Hewitt, Kafelnikov, and Roddick- who is the best

[NatF]

Kafelnikov could hit winners on clay with flat shots (without even needing topspin like most clay courters), Hewitt didn't have the power to hit through players on slow surfaces. Kafelnikov was more aggressive than Hewitt and his groundstrokes had a lot more power than Hewitt. He also had better down the line shots than Hewitt. The only disappointing thing about Kafelnikov was his average serve for a tall man, and that he had bad endurance, he would get tired in 5 set matches, he didn't train much and played doubles every tournament.

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Two videos don't really prove anything, I could easily find matches of Hewitt where's he's hitting winners all over the place - yes even on clay (Davis Cup against Costa in 2000 and Kuerten in 2001, Nadal Hamburg etc...). Even in the match you posted Hewitt only had four less winners + forced errors than Gaudio. No way did Kafelnikov have a lot more power than Hewitt either BTW, pretty much any pro can crank it up and it's not like Kafelnikov was a massive flat hitter like Soderling or a guy like Wawrinka who hit with tons of spin as you said yourself. Not hugely familar enough with Kafelnikov to say whether he was better going line but Hewitt certainly didn't struggle there, I'd be surprised if he was as good going inside out or inside in as Hewitt's footwork was better.

 

[JasonZ]

hewitt was much better than kafel. kafelnikovs zero master titles tell it all.

 

[martinezownsclay]

hewitt was much better than kafel. kafelnikovs zero master titles tell it all.

Not to mention their head to head. 7-1 for Hewitt. Granted I think head to head on its own shouldn't be overestimated, but here it is in conjucition with some other things, and kind of reflects what I say. Both were similar in their main strengths, with Hewitt just being better in those things. Kafelnikov was not some huge power player of his or any era, and Hewitt was far from powerless, so any difference in firepower was neglible at best in Kafelnikov's favor. Heck Hewitt hit more clean winners in almost all their matches FWIW. Literally the only thing equal about them is both having 2 slam titles. And of course the biggest difference in them, Hewitt was infinitely stronger mentally, although Kafelnikov could be pretty tough in given matches/situations, but it was quite selective and definitely not day in and out like Hewitt in his prime.

 

[skaj]

Kafelnikov - the best ball-striker
Roddick - the best serve
Hewitt - the best defense

 

[BGod]

Roddick then Hewitt then Kafelnikov. But Hewitt had a short window although it was pretty grand. The back to back YE is really hard to top when Kafelnikov didn't win a single Masters in comparison. But Yevgeny made 2+ SFs at 3 Slams and a lot of SFs at the Masters level. His longevity should not be outright ignored.

Roddick gets #1 because he has a YE plus 6 Slams directly lost to Federer he wins otherwise. Hewitt was really only blasted by Fed on two occasions he otherwise wins.

 

[Deleted member 771911]

From eye test, Kafelnikov.
From achievements, Hewitt.

 

[JasonZ]

hewitt > roddick >> kafel

 

[80s New Wave]

Hewitt, Roddick and Kafelnikov in that order. Kafelnikov is the best on clay but lags behind on the other surfaces and Hewitt owned him h2h.

 

[Rogerer]

Hewitt on hard, Roddick on Grass, Kafelnikov on clay. Vote hewitt because win more and the h2h against Sampras is insane