The most impressive footwork... - Page 2

VGP · 05-19-2007, 05:20 PM

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seles
coetzer

FedSampras · 05-19-2007, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CEvertFan

I am a HUGE fan of Monica Seles, but I would have to disagree with you on this point. If there was one thing I could say about her game, it wouldn't include the term graceful. She would often barely get to balls, but her great wrists and hands, combined with her strength and power and good footwork, allowed her to still hit an offensive shot. I never considered her game to be graceful at all. Ferocious, yes. Graceful, no.

I do think she was quicker with regards to footspeed before the stabbing and that part of her game, which I never thought was a real strength of hers to begin with, really suffered because of the layoff and the weight gain and she was noticeably slower when she returned.

well, you are entitiled to your OWN OPINION Evertfan. it's a common knowledge in the tennis world that seles' footwork (pre and post stabbing) was excellent ( one of the best in women's tennis). what was missing when she came back after knifing incident was her footspeed.

i tend to agree that her was game was not as graceful as goolagong because of her tremendous power but she definitely was the most exciting player to watch play on the tennis court. her brilliance in the way she constructed the points, her mindboggling angles and pinpoint accuracy was truly the work of a tennis genius.

unlike graf whose unorthodox game was considered coyote ugly.

FedSampras · 05-19-2007, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CEvertFan

Footwork and footspeed are two different things. A player can have great footwork and not be the fastest runner, and that is what enables him/her to still get back a lot of balls. It's definitely a bonus if you have both, (Borg and Graf come to mind), but most players usually have more of one attribute than the other. The Williams sisters are a perfect example of a player having tremendous footspeed, but they can sometimes have sloppy footwork, hence the excessive unforced errors.

borg yes! but graf???? NO

graf was known for speed but never for her footwork. have you ever seen graf play on clay???

Hingis (certainly not graf) has both the footwork and footspeed.

TheNatural · 05-20-2007, 08:58 AM

I've only seen Graf live on Hardcourts, her footwork was super, really awsome. The best theres been in the wta.

Seles footwork was good . It had to be good because her movement wasn't so good and her technique wasn't as great as other smoother hitters.

Hingis does NOT have the footspeed, shes quite slow, and struggles in that department.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FedSampras

borg yes! but graf???? NO

graf was known for speed but never for her footwork. have you ever seen graf play on clay???

Hingis (certainly not graf) has both the footwork and footspeed.

FedSampras · 05-20-2007, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheNatural

I've only seen Graf live on Hardcourts, her footwork was super, really awsome. The best theres been in the wta.

Seles footwork was good . It had to be good because her movement wasn't so good and her technique wasn't as great as other smoother hitters.

Hingis does NOT have the footspeed, shes quite slow, and struggles in that department.

I've seen Hingis play many times. She was exceptionally fast. Her instincts, excellent footwork and positioning give her superb court coverage.

Again, Seles has one of the best footwork in women's tennis. She may not be as fast as Graf but her great anticipation and ability to hit the ball on the rise gave her good positioning and made her get to every ball. Monica (pre stabbing) was such a superior shotmaker that she would make even the fastest players ( like Graf) look slow.

As for Graf, she is one of the fastest women (aside from NAvratilova AND vENUS) I have even seen play in women's tennis. But her court postioning and anticipation were inferior to that of Seles. Graf also hit her forehand very late which cause her to have so much trouble when she played Seles (who hits the ball on the rise and wants to end points quickly).

FedSampras · 05-20-2007, 09:21 AM

Seles vs Graff 1990 French

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68cgN...elated&search=

Seles vs Graff 1993 Austrlian Open

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvyEnVCEl9A

FiveO · 05-20-2007, 07:07 PM

Borg, Connors, Hingis.

Lendl from the baseline was also very clean off the ground and always said it was something he had to remain very conscious of.

Edberg's footwork getting to and around the net may have been the best and most technically sound ever.

Agassi off the ground also neared perfection.

Today, Federer is not only fast he is incredibly efficient with his feet, i.e. always on balance, no wasted steps, lightness, etc.

I'm also a little surprised that a discussion of footwork has come up without Ken Rosewall's or Chris Evert's names being mentioned. Each had to be incredibly sound because neither had the physical gifts of size and strength that their nearest rivals did. Each had to be nearly perfect technicians to hit the ball as well as they did.

Condoleezza · 05-20-2007, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FedSampras

well, you are entitiled to your OWN OPINION Evertfan. it's a common knowledge in the tennis world that seles' footwork (pre and post stabbing) was excellent ( one of the best in women's tennis). what was missing when she came back after knifing incident was her footspeed. ...

Was she stabbed in the foot?

rommil · 05-20-2007, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Condoleezza

Was she stabbed in the foot?

Hey Granmaleeza is back(now let me find that stick I use to agitate the baboons at the zoo).

ATPballkid · 05-20-2007, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Condoleezza

Was she stabbed in the foot?

Steffi Graf's Career in a Nutshell.......

Gunther Parche
and WEAK Competition once Seles was gone.

rommil · 05-20-2007, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATPballkid

Steffi Graf's Career in a Nutshell.......

Gunther Parche
and WEAK Competition once Seles was gone.

How about Steffi Graf.... a great player blessed with some fans who harbor psychotic tendencies....

Warriorroger · 05-21-2007, 12:36 AM

Roger Federer and Steffi Graf

TheNatural · 05-21-2007, 08:10 AM

Federer has some of the best footwork I've seen in a long time, he glides and moves with an effortless efficiency.

05-21-2007, 08:11 AM

1. Rosewall
2. McEnroe
3. Connors
4. Federer

Kirko · 05-21-2007, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete Semper

What is the 5 most impressive footwork you ve ever seen

1 Borg
2 Nastase
3 Santoro
4 Chang
5 Agassi

no Jimmy Connors he was PERFECT.

CEvertFan · 05-21-2007, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FiveO

Borg, Connors, Hingis.

Lendl from the baseline was also very clean off the ground and always said it was something he had to remain very conscious of.

Edberg's footwork getting to and around the net may have been the best and most technically sound ever.

Agassi off the ground also neared perfection.

Today, Federer is not only fast he is incredibly efficient with his feet, i.e. always on balance, no wasted steps, lightness, etc.

I'm also a little surprised that a discussion of footwork has come up without Ken Rosewall's or Chris Evert's names being mentioned. Each had to be incredibly sound because neither had the physical gifts of size and strength that their nearest rivals did. Each had to be nearly perfect technicians to hit the ball as well as they did.

I absolutely agree with you. Evert had excellent footwork and excellent anticipation. She almost always seemed to be gliding across the court and there were very few players who could effectively rush her. Her footspeed was above average but she wasn't as fast as some others like Martina. I've never seen Rosewall play and all I know about him is what I've read but I am sure he also had excellent footwork.

CEvertFan · 05-21-2007, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FedSampras

borg yes! but graf???? NO

graf was known for speed but never for her footwork. have you ever seen graf play on clay???

Hingis (certainly not graf) has both the footwork and footspeed.

I suggest you watch some of Graf's matches again, because even on clay she had both great footspeed and great footwork. She had to have superior footwork in order to hit that late forehand and especially to run around her backhand so that she could hit the forehand.

I never thought Hingis was very fast with regards to footspeed. Her excellent anticipation and footwork make up for that to a great degree though.

CEvertFan · 05-21-2007, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FedSampras

well, you are entitiled to your OWN OPINION Evertfan. it's a common knowledge in the tennis world that seles' footwork (pre and post stabbing) was excellent ( one of the best in women's tennis). what was missing when she came back after knifing incident was her footspeed.

i tend to agree that her was game was not as graceful as goolagong because of her tremendous power but she definitely was the most exciting player to watch play on the tennis court. her brilliance in the way she constructed the points, her mindboggling angles and pinpoint accuracy was truly the work of a tennis genius.

unlike graf whose unorthodox game was considered coyote ugly.

You just reiterated everything I stated in my post. Maybe you should read my original post again.

Also for the record I never thought Graf's game was particularly graceful either.

morten · 05-22-2007, 12:25 AM

Cant believe only one person mentioned Edberg.... Agassi was great too.

05-19-2007, 05:20 PM	#21
VGP Legend Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Location: Location Posts: 6,309	safin moya mecir edberg chang federer nadal borg connors mcenroe graf navratilova mj fernandez seles coetzer __________________ "The secret is to find your motivation every single time - your inner motivation - so I always want to improve myself..." - EV

05-20-2007, 09:21 AM	#26
FedSampras Semi-Pro Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 697	Seles vs Graff 1990 French http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68cgN...elated&search= Seles vs Graff 1993 Austrlian Open http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvyEnVCEl9A Last edited by FedSampras : 05-20-2007 at 05:30 PM.

05-21-2007, 12:36 AM	#32
Warriorroger Hall Of Fame Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,596	Roger Federer and Steffi Graf __________________ One thing they ([B]Roger Federer & Steffi Graf[/B]) have in common: they scare(d) the crap out of their opponents when at the top. that's the kind of weapon you can't teach at the local club. and they use(d) it to perfection.

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