Berasategui
- Thread starter jamumafa
- Start date
VGP
Legend
http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/playerprofiles/default.asp?playersearch=berasategui
RG finalist 1994 - lost to Brugera
Heck of a clay courter in the mid-late 90s...
As for his grip....EXTREME western forehand. Looked liked he used the same grip for forehand AND backhand.
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BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
It's the one name that Ted Robinson somehow always works into the conversation with John McEnroe during their TV commentating at every Grand Slam over the past decade. 
LOL
LOL
D
Dunlopkid
Guest
I don't think that's a Western grip. I believe it's Hawaiian.
katastrof
Rookie
Right on. (10)
sypl
Rookie
No, it's a Pepperoni with extra cheese.
I dunno what the official term for it is, but the best description would just be 'hitting with the other side of a continental grip', no? In other words, insane. How on earth do you hit a low forehand with that?
D
Dunlopkid
Guest
No, it's a Pepperoni with extra cheese.
I dunno what the official term for it is, but the best description would just be 'hitting with the other side of a continental grip', no? In other words, insane. How on earth do you hit a low forehand with that?
That's the definition of the Hawaiian grip.
vive le beau jeu !
Talk Tennis Guru
any thread or link to advise about the definitions of the grips ?...
and about berasategui, nobody has a clip with some points of the match where he defeated agassi in the R16 of the australian open in 1998 ?
i read his insane FH was monstruous in the last 3 sets...
krprunitennis2
Professional
No, it's a Pepperoni with extra cheese.
I dunno what the official term for it is, but the best description would just be 'hitting with the other side of a continental grip', no? In other words, insane. How on earth do you hit a low forehand with that?
Slice? My friend slices all low balls since he uses Western.
jmsx521
Hall of Fame
Incredible player... and still one of my favorite tennis players of all time, judging by style of play. Following pro tennis since 1991, I have never seen faster-swung forehands than his! His match against Larson in 1994 French Open is one of my most memorable... he was at a total peak. At the Australian Open with Agassi, it was a great match too, but then the following years were kind of end of him. Berasategui won about 10-11 tournaments in his peak in 1994 and Sampras still became player of the year .
I have him on several tapes, but it would take me some time before I transfer to DVD, then web.
A player who had similar style forehand, (maybe Berasategui was his idol), was Julian Alonso. He was bigger and had more fire-power, plus could flatten out the shots... but didn't do much with his career.
.I have him on several tapes, but it would take me some time before I transfer to DVD, then web.
A player who had similar style forehand, (maybe Berasategui was his idol), was Julian Alonso. He was bigger and had more fire-power, plus could flatten out the shots... but didn't do much with his career.
vive le beau jeu !
Talk Tennis Guru
little rectification : he won 7 tourmanents in 1994 whereas pete won 10.Incredible player... and still one of my favorite tennis players of all time, judging by style of play. Following pro tennis since 1991, I have never seen faster-swung forehands than his! His match against Larson in 1994 French Open is one of my most memorable... he was at a total peak. At the Australian Open with Agassi, it was a great match too, but then the following years were kind of end of him. Berasategui won about 10-11 tournaments in his peak in 1994 and Sampras still became player of the year
and he finished the season with some severe losses at the masters... *ouch*
but his QF at the AO in 1998 proves he finally managed to play better on hard court, especially with this surprising win over agassi coming back from 2 sets to love !
... maybe because he was dating hingis ?!
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=9086
Steve Huff
G.O.A.T.
You said "coming to the net" gave him a nosebleed. I thought that him "hitting a backhand" was the bane. I've never seen any player, even Nadal, run so far off the court to hit a forehand.
V
vivavincent
Guest
No, he run very fast and he can use his wrist to kick much top spin on his forehand. No need to slice much.
V
vivavincent
Guest
I love him very much. The attractive one-- him and the defensive one-- bruguera
jmsx521
Hall of Fame
Yes, I've got the number too high. In addition to the seven, he won Barcelona challenger and was finalist for 2 tournaments (I don't know which). And I don't have results for futures if he played anything.little rectification : he won 7 tourmanents in 1994 whereas pete won 10.
Bottle Rocket
Hall of Fame
betiYonex
New User
Hello fron Bask Country.¿Spain?
Born in Arrigorriaga(Bizkaia) where his parents actually live.
He is the best ever tennis player here in Euskadi. Now he is our national tennis team captain. This December we'll play Ireland a friendly pre-christmas match.
For us he's an icone.
My actual stringer and friend was his first childhood coach before going Saddlebrook at thirteen.
He played tennis since child and his father made for him (in one of his company pabillions) one of the first indoor courts here. I've never played that court but I'm told it's one of the fastest courts ever constructed. It looks as imcompatible with his grip but tennis continues being a mystere...
One hard year in E.E.U.U. directed him to Barcelona filling an sponsored group to prepare Barcelona Olympics. There he acostumed to play clay courts and depurate his lethal weapon. Now retired he lives there with his wife and family.
His forehand grip is an usual eastern backhand grip. That's why he hitted the ball with the same side of both sides.
Get it and try to hit a forehand not sending the ball to the floor. Almost impossible without cracking your wrist.
His firsts trainers tried to change it but was impossible to get so great speed.
As he had no wrist problems they abbandoned the idea of change.
He retired by problems in his legs. Some kind of mineral deficit leaded him into cramps at three setters. Two years fighting against it was too much for him. He was one of the fastest players I've ever seen on a court. His forehand needed a great balance and position to be hitted. You let it an easy forehand ball and you're killed.
Now we have him to transmit his competition mentality to our players.
Regards from Bilbao.
Born in Arrigorriaga(Bizkaia) where his parents actually live.
He is the best ever tennis player here in Euskadi. Now he is our national tennis team captain. This December we'll play Ireland a friendly pre-christmas match.
For us he's an icone.
My actual stringer and friend was his first childhood coach before going Saddlebrook at thirteen.
He played tennis since child and his father made for him (in one of his company pabillions) one of the first indoor courts here. I've never played that court but I'm told it's one of the fastest courts ever constructed. It looks as imcompatible with his grip but tennis continues being a mystere...
One hard year in E.E.U.U. directed him to Barcelona filling an sponsored group to prepare Barcelona Olympics. There he acostumed to play clay courts and depurate his lethal weapon. Now retired he lives there with his wife and family.
His forehand grip is an usual eastern backhand grip. That's why he hitted the ball with the same side of both sides.
Get it and try to hit a forehand not sending the ball to the floor. Almost impossible without cracking your wrist.
His firsts trainers tried to change it but was impossible to get so great speed.
As he had no wrist problems they abbandoned the idea of change.
He retired by problems in his legs. Some kind of mineral deficit leaded him into cramps at three setters. Two years fighting against it was too much for him. He was one of the fastest players I've ever seen on a court. His forehand needed a great balance and position to be hitted. You let it an easy forehand ball and you're killed.
Now we have him to transmit his competition mentality to our players.
Regards from Bilbao.
Love reading this thread.
I hit with a Hawaiian grip for fun and just love it.
You have to really suppinate your forearm and fold/snap your wrist to hit it well.
But the results are fantastic. If you drive thru with a Lansdorp type swing finishing with racquet pointing to target you get very heavy topspin drive.
I do not have any wrist problems and low balls are no problem if you time it well. I do not understand why more people [out of 50-100 million players] don't use this grip or at least learn it for the education and options it brings to a normal W or SW.
I would really love to get some good slow motion clips of Breasategui in action but cannot find any. I want to see how he hits EXACTLY and compare to what I do.
Cheers to all
I hit with a Hawaiian grip for fun and just love it.
You have to really suppinate your forearm and fold/snap your wrist to hit it well.
But the results are fantastic. If you drive thru with a Lansdorp type swing finishing with racquet pointing to target you get very heavy topspin drive.
I do not have any wrist problems and low balls are no problem if you time it well. I do not understand why more people [out of 50-100 million players] don't use this grip or at least learn it for the education and options it brings to a normal W or SW.
I would really love to get some good slow motion clips of Breasategui in action but cannot find any. I want to see how he hits EXACTLY and compare to what I do.
Cheers to all
jmsx521
Hall of Fame
paulfreda, as soon as I find some video screen-capture programs I'll post some Berasategui shots. I have him on DVD and VHS, but cutting out points, making GIF/Flash animations and optimizing them for the web is different story.
I've also loved to emulate Berasategui's forehands too, but that type of swing is not healthy; there is too much pressure on the wrist... and I developed wrist problems, although I still enjoy hitting shots with such a grip. By the way to get the real effect of how his shots felt to be hit, you also have to use a Prestige frame.
I also once asked him what strings and tension he uses, but I forgot what it was.
I've also loved to emulate Berasategui's forehands too, but that type of swing is not healthy; there is too much pressure on the wrist... and I developed wrist problems, although I still enjoy hitting shots with such a grip. By the way to get the real effect of how his shots felt to be hit, you also have to use a Prestige frame.
I also once asked him what strings and tension he uses, but I forgot what it was.
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http://2006.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/interactive/index.html
Click on 1994 (first the women's match). The video doesn't run that smoothly.
Click on 1994 (first the women's match). The video doesn't run that smoothly.
jmsx521
Hall of Fame
Thanks ohlori. In general his performance at the 94 final was mediocre; up till the final his matches were better. When I watched the final in 94 I thought if he doesn't change his game soon, he'll loose the match... and he did.
Berasategui was kind of streaky... sometimes he played well and sometimes not, even within single matches too. And the problems with cramps on his legs, as Berasategui experts will tell you, were a major factor for the performances in his career. Bruguera was always the more steady clay-courter and that’s why he did better. But when Berasategui was on fire, I'd pick his skills over anyone on clay and even hard courts. When Berastegui was rallying, his performance was mediocre and not fun to watch. When Berasategui was on fire, that was the time to watch him; it was incredible.
Consider this: in 1998 Moya finished #5 in the world. Berasategui beat him in the semifinal of Estoril 6-1 6-1 (clay!)… in what Berasategui-experts (one of them in Finland ) consider one of his best performances. I've never seen the match; I'll be searching for it.
Berasategui was kind of streaky... sometimes he played well and sometimes not, even within single matches too. And the problems with cramps on his legs, as Berasategui experts will tell you, were a major factor for the performances in his career. Bruguera was always the more steady clay-courter and that’s why he did better. But when Berasategui was on fire, I'd pick his skills over anyone on clay and even hard courts. When Berastegui was rallying, his performance was mediocre and not fun to watch. When Berasategui was on fire, that was the time to watch him; it was incredible.
Consider this: in 1998 Moya finished #5 in the world. Berasategui beat him in the semifinal of Estoril 6-1 6-1 (clay!)… in what Berasategui-experts (one of them in Finland
) consider one of his best performances. I've never seen the match; I'll be searching for it.It's the one name that Ted Robinson somehow always works into the conversation with John McEnroe during their TV commentating at every Grand Slam over the past decade.
I remembered when Mac used to say something like, "Bring on the gravy" as referring to Berasategui's name.
Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
TTC will be showing highlights of the '94 French tonight(Berasategui made the final that year)
Indy Tennis
Semi-Pro
He was the first player I remember to really do the windshield wiper motion on the forehand.
