TeamOB
Professional
I hear it way to much on this forum and even from TV commentators. They say: "That's the way tennis should be played....", "That's not real tennis...", "Tennis is meant to be played....". The problem with all these statements is that tennis isn't meant to be played in any particular way. It is a game that constantly evolves. It went from a 19th century lawn game to the big serving style of Tilden and Kramer, to the all-court style of Laver, to the baseline grinding of Borg, Vilas and Connors, to the aggressive game of Sampras, Becker and Edberg, and finally to the rock solid baseline game of Federer, Hewitt, Nadal and Djokovic. Every era has its own particular style of play. The style of an era is determined by the equipment, conditions, and training methods used. As these things change, the era and preferred style changes. There is no "ultimate style" in tennis. It always changes and evolves. I am sure that in 10 years the current style will have evolved and tennis will be quite different from what we see now. Anyways, there is no such thing as "the way tennis should be played." It is simply a matter of which style is currently dominant. What do you think?