Players you loved to watch.

[suwanee4712]

Originally Posted by treblings

suwanee, i like your reasoning.
players that made it look easy.
and the ones you mention somewhat date you in the same age group as myself
provided you mean ramesh and not ramanathan krishnan

I've never seen Ramanathan play but would like to. I do love me some Ramesh though. People always describe him as "silky smooth" but I can't think of any other way to describe a male player of his calibur without feminizing the adjective. There were times when he passed Mac and Mac would look so silly because he honestly wouldn't know where Ramesh was going with the ball.

Can't believe I left off Lori McNeil. Another smooth player that when she trusted her instincts was sheer beauty in motion.

[fire_eaters]

Justine henin was my favorite player to watch. Best one handed backhand I've ever seen

[suwanee4712]

Originally Posted by Paul Murphy

Of the women - Navratilova by far.
Aggressive, interesting game, lovely contrast to most on the tour.
She made women's tennis very interesting - her S/V versus baseliner battles with Evert were redolent of the Lendl/McEnroe match-up.

You make a great point. For me, Martina made other players much more watchable. Sanchez Vicario bored me to death because her moonballs and looping strokes rarely served an actual purpose other than to keep an opponent back and possibly lull them to sleep. But when she played Martina she was forced to play more aggressively and show off the decent net skills that she possessed.

Martina also forced others out of their comfort zone. Had it not been for her I might've never realized what a good forehand volley Evert has. That's not a knock on Evert as I genuinely enjoyed watching her play doubles.

[jakemcclain32]

Becker - Very first match I ever watched was Becker-Curran 1985 Wimbledon Final. Made me a tennis fan. Back in those days, I was a kid who loved big strong guys...favorite superheroes were all big strong guys. My one superpower would've been super strength, all that stuff. Becker matched all that and more. Big guy, big huge serve, powerful forehand, all that stuff. Plus he had enough flair in his matches to make it fun. His rivalry with Lendl was fun too.

McEnroe - Never have I seen more of an "angles" genius in my life. For all of his faults, the guy just knew how to hit shots, time and time again, that were impossible for the very best in the world to hit. Even when he was fading away and not winning regularly anymore, you'd see him hit those angles against Courier, or someone of that nature, and Courier knowing he had zero chance at it...and those guys at that level get just about everything. Not to mention that JMac had a court sense like Larry Bird had basketball sense.

Connors - Simply loved the fight he exhibited every single match. He'd hustle against the 500th player in the world...hated even conceding a point. Love that attitude.

Edberg - Net game was Picasso-like, and I always loved his second serves. Nothing like Federer, but he had a dancer's like footwork too. Beautiful to watch.

Sampras - Simply...the serve. Wish he would've adapted on clay, but his dominance on grass is only matched by one man.

Ferrer - Goes without saying, and everyone here knew this would be coming. Just love his consistency every single match. Even when he's getting beat to death(like the RG semi against Nadal), he keeps fighting, grinding, and hitting. Places the ball beautifully just about every single shot, and outside the Top 3(Murray can't do this), it's near impossible to force him into multiple mistakes, so breaking him is a rare gem. His constant winning is not a fluke. No big weapons, but his whole game is one big weapon.

Nadal - Idiot fanboys aside, this is one of the all time greats. So much fight, and he has an uncanny ability to come up with an unreal and impossible shot to change the course of a match more than anyone I've ever seen.

Federer - Simply the Maestro. The James Bond of tennis, with the unmatched combination of strength and grace. Never seems to sweat, and never makes a noise on the court(footwork I mean). The greatest of all time, and I hope to see him play in person before he retires.

[smirker]

Originally Posted by suwanee4712

I've never seen Ramanathan play but would like to. I do love me some Ramesh though. People always describe him as "silky smooth" but I can't think of any other way to describe a male player of his calibur without feminizing the adjective. There were times when he passed Mac and Mac would look so silly because he honestly wouldn't know where Ramesh was going with the ball.

Can't believe I left off Lori McNeil. Another smooth player that when she trusted her instincts was sheer beauty in motion.

For me the player that made tennis look easy was Steffi Graf. In her prime no one even got near to beating her, the female Federer of her era. Also loved to watch Henin as it was always astounding how hard such a tiny woman could hit the ball.

On the mens side Becker was why I took up tennis but also loved watching Agassi for the showmanship. Sampras was arguably the better competitor but never as good to watch.

[NickJ]

There's so so many that could be included in this, and I see that they've all been named in other posts before including my choice below. But if i had to say one, just one, player that was a joy to watch and I finally got to see him 'in the flesh' in his last year at Wimbledon was, Fabrice Santoro. Always Santoro. Only Santoro.
He wasn't my favourite player, I grew up loving McEnroe, then Agassi, now it's Tsonga and Berdych. But, you just had to watch him if you could. Even if you ask the professionals themselves, I would say a good 75% of them would say Santoro.
He played in such a way that was unnerving if you were on the opposite side of the net. I never have been, never would have got close to being on the same court as him but it would have been so much fun just trying to win points against him. You know what you're in for but powerless to do absolutely anything about it. You don't get the name 'The Magician' without a trick or two . . . Genius.

[treblings]

i have to mention Mikael Pernfors.
he would fight till the last point and often win against more talented opponents.

[Steffi-forever]

Steffi Graf - The most beautiful game ever for me

Pete Sampras
Bjorn Borg
Novak Djokovic
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
Lindsay Davenport
Conchita Martinez
Michael Stich
Patrick Rafter
Magnus Larsson
Irina Spirlea
Tommy Haas

[suwanee4712]

Originally Posted by treblings

i have to mention Mikael Pernfors.
he would fight till the last point and often win against more talented opponents.

Mikael is still a hero of sorts in my area. I used to see him from time to time in and around Atlanta but its been a while. As good of a player as he is he's an even better person.

[treblings]

Originally Posted by suwanee4712

Mikael is still a hero of sorts in my area. I used to see him from time to time in and around Atlanta but its been a while. As good of a player as he is he's an even better person.

that´s good to know
he even played with my racquet for a number of years, the wimbledon graphite.

[mightyrick]

Agassi - The most impressive power hitter I've ever seen
Nadal - The most impressive defender I've ever seen
Henin - The most impressive women's player I've ever seen
Santoro - I have no idea what he was. But loved watching him more than anyone.

[Limpinhitter]

Originally Posted by treblings

that´s good to know
he even played with my racquet for a number of years, the wimbledon graphite.

The gold colored racquet? That was a nice stick. I saw Perfors Play for Georgia against UM. He was a little guy with a huge forehand and lots of natural talent. Not a great athlete in terms of speed, strength, etc., but, he had a great feel for the game.

[jaggy]

The video of Edberg reminds me how great he was to watch

[sabala]

Alberto Mancini

Slobodan Zivojinovic

[NLBwell]

McEnroe - intensity and artistry
Muster - intensity and intensity
Chris Evert (well, not so much playing a lower ranked player on clay - but watching how she played Navratilova when she was actually outgunnned)
Rosewall and Laver - I'll always remember those WCT finals
Agassi - watching him move his opponent back and forth like a pendulum

Borg is mythologized and he truly was one of the greats (his French and Wimbledon combos are one of the great achievements in tennis), but watching him play was often incredibly boring.

[Paul Murphy]

Originally Posted by suwanee4712

You make a great point. For me, Martina made other players much more watchable. Sanchez Vicario bored me to death because her moonballs and looping strokes rarely served an actual purpose other than to keep an opponent back and possibly lull them to sleep. But when she played Martina she was forced to play more aggressively and show off the decent net skills that she possessed.

Martina also forced others out of their comfort zone. Had it not been for her I might've never realized what a good forehand volley Evert has. That's not a knock on Evert as I genuinely enjoyed watching her play doubles.

Very true.
Unfortunately there's no one like her these days.
The sameness gets quite dull unless one of the top girls is involved.
Sometimes they can't save matches either.

[slowfox]

Mecir
Edberg
Graf
Wilander
Hingis
Rios
Sampras