Who would be the rest of the top 10 forehands of all time, 2nd to 10th, for both women and men, after Graf and Federer

[pierceforehands]

99% of people would agree Graf and Federer have the best female and male forehands in history (and the other 1% are braindead and not worth giving the time of day) but who would make up the rest of the top 10 forehands of all time list for men and women. The forehand is arguably the greatest overall shot in tennis history, there are more people with strong to great forehands than any other shot, including the serve, imparticularly for the women where there are nowhere near as many formidable serves as forehands.

It would take me a long time to make my personal list as I can think of so many candidates who could have a place in the top 10. Just off the top of my head these are the candidates you could consider for the other 9 spots in the top 10 forehands of all time, and I am sure I am forgetting some:

Women (no particular order): Mary Pierce, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Chris Evert, Margaret Court, Pauline Betz, Maureen Connolly, Monica Seles, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Althea Gibson, Nancy Richey, Hana Mandlikova, Tracy Austin, Iga Swiatek, Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, Sam Stosur, Helen Wills Moody, Suzanne Lenglen, Martina Navratilova

Men: Ivan Lendl, Pancho Segura, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Jimmy Arias, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Rod Laver, Gustavo Kuerten, Juan Martin Del Potro, Fernando Gonzalez, Stan Wawrinka, Lew Hoad, Marat Safin, Andy Roddick, Bill Tilden, Ellsworth Vines

 

[nolefam_2024]

First is probably Nadal and then others but I can accept agreement to disagree..

 

[pierceforehands]

Sorry I meant this to be in the Former Pro Player section. Please have it moved.

 

[junior74]

Sorry I meant this to be in the Former Pro Player section. Please have it moved.

No current players allowed?

 

[Angrybirdstar]

and the other 1% are braindead and not worth giving the time of day

what a sweetheart

 

[nolefam_2024]

what a sweetheart

That is not sweetheart.
If op calls other braindead then I don't think even tw admins can fault me for calling the op an idiot. Now can they?

 

[Racquet_smash]

These 2 are definitely not "unquestionably" the best forehands ever.

They would probably the #1 pick for many people, but that doesn't make it non debatable.

 

[BTURNER]

My nominee is Lendl. It was steady enough to win on clay, powerful enough to beat anyone on hard courts, and versatile enough to win on grass. It was effective against Wilander, Becker, Connors, McEnroe, Edberg, Mecir, Vilas. I could go on. But it was the forehand for all seasons, all tournaments - all purpose.

 

[NAS]

Rafa has the best forehand lol, I like Fed better than Rafa but Fed has more peakest but not the best.
Where was Fed fh unless he was 22 and where it went after Wimbledon 2012, and mind you this is not me, this is told by Fed fans themselves that Fed Lost his fh from 2013 and was still finding his style before 2003.
Rafa fh was Great between 2004 and 2022 , just do the maths.
Rafa fh was really consistent and dangerous on every surface unless injurdy took him out completely.
Fed is second, then there is Lendl, goated on all surface, Agassi was another one, Novak is another with good consistent fh which worked till now without breaking too much, was on fire in Olympic gold medal.
Ofcourse I am not talking about peakest one like Delpo, when his fh was on it was like hammer, I am also taking consistency and longivity and How many years fh was dangerous with Breaking down too much

 

[nolefam_2024]

Rafa has the best forehand lol, I like Fed better than Rafa but Fed has more peakest but not the best.
Where was Fed fh unless he was 22 and where it went after Wimbledon 2012, and mind you this is not me, this is told by Fed fans themselves that Fed Lost his fh from 2013 and was still finding his style before 2003.
Rafa fh was Great 2004 and 2022 , just do the maths.
Rafa fh was really consistent and dangerous on every surface unless injurdy took him out completely.
Fed is second, then there is Lendl, goated on all surface, Agassi was another one, Novak is another with good consistent fh which worked till now without breaking too much, was on fire in Olympic gold medal.
Ofcourse I amnot talking only about peakest one like Delpo, when his fh was on it was like hammer, I am also taking consistency and longivity and How many years fh was dangerous with Breaking down too much

Agreed. I would take Nadal peak for peak as well.

 

[NAS]

Agreed. I would take Nadal peak for peak as well.

Nope for peak, Fed is the best outside of clay, that was like Bajooka when on, but as I said Fed fh was the first to break down in all of big three, devloped late and broke first

 

[nolefam_2024]

Nope for peak, Fed is the best outside of clay, that was like Bajooka when on, but as I said Fed fh was the first to break down in all of big three, devloped late and broke first

Agreed to disagree. Nadal forehand is heavyweight weapon on which he beat Federer in ao and djokovic Murray in uso. His forehand on grass is very deadly far more than Federer on clay.

 

[NAS]

Agreed to disagree. Nadal forehand is heavyweight weapon on which he beat Federer in ao and djokovic Murray in uso. His forehand on grass is very deadly far more than Federer on clay.

I don't think so but let agree to disagree

 

[landcookie]

Come on OP. We all know the real reason you started this thread and it’s not to discuss “top 10 forehands”.

 

[Vincent-C]

Seles, Mandlikova, Lendl, and Arias (with wood). Not saying they're "best", though.

 

[pierceforehands]

One person I forgot is Sue Barker. Evert once said she feared Barker's forehand even more than Navratilova or Austin's (both who had great forehands) due to how deadly and penetrating it was. Unfortunately she didn't really have another shot to back it up, but she had a terrific forehand.

 

[BTURNER]

One person I forgot is Sue Barker. Evert once said she feared Barker's forehand even more than Navratilova or Austin's (both who had great forehands) due to how deadly and penetrating it was. Unfortunately she didn't really have another shot to back it up, but she had a terrific forehand.

She was sort of a 'wood racket Steffi Graf' but the problem with that trick, was that 1. she's actually not Steffi Graf, and 2. you can't hit many clean winners from the baseline with a wood racket. In other words, at least on clay, Chris could run down a lot more of them, and then her precision ensured that Sue could not run around as many backhands, or run down balls that went deep and hard into her forehand corner. The inside out forehand was great, but without that Graf footspeed and footwork... head to head was 23-1. That loss was on - you guessed it - indoor carpet in Boston.

 

[pierceforehands]

She was sort of a 'wood racket Steffi Graf' but the problem with that trick, was that 1. she's actually not Steffi Graf, and 2. you can't hit many clean winners from the baseline with a wood racket. In other words, at least on clay, Chris could run down a lot more of them, and then her precision ensured that Sue could not run around as many backhands, or run down balls that went deep and hard into her forehand corner. The inside out forehand was great, but without that Graf footspeed and footwork... head to head was 23-1. That loss was on - you guessed it - indoor carpet in Boston.

Yes that is a pefect assessment of Barker IMO, and a comparision to Graf, I think wood racket Graf is a good label to give her. She also didn't have close to the serve of Graf though, and it was the very strong serve of Graf that not only won her some free points, but set up many very attackable returns she could clobber and usually put away outright with her forehand, with a graphite racquet no less.