Ugliest and most beautiful games on tour

TeamOB

TeamOB

Professional
Ocean Drive said:
Djokovic with an attractive style? Is this some kind of joke? And as close to Agassi as it gets? Davydenko is far and away closer to Agassi. And Djokovic can't hit a winner from the baseline to save himself.
Click to expand...

Djokovic's game style is pretty much a more modern, more mobile version of Agassi. I like Davydenko's game too, but his strokes are a bit too mechanical for my liking. Yes, he hits the ball amazingly clean, but his strokes are not nearly as fluid as Nole's or Andre's. They just seem to have some weird hitches or pauses in them. Anyways, this is a thread about aesthetics and aesthetics is mainly a matter of opinion. There is no real objective truth to it. If you think Djokovic's game is ugly, I respect your opinion.
 
T

thatmick

Banned
Federer20042006 said:
It's up to his head off a regular ground stroke. That's not tennis.

Only an overhead smash, or a mishit that sails and lands in, or really high lob would bounce over his head and force him to hit a serve.
Click to expand...

Head height is a standard regulation height of contact point for a groundstroke on a clay court (for a forehand or a backhand). How can you say it is not tennis?
 
AtomicForehand

AtomicForehand

Hall of Fame
Gulbis's game is pretty ugly and brutal.

Doesn't mean it isn't interesting to watch.

Sometimes the most classic and orthodox-looking players are pretty boring. I think Gilles Simon is a very boring player. His strokes are fine. He just plays uninteresting tennis (in my opinion).
 
B

burgerK

Guest
AtomicForehand said:
Gulbis's game is pretty ugly and brutal.

Doesn't mean it isn't interesting to watch.

Sometimes the most classic and orthodox-looking players are pretty boring. I think Gilles Simon is a very boring player. His strokes are fine. He just plays uninteresting tennis (in my opinion).
Click to expand...

hum, did he play uninteresting tennis vs Nadal in Rome this year??
 
B

burgerK

Guest
Ugliest: Gulbis, Berlocq, F.Mayer and Dolgopolov (but interesting games to watch), D Granollers
Most Beautiful: Federer, Haas, Fognini, Berdych
 
J

jakemcclain32

Banned
Band of losers around here debating if Nadal has an ugly game.

Yet the ***** will say someone 3733773288 in the world is gorgeous, even if he loses double breadsticks.

Nadal is one of the greatest ever, and haters want to debate while having their eighth beer.
 
The Green Mile

The Green Mile

Bionic Poster
jakemcclain32 said:
Band of losers around here debating if Nadal has an ugly game.

Yet the ***** will say someone 3733773288 in the world is gorgeous, even if he loses double breadsticks.

Nadal is one of the greatest ever, and haters want to debate while having their eighth beer.
Click to expand...

This thread isn't about how great he is. Get over it. Nadal has a Frankensteinlike game to some, okay? Okay.... there are plenty of other threads, where you can discuss how great he is.
 
Vcore89

Vcore89

Talk Tennis Guru
Most beautiful is no doubt Roger Federer's game.

Ugliest goes to his conqueror, Rafael Nadal.

No poll for this?
 
Keizer

Keizer

Hall of Fame
Florian Mayer has weird mechanics. So do Donskoy and Granollers. I really don't like Ferrer's game either.
 
Carsomyr

Carsomyr

Legend
I wish Dolgopolov was more consistent than he is, but maybe that's just part of the fun. He has a plethora of ways to hit various shots, no idea what's going to come out of the bag with him.
 
Carsomyr

Carsomyr

Legend
Keizer said:
Florian Mayer has weird mechanics. So do Donskoy and Granollers. I really don't like Ferrer's game either.
Click to expand...

If, for whatever reason, I was entrusted to teach a child how to play tennis, I'd probably start with videos of Ferrer. Not a lot of moving parts to his strokes, most are very compact and clean.
 
J

jakemcclain32

Banned
The Green Mile said:
This thread isn't about how great he is. Get over it. Nadal has a Frankensteinlike game to some, okay? Okay.... there are plenty of other threads, where you can discuss how great he is.
Click to expand...

Not the point. It's thread number 96795726373828688 critiquing a NINE TIME FRENCH OPEN CHAMP!!!

At this point, it goes past logical debate and becomes **** trolling. Same with "Isner has no other shot but a serve"(forgetting his forehand), "Ferrer hits hard with no rhyme or reason"(because perrenial top 5-7s and former top 3s so do that), and "Djokovic and Murray participate in grindfests".

95 percent of people here have not hit with pros. Go hit with one and tell us how much knowledge you have now.
 
Maximagq

Maximagq

Banned
jakemcclain32 said:
Not the point. It's thread number 96795726373828688 critiquing a NINE TIME FRENCH OPEN CHAMP!!!

At this point, it goes past logical debate and becomes **** trolling. Same with "Isner has no other shot but a serve"(forgetting his forehand), "Ferrer hits hard with no rhyme or reason"(because perrenial top 5-7s and former top 3s so do that), and "Djokovic and Murray participate in grindfests".

95 percent of people here have not hit with pros. Go hit with one and tell us how much knowledge you have now.
Click to expand...

Everyone's an expert on the Internet. There wouldn't be a need for GPPD if only the best players could critique because there so few. Only a handful such as myself play above the 5.0 level in this forum, and you are right in that we tend to be less critical of the pros because we appreciate how well they play. Having gotten 4 games off Digiulio, who is only a 6.0 player, I can hardly imagine how good Nadal is.

http://youtu.be/t90qW1nGzZ8
 
Last edited:
K

Kevb22

New User
Most beautiful: Federer, Djokovic and Agassi
Ugliest: Karlovic, Tomic, Mayer and many others, but i have a question:-|: Why a lot of people thinks Sock's game is ugly??? I think is quite rare but i really enjoy his game. I saw him live in Delray 2013 and his game is really fun to watch.
 
Maximagq

Maximagq

Banned
Kevb22 said:
Most beautiful: Federer, Djokovic and Agassi
Ugliest: Karlovic, Tomic, Mayer and many others, but i have a question:-|: Why a lot of people thinks Sock's game is ugly??? I think is quite rare but i really enjoy his game. I saw him live in Delray 2013 and his game is really fun to watch.
Click to expand...

Watching his backhand isn't very pleasing to the eye. Neither is his full western forehand.
 
Keizer

Keizer

Hall of Fame
jakemcclain32 said:
Not the point. It's thread number 96795726373828688 critiquing a NINE TIME FRENCH OPEN CHAMP!!!

At this point, it goes past logical debate and becomes **** trolling. Same with "Isner has no other shot but a serve"(forgetting his forehand), "Ferrer hits hard with no rhyme or reason"(because perrenial top 5-7s and former top 3s so do that), and "Djokovic and Murray participate in grindfests".

95 percent of people here have not hit with pros. Go hit with one and tell us how much knowledge you have now.
Click to expand...

The person you quoted said they did not like his mechanics from the aesthetic point of view. Like with modern art, modern tennis strokes appeal to some and do not appeal to others, regardless of their personal qualifications as players. I do not cast aspersions on Rafa's abilities by saying I don't like the way his strokes look. Just a hypothetical btw, I personally like his forehand mechanics.
 
Lavs

Lavs

Hall of Fame
It makes sense to cover only those who at least reached top10 in various periods..

So, my picks:
Most Beautiful: Safin, Haas, Federer, Nalbandian, Gonzales
Ugliest: Roddik, Nadal, Gasquet (except hos BH), Kafelnikov (except his BH)
 
C

captainbryce

Hall of Fame
Most beautiful:
Andre Agassi
Tim Henman
Patrick Rafter
Gustavo Kuerten
Marat Safin
Marcos Baghdatis
Tomas Berdych
Roger Federer
Tommy Haas
Grigor Dimitrov
Stanislas Wawrenka
Nicholas Almagro

Ugliest:
John McEnroe
Jim Courier (and all of his "clones": Andy Roddick, Ryan Harrison, Sam Querrey, John Isner, Jack Sock, etc)
Ivo Karlovic
Milos Raonic
Fabrice Santoro
Alexandr Dolgopolov
Ernests Gulbis
Bernard Tomic (cringe worthy)

Richard Gasquet fails to make the "beautiful" list on account of his gawd awful forehand! Otherwise, he'd be up there. Federer, Haas, and Dimitrov are basically all the same player (from an aesthetics quality).

A few people have mentioned Djokovic and Murray as having a "beautiful" game and frankly I don't see it. Murray's forehand is not that good looking, and although the rest of his strokes look "okay", and he has a lot of variety, his counterpunching style and plain Jane groundstrokes are very boring looking to me. Djokovic has a decent looking game, but I wouldn't describe it as beautiful anymore than I'd describe Nadal's game as beautiful. I would describe both of them as "gritty" players that play hard, but not always pretty. Djokovic in particular often looks off balance, stumbling all over the place, doubling over, etc whether he is winning or losing. So while Murray is boring to watch, Djokovic looks awkward when he plays. I was actually quite surprised to see so many people list Tsonga as having an ugly game. I actually think his game looks pretty good (from an aesthetic point of view), especially his net game. But different strokes for different folks I guess.
 
C

captainbryce

Hall of Fame
Kevb22 said:
Most beautiful: Federer, Djokovic and Agassi
Ugliest: Karlovic, Tomic, Mayer and many others, but i have a question:-|: Why a lot of people thinks Sock's game is ugly??? I think is quite rare but i really enjoy his game. I saw him live in Delray 2013 and his game is really fun to watch.
Click to expand...
There is a difference between "fun" and "aesthetically pleasing". Fabrice Santoro was "fun" to watch as well, but his strokes were not pretty to behold. And while putting Sock's game on the ugliest list may be a bit of an exaggeration, the fact is he suffers from that same, one-dimensional, "Jim Courier" type style that so many of the American players have copied and pasted throughout the years.

There is more to tennis than the "big serve + inside-out forehand = game, set, & match" equation. People like seeing good returners as well as good servers. They like a strong backhand in addition to a strong forehand. They like slices that can actually change the pace, stay low, and change direction. They like drop shots and lobs. They like serve & volley, and chip & charge. Sadly, that style of play incorporates very little of any of that.
 
Z

Zoid

Hall of Fame
Anyone who plays at a high level (i don't know what all these numbers are that you guys throw around) but D1 college or pro - they all appreciate rogers game - no one in the history of tennis has ever looked so at ease and graceful at the top end of the sport, where the pace and strength is so high for the whole match. I personally find Nadal's game not really bad, except maybe his serve and volleys, his forehand set up and spacing (straight-arm) is quite nice.
 
TeamOB

TeamOB

Professional
Added some more players to my list:

Players I consider aesthetically topnotch:
Agassi, Djokovic, Federer, Rios, Safin, Fognini

Players I consider aesthetically above average:
Murray, Nalbandian, Wawrinka, Berdych, Kuerten, Hewitt, Almagro, Verdasco

Players I consider aesthetically mediocre:
Nadal, Sampras, Ferrer, Roddick

Players who have an ugly game IMO:
Santoro, Gulbis, Tomic, Dolgopolov, McEnroe, Berlocq, Granollers
 
protestov.tt

protestov.tt

Rookie
Players I consider aesthetically topnotch:
Gulbis. Love his fancy forehand

Players who have an ugly game IMHO:
Nadal
 
Last edited:
smoledman

smoledman

G.O.A.T.
Things I learned from this thread.

#1 - SoBad's anti-Federer trolling is out of control
#2 - Other insane people think Federer's game is ugly
#3 - Nobody mentioned David Goffin's beautiful game
 
Wynter

Wynter

Legend
Theres something Fascinating about Tomics game when he's on, it juust looks so easy to him.

Like: Fed, Tomic, Berdych, Wawrinka, Gasquet, Djokovic, Fognini, Del Potro, Kyrgios

Dislike: Nadal, Ferrer, Dimitrov (no idea why)

I always love Hewitt playing not because it's great strokeplay or anything, but because you see him pick a weakness and relentlessly exploit it.

Hewitt dissects players, its fascinating too watch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Who has most attractive/ugliest game?
2
Replies
96
Views
8K
Clay lover
Clay lover
Top