Biggest forehand in men's tennis ever??

[fed_rulz]

Why? It's been proven wood really doesn't slow up pure power much on the serve. I'm not talking about pure speed now with today's racquets anyway. I'm just talking about the forehands in tennis HISTORY that were reputed to be very fast. Most of these guys probably toned down on the speed compared to today since with wood racquets you couldn't hit with the topspin to keep the ball in play as well but it doesn't mean these guys couldn't belt the ball.

Pancho Gonzalez was close to 6'4" tall and was extremely strong and agile. If you check my post I meant relatively speaking. Key word, relatively.

Do you think Pancho Gonzalez couldn't hit the ball as hard as for example Serena Williams if he had today's racquets? Serena can hit some of her groundies like blurs. I would tend to think Pancho Gonzalez could hit the ball with today's racquets much faster than Serena. Pancho was probably a far stronger man than his ex brother in law Andre Agassi anyway when Pancho was in his prime.

Check out this weakling on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd0gJzm_EQY

ok, you're then talking something different from what the OP asked for. Your use of the term "relative" wasn't clear.

i don't doubt Pancho could hit the ball as hard as Serena williams, if he had access to modern racquets. But he didn't. In terms of pure velocity, I don't think any of the old-timers you listed hit it anywhere close to what the Delpos and Soderlngs can do today.

 

[Fugazi]

Gonzo, Andreev, Delpo.

 

[pc1]

ok, you're then talking something different from what the OP asked for. Your use of the term "relative" wasn't clear.

i don't doubt Pancho could hit the ball as hard as Serena williams, if he had access to modern racquets. But he didn't. In terms of pure velocity, I don't think any of the old-timers you listed hit it anywhere close to what the Delpos and Soderlngs can do today.

Possibly but we don't know. Del Potro is one of the biggest hitters of the forehand I've seen, if not the biggest.

I probably should have been more clear with the term relatively.

Edit--With I believe the average speed of the forehand for the older players wouldn't be as great as today considering they used wood.

 

[wy2sl0]

La Monf can really flatten it out, and for pure pace can pretty much take the cake. However, consistency at that pace? Del Po or Soderling for sure. Oh and of course, 2003/04 Roddick :twisted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2b8mXXvwQs

 

[theoratoruk]

tsonga definitely!

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

Gonzalez has the biggest forehand in the history of the game. Take a long look in the mirror and you will come to the conclusion that gonzalez was the Michael Jordan of the forehand. His pace was epic and legendary. Heres your proof

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ReQmejWYy4

this match was such an entertaining blockbuster... typical USO exciting night session !

and talking about FH-storm, the (unfortunately) unfinished delpo-gonzo at bercy 2009 was quite monstruous too !

 

[droliver]

Soderling and Delpo hit it harder on a consistent basis then anyone in history. I have to assume this is due to the leverage and momentum due to the length of their arms (? angular velocity) and their very long strokes

 

[The Baseline]

For pure speed relatively speaking-del Potro, Hoad, Vines, Segura, Pancho Gonzalez (timed with a wood racquet at 112.88 miles per hour), Sampras, Fred Perry and probably a number of others I forgot about in the running.

You got the wrong Gonzalez..........it would be Fernando not Pancho

 

[The Baseline]

Soderling and Delpo hit it harder on a consistent basis then anyone in history. I have to assume this is due to the leverage and momentum due to the length of their arms (? angular velocity) and their very long strokes

watch this match

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ReQmejWYy4

 

[piece]

Gonzalez from 2006 to 2009
Del Potro 2009
Gulbis 2008 (I still remember a forehand he hit against roddick at the USO that year. Maybe the biggest I've ever seen. No footage on the net though)
Blake 2003 to 2008 or so

Verdasco and Tursunov belong in the discussion too. Against Tipsarevic at the Aus open this year verdasco hit a 189kph forehand, which is only 1kph off Monfils' record. And I've heard a story before of Tursunov getting over 200kph in some doubles match or something on a midcourt sitter of a forehand.

I guess you can put Monfils in there if you favour absolute top speed over consistent power. Or you could add Soderling if you're more into consistent power than absolute top end pace.

Anyone have any reliable measurements for Gonzo and Delpo forehands? They are the two most frequently brought up but I've never seen any measurements that rival those of Monfils or Verdasco.

 

[OddJack]

Fernando has clocked the fastest FH ever hit.

People here have short memories.

 

[piece]

Fernando has clocked the fastest FH ever hit.

People here have short memories.

When did he (assuming you mean Gonzo) do this? And how fast was it?

Wikipedia goes with Monfils as having the record http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forehand

 

[The Djoker]

Where is monfils, he has the record for the fastest forehand

amen! he was killing them today, too!

 

[tony_ace]

Gonzo. Delpo can scream a forehand crosscourt which is just a blur, but I think Gonzo clocked the fastest.

 

[drakulie]

As to MPH, care to guess how much faster Pete's FH would have been with new millenium string and stick technology? We'll never know what he would have done with, say, your choice of frames, a bit of nattie and a bit of Lux. It's scary to even think about it.

The VS Gut Sampras used is WAYYYYYY more powerful than any poly used today.

 

[Marty502]

Regarding Gonzo, I think this is his hardest shot ever.
I regard it as the prime example of the lunacy within his FH:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E40rfx3rYc

The first one, against Federer. It's just off-charts.
Even Larry Stefanski said that's the hardest forehand shot he's ever seen.

He hit a 189 km/h forehand against Monaco at Rome, but this one just looks faster.

 

[drakulie]

^^^Jeez. Damn animal. :evil:

 

[tony_ace]

Thanks Marty. Nice link. Couple of super blisters there!!!!

 

[piece]

Regarding Gonzo, I think this is his hardest shot ever.
I regard it as the prime example of the lunacy within his FH:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E40rfx3rYc

The first one, against Federer. It's just off-charts.
Even Larry Stefanski said that's the hardest forehand shot he's ever seen.

He hit a 189 km/h forehand against Monaco at Rome, but this one just looks faster.

Here it is (with radar reading and all) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu5qFYumKes

Only thing is, it was a return of serve. If we're going to count those then there's at least two I can think of that look faster. Blake - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM-xrbvXdGI and Krajicek - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqGuIaHu4Tc

But I agree that Gonzo's first forehand against Federer looks a little faster than his return against Monaco. And since Monfils' record is inly 1kph faster than what Gonzo did against Monaco I wouldn't be surprised if Gonzo has hit bigger forehands than Monfils' biggest.

 

[The Baseline]

Here it is (with radar reading and all) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu5qFYumKes

Only thing is, it was a return of serve. If we're going to count those then there's at least two I can think of that look faster. Blake - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM-xrbvXdGI and Krajicek - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqGuIaHu4Tc

But I agree that Gonzo's first forehand against Federer looks a little faster than his return against Monaco. And since Monfils' record is inly 1kph faster than what Gonzo did against Monaco I wouldn't be surprised if Gonzo has hit bigger forehands than Monfils' biggest.

Here are the dynamics of the Blake forehand.

 

[Dekline]

Whether you like him or not....monfils has the biggest forehand. As much as we all want our favorites to be the answer to this question (consistant power, record holders, 1kph off record, sun in his eyes, flat, spin etc)..........that's just the way it is.

His tennis like an old lady putting around 20 mph in a Ferrari....hes just a split hair away from outright popping a tennis ball.

 

[RS92]

delpo has the best forehand

 

[Miso]

Gael Monfils when he is dialed in. 118mph on the forehand down the line right?

That's pure beast. Too bad my boy Monfils isn't very consistent.