pc1
G.O.A.T.
Pancho Segura has always held a particular fascination to me. He is clearly one of the people most instrumental in having tennis survive and thrive in the manner it does today.
He was also a great player with a forehand that many have called the great single stroke in the history of tennis. He was unusual in that he had a one handed backhand and a two handed righty forehand which was similar to Jimmy Connors' two handed lefty backhand. Those who have seen both shots have said that Segura's two handed forehand was the far superior shot because he could do anything with the shot. He could put away any remotely short ball, he could lob, dink, hit with great power and with super disguise. I was speaking to a former top player recently and I asked him about the Segura forehand. This player said it was the best forehand he ever seen and this player faced Newcombe, Laver, Gimeno, Gonzalez, Hoad, Fletcher, Trabert and has also seen Lendl, Borg, Nastase, Federer, Nadal, Vilas, Courier.
What was impressive about his opinion is that in discussing topics with this player I have found him pretty impartial about eras. He does not seem to favor his own era over others, at least it seems to me that way. He thinks the world of today's players yet he was so sure and positive about how great the forehand of Segura's was. I was truly amazed how there seemed no doubt in his mind about it.
Experts like Vines, Riggs, Kramer have called the Segura forehand the best single stroke ever. Laver, who faced Segura only when Segura was over 40 called it the best forehand he faced and we know Laver faced many great players with great forehands over the years.
Of course I cannot forget what a great coach and teacher Pancho Segura was. He was the one who taught and coached the great Jimmy Connors. Segura was and I guess still is a brilliant tennis mind.
Segura defeated players like Frank Parker, Frank Sedgman (barely), Rex Hartwig, Ken McGregor and others on head to head tours. He won the US Pro three years in a row and won great tournaments like the Masters in Los Angeles in 1958 defeating greats like Gonzalez, Hartwig, Hoad, Trabert, Sedgman and Rosewall. He was unbeaten with a 6-0 record in that round robin ahead of Gonzalez, Rosewall and Sedgman who had 4-2 records, Hartwig who was 1-5 and Hoad who was 0-6.
Despite the excellence of the Ecuadorian player Andres Gomez I think Pancho Segura is clearly the best Ecuadorian player ever and an all time great.
Please add any comments on Segura. I hope @krosero @BobbyOne @Dan Lobb and others would add any comments on this.
He was also a great player with a forehand that many have called the great single stroke in the history of tennis. He was unusual in that he had a one handed backhand and a two handed righty forehand which was similar to Jimmy Connors' two handed lefty backhand. Those who have seen both shots have said that Segura's two handed forehand was the far superior shot because he could do anything with the shot. He could put away any remotely short ball, he could lob, dink, hit with great power and with super disguise. I was speaking to a former top player recently and I asked him about the Segura forehand. This player said it was the best forehand he ever seen and this player faced Newcombe, Laver, Gimeno, Gonzalez, Hoad, Fletcher, Trabert and has also seen Lendl, Borg, Nastase, Federer, Nadal, Vilas, Courier.
What was impressive about his opinion is that in discussing topics with this player I have found him pretty impartial about eras. He does not seem to favor his own era over others, at least it seems to me that way. He thinks the world of today's players yet he was so sure and positive about how great the forehand of Segura's was. I was truly amazed how there seemed no doubt in his mind about it.
Experts like Vines, Riggs, Kramer have called the Segura forehand the best single stroke ever. Laver, who faced Segura only when Segura was over 40 called it the best forehand he faced and we know Laver faced many great players with great forehands over the years.
Of course I cannot forget what a great coach and teacher Pancho Segura was. He was the one who taught and coached the great Jimmy Connors. Segura was and I guess still is a brilliant tennis mind.
Segura defeated players like Frank Parker, Frank Sedgman (barely), Rex Hartwig, Ken McGregor and others on head to head tours. He won the US Pro three years in a row and won great tournaments like the Masters in Los Angeles in 1958 defeating greats like Gonzalez, Hartwig, Hoad, Trabert, Sedgman and Rosewall. He was unbeaten with a 6-0 record in that round robin ahead of Gonzalez, Rosewall and Sedgman who had 4-2 records, Hartwig who was 1-5 and Hoad who was 0-6.
Despite the excellence of the Ecuadorian player Andres Gomez I think Pancho Segura is clearly the best Ecuadorian player ever and an all time great.
Please add any comments on Segura. I hope @krosero @BobbyOne @Dan Lobb and others would add any comments on this.
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