Best volleyer out of Nadal, Murray and Djokovic?

[thomasferrett]

Of course McEnroe famously has said that Nadal has the best volley on tour (apparently better than guys like Llodra who was still on tour when the statement was made, Federer, Stephanek, F. Lopez...etc...).

But I get the feeling like that statement by McEnroe is not generally supported among the fans on this board (unless they're the Nadal die-hards).

And what about Djokovic? He has definitely improved his volleys recently. The net was one of the few advantages Murray had over Djokovic, but now Djokovic might even be better than Murray up there. And Murray is praised by many for having a good net game.

So anyway, the poll is up, the floor is yours. Vote and discuss please.

 

[Numero Uno]

I would grade Nadal 9/10,Murray 8.8/10 and Novak 8.7/10

 

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

the three are close, but Murray I wish he was coming more to the net, actually his volley is not as good as people think
Gasquet volleys better than the three

 

[rossi46]

Nadal

Murray

















Djokovic

 

[Donnie Brasco]

Nadal>Murray>Djokovic>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Me
/Thread

 

[Backhanded Compliment]

Add in Wawrinka and fed and make it multiple votes. I like Murrays volley but the guy just doesnt use it enough. Wawrinka has good hands. Fed can construct pretty well and Nole has improvedconsiderably. Nadal is very good because he constructs and executes when he chooses too but still Wawrinka and Murray have the capacity to do more at the net.

 

[Attila_the_gorilla]

None of these three volley. They come in for a put away dink occasionally. That's different. Federer volleys sometimes.

 

[ultradr]

Of course McEnroe famously has said that Nadal has the best volley on tour (apparently better than guys like Llodra who was still on tour when the statement was made, Federer, Stephanek, F. Lopez...etc...).

I agree with McEnroe on this one. Nadal is the best volleyer among top players.

Federer is not a real volleyer. He is a one punch volleyer but not as good as others on 2nd, 3rd subsequent volleys(, for which players real volleying talent shines).
He knows that and doesn't volley on critical points and comes to net only if he is leading match/set/game comfortably.

 

[Tshooter]

Nadal is the only one of the three that can forehand volley and serve up a stack of pancakes with the same motion.

 

[Tshooter]

...Federer is not a real volleyer. He is a one punch volleyer but not as good as others on 2nd, 3rd subsequent volleys...

 

[Poisoned Slice]

 

[ultradr]

meaning he should win with 1st volley. Otherwise he is in trouble. If his opponent returns his 1st volley, Federer is not good at responding to subsequent reflex volleys. That is a sign of weak volleying skill.

When it comes to 2nd, 3rd followup volleys after 1st one, there are long list of players who are better than Federer. In that sense, Federer might not even average among top players, IMHO.

 

[Tshooter]

meaning he should win with 1st volley. Otherwise he is in trouble. If his opponent returns his 1st volley, Federer is not good at responding to subsequent reflex volleys. That is a sign of weak volleying skill.

When it comes to 2nd, 3rd followup volleys after 1st one, there are long list of players who are better than Federer. In that sense, Federer might not even average among top players, IMHO.

Yup, just as crazy the second time.

 

[Bartelby]

Nadal doesn't volley.

You'd have to define a volleyer as someone who hits more than one volley in consecutive shots during one point on a sufficient number of points.

Federer alone probably would meet such criteria.

 

[timnz]

I would grade Nadal 9/10,Murray 8.8/10 and Novak 8.7/10

What would you grade Edberg, McEnroe, Roche as? Surely Nadal, Murray and Novak are no-where near these older players level. Nadal at best is a 7 I would have thought (with the other two slightly lower).

 

[LeeD]

You doubter's never watched Nadal play doubles. His volleys are much better than his singles play would lead you to believe. He has touch, power, precision, and executes like he knows what he's doing.
Judging his net play based on singles would lead you otherwise.

 

[Bartelby]

Nadal volleys well enough, but it's not a part of his repertoire in top flight singles matches so we'll never know how good he could have been.

 

[zep]

Nadal is slightly better than Djokovic and Murray. But I do think that Murray's volleys are slightly overrated and Djokovic's slightly underrated.

 

[moonballs]

Djokovic is the most willing to come to the net among the three (by the last two years), and he does no worse than the other two up there if we leave out the overhead. Hence be is the best volleyer of the three.

The best volleyer can't be the one who only comes up to put away volleys.

 

[moonballs]

You doubter's never watched Nadal play doubles. His volleys are much better than his singles play would lead you to believe. He has touch, power, precision, and executes like he knows what he's doing.
Judging his net play based on singles would lead you otherwise.

True.

He is literally a different person in doubles -- no fidgeting, no time violations. I doubt he ever took an MTO. His level in doubles didn't take a nose dive after the bio passport either. ;-)

 

[jm1980]

You doubter's never watched Nadal play doubles. His volleys are much better than his singles play would lead you to believe. He has touch, power, precision, and executes like he knows what he's doing.
Judging his net play based on singles would lead you otherwise.

doubter's what?

 

[HailDjokovic]

The answer is obvious
The most natural volleyer out of all them is nadal. I barely see him at an uncomfortable position at the net. Fantastic overhead and great technique. I believe if he practiced it more and merged it into his tennis, he would have better aggressive tennis with volleys matching fed's level. But that will probably never happen
As for who is the best all-courter, it is probably post becker djokovic. He approaches the net the 2nd most after federer and has had positive success there.
Djokovic's problem with volleying sometimes is basically how nervous he is. Novak is probably the best drop volleyer out of the three with great sense of touch. However he fails to get simple volleys or mild shots quite often. I believe it is all in his head

Murray is probably a little naturally better than Djokovic on fundamentals and focus, but he doesn't ever use the net.

 

[Numero Uno]

What would you grade Edberg, McEnroe, Roche as? Surely Nadal, Murray and Novak are no-where near these older players level. Nadal at best is a 7 I would have thought (with the other two slightly lower).

Well ok, maybe i would drop 0.5 points andy novak and rafa.. But still, keep in mind that balls nowadays travel mucj faster then im those, and that translates into much less time to react at the net...

 

[Russeljones]

Everyone knows Nadal is the best volleyer in the top 100.

 

[zagor]

Novak is the only one of the three that is willing to integrate it (net play) into his game. Nadal only goes to the net for putaways and Muray nearly never goes there (despite having great hands).

He's a Sampras fanatic that believes Fed is a claycourt specialist that benefited the most from slower conditions (more so than a guy like Nadal, they're the same type according to him) and would have had a Courier like career in the 90s.

In other words, he's a bit out there (also used to post under the account Fastdunn). Fed is the only active slam winner that actually won a slam using serve and volley as his main tactic (and on the whole ventures more to the net and with greater success), to claim he's the worst volleyer of the bunch is absurd.

 

[NatF]

Novak is the only one of the three that is willing to integrate it (net play) into his game. Nadal only goes to the net for putaways and Muray nearly never goes there (despite having great hands).



He's a Sampras fanatic that believes Fed is a claycourt specialist that benefited the most from slower conditions (more so than a guy like Nadal, they're the same type according to him) and would have had a Courier like career in the 90s.

In other words, he's a bit out there (also used to post under the account Fastdunn). Fed is the only active slam winner that actually won a slam using serve and volley as his main tactic (and on the whole ventures more to the net and with greater success), to claim he's the worst volleyer of the bunch is absurd.

Not to mention Federer serve and volleyed at key times during this recent Wimbledon final even off second serves...

 

[Djokovic2011]

They all seem about equal to me.

 

[vanioMan]

Djokovic attacks the net more than Nadal and Murray, but I've seen Rafa hit many volleys that Novak could probably never make.

 

[Sysyphus]

I seem to remember Murray using the net a fair bit in the RG semi, with better stats than ND. Some other matches too.

That said, Novak makes the best use of the net (no pun intended), and that's what counts. The reason some think he looks clumsy is that he takes risk and goes for tough volleys. Nadal looks better because he is more conservative.

 

[Deleted member 716271]

They're all roughly equal, but I would say:

Murray is the most natural

Nadal is the most solid

Djokovic doesn't stand out but probably most effective nowadays

 

[chjtennis]

I agree they are about equal. The fact that players cannot volley as much nowadays makes it even harder to separate them.

 

[KG1965]

Nadal >> Murray >>> Djoker

 

[Chanwan]

Add in Wawrinka and fed and make it multiple votes. I like Murrays volley but the guy just doesnt use it enough. Wawrinka has good hands. Fed can construct pretty well and Nole has improvedconsiderably. Nadal is very good because he constructs and executes when he chooses too but still Wawrinka and Murray have the capacity to do more at the net.

Agree with this. Wawa and Murray have the best 'hands' at the net (closely followed by Rafa, who's extremely solid and does have some nice touch up there too), but Novak (post-Becker) utilizes it more in his game than the 3 others and aside from the overhead, he's become quite capable at the net.
Hence I can see people giving it to him as he's the only one consistently coming to the net.

I agree with McEnroe on this one. Nadal is the best volleyer among top players.

Federer is not a real volleyer. He is a one punch volleyer but not as good as others on 2nd, 3rd subsequent volleys(, for which players real volleying talent shines).
He knows that and doesn't volley on critical points and comes to net only if he is leading match/set/game comfortably.

At first I thought this was pure trolling, but the dude seems serious in his delusion.

 

[D.Nalby12]

Agree with this. Wawa and Murray have the best 'hands' at the net (closely followed by Rafa, who's extremely solid and does have some nice touch up there too), but Novak (post-Becker) utilizes it more in his game than the 3 others and aside from the overhead, he's become quite capable at the net.
Hence I can see people giving it to him as he's the only one consistently coming to the net.


At first I thought this was pure trolling, but the dude seems serious in his delusion.

Even better than Federer?

I would say no. Federer along with Dimitrov, Stepanek, Paire and few others belongs to club 'Best hands in Tennis now' IMO. Murray is closest to players above while Wawr is slightly worse in this department.


















and Nadal's name should not be even mentioned in this discussion.

 

[President]

I would still say that Djokovic is the worst volleyer of the 3, but he has closed the margin considerably and obviously actually uses the net a lot more than the other guys (doesn't mean he is better at the net though, for example a guy like Karlovic is at the net all the time but Murray volleys a lot better than him despite never coming up there). It is quite close between all 3, I would say Nadal and Murray are basically equal with Djokovic slightly behind.

 

[jm1980]

Djokovic actually takes risks when going to the net while the other two basically only move up to finish points when they have to.

 

[Chanwan]

Even better than Federer?

I would say no. Federer along with Dimitrov, Stepanek, Paire and few others belongs to club 'Best hands in Tennis now' IMO. Murray is closest to players above while Wawr is slightly worse in this department.


and Nadal's name should not be even mentioned in this discussion.

No, obviously not better than Federer and they come to the net much less as well, so that also makes them worse volleyers. But between the 4, Stan, Murray, Djoko and Rafa, I rate them as in my post. Djoko's the least adept and least natural up there, but he uses the net to the best effect and has improved his skill tremendously up there - so I think I give him the nod because of that.

Rafa, while not half as great at the net at McEnroe thinks, is very good and extremely solid at the net once he goes there. Mostly for putaways, but he pulls some stunning drop volleys off as well.

 

[Backhanded Compliment]

No, obviously not better than Federer and they come to the net much less as well, so that also makes them worse volleyers. But between the 4, Stan, Murray, Djoko and Rafa, I rate them as in my post. Djoko's the least adept and least natural up there, but he uses the net to the best effect and has improved his skill tremendously up there - so I think I give him the nod because of that.

Rafa, while not half as great at the net at McEnroe thinks, is very good and extremely solid at the net once he goes there. Mostly for putaways, but he pulls some stunning drop volleys off as well.

Well I think Mac sees the construction that Rafa puts in... to a real s&v-er like him that matters even more than hands. I think people are underestimating Wawrinka's hands. Id actually like to see Stan and Murray play doubles against Fed and Nole or Fed and Rafa. It would highlight a few things that are tough to suss out judging from all of their mostly backcourt singles play.

 

[Chanwan]

Well I think Mac sees the construction that Rafa puts in... to a real s&v-er like him that matters even more than hands. I think people are underestimating Wawrinka's hands. Id actually like to see Stan and Murray play doubles against Fed and Nole or Fed and Rafa. It would highlight a few things that are tough to suss out judging from all of their mostly backcourt singles play.

I said above that I think Wawa and Murray have the best hands, so I agree. Not sure I agree on the point construction part - McEnroe would go forward on 'everything' - Rafa only comes forward on what he expects to be a sure putaway.

 

[Backhanded Compliment]

I said above that I think Wawa and Murray have the best hands, so I agree. Not sure I agree on the point construction part - McEnroe would go forward on 'everything' - Rafa only comes forward on what he expects to be a sure putaway.

Good points... I love Mac but sometimes I just dunno. Since he's hit volleys that just dont seem possible I guess he's allowed to make impossible seeming pronouncements on other pro's volley skills. Maybe it is something he saw in a warmup?

Maybe it is Mac appreciating Rafa's rational approach? Though I think Mac had such amazing skills in say 1984 that coming to the net on everything was easilly the right way to construct.

 

[Chanwan]

Good points... I love Mac but sometimes I just dunno. Since he's hit volleys that just dont seem possible I guess he's allowed to make impossible seeming pronouncements on other pro's volley skills. Maybe it is something he saw in a warmup?

Maybe it is Mac appreciating Rafa's rational approach? Though I think Mac had such amazing skills in say 1984 that coming to the net on everything was easilly the right way to construct.

I respect McEnroe's volleying skills enough to take any of his views somewhat seriously with regards to any comment he makes on volleying.
But this particular statement was just him hyping up Rafa's game me thinks. Wouldn't be the first time a commentator, nor McEnroe for that matter, has overstated something to make a point - I mean Wilander says he's never seen Fed play better, whenever he wins 2-3 games in a row.