Nadal rates Guccione serve world's best

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shavenstringer

Semi-Pro
Here is an article from www.smh.com.au.

Nadal rates Guccione serve world's best

January 9, 2007 - 8:02PM

Rafael Nadal on Tuesday rated Chris Guccione's serve as possibly the best in world tennis.

The world No.2 pulled out of his first-round clash with Guccione at the Sydney International with a minor leg injury but not before being left stunned by the Victorian's lethal left-handed delivery.

"Unbelievable serve," Nadal said, shaking his head in amazement.

"For me, one or two of the best serves in the world, (along) with (Ivo) Karlovic maybe.

"Unbelievable. I can't touch."

Aided by his huge serve, Guccione is on a roll, jumping 46 places to a career-high 107th in the world after making the final last week in Adelaide, where highly-rated young Frenchman Richard Gasquet and former Australian Open finalist Arnaud Clement were among his victims.

Guccione eventually lost to world No.14 Novak Djokovic in the decider but carried the momentum to Sydney, which has proven to be a happy hunting ground for the towering 21-year-old.

In both 2004 and 2006, he knocked out former world No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the opening round.

"Yeah, I don't know what it is (about Sydney), but obviously it's unlucky for Rafa at this time of year," said Guccione.

"Even though he didn't finish the match, I was well and truly in the match. I was 6-5 up when he retired."

Guccione's fabulous run has lifted him above Mark Philippoussis in the rankings and behind only Lleyton Hewitt among the Australians.

"It's a great feeling," he said.

"I feel like I'm hitting the ball better than probably this time last year, but I think the big thing was the confidence and self-belief that I could play consistently with these guys."

Having moved past the top seed, Guccione's draw has really opened up now.

He will meet Austrian Jurgen Melzer in the second round and has a great opportunity to progress even further.

© 2007 AAP
 
What's up with big serving left handers with shaky backhands. Guccione, Rusedski, and Lopez all have this style of game. You would think that being a left they would have to have a stronger backhand.
 
I don't like Guccione at all. Another stiff moving big man who relies on power to win his points. His volleys weren't impressive at all in his match vs. Djokovic.
 
Of course he has the worlds best serve according to Rafa. After not being able to do anything with it Nadal has to find someway to save face. :) Atleast 7 more guys will probably have the worlds best serve by the end of the year.
 
35ft6 said:
What's up with big serving left handers with shaky backhands. Guccione, Rusedski, and Lopez all have this style of game. You would think that being a left they would have to have a stronger backhand.
Click to expand...

I thought his backhand looked pretty solid. He definitely was aggressive with it much of the time, driving the ball, unlike a slicing Rusedski, and more confident and consistent with it than Karlovic (who isn't). Lopez is not a bad comparison, but Guch's S/V game seems much better.
 
python said:
I don't like Guccione at all. Another stiff moving big man who relies on power to win his points. His volleys weren't impressive at all in his match vs. Djokovic.
Click to expand...

If his volley's weren't impressive, then that must mean he was nearly even with him off the ground? And don't 95% (or more) of the pros rely on power to win points?
 
Watch the match if you get a chance. Guccione can make the sure volley when he comes in off a big serve or when he has a winning approach shot. That said, he's no Stefan Edberg in terms of making TOUGH volleys, those way below the net or those that require good foot movement. He does lunge well.

I just don't favor big, hulking players. I'd rather watch Grosjean or Santoro over Scud or Karlovic any day.
 
I did watch the matches (semis and finals), very closely, and remember being impressed by several tough volleys. I agree with though, not quite at the Edberg level, but then, who is?
 
Nadal rates Guccione serve world's best
Click to expand...

i don t know if he's right but on his current form,this Guccione is certainly one of the best servers in the world.
For example,Guccione served 22 aces in the last 2 sets against Gasquet last week

ATXtennisaddict said:
Watched him serve vs Novak, it's a pretty tough serve to handle. Lefty too.
Click to expand...

yep,that makes it even tougher to return
 
Last edited:
python said:
I don't like Guccione at all. Another stiff moving big man who relies on power to win his points. His volleys weren't impressive at all in his match vs. Djokovic.
Click to expand...

Yes he looks ungainly but so does Mirnyi. Similarly he's tall...6ft 7" but with a better serve. Like Goran and other lefties has the ability to swing a quick serve and this makes it tough to return. As for power to win his points..do you really think he should have rallied against the worlds best baseliner from the back of the court ????:)
 
35ft6 said:
What's up with big serving left handers with shaky backhands. Guccione, Rusedski, and Lopez all have this style of game. You would think that being a left they would have to have a stronger backhand.
Click to expand...

I've got to say, I watched him expecting to see arthurs or rusedski, big serve, no other game. But he's got other game, impressively so, and if he focusses on working on it even more - and let's face it, he doesn't need to spend much time working on the serve - he could go far...

GRANITECHIEF said:
I did watch the matches (semis and finals), very closely, and remember being impressed by several tough volleys. I agree with though, not quite at the Edberg level, but then, who is?
Click to expand...

Well said :)
 
python said:
I don't like Guccione at all. Another stiff moving big man who relies on power to win his points. His volleys weren't impressive at all in his match vs. Djokovic.
Click to expand...

Yeah but sadly he maybe one of the best Serve and volleyers at the moment....
 
Now a days, Rafa's fame has led many people to respect his opinion.

It's different when you are a lefty.
 
Ronaldo said:
Imagine facing Guccione/Arthurs in dubs! Hammertime
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Well Arthurs and Guccione did play doubles together at the Adelaide International. I was lucky enough to watch them live against Hrbaty and partner just after Hewitts first round singles win. In the first set everyone was going wow, what serves but the match itself was relatively boring......or so most thought ! After racing to a 5-0 lead in the first set many people left centre court as they believed the match to be over. Arthurs and Guccione seemed to stumble trying to finish it off, eventually prevailing 6-2. In the second set the wheels fell off and they played like wounded ducks, shanking returns and generally playing poorly losing it 2-6. So it came down to the first to 10 breaker. At 4-0 down in the breaker Hrbaty's partner called for the trainer and eventually retired. Hrbaty seemed to signal he had the shakes. Must of been bad to retire in a breaker ! Arthurs and Guccione ended up losing in the Q/F against the eventual winners Moodie(RSA) and Todd Perry (AUS) 6-4 6-4. :)
 
Guccione needs to improve his volleys more.. I agree it the person who said his volleys wern't that impressive. His placement for his volleys are a mixed bag. So points if he placed his volleys better he would've won the point easily but he kept the opposing player in the point by just volleying straight to him or volleying it so the opposing palyer could easily return it. He does have a massive serve though... No one can seem to break him but he can't seem to break anyone as well. He plays a power game.. over power them.. if he's rallying on the baseline he goes for outright winners... He's actually pretty quick for a big man.. maybe not very agile though.
 
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/match_reports/2007-01-16/200701161168926985921.html

"The Australian ramped up his serve in the third, thundering down 10 aces, but the Belgian stuck with him, and created a set point in the 12th game. Guccione's wild volley cost him the set, and the match had swung in Rochus' favour."


So much for his volleying, GraniteChef.

Guccione has a nice game. He's very overhyped, however, considering his athleticism. Guccione has some movement issues that will likely keep him from ever attaining the top of the game.
 
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