I am just saying that Federer grew up speaking English. It may not be his first language, but never the less he has spoken English since he first started to speak. He didn't have to learn it at an older age, as a foreign language, he was surrounded by it from birth, consequently he would and should be fluent in that language.
Smartest Player
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I am just saying that Federer grew up speaking English. It may not be his first language, but never the less he has spoken English since he first started to speak. He didn't have to learn it at an older age, as a foreign language, he was surrounded by it from birth, consequently he would and should be fluent in that language.
S
Sirius Black
Guest
Yes, but it's clear he's not as coherent in English as he would be in Swiss-German (I don't speak Swiss-German, so I'm just guessing, but I think that's a reasonable assumption). Anyway, neither Nadal nor Federer is stupid. I've taken 6 years of Spanish and I probably still sound like a child.
Lukhas
Legend
I second the Gilles Simon mention. Remarkable strategically speaking, does extremely well for a player with so few weapons. From what I read from him in his French interviews, he's also decently spoken and has extremely good memories of his past matches and how they went. Sometimes even with the number of breaks for matches he played two years ago. It's not always/often pretty tennis but well constructed and smart.
I'd put Lleyton Hewitt along too.
octobrina10
Talk Tennis Guru
S
Sirius Black
Guest
The fact is that Federer's best language is Swiss-German, while Nadal's is Catalan. Comparing their intelligence based on other languages is pointless. I'm not dissing Nadal, so I don't know what your problem is. But to native English speakers, Federer, while fluent, uses incorrect syntax and funky word choice in certain instances. He's no Shakespeare.
Nadal>>>>>Federer
Professional
Of the current crop clearly Nadal is at the top. Both his tactics and off-court actions imply this.
Fed is quite lower down. Knocking his girlfriend up before marriage is not smart idea
Fed is quite lower down. Knocking his girlfriend up before marriage is not smart idea
pc1
G.O.A.T.
Yes, Mats was very intelligent.
octobrina10
Talk Tennis Guru
S
Sirius Black
Guest
captainbryce
Hall of Fame
I would agree with you on all counts. Agassi was tactically the smartest player I believe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k8lJk4Unsw
donquijote
G.O.A.T.
Where is the proof? It is self-claimed that she has an IQ of 170. Radwanska looks far more intelligent than her.
It is said that Einstein had an IQ of 160. Hawking etc have similar levels. Also the highest score one can get from an IQ test seems to be 160.
ProStaff 85
New User
Totally 100% agree. If Federer start to use drop shot in the early day against Nadal. Then he can beat the S**T out of Nadal. Period!!! Its sadly that Federer is too stubborn and kind of stupid I think.
LOL woulda coulda shoulda :twisted:
wangs78
Legend
Fed didn't need to be that *smart* because he had so many options / weapons in his arsenal. Invariably the *ostensibly* smartest players are going to be the ones with a limited arsenal or certain weaknesses and so they need to employ stronger tactics in order to offset their weaknesses. Agassi was a great ballstriker but had many weaknesses including lack of a big serve. Never watched Wilander but the impression of him is that he also did not have big weapons. These are the players who employ tactics the most. So this question of who is the smartest is kind of silly.
Man of steel
Hall of Fame
And which one of them has achieved more?
Intelligence means little on the tennis court,that is evident by the fact that the women's world #1 is about as dumb as a box of rocks
pc1
G.O.A.T.
Well some players have had huge weapons and yet have employed intelligent strategies to win. Jack Kramer was a player with many great weapons like a huge first and second serve, comparable to Sampras. A big forehand, good backhand and a great volley yet he was known for being about to dissect a opponent's weakness or weaknesses.
As I mentioned before in an earlier post, Bill Tilden was a brilliant strategist on the court as was Pancho Segura and Rene Lacoste. All of them very talented players. A lot of Jimmy Connors' court sense came from coaching by Segura.
Man of steel
Hall of Fame
Lol your #2 is the definition of a BRAINLESS ballbasher........she has an IQ not even close to a tenth of her age
THUNDERVOLLEY
G.O.A.T.
Translation: bitter because his talent and insight challenged false god has been surgically picked apart by the active legend of the sport for a decade.
Kleenex must love you.
Simona Halep is a brainless ballbasher? I wouldn't agree with that assessment...
octobrina10
Talk Tennis Guru
Oh dear! You haven't read anything about Rafa!
Fritz
Banned
I know that Nadal's biography is not his actual work, he just shared his memories with the real writer.
captainbryce
Hall of Fame
Agassi's serve was underrated. It wasn't as big as Sampras, Becker, Ivanisevic or Roddick (who had the biggest serves in his day), but it was still highly effective because it was disguised very well, and placed very well. Even without the 130 mph serve, Agassi still achieved aces on a fairly frequent basis in matches, so I'd say his serve was above average.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPUIgsUrU5g&t=33m42s
In addition, he also had big weapons on his forehand and backhand, especially off the return of serve.
Agassi's biggest weakness was his movement (especially later in his career). He didn't have the speed or ability to change directions as well as most of his opponents, and that's why he had to play "smarter" to beat them. He would make his opponents run for longer stretches of the match before going for winners outright. His match against James Blake in the 2005 US Open is a perfect example of that. Blake was a far superior mover than Agassi, yet Agassi made him run much more in the match using his precision ball-striking.
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donquijote
G.O.A.T.
Bartoli:
Career titles 8 WTA, 6 ITF
Highest ranking No. 7 (30 January 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open QF (2009)
French Open SF (2011), 4R (2007)
Wimbledon W (2013), Runner-up (2007), QF (2011)
US Open QF (2012), 4R (2007, 2008)
Radwanska:
Career titles 14 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking No. 2 (9 July 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open SF (2014), QF (2008,2011,2012,2013)
French Open QF (2013), 4R (2008,2009,2011)
Wimbledon F (2012), SF (2013), QF (2008,2009)
US Open 4R (2007, 2008, 2012, 2013)
Bartoli has nothing more (actually less) with a longer career (6 years more) apart from a Wimbledon title after which she was forced to retire because of doping. Who would retire after saying 'I want to win the US Open too' just a couple of weeks before.
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MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Why attack? You're the one that has to to live with the hate :lol:
vernonbc
Legend
Not just the hate but the obvious lack of intelligence themselves. I think school being on Christmas break has given these kids more time to sit at their computers and say dumb things.
J
John6239
Guest
Anyone who uses going to an institution (school) as an example of being smart isn't qualified to make the determination. Memorize the information, use the thought process drilled into ones head and spew the information out on tests and essays. That's not intelligence. That's being a robot, programmed by the educational industrial complex. Organic intelligence and organic learning is much preferred.
Nadal, by a long shot....
He turned pro after one year at Stanford, like almost every Stanford player of that time. Hardly a stellar education. But he is very street smart. When I met him when he was 16, he hardly came off as a brain trust, but his tennis IQ was off the charts.
winstonplum
Hall of Fame
Agassi was incredibly well-spoken at a very young age. I remember Roy Firestone interviewing him in about 1990 on Up Close, and I was amazed by how intelligent and thoughtful Agassi was.
winstonplum
Hall of Fame
Nadal's also an atheist, which proves that he critical thinking skills are relatively refined and that his worldview is quite sophisticated. Nole, while seemingly a sharp guy and quite articulate, seems to be a deep believer. Obviously, a priori, there is nothing wrong with believing in a "sky god" as Gore Vidal would say, but it does show a certain lack of intellectual rigor.
In addition, based on The New Yorker expose about him, he seems to be quite New-Agey, which again, tells me nothing about the computational power of his brain on say a math test, but does tell me that he's not quite as intellectual in the way that at least I define "intellectual."
Murray seems funny, which is always a sign of intelligence.
Federer, while articulate and thoughtful, goes in for an awful lot of boilerplate in my opinion.
In addition, based on The New Yorker expose about him, he seems to be quite New-Agey, which again, tells me nothing about the computational power of his brain on say a math test, but does tell me that he's not quite as intellectual in the way that at least I define "intellectual."
Murray seems funny, which is always a sign of intelligence.
Federer, while articulate and thoughtful, goes in for an awful lot of boilerplate in my opinion.
D
Deleted member 688153
Guest
Of the current players, Federer has the highest tactical intelligence (or "Tennis IQ") in my opinion.
He is one of the few players who is neither a grinder nor a ball-basher.
That requires intelligence.
Depending on how you look at it, Nadal is either extremely intelligent on-court or not at all. I will not enter the fray on that one.
Djokovic has a lot of instinctive intelligence from what I've seen as well.
He has a knack for playing the right shot.
He is one of the few players who is neither a grinder nor a ball-basher.
That requires intelligence.
Depending on how you look at it, Nadal is either extremely intelligent on-court or not at all. I will not enter the fray on that one.
Djokovic has a lot of instinctive intelligence from what I've seen as well.
He has a knack for playing the right shot.
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D
Deleted member 688153
Guest
Who's career would you rather have?
For me, I wouldn't mind paying the dentist appointments.
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Of the current players, Federer has the highest tactical intelligence (or "Tennis IQ") in my opinion.
He is one of the few players who is neither a grinder nor a ball-basher.
That requires intelligence.
Depending on how you look at it, Nadal is either extremely intelligent on-court or not at all. I will not enter the fray on that one.
Djokovic has a lot of instinctive intelligence from what I've seen as well.
He has a knack for playing the right shot.
I have a slight feeling he knows what he's doing out there :lol:
Bender
G.O.A.T.
Of the current players, Federer has the highest tactical intelligence (or "Tennis IQ") in my opinion.
He is one of the few players who is neither a grinder nor a ball-basher.
That requires intelligence.
Depending on how you look at it, Nadal is either extremely intelligent on-court or not at all. I will not enter the fray on that one.
Djokovic has a lot of instinctive intelligence from what I've seen as well.
He has a knack for playing the right shot.
Well, if Nadal really were unintelligent, he would basically have to get by on luck to do well, as opponents would change their tactics throughout the course of the match, unless they're stubborn as a mule or are unintelligent themselves.
Luck however, isn't consistent, otherwise we wouldn't call it that. Nadal however, despite a few hiccups here and there, has either been unbelievably lucky, or as smart as you suggest here.
rossi46
Professional
I used to go to a Neurologist, a professor of Neurology actually who went on to become a Greek Orthodox priest. Very clever man with more intellect than Nadal (a tennis player) and Gore Vidal (******** artist and plastic philosopher) combined.
Intellect and religion can easily mix.
vernonbc
Legend
Rafa is agnostic, not an atheist, but otherwise I agree with you. He's very thoughtful and philosophical, intelligent and articulate in his native languages. He is thoughtful and intelligent in English too but many people can't get by his strong accent to actually listen to what he has to say.
I agree with you about the other guys too, except for Federer being thoughtful. Don't think there's much depth there.
octobrina10
Talk Tennis Guru
Of the current players, Federer has the highest tactical intelligence (or "Tennis IQ") in my opinion.
He is one of the few players who is neither a grinder nor a ball-basher.
That requires intelligence.
Depending on how you look at it, Nadal is either extremely intelligent on-court or not at all. I will not enter the fray on that one.
Djokovic has a lot of instinctive intelligence from what I've seen as well.
He has a knack for playing the right shot.
Fed has said he has played without thinking, except on clay (Sometimes it's too easy, that's why he has to think.
). "The reason why clay has not been so easy for me is that on the other surfaces I can play my game without thinking," Federer said. "Everything happens naturally. I can turn defence to offence when I want to and how I want to. When I play well I know I can dominate players."
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...a-volley-or-a-serve-its-too-easy-1979825.html
D
Deleted member 688153
Guest
Fed has said he has played without thinking, except on clay (Sometimes it's too easy, that's why he has to think.
"The reason why clay has not been so easy for me is that on the other surfaces I can play my game without thinking," Federer said. "Everything happens naturally. I can turn defence to offence when I want to and how I want to. When I play well I know I can dominate players."
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...a-volley-or-a-serve-its-too-easy-1979825.html
If he can do it without even consciously "thinking", then he is even smarter than I thought.
