Roddick was a better player than Hewitt

TTMR

Hall of Fame
Roddick was the third best player of the 21st century, after Safin and Federer respectively.
 

GoaLaSSo

Semi-Pro
Oh, it comes easier for some than others. Look on page 9, for instance.

I don't really read some of the page 9 guys' posts anymore because of incredibly biased they are. At least other people post in a off-hand joking fashion and will hold some form of conversation.

I love the whole "roddick is bad at volleying" thing too. Roddick has very solid volleys, but he would approach all the time. He came in a lot of bad approach shots, but the rushing the net strategy he used seemed to work on everybody outside the top 10.
 
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westside

Hall of Fame
Roddick and Hewitt are two of my favorite players. I would say they are pretty close all around.

Hewitt has more majors, but Roddick was consistently good for a decade.

With a bit more luck, Roddick could have won a few more slams.

I tire of people saying Hewitt had no power and Roddick was a bad mover (and that both weren't extremely talented.)

Hewitt could hit the ball very hard and flat when he wanted to, but it doesn't fit his style. Roddick was athletic and had very fast raw speed, but his footwork was not federer-esque. Roddick would often give up on some of his defensive shots out of frustration and/or to conserve energy for his service games. This gave people the impression that he was slow, which is not true.

Both guys were extremely talented and hard working. I can't see how you could argue against either of those things.


Brilliant post. End it here
 

jhhachamp

Hall of Fame
Roddick was the third best player of the 21st century, after Safin and Federer respectively.

Just off the top of my head, other players who achieved more than Roddick in the 21st century besides Federer and Safin include Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, and Agassi...

Do you think Roddick was better than those players?
 

smoledman

G.O.A.T.
Roddick had a big I/O forehand but it was predictable. He had no ability to go hard DTL or crosscourt. There is a reason Federer absolutely owned this guy.
 

Sid_Vicious

G.O.A.T.
Hewitt lucked out in '02 Wimbledon, otherwise Roddick would be considered the better player.

Hewitt played a beautiful match against Henman in the SF of Wimbledon 2002. He was returning and passing like a boss. The final was a very sad sight to see. Nalbandian seriously lacked the clutch gene..at least back then. Apparently he couldn't sleep or talk well due to the nerves he was feeling. I think it was the worst final of the 2000s.
 

Wynter

Legend
Hewitt is also the more accomplished Doubles player, which shows versatility, does versatility translate to talent? I'd say so.
 

Sid_Vicious

G.O.A.T.
Hewitt is also the more accomplished Doubles player, which shows versatility, does versatility translate to talent? I'd say so.

Roddick wasn't bad at doubles either. He won Indian Wells and has more doubles titles than Hewitt overall as well.

I think doubles results are very irrelevant. Sampras was far more talented and versatile player than Hewitt or Roddick yet his doubles record is far worse. Ditto for Andre Agassi.
 

captainbryce

Hall of Fame
Federer, Safin, Haas, Mahut, LLodra, Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Ancic, Nalbandian, Cilic, Ljubicic, Fish, Hanescu, Dent, Gimelstob without me thinking about it are better volleyers, or have a better net game than Hewitt

Federer - NO
Djokovic - Are you kidding me?
Nalbandian - NO
Cilic - NO
Gimelstob - Some of these names are ridiculous!

Yes, Safin, Haas, and Murray all have good volleys for singles players who are mostly baseliners. Mahut, Llodra, Ancic, Fish and Dent are all serve and volley players. Consequently, they are expected to be good volleyers (since that is their primary weapon, and only viable option). But that is still a short list of names that could be considered "better" than Hewitt at the net. When you look at the current list of top 20 players, Hewitt would be among the best volleyers (even though he's outside the top 20). In fact Federer, Murray, Tsonga, and Haas are the only ones that I'd consider "good" volleyers. Nadal's volley is highly overrated, and Djokovic's volley is just terrible!
 

jg153040

G.O.A.T.
Federer - NO
Djokovic - Are you kidding me?
Nalbandian - NO
Cilic - NO
Gimelstob - Some of these names are ridiculous!

Yes, Safin, Haas, and Murray all have good volleys for singles players who are mostly baseliners. Mahut, Llodra, Ancic, Fish and Dent are all serve and volley players. Consequently, they are expected to be good volleyers (since that is their primary weapon, and only viable option). But that is still a short list of names that could be considered "better" than Hewitt at the net. When you look at the current list of top 20 players, Hewitt would be among the best volleyers (even though he's outside the top 20). In fact Federer, Murray, Tsonga, and Haas are the only ones that I'd consider "good" volleyers. Nadal's volley is highly overrated, and Djokovic's volley is just terrible!

Fed has better Net game than Hewitt. Fed always outsmarted his generation at the net. Also beat Sampras at W and won doubles gold. You don't do that if you have bad volleys.

Also, have you seen consistently what tough drive and half volleys Fed makes?
 

Gonzalito17

Banned
Hewitt was better than Roddick, more majors, more years at number one, more WTF finals, more wins vs. Federer, more Davis Cups.
 

Chopin

Legend

FEDEXP

Professional
Fact is, as explosive as Roddick's serve could be, he won only one Slam. With, OTH, Hewitt, I just still feel like his character flaws mitigate his spirited pluck. He is not sports man like.
 

Gonzalito17

Banned
Spadea's story is the best, of course. I'd like the chance to talk with Spadea sometime. The guy is pretty insightful and seems like a good story-teller.

Spadea was at Miami for two days and he was in Delray Beach too, doing some kind of video project pilot show, says he has major financing. Talked with him a little bit he's an eccentric but underneath the quirkiness is a very bright guy with a very high tennis IQ which he shows when he discusses and analyzes tennis, like this memory of Hewitt. He'd surely make a fine coach if he wanted to go that route.
 

Gonzalito17

Banned
Fact is, as explosive as Roddick's serve could be, he won only one Slam. With, OTH, Hewitt, I just still feel like his character flaws mitigate his spirited pluck. He is not sports man like.

There are no character flaws in Hewitt, he's an upstanding citizen and a fine champion. Thought he handled that Blake footfault US Open controversy perfectly. It was a hot moment in the heat of the battle and he stated his beliefs sincerely. The better man won that match. Hewitt is a great champion and a tennis legend. A class act.
 
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