After years spent analysing and admiring the technique of the greatest champions … what were (and are) the things that tennis no. 1s – Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick – have done (and do) not so well?
On August 23rd, 1973, the ATP launched the official ranking system managed and compiled by a computer. From that date onwards, 25 tennis players were ranked number 1, and obviously they all were – some more, some less, some for longer, some only briefly – champions of our beloved sport. Given this premise (I underline that we are talking about indisputable champions, therefore the benchmark is at the highest possible expectation), we can say that – from a strictly technical point of view – not all of them have been technically exemplary and complete in every phase of the game. There is an interesting correlation between these aspects and the years under consideration, as well as the number of weeks at the top of the ladder.
Following a chronological order, from 1973 to 1983 we have the first group of “number ones” consisting of Ilie Nastase, John Newcombe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. In 1983 Ivan Lendl gets to the top, and will interchange the top of the rankings with McEnroe until 1988. In that year Mats Wilander will become n1 – with the deed of three quarters of a Grand Slam, followed by Stefan Edberg (1990), Boris Becker (1991) and Jim Courier (1992). Then the era of Pete Sampras (1993) and Andre Agassi (1995) comes, with the raids by Thomas Muster (1996) and Marcelo Rios (1998). The old millennium ends with Carlos Moya, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Patrick Rafter (all in 1999), the new one starts with Marat Safin, Gustavo Kuerten (both in 2000) and Lleyton Hewitt (2001). In 2003 the top of the ladder belongs to Juan Carlos Ferrero and Andy Roddick; after that, from 2004 to today we had a lot (really a lot) of Roger Federer, and quite a lot of Rafael Nadal (2008) and Novak Djokovic (2011).
In my opinion, the first thing you notice is that from the beginning until 1990 all number ones have been – even if in different ways – technically complete players in every respect. Strategies and tactics were extremely different, but they all were all rounders, some of them from the beginning (Nastase, Newcombe, McEnroe, who could do everything well), some of them perfectioning their tactics rather than their technique (Connors, Borg, Lendl and Wilander who evolved into great attacking players when needed, especially on fast surfaces). Those were years when you could not hide behind an extreme technical specialization: if you were the best, that meant that you could do anything at least extremely well, if not excellent, and there was no area of the court where you were uncomfortable or out of position.
The 90s were the beginning of extreme specialization in tennis. Big serves over 200 kph started being the rule, rather than the exception, net game and serve and volley dominated the scene, and in fact we can identify Stefan Edberg as the first player who got to number one with a specific technical aspect which was not up to the rest of his sublime game: the forehand. Eastern grip, rigid arm, too much shoulder kick, and too much frontal stance for that type of grip, made him the first case of clear gap in a champion (otherwise technically fabulous) who has come to the top of tennis.
Boris Becker was much more complete, nothing to say on the execution of the strokes, but suffered from a less than exceptional mobility from the baseline. He was however not penalized too much by the fast / superfast surfaces of that time. At the net, despite his size, Boris was as agile as a handball goalkeeper – remember his spectacular diving volleys? – and the return was absolutely top notch. On clay, unfortunately, it was a different story (no title won in his career), partially because of his stubborn tactics which drove him to always to try and win from behind.
Jim Courier, the first major product of Nick Bollettieri Academy, has possibly been the least complete number one: he brought to perfection the weapon “invented” by Nick: the inside-out forehand from the baseline, thus masking a not-so- fluid – if not clumsy – backhand, looking like a baseball stroke, and a simply nonexistent net game. But that was enough, along with great strength and conditioning, huge leg work, concentration and killer instinct, he spent 58 weeks at the top of the rankings, and reached the final at Wimbledon on a grass which at the time was still super-fast (although that 1993 was characterised by courts reduced to brown remnants of grass and a lot of bare dirt).
There isn’t too much to comment on Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Pistol Pete’s backhand was not memorable but good enough, and the rest of his tennis was simply amazing, legendary serve and forehand, a cat at the net, the best and most powerful overhead ever (the famous NBA style “slam dunks” jumping on both feet). The Vegas Kid , on the contrary, was not happy to go to the net, but he was so fast and explosive taking shots on the rise and when returning. During matches on the ultrafast 90s grass surface he attacked the powerful serves of players such as Ivanisevic and Sampras himself, produced winners with his extraordinary hand-eye coordination. In contrast, a bit like Borg, Lendl and Wilander, whilst using it parsimoniously, Agassi had superb net technique (especially timing and position), and it was difficult to pass him because he was often following up withering attacks with his fantastic fundamentals – forehand and backhand equally effective – covering angles with great geometric sense.
Thomas Muster has been undoubtedly the biggest “clay warrior” before the coming of Rafael Nadal. However, he had limits similar to Courier with volleys, and his one-handed backhand was just enough (not a bad execution, but not as deep and continuous) and it was offset by a huge forehand with left-handed rotation, along with the already mentioned tremendous competitiveness. On grass, even in his best years, there were very little satisfaction for Thomas.
Marcelo Rios was a supreme left-handed talent, and aside from a temper which could be described as moody and difficult (to say the least), he was second to none in the groundstrokes from the baseline and with his touch. He might have achieved even better results, if he had a more incisive and powerful serve, when facing the “ace machines” of those years: the left-handed curves were always a trouble for the opponent, but you also have to hit hard at top levels. Only one month was spent at the top of the ladder for him, in April 1998.
The last three top ranked of the ’90s were Carlos Moya, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Patrick Rafter. Carlos and Yevgeny were technically excellent, although hitting their game only from the baseline, Moya with a better forehand, Kafelnikov with a better backhand; at the net they were doing their “homework” when they had to, especially the Russian who was also an excellent doubles player. On the other hand Patrick’s immense class was expressed almost exclusively at the net: possible the most perfect net player of all times, and the technique of his groundstrokes was still of the highest quality.
Marat Safin has been the first “total talent” of modern tennis, great build, serve, forehand and backhand, fabulous hand on any ball, not too comfortable on the grass because of the foot work (and the effort of always having to be very low, the legendary Marat was known to be lazy) but devastating on the fast and hard courts. His only limit – if you can call it like that since we are talking about technique – was precisely his reluctance to work out and train hard, and the will to enjoy life. Nine weeks at the top are really few – we are talking about someone who could play a vintage Federer in 2005 and on court he was not afraid of anything or anyone – but he probably had more fun than all the others previously mentioned combined.
Gustavo Kuerten had the most powerful and loaded one-handed backhand in history along with Stan Wawrinka, capable of hitting top-spins from above shoulder height, as if they were mirror side smashes – was also a talented under every aspect: perfect serve and forehand, but the big backswing and relatively slow preparation movements have limited his results beyond clay, with the exception of the Cincinnati Masters in 2001.
Lleyton Hewitt was also technically sound and yet another phenomenal agonist. Italian tennis journalist Gianni Clerici affectionately nicknamed him “Little Satan” when he was returning impossible balls, and not missing a single shot. He was the nemesis of Sampras at the end of his career, burying Pete with passing shots. The Australian was (and still is) without any flaws in his shot execution, but he was limited in his serve and power by a normal build at the dawn of the super-athletes era.
Juan Carlos Ferrero belonged to the same breed of Moya and Kuerten, baseliner with perfect technique, good at the net, but only if it was absolutely necessary to venture there, very adaptable to all surfaces except really fast ones. A great tennis mind, great tactical intelligence, adaptability and strategy, the distribution of his best results substantiates it: victory at Roland Garros, final at the US Open, semi-final at the Australian Open, two-time quarterfinalist at Wimbledon.
Andy Roddick brought the modern serve technique to the extreme and highest peaks, with front loading (as Rafter already did; Pat was looking to place to follow to the net rather than looking for the ace), and abbreviated backswing on a low ball toss. Andy has built his success on his devastating serve, both first and second ball, and on a great semi-western (tending to western) forehand. At the net he was excellent, but his backhand was somewhat similar, in a negative way, to Courier’s (rigid, poor shoulder rotation, little fluidity in the follow through) and was always his achilles’ heel, known to his opponents, who could always try hit the ball there to his left, to escape the bombing.
And so here we are at today’s era, started on February 2nd 2004 with the settlement of Roger Federer at the top of the rankings. No need to reiterate the completeness and technical perfection of Roger, let’s just say that if for example someone like Courier had the “worst stroke” of the Swiss – the backhand – which technically is impeccable, and is the best slice ever, for Sampras and Agassi it would have been really, really tough in those years.
Rafael Nadal has been a super-specialist from technical point of view, built on what is the most effective forehand (speed and topspin) ever. Great backhand from right-dominant and great touch at the net (no frills, no magics, but always perfectly placed volleys, and exemplary positioning at the net). The only thing technically barely above sufficient is his serve: a bit like Rios left-handed curves masked a lack in explosiveness, but the percentages and choices of direction have always been perfect: maybe Rafa does not claim too many points directly with the serve, but it’s extremely difficult to attack him on his serve.
finally Novak Djokovic, who is dominating the current tennis landscape, and has achieved what I do not hesitate to define perfection in interpreting the modern game. Not surprisingly, even in terms of teaching and coaching progression, the models of high performance are Nole’s forehand and backhand. In biomechanical terms, as well as balance and power management we are reading a groundstroke manual. Over the years the serve has become an extremely reliable and adaptable weapon, and the touch, especially the excellent drop-shots and lobs (stuff that you cannot even dream about unless you have a great touch), is appropriate for the level we’re discussing, i.e. the absolute crème de la crème. The problem, and in my opinion it is a significant problem, is the net game, especially overhead. Djokovic is obviously struggling with overheads, starting from the incorrect positioning of his feet (too often he is too much under the ball, and too frontal), that causes what in the jargon can be defined as “belly smash”, executed without sufficient torso coiling, and with the axis of balance pointing backwards. Personally I find Nole’s overhead smash one of the great mysteries of modern tennis, because it is difficult to understand how a super champion such as Novak could bring along such a specific technical gap within an otherwise fantastic technique. Unfortunately for him, this lack of confidence in approaching the high volleys (he always gives the impression that he is trying to avoid missing the smash, while it should be hit to win the point) is going to affect his whole game at the net, and it has already costed him very dearly.
The infamous high volley in the semifinals at Roland Garros against Nadal, which Nole has awkwardly approached in search of a correct position of the feet, without any automatism, made him stumble in the net (but also several unfinished overheads , at least three in the final stages of that match) or the ugly error on the match point against Wawrinka in Australia – weight on one side and ball on the other – as a result of a meaningless serve and volley, were episodes that heavily conditioned Djokovic’s results. He could have easily won those two tournaments (I find it hard to imagine Ferrer beating Djokovic at the final in Paris in 2013, or either Nadal or Berdych in Melbourne in 2014). The latest example is against Italian Simone Bolelli in Beijing, during a match otherwise perfect and dominated from start to finish: during the second set, Bolelli up 1-0, 15-15, Nole hits two weak and poorly placed smashes, and on the second one Bolelli returns a bomb in his feet. It is really strange that someone like Becker, who was doing whatever he wanted with the ball above his head, has not yet been able yet to fix this last piece of the technical puzzle which would make Nole a champion without defects. Never mind, he is already practically unbeatable.
In conclusion, just to remind ourselves that we are analysing the biggest champions in the history of tennis, let’s try to do the opposite of the common fanta-technique game where you take the best strokes of all the tennis players of the past and the present to build the imaginary perfect champion. Instead let’s put together the not-so-good executions. A player with Rios’ serve, Edberg’s forehand, Courier’s backhand, Becker’s mobility, Muster’s volley, Djokovic’s overhead and Safin’s will to train … well, I think this hypothetical player would be in the top 50 in the world anyway.
(Written by Luca Baldissera and translated by Robbie Cappuccio)
