It's funny to think after the French Open people were questioning Roger Federer's dominance. Sure he has a curiously poor record against Rafael Nadal, but Federer turned the tables at Wimbledon and again rolled through the U.S. Open.
In my scoring system, Federer's 2006 summer was surpassed only by Rod Laver's Grand Slam in 1969. Four finals, two wins over players that will be considered the two next best of his era -- Nadal and Roddick -- and a spirited final in the French, which he may never win just because of Nadal.
In fact, Federer now has two of the four greatest seasons. His 2004 campaign ranks just below Jimmy Connors' 1974 season of three major titles.
Maria Sharapova showed Wimbledon of 2004 was no fluke and, considering women's tennis has seen several periods where one player dominated, she seems poised to go on a Serena Williams-type run where she wins four or five of the next eight majors.
Sharapova just plowed through Amelie Mauresmo and Justin Henin-Hardenne. When she's on, no female has the firepower to match. Henin-Hardenne was a strange case. She made four finals but won just one. She may have reached her peak much like Martina Hingis did before the Williams sisters took over tennis for a few years.
A final goodbye not just to Andre Agassi, who would have been higher on this list with a much more concerted effort early in his career, but to Martina Navratilova. She added a final mixed doubles title -- and a half point -- to her all-time record.
All-time men's tournament seedings after 2006:
Player, Country, Years, Total
1. Pete Sampras, United States, 1990-2002, 656.50
2. Bjorn Borg, Sweden, 1974-1981, 648.50
3. Ivan Lendl, Czechoslovakia, 1981-1991, 619.50
4. Jimmy Connors, United States, 1974-1984, 597.00
5. John McEnroe, United States, 1979-1985, 558.00
6. Roger Federer, Switzerland, 2003-2006, 536.50
7. Mats Wilander, Sweden, 1982-1988, 472.50
8. Andre Agassi, United States, 1990-2005, 470.00
9. Boris Becker, Germany, 1985-1996, 423.50
10. Stephan Edberg, Sweden, 1985-1993, 409.00
11. Rod Laver, Australia, 1968-1971, 355.50
12. Jim Courier, United States, 1991-1993, 334.50
13. Guillermo Vilas, Argentina, 1975-1982, 323.00
14. John Newcombe, Australia, 1968-1976, 323.00
15. Ken Rosewall, Australia, 1968-1974, 295.50
16. Jan Kodes, Czechoslovakia, 1970-1973, 228.00
17. Arthur Ashe, United States, 1968-1975, 214.50
18. Illie Nastase, Romania, 1971-1976, 197.00
19. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, 2001-2005, 192.50
20. Marat Safin, Russia, 2000-2005, 191.00
21. Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil, 1997-2001, 166.00
22. Rafael Nadal, Spain, 2005-2006, 160.50
23. Stan Smith, United States, 1968-1980, 156.50
24. Pat Rafter, Australia, 1997-2001, 155.50
25. Yevgeny Kafelinikov, Russia, 1996-2000, 145.00
26. Pat Cash, Australia, 1987-1988, 141.00
27. Michael Chang, United States, 1989-1996, 134.00
28. Sergei Bruguera, Spain, 1993-1997, 133.00
29. Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia, 1992-2001, 131.00
30. Andy Roddick, United States, 2003-2006, 130.50
31. Michael Stich, Germany, 1991-1996, 121.50
32. Johan Kriek, South Africa, 1981-1982, 113.00
All-time women's seedings:
Player, Country, Years, Points
1. Martina Navratilova, Czechoslovakia, 1974-2006, 1308.50
2. Steffi Graf, Germany, 1987-1999, 1215.50
3. Chris Evert-Lloyd, United States, 1973-1988, 953.50
4. Monica Seles, Yugoslavia, 1990-1998, 684.00
5. Margaret Smith-Court, Australia, 1968-1975, 675.00
6. Billie Jean King, United States, 1968-1979, 650.50
7. Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, Australia, 1971-1980, 579.50
8. Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario, Spain, 1989-1998, 468.50
9. Serena Williams, United States, 1999-2005, 457.50
10. Martina Hingis, Switzerland, 1996-2006, 446.50
11. Venus Williams, United States, 1997-2005, 408.50
12. Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgium, 2001-2006, 350.00
13. Hana Mandlikova, Czechoslovakia, 1980-1987, 334.00
14. Lindsay Davenport, United States, 1998-2005, 312.00
15. Virginia Wade, England, 1968-1977, 197.00
16. Mary Pierce, France, 1994-2005, 194.00
17. Tracy Austin, United States, 1979-1981, 186.50
18. Jennifer Capriati, United States, 2001-2002, 184.00
19. Gabriela Sabatini, Argentina, 1988-1991, 165.00
20. Amelie Mauresmo, France, 1999-2006, 160.00
21. Kim Clijsters, Belgium, 2001-2005, 151.00
22. Jana Novotna, Czechoslovakia, 1991-1998, 150.00
23. Ann Haydon-Jones, England, 1968-1969, 141.00
24. Conchita Martinez, Spain, 1994-2000, 140.00
25. Maria Sharapova, Russia, 2004-2006, 135.50
26. Virginia Ruzici, Romania, 1978-1980, 107.50
27. Kerry Melville-Reid, Australia, 1970-1977, 103.00
28. Mimi Jausovec, Yugoslavia, 1977-1983, 97.00
29. Helena Sukova, Czechoslovakia, 1984-1993, 94.50
30. Christine O'Neill, Australia, 1978, 85.00
31. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, 2004-2006, 82.00
32. Wendy Turnbill, United States, 1977-1980, 80.00
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