greatest shot ever?

Do you guys recall a shot that you can label as the best shot you've ever seen?



In my opinion it's gotta be the Paradorn tweener winner cross court when he was on the full run.
 

finchy

Professional
i havent been watching tennis for too long, but i loved agassi's over-the-shoulder shot against corretja in the USO. forget what year though...
 

GotGame?

Rookie
finchy said:
i havent been watching tennis for too long, but i loved agassi's over-the-shoulder shot against corretja in the USO. forget what year though...

Just watching the Agassi vs. Federer USO Final, Federer did the same exact thing off that dropshot return that he hit. Agassi then hit a dropshot back, and the point ended up as Agassi's.
 

Kobble

Hall of Fame
Agassi's over the shoulder shot comes to mind quickly. It had the two main characteristics of all great shots, completely unexpected, and unusual.
 

Shyyre

Rookie
finchy said:
i havent been watching tennis for too long, but i loved agassi's over-the-shoulder shot against corretja in the USO. forget what year though...

i concur word for word... i never saw that live (that was my 15 year or so tennis haiatus(sp?)... but i've seen the replays... amazing...

also federer had a couple of brilliant shots at wimbledon (that full sprint back hand xcourt pass (3rd round?) and his run up to net flick to the other side of the court.... either shot had 0% margin for error... simply brilliant.
 

Marius_Hancu

Talk Tennis Guru
Kobble said:
Agassi's over the shoulder shot comes to mind quickly. It had the two main characteristics of all great shots, completely unexpected, and unusual.

I remember seeing a much better shot by Rafter: an over the shoulder OVERHEAD (with the back to the net, while located quite far from the net) in a match with Sampras; kind of a reverse sky-hook
 

Hartzy

Rookie
The string of one handed backhand winners Richard Gasquet had against Ginepri even though he lost that match. It amazes me how Gasquet can hit a backhand that hard.
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
I liked Kiefer's squash forehand against Federer at this years USO. That ball clipped the baseline at top speed.

The match was as good as over by then and it was a total fluke but it still put a smile on my face.
 

newbie123

Rookie
pete sampras running forehand entirely crosscourt on a huge shot that agassi hit in one of the australian open tie-breakers, forgot what year...
 
finchy said:
i havent been watching tennis for too long, but i loved agassi's over-the-shoulder shot against corretja in the USO. forget what year though...

4] Andre 1995, the over the shoulder winner against Alex Corretja on the way to the final against Pete....in which they had an amazingly long point to finish the 1st set.

3] I remember in the early days of Flushing, Connors hit an around the netpost passing shot against Adriano Panatta. This shot made the highlight reels on local TV, it was so impactful.

2] RF over Roddick in Houston and also against Hewitt in the desert: BH pass...practically a half-volley from just behind the baseline....short angle that defied physics. Followed by more of a sheepish smile than a fistpump.

1] Noah with a between the legs lob retrieval in a losing effort against Arias at the US Open (quarters I think).
 

Steve Huff

G.O.A.T.
Jimmy Connors was at the net. His opponent (can't remember who it was) hit a topspin lob over him. As the ball sailed over, Connors threw his racket into the air at the ball. It hit the ball about 10 feet over Connor's head and fell to the other side. Even though it was illegal and Connors lost the point, it still had to be one of the greatest. As far as "funny" goes, Hewitt reaching way over the net to just tap the ball against Federer, and NOT GETTING CALLED FOR IT, has to rank up there too.
 

RiosTheGenius

Hall of Fame
a few shots come to mind:

#1 US open 2003, Ferrero gets lobbed by agassi, he returns with a tweener from way behind the baseline, Andre replies with a drop and Ferrero gets to it with a cross court forehand, ,,, craziest thing I've seen.

#2 US open 2005, the Brian bros. against Gonzo/Massu. Gonzo hits a spear to one of the brians and the thing bounces of his knee for a perfect drop shot. everyone was laughing.

#3 Slam-cup 1998, the drop shot Rios hit against Thomas Enqvist that bounced back to his court

#4 Shrishapan's tweener on the run this year.

#5 any of those cross court passing backhands Federer hit against Roddick at both Wimby finals. they're crazy.
 

Galactus

Banned
Couple of Federer winners:
1: back-hand-lob against Andre Agassi...on the run...with his back to the net, Dubai '05
2: also back-handing a Mario Ancic 'career-best' return off a 2nd serve...so wristy, it was almost a squash-shot, Rotterdam '05
 

Deuce

Banned
Steve Huff said:
Jimmy Connors was at the net. His opponent (can't remember who it was) hit a topspin lob over him. As the ball sailed over, Connors threw his racket into the air at the ball. It hit the ball about 10 feet over Connor's head and fell to the other side. Even though it was illegal and Connors lost the point, it still had to be one of the greatest. As far as "funny" goes, Hewitt reaching way over the net to just tap the ball against Federer, and NOT GETTING CALLED FOR IT, has to rank up there too.
Is that the shot which bounced on Hewitt's side, and then spun back over the net to Federer's side?

If it is, reaching over the net to hit the ball after it has hit the court on your side of the net is perfectly legal.
 

ShooterMcMarco

Hall of Fame
PHM against roddick in montreal, he hit that passing shot while running toward the baseline. i think he was behind the baseline when he hit it.
 
Shooter McMarco's signature,

"SuDan: I have played for a long time w/ Continental Grip. Now my new coach says that I should change it for the Western Grip. I can't find them anywhere so can anyone of you please tell me where can I buy them."

Hilarious signature, man.
Anyway, tell SuDan to check out the grip selection at Western WEARhouse. Calfskin, ostrich, chamois...you name it. They even have boots to match. Sidenote: back when I had longer hair, I'd get the best bandanas there. Tons of colors and great prices.

Hahah.;)
 
Oh, and back to the point: greatest shots....

This one was never on television, but I've got to mention it.
I saw Jose Luis Clerc get back to a lob by Brad Drewett in an early round night match at the Open once. The shot made me want to play every single day. Naturally, his back was to the net and he was running near full speed. He hit it with the forehand side of his stringbed like a 'between-the legger", but the contact point was on the outside (right side) of his right calf. And, man, he spanked this ball...and it went in!

Other great shots that would happen with a little more regularity:

Becker's backhand return of serve. Oof. Inspiring. Saw him practice once and he seemed to have so much control over it, even though he was absolutely bludgeoning the ball.

Sampras, Rafter and Noah on the overhead. Just a little extra-special.

And finally, this one time [at band camp?], when Lendl was clearly trying to hit John McEnroe really hard in the stomach. He took a massive cut at an easy forehand..Mac sort of caught the ball with his strings and somehow delivered an impossible little angled drop volley. I'm sure this happened all the time, and Mac probably got more than his fair share of bruises, but my first time seeing this made me want to be at the net all day.
 

StraightSets

Semi-Pro
Feña14 said:
I liked Kiefer's squash forehand against Federer at this years USO. That ball clipped the baseline at top speed.

The match was as good as over by then and it was a total fluke but it still put a smile on my face.
That was an incredible shot. I turned the TV on and that was the first point i saw :p
 

Fedubai

Semi-Pro
There was this one shot from Gonzalez at Wimbledon this year, he hit a forehand cutter as hard as you can hit, with so much topspin that it landed in...against Federer and Fed ended up hitting it into the net I think, don't really remember...

Then there was the around the post shot from Fed at the Aussie Open...in the same match there was an unbelievable no-look forehand pass from him...

Kiefer at the US Open, that squash shot...last year at the Masters Cup Federer was running after this Safin shot that bounced above his head and hit a crazy slice shot that curved in, Safin got it back I think...hard to do..

Then there was the running backhand pass from Fed against Kiefer at Wimbledon this year...don't forget the little forehand dink against Gonzalez that was simply spectacular to watch...

I've seen a number of guys run after a lob and turn half way around and hit a winner, Roddick...Mathieu...Hewitt

Santoro tweener at the Open...I've always loved Federer's full backhand smash, not the little one where he just turns around and swats it, but the full one, like he did at the Aussi Open this year, against Suzuki and against the Finnish guy...it's a beautiful shot to watch and I've only seen Federer do it that particular way.

Most of these are Fed, but hey, what can I say...
 

ginger

New User
Federer-Roddick Wimbledon final, Fed running into net, has to hit a half volley. Instead of bunting it, he takes a full swing, picks it off the ground with extra topspin, and hits it for a short angle crosscourt winner on the line. On set point. Roddick had to laugh, it was so ridiculous.
 

FalconX

Rookie
ginger said:
Federer-Roddick Wimbledon final, Fed running into net, has to hit a half volley. Instead of bunting it, he takes a full swing, picks it off the ground with extra topspin, and hits it for a short angle crosscourt winner on the line. On set point. Roddick had to laugh, it was so ridiculous.

right that was wimbley semi though.
 

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
slice, remember Connors slicing a 40 mph ace to the ad court on match point, then celebrating as if it were the championship.
 

edberg505

Legend
I do remember Stefan Edberg hitting a behind the back ground stroke in the U.S. Open. I don't remember what year though.
 

Arafel

Professional
Two come to mind. I was at the Open the year Noah hit the between the legs shot. Everyone in the stadium was blown away. No one to my knowledge had ever hit that shot in a match before.

On TV, I'll never forget Evert running down Navratilova's approach and hitting a perfect backhand down the line passing shot on match point in the 1985 French final. There was this momentary pause where no one could believe she had finally done it again! And then the stadium exploded.
 

killer

Semi-Pro
1986 Wimby final becker vs. lendl. Couple of points from the end of the match, Boris dives for a bh volley...Lendl's fh dtl passing shot clipped the tape, and Becker recovered enough from the initial fall to bellyflop again as he hit a flick backhand dropshot to win the point. Becker screamed in celebration, and Lendl just couldn't believe it.
 

Netbudda

Rookie
I believe is 2003 Ferrero is playing Chela on Louis Armstrong stadium, I'm sitting second row right on the center of the baseline on Chelas side, after an exchange Chela comes to the net an Ferrero is chasing a lob and hits a passing shot tweener........I could see Chelas face like a deer caught in the headlights, standing 30 second ovation and Ferrero is bowing to the public.
 

ShooterMcMarco

Hall of Fame
slice bh compliment said:
Hilarious signature, man.
Anyway, tell SuDan to check out the grip selection at Western WEARhouse. Calfskin, ostrich, chamois...you name it. They even have boots to match. Sidenote: back when I had longer hair, I'd get the best bandanas there. Tons of colors and great prices.

Hahah.;)

yeah, Sudan's thread is still alive, but he is nowhere to be found :mrgreen:

i've always enjoyed sampras's slam dunks and fed's bh flicker xcourt shots. agassi's half volley from the baseline winner against nadal in montreal was pretty amazing too.
 

Rickson

G.O.A.T.
Roger Federer vs. Andre Agassi at Indian Wells in 04. Agassi pulled Federer out wide on the ad court, but Federer managed to barely get back a very stretched out backhand. Agassi came in for the easy volley on the deuce side, but Federer ran from beyond the ad court, all the way down to the deuce side to hit a running forehand. Agassi was so shocked to see the ball come back, all he could do was pop up a reflex volley, then Federer smashed down the high bouncing ball for the point. The amazing shot was not Federer's final shot of course, but the return of the volley that would have been a winner against anyone else.
 

jazzman21

Rookie
As far as shots, they're so many I can't even name them all. Some of my fav are from Fabrice Santoro, he has a load of them. I especially like the ones he made when playing Federer. And as far as match goes, I would have to go with Roddick vs El Aynoui (The Rockin' Morrocin') marathon at the Austrailian Open a few years back. Unbelievable! I still to this day believe that Roddick hasn't fully recovered from that match and El Aynoui hasn't been the same since.
 

Steve Huff

G.O.A.T.
Deuce, the ball never hit the ground on Hewitt's side. It never made it to the net. Even the commentators were talking about it, one saying they didn't make the call "in the spirit of the competition", whatever that meant.
 

Deuce

Banned
Steve Huff said:
Deuce, the ball never hit the ground on Hewitt's side. It never made it to the net. Even the commentators were talking about it, one saying they didn't make the call "in the spirit of the competition", whatever that meant.
Ok, Steve.

I remember one shot - not that long ago - where the ball did hit on Player 1's side and spin back to Player 2's side, and Player 1 just tapped it when it was on the other side of the net. I mistakenly thought that's what you were referring to - sorry.
 

edberg505

Legend
Steve Huff said:
Deuce, the ball never hit the ground on Hewitt's side. It never made it to the net. Even the commentators were talking about it, one saying they didn't make the call "in the spirit of the competition", whatever that meant.


Yes that ball did land on Hewitt's side and started to go back over to Fed's side because of the backspin. Hewitt then hit the ball whilst on Fed's side of the net. I have the match TIVO'D. Saw it quite a few times.
 

Coda

Semi-Pro
any of sampras's aces when he was down a breakpoint(or several)...or federer's running backhand (which he hit on his knee) crosscourt winner against hewitt at pac life.
 
Pancho Segura's two-handed forehand

I havn't seen it but it must have been one of the best strokes in the era of wooden racquets:
"He was a small man, no more than 5'6" (1.68 m), with badly bowed legs from the rickets that he had suffered as a child, but he made up it for with extremely fast footwork and a devastating two-handed forehand that his frequent adversary and the future tennis impresario Jack Kramer once called 'The greatest single shot ever produced in tennis'."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Segura
 

VGP

Legend
Perhaps not the "shot" per se, but a point of major consequence was during the 2nd round match between Becker and Rostagno in the '89 USO.

Becker was matchpoint down in the four set tiebreak and Rostagno approached the net. Becker hit a pass that bounced high off the netcord. An inch too low, Becker loses the match, an inch higher, Rostagno is sitting on the volley. All Derrick could do was flinch.

Becker goes on to win the USO.....
 

rafael

Rookie
My favorite shots are the around the net post shots. I have seen Federer do it a couple times as well as Agassi. Usually the opponent hits a sweet angled shot that pulls them off the court that looks like a sure fire winner. I remember Federer had a sweet one against Suzuki. Its just one of those shots where you can't help but smile.
 

DashaandSafin

Hall of Fame
How about the shot at Wimby this year..i think the returnerer hit the shot...it hit the netcord and went in.
Phillipousis breaks the net:) I love that.
Does anyone have videos of these things?
 
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