How good would the following player be...

[tennis_hack]

1st serve of Almagro, 2nd serve of Kohlschreiber, ROS of Nishikori, forehand of Robredo, backhand of Youzhny, slice of Dolgopolov, volleys of Gasquet, movement of Fognini and mental strength of Ferrer.

As you can see, the above player has quite good shots/attributes in each category, but is not truly elite or world class in any of them.

How would such a player rank? Do you think they would win any Slams?

I think that this hypothetical player would never win any Slams, and would be ranked somewhere between 50-60 in the world.

 

[Maximagq]

Probably a pretty decent career in the Top 30 at max.

 

[heninfan99]

Almost as good as Federer.

 

[spinovic]

I think Almagro's first serve is elite. And, so is Ferrer's mental strength.

Add to that solid shots across the board and the movement of a guy like Fognini who is pretty speedy and can move quite well when he is in the mood to play, and since our guy has Ferrer's mental strength, I assume he is going to be in the mood all the time.

And, in giving him Robredo's FH and Youzhny's BH, you may not be giving him "world class" shots, but neither of those shots are missed very often by those guys and Youzhny's BH is pretty darn good, IMO.

So, you've got a good moving, mentally strong backboard with a huge first serve and solid specialty shots. That sounds like a pretty difficult opponent to me, especially in today's conditions. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that would be a guy contending for slam titles.

 

[Wynter]

Top 3-5 Never Number 1 though

Would take 2 slams tops imo

 

[tacou]

I think this player is perfectly designed for the modern game actually. It's a one handed BH but the game as a while would be a nightmare on slow hC

 

[booson]

Top 5 player, slam contender.

 

[Wynter]

He'd never be able to Finish off points unless you gave him a Stan Like Physique or say Roddick/Safin in terms of Power.

 

[spinovic]

He'd never be able to Finish off points unless you gave him a Stan Like Physique or say Roddick/Safin in terms of Power.

No, he probably wouldn't hit a lot of winners, but he'd make even less unforced errors. And, he'd get quite a few free and/or easy points off of his serve.

 

[Wynter]

No, he probably wouldn't hit a lot of winners, but he'd make even less unforced errors. And, he'd get quite a few free and/or easy points off of his serve.

But still, how hard can he hit the ball? That decides a lot.

 

[spinovic]

But still, how hard can he hit the ball? That decides a lot.

Hard enough. Like I said, the serve would be a big weapon. Youzhny can put some pace on his backhand when he wants to. You don't have to hit rockets like Delpo if you can maneuver your opponent out of position. And, besides that, if they can't get one by you and you don't miss, something's gotta give.

Robredo alone is in the top 20 right now and I would argue that every other shot and attribute the OP gave his hypothetical player is better than what Robredo currently possesses, some significantly so.

I think the OP came up with a pretty interesting combination.

 

[abmk]

top 10 for sure, maybe even touching top 5 at some point .

with mental strength of ferrer , don't really see that good a shot at winning a slam. He's a very good fighter, no question, excellent actually, but plays big points rather poorly in comparison.

 

[hawk eye]

I''d say Youzhny's BH- though it is not alway given the credit it derserves on this forum- is certainly a world class stroke. It has to be because the other assets are most likely not. Stil he's a steady to 20 player for a long periods in his career, reached top 10 two times, made at least the quarters in every slam and won plenty of tournaments.

So the player you describe is certainly better than Youzhny, it has to be at least a top 5 player and very possibly a multiple slam winner. Having said that, lots of players are worse than the sum of their parts, and some are better.
To be more accurate, tennis mind/tactics should be taken into the equasion. A guy like Wilander showed in the past that without flashy strokes and an great athleticism you can still win just about everything (though I doubt he would have won that much in these days).

 

[tennis_hack]

I find it odd that people say that this player would be in contention for Slams. Yes, this player would be well rounded, but completely lacks a world class knockout blow.

Historically, it is the players with one huge shot (invariable a serve or a forehand) that win Slams, even if the rest of their game is actually pretty average.

IMO opinion, this player would hover around the latter part of the top 100, possible reaching the 3rd round of a Slam at his peak.

 

[hawk eye]

To me, Almagro's serve is huge. Youzhny can rip BH's for winners from everywhere on the court and often does that, too. Robredo's forehand is a like surgeon in it's accuracy, placement and consistency.
Gaudio en Johansson have won a slam.
With some good tennis smarts no doubt this player can grab a couple of slams.

 

[m2nk2]

Nr.1 of course. Ferrer with Alamagro serve alone would be a slam winner.

 

[tennis_hack]

Nr.1 of course. Ferrer with Alamagro serve alone would be a slam winner.

This guy does not have a Nadal/Federer forehand OR a Djokovic/Murray backhand, OR an Isner/Raonic serve, OR Nadal/Djokovic movement, and you still think he'd be No. 1?? Lol. This player would be top 50 at best.

 

[spinovic]

This guy does not have a Nadal/Federer forehand OR a Djokovic/Murray backhand, OR an Isner/Raonic serve, OR Nadal/Djokovic movement, and you still think he'd be No. 1?? Lol. This player would be top 50 at best.

Every player he took attributes from is or has been in or close to the top 20 at some point, several in or close to the top 10 and the combo presented here is certainly better overall in theory than several of the guys listed.

But, we all have our own opinion.

 

[Seth]

Every player he took attributes from is or has been in or close to the top 20 at some point, several in or close to the top 10 and the combo presented here is certainly better overall in theory than several of the guys listed.

But, we all have our own opinion.

Agreed.

Gasquet's volleys are nothing to sneeze at.