Women's and backhands.

[egn]

Okay but is it just me but at least most of the great women players as of recent had a backhand that was better than their forehands. Just to name some names.


Chris Evert
Monica Seles
Venus Williams
Serena Williams
Martina Hingis
Lindsay Davenport

Debate can be even made for Justine Henin, Capriati but it seems since the 80s most of your number 1s have had more devastating backhands than forehands exclusion of Graf and Martina but her big thing was her volleys anyway.

[pc1]

Originally Posted by egn

Okay but is it just me but at least most of the great women players as of recent had a backhand that was better than their forehands. Just to name some names.


Chris Evert
Monica Seles
Venus Williams
Serena Williams
Martina Hingis
Lindsay Davenport

Debate can be even made for Justine Henin, Capriati but it seems since the 80s most of your number 1s have had more devastating backhands than forehands exclusion of Graf and Martina but her big thing was her volleys anyway.

I don't think it's just women. You can say that for a lot of men also.

Connors
Budge
Rosewall
Kovacs
Nalbanian
Ashe
Vilas
Maybe Laver
Tony Trabert
I think Andy Murray
I think Djokovic

These players have better backhands than forehands. Laver probably has a better backhand than forehand even though there is debate there.

[darthpwner]

Originally Posted by egn

Okay but is it just me but at least most of the great women players as of recent had a backhand that was better than their forehands. Just to name some names.


Chris Evert
Monica Seles
Venus Williams
Serena Williams
Martina Hingis
Lindsay Davenport

Debate can be even made for Justine Henin, Capriati but it seems since the 80s most of your number 1s have had more devastating backhands than forehands exclusion of Graf and Martina but her big thing was her volleys anyway.

Capriati's forehand was way better than her backhand.

[tintin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI9BJzGGloY

we all remember Safin's famous jumping 2 handed backhand but check this out around 5:20

2 women who know how to construct points
know how to hit superb backhands
and especially know how to hit volleys;enjoy

Mauresmo's backhand was also better than her forehand

[Ripper014]

Originally Posted by egn

Okay but is it just me but at least most of the great women players as of recent had a backhand that was better than their forehands. Just to name some names.


Chris Evert
Monica Seles
Venus Williams
Serena Williams
Martina Hingis
Lindsay Davenport

Debate can be even made for Justine Henin, Capriati but it seems since the 80s most of your number 1s have had more devastating backhands than forehands exclusion of Graf and Martina but her big thing was her volleys anyway.

Lindsay Davenport's forehand was pretty good... I might choose it over her backhand.

[Harry_Wild]

I go with Justine on the backhand.

Justine Henin is probably has the best backhand of any lady player. This was stated by John McEnroe. I agree with him on that. I say Justine in persona a couple of years ago; and she has a great backhand that can do anything - slice, drop, top spin and hard drive passing shot. Nice disguise too!

[soyizgood]

Originally Posted by Harry_Wild

I go with Justine on the backhand.

Justine Henin is probably has the best backhand of any lady player. This was stated by John McEnroe. I agree with him on that. I say Justine in persona a couple of years ago; and she has a great backhand that can do anything - slice, drop, top spin and hard drive passing shot. Nice disguise too!

Justine's backhand isn't so great on grass though.

[egn]

Originally Posted by soyizgood

Justine's backhand isn't so great on grass though.

I think its more Justine isn't so great on grass.

[soyizgood]

Originally Posted by egn

I think its more Justine isn't so great on grass.

Justine does have 2 Wimby finals appearances and a couple of semi-finals. Her game is better-suited for grass than Nadal and Sharapova (which is not saying much), yet those two have Wimby titles. She's certainly not a grass specialist, but probably the top 5 among the women's players this decade (trailing Venus, Serena, and Davenport).

[pc1]

I think Justine Henin is about as good on grass as anyone now, assuming she regains her old form. The grass at Wimbledon nowadays doesn't have the bad bounces it used to have and it is a lot slower.

Besides Henin has a great sliced backhand, a good serve and she actually may have a better volley technically than any of the male players. I see no reason that she can't win on grass, at least stroke and skill wise.

The major problem I see is that some players, like the Williams sisters play so well on grass but I do think Henin is capable of defeating them, even on grass.

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by pc1

Laver probably has a better backhand than forehand even though there is debate there.

Maybe true. Laver's backhand is probably top-5 of all time. His forehand is probably only top-10 all time.

For his opponents, his backhand seemed to be a more deadly shot. His forehand was also great and versatile, but a little less point-ending.

[boredone3456]

Originally Posted by pc1

I think Justine Henin is about as good on grass as anyone now, assuming she regains her old form. The grass at Wimbledon nowadays doesn't have the bad bounces it used to have and it is a lot slower.

Besides Henin has a great sliced backhand, a good serve and she actually may have a better volley technically than any of the male players. I see no reason that she can't win on grass, at least stroke and skill wise.

The major problem I see is that some players, like the Williams sisters play so well on grass but I do think Henin is capable of defeating them, even on grass.

The only threats to Henin on Grass are the Williams, the rest of the field today play their best on either clay or hardcourts. Even though the grass has slowed down a lot it still has enough bounce and speed to throw off a lot of people. But I like Henin's chances, if she is motivated. Venus is nearing the end of her career and if she is playing well she can beat Serena, its just a matter of playing well and wanting Wimbledon badly enough. I think both are either present or capable of being present for her, she just needs to get there.

Her backhand, forehand and serve are good. Her Forehand though tends to breakdown at times and on grass that has been a problem in the past, that killed her against Bartoli in 07 and almost killed her against Serena in the QF that year as well. I can't really comment on her volley, she doesn't come to net to often. In her younger days she had a good volley, but now she hardly ever seems to utilize it so I don't know.

[tintin]

Originally Posted by soyizgood

Justine does have 2 Wimby finals appearances and a couple of semi-finals. Her game is better-suited for grass than Nadal and Sharapova (which is not saying much), yet those two have Wimby titles. She's certainly not a grass specialist, but probably the top 5 among the women's players this decade (trailing Venus, Serena, and Davenport).

where do you rate Mauresmo?

[LeeD]

Rather than hijacking this thread to a "who can win what" thread, how about the notion that in competitive tennis, everyone serves to your backhand first and foremost, to test that side first ....

[pc1]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Rather than hijacking this thread to a "who can win what" thread, how about the notion that in competitive tennis, everyone serves to your backhand first and foremost, to test that side first ....

Okay so who has the best backhand return among the Women? Right now as far as an offensive backhand return I like Clijsters as much as anyone's.

In history I would think that Evert or Seles in her prime is perhaps the best but I've read stories about how Connolly was able to drive back Pancho Gonzalez's serve in practice so who knows.

[soyizgood]

Originally Posted by tintin

where do you rate Mauresmo?

She had some good years (obviously 2006 being one of them) at Wimby, but littered with 3r and 4r losses. Her type of game was quite well-suited for grass, but being the perpetual headcase at slams I suspect her record across all the slams to be similar. I would rate her at or above Sharapova though as Sharapova's results have gotten worse year after year at Wimbledon.

[soyizgood]

With the WTA, most of the current top women seem to have steadier, most consistent shots off the backhand wing. Just to name a few:

Henin
Serena
Safina
Venus
Wozniacki
Jankovic
Zvonareva (>= forehand)
Kuznetsova (her bh doesn't break down like her fh)
Li
Sharapova (though her lefty forehand usage docks her a few pts in my book)

[boredone3456]

Originally Posted by pc1

Okay so who has the best backhand return among the Women? Right now as far as an offensive backhand return I like Clijsters as much as anyone's.

In history I would think that Evert or Seles in her prime is perhaps the best but I've read stories about how Connolly was able to drive back Pancho Gonzalez's serve in practice so who knows.

Some good backhand returns that come to mind off the top of my head would be:

Evert
Davenport
Seles
Henin
Connolly
Lenglen (from what I have read anyway)

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by tintin

where do you rate Mauresmo?

Try this one: who currently has the sweetest-looking backhand?

I say Haas, Gasquet, Mauresmo.