Greatest returner with a one-handed BH?

King No1e

King No1e

G.O.A.T.
When we talk about the great returners of all time - Djokovic, Agassi, Connors, Safin, Murray - almost all of them have exceptional 2-handed backhands to aid them. But aside from the usual suspects, in your opinion, who is the best returner of all time with a one-handed backhand?

Discuss
 
I wonder if it might be Federer. I do think he has the best first serve return among one-handers (maybe even among all players, but that’s a bit of a stretch). I’m not sure.
 
Federer's return is very similar to his serve in the sense that his return game is much better than his return if we break it down as a stroke. He does an incredible job getting balls back in play. He blocks big first serves as well as anyone in history, and while his 2nd serve passiveness is frustrating, he does get the ball back to a neutral position where the rest of his game can take over. He doesn't come close to taking over a point straight off the return like a truly great returner like Djokovic or Agassi can do with their depth and aggressiveness.

I'd still say he's the best of the 21st century, but that's also because he doesn't have a lot of competition in the 1-handed department this era. Older fans will need to weigh in on how he compares to the Lavers, Lendls and McEnroes of the past. Maybe even a Muster.
 
MeatTornado said:
Federer's return is very similar to his serve in the sense that his return game is much better than his return if we break it down as a stroke. He does an incredible job getting balls back in play. He blocks big first serves as well as anyone in history, and while his 2nd serve passiveness is frustrating, he does get the ball back to a neutral position where the rest of his game can take over. He doesn't come close to taking over a point straight off the return like a truly great returner like Djokovic or Agassi can do with their depth and aggressiveness.

I'd still say he's the best of the 21st century, but that's also because he doesn't have a lot of competition in the 1-handed department this era. Older fans will need to weigh in on how he compares to the Lavers, Lendls and McEnroes of the past. Maybe even a Muster.
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Agression on 1st returns is overrated.
 
I think Sampras deserves a place at the table. One of the reasons he could for example have a 12-4 record H2H against a guy like Rafter, was his ability off both sides to take that big kick serve and get it back to Rafter's shoelaces where there was little to be done with it. Pete's game was so smooth and economical that it's easy to overlook how good his strokes were.
 
ollinger said:
I think Sampras deserves a place at the table. One of the reasons he could for example have a 12-4 record H2H against a guy like Rafter, was his ability off both sides to take that big kick serve and get it back to Rafter's shoelaces where there was little to be done with it. Pete's game was so smooth and economical that it's easy to overlook how good his strokes were.
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I wouldn’t say he had the outright best return, but I fully agree that his return was decisive, especially in his Wimbledon titles. He had the best combination out of serve, volley and return, and that’s what seperated him from all the others who were similarly good or even better in one of those 3 categories.
 
Federer is the greatest returner of all time. Murray is a close second.

I base this on how well They handle the biggest servers out there.
 
King No1e said:
When we talk about the great returners of all time - Djokovic, Agassi, Connors, Safin, Murray - almost all of them have exceptional 2-handed backhands to aid them. But aside from the usual suspects, in your opinion, who is the best returner of all time with a one-handed backhand?

Discuss
Click to expand...
Without a doubt Roger Federer.
If only he had not been botting 2nd serve returns, he could've been way upwards in the list of greatest returners of all time
 
While Federer is significantly behind Djokovic, Agassi and Murray as a returner - far too many weak BH slice “push” shots even against second serves - He’s probably the best overall returner among 1HBH players. Sampras has to be up there with him.
 
vex said:
While Federer is significantly behind Djokovic, Agassi and Murray as a returner - far too many weak BH slice “push” shots even against second serves - He’s probably the best overall returner among 1HBH players. Sampras has to be up there with him.
Click to expand...

I think you should read this.

Nadal's habit of standing so far back causes his returns to fall shorter than Djok, Fed, Murray (in that order).

www.atptour.com

The Best Returner Among The Big Four... | ATP Tour | Tennis

The Infosys Serve & Return Tracker shows who leads the legendary group
www.atptour.com www.atptour.com
 
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In his '78 book Vines goes gaga over Budge's return (and, of course, BH) and calls it the best ever more than once - Elly spoke glowingly of Jimbo's return as well but I can't recall if he included a specific comparison of the two shots - but I know that's an anecdotal shout-out to a pre-'68 guy so who among the more recent candidates? My own pick goes to....

buscemi said:
Probably Edberg.
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Yeah he's the only guy, 1-hander or not, who ranks among the all-time (read: post-'90) top 10 in % of 1st-serve points won across all surfaces. And that's despite the double counting of aces (and DFs) in most '90s GS matches and the bulk of his earlier prime being excluded from consideration! Given his high profile it's truly amazing how Stefan's name is barely mentioned in most GROAT gabfests.

King No1e said:

Who needs direction when you can just hit hard?
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Pfff, Krajicek did Blake one better:


(Seriously, think someone here did a frame-by-frame analysis of both shots several years back and concluded that Krajicek's was indeed a hair faster. May well be the biggest FH ever hit.)

ollinger said:
I think Sampras deserves a place at the table. One of the reasons he could for example have a 12-4 record H2H against a guy like Rafter, was his ability off both sides to take that big kick serve and get it back to Rafter's shoelaces where there was little to be done with it. Pete's game was so smooth and economical that it's easy to overlook how good his strokes were.
Click to expand...

Sampras at the majors (and maybe DC), to be more exact. Pete admittedly half-assed the rest of the tour, but when he went all out few were more dangerous.

Gotta give the BH return to my other boy Boris (when he wasn't chasing chicks), though, especially indoors. Stich wasn't half bad himself.
 
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