Top 10 best and worst returners of today.

[Grunge123]

Only include people who in the top 100
Best returners of today
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Andy Murray
3. David Ferrer
4. Rafael Nadal
5. Lleyton Hewitt
6. Nikolay Davydenko
7. Roger Federer
8. Del Potro
9. Marin cilic
10. Tomas Berdych

Worst Returners of today in no particular order
1. Ivo Karlovic
2. John Isner
3. Milos raonic
4. Nicolas almagro
5. Tsonga
6. Kevin Anderson
7. Jerzey Janowicz
8. Feliciano lopez
9. Sam Querrey
10. Nicolas Mahut

 

[Zildite]

Looks ok except Nishikori should be in the top 10

 

[Grunge123]

Looks ok except Nishikori should be in the top 10

Yeah forgot about him, I would probably replace Berdych and have him there instead

 

[papertank]

Only include people who in the top 100
Best returners of today
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Andy Murray
3. David Ferrer
4. Rafael Nadal
5. Lleyton Hewitt
6. Nikolay Davydenko
7. Roger Federer
8. Del Potro
9. Marin cilic
10. Tomas Berdych

Worst Returners of today in no particular order
1. Ivo Karlovic
2. John Isner
3. Milos raonic
4. Nicolas almagro
5. Tsonga
6. Kevin Anderson
7. Jerzey Janowicz
8. Feliciano lopez
9. Sam Querrey
10. Nicolas Mahut

I would take out Cilic, Berdych and Davydenko (who used to be good but has declined a lot) and replace them with Nishikori, Monaco and Robredo. And for the worst I wouldn't include Mahut, he's actually a pretty good returner on fast courts, although I'm not sure who you would put in his place.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

I would take out Cilic, Berdych and Davydenko (who used to be good but has declined a lot) and replace them with Nishikori, Monaco and Robredo. And for the worst I wouldn't include Mahut, he's actually a pretty good returner on fast courts, although I'm not sure who you would put in his place.

No way Berdych is a top 10 returner. That's the weakest part of his game besides his movement.

 

[Silent]

I don't understand. How can a top 10 player be a worse returner than 90 of the top 100 players in the world ?

I mean, we're not talking about volleys, which can be avoided like the plague if one wants to, or drop shots, or backhand smashes. We're talking about a very, very important part of a tennis match.

Tsonga has a 42% break point conversion rate: 136/324
Bautista Agut also has a 42% break point conversion rate: 143/344

That places them 13th and 17th respectively for 2013, though because Bautista Agut is 73rd in the world, it's safe to assume he's playing weaker players, how come he's not in the OP list as one of the worst while Tsonga is ? None of those two probably belong on the list.

Davydenko was 1st at 48%.

I'm looking at that list and it doesn't make sense. Is your top 10 in order or not ? Because Nadal was 2nd at 47%, and because he's the #1 in the world, and because he's won 310/662 breakpoints, he'd probably be the best returner in the world, considering he has the best percentage of return games won in 2013, 3rd in actual number of games.

When it comes to return games won, the rankings change a bit but Tsonga is still 26th, Davydenko 7th, Almagro 18th, Raonic 45th, Anderson 41st, Lopez 43rd, Querrey 44th, Isner 47th.

Berdych has won 25% of his return games in 2013, and converted 41% of his breakpoints. Not top 10 material in terms of returners but still not too shabby.

As much as it pains me to say, Federer is probably on the outside looking in too. He's most likely in the top 20, but not in the top 10, looking at the stats.

Nishikori belongs in the top 10. If we look at the stats, he's in the top 10 in both categories.

And to reiterate, the stats don't even tell the whole story. We have to look at the quality of serves too.

What were your criterias ?

I don't buy that list at all.

That looks like a list of players you know, not a list of the top 100 players in the world, and even so, it doesn't make complete sense.

 

[Maximagq]

No love for Santiago Giraldo?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBvesji9yOs

 

[dominikk1985]

There is only 1 stat that matters which is return games won.

 

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

How come Mahut can be one of the worst returner when the guy is an excellent doubles player ? Makes no sense at all

 

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

No love for Santiago Giraldo?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBvesji9yOs

He is good but not in the top 10.

 

[dominikk1985]

raonic's return is really terrible. I understand that isner and karlovic don't return well because of their freak height which is a big disadvantage but raonic is tall but still "normal" height. he needs to improve his return game big time.

 

[6-3 6-0]

RFederer shouldn't be in the top 10 at the moment (but was easily one of the best returners in his prime). That's the area I feel he has declined the most. His returns are just......awful.

 

[captainbryce]

Mine would look something more like this:

BEST:
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Andy Murray
3. Lleyton Hewitt
4. Kei Nishikori
5. Juan Martin Del Potro
6. Roger Federer
7. David Ferrer
8. Tommy Haas
9. Nikolay Davydenko
10. David Nalbandian

*I think Rafael Nadal's return is highly overrated! True, he does have a great overall return game (high probability of winning on his opponents service games), when he gets the ball back in play. But the actual return shot itself is not that impressive to me. I think the fact that he stands so far back on clay inflates his great returning statistics.

WORST
1. Ivo Karlovic
2. Milos Raonic
3. John Isner
4. Sam Querry
5. Kevin Anderson
6. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
7. Gael Monfils
8. Nicolas almagro
9. Stanislas Wawrenka
10. Feliciano lopez

*Tsonga is particularly disappointing as a returner to me. There's really no reason for him to be as poor at returning as he is. Many of the other players on the list are freakishly tall, which hinders their movement. But Tsonga is relatively normal in height (6'2"), and a great athletic mover, with solid shots off both wings. He really should be a much better returner than he is. Del Potro is a much better returner and he's 6'6".

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Mine would look something more like this:

BEST:
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Andy Murray
3. Lleyton Hewitt
4. Kei Nishikori
5. Juan Martin Del Potro
6. Roger Federer
7. David Ferrer
8. Tommy Haas
9. Nikolay Davydenko
10. David Nalbandian

*I think Rafael Nadal's return is highly overrated! True, he does have a great overall return game (high probability of winning on his opponents service games), when he gets the ball back in play. But the actual return shot itself is not that impressive to me. I think the fact that he stands so far back on clay inflates his great returning statistics.

WORST
1. Ivo Karlovic
2. Milos Raonic
3. John Isner
4. Sam Querry
5. Kevin Anderson
6. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
7. Gael Monfils
8. Nicolas almagro
9. Stanislas Wawrenka
10. Feliciano lopez

*Tsonga is particularly disappointing as a returner to me. There's really no reason for him to be as poor at returning as he is. Many of the other players on the list are freakishly tall, which hinders their movement. But Tsonga is relatively normal in height (6'2"), and a great athletic mover, with solid shots off both wings. He really should be a much better returner than he is. Del Potro is a much better returner and he's 6'6".

Lleyton Hewitt shouldn't be up that high. Ferrer is a better returner than him now, but prime for prime Hewitt is better than Ferrer. You have actually underrated Nadal and overrated Federer. Why would Fed's return be better than Nadal's?

 

[sam_p]

How come Mahut can be one of the worst returner when the guy is an excellent doubles player ? Makes no sense at all

Not commenting on Mahut or the thread topic but returning for doubles and returning for singles are different beasts, particularly at the highest levels. Some of the returns that are best in doubles will get you beaten badly in singles and vice versa. If you watch the Bryans their returns are tuned for doubles but many would be disasters in singles. Similarly, many of the deep returns hit by singles players would get their partners killed in doubles.

 

[jg153040]

I don't understand. How can a top 10 player be a worse returner than 90 of the top 100 players in the world ?

I mean, we're not talking about volleys, which can be avoided like the plague if one wants to, or drop shots, or backhand smashes. We're talking about a very, very important part of a tennis match.

Tsonga has a 42% break point conversion rate: 136/324
Bautista Agut also has a 42% break point conversion rate: 143/344

That places them 13th and 17th respectively for 2013, though because Bautista Agut is 73rd in the world, it's safe to assume he's playing weaker players, how come he's not in the OP list as one of the worst while Tsonga is ? None of those two probably belong on the list.

Davydenko was 1st at 48%.

I'm looking at that list and it doesn't make sense. Is your top 10 in order or not ? Because Nadal was 2nd at 47%, and because he's the #1 in the world, and because he's won 310/662 breakpoints, he'd probably be the best returner in the world, considering he has the best percentage of return games won in 2013, 3rd in actual number of games.

When it comes to return games won, the rankings change a bit but Tsonga is still 26th, Davydenko 7th, Almagro 18th, Raonic 45th, Anderson 41st, Lopez 43rd, Querrey 44th, Isner 47th.

Berdych has won 25% of his return games in 2013, and converted 41% of his breakpoints. Not top 10 material in terms of returners but still not too shabby.

As much as it pains me to say, Federer is probably on the outside looking in too. He's most likely in the top 20, but not in the top 10, looking at the stats.

Nishikori belongs in the top 10. If we look at the stats, he's in the top 10 in both categories.

And to reiterate, the stats don't even tell the whole story. We have to look at the quality of serves too.

What were your criterias ?

I don't buy that list at all.

That looks like a list of players you know, not a list of the top 100 players in the world, and even so, it doesn't make complete sense.

Yeah this. I wish other guys would think like you. Return % means nothing, because top guys have to consistently play vs top guys, so those numbers will drop.

I mean if those guys that are good returners on paper had to play consistently Murray, Rafa, Djokovic, I'm sure that number would be lower.

Also there is a difference between return shot and a return game. Rafa's pure return shot is not that great. He usually just puts the ball back. But he then takes control of the rally, because how he backs up his his return.

I mean Davy better than Fed? Let us put Davy in a gs semi and final and see if he will be able to replicate those numbers. Davy doesn't go deep usually, so he plays top guys much less.

 

[Silent]

That's a good point regarding return shot vs return game. Nadal can afford simply putting the ball back in play because of his astounding athletic abilities. Other guys have to go for more to get the same results.

Not saying he's ****-poor at all, in spite of what I originally said.

Again, good point.

 

[coloskier]

There is only 1 stat that matters which is return games won.

The only stat that matters is the percentage of serves returned. Return games won has more to do with what you do after the return.

 

[jhhachamp]

There is only 1 stat that matters which is return games won.

That is not really a good stat to use as it involves much more than just the return of a player.

 

[heninfan99]

I think Tommy Haas has a great return of serve, esp. for a one-hander. Worthy of the top 10.