GasquetGOAT
Hall of Fame
Looks like the power game has returned to mens tennis, all 4 semifinalists possess huge forehands, it's going to be an entertaining semifinal day in Paris. And no pushers! Thank God!:twisted:
Who's got the Biggest Forehand in Mens Tennis today?
- Thread starter GasquetGOAT
- Start date
stormholloway
Legend
I'm really surprised Nadal's isn't on there. When he flattens that thing out it's just monstrous. Is this thread about raw power or simply the best forehand?
Best is Federer's. Biggest is Gonzalez on average.
Best is Federer's. Biggest is Gonzalez on average.
flyer
Hall of Fame
yeah theres a lot of guys that hit "big" forehands, gonzo's and verdasco's prob the biggest
I would say nadal's forehand has been consistently better than federer's for over a year now though, just my opinion
GasquetGOAT
Hall of Fame
Nadal's forehand? Not really. Hes got the consistency and spin but not power and pace compared to the guys in the poll.
T
TennisandMusic
Guest
But he does when he wants too, which was the guys point and he's right. He has hit winners over 100mph with his forehand. But yeah he wouldn't win this poll anyway.
But as far as who is hitting the biggest forehands on a consistent basis I'd say Gonzalez or Verdasco for sure.
Aykhan Mammadov
Hall of Fame
Surely Gonzales between them.
Nadal_Freak
Banned
Definitely Gonzo. He takes a huge swing and gets a lot of them in.
All-rounder
Legend
gonzalez for me
No-no-no-...no. Agassi? Agassi NEVER had the best forehand imo. He always had ONE OF the best but never the best. On clay, Bruguera had the most varied 'dangerous" forehand, Courier and Berasategui the most laser accurate with power and needing the least amount of time to get it off, hard to argue with Moya's prime inside-out forehand or the whipper snapper from Ferrero either, Nadal's clay forehand vs. Agassi's clay forehand...a no contest, and so on and so forth.
Agassi on hard, however, you could make that case that at his best, he had the best. But I'd still give the nod to Lendl for consistency and variety, yet still having the option to end the point when HE wanted to should he so choose at any moment (he was the varied "dangerous" forehand for hard courts that Bruguera's was for clay).
Really to me, Agassi himself said that Berasategui's forehand was clear best in the game when on. When you consider that's really ALL he had (Courier at least was 6'1" and could mash his first serve and at least had SOME reach at net), it's a quite compelling argument.
Agassi's strength from the baseline was more that unlike all the other elite baseliners, there wasn't one side that was a lot or at the very least slightly better. Even Safin for example whom people think of being a very balanced ability to attack interchangeably off both sides without having to run around it, his forehand is notorious for going off the bonker and spraying consistently LONG when given junk or losing confidence.
Agassi was truly the most BALANCED attack from the baseline I've ever seen in tennis. Undoubtedly one of the three greatest two-handers of all time (I'd say Connors and PEAK Rios also fall into this category) that I've seen, and with a forehand just as good or ALMOST as good as any other.
"Dangerous" forehands are far, far, FAR more common than dangerous backhands. Off the top of my head, there's the obvious guys like Courier, Bruguera, Berastategui who warranted a lot of mention back in the day, but there was also the Ferreira forehand which was no joke, and say for example, the Magnus Gustaffson forehand many have never heard of which was MONSTEROUSY...ugly, yet also of course monsterously big and DANGEROUS. I distinctly remember him being a big underdog against Chang at Wimbledon one year, they said the court was too fast for his swing. Uh-uh. On this day, he came out like a guy who had nothing to lose and literally jsut BLEW Chang out of the water like a litte gold fish with that forehand. He just WINGED it, taking enormous cuts all match long, and gosh darn they just kept on going in.
Agassi's claim to fame was that NO ONE could bring it off BOTH sides the way he could and apply consistent pressure off BOTH side ALL match long in such a way that you could not help but feel like you were on his yo-yo.
Berasategui or Courier or Gonzo or Moya types who build EVERYTHING around dictating with their forehand, they don't really put you on the yo-yo in the same way. Agassi made you DROP DEAD tired at his best, not just because of the power, but because of WHERE he did his dictating from. He did it from right in the center of the court at his best. He didn't NEED to run around like chicken little all day to get off his forehands, and get you running yes, but in a MUCH more predictable way. From the center of the court, Agassi could send you ANY way ALL day long with the least amount of effort expended on his part and the MOST on your part. I
Some of the best tennis I've ever seen Agassi play was in the Olympic finals against Bruguera, per Bruguera, he's never played better against me. There was no room to breath players felt when he was REALLY on like that. Hawk-eyed, and on top of EVERYTHING right off the bounce and controlling the center of the court like no other. If there's a record for mkaing the other guy run the most, I would bet that Agassi is the greatest of all time for an AGRESSIVE baseliner. He made the other guys run HARD more pound for pound more than anyone else imo.
Mungo73
Banned
ROFL no power and pace, what can you expect from someone whose nickname is GasquetGOAT...GOAT of choking you mean?
Cesc Fabregas
Legend
Biggest Gonzo, Berdych and Verdasco.
flyer
Hall of Fame
yeah i didnt say it was the biggest, i said it was the best
MarrratSafin
Hall of Fame
Gonzo without a doubt. Serena Williams? And in 2nd place at the moment? LOL!
lawnchairtennis
New User
I guess serena would be in the top 100 for mens tennis...... 
still though she doesnt belong with any of these guys... fed for sure I'd say when its on
still though she doesnt belong with any of these guys... fed for sure I'd say when its on
J
Jchurch
Guest
Serena FTW
Ummm no. Agassi had a great forehand but Federer, Courier, Lendl, and Sampras for starters all have both bigger and better overall forehands than Agassi. Players with bigger but not neccessarily better forehands than Agassi as well would include Mancini, Squillari (watch their matches at the FO even though Agassi won), Gonzo, Philippoussis. Players with not neccesarily bigger but better overall forehands than Agassi would probably include Nadal, Muster, Rios, and possibly Berasetegui. In either way while Agassi has a great forehand he would never come out the top choice not hat side.
What is Serena doing on the poll. First of all if you include men and WTA should never be included. Plus she doesnt even have the best womens forehand right now. Players right now with both bigger and better forehands than the current Serena right now would be Kuznetsova, Dementieva, Ivanovic, and Safina. 1999-2003 Serena probably might have the best womens forehand today though, but would still far from the best of the last 20 years.
Halba
Hall of Fame
ppl forget nadal's forehand has won 6 grand slam titles for him...
Jay_The_Nomad
Professional
Some of the guys have pretty big forehands that are as powerful as Gonzo's; e.g. Del Potro & Monfils.
But Gonzo has a higher success rate then them in getting those killer forehands to catch the line.
But Gonzo has a higher success rate then them in getting those killer forehands to catch the line.
FlamEnemY
Hall of Fame
Have to agree with you. Especially about Djokovic's forehand, it's very powerful and accurate when he unleashes it.
IvanAndreevich
Legend
That's a very ignorant statement about other parts of Nadal's game.
grafrules
Banned
Nadal's forehand is his best actual "shot" though. Not his only good shot but his best one. The best aspects of him as a player are his incredible mental toughness, incredible overall court coverage, fitness, court smarts, and amazing overall defense though. His forehand despite being his best "shot" would only come next after all of that.
IvanAndreevich
Legend
Exactly. It's not like Gonzo whose game is literally built around his forehand.
Cosmic Charlie
New User
Agassi, when he came along in the late eighties, possessed a monstrous forehand. Talking in terms of sheer Gonzo power, Agassi's forehand in 1987 was superior to Lendl's. He took Lendl by surprise the first few times they played, though Lendl came through those matches. Lendl by then had the consistency and variety. He started taking the Agassi matches more seriously than others, and Agassi mentioned this at the time.
Agassi's balance (forehand and backhand) came with age. He retained the option of ending the point when he wanted to with his forehand, but never quite with an '87 forehand.
matchmaker
Hall of Fame
Great post as always, Tym!
Good to remember those ugly but monstrous FH's produced by Magnusson and Ferreira.
To the OP,
Gonzalez (with z) has the biggest.
Fed has the best.
Leelord337
Hall of Fame
i picked gonzo, also..i remember darren cahill saying in commentating on espn that gonzo would hit baskets of balls during practice and just rip forehands over and over without missing over 100mph
MirkoMecir
New User
Wow, kind of suprising that there has not been one mention of James Blake. He's got a pretty sweet forehand when it is on.
kobe3pointer
Semi-Pro
Lets go ask Murray,
Hold on..
He says Gonzalez... :/
Hold on..
He says Gonzalez... :/
GasquetGOAT
Hall of Fame
Serena currently has more votes than Gulbis and tsonga ... and is tied with Verdasco. Funny
Have you seen the size of her arms? Those are GUNs:twisted:
GasquetGOAT
Hall of Fame
I agree. Problem is people have short term memories and the poll was created right after Gonzo blew Murray out of the FO with his forehand.
l_gonzalez
Professional
Edberg for sure.
World Beater
Hall of Fame
1. federer
2. verdasco
3. gonzalez
4. nadal
soderling doesn't deserve to be in this poll just because of one hot run.
2. verdasco
3. gonzalez
4. nadal
soderling doesn't deserve to be in this poll just because of one hot run.
Ballinbob
Hall of Fame
Oh, so you think Nadal has a bigger/harder forehand than Gulbis and Berdych? Good one :shock:
PS-Soderling has always had a big forehand. Always. And it's much much bigger than Nadals
Last edited:
GasquetGOAT
Hall of Fame
But we are talking about TODAY.
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