How good was Pat Cash?

[Tennis Dunce]

87 Aussie Final v Edberg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Uqk4-mlJY&feature=feedu

 

[SusanDK]

Pat Cash won the Wimbledon men's over 45 doubles in 2010 with Mark Woodforde. He plays a fair amount of seniors / legends tennis these days.

 

[retrowagen]

Very strong player, physically. So strong that his body worked against itself (not unlike Nadal, at the moment), as it happened.

He didn't seem quite as tough mentally as some of his peers, and his tumultuous 'rocker' lifestyle seemed to take more away from his tennis than it added...

 

[Tennis Dunce]

Pat Cash is the kind of guy who could beat the crap out of two thugs in an alley.

 

[kiki]

Cash was a better player than his record would show or his personality would allow people to admit.

Despite having a very solid build and exceptional athleticism (his sprint times over 50 metres were in the elite category) he was very prone to injury and his career at the top level was, effectively over by 1989, at the age of 24. In those times he was healthy, he won Wimbledon, was runner-up in two Australian Opens (one on grass and one on hard court), reached the semi-final of the US Open, the quarters of the French, played the leading role in two Davis Cup wins and was twice runner-up in the Wimbledon doubles (semis of Aus and US Open doubles as well).

All up, just shy of the Edberg, Becker, McEnroe, Lendl, Connors, Wilander bracket BUT capable of beating any of them.

Actually, I think it's quite telling that, apart from McEnroe and Becker, he was good enough to beat all of those players, plus Mecir, Noah and Leconte, at either a major (French, Aus, Wimbledon, US) or the Masters. Great players, like those, might slip up at a lesser event but it takes a genuine talent to beat them when it matters most.

Built up like a light bull - due to his training in the very competitive Australian Rules Football- cash was extremely strong and flexible, specially on his knees.That allowed him to evolve very well on grass.He was, along mc and Edberg, one of the best volleyers of his generation, and IMo, his first step was a decisive factor in his excellent net play.

Good serve, long and angled, though not exactly a cannon ball.More of a serve and volley classic player than a guy with an acing serve.He was considered the great hope of australian tennis, since John Newcombe 15 years before Australia had not had a true champion, and a Wimbledon winner.

Unfortunately, Edberg and Wilander were too tough for him in the 2 AOF he lost going to five sets and having chances to win the title.his first showing at the top was his 1983 DC win, one year after being crowned the world´s best junior.In 1984 gave Mc a scare at the W SF and quite a bigger scare to Lendl at the USO SF.

Nice and charismatic guy, passionate for Rock and Roll, however was mixed uo a little bit in the drug´s convulsed sport world of the 80´s.he was a bit cookie, but this was more an attitude learnt from the very tough Australian Rules rather than his true nature.

A potentially great doubles player, and an even better Davis Cup man.he won almost single handedly 2 DC against the very tough Swede team - both of them under aussie´s grass, however-.His injuries prevented him, IMo, to improve his GS record; he showed that, on any given day, could beat any player on a reasonably fast court.

 

[Tennis Dunce]

By far the best ever shoetop volley I've ever seen...and still get punch, bite, and depth on it. Incredible. Cash to me is one of the few stalwarts from the serve and volley era who could maintain today...considering those low dippers are right in his wheelhouse.

 

[big ted]

i agree he was like a shorter version of rafter. very athletic but so prone to injury... one tournament, he snapped his achilles heel coming in after a serve. its so ironic who many would call the 'fittest' or 'most athletic' speciman have many injury problems and/or eventually retire due to injuries (i.e. - cash, agassi, lendl, phillipousis, nadal, etc..) and the skinnier leaner ones dont have as many problems (federer, mcenroe, connors, borg, ...)

 

[mfromg]

I read a few years ago that on the first 10 meters, Cash was faster than Carl Lewis.

 

[BTURNER]

interesting. Others have mentioned his backhand volley, overhead, shoetop volley high backhand volley while I remember him as having a superb low forehand volley, LOL. It really is telling isn't it?

 

[8F93W5]

Cash wrote a good autobiography.

 

[cigrmaster]

He had a good couple of years but would not rate him in the top 50 all time. He was very good at the net but the rest of his game was lacking. He may be top 15 all time at the net but no where near the best of all time.

 

[Frank Silbermann]

By far the best ever shoetop volley I've ever seen...and still get punch, bite, and depth on it. Incredible. Cash to me is one of the few stalwarts from the serve and volley era who could maintain today...considering those low dippers are right in his wheelhouse.

Yes, I remember those lunging volleys at ankle height just inside the sidelines -- returned with perfect placement, again and again.

He was also a key trigger that convinced me to become a two-forehand player. The TV commentators said he had a flawed, wristy forehand ground stroke but perfect technique on the backhand -- adding "but for all that his opponents still go to his steadier backhand, as his forehand is still the more effective shot."

That's when I finally gave up on my desire to believe the old straw that "the backhand is the more natural shot and that's why most good players have better backhands than forehands."

 

[Raphael]

I remember his very aggressive net game and his quickness which allowed him to get in for that serve and volley game. He was under-rated, but that was due in part to the era he played in and how good the top guys were, that he couldn't quite overcome for the most part.

 

[suwanee4712]

Cash wrote a good autobiography.

Cash dished some dirty in his book didn't he? I remember Mac and some of the others being upset about some things he chose to put into his book. Every time I see Killer Cahill on tv I think of what Cash wrote about what they did during that Davis Cup tie in Austria. Or maybe I just need to keep my mind out of the gutter! :twisted:

I loved Cash's game. For those that watched a lot of Pat Rafter, their games were so similar. But I would've given the edge to Cash who probably had a little more flair than Rafter did. His serve was good but was made to be better by how well he backed it up with his volleys. His groundstrokes weren't so great. But they might've improved had he played more on clay. I saw him play on clay a couple of times and thought he could be good on the stuff if he really tried.

 

[magnut]

Cashy had the sickest low volley ever. Best ever. Serve was ok. Groundies were not great. Everything was muscled.

Cash was the real deal. The guy was also an absolute warrior on court and even off. McEnroe and Conners would put on a tough guy act on court but were basically cry babies. Cash was brutal. Things like fights with other players off court in the locker room, bar fights etc.

Cash did not fake it to the camera or in interviews either. The modern game (ATP College) would not know what to do with him.

His career was to short and was a huge loss for the tennis of the time. I was really looking forward to him having long rivalries with some of the greats.