Your favorite "old school" player?

[Steven87]

Deff. Kafelnikov...very nice form and consistent

 

[TacoBellBorderBowl1946]

Federer...

 

[pro_staff]

Connors. What a character.

 

[simi]

Todd Martin

 

[diegaa]

Becker without a doubt.

 

[Feña14]

Rosewall, if thats a bit too old school then i'd say Sampras or Henman.

 

[slice bh compliment]

Yannick Noah.
If he's not ol' school enough for you players, I'll go with Ilie Nastase.

Honorable mention:
Newk.
Ashe.
Rosewall.
Laver.
Pancho Gonzales, 'cause he's lookin' sideways like my man Pele.
Gettin' on like Ali, boom-ay-yea, J'ai des bon mots pour vous manger. The party people say, "Oui, oui, c'est vrai" 'cause I got a remote for my bidet.


Bring it back, dat ol' New York rap.

 

[tennisboy87]

I really like Jimmy Connors for his competitiveness and tenacity on the court.

 

[Robbie_1988]

Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras. (Well they may not be that old school to some. But for to someone like me who got into tennis during the reigns of Hewitt, Roddick and Federer, I consider Edberg and Sampras to be from a different time because of their different playing style.)

 

[psp2]

another votes for Edberg and Becker. they seem to float across the court with their styles.

 

[migjam]

Borg! For sure.

 

[oscar_2424]

Michael Chang

 

[dubsplayer]

Pat Rafter

 

[punch]

def. Chang ^^

 

[Volly master]

McEnroe
Lendl

 

[RiosTheGenius]

Pat Rafter or Edberg

 

[EclipseRydr97]

Rafter or Guga

 

[Andres]

Ivanisevic, Sampras, Rafter and Edberg. In that order

 

[superman1]

McEnroe, Sampras. I used to like Chang a lot when I was a kid because of how fast he was.

 

[Bogie]

pat rafter, guga, sampras, ivanisevic, chang

 

[Kaptain Karl]

Interesting to see some folks' idea of "old school." (I don't think of Kafelnikov as this....)

Nastase
Newk

- KK

 

[BreakPoint]

Connors.

The man who once said that he hates the look on his opponent's face when he won even more than he hates to lose.

 

[Young Pete]

sampras sampras sampras sampras sampras

 

[HyperHorse]

definitely Pat Rafter/John McEnroe/Becker...
other honourable mentions...
Jim Courier.. Thomas Muster, Edberg...
Pat Cash... if only he didnt have so many injuries...
*sigh*
definitely NOT Ivan Lendl.... *snore*
yeah that one goes out to YOU, OrangeOne...

 

[urban]

Of course, never saw a clip or something of him, but by all accounts Dick Williams must have been the real old school player. Survived the Titanic, won the US and DC serveral times. Had an easygoing, flamboyant 'old amateur' approach to tennis. For example, as a team captain in that memorable DC final US-France 1927, he left the court, while the doubles was underway, to himself play a friendly doubles on a side court. Was much loved and revered by Tilden, who named all his heroes in his novels Dick. Other great guys must have been that crazy womensman Art Larsen, art painter Butch Patty, and mercurial Withney Reed. I think, they are making a book or a picture of him.

 

[rasajadad]

Another vote for Rosewall!

 

[superman1]

Tilden might have named all of those characters "Dick" for a different reason. "Dick McGee went into the bar to meet Balls Murphy and his cousin Sac."

 

[matty p]

Pat Rafter

 

[Amone]

Mikhail Pernfors, cause of his returning style.

 

[HyperHorse]

Mikhail Pernfors, cause of his returning style.

explain his returning style.. i dont remember much of him...

 

[slice bh compliment]

Tilden might have named all of those characters "Dick" for a different reason. "Dick McGee went into the bar to meet Balls Murphy and his cousin Sac."

Man, that's the father of all-court tennis you are joking about. I'm laughing out loud, anyway, though!

It would be interesting to read interviews with a lot of his best buds on the tour. You already mentioned a few, but what about the obscure guys like Little Bill JOHNStON, Shaft Shimizu, Bath-house Von Cramm, Butts Shanahan, Fudge Rodriguez and the angry Scotsman ANgUS McRear. Being such a perfectionist, I wonder if 'BIG' Bill had any dealings with Howard Head or Leaky Wilson.

 

[Morpheus]

Vitas Gerulaitis

 

[Amone]

explain his returning style.. i dont remember much of him...

Well, basically, Pernfors sets himself to return about... 12 to 15 feet behind the baseline, then moves up as the server hits the ball. Movement around then is mostly normal, around the time most players straighten and move their feet, but a 10 foot move forward is so aggressive (seeming, at least) and uncommon, I have to give Mikael the nod there.

Admittedly, it's not my style, I can't time it that well. I just set up 3 feet inside and rush. But if I could do it like Pernfors, you bet I would.

PS: I apologize for misspelling Pernfors's name. It's spelled as I have it here, Mikael, not Mikhail. I know, no biggie, but I figure, gotta check these things, and I forgot to. That's out of the way, now.

 

[LordRaceR]

Becker all the way

 

[theace21]

McEnroe, Nastase and Laver

 

[slice bh compliment]

McEnroe, Nastase and Laver

Wow. "OLD SCHOOL" is relative, I guess, but no matter how old school you are, you just cannot top that trio. The ubiquitous Mr. McEnroe....and the other two had shoes named for them. Man.
Speaking of iconic footwear: there is Stan Smith, who is not getting any love in this thread (so far).

You know who was a cool ol' schooler? Derrick Rostagno (if you count the late eighties and early nineties). Henri Leconte seemed like a sixties guy stuck in the 80's.

Some of you mentioned Patrick Rafter. Even though he is not even 35 yet, he IS a product of THE old school. Pat Cash: old school in some ways.

Oh, I've got a couple of good ones on tip of my tongue: Fiery Fred Stolle.
Technically the Slam leader before Pete: Emmo.
Nails Carmichael. Mal Anderson. Owen K. Davidson. Rafael Osuna. Dennis Ralston. Mark Edmondson.

The ladies: Maria Bueno. Evonne Goolagong. BJ King. the Reverend Margaret Smith Court. Martina the elder.
Marita Redondo.
Kerry Melville Reid.
90's but old school nonetheless: Nathalie Tauziat, Jana Novotna.