Tennis players who never fulfilled their potential

amolbhatia50k

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I only really got into tennis when Sampras was a force waining and lurking for that one last glimse of glory (which of course he finally did get). In this time IMO Safin would be the biggest waste in tennis. When he burst on the scene he looked like he was tramendously gifted and had such a complete game. Sadly, he lacked a lot mentally and wasted his immense talent.

Feel free to add your own ones.
 
Henman. He had what, 6 Grand Slam Semi Final appearances? Law of averages says he should have won at least one of them.
 
kietotheworld said:
Henman. He had what, 6 Grand Slam Semi Final appearances? Law of averages says he should have won at least one of them.
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True but the thing was he always seemed to be beaten by players who were genuinely better than him and he seemed to ride the crowd to reach that stage. Safin makes it a habit to lose to players not nearly as talented as him.
 
Aggasi could have won many more Grand Slams
 
amolbhatia100 said:
True but the thing was he always seemed to be beaten by players who were genuinely better than him and he seemed to ride the crowd to reach that stage. Safin makes it a habit to lose to players not nearly as talented as him.
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You think Ivanisevic was better?
 
kietotheworld said:
You think Ivanisevic was better?
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Well, atleast he had it in him to reach multiple finals. Plus when his serve was on fire, he was almost unplayable. Henman i don't think ever seemed unplayable. But i'll be honest i started watching tennis around then so i can't comment on them as players too well. Only the part of their careers i saw.

Ivanisevic was involved in one of my favourite matches in tennis too. That final against Rafter. :drool:
 
Henman did pretty good, for an absolutely shit player.

Its touching that he retired for his kids...

.. who beat him in straight sets.


:these jokes are courtesy of MTW.
 
Rafter probably should have more considering how talented he was
 
Anna Kournikova is one that comes to mind who has not been mentioned. Then again, I am not exactly sure how talented she was, or what reaching her ‘potential’ would have meant in the first place. She was kind of shit. Pretty good to look at though, wasn’t she? Which is what really matters, of course.
 
KeyserSoze said:
Anna Kournikova is one that comes to mind who has not been mentioned. Then again, I am not exactly sure how talented she was, or what reaching her ‘potential’ would have meant in the first place. She was kind of shit. Pretty good to look at though, wasn’t she? Which is what really matters, of course.
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I believe she exceeded her potential.

The Scud on the other hand, was a waste of talent. Then again, he wasted his talent banging stunning women, so I can't be too critical.
 
never been the biggest tennis fan but always though Henmans skill was a match for anybody but his game lacked power and maybe bottle.
 
Name Changed said:
Hingis could have won a hell of a lot more.
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No she couldn't have. During her time uber women who look like men and are almost as strong as men started flooding tennis.

Hingis was very talented but not powerful enough for modern tennis.
 
Henman was a serve/volley player in an era that didn't particularly suit it

He also unquestionably lacked bottle. Remember he dumped 3 Queens Club finals too. To get to the latter stages that consistantly, and hit the same wall over and over, I don't think you can question he had the talent to win, more his mental capacity
 
Brad said:
Henman was a serve/volley player in an era that didn't particularly suit it

He also unquestionably lacked bottle. Remember he dumped 3 Queens Club finals too. To get to the latter stages that consistantly, and hit the same wall over and over, I don't think you can question he had the talent to win, more his mental capacity
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Well Sampras proved otherwise!

Henman pretty much reached his level for me, he was never world no 1 material. Regarding Wimbledon/Queens he always ran into the best at that time, usually Sampras and Hewitt, who he just couldn't get the better of.

The real regret of his career will be the match against Goran though.
 
Skelter said:
Well Sampras proved otherwise!

Henman pretty much reached his level for me, he was never world no 1 material. Regarding Wimbledon/Queens he always ran into the best at that time, usually Sampras and Hewitt, who he just couldn't get the better of.

The real regret of his career will be the match against Goran though.
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Ah but Sampras was something special, a winner. Plus he had a far better serve on him

Everything's hard courts these days, and even the grass plays more like it
 
Well of course! But he, along with many others, enjoyed great success with the serve and volley in Tim's prime around 10 years ago.

Now, I agree it's becoming something of a extinct art form. The grass always brings some out though.
 
Brad said:
Henman was a serve/volley player in an era that didn't particularly suit it

He also unquestionably lacked bottle. Remember he dumped 3 Queens Club finals too. To get to the latter stages that consistantly, and hit the same wall over and over, I don't think you can question he had the talent to win, more his mental capacity
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Very good analysis Brad, he did lack the bottle so there is little doubt that if unless he played in a weak era before the late 80s then he probably wouldnt have won anything. A lot of good players can serve and volley recently, Sampras and Federer for example, but there was a lot more to their game than that.
 
KeyserSoze said:
Anna Kournikova is one that comes to mind who has not been mentioned. Then again, I am not exactly sure how talented she was, or what reaching her ‘potential’ would have meant in the first place. She was kind of shit. Pretty good to look at though, wasn’t she? Which is what really matters, of course.
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Well she was a junior number 1, so there was 'talent'.

Then going to not win a single career title completely takes the piss out of being a top ranked tennis player.
 
Anna Kournikova could have won something in her career had she not been blinded by her own celebrity. She was fecking hot, possibly the hottest tennis player I'd ever seen but that didnt last long then she became a decent looking celebrity. It works better when you are a star athlete and good looking just ask Beckham and Sharapova(who imo doesnt have a patch on Kournikova)
 
Safin and Moya I agree with.

Also have thought Nalbandian could do better, but maybe that`s just because I like him.
 
Carlos Moya was overrated great clay player though, but I dont think he had much more in him than that, I guess he could have won two or so Frenchies but he didnt
 
amolbhatia100 said:
Ivanisevic was involved in one of my favourite matches in tennis too. That final against Rafter. :drool:
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That was arguably the best match I have ever seen. The last Wimbledon final came close but not close enough.
 
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