Here is a list of players chosen amongst the current top 100. Obviously, all the 100 players are great players but we know some are more important to us than others. Either because we like them...or maybe because we don't but they don't leave us indifferent. We feel they bring something to the game and can create upsets on their day or maybe we like it when they lose (Pebs/Hewitt being a good example ;)) . I have selected below those players I feel are more charismatic or simply more important to me than others like Santiago Ventura, Volandri or Fish who though they might be higher ranked than some in my selection, leaves me cold whether they win or lose and in any case I know won’t do much in big events…unless exception.

To make this easy to the eye….we have to choose 1 out of 4 ..so 25 players.

Faites vos jeux. Here is my choice.

Federer, Roger (SUI)
Nadal, Rafael (ESP)
Djokovic, Novak (SRB)
Davydenko, Nikolay (RUS)
Nalbandian, David (ARG)
Gasquet, Richard (FRA)
Blake, James (USA)
Berdych, Tomas (CZE)
Murray, Andy (GBR)
Youzhny, Mikhail (RUS)
Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA)
Baghdatis, Marcos (CYP)
Karlovic, Ivo (CRO)
Ljubicic, Ivan (CRO)
Kohlschreiber, Philipp (GER)
Stepanek, Radek (CZE)
Lopez, Feliciano (ESP)
Wawrinka, Stanislas (SUI)
Soderling, Robin (SWE)
Monfils, Gael (FRA)
Del Potro, Juan Martin (ARG)
Ancic, Mario (CRO)
Gulbis, Ernests (LAT)
Young, Donald (USA)
Safin, Marat (RUS)

so this is about kind of which players we care about, whether they win or lose. umm....is it going to be awfully shallow of me to pick the best looking ones??? :unsure:

Interesting Idea. Took me a while and I kept putting people in and taking them out. I really left out some players I'd rather not, but had to get it down to 25.

Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic
Nikolay Davydenko
Andy Roddick
David Nalbandian
James Blake
Andy Murray
Mikhail Youzhny
Guillermo Canas
Jo Wilfried Tsonga
Marcos Baghdatis
Carlos Moya
Ivo Karlovic
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Ivan Ljubicic
Lleyton Hewitt
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Tommy Haas
Robin Soderling
Jonas Bjorkman
Mario Ancic
Ernests Gulbis
Marat Safin
John Isner
Boris Becker :whistle: (ok so that's 26)

I like your list Gav. Haas for instance woudl have made my list but him being injured and reaching his career end makes his a less relevant force nowadays. Ferrero in my view hasn't done anything that can distinguish him from the other players as I certainly don't believe he has the potential to create upsets but I might be wrong. And Hewitt almost made my list for the sanme reasons as it would in Pebs' except that he loses too easily nowadays.

:bow: Federer, Roger (SUI) BY FAR!!!!! :bow:

Djokovic, Novak (SRB) Second good reason: B)

Nadal, Rafael (ESP) Only because of clay if not he will be down
Davydenko, Nikolay (RUS)
Nalbandian, David (ARG) :P

Gasquet, Richard (FRA)-But only till wimbledon this year: if he is doing nothing there this year, you are out man!! just a waste of talent!
Berdych, Tomas (CZE)- ditto for Gasquet but till the USO!!

Youzhny, Mikhail (RUS)
Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA)
Baghdatis, Marcos (CYP)
Karlovic, Ivo (CRO)
Murray, Andy (GBR)
Wawrinka, Stanislas (SUI)
Soderling, Robin (SWE) :) bad boy
Marat Safin(RUS)
Youzhny, Mikhail (RUS)
Del Potro, Juan Martin (ARG)
Ancic, Mario (CRO)
Gulbis, Ernests (LAT)
Blake, James (USA)
Guillermo Canas (ARG)
Carlos Moya (ESP)
Tommy Haas (GER)
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)
Stepanek, Radek (CZE) / Ljubicic, Ivan (CRO)

Safin
Youzhny
Tipsarevic
Tursunov
Nadal

Ok, that's the shallow bit out of the way ;)

Federer
Djokovic
Murray
Tsonga
Nalbandian
Kohlschreiber
Baghdatis
Ferrer (ok,. that's me being slightly shallow too :blush: )
Karlovic
Ancic
Bjorkman
Lopez
Wawrinka (the "other" Swiss)
Gasquet (but only when he's having a good day!!!)

A couple of newbies:
Cilic
Gulbis (The future of tennis!!! ;) )

Roddick (really don't like him.......)
Soderling (nor him)
Hewitt
Ljubicic (truly a dull dull man..... :P )

This is what I thought. The same names are often listed. Early days though. Anyone going for Santiago Ventura (66) or even Potito Starace (34)? I don't think I had ever heard of Ventura in fact.

Yeah those are two names out of about five or so that I have to say I have never heard of, which I guess is pretty shabby of me as I am an ATP Tennis fan ahead of the WTA.

TV the reasons you quoted for Gasquet and Berdych are pretty much the reasons I left them out. I feel if Gasquet can find some kind of "warrior" mentality deep inside himself he may well prove me wrong. If he could add that kind of mentality to his talent I feel he would start reaching slam finals and even win a few.

but if we're talking about who is "relevant" then surely gasquet counts? he's one of those guys who I so desperately want to win, but I end up wanting to beat him over the head with a tennis racquet 'cos he ends up losing to the most unlikely of people. So, he certainly elicits a reaction from me whether he wins or loses :blush:

But I've never warmed to Gasquet because of the reasons I have put and I don't find him charasmatic. I'm indifferent to him and I don't really care if he wins or loses. If I saw a warrior in him I may warm to him more. I thought this list is who "we" personally think is relevant and have warmed to because of that?

EDIT: Same goes for Berdych.

Even though I know Gasquet is a bit of a loser, I still get disappointed everytime he loses. And I think, I'll never give up on him despite knowing I can't expect much. This is why he makes my list. It's the bad taste he leaves me that saves him.....more than his raw talent.

yeah, sorry - i wasn't demanding that you should add him to your list :P simply saying that for me , the reasons TV stated were the reasons I put him in - ever since Wimby last year i've been willing him to do well and he never does. Although perhaps i didn't quite state that clearly enough :blush: I never warmed to Berdych though, so don't really care about him......

Fair enough ;) For me I am not happy or upset if Gasquet or Berdych win anything. I recognise their talent and I hope for the sake of competition within the ATP they both step up and win things, but at the moment I am indifferent to them both.

I actually never really warmed to Gasquet until he beat Roddick at Wimby - although that could have a lot to do with my dislike of Roddick :whistle: It'll be interesting to see how many people put players they don't like on their lists :unsure:

Roger Federer
Marcos Baghdatis
Marat Safin
Fernando Gonzalez
Andy Murray
Richard Gasquet
Nicolas Almagro
Tommy Haas
James Blake
Mikael Youzhny
Novak Djokovic
Jo Tsonga
Ivan lubo
Philip Kolschreiber
Stanislas Wawrinka
Feliciano Lopez

If I was to put down more names to the list,I would be making up the numbers.
The other thing is that certain players like Roddick or Nadal,would make me watch them if they met with other high profile names simply because of the clash in styles.

I LIKE the idea tenez, very good :bow:

I will have a look, I will be looking at players that I think are important right adn that I enjoy winning ro losing, or just for creatign godo matches if I've interpreted right. I won't be including Paolo de la Rubbisha :lol:

Here'smy faves, very relevant to me


Robredo, Tommy (ESP)
Fognini, Fabio (ITA)
Korolev, Evgeny (RUS)
Monfils, Gael (FRA)
Lapentti, Nicolas (ECU)
Horna, Luis (PER)
Serra, Florent (FRA)
Canas, Guillermo (ARG)
Sela, Dudi (ISR)
Hernandez, Oscar (ESP)
Cuevas, Pablo (URU)
Ventura, Santiago (ESP)
Roitman, Sergio (ARG)
Young, Donald (USA)
Berlocq, Carlos (ARG)
Falla, Alejandro (COL)
Garcia-Lopez, Guillermo (ESP)
Seppi, Andreas (ITA)
Montanes, Albert (ESP)
Acasuso, Jose (ARG)
Ascione, Thierry (FRA)
Monaco, Juan (ARG)
Eschauer, Werner (AUT)
Daniel, Marcos (BRA)
Starace, Potito (ITA)

Only kidding! :lol:

Federer
Nadal
Djokovic
Nalbandian
Gasquet
Roddick
Murray
Youzhny
Tsonga
Baghdatis
Karlovic
Hewitt
Kohlschreiber
Tipsy
Lopez
Bjorkman
Soderling
Mahut
Ancic
Ferrer
Isner
Safin
Davydenko
Gonzalez
Lee

I like you rlist :ok: I'm havign trouble deciding on a few. Is that Ht Lee, becuase actually he is quite a fighter and a wildcard type. He si a bit like Chang and Hewiit. I always egg him on when he plays :D

Yeah HT Lee . :)
Its an interesting idea this thread, because its not about your favourite players but the most relevant , but I appreciate nearly all on my list if not exactly a fan .Hewitt would be the exception :angry: :P

Relevant, emmm
For me
Federer
Djokovic
Nadal
Nalbandian
Tsonga
Murray
Gasquet
Would love to say Safin, but it would be a lie.

well as far as players that concern me are concerned I think anyone who makes it to the 2nd week of the slams. I mean take Jo-wilfried tsonga for instance. Had Murray beaten him in the first round he would have remained as obscure as the other regular players who don't make it past rounds one and two.But once he started beating the top players he really got me taking a serious note of him and I'm waiting for his appearance in the next tournament too. Anyways guys like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic always get past easy opponents and we always see them in the later stages of any tournament(not withstanding occasional slips where they may lose in earlier rounds) So the top players are probably the only ones I'm concerned about because it is winning alone that matters isn't it?

Federer
Nadal
Djokovic
Nalbandian
Safin
Roddick
Berdych
Murray-Despite my dislike of him :angry:
Youzhny
Baggy Daddy
Hewitt
Stephanek
Ferrero
Tipsy
Ancic
Young
Blake
Wawrinka

This is about it for me.The rest are just non-issues that provide entertainment on the odd occassion but I dont really do the odd occasion.

Cheers SB. Darky is actually at the origin of this thread when he said in an earlier threat that the 1st day matches of IW were a non-event. We are all strugling to find 25 players we care one way or another but it's a shame cause they are all making the game what it is today.

Hi BT - Don't you have some you like to see lose? even versus an unknown?

Actually I haven't struggled that much, I have saved a list and will post it later. But it is hard to state to what degree you do care or find them relevant, and some that we might find releveatn now may seem irrelevant by th eend of the year.

Federer, Roger (SUI)
Nadal, Rafael (ESP)
Djokovic, Novak (SRB)
Roddick, Andy (USA)
Nalbandian, David (ARG)
Gasquet, Richard (FRA)
Blake, James (USA)
Murray, Andy (GBR)
Youzhny, Mikhail (RUS)
Canas, Guillermo (ARG)
Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA)
Baghdatis, Marcos (CYP)
Moya, Carlos (ESP)
Hewitt, Lleyton (AUS)
Simon, Gilles (FRA)
Tursunov, Dmitry (RUS)
Llodra, Michael (FRA)
Tipsarevic, Janko (SRB)
Mahut, Nicolas (FRA)
Cilic, Marin (CRO)
Grosjean, Sebastien (FRA)
Monfils, Gael (FRA)
Del Potro, Juan Martin (ARG)
Ancic, Mario (CRO)
Safin, Marat (RUS)

* I dont watch the ones in red for noble reasons :D
there is no order of preference here - just players I tend to watch out for cos I like to see them do well... not all of them deliver

I was going to put down Mahut,Mathieu,and Grosjean.

Trouble is either they are not covered enough or because they are not huge stars,these sorts of players don't get on show courts and lose in earlier rounds,hence it's hard to find a player relevant if I don't see him enough.
Typically in Grosjean's case,his best years are behind him as with Safin who is in my list.
Tennis is cruel because of it's shortness of career,and therefore it's always in transition,so we continually change our preferences depending on who's at the top end.

Your initial list had me re-reading and re-reading SB! :D

Ok, for me I've gone for my humble views on skill/potential...

Fed - enough said
Nadal - ditto
Djokovic - ditto
Davydenko - solidly there, despite my serious misgivings about his weaponry.
Roddick - in this high position solely due to having won a Slam and his determination getting him through, despite a skills defecit
Murray - much as I dislike him, he's got potential...and more than ARod/Donkey
Nalbandian - we know how well he can play, I just don't like him. Also, he's yet to really prove himself consistently
Baghdatis - solidly there
Ferrer - solidly there, however sleep inducing it can be
Ferrero - ditto, showed against Nalby in AO that he has the tools to beat top players
Youzhny - same sort of thing, solid, will win tour events - doubtful Slam or Masters
Gasquet - for his backhand, would be higher if he didn't cause me to lose my temper so frequently
Karlovic - for that serve
Tsonga - potential. A bit of a 'swinger' a la Safin (in tennis terms!) so this might cause problems

I though it might! :lol:

:unsure: did we have to give reasons? apart from my red guys I didnt really.. though it was a mix of nuff said, oldies who I got to know and who impressed me last year, newbies who did the same and those I just fancy the pants off!

this is my favourite reason so far though - I have to nick it!

Ok, after much deliberation:

Federer
Nadal
Djokovic
Davydenko
Ferrer
Roddick
Nalbandian
Gasquet
Blake
Berdych
Murray
Canas
Tsonga
Baghdatis
Karlovic
Hewitt
Kohlschreiber
Wawrinka
Haas
Soderling
Santoro
Bjorkman
T Johansson
Youzhny
Safin


There are plenty of others who almost made my list; I might have some misgivings about leaving out Gonzo, while including e.g. Haas, but in the end I guess it comes down to some personal preference, and Gonzo hasn't had the same consistency that Tommy had over the years. Other people I would have liked to include are Ferrero, Moya and Kiefer, maybe Tursunov / Stepanek / Monfils, and also O. Rochus (because he manages to play as well as he does with those short legs! :o ) There are probably other guys as well, but this'll have to do!

No we didn't, I just have a serious inability to stop waffling!! I've also realised I've left off the players I just like for the sake of it - so I'd need to think about:

Moya
Grosjean
Safin

all going on the list.

:D

Here is the result of our CC survey . No surprise as any match between those players is bound to be of interest. I am just surprised to see Davydenko so low down the list as I think he provides a good/tough challenge for all players on any surface. So whether He is playing our preferred players or those we want to lose, he is certainly going to make the match interesting.

Federer 11 (out of 11 votes)
Djokovic 11
Murray 11
Nadal 10
Nalbandian 10
Tsonga 10
Baghdatis 10
Youzhny 10
Safin 10
Gasquet 9
Ferrer 8
Roddick 7
Blake 7
Karlovic 7
Ancic 7
Davydenko 6
Hewitt 6
Wawrinka 6
Soderling 6
Kohls'riber 5
Berdych 4
Canas 4
Haas 4
Bjorkman 4
Tipsarevic 4
Lopez 4
Moya 4
Gulbis 4
Del Potro 3
Mahut 2
Stepanek 2
Isner 2
Santoro 1
Johanson 1

Hey Tenez, is it still ok if I put some up later? I forgot!

Btw I am sure Al picked HTLee and he isn't there is he?

Of course SB, we want your "real" list as well.


Regarding Lee, it's correct that I did not put all those who made the lists as It required too much work but I'll add him up, or feel free to do so.

What do you mean 'real' list? Didn't you beleive me? :lol:

Sorry I wasn't criticising your list, I imagine it took a lot of work. Tthanks :)
But why isn't Paolo de La Rubbisha there? :lol:

Good point SB. We should create an ATP live scoring thread next time Sergo Roitman plays Werber Eschauer! :P

roflmao