the era with most richness in styles

kiki

kiki

Banned
it will be the late 50´s or the 70´s.In the 50´s, we had great all round guys such as Hoad and Trabert; big serve and volleyers such as Gonzales,Kramer and Sedgman and sensational baseliners, specially Rosewall and also Segura.

In the 70´s, we reached the greatest richness in styles atop of the game.

Agressive baselining from Laver and Connors
Big top spin baselining from Vilas and Borg
great touch players such as Nastase, Laver and Rosewall themselves,
Panatta and Orantes and the late yers of Santana
all court greats such as Laver,Nastase,Mc Enroe,Gerulaitis,Kodes,Gimeno,Okker
and terrific S&V action from Newcombe,Ashe,Tanner,Roche,Smith

plus excellent secondary players with a well diverse range of styles like Amritraj,Gottfried,Ramirez,Gorman,Stockton,Dibbs,Fibak,Pilic,Franulovic and so forth.

It continued in the 80´s with the great offensive baseliners such as Connors Mecir,kriek and Lendl, defensive ones like Vilas,Wilander,Borg,Nystrom,Clerc,Gomez,arias and great serve and volley from Mac,Edberg,Cash,Becker,Noah but, with the exception of Leconte and Mayer, no great touch players ( well, Mac can be regarded as such )

There was also a great contrast of styles in the early 90´s, with agressive basleiners such as Agassi,Medvedev,Kafelnikov, defensive ones such as Courier,Bruguera,Muster and Chang and, of course, big serve and volleyers in the mold of a Sampras,Ivanisevic,Becker,krajicek,Stich ,rafter and edberg

Whico of the 4 eras ( 50,70,80,90) is the one that you´s d date as the most spectacular and diversified to watch?
 
kiki said:
it will be the late 50´s or the 70´s.In the 50´s, we had great all round guys such as Hoad and Trabert; big serve and volleyers such as Gonzales,Kramer and Sedgman and sensational baseliners, specially Rosewall and also Segura.

In the 70´s, we reached the greatest richness in styles atop of the game.

Agressive baselining from Laver and Connors
Big top spin baselining from Vilas and Borg
great touch players such as Nastase, Laver and Rosewall themselves,
Panatta and Orantes and the late yers of Santana
all court greats such as Laver,Nastase,Mc Enroe,Gerulaitis,Kodes,Gimeno,Okker
and terrific S&V action from Newcombe,Ashe,Tanner,Roche,Smith

plus excellent secondary players with a well diverse range of styles like Amritraj,Gottfried,Ramirez,Gorman,Stockton,Dibbs,Fibak,Pilic,Franulovic and so forth.

It continued in the 80´s with the great offensive baseliners such as Connors Mecir,kriek and Lendl, defensive ones like Vilas,Wilander,Borg,Nystrom,Clerc,Gomez,arias and great serve and volley from Mac,Edberg,Cash,Becker,Noah but, with the exception of Leconte and Mayer, no great touch players ( well, Mac can be regarded as such )

There was also a great contrast of styles in the early 90´s, with agressive basleiners such as Agassi,Medvedev,Kafelnikov, defensive ones such as Courier,Bruguera,Muster and Chang and, of course, big serve and volleyers in the mold of a Sampras,Ivanisevic,Becker,krajicek,Stich ,rafter and edberg

Whico of the 4 eras ( 50,70,80,90) is the one that you´s d date as the most spectacular and diversified to watch?
Click to expand...

kiki, Fine listing up these eras.

The late 1950s had six or seven (Kramer partly playing) giants in the same pro troupe which is awesome, but you are right that the 1970s had the greatest diversity in styles.
 
I would think a lot has to do with training. Each country produced it's own players in the old days.

Now, days most of the training is concentrated in Spain and USA. So you are getting players all playing the same patterns and styles. I still like the French players - they have a certain flair to their game - but not much success.
 
BobbyOne said:
kiki, Fine listing up these eras.

The late 1950s had six or seven (Kramer partly playing) giants in the same pro troupe which is awesome, but you are right that the 1970s had the greatest diversity in styles.
Click to expand...

There were more awsome players in the 70´s.However, the top 6-7 of the 50´s in the pros were amazing.
 
I will take 70' s a bit ahead of 80's and 50's and 90's a bit below 80's
From there down the difference increases although some parts of the 30's may be at that level, though
 
rich in styles? Definitely this era.

We have;

- the OCD lefthander
- the Swiss ballerina
- the djoker/comedian
- the Scotsman with tourette
- Mr. Quarterfinal (Ferrer)
- Mr. Quarterfinal 2 (Berdych)
- Radek the Hunk Stepanek
 
take 1970 top ten: Laver,Rosewall,Newcombe,Ashe,Kodes,Smith,Nastase,Gimeno,Okker and Roche

take 1979: Borg,Mc Enroe,Connors,Gerulaitis,Tanner,Vilas,Ashe,Pecci,Solomon and Higueras

and no Panatta,Orantes and many others whose peak came round middle 70´s.That is why 70´s are the most perfect decade for tennis.Lendl,Wilander,Cash,Mecir,Becker and Edberg just rounded it up later.
 
I am going with two time spans...

1989-92 & 1997-2002

Those were the two most interesting periods for me in terms of different styles of play. Lots of depth in the rankings as well.
 
kiki said:
it will be the late 50´s or the 70´s.In the 50´s, we had great all round guys such as Hoad and Trabert; big serve and volleyers such as Gonzales,Kramer and Sedgman and sensational baseliners, specially Rosewall and also Segura.

In the 70´s, we reached the greatest richness in styles atop of the game.

Agressive baselining from Laver and Connors
Big top spin baselining from Vilas and Borg
great touch players such as Nastase, Laver and Rosewall themselves,
Panatta and Orantes and the late yers of Santana
all court greats such as Laver,Nastase,Mc Enroe,Gerulaitis,Kodes,Gimeno,Okker
and terrific S&V action from Newcombe,Ashe,Tanner,Roche,Smith

plus excellent secondary players with a well diverse range of styles like Amritraj,Gottfried,Ramirez,Gorman,Stockton,Dibbs,Fibak,Pilic,Franulovic and so forth.

It continued in the 80´s with the great offensive baseliners such as Connors Mecir,kriek and Lendl, defensive ones like Vilas,Wilander,Borg,Nystrom,Clerc,Gomez,arias and great serve and volley from Mac,Edberg,Cash,Becker,Noah but, with the exception of Leconte and Mayer, no great touch players ( well, Mac can be regarded as such )

There was also a great contrast of styles in the early 90´s, with agressive basleiners such as Agassi,Medvedev,Kafelnikov, defensive ones such as Courier,Bruguera,Muster and Chang and, of course, big serve and volleyers in the mold of a Sampras,Ivanisevic,Becker,krajicek,Stich ,rafter and edberg

Whico of the 4 eras ( 50,70,80,90) is the one that you´s d date as the most spectacular and diversified to watch?
Click to expand...
I basically agree with your assessment. Nice post. I might be a bit biased because it was in the '70s that I first became a real tennis fan, and first played. I agree that you might be able to make a case for just about about any decade. But the '70s will always be the richest for me. Many fond memories of those years. I was torn between trying to copy the topspin of Borg and the flatter hitting of Connors ... two styles which are about as different as I can imagine any two styles being.

Fast forward to today and (partly because my appreciation of the nuances of the game continues to improve) there's still enough diversity of styles to satisfy my craving for variety.
 
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kiki said:
There were more awsome players in the 70´s.However, the top 6-7 of the 50´s in the pros were amazing.
Click to expand...

The talent at the top was best in the late fifties.

Just think.
Gonzales, Hoad, Rosewall, Sedgman, all at their peak, all top 10 all-time. Plus others close behind like Trabert, Segura, Cooper, Anderson, Gimeno, Pietrangeli.

In the early seventies you had Newcombe, Smith, Ashe, Nastase, Kodes, and other talented players, all of whom would be close to an all-time top ten ranking, plus an old but still strong Rosewall (who still won a major in 1970), and an aging Laver, both of whom could still win minor events and provide thrills to television spectators.

The tragedy is that most of the late fifties play was not seen on television, and is now rarely available, mostly in clips.
The play from the seventies is more interesting than what we see today.
 
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Late sixties and first half of the seventies (or maybe all the seventies) is my favourite era.

The 80s and 90s also had great variety of conditions and styles, so many good and great different players.
 
Phoenix1983 said:
Hoad and Sedgman are not contenders for top 10 all-time.
Click to expand...

Hoad isn't a contender. He's the champ! (Actually, this is good terminology, as Hoad trained seriously as a boxer in his teens.)

Sedgman could occasionally raise his game to the highest level in big events (not the small-town deals like Cleveland).

Like Wembley in 1953 and 1958, where his victims included Gonzales, and Kooyong in 1959, where he beat Gonzales in straight sets in the final.
 
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the pro scene of the late 30´s (Perry,Budge,Nusslein,Tilden,Vines) looks quite interesting.But guys like Plaa,Ramillet,Stoeffel...
 
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