Top Ten...Forehands (all-time)

[captainbryce]

1) Roger Federer
2) Fernando Gonzalez
3) Juan Martin Del Potro
4) Rafael Nadal
5) James Blake
6) Pete Sampras
7) Andre Agassi
8) Robin Soderling
9) Jack Sock
10) Nick Krygios

Thoughts?

 

[jm1980]

Hmmm why is Gonzalez ahead of Nadal and why are Sock and Kyrgios even on this list?

Also: No Djokovic?!

 

[mike danny]

Why isn't Sampras on this list?

 

[Deleted member 733170]

Djokovic's should be in about 5th place. A very reliable shot, good depth hit with pace.

One of the most misunderstood shots on TTW.

The fact that the forehand accounts for roughly 60% of the modern game means you cannot win 12 slams unless you have one of the best forehands in the history of the game.

 

[Deleted member 733170]

Why isn't Sampras on this list?

Sampras is in 6th place.

 

[uliks]

Any list in which the name of certain James Blake is occurring should be flush it through a drainpipe... Fast!!!

 

[Deleted member 733170]

Even Murray should make the top 10.

 

[every7]

Sampras and Nadal should be higher, and some names should be removed from the list because of a lack of consistency in their forehands (regardless of how good their FHs were at their best)

 

[KineticChain]

why denis istomin not on list?

 

[Krish872007]

Nadal at least at 2, then maybe DelPo, Djoko, Gonzo and old names as well

 

[metsman]

Borg should be no lower than 3rd.

 

[pc1]

1) Roger Federer
2) Fernando Gonzalez
3) Juan Martin Del Potro
4) Rafael Nadal
5) James Blake
6) Pete Sampras
7) Andre Agassi
8) Robin Soderling
9) Jack Sock
10) Nick Krygios

Thoughts?

Other names
Segura
Borg
Newcombe
Nastase
Kramer
Tilden
Vines
Perry
Laver
Tilden

 

[timnz]

1) Roger Federer
2) Fernando Gonzalez
3) Juan Martin Del Potro
4) Rafael Nadal
5) James Blake
6) Pete Sampras
7) Andre Agassi
8) Robin Soderling
9) Jack Sock
10) Nick Krygios

Thoughts?

Lendl needs to be on this list.

 

[SinjinCooper]

1) Roger Federer
2) Fernando Gonzalez
3) Juan Martin Del Potro
4) Rafael Nadal
5) James Blake
6) Pete Sampras
7) Andre Agassi
8) Robin Soderling
9) Jack Sock
10) Nick Krygios

Thoughts?

Absolutely terrible.

 

[SinjinCooper]

1. Federer, Nadal, Sampras, Lendl
2. Djokovic, Borg, Del Potro, Agassi, Courier
3. Steffi Graf, just because she deserves to be on any list about forehands
4. Any of the million other great ones, but just for kicks, Gonzo and Arias get special mention

 

[metsman]

I would say:

1. Federer
2. Borg
3. Nadal
4. lendl
5. Agassi
6. Sampras
7. Delpo
8. Courier
9. Djokovic
10. Gonzo

 

[pc1]

Borg should be no lower than 3rd.

Borg IMO could have the best forehand ever. It had power, spin, variety, great on the return, sickeningly consistent and super on all surfaces.

 

[metsman]

Borg IMO could have the best forehand ever. It had power, spin, variety, great on the return, sickeningly consistent and good on all surfaces.

I still think Federer's is better but yeah Borg is in the discussion. His FH was scary especially later in his career where he was more aggressive with it. Would have been monstrous with the modern technology. His FH should not have been possible with that technology.

 

[pc1]

I still think Federer's is better but yeah Borg is in the discussion. His FH was scary especially later in his career where he was more aggressive with it. Would have been monstrous with the modern technology. His FH should not have been possible with that technology.

That's what I meant, that it was in the discussion. Some don't know what a great forehand Borg had.

 

[metsman]

That's what I meant, that it was in the discussion. Some don't know what a great forehand Borg had.

borg is criminally underrated in general.

I also love how aggressive and consistent he was with his FH against Connors in the 81 USO and against Lendl in the 1980 season ender. Power/spin/depth/accuracy all with that wooden racquet...amazing.

 

[BorgCash]

Borg should be no lower than 3rd.

Absolutely agree, Borg should be there.

 

[BorgCash]

Lendl needs to be on this list.

Lendl should be there in any case, he's a father of modern power tennis and his most power shot wad fh, he crushed the opponents from the court with it.

 

[Shaolin]

Moya deserves a mention. One of the best FHs ever.

 

[pc1]

Lendl needs to be on this list.

Yes he should

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

That's what I meant, that it was in the discussion. Some don't know what a great forehand Borg had.

Nice job pc1. This shows not only Bjorn Borg's brilliance but also how good Jimmy Connors was despite the score that day. Great placement, attacking shoulder-height shots with that slashing backhand, etc. And to think that Connors beat Borg on clay (Har-tru) to win the U.S. Open. These guys had everything in spades (feet, hands and eyes) and "brought it" with those little racquets.

 

[cc0509]

Again, no Borg on this list? No Lendl? OP, how old are you? 12?

 

[Noelan]

Any list in which the name of certain James Blake is occurring should be flush it through a drainpipe... Fast!!!

sheer ridicoulosness of this place is amusing I mean James freaking Blake strong era what quarter finalist with an all time great FH. Then Sock , Kyrgios wth!

 

[Bender]

It's threads like these that glorify raw mph over actual practicality in tennis strokes (ie yet another overglorification of winners) and the need to put their favourite player in yet another top ten list when they don't necessarily belong that just suggests that I may have wasted the last few years of my life talking with a bunch of ten year olds pretending to be sixty--or, even worse--people who have been spouting tennis misinformation proudly despite not having ever picked up the sport even as a regular, semi-serious hobby.

I mean Gonzalez and DelPo with better forehands than Nadal, really?

James Blake has an all time top ten forehand? Even better than Sampras'?????

FFS, Planet TTW. No wonder some of the guys over at /r/tennis refuse to come back here.

 

[Bender]

Djokovic's should be in about 5th place. A very reliable shot, good depth hit with pace.

One of the most misunderstood shots on TTW.

The fact that the forehand accounts for roughly 60% of the modern game means you cannot win 12 slams unless you have one of the best forehands in the history of the game.

Eh not true.

You just need to have a better forehand relative to the rest of the field. And Djokovic's FH is better than the rest of the field's, considering that Murray's FH is quite bad for a player his calibre, and the rest of the field / competition should have either retired years ago (Federer) or would ordinarily consider retiring right around now (Nadal), if the rest of the competition weren't so nonexistent to begin with.

Djokovic could quite plausibly have a T2 even T3 (which I think would be stretching it) FH but still win 12 slams with a ATG BH and ROS. The only reason why there are players with better FHs with fewer slams is because the rest of their respective games just aren't good enough to win them slams consistently.

 

[heninfan99]

1) Roger Federer
2) Fernando Gonzalez
3) Juan Martin Del Potro
4) Rafael Nadal
5) James Blake
6) Pete Sampras
7) Andre Agassi
8) Robin Soderling
9) Jack Sock
10) Nick Krygios

Thoughts?

A forehand list without Lendl is a crap list...study the game first..thanks

 

[Deleted member 733170]

Eh not true.

You just need to have a better forehand relative to the rest of the field. And Djokovic's FH is better than the rest of the field's, considering that Murray's FH is quite bad for a player his calibre, and the rest of the field / competition should have either retired years ago (Federer) or would ordinarily consider retiring right around now (Nadal), if the rest of the competition weren't so nonexistent to begin with.

Djokovic could quite plausibly have a T2 even T3 (which I think would be stretching it) FH but still win 12 slams with a ATG BH and ROS. The only reason why there are players with better FHs with fewer slams is because the rest of their respective games just aren't good enough to win them slams consistently.

Its another TTW myth that Murray's forehand is not world class. Both Djokovic and Murray are world class baseliners so it is frankly inconceivable that their forehands are not world class too.

 

[Deleted member 733170]

It's threads like these that glorify raw mph over actual practicality in tennis strokes (ie yet another overglorification of winners) and the need to put their favourite player in yet another top ten list when they don't necessarily belong that just suggests that I may have wasted the last few years of my life talking with a bunch of ten year olds pretending to be sixty--or, even worse--people who have been spouting tennis misinformation proudly despite not having ever picked up the sport even as a regular, semi-serious hobby.

I mean Gonzalez and DelPo with better forehands than Nadal, really?

James Blake has an all time top ten forehand? Even better than Sampras'?????

FFS, Planet TTW. No wonder some of the guys over at /r/tennis refuse to come back here.

I agree with this, but it is bizarre as you then go on to contradict yourself in your response to me 10 minutes later.

 

[sportmac]

borg is criminally underrated in general.

I also love how aggressive and consistent he was with his FH against Connors in the 81 USO and against Lendl in the 1980 season ender. Power/spin/depth/accuracy all with that wooden racquet...amazing.

Yeah, look at the topspin with a 67sqin head.
Too many people watch these old tapes and don't give these guys enough credit. I say get yourself a wood racquet and give it a go, then get back to us.

 

[Flash O'Groove]

1) Roger Federer
2) Fernando Gonzalez
3) Juan Martin Del Potro
4) Rafael Nadal
5) James Blake
6) Pete Sampras
7) Andre Agassi
8) Robin Soderling
9) Jack Sock
10) Nick Krygios

Thoughts?

Can you define "all-time"?

 

[metsman]

It's threads like these that glorify raw mph over actual practicality in tennis strokes (ie yet another overglorification of winners) and the need to put their favourite player in yet another top ten list when they don't necessarily belong that just suggests that I may have wasted the last few years of my life talking with a bunch of ten year olds pretending to be sixty--or, even worse--people who have been spouting tennis misinformation proudly despite not having ever picked up the sport even as a regular, semi-serious hobby.

I mean Gonzalez and DelPo with better forehands than Nadal, really?

James Blake has an all time top ten forehand? Even better than Sampras'?????

FFS, Planet TTW. No wonder some of the guys over at /r/tennis refuse to come back here.

Delpo's FH is legitimately great, if he hadn't been injured I think we would all refer to it as a top 10 FH. He has the pace but he also has the placement/consistency with it too. Guys like Blake/Gonzo didn't play with enough margin on their FH so while it looks sick in the highlight videos it's not as consistent/reliable as other forehands.

 

[KINGROGER]

Federer GOAT FH.

 

[pat200]

Roddick had a great forehand when he first burst into the scene

 

[Purplemonster]

1) Roger Federer
2) Fernando Gonzalez
3) Juan Martin Del Potro
4) Rafael Nadal
5) James Blake
6) Pete Sampras
7) Andre Agassi
8) Robin Soderling
9) Jack Sock
10) Nick Krygios

Thoughts?

Sampras should be higher up, Blake, Soderling, Sock (lol) and Kyrgios shouldn't even be on that list. Where is Lendl ?? The guy practically introduced the big forehand into the game. Even guys like Safin and Philippoussis had better forehands than those 4, Becker as well.

 

[Shaolin]

Roddick had a great forehand when he first burst into the scene

Too bad Stefanki neutered his game and had him just massaging the FH. Early go-for-broke Roddick was awesome. Loved his matches with Fed as a young player.

 

[pc1]

Here's a clip of the 1972 US Open final with Nastase against Arthur Ashe. You can check out Nastase's great forehand here. Also check out the backhand of Arthur Ashe which is one of the best one handed backhands I've seen. Ashe had great variety as well as great power on the backhand side.

Nastase's backhand is excellent also. Nastase was one of the most gifted players I've seen. I wants to point out how bad the grass was in Forest Hills in those days. It was slippery with bad bounces if you had bounces at all!

 

[Bender]

Delpo's FH is legitimately great, if he hadn't been injured I think we would all refer to it as a top 10 FH. He has the pace but he also has the placement/consistency with it too. Guys like Blake/Gonzo didn't play with enough margin on their FH so while it looks sick in the highlight videos it's not as consistent/reliable as other forehands.

I don't think it's legitimate to argue that delpo's forehand is better than Nadal's on the basis of what could have been. I'm sure you don't put down Nadal as GOAT on the basis of what could have been if not for injury either.

 

[Bender]

I agree with this, but it is bizarre as you then go on to contradict yourself in your response to me 10 minutes later.

I'm not saying Djokovic's FH is BAD per se, just that it isn't an ATG or T1 FH. T2 would be a good place to put it, top T2 FH maybe to give it some credit.

I think I explained my position adequately enough not to be dismissed so trivially for being 'contradictory'...

 

[Bender]

Its another TTW myth that Murray's forehand is not world class. Both Djokovic and Murray are world class baseliners so it is frankly inconceivable that their forehands are not world class too.

Murray's FH stacks up against the competition because of its consistency and CC strength (which is where his passing shots go most of the time as well). It's improved a lot since 2012, but it really lacks sting when going I/O or DTL, which are important shots to have for anyone wanting to dictate from the baseline. I've seen him try hit the best I/O FH he could multiple times only for it to be returned quite easily by some of his opponents--it's almost a liability against the rest of the big four. Nadal specifically targets Murray's FH with his own BH.

Murray is more passive (I wouldn't say defensive exactly) than the rest of the big three because he hits with the least spin compared to the other members of the Big Four on average, and with flat shots you get a whole lot less margin for error. It doesn't allow him to take big cuts at the ball, although ever since he started hitting more topspin more often on his FH, he's improved drastically on clay--go figure eh?

 

[metsman]

I don't think it's legitimate to argue that delpo's forehand is better than Nadal's on the basis of what could have been. I'm sure you don't put down Nadal as GOAT on the basis of what could have been if not for injury either.

Cmon you can't compare Delpo's injuries to Nadal's...Delpo never got to reach his peak playing level. I don't think it is better than Nadal's, although on HC it could have a case, but I think it should be considered a top 10 FH.

 

[abmk]

open era only ( not necessarily in order )

federer
nadal
lendl
courier
agassi
borg
sampras
delpo
gonzo
moya

others : soderling ? blake ? arias ? djoko ? ferrero ? newk ? safin ? wilander ? becker ? connors ?

 

[Gazelle]

Borg and Lendl should be on the list. Their forehand strokes were quite modern for their times, this, together with their incredible fitness would make them beasts in today's game.

 

[VladimirJ]

Djokovic, Nadal, Federer are a toss-up. There are also Del Potro and Wawrinka.

 

[Flash O'Groove]

Djokovic, Nadal, Federer are a toss-up. There are also Del Potro and Wawrinka.

You mistook the forehand thread with the two-handed backhand thread no? Toss-up

 

[jaggy]

I think Kyle Edmund has a better forehand than Krygios

 

[VladimirJ]

You mistook the forehand thread with the two-handed backhand thread no? Toss-up

No I didn't. Peak Djokovic's fh is highly underrated.