Court-coverage GOAT
 

Is Djokovic the GOAT here?

I believe that we've done footspeed before; maybe even quickness--which is slightly different but related.

Borg certainly covered the court incredibly well because of his footspeed. Is it a combination of footspeed, anticipation, reflexes, and stamina?

1. Nadal
2. Borg
3. Djokovic
4. Edberg
5. Murray
6. Chang
7. Hewitt
8. Gerulaitis
9. Laver
10. Rosewall
11. Kriek
12. Nastase
13. Ferrer
14. Emerson
15. Mecir
16. Pernfors



Who else?

Murray is pretty good too.

Fed should get an honourable mention too.

1. Nadal
2. Borg
3. Gerulaitis
4. Hewitt
5. Chang or Nastase

Those are my top 5 in exact order. Honorable mentions to Federer, Djokovic, Murray, and Edberg. Djokovic definitely isnt the best. He isnt that great in court coverage on grass, and while good on clay is definitely not the very best there either. Only on hard courts is he argaubly top 3 all time. I am judging his whole career, not just 2011.

If anticipation counts for anything, Mac and Evert should be included.They read the game perfectly...oh¡ and what about Laver and Rosewall?
Nastase,Kriek and Gerulaitis were extremely quick.

Vitas ( like Johan kriek) relied so much on their quickness that they seemed to be out of position many times, yet got to the ball and won points.

I always marveled at Martina Hingis anticipation sense, even if not extremely fast, she was always reading the next ( and maybe nexts 2 and 3 more) points.

Nadal. I have no doubt in my mind.

Some of the older guys;
Perry, Budge, Gonzales, Hoad, Emerson....all of these would compare well to the best today in footspeed.

Nadal isn't the very fastest, but he's one of the fastest, and combined with his unparalleled ability to rapidly change direction, he takes this one.

I'll go with Bjorn Borg, due to blazing speed, incredible quickness, great stamina, anticipation, and sublime footwork. He had an ability to finish shots from wild positions even with the old paradigm of wood frames from the baseline against great net play. He had great passing shots largely due to his court coverage. I'd also put Nadal at perhaps #2 with Djokovic and Federer a bit behind Nadal. Federer's footwork gives him a big advantage over Djokovic especially on grass courts, so that's to his credit. I consider court-coverage to be a broad topic, with top speed as only one thing to consider. Yet, even on that score, Borg was a bit faster than Nadal, with better quickness and stamina as well. This is with those old, cool looking Diadoras too! Borg would have thrived in the conditions of today, with a slow hard court major, and frames that allowed for a shift in favor of players that adopted a style of play that players such as Borg and Lendl brought to prominence.

Borg vs. Vilas (thanks Krosero)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKQVdZNsyuQ (Borg goes offscreen)

Borg vs. Lendl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyuiEzBb7hk (This was indoors on fast carpet at MSG in the 81 Masters YEC final. That was the 4th biggest tourney of the year and there were with 18K in attendance.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL__OcegrbY (81 FO final)

Borg vs. Connors

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTMx--E0OhY

Rosewall footwork was amazing
Borg floated on court, Stefi Graf was similar

No way is Djokovic the GOAT here, Nadal is.

Nadal

No love for Ferrer?

Check out the rallies!

How do you turn fast, indoor carpet into slow clay?

Virtually no talk of the women. This includes both horozontal and lateral movement , changing direction and even those quick side steps up at net.

Graf
Clisters
Navratilova
Garrison
V Williams
Mandlikova
Goolagong
Hingis
Evert (84-88, move her up three slots, she got quicker footspeed, to go along with anticipation and footwork)

Loved Evonne on her good days floating on court like a fairy.She was really a fairy.When her stick worked along her mind, there was no more delicious player to watch.

Hana was such a natural mover.Her mom, I think, was national track and fields champion...or was it her father?

I agree that Borg was a bit faster than Nadal. How would you compare the two at changing direction?

OOPS I forgot the Bqrcelona Bumblebee. She's up there near the top tier. Best retreiver except maybe Clisters

While Garrison had impressive court coverage IMO that is a high ranking for her if you are doing them in order. I also would include Henin, I think she beats Hingis and Evert here, even with their amazing anticipation combined with reasonably good footspeed.