Big Three Underrated Strengths (Wholesome Thread)

[GoldenSwing]

Nadal
- Two handed backhand: is absolutely top tier. Can hit in a variety of stances. Cross Court power hit is VOLATILE. Would go as far as to say it is a top 20-30 backhand all time
- Slice: Hits with a lot of underspin. Can use both offensively and defensively. His return on the slice is amazing

Djokovic
- Forehand: One of the most versatile forehands in history (good on all surfaces, can defend, attack, pass, and return). He can flatten a ball or hit with heavy spin. Top 10 forehand in my book.
- Volleys: Was a weakness until Becker took him on.. Since then he has approached the net ALOT. Can serve and volley on a whim and has great touch. Seems to struggle with easier balls for whatever reason. Backhand volley is world class

Federer:
- One handed backhand: If there was no Nadal, his backhand would never be discounted. Hits with heavy spin and can drive through court. Moves phenomenally well off the one hand side compared to his lower ranked counterparts
- Movement: Nadal and Djokovic are both faster and can slide through the court, but Federer in his prime covered EVERYTHING on the court. Versatile on clay, glass, hard. Footwork is phenomenal and may be the best

Feel free to pick out which asset of the big 3 (not your favorite) is criminally underrated and post!

 

[Third Serve]

You listed some good ones, although I see Novak’s forehand getting more deserved praise nowadays. Don’t know if I’d call it underrated anymore.

Might also add Nadal’s second serve. It’s deceptively hard to attack and there’s the added perk of being a lefty. Wouldn’t call it the greatest ever but it’s actually quite decent.

Djokovic’s volleys are a bit underrated but they’re not particularly good anyway. Might go with his serve here, although this is a bit of a later trend since it wasn’t a super strong weapon earlier in his career. Most of Djokovic’s best shots already receive deserving praise anyway.

For Fed, I’d list the first serve return before anything else. I think he has one of the best first serve returns in the game and it might even be just as good as his own first serve. It’s declined over the last few years but it’s still probably the most underrated aspect of his game. Like with Djokovic’s forehand, though, I see a few more people praising it these days. It’s the second serve return that has never really been exceptionally good: that’s probably the true weak link in his game, not his backhand.