Assemble the Greatest Possible "Hybrid Tennis Player"

[El Dude]

Think Dr. Frankenstein for a moment. Who, in Open Era history at least, was the very best at a given tennis capacity, and thus which "parts" would you assemble to create the perfect tennis player?

Whose serve would it be? Pete Sampras would be the obvious choice, but there have been some great servers in tennis. Andy Roddick? Goran Ivanisevic?

What about backhand? Forehand? Return of serve? Mentality? Think of as many aspects that go into the game, and come up with the best you can think of at that aspect - and, voila, we've got our perfect tennis player.

 

[tenniskiosk]

my tennis frankenstein

Serve: Ivo Karlovic
Forehand: JM delpo
BackHand: David Nalbandian
Backhand slice: Andy Murray
Drop shot: NOle Djokovic
Mentality Rafael Nadal

 

[BalaryKar]

THE WALL

 

[Fiero425]

THE WALL

The best practice partner ever; esp. if out of practice! :clap :clap :clap

 

[Fiero425]

Years ago Tennis Magazine did a cover on such a hybrid player! Memory failing me, but ...:

Men: The head of John Newcombe
- The legs of Bjorn Borg

Women: The head of Billie Jean King
- The backhand of Chris Evert

Anyone else remember more? It was looking at players from the 70's!

 

[brokenshoelace]

Serve: Karlovic. If we're taking it as a shot on its own (ignoring clutch, success, etc...), it's not even close. Of course, you need to be 20 feet tall to possess a serve like that but let's ignore technicalities.
Forehand: Federer.
Backhand: Djokovic (I'd take it over Agassi, Nalbandian and others due to versatility and ability to absorb power, defend, etc...).
Return: Agassi (though Novak is up there. He's actually better than Agassi at getting serves back in and stretching, making the service box "small," etc... But Agassi is better at flat out punishing serves).
Mentality: Nadal.
Movement: Nadal.
Volleys: Edberg.
Slice: Rosewall.

 

[Kieran]

Serve: Pete (our guy is gonna be expected to win! )
Forehand: Rafa
Backhand: Djoker
Return: Djoker
Smash: Pete or Roger
Volleys: Mac
Mentality: Rafa
Movement: Rafa or Borg
The Look: Borg!

 

[brokenshoelace]

Serve: Pete (our guy is gonna be expected to win! )

...Not on clay apparently.

Oh wait...

Forehand: Rafa

Never mind

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Face, Ivanovic....Bum, Azarenka...Brea...


Oops, wrong thread :snigger


Serve- Milos ( Because he has every serve in the book. I have seen him hit kickers that bounced of so high over peoples heads that was just ridiculous )
Forehand - Roger
Backhand-Edberg
Volley-Edberg
Overhead-Rafa
Return- Nole

 

[El Dude]

Backhand: Ike Turner

(Bad joke)

 

[tennisville]

Serve: Pete
Forehand: Roger
Backhand: Djoker
Return: Agassi
Smash: Pete
Volleys: Edberg
Mentality: Rafa
Movement: Rafa
The Look: Roger

 

[topsport1]

If it was actually Frankenstein's monster who would you have? (meaning the worst/ugliest shots)

of name players I can think of some having bad or at least pretty mediocre ones..examples...

Edberg forehand

Rusedski backhand drive/pass

Agassi volleys

Connors serve could be shaky and average overall

Courier backhand wasn't exactly a weapon, similar to Roddick

of journeyman I'm guessing it gets a lot worse

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

^ Forehand-Gulbis
Serve- McEnroe ( not talking about effectiveness, it is just ugly looking)
Backhand- Connors (always hated it..it always looks like he is directing the ball)
Overhead- Novak ( He looks panicked whenever he sees one)
Volley- Don't know. Nobody comes to the net. Not enough sample size.

 

[bobvance]

I started watching tennis as a kid during Pete and Andre's era, so I really don't know enough about the guys who came before to include them in my list.

Serve: Pete
Backhand: Djokovic/Motivated Nalbandian :blush:
Forehand: Federer
ROS: Djokovic/Agassi
Taking the ball early: Agassi
Passing Shots: Nadal
Mentality: Nadal
Movement: Nadal/Murray/Djokovic/Prime Federer
Volleys: Never watched enough serve and volley to really judge.
Slice: Federer
Ability to kill slice: Nadal
Fitness: Nadal

 

[shawnbm]

Backhand: Ike Turner

(Bad joke)

ooooooohhhhhhhhhh! You didn't! Some will not get that, but it was clever.

 

[shawnbm]

Service--Sampras and then Federer
Volley--McEnroe and then Edberg/Sampras
FH--Federer and Sampras (especially running)
Drive BH--Borg and then Djokovic
Slice BH--Rosewall (by acclamation) and then Federer
Overhead--Federer and then Connors
ROS--Djokovic and then Agassi/Connors
Stamina--Borg
Court movement/speed--Borg and then Nadal
Mental Grit--Borg and Nadal in a tie, and then Connors

 

[the AntiPusher]

Service--Sampras and then Federer
Volley--McEnroe and then Edberg/Sampras
FH--Federer and Sampras (especially running)
Drive BH--Borg and then Djokovic
Slice BH--Rosewall (by acclamation) and then Federer
Overhead--Federer and then Connors
ROS--Djokovic and then Agassi/Connors
Stamina--Borg
Court movement/speed--Borg and then Nadal
Mental Grit--Borg and Nadal in a tie, and then Connors

Great stuff Shawn.. I agree with most but I would take Sampras overhead because he did it with so much flair.. I would also include Rafa and Federer for stamina, Mental Grit.. Rafa, Federer and Sampras.. Court movement, Nadal, Djoker and then Borg

 

[shawnbm]

we are all splitting hairs on some of these things. Connors, Borg, Mac, Sampras, Fed and Rafa--I mean really? They were so good at so many things.

 

[Haelfix]

Serve: Isner (First serve Karlovic, but Isner's 2nd by a mile)
FH: Federer
Backhand: Nalbandian
ROS: Djokovic
Movement: Monfils in terms of pure speed, but Rafa in terms of overall
Mental: Borg
Volleys: Roche, Edberg, McEnroe
Slice: Rosewall.
Dropshot: Coria
Tactical Sense: Hewitt

 

[shawnbm]

Haelfix remembers Roche for the volley, which I left out. My bad. In terms of tactical sense, that is an excellent call and I would put Wilander up there too. The smaller guys who can get it done against those with bigger weapons have to rely on wile and guile.