theagassiman
Rookie
Now don't get me wrong here.
Despite my avatar and my display name, I am a huge Sampras fan and will route for him over anyone, except for Agassi (of course
), but to me Sampras seemed to have very overrated volleys.
Yes, they were very pretty and very natural-looking, ceratinly the best of his era, but when you watch him volley against any player who could hit a decent passing shot, like Lleyton Hewitt, or even Kraijek, he always seemed forlorn, almost wary when he volleyed.
In fact I will go so far to say that he did not look like he wanted to be at the net.
Now before you can rightly tell me looks can be decieving, especially with Pete Sampras, Sampras always seemed to me against players like Lleyton and Stich and even other, lesser players, to be very reluctant at the net, as if he was more programmed to go in rather than wanting to.
Now, when he looked like that, and against such a great passer like Hewitt, he almost always seemed to lose the point, and eventually the match, because his volleys let him down.
Now when commentators and suchlike compare Sampras' volleys to great volleyers of the past such as Laver, Mac, Edberg, e.t.c, I feel it is really unfair on those three that Sampras should be compared to them because of the above reasons.
To me the greatest volleyers have to look as if they want to come to the net, as well as play the volleys when they are there, even against a tough passer like Hewitt, or Stich. That's what I feel Sampras didn't do so well, and why I think that his volleys are overrated.
Anyone agree or disagree?
Despite my avatar and my display name, I am a huge Sampras fan and will route for him over anyone, except for Agassi (of course
), but to me Sampras seemed to have very overrated volleys. Yes, they were very pretty and very natural-looking, ceratinly the best of his era, but when you watch him volley against any player who could hit a decent passing shot, like Lleyton Hewitt, or even Kraijek, he always seemed forlorn, almost wary when he volleyed.
In fact I will go so far to say that he did not look like he wanted to be at the net.
Now before you can rightly tell me looks can be decieving, especially with Pete Sampras, Sampras always seemed to me against players like Lleyton and Stich and even other, lesser players, to be very reluctant at the net, as if he was more programmed to go in rather than wanting to.
Now, when he looked like that, and against such a great passer like Hewitt, he almost always seemed to lose the point, and eventually the match, because his volleys let him down.
Now when commentators and suchlike compare Sampras' volleys to great volleyers of the past such as Laver, Mac, Edberg, e.t.c, I feel it is really unfair on those three that Sampras should be compared to them because of the above reasons.
To me the greatest volleyers have to look as if they want to come to the net, as well as play the volleys when they are there, even against a tough passer like Hewitt, or Stich. That's what I feel Sampras didn't do so well, and why I think that his volleys are overrated.
Anyone agree or disagree?
