Today, Roger Federer broke the 8000 ranking points barrier. It's not a barrier that has really concerned anyone before because Federer is the only man to have broken 7000 points as well! Tennis28.com has recalculated Sampras's performances with the current system in mind and his maximum score was around 6750 (which he only maintained for a month or so - see http://www.tennis28.com/charts/No1_Players.GIF)

To my mind, this is a truly extraordinary statistic and I was wondering if anyone can suggest a similar milestone achieved by anyone in another sport? I'm struggling ...

Actually, Fed was struggling a bit himself today.....

Sorry, Nick! By this time, though, one ceases to be surprised at any record that Fed breaks. He is truly phenomenal.

(Try the Fed-worshipping thread - and see what is being planned for the beeb before it shuts down. The 8000 points is grist to our mill :ok:)

Its not bad for a transitional no. 1 ! :lol:2
This board is turning into a Fed worshippers paradise... B)2 :ok:

Perhaps Don Bradman in 1930 would be an equivalent (apologies to non-cricket following members of the board!)

The Don had a similar phenomenal eye for the ball..

And I recall reading that there was a big news headline in England that 'Bradman is Out!' when he was finally dismissed accumulating one of his huge innings

Bradman had a huge appetite for runs and could bat all day. Many of his records are unlikely to be beaten, including that average of 99.94!

Roger also shares the Don's competitive instinct and natural talent.. and both also share the ability to make their opponents look second-rate at times..

Any other comparisons to other sportsfolk? How about Ed Moses' unbeaten run in the 400m hurdles..? Am struggling a bit too tbh..

In about 1985, Eric Bristow held pretty much all the major darts titles at the same time!!! For all I know, Phil Taylor may have done the same. But of course, there are far fewer darts events, smaller fields, and not quite the same media pressures ...

No, not quite!

Jahangir Khan ?

The crafty cockney! :D

It's a bit difficult to compare different sports... also, am trying to think of someone who was breaking records in their sport left right and centre..

And Jahangir Khan was pretty dominant in squash wasn't he.. but I don't know to what extent or whether it has been superseded since...

hmm.. one to ponder further, methinks.. :coffee:

The Incredible Khans of Squash: Part III Jahangir

by Martin Bronstein. Copyright August 2000

PART THREE Jahangir's Reign
'Jahngir's World Open victory over Geoff Hunt in 1981 was the start of the greatest unbeaten streak not only in squash but in sport. For five years and over 500 matches Jahangir repelled every other squash player.

His superiority was such that until one fateful day in Toulouse in 1986, Jahangir Khan had barely lost a game. Opponents were grateful for each point they managed to take off this phenomenal player. Anyone taking a game had something to boast about.

Jahangir's key to success was no secret; he was simply the fittest man in the game and would simply wear his opponents out. He could hit winners when he wanted to, but the strategy that was drummed into him by Rhamat was that going for winners could bring errors, the ultimate sin of the attritional game. It was a negative approach to the game - give your opponent nothing, let him make mistakes. Jahangir simply kept cracking the ball into the back corners and could keep up that furious pace until his opponents were reduced to a pool of sweat on the wooden floor.

Many players could be a hero for one game, but around the 40 minute mark of the match there would be a noticeable diminution of energy accompanied by an urgent desire for the game - and the torture - to end as quickly as possible. The scoreline 9-7, 9-1, 9-0, became a Jahangir trademark. '

thanks for that Al! :ok:

:yikes: So Jahangir was the squash equivalent of a tennis baseliner?

Phenomenal record. I do think that squash makes for an iffy spectator sport, and watching Jahangir sounds a bit, erm, monotonous..?

Now that you mention it , its not much of a spectator sport ! :)
Bowls is more interesting.

I suppose Steffi Graf in 1988 would have scored even more points (did she lose at all that year?) than our Rog.

By the way, a Centre Court exclusive, years ago I shared a flat with a very nice guy who was a distant relative of Jahangir Khan. And he told me that Jahangir was actually three years older than he claimed (for reasons that had to do with passports from what I remember...)! I bet that nugget of information has shaken you to your collective core!!

Well, Nick, you have this capacity to slip in a real nugget of information into your CC postings every now and again! roflmao

There is a rumour that when Steffi was really dominating, players that lasted more than a specified time frame with her on court got a round of applause in the locker room.. can't remember how long that time scale was, nor can I remember where I read this.. :wacko:

You learn something new everyday on CC! B)

Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf had lots of winning streaks very good win/loss records for various seasons - even better than Feds :o

In their dominance as number ones and stay at number one they are definitely very comparable :)

Steffi holds the recrod for consecutive weeks at number one with 186, it will be interesting to see if Fed can break it...

Steffi actually lost 3 times in 1988 but only lost two matches in 1987 and two in 1989.

She lost her number one ranking for a while due to loss of form and certain Monica Seles.

I can see loss of form being the only reason Roger will lose his number one spot.

I mean seriously, can he keep playing this well forever?

Hows about Tiger Woods, Stephen Hendry, or Michael Schumaker, Maria Mutola and definately Sergie Bubka!!!

Torville and Dean roflmao

03-04 arsenal premiership season roflmao roflmao roflmao roflmao roflmao

Steve Redgrave, Jonathan Edwards, Seb Coe (fabulous runner to watch, so elegant)

You'll see that though I'm an ex-pat I'm still a Brit at heart roflmao

I used to follow crickets, but only so I could catch them to use as fish bait.

:doh: roflmao

Great athletes but Jonathan Edwards had a slightly odd career. After that amazing World Championship in 1995, he didn't win a major title until the 2000 Olympics and disappointed in Atlanta and at the 1997 and 1999 World Championships. He did win some European titles and the Worlds in 2001, so it was a fine career but not comparable to Federer's dominance. Coe was the finest 800 metre runner ever and yet did not win a major 800 title until the 1986 Europeans ... again, not comparable with Federer. Steve Ovett had a phenomenal three years from 1977 to 1980 when he didn't lose over a mile of 1500 metres, but then again, he didn't race Coe when he emerged as a true middle distance force.

Schumacher had some astonishing years but then again, there was no way someone driving an Arrows or Minardi was ever going to beat him. In Federer's case, even player's outside the top 500 have the potential to give him a match (as we saw in Tokyo.)

If he wins the WCT, then this season surely has to go down as one of the great achievements in sport, along with Armstrong's 7 consecutive Tour de France victories and Borg's Wimbledon winning streak.

It's OK, Nick, I knew that Edwards and Coe can't compare with Fed, but I always loved watching them both. What about Steve Redgrave, though? Wasn't it Olympic Gold in five successive years?

yeah but was the field really as competetive for Steffi? nope!

It's far harder to do that in men's tennis than women's!

Well the field was much harder for Steffi than it was for Fed now!

Graf had to contend with Sanchez-Vicario, Martinez, Novotna, Pierce, Hingis. You can hardly say Fed has as many rivals nowadays, he's only really got 3 at their best- Safin, Nadal, Nalbandian.

I agree dl!

In terms of people for her to face Steffi had bigger "names." Although back in the late 80's there wasn't as much depth in the top 100 so you did basically get a walkover more often than not in the first couple of rounds of a slam, which you don't really now with the women, and certainly not with the men. I mean someone like Gasquet in the opening round :yikes: , now that is really hard for Fed. I won't get into the whole weak era debate as I've stated I think it's pointless. But if anything Steffi was definitely pushed more at the top than Fed is now. Steffi was just so blindingly good in her prime she made even Martina Navratilova look slightly average, not entirely dissimilar to Fed really. Also Steffi had someone who was themself a contender for GOAT in Monica Seles, Federer has no equal in that sense, just rivals.

The number of points a player has earned at the end of the year is a nice statistic, but it is not important. Roger Federer is unlike previous world number ones, in that he puts all his efforts into every single tournament. This is fine whilst he is still young and full of energy, but eventually the wear and tear of the tour will take its toll. This is why Pete Sampras decided to restrict his best tennis for the top-tier tournaments. He did not bother accumulating Masters Series points or winning small home town tournaments like Basel, he simply played at his best where it really mattered to prolong his winning ways. If Federer can continue to win slams every year, whilst also risking burn out, then it is a good strategy. However, it is highly likely that such a busy schedule will eventually catch up with him, much to his detriment.

That is a good point Dr, the same thoughts had crossed my mind, that being said Federer has a very economical game which will age well. Also Im not sure it's fair to say that he is the only world number who focuses A LOT on every single tournament, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl, were also big "workhorses" in this respect. I agree though that people like Borg and Sampras did tend to save their best stuff for the slams :ok:

One things that makes Federer stands out for me is that he plays his best stuff nearly all the time, rather than just in the slams, which is quite phenomenal really, and slightly bizarre.

Nice point Doctor, he will I guess eventually have to start thinking like that but he is only mid-twenties now, a good two or three years left you'd like to hope before he starts restricting himself. Although judging by current injury rates, he must be due one shortly. Hope I am not tempting fate there.

He is one hell of a fit guy though, all the tennis he does play and he is hardly ever injured, whereas some guys seem to get an injury every other day.

I didn't really follow tennis during the Sampras era, so I can't know for definite whether your impression is correct, but it makes sense to me.

Sometimes people forget one thing about Sampras, which makes his achievements all the more astounding: he suffered from the inherited disease Thalassemia minor. This makes it likely that it was even more important for him to pace himself than for other players. I suppose his tournament results do something to support your claim.

That being said, I think that Federer is actually extremely good at pacing himself already. He doesn't have to bring his full intensity to every match, and he frequently doesn't, particularly in early rounds (but he still brings enough to win). I also definitely feel that he always brings something extra-special for the slams. And usually he does seem to know when he has to stop because it is getting too much (cf Bercy).

Add to that the fact that his play seems to be quite economical, and you have an explanation for the kind of season he was able to play this year. You are right that eventually he will not be able to play such a season, say when he gets to the age of 28 or so. But I think he will be able to pace himself quite well even then, and bring out some great tennis for the slams.

I don't want to tempt fate but barring major injury, I would expect him to be a regular contender at the slams at least up to and including 2010. I'll be surprised if he doesn't win at least 8 more slams (:yikes:). But in tennis, anything can happen, so let's just wait and enjoy the ride while it lasts ...