two handed slices are just weird to watch. i saw wozniacki hit these shots in some of her matches. evert, austin and seles have two-handed backhand drop shots which were seen more commonly than their two-handed slices. evert and austin rarely sliced because their flat or topspin backhands were their real weapons. it's like graf slicing a forehand - she hardly ever did it because, obviously, the flat forehand was her signature shot. seles' two-handed bh slice is also seldom used. sometimes, she hit it to junk up the pace, but that was obviously not her basic game. also, she usually hit one-handed slices off the backhand when she was stretched out.
i actually thought that anna kournikova had a good two-handed slice backhand. she also seldom used it, but when she was playing smartly (which was very seldom, to say the least), she used this shot effectively to change the pace, create sharp angles and set up her powerful flat drives or approach shots.
Noah had a great slice backhand, but I think I Rod Laver may be tops in that department (attcking backhand slice). Here is some video of great one handed bankhand slice shots in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8IJ0F01IiU (Thanks to Krosero for the video. Laver is about 32 and Rosewall is 36 here by the way but you can see them both using the slice shots of both wings at times with great effect).
Both had super slice backhands. Another player with a great slice backhand is Arthur Ashe. Laver and Ashe had more shots off the backhand side than anyone I've ever seen.
Here's Ashe in his famous match against Connors at the 1975 Wimbledon. Notice how he can lob and use variety of angles and slice off the backhand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMF1eP_yB2Y&feature=related
The second one is the famous Ashe against Laver match. Notice how much firepower both players have off the backhand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43csIDKmkMk
Ken Rosewall , Evonne Goolagong ,Jimmy Connors.,Ramesh Krishnan
Both had super slice backhands. Another player with a great slice backhand is Arthur Ashe. Laver and Ashe had more shots off the backhand side than anyone I've ever seen.
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Gotta support the Rosewall bandwagon here!Rosewallapalooza!
Ken Rosewall without a doubt had the deadliest, bestest, sliced backhand of all time. While other players, like Laver, had other options, Muscles lived and died by his (with living being the usual result). His backhand, we can just call it his backhand because he didn't vary it much, was so on and so accurate that he didn't need a ton of pace. But, he could hit it with as much pace as he needed to get it past a guy at net or put him in trouble.
I also think Evonne Goolagong was an outstanding selection on the women's side. Her slice, she was in possession of a topspinner too, was elegant and never appeared rushed. Graf's, by contrast, was always so close in to her body and taken late that it had no aesthetic value. Mind you it was a great shot, but nowhere near as beautiful to behold as Goolagong's.
Rosewallapalooza!
Ken Rosewall without a doubt had the deadliest, bestest, sliced backhand of all time. While other players, like Laver, had other options, Muscles lived and died by his (with living being the usual result). His backhand, we can just call it his backhand because he didn't vary it much, was so on and so accurate that he didn't need a ton of pace. But, he could hit it with as much pace as he needed to get it past a guy at net or put him in trouble.
I also think Evonne Goolagong was an outstanding selection on the women's side. Her slice, she was in possession of a topspinner too, was elegant and never appeared rushed. Graf's, by contrast, was always so close in to her body and taken late that it had no aesthetic value. Mind you it was a great shot, but nowhere near as beautiful to behold as Goolagong's.
Definitely Steffi Graf. She had so much versatility with her slice backhand. She could slice it up the line, cross court, to the baseline, drop it just over the net, and everything else. She did not just use the slice defensively but also offensively. It would force players to have to bend low and hit up, which gave Graf an advantage. I believe it was largely Graf's slice backhand that proved to be an annoyance for Chrissie.
I think it was more of a hindrance vs Evert from the backcourt than Martina's, because her extra height gave extra purchase on the stroke for more pace without loosing consistency. but Martina's use of the slice as an approach was frightening. Honestly Martina's slice approach was better than her forehand approach which was more error prone - but if the forehand went in, you were lucky to get there in time for any prayer of a pass.
I would definitely agree that Navratilova's slice approach was daunting and very well executed. I think her beautiful serve and volley game perfectly complemented Evert's baseline and all-court game, and these two brought out the best in each other. Thanks for that insight.
Sorry Borg and PC, but Noah's at the bottom of any list I'd make
Stevan edberg pretty good
imo, the 1983 FO Final was one the best displays of slice bh's I've seen(I rewatched it recently), Noah didn't S&V that much that day but still was able to get to net so much(& win a good %) because of his bh slice, it had great depth.
Kenovic Rosewall--the sensei-masterHhahanice, I used to have an old teammate who'd change up everyone's first name, especially Euro-sounding names.
Mickey Stich not bad.
Ralph Nadal kind of nice.
Ian Lendl decent.
Andrew Agassi not so good.
Peter Sampras fairly sweet.
Mikhail Chang allright.
Charlie Moya quite good.
Gustav Kuerten pretty good.
Matt Wilander not so bad.
Edvard Dibbs fair.
Rico Krajicek passable.
Malcatraz Washington pretty nice.
Gordon Ivanisevic also good.
Joe Louis Clerc had a good one.
Willie Vilas pretty good.
Willie Coria not bad.
Al Costa pretty sweet.
Art Ashe good.
Billy Nastase.
Rick Stockton.
Juan McEnroe.
Jamie Connors.
Jimmy Oncins.
Patrizio Cash,
Padraig Rafter.
Kenovic Rosewall--the sensei-master
Noah had a good baseline foundation, as happens to players raised on european red clay.He was athletic and could be dominant with a good approach and a good volley.
Most of people, however forget that he portayed himself as an european clay court expert that, due to his athletics talents, could reach the net and vollye.
But, IMO, he was not lie Adriano Panatta a classy S&V raised on clay Noah was a baseliner that, due to his physichal talents, could play an agressive style.
to me, it makes a lot of basic concept difference¡
One handed backhand slice:
1. Ken Rosewall
2. Rod Laver
Rosewall had the best slice shot ever.
Two handed backhand slice:
1. Jimmy Connors
2. Bjorn Borg (although Borg did also hit a lot of one handed backhand slice shots as well).
I think Connors had a very nice looking two handed slice. I liked Borg's one hander more, but his two handed shot could be very effective. See their shots on display at the 1981 W SF, from 2-2 in the 5th set:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND6BqlTwZbU
Kenovic Rosewall--the sensei-master
For me it was Graf. Thing I remember is that she would occasionally come on top of it and commentators would say that if she would ever mix up her backhand that she would be unbelievable.
Men: Becker
Women: Graf
They must have loved teaching this shot to the German juniors back in the day because these two could hit it with more bite than anybody I've ever seen.
Rosewall by far had the best, Laver right after. The thing is all the great Aussies from that period had solid slices. Hopman laid the foundation that you even saw in Gerulaitis (very solid slice BH), McEnroe, Fleming and Rafter. Remember JMac, Vitas and that group at Port Washington in the 70s all got to work under Hopman.
imo, the 1983 FO Final was one the best displays of slice bh's I've seen(I rewatched it recently), Noah didn't S&V that much that day but still was able to get to net so much(& win a good %) because of his bh slice, it had great depth.