Tennis Family Tree

[Moxie]

The player that brought me to tennis was Borg. Eventually I took up Vilas as my second favorite. And I liked Johnny Mac, too. For a long time, I didn't pay much attention to tennis, just vaguely followed who the top players were and occasionally watched the final of a Major. (And I rather preferred the women in the 80s and 90s.) It was Safin that brought me back, and got me to start participating on our then-forum. In 04 and 05, I started to pay some attention to Nadal, particularly at RG, where I was very taken with his game. I guess you know the rest. I held out hope for Safin every match he played until he retired, though, and I was sad to see him go.

In terms of styles, I guess it's clearly I have a preference for physical baseliners…and I've always loved the clay game. I can appreciate that people often bemoan the loss of the S&V game, but it was never what lit my fire about tennis.

Oh, and really fun thread, btw, Kieran! I love to see who people have most liked, and co-favorites now.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I'm quite surprised that a few of you have jumped between which style of player you follow, for example moving from Sampras to Nadal when Federer was more the guy in the same mould as Pete. Personality counts too, though, and it's no bad thing to appreciate a variety of playing styles.

I didnt mind Edberg's game.I thought he was one of the finest volleyer's,his fhand volley to me was wonderful to watch.Edberg was a true gentleman both on and off the court.I prefer physical baseliner's game.Clay is my favourite surface.

 

[Riotbeard]

I have had a few (kept postponing this reply for after work, and well...):celeb:

I only have two that got me into tennis.

1. As a child, I loved Agassia (I am only 27). I got his autograph at legg mason when I was real young, and he was the only player for me. Really cool and a rebel.

Intervening years. I dropped all sports, including the one I was good at, golf.

2. Novak. Watched and betted on the 2010 USO with a friend. We started the bet pre-semis. I bet on Fed. Fed did not win to go on to the final, so I continued the bet. Watched the final, and have been a Novak/tennis fan since. I love good backhands. Even novak did not win that match, it always struck me that it was dumb to run around your backhand instead of making it better...

Haven't looked back since. Typos should be explained by drinks...

 

[atttomole]

I was a fan of Boris 'boom boom' Becker. I liked his huge serve, and the way he dived on the grass hitting winners. When Boris was gone, Safin was my next favorite. I thought his powerful baseline game was a new thing to tennis, especially with the way he destroyed the great Sampras at the US Open in 2000. However, I was disappointed with the way he lost to Johansson at the AO in 2002, and I sort of lost interest in him, in spite of his talent. Enter Federer. I saw him when he beat Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001. I still remember the commentator describing his forehand as powerful, but I thought it was more surgical than powerful. Then his first major in 2003, during which he demolished Roddick and Philippoussis. I was spellbound by the forehand and the down the line backhand on the grass, and at times I was thinking I had not seen such shorts before Federer is the greatest tennis player I have ever seen. Djokovic is my other favorite player. I have always liked Djokovic's game since an Italian commentator made rave reviews about him in 2006. I also like Dei Potro and Gulbis. I wish Gulbis can work harder on his game because I think he has potential.

 

[Ricardo]

I have had a few (kept postponing this reply for after work, and well...):celeb:

I only have two that got me into tennis.

1. As a child, I loved Agassia (I am only 27). I got his autograph at legg mason when I was real young, and he was the only player for me. Really cool and a rebel.

Intervening years. I dropped all sports, including the one I was good at, golf.

2. Novak. Watched and betted on the 2010 USO with a friend. We started the bet pre-semis. I bet on Fed. Fed did not win to go on to the final, so I continued the bet. Watched the final, and have been a Novak/tennis fan since. I love good backhands. Even novak did not win that match, it always struck me that it was dumb to run around your backhand instead of making it better...

Haven't looked back since. Typos should be explained by drinks...

unfortunately you weren't around when Agassi was really cool, i mean pre-90s.

also 2010 USO marked the time when Novak got his mental power together. It was a close match, your opponent got match points against you and you toughed it out and won. It took more than a good game to do this!

 

[Kieran]

I'm quite surprised that a few of you have jumped between which style of player you follow, for example moving from Sampras to Nadal when Federer was more the guy in the same mould as Pete. Personality counts too, though, and it's no bad thing to appreciate a variety of playing styles.

Rafa's personality is more in keeping with the players I've followed. But it's true, the only non-baseline warrior in my list is Pete, and I think it's because he was just too great to resist...