thomasferrett
Hall of Fame
I get these 2 mixed up in my head a lot; tall, bearded guys with big forehands and unremarkable backhands.
But whose forehand is bigger?
But whose forehand is bigger?
Bigger forehand: Khachanov or Berrettini?
- Thread starter thomasferrett
- Start date
I would as well say Berrettini
Can't recall so easily when Mateo had to hit say 10 FH win a point, while going for big forehands.
But it's almost business as usual for Karen.
And it seems to me that lately Karen isn't going for his really big FH, he is slowing it down, to avoid mistakes
mental midget
Hall of Fame
agree, not even close imo. was just talking about this in another thread, KK is a sneaky 'not big' hitter relative to his size, serve rarely tops 125 and there are a lot of guys who hit through the ball w more authority. they use a similar grip so its not just the western forehand thing, but whatever the reason MB's forehand is significantly stronger.
Shaolin
Talk Tennis Guru
Spot on. KK looks like he hits massive but his extreme grip slows it down and makes it too spinny.
The Green Mile
Bionic Poster
Sure, he has one of the biggest when he goes for the old hail mary disgusting slap shot, but his average is not that big at all.
mental midget
Hall of Fame
true BUT he can give it a ride in a way i’ve never seen KK be able to do for example.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
McGradey
Hall of Fame
Kyrgios was outhitting Khachanov in their AO match this year.
Khachanov looks like Tarzan and plays like Jane. He hits moderately big off both wings, but it's not that crazy Thiem/Nadal spin, and it's not that flatter, penetrating bullet like DelPo or Rublev.
Just a solid rally ball that good players can deal with relatively comfortably.
Khachanov looks like Tarzan and plays like Jane. He hits moderately big off both wings, but it's not that crazy Thiem/Nadal spin, and it's not that flatter, penetrating bullet like DelPo or Rublev.
Just a solid rally ball that good players can deal with relatively comfortably.
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Khachanov has such an extreme grip he has to take huge cuts, it's a huge but it doesn't seem to go through the court like Berts
Red Rick
Bionic Poster
Yeah I've thought this too. When he won Paris he was not losing the backhand exchanges with guy like Zverev etc. I think if Khach is on he's just really solid with beefy but no enormous shots.
Berrettini on the other hand just technically looks like club level player except for some reason he can crank the ball so hard. I'm sure the fundamentals aren't too wrong, but him hitting so big is probably more due to body proportions and sheer strength then technique.
TearTheRoofOff
G.O.A.T.
Irrelevant.
Moonballballer
Semi-Pro
Berrettini is playing with a way heavier racket and with extreme racket head speed.
mental midget
Hall of Fame
yep resurrecting this thread. it's that hitch, rather than lag, before the shot. the only racket acceleration is like torque-y and forced at the last second, very tight wrist. berrettini slaps through it much more. and delpo, when he makes it to a tennis court, is just textbook straight through the ball for gonzo power.
btw another player who knows how to give the forehand a ride is monfils. typically plays pretty safe but he can asolutely NUKE forehands every once in a while, maybe fastest on tour actually.
McGradey
Hall of Fame
Monfils hit one at 190km/h the other day
He could probably own the title of biggest hitter on tour with a different mindset
Ace of Aces
Semi-Pro
He hits fairly flat and doesn’t get a lot of margin on his rally balls. I’d imagine he’d beat himself if he tried to go big all the time.
goldengate14
Professional
How is this even a question. Khachanov FH is his weaker shot. Berretini Fh is one of his only 2 shots.
Aabye5
G.O.A.T.
Yes, his backhand is one of the better ones one tour now, but his forehand doesn't even rank probably.
Clay lover
Legend
Khach's is really all effort and no reward. Hurts to watch it sometimes
TennisLurker
Professional
why would a man as tall as Khachanov play with such an extreme grip? he will never struggle with high jumping balls on the forehand side
thomasferrett
Hall of Fame
Probably because he learned the grip when he was young and short, and never changed it when he grew taller.
In tennis, your technique is permanently etched into your muscle memory from the age of like 5 upwards, and can't really be altered past that age. It's also why you pretty much never see anyone with a two-handed backhand anymore; what 4 year old is going to be strong enough to hit a one-handed backhand? That's right, none of them, so they all learn 2HBH, then are stuck with it as they can't learn any new technique past the age of 5.
The Big Foe fan
Hall of Fame
I want to know the 3 idiots who voted for khachanov
Berret also uses western, almost same height. But the slingshot effect of Berret FH technique is a lot more effective to create the deadliest combination of power and spin on the tour. Khachanov looks like a poor man's version of Gulbis forehand.
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