Would Lew Hoad Be Able To Beat Modern Players Like Nadal?
Lew Hoad was so good that the very best spoke of him in whispers to avoid his mojo. But he didn't always win, as you noted; neither does Nadal. Certainly a very good player had a chance to beat him. Questions like this have always wasted tennis fans' time. Was Tilden as good as Laver?, was the question in my dad's mind. It's impossible to reach agreement. But I suspect at their best Hoad and Nadal would have had a fantastic match, and Nadal would have won, but only because his style was pretty much unknown in Hoad's time, and Nadal has had years of intensive training and better equipment. Note that Hoad lasted a very short time and was not particularly inspired by the competition to perform at his best always.
How unusual is it that three tennis greats, Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic play in the same era?
It is most unusual indeed to see, not just great, but three all time greats competing at the same time for supremacy - for more than a decade. And they all are competing for the title of GOAT as well. That is unique.Going back, during the Sampras and Agassi led era they were challenged on and off by very good players such as Jim Courier, Goran Ivanesivic, Marat Safin, Pat Rafter etc and by greats in their twilight years such as John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl and Stefan Edberg. But there was no doubt that Sampras and Agassi held sway in the 90s and none of the greats and the challengers posed a consistently big threat in the long run. Only Sampras has a shoo in on the GOAT debate.The Borg-McEnroe-Connors triumvirate is comparable if a short period of say 4 years ie 1977 to 1981 is considered as McEnroe started his run in ’77 and Borg ended his in early ‘82. But then again neither McEnroe nor Connors make the cut when ‘all time greatest’ discussions come along; though Borg does. So that era falls short as well.Now from expert opinions and available material, the great Australian dominated era of the mid-50s up to the late 60s may have provided a comparable one but for the ban on pros playing on the tour. Frank Sedgman, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad and Roy Emerson would have had to have withstood the mighty challenge of the great Pancho Gonzales. Nevertheless the fact is owing to either the ban on pros factor or otherwise neither the 50s nor 60s had an era that comes anywhere as close to what the question implies. Only Laver and perhaps Gonzales is in the GOAT discussion from that era.How would the era of Don Budge, Jack Kramer, Fred Perry, Ellsworth Vines have been if not for WWII and the pro factor? Who knows? And then there was the era of the Four Musketeers - Cochet, Lacoste, Borotra and Brugnon- and Bill Tilden.But, as it is, there is absolutely no doubt that there has never been an era anywhere near the longevity of the greatest multiple rivalry seen in tennis by out and out GOAT contenders.Best Tennis Players by Decade Since the 1930'sThe Best Men's Tennis Players of the 1960s100 Greatest of All Time - WikipediaList of tennis rivalries - WikipediaP.S. I made some comments based on collection of material I came across relatively recently and from the past. Hope I am not that far off in some conclusions especially in relation to the pre-Open era.
What is "grand slam" in Tennis? Why are there only 4 grand slam events? Who invented Tennis? Who won it 1st?
I don't know if any one particular person claims to be the inventor. "Lawn Tennis" and "Real Tennis" was played in early Europe (amongst the elite class) and moved to England who became its foster parent. The Grand Slams are the four major tournaments: Australia, US, Brittish and French. I am not sure who was the first male although Lew Hoad comes to mind, but certainly Rod Laver--as for the ladies Maureen Connolly, I believe was the first, then Court and Graf, with Navratilova awarded it byt the ITF.