How tight do you think champs wish to hold on to their records?

Bluenose raised a good question yesterday when he wanted to know what was going through Pete's mind when he saw that Stan was going to keep Nadal away from his record. Maybe I misunderstood BN point (was he maybe asking what Pete thought of Nadal's MTO?) but it is a good question as we may think those guys are grown ups and should be "happy" for the next generation to take over and break their record.
 
I simply think not. It's clear to me that those athletes live all their youth trying to achieve as much as possible and in a way are essentially remembered because of those achievements and records. Wiping them of the top list has got to be hurting.
 
I am pretty convinced that as much as Laver is an old wise man, found of Federer it seems, he would not like to have his GS record broken by Fed or anyone else for that matter. Pete as suggested by truffin might even be worse in that department as he expressed a few times how he regretted to have stopped his career that early, not trying to extend his slam record. I also remember him talking how he thought his game at times "felt too big to lose to anyone" suggesting at the time he could have beaten Fed 06/07. Doesn't he said recently that he would still fancy his chances SVIng v the new generation were he younger and equipped with new technology?
 
I could talk about Vilas and McEnroe's reaction when their record was challenged but I am sure there is no point doing so as all live and die by their record.
 
Federer no doubt would be really annoyed to have his slam record challenged, especially by the player he has such a bad H2H.
 
There are a few players which I think don't care that much. Lendl and Nasatase. Well Nastase has hardly any record left anyway but like Lendl they seem to have got wiser over time. In fact Lendl was not even following tennis at all until the 2008 crisis wiped what remained of his savings and got forced to work again. His golf handicap seemed to worry him more than his ATP number 1 or quarterfinals record.
 
I do believe some will get completely detached of their achievements, especially as they get older and have found new (probably spiritual) horizons.....though I doubt Pete will be one of them.

I'm sure all champs wish to keep their records for as long as possible. But It is not up to them. Like it or not, records are made to be broken. Time doesn't stand still. I think the older the champ gets, the easier it'd be for them to accept the status quote of their legacy.

It's understandable if Sampras or any other champ in their hearts don't like losing their records. But I respect pete because I never got the feeling that he was ungracious towards Fed for having overtaken his records. On the contrary, pete has always seemed very supportive of fed's  career. In particular after FO 09 when fed won it, he even went on record to say roger has achieved GOAT status. It might hurt like hell for Sampras when roger won his 15 th, but on the outside he accepted the news in a noble manner. At least that's the impression I got from the press reports. That for me is what matters. I hope when the time comes for a future player to break his records, fed can carry himself with a similar aura of acceptance and graciousness, provided that the one who overtakes fed made it there with a squeaky clean history.  

I think the point has often been made that comparisons among eras are fruitless because rules and conditions change - even travel is different!  And the "slam count" parameter is a relatively recent construct which has been a PR boon.  The only true metric I think is no. 1 ranking because it measures competitive spirit and consistency in addition to athleticism and skill.  It obviously mattered a lot to Pete because he strove to find a way to get the year end over and over, and I think perhaps losing his weeks record hurt the most.You can always rationalize lower slam count - injury, illness, draw, weather...  But the incredible relentless work of maintaining the no.1 is different, and it evens out the ups and downs and shows you are overall that bit better than the rest over a span of time.

I think Pete would be absolutely delighted if Nadal stalls at 13.  Also I think Roger would be very annoyed to have Nadal pass 17!  But off the top of my head I can't think of another player who built a full life while building his tennis career, who thanks to his clearly very savvy wife was transformed into an advertiser's dream fronting for luxury goods and yet squats in the dust meeting with children his foundation supports at school, who has kept a presence in ATP politics for a decade and now dabbles in the agency biz.  He will always be identified with tennis and not have to be a colour commentator to be remembered!  So I think he'll handle it fine if/when the records start to fall, but I do believe that the consecutive weeks at no.1 is unassailable and he'll have that one for life.

Tenez I'm a woman, remember the pregnancy debate!

Indeed I forgot. Sincere apology.

I always mentioned here and other forums that number 1 is one of the most important status and of course record. While you are number 1 you are always right as they say, the world is looking at you and everybody wants something from you. this is why I said that Federer still cared about it in 2012, he cared a lot actually. If you have won 2 GS slams like Rod, great....we remember every now and then but the spotlight is on the current number one, as Borg used to say, "it's the only thing that matters". So in that respect I completely agree with BN.

Agree again on Fed, I actually even think that his 17 record is not going to be surpassed. he missed a few from being in a very close winning position and I think it's time Nadal starts to feel the pressure of getting close to that 17 number. But yes, consecutive AND total weeks at number 1 will most likely never been surpassed.

Another amazing record...is winning 24 finals in a row! The closest one belongs to Borg and McEnroe at 12!

Well, you know what I think, but I'll repeat it, anyway.
The fuller and happier lives people have outside tennis, the more relaxedly they'll take everything in their stride.[/quote] true.

I think Mac was genuinely happy for Nole when he was about to break his Streak record, and that was nice.

Not so sure there.

Pete comes across as very insecure, as if those records were all he has/d in his life. Naturally, despite all the lip-service in media, it's obvious that he is blinded by his vanity and rarely misses an opportunity to indirectly have a subtle jig at Federer.
I wrote about in the fairly recent thread below.

 A bit harsh on Pete and more so on Rod but I agree that is the thing that constantly annoyed me about Pete is that one felt he could not care less about the game, the crowd and everything else as long as he got those trophies and the money. He was giving nothing back to the sport and I suspect that's why he left it over night cause clearly he was not enjoying nor loving the sport. Nastase or McEnroe loved the game and kept on playing for years facing losses on the main tour before carrying on the senior one. Not Pete. He just stopped as he thought he had found the sacred grail with his 14th title.

Where did my post disappear?
And no, I don't think I'm harsh on either Pete or Laver, just saying it as I see it.
You know, I nearly started typing.."I know it may sound harsh" just after that statement about Pete, but I caught myself and didn't.

What's the point putting on pretences?

I forgot to add that I do think Borg and Sampras are very gracious to allow themselves to be trotted out for the PR value in these record tying/breaking matches.  Especially considering that they both were "disappearing" types as nitb said.

But do I recall Sampras being late to the match and creating an entrance at
Wimbledon?  Laver seems very secure and just enjoying all the recognition and the feeling of still belonging, which is what I foresee for Federer.

Good point about the chase Tenez - not sure Federer was chasing the 14 as much as wanting to win, but at least he knew the number 14 was fixed whereas Nadal must be worrying about the 17 going up because Roger is still active and a threat.  Quite a different scenario.

noleisthebest wrote:Where did my post disappear?
And no, I don't think I'm harsh on either Pete or Laver, just saying it as I see it.
You know, I nearly started typing.."I know it may sound harsh" just after that statement about Pete, but I caught myself and didn't.

What's the point putting on pretences?

Really sorry. I edited it instead of quoting!!!!