REKX
Rookie
So from number 1 (greatest) to number 4.
1. Roger Federer
2. Novak Djokovic
3. Rafael Nadal
4. Peter Sampras
Explanation:
For me Roger Federer's prime form on hard and grass is beyond anything we have ever seen. If you have watched Federer in real life, his forehand is something different than any other player in history. It's like a weapon, the way it travels, the spin (just a bit below Nadal's RPM). When he goes for winners from both forehand and backhand, it is again something we have never seen, the accuracy and execution.
Djokovic is an amazing hard court player, always was. The greatest return of serve of all time. Athleticism and flexibility, sliding, like we have never ever seen before. He was a great player when he was young, competing with Federer, and even beat Federer in the Australian Grand Slam. And recently he has become a such a force, I think not quite as dominant as Federer but close second.
Nadal for me is third. Nadal was a clay court specialist and changed his game to become competitive on hard courts. Nadal probably had the greatest competition of all time. Prime Federer and Prime Djokovic which is something that he had to deal with. He has beaten them both in hard courts, in grand slams which shows his hard court pedigree. Injury of course prevented him from getting another 2 or 3 hard court grand slams, but that is the nature of his explosive technique.
Sampras was a very good player. I didn't see much of him as he was before my time as I was growing up. But from what I have seen, he has a very good serve and volley game but also played a lot from the baseline. I think Sampras baseline game compared to the three above is way way way behind. Sampras had very little competition during his years, no other player was domination, and his rivals like Agassi would frequently go outside of the top 100 - no competition. With the utmost respect, I feel as though Sampras would have got eaten alive from the baseline by any of Federer, Nadal or Djokovic. Also Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are all amazing at passing shots, but Nadal more so - and we have seen serve and volley is not an ideal way to play against the big three.
What do you think?
1. Roger Federer
2. Novak Djokovic
3. Rafael Nadal
4. Peter Sampras
Explanation:
For me Roger Federer's prime form on hard and grass is beyond anything we have ever seen. If you have watched Federer in real life, his forehand is something different than any other player in history. It's like a weapon, the way it travels, the spin (just a bit below Nadal's RPM). When he goes for winners from both forehand and backhand, it is again something we have never seen, the accuracy and execution.
Djokovic is an amazing hard court player, always was. The greatest return of serve of all time. Athleticism and flexibility, sliding, like we have never ever seen before. He was a great player when he was young, competing with Federer, and even beat Federer in the Australian Grand Slam. And recently he has become a such a force, I think not quite as dominant as Federer but close second.
Nadal for me is third. Nadal was a clay court specialist and changed his game to become competitive on hard courts. Nadal probably had the greatest competition of all time. Prime Federer and Prime Djokovic which is something that he had to deal with. He has beaten them both in hard courts, in grand slams which shows his hard court pedigree. Injury of course prevented him from getting another 2 or 3 hard court grand slams, but that is the nature of his explosive technique.
Sampras was a very good player. I didn't see much of him as he was before my time as I was growing up. But from what I have seen, he has a very good serve and volley game but also played a lot from the baseline. I think Sampras baseline game compared to the three above is way way way behind. Sampras had very little competition during his years, no other player was domination, and his rivals like Agassi would frequently go outside of the top 100 - no competition. With the utmost respect, I feel as though Sampras would have got eaten alive from the baseline by any of Federer, Nadal or Djokovic. Also Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are all amazing at passing shots, but Nadal more so - and we have seen serve and volley is not an ideal way to play against the big three.
What do you think?
