day…I mean, "how would I beat this guy?" And it’s not easy.

This post was edited on 7/7/14 at 1:21 am