How would a player with the best shots of the 80s do today?

[sandy mayer]

How would this player do in 2023 with the following attributes, using modern equipment and surfaces against 2023 players?

The first serve of Boris Becker
The second serve of Stefan Edberg
The return of serve of Jimmy Connors
The forehand of Ivan Lendl
The backhand of Jimmy Connors
The passing shots of Bjorn Borg
The forehand volley of John McEnroe
The backhand volley of Stefan Edberg
The drop shot of John McEnroe
The lob of Jimmy Connors
The overhead of Yannick Noah
The speed of Bjorn Borg
The stamina of Bjorn Borg
The temperament of Bjorn Borg
The tactical brain of Mats Wilander

 

[socallefty]

Tennis is so poor with metrics and statistics that we have no idea typically on the speed, spin rate (RPM), bounce height, serve speed/spin, foot speed etc. of players from the past. Also if you are used to watching HD TV and watch old videos, the quality of the images are so bad it is hard to compare footage from different eras. So, you literally have to trust only your memory to compare players from different generations and as you know, memory is very faulty with a tendency to look with rose colored spectacles at the heroes from our youth. So, there is no way to answer your question.

Also if the composite player is using modern racquets and poly, he would have access to so much more topspin and angles that he would no longer try to hit with the technique of the player from the 80s. If he is playing with modern shoes and training with modern workout regimens, his movement would be much better and he would use different footwork. So, what exactly would we be comparing?

 

[JasonZ]

How would this player do in 2023 with the following attributes, using modern equipment and surfaces against 2023 players?

The first serve of Boris Becker
The second serve of Stefan Edberg
The return of serve of Jimmy Connors
The forehand of Ivan Lendl
The backhand of Jimmy Connors
The passing shots of Bjorn Borg
The forehand volley of John McEnroe
The backhand volley of Stefan Edberg
The drop shot of John McEnroe
The lob of Jimmy Connors
The overhead of Yannick Noah
The speed of Bjorn Borg
The stamina of Bjorn Borg
The temperament of Bjorn Borg
The tactical brain of Mats Wilander

such a player would not need a tactical brain.

 

[jrepac]

Pretty darn well would be my answer!

 

[Dane_is_Finnish_OJ]

Top 3 on Lendl's forehand alone. I would switch Connor's backhand with Borg's though. Needs some topspin.

 

[Dane_is_Finnish_OJ]

Tennis is so poor with metrics and statistics that we have no idea typically on the speed, spin rate (RPM), bounce height, serve speed/spin, foot speed etc. of players from the past. Also if you are used to watching HD TV and watch old videos, the quality of the images are so bad it is hard to compare footage from different eras. So, you literally have to trust only your memory to compare players from different generations and as you know, memory is very faulty with a tendency to look with rose colored spectacles at the heroes from our youth. So, there is no way to answer your question.

Also if the composite player is using modern racquets and poly, he would have access to so much more topspin and angles that he would no longer try to hit with the technique of the player from the 80s. If he is playing with modern shoes and training with modern workout regimens, his movement would be much better and he would use different footwork. So, what exactly would we be comparing?

I think that Borg's game would be fine today with all that topsin.

 

[Bill Lobsalot]

How would this player do in 2023 with the following attributes, using modern equipment and surfaces against 2023 players?

The first serve of Boris Becker
The second serve of Stefan Edberg
The return of serve of Jimmy Connors
The forehand of Ivan Lendl
The backhand of Jimmy Connors
The passing shots of Bjorn Borg
The forehand volley of John McEnroe
The backhand volley of Stefan Edberg
The drop shot of John McEnroe
The lob of Jimmy Connors
The overhead of Yannick Noah
The speed of Bjorn Borg
The stamina of Bjorn Borg
The temperament of Bjorn Borg
The tactical brain of Mats Wilander

He'd be Roger Federer.

 

[buscemi]

How would this player do in 2023 with the following attributes, using modern equipment and surfaces against 2023 players?

The first serve of Boris Becker
The second serve of Stefan Edberg
The return of serve of Jimmy Connors
The forehand of Ivan Lendl
The backhand of Jimmy Connors
The passing shots of Bjorn Borg
The forehand volley of John McEnroe
The backhand volley of Stefan Edberg
The drop shot of John McEnroe
The lob of Jimmy Connors
The overhead of Yannick Noah
The speed of Bjorn Borg
The stamina of Bjorn Borg
The temperament of Bjorn Borg
The tactical brain of Mats Wilander

No one today has a better tactical brain than peak Mats, no one has a better temperament than peak Borg, and no one has better stamina than peak Borg. Speed-wise, peak Borg is up there with the fastest players of today. Keeping technique the same, this player would easily have the best volleys in the game and among the best serves/overheads.

That takes us to forehand/backhand/passing shots/drop shot/lob. Obviously, the point of your hypothetical is to have this player using old technique despite using modern strings/racquet technology. Personally, I don't see an issue. Agassi would seem to be the prototype here. Isn't the famous story that Cahill gave him a racquet with poly ("magic") strings before the 2002 Italian Open, and Agassi, not really changing his technique, then crushed the field, including Costa, who would go on to win the French Open?

IMO, this person would win the CYGS.

 

[Waves]

Yes the closest recent player to this hypothetical mashup would be the Fed. But not close enough to win the cygs…still the goat tho, lol.

 

[BlueB]

You never know... Borg never got used to the new equipment, in his unfortunate comeback.

 

[BlueB]

I'd say Landl would fare the best, due to his work ethics.

 

[BeatlesFan]

I'd say Landl would fare the best, due to his work ethics.

Boris's serve would still be massive. All of the 80's players to me are greater than any player of the past 20 years aside from Fed or Rafa on clay.