Biggest forehand among the young guns?

Defcon

Hall of Fame
I don't think anyone would confuse Nadal's fh with 'big'. It lots of action but he can't hit winners as he pleases.

Berdynch and Pim-Pim have lethal forehands - both hit pretty flat. Baghdatis is sort of like Federer-lite, he has that same wristy motion with lots of racket head speed and can hit amazing shots.

Among not-so-young guns, Gonzo would have to be up there.
 

Vlad

Professional
Djokovic and Monfils have great control and power on their forehand.

Mofils hits forehand on the run as well as anybody.
 

Steven87

Semi-Pro
Vlad said:
Djokovic and Monfils have great control and power on their forehand.

Mofils hits forehand on the run as well as anybody.
Djokovic looks like a madman when he hits a forehand winner
 

thejackal

Hall of Fame
Berdych. I saw him play on a sidecourt at TMS Montreal in 2005. Totally insane. He hit a midcourt forehand winner that was so flat that it passed like 1/4 of an inch over the net and faster than some other pros' serves.
 

str33t

Professional
thejackal said:
Berdych. I saw him play on a sidecourt at TMS Montreal in 2005. Totally insane. He hit a midcourt forehand winner that was so flat that it passed like 1/4 of an inch over the net and faster than some other pros' serves.
i second this.
 

ken1d

Banned
Let bring out one and only Robin sodirlin soderling, that guy can pound the ball. boy o boy the other day he was making federer lose control.
 

Breaker

Legend
Berdych takes the ball and rips it off the forehand like it insulted his mother or something, insane.

Djokovic when he's on also has a very powerful/versatile forehand though it can break down occasionally.

Monfils can also have a big one when he flattens it out..but he usually chooses to just roll it into the court.
 

Nextman916

Professional
Gasquet has suprised me with his flatter forehands, instead of his normal loopy rally forehands. He can really crush some big shots, this was shown when he beat Federer in Monte Carlo 2005. I havent really even noticed that Bagdhatis ever had a big forehand...ill try to look into this more often. It might have been the last match with Agassi made his big shots look less powerful, because of AA ability to handle pace, which doesnt seem to bother him at all.
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
I say Berdych too. He just slaps the ball so hard and flat, the noise of the ball from his racket is like no other I have heard before.

I heard a few years back at the World Team cup that when Gonzo was complimented on his forehand, he said that Verdasco and Berdych's were bigger that his.

If Gonzo says you have a big forehand, i'd listen :)
 

BaseLineBash

Hall of Fame
Nextman916 said:
Gasquet has suprised me with his flatter forehands, instead of his normal loopy rally forehands. He can really crush some big shots, this was shown when he beat Federer in Monte Carlo 2005. I havent really even noticed that Bagdhatis ever had a big forehand...ill try to look into this more often. It might have been the last match with Agassi made his big shots look less powerful, because of AA ability to handle pace, which doesnt seem to bother him at all.
Agassi made Baghdatis look mediocre. Don't get me wrong, I like him charisma and all, but Andre made him look average.
 

Nextman916

Professional
Feña14 said:
I say Berdych too. He just slaps the ball so hard and flat, the noise of the ball from his racket is like no other I have heard before.

I heard a few years back at the World Team cup that when Gonzo was complimented on his forehand, he said that Verdasco and Berdych's were bigger that his.

If Gonzo says you have a big forehand, i'd listen :)
Berdych indeed has a big forehand, his game is rather predictable tho. He beats Nadal no doubt, but not because of his power, i guess their styles dont compliment each other. Berdych has a predictable pattern in his game, which i have studied. When engaged in a cross court rally hes very stubborn, he never wants to lose so he usually bashes the ball back and forth until the opponent makes an error or after a while rip one at a severe angle with everything hes got. This happends repeatedly with his forehand, he also always goes for the open court and never expects anything back, thats why he always gets passed at net. Hes horrible at net, his whole form seems awkward and out of place. He never approaches unless forced to, if its a short ball he will only slice it with his BH, never his FH. And his slice is often dtl, almost never cross court because that would put him in positions to play a tougher volley, so he approaches dtl and finishes with an easy volley. Gasquet read this easily at their last meeting and overcame Berdych. If you watch his matches carefully youll understand what i mean.

Verdasco has one of the biggest forehands in mens tennis today because he crushes whatever shot he wants, the depth, pace, height, and error of margin doesnt bother him at all. Hes constantly going for outright winners, which of course leads to piles of errors but huge shots. I was going to nominate him but realized this was for "young guns" only, and i believe hes 23?
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Nextman916 said:
Berdych indeed has a big forehand, his game is rather predictable tho. He beats Nadal no doubt, but not because of his power, i guess their styles dont compliment each other. Berdych has a predictable pattern in his game, which i have studied. When engaged in a cross court rally hes very stubborn, he never wants to lose so he usually bashes the ball back and forth until the opponent makes an error or after a while rip one at a severe angle with everything hes got. This happends repeatedly with his forehand, he also always goes for the open court and never expects anything back, thats why he always gets passed at net. Hes horrible at net, his whole form seems awkward and out of place. He never approaches unless forced to, if its a short ball he will only slice it with his BH, never his FH. And his slice is often dtl, almost never cross court because that would put him in positions to play a tougher volley, so he approaches dtl and finishes with an easy volley. Gasquet read this easily at their last meeting and overcame Berdych. If you watch his matches carefully youll understand what i mean.

Verdasco has one of the biggest forehands in mens tennis today because he crushes whatever shot he wants, the depth, pace, height, and error of margin doesnt bother him at all. Hes constantly going for outright winners, which of course leads to piles of errors but huge shots. I was going to nominate him but realized this was for "young guns" only, and i believe hes 23?

I think I know what you mean about Berdych, I'll be watching tomorrow so i'll keep an eye out for those patterns. He does seem to enjoy hooking the ball dtl on the forehand side when he is near the back hand corner though.

I love Verdasco, he is absolutely mad on the forehand wing, no doubt is it up there as one of the biggest but certainly not the smartest. Gonzalez's is big but he seems to be getting clever with it now and making far less unforced errors, Stefanki seems to be a good influence on him especially on the backhand side which has improved ALOT, I would go as far as saying he has one of the best slice backhands in the game, not as good as Federer's but it's very good none the less.

Verdasco a young gun? Your right, he probably has been round long enough to not be considered as a "young gun", especially now theres a new generation with Monfils, Murray, Djokovic etc coming through.
 

Steven87

Semi-Pro
Surprising some people are saying Monfils, due to the fact most people acknowelege him as a "pusher" around here. Also, I change my vote to Ancic. People forgot about him
 

ken1d

Banned
pcpshortbus said:
i have to second on soderling he just rips the cover off the ball every chance he gets

the thing is these guys havn't seen much of soderling yet.Well, One might argue that he hasnt put up a string of results to actually be seen on tv. However, its still doesnt take away the fact he hitts the forhand harder and flater then pretty much anybody on the tour.

need proof? watch the federer vs soderling madrid. He was hitting so hard that federer was losing his balence and miss timing a lots balls. when was the last time have you seen that happened to roger?
 

Robbie_1988

Semi-Pro
Bagdahtis for the running crosscourt forehand - huge power there.
Berdych and JJohansson for sheer power from their flat shots.
 

BabolatFan

Semi-Pro
Steven87 said:
Id say Baghdatis....the common choice would be Nadal, but I disagree with that
Yeah I also like Baghdatis' forehand. He can flatten it out and crush it especially on hardcourt. Same with Berdych's forehand. Blake's no young buck but his forehand is heavy too. Nadal's forehand maybe fantastic to watch but it's really nothing on hardcourt.
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Let's face it. Most of the young guns these days are pretty complete players. The likes of Berdych, Baghdatis, Murray, Djokovic, Gasquet etc.. they are pretty good all round players. Each of them have a fantastic forehand in their own way, whether you like Berdych smashing flat bombs or Murray's passing shots and angles, or even Djokovic's steady power.

These guys are the real deal, it's a fantastic time to be a tennis fan.
 

Duzza

Legend
I couldn't care for the young guns forehands yet. The best I've seen preparation, timing and contact consistency wise would be James Blakes.
 

Baghdatis72

Hall of Fame
Baghdatis has hit one of the strongest forehand I've seen when playing against Hewitt at Wimbledon this year. It was a thunder!
 

J-man

Hall of Fame
Duzza said:
I couldn't care for the young guns forehands yet. The best I've seen preparation, timing and contact consistency wise would be James Blakes.
Blake's forehand can break down and he make tons of unforced errors.
 
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