Exciting Times: Federer and that straight arm forehand are back but now with a different face and a two-hander
- Thread starter Rago
- Start date
Watch The Ball
Rookie
alcaraz lacks the acceleration of fed's forehand as well as nadal's definitely
GoldenSwing
Rookie
He borrows elements from his games from all the big three.. I can’t say he plays like Federer, Nadal or Djokovic individually.
If you combined all three you would get Alcaraz quite literally. He and his team have stated that they borrowed elements from all their games.
He has Federer’s pace, aggression, and all court play, as well as being strike first. But he doesn’t have the floaty footwork, fluidity, or ease of play. Nothing in his form and technique looks like Federer’s. It’s completely different. His forehand is like a combo between Del Potro, Nadall
If you combined all three you would get Alcaraz quite literally. He and his team have stated that they borrowed elements from all their games.
He has Federer’s pace, aggression, and all court play, as well as being strike first. But he doesn’t have the floaty footwork, fluidity, or ease of play. Nothing in his form and technique looks like Federer’s. It’s completely different. His forehand is like a combo between Del Potro, Nadall
Mediterranean Might
Professional
Maybe but the acceleration of the ball is certainly there…the kid clobbers it
ghostofMecir
Legend
He doesn’t take the ball as early as Federer did though pretty much nobody did on the FH, but he can crank up the power a lot more as he can crank it up to 100—105 mph whenever he seems to want to. Watching that FH with that super fast explosive arm movement worries me a little bit though.
If he were a little bit taller and just kept all these other attributes, I think he could break all the records.
Watch The Ball
Rookie
he is gonna need a lot more acceleration on the forehand to go through big 2 and rack up slams to just make it to atg status from being a ttg let alone break all the records.
Watch The Ball
Rookie
kid clobbers it but he doesn't have the torque of nadal/federer that allows their big shots to still land in.
Rago
Hall of Fame
Valid points but his aggression off the forehand wing and variety still remind me more of Federer to be honest. Sure; he has physical elements from Djokodal's game but the way he just hits the cover off the ball and plays all-court tennis is as close to nirvana as we are going to get in this baseline slugfest era.
Watch The Ball
Rookie
he is a combo agreed but doesn't possess a greater weapon than big 3
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
Whatever that means. Alcaraz's forehand did more damage to Novak than Federer's did.
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
Neither of Federer or Nadal had Novak frantically defending and running as much at Wimbledon as Alcaraz did.
GoldenSwing
Rookie
Federer’s forehand was definitely unreachable for Djokovic in many matches. Alcaraz hits the ball just as fast but Djokovic can reach them due to them being more loopy and spinny.
Alcaraz didn’t win Wimbledon because of his forehand, he won because of his backhand in ridiculous scenarios, his serving, and his dropshots/defense. Forehand to forehand exchanges were pretty much 50/50. Don’t get me wrong, I think Alcaraz could potentially have the greatest forehand of all time, but it’s hardly a big Forehand that struggles Djokovic. If anything Djokovic absorbs forehand pace like no other… See Federer, Nadal, Del Potro, Tsitsipas, etc
Alcaraz didn’t win Wimbledon because of his forehand, he won because of his backhand in ridiculous scenarios, his serving, and his dropshots/defense. Forehand to forehand exchanges were pretty much 50/50. Don’t get me wrong, I think Alcaraz could potentially have the greatest forehand of all time, but it’s hardly a big Forehand that struggles Djokovic. If anything Djokovic absorbs forehand pace like no other… See Federer, Nadal, Del Potro, Tsitsipas, etc
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Watch The Ball
Rookie
it means alcaraz has less torque on the ball than fed/nadal which is defined by a ratio of spin/speed of the ball. fed and nadal get more spin on the ball for the same speed compared to alcaraz thus their shots are more likely to land in. also fed beat novak more than 20 times as an older atg so his forehand did do more damage lol than alcaraz currently who is facing a 16 years older novak and still struggling.
ghostofMecir
Legend
Also, he’s fun to watch. You see people wanting to put up these videos about his forehand and shot making. You see the general excitement about him that we didn’t have for a long time. There was a lot of buzz after he won Wimbledon especially from younger viewers. He is good for the game.
Watch The Ball
Rookie
not the greatest forehand of all time if he can't handle nadal.
The Fedfather
Legend
Watch The Ball
Rookie
nothing obliterated novak's defense like nadal's forehand at rg come on man. also alcaraz 16 years younger goodness
arvind13
Professional
Federer beat Novak in four sets at Wimbledon 2012. And had him running plenty
GoldenSwing
Rookie
I can agree with that at this very moment. No one has relied more on their forehand to win big tournaments than Nadal. Federer and Djokovic have so many other strengths that they can rely on that its quite absurd Nadal has forehanded his way to 22 slams.
I am sure Djokovic has PTSD alone from Nadal’s forehand at the French for a straight decade.
Watch The Ball
Rookie
nadal also has a goat backhand just below djokovic as well to compliment his goat forehand which took him to 22 slams.
GoldenSwing
Rookie
I would personally say it is an all time backhand, definitely top 10 for sure. But thats still little to compare to Djokovic’s #1 backhand, #1 return, serving, movement across surfaces as well as Fed’s serving, volleys, all court play, slice, etc. Just goes to show that Nadal’s forehand has carried him far more than the other two.
Nadal’s peak forehand at Roland Garros is still the greatest challenge that has ever existed in tennis.
Watch The Ball
Rookie
nadal has number one forehand, number 2 backhand. number one forehand because we all know its the highest torque on the ball we have seen in the sport to this day. number 2 backhand because its probably the most spin put on a two hander and highest power potential of both two handed and one-handed backhands and no one can break it down consistently at rg and other courts.
Topspin_80
Hall of Fame
His lob, just to mention one shot, it's better at age 20, than the best lobs of Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal.
And he's improving.
Watch The Ball
Rookie
lob is not a prime weapon in tennis. the forehand drive, the backhand drive, and serve are what's most important. murray's lob didn't win him more slams right?
Topspin_80
Hall of Fame
And he's a greenhorn!!
Can you imagine how good he'll be in 2 years?
He's gonna run Djokovic roughshod on every surface.
Watch The Ball
Rookie
not gonna roughshod the big 2 cause he has losing h2h stats against them with 16-17 years age difference something we haven't seen in tennis for a supposed atg potential.
Topspin_80
Hall of Fame
Yes it is, specially when combined with a drop shot.
Your vision of tennis is way too simplistic, but then that's the way you are.
You don't even mention volley, half volley, overhead.
You are too simple.
Watch The Ball
Rookie
i am not simplistic; i am all about facts unlike a lot on this forum. these lobs drop shots are all accessories not the main weapons. you can win every match with a forehand drive, backhand drive, and serve
Topspin_80
Hall of Fame
Losing stats with Djokovic?
H2H is Alcaraz 2 Djokovic 1.
The only big 2 currently is Alcaraz #1, Djokovic #2
We don't know if Nadal is coming back.
Watch The Ball
Rookie
overall sets h2h with novak is even. overall slam sets h2h djoker leads. so djoker still has an advantage over alcaraz at the slams statistically. djoker ain't going anywhere. its just facts.
nadal will come back after seeing alcaraz's struggles with novak lol.
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
That also wasn't a final.
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
The clown show continues on talk tennis
Watch The Ball
Rookie
the only clown show is the alcaraz hugger mug show which you are a part of lmao
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
DSH
Talk Tennis Guru
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
Yeah. World number 1.
USO champion
Wimbledon champion
Earned everything he ever achieved
Keep crying.
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
They're terrified that Alcaraz is erasing the big 3's relevance.
The_Order
G.O.A.T.
20 year old Nadal would have made 36 year old Djok defend and run around even more...
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
2011 and 2018. Nadal lost both times. Hypothetical rubbish isn't an argument. Only facts work.
Clay lover
Legend
Don't wanna look like I'm a buzz kill but the SA has been around before, during and after Federer's time enough that I don't think the superficial similarity is really that noteworthy.
Both are nice forehands of course but I'd argue Fed's is more precision-based and Alcaraz's is more from the Spanish tradition of hitting heavy forehands to bigger targets and then pulling the trigger when necessary.
Both are nice forehands of course but I'd argue Fed's is more precision-based and Alcaraz's is more from the Spanish tradition of hitting heavy forehands to bigger targets and then pulling the trigger when necessary.
robthai
Hall of Fame
But Federer lost too.
TheSlicer
Professional
in a lot of forehand adjustments he indeed has that floaty footwork, he obviously has more modern technique but it resembles feds in the sense of how easy he does it
TheSlicer
Professional
Lol have you ever played tennis? I mean beyond messing around at the park, facts he says.... how tennis dummie can you be.
Holmes
Hall of Fame
It has the potential to be BETTER than both.
TheSlicer
Professional
dont mind him he just watches his own balls
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
Why not compare a straight arm FH with a 2HBH to Nadal instead of comparing it to Federer with a 2HBH?
ghostofMecir
Legend
Play tennis? I don’t think he’s left his basement in years.
robthai
Hall of Fame
He's not a lefty and doesn't do the lasso finish on almost every forehand like Nadal. He prefers to finishes the stroke across the chest like Fed. His forehand approach shots are also very Fed-like.
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