Study names Connors as greatest, Fed seventh

Thu, 03 Mar 16:38:00 2011

A scientific study has defined Jimmy Connors as the greatest tennis player of all time - with Roger Federer only seventh.

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A scientist from Northwestern University in Illinois has claimed to have solved the debate over who is the best male player of all time.

The disappointing news for disciples of Federer and Rafael Nadal, however, is that Filippo Radicchi's painstaking number-crunching of 133,261 matches played since 1968 suggests that American Jimmy Connors is the greatest of them all.

Federer, who since 2003 has claimed a record 16 Grand Slam titles, comes in at number seven and Spain's Nadal, the current world number one and nine-times major winner, lurks down at number 24, below the likes of Eddie Dibbs and Tom Okker.

Connors, a pugnacious left-hander who was No. 1 in the ATP rankings for 160 consecutive weeks from 1974-77 and won a record 109 titles including eight Slams, topped the list ahead of his former rivals Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe.

Pete Sampras, whose record of 14 Grand Slam titles was eclipsed by Federer, is one place below the Swiss at eight while Swedish great Bjorn Borg only just scrapes into the top 10.

Collecting ATP data from the past 43 years, Radicchi believes his system using a "diffusion algorithm" outperforms other methods used to try and end the "greatest of all time" or GOAT debate that splits tennis fans.

"We performed a complete analysis by determining the best players on specific surfaces as well as the best ones in each of the years covered by the data set," Radicchi said.

"In this particular ranking system, it's more important to win a single match against a very good player than many matches against not-so-good players."

Explaining Connors's position as the best player, Radicchi said his system rewarded the American's longevity which enabled him to continue playing until well into his 40s.

"Among all top players in the history of tennis, Jimmy Connors has been undoubtedly the one with the longest and most regular trend, being in the top 10 of the ATP year-end ranking for 16 consecutive years," Radicchi said.

While Nadal has dominated on clay for the past six years, Argentina's Guillermo Vilas is ranked as the best of all time on the surface, according to the study, while Connors, surprisingly, tops the grasscourt list with Federer third.

American Andre Agassi is ranked the greatest player on hard courts, with Federer down in fifth behind Connors, Lendl and Pete Sampras.

For those crying foul about the absence of Rod Laver, the last player to win the calendar Grand Slam, the Australian was identified as the best between 1968-71, when the ATP rankings system was not yet established.

Radicchi's top 30:

1. Jimmy Connors

2. Ivan Lendl

3. John McEnroe

4. Guillermo Vilas

5. Andre Agassi

6. Stefan Edberg

7. Roger Federer

8. Pete Sampras

9. Ilie Nastase

10. Bjorn Borg

11. Boris Becker

12. Arthur Ashe

13. Brian Gottfried

14. Stan Smith

15. Manuel Orantes

16. Michael Chang

17. Roscoe Tanner

18. Eddie Dibbs

19. Harold Solomon

20. Tom Okker

21. Mats Wilander

22. Goran Ivanisevic

23. Vitas Gerulaitis

24. Rafael Nadal

25. Raul Ramirez

26. John Newcombe

27. Ken Rosewall

28. Yevgeny Kafelnikov

29. Andy Roddick

30. Thomas Muster

Reuters

Comment 230 - 249 of 249

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  1. Murray means is forth on the list, higher than Connors!

    From IONEL, on Fri 23 Dec 4:49

  2. Ludicrous - Federer and Sampras in that order and then­ don't care who you put behind them but Fed would­
    have beaten Connors without any shadow of a doubt. ­ Think Americans boost their own and cannot bear
    to­ think anybody else could be better. As for being a­ gentleman on court - Federer and Sampras win
    beyond any­ shadow of a doubt. H.M.Cg

    From H.M., on Thu 22 Dec 20:55

  3. Very interesting study, and although Connors is without­ doubt in the top 5 of all time in my view, I think­ perhaps the scientist may have been a little biased­ (Connors is from Belleville, Illinois).

    From tonyrear2002, on Tue 2 Aug 16:55

  4. Not a mention of Rod Laver in the top 30, there are­ players listed who would not have taken a set off him.­ My top 5 in no particular order would be Sampras, Borg,­ Federer, Laver and Nadal.

    From Ross, on Sun 6 Mar 1:53

  5. 250 comments! don’t be upset as much, Roddick’s­ pictures all around and titles like this are expectable­ in this part of the year, America paying next month.­ they are perfect believers if something in theirs­ concern

    just nice new souvenir for Ivanisevic’s wall

    From iri_nay, on Sat 5 Mar 4:37

  6. I suppose everyone has the right to give their opinion­ - to me those on top of their game in their era were­ the best - to compare them with each other isout of the­ question - Tennis has changed so much - from wooden­ rackets to todays rackets entirely different. Some­ player retired early namely Borg so there is no­ tellinghow many more matches he would have won iff he­ had played to his 30's or over, Laver turned­ professional and did not play in any of the Grand Slams­ afterwards, so there is no telling how many more he­ would have won had he continued. Radicchi, being­ American, will be a bit bias in his valuation and is­ trying to boost American pride. Connors was great in­ his era as was Mcenroe, Lendl, Sampras and Agassi were­ great in their era's now you have Federer and Nadal­ who will go down in history as being the greatest in­ their era, and down the road, who know, maybe an­ Amercan will immerge and conquer the world but untill­ then then Americans will always boost Connors &­ McEnroe Sampras and Agassi. I just enjoy watching­ Tennis and don't try and compare players as its­ really impossible The press will always bring the­ subject up as it brings so many answers and some of­ them are really ludricous and has nothing to do with­ Tennis. Some people are also really stupid with their­ answers.especialy the language - they are of course­ Morons!!!

    From Taffy, on Sat 5 Mar 4:07

  7. Some scientists are a waste of brains, and this guy­ comes top of my list. I didn't crunch thousands­ of items of data to come to this conclusion, Connors­ the greatest tennis player of all time...... based on­ matches played after 1968. Thanks Mr Radicchi for­ solving the problem when time began, we all now know it­ started in 1969, or was that the year when the human­ race started playing tennis.

    From appy-arry, on Sat 5 Mar 3:34

  8. Brian Gottfried, Eddie Dibbs, Harold Solomon, Raul­ Ramirez?!!! WHO THE F**K ARE THESE?!!

    From vd, on Sat 5 Mar 2:42

  9. Connors was very very good but not better than Nadal­ and Federer, the two greatest players of all times.

    From EDDIE, on Sat 5 Mar 2:26

  10. Hey you yahoo guys....do you publish all kinds of @#$%­ you come across with?

    From Ana, on Sat 5 Mar 1:51
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Some people are funny! Who really cares whether u like­ Federer or not? Who cares whether u like Serena­ Williams or not? Who cares whether u like Rafael Nadal­ or not? Who cares whether u like Andy Murray or not?­ They are all more successful than u will ever be. U­ forget that these winner are people just like u! But­ they are fitter and doing what they do best! I­ don't understand why fools come up on here stating­ who they don't like as if the World cares! We­ don't know or watch u! U r not the star, so get ur­ bitter self some education and live life happily!

    From Vic M, on Sat 5 Mar 1:48

  12. @Ross
    You must be very stupid to say some stupid things­ ........

    From Andrea Ghiddi il più grande troll di YahooSport, on Fri 4 Mar 23:49

  13. I am the greatest footballer ever as i have played­ local club football than anyone!.Nadal at 24th and­ Federer at 7th means that the guy who compiled this is­ either on pot or a totally irrational guy.

    From bobby, on Fri 4 Mar 23:45

  14. The most elegant tennis player ever - it must be Vijay­ Amritraj.

    From Suresh, on Fri 4 Mar 22:53
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    This guy has been on drugs....hey its ok....now we can­ help him.....lets call 911 and have him picked up from­ where ever he is.....cause he needs help......real­ quick! put him next to that big fat pig serena in the­ hospital!

    From Sam parikh, on Fri 4 Mar 22:18

  16. This list is stupid enough to actually be funny.
    But­ ... yes... an American placing 4 Americans in the top 5­ (if you can even consider Lendl as American...)...is­ "simply surprising".
    Laughable.

    From adi_salasan, on Fri 4 Mar 22:16

  17. Oh my God. This diffusion algorith expert should be­ tested for drugs.Infact, he should be banned for­ relating to Tennis.

    From lawal, on Fri 4 Mar 22:05

  18. Let tennis players play tennis and scientists deal with­ science; this "scientific" list has the same­ value of what the cat covers with sand.
    John McEnroe­ is the greatest ! ; then Federer, Sampras and Nadal.­
    Roddick no. 29? eheheheheheheh
    Thank God I have never­ played tennis at Northwestern

    From george, on Fri 4 Mar 22:00
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    tennis is pants. Its a faggots sport

    From stephen.dytrych, on Fri 4 Mar 21:58

  20. If he hadn't been held back due to the Islamic­ Revolution and if he had been given half a chance­ Mansour Bahrami would be way out in front as the best­ player ever.

    From jim, on Fri 4 Mar 21:55
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