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Тема: F1 Forum Game S187 - Tennis Edition |
529 ответов
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ANDRE AGASSI
Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29, 1970) is an American retired professional tennis player and former world No. 1 whose career spanned from the late 1980s to the mid-2000s. In singles, Agassi is an eight-time Grand Slam champion and a 1996 Olympic gold medalist, as well as being a runner-up in seven other Grand Slam tournaments. During the Open Era, Agassi was the first male player to win four Australian Open titles, a record that was later surpassed by Novak Djokovic when he won his fifth title in 2015, and then by Roger Federer in 2017. Agassi is one of five male singles players to achieve the Career Grand Slam in the Open Era and one of eight in history, the first of two to achieve the Career Golden Slam (Career Grand Slam and Olympic Gold Medal, the other being Rafael Nadal), and the only man to win the Career Golden Slam and the ATP Tour World Championships: a distinction dubbed as a "Career Super Slam" by Sports Illustrated.
Early in his career, Agassi would look to end points quickly by playing first-strike tennis, typically by inducing a weak return with a deep, hard shot, and then playing a winner at an extreme angle. On the rare occasion that he charged the net, Agassi liked to take the ball in the air and hit a swinging volley for a winner. His favored groundstroke was his flat, accurate two-handed backhand, hit well cross-court but especially down the line. His forehand was nearly as strong, especially his inside-out to the ad court.
Agassi's strength was in dictating play from the baseline, and he was able to consistently take the ball on the rise. While he was growing up, his father and Nick Bollettieri trained him in this way. When in control of a point, Agassi would often pass up an opportunity to attempt a winner and hit a conservative shot to minimize his errors, and to make his opponent run more. This change to more methodical, less aggressive baseline play was largely initiated by his longtime coach, Brad Gilbert, in their first year together in 1994. Gilbert encouraged Agassi to wear out opponents with his deep, flat groundstrokes and to use his fitness to win attrition wars, and noted Agassi's two-handed backhand down the line as his very best shot. A signature play later in his career was a change up drop shot to the deuce court after deep penetrating groundstrokes. This would often be followed by a passing shot or lob if the opponent was fast enough to retrieve it.
Agassi was raised on hardcourts, but found much of his early major-tournament success on the red clay of Roland Garros, reaching two consecutive finals there early in his career. Despite grass being his worst surface, his first major win was at the slick grass of Wimbledon in 1992, a tournament that he professed to hating at the time. His strongest surface over the course of his career, was indeed hardcourt, where he won six of his eight majors.
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IVAN LENDL
Ivan Lendl (born March 7, 1960) is a retired Czech-American professional tennis player. He was the world No. 1 for 270 weeks in the 1980s and finished his career with 94 singles titles. At the majors he won eight titles and was runner-up a record 11 times. He also won seven year-end championships, five of those being the Master's Grand Prix Year-End Championship (which became today's ATP Finals).
Lendl pioneered a new style of tennis; his game was built around his forehand, hit hard with heavy topspin, and his success is cited as a primary influence in popularizing this "Lendl style", also known as aggressive or power baseline tennis. After retirement he became a tennis coach of multiple players, and has helped Andy Murray win three major titles and reach the No. 1 ranking.
Lendl was known, along with Björn Borg, for using his heavy topspin forehand to dictate play, although Borg's full Western-style topspin was more of a high loop. Lendl's forehand had a tighter topspin; was faster and flatter. His trademark shot was his running forehand, which he could direct either down the line or cross-court.
Early in his career, Lendl played a sliced backhand, but in the early 1980s he learned to hit his backhand with significant topspin. This shift allowed him to defeat John McEnroe in 1984 in the French Open, Lendl's first Grand Slam victory. In the first two sets, McEnroe used his habitual proximity to the net to intercept Lendl's cross-court passing shots. In the third set, Lendl started using lobs, forcing McEnroe to distance himself from the net to prepare for the lobs. McEnroe's further distance from the net opened the angles for Lendl's cross-court passing shots, which ultimately gained Lendl points and turned the match around.
Lendl's serve was powerful but inconsistent, with a very high toss. Lendl was highly consistent from the baseline, and his groundstroke setup was very complete, with a powerful top-spin backhand and high accuracy from both the forehand and backhand. Though tall and gangly, he was very fast on the court. Lendl's inconsistency at the net caused problems for him at Wimbledon, as grass courts yield notoriously bad bounces, which destabilized his baseline game. He devoted considerable effort to improving his net play, but fell short of a Wimbledon title. Lendl was also known for his mental strength on court.
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JIMMY CONNORS
James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is a retired American world No. 1 tennis player who held the top ATP ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 weeks. By virtue of his long and prolific career, Connors still holds three prominent Open Era men's singles records: 109 titles, 1,556 matches played, and 1,274 match wins. His titles include eight majors (five US Open, two Wimbledon, one Australian Open), three year-end championships, and 17 Grand Prix Super Series. In 1974, he became the second man in the Open Era to win three majors in a calendar year, and his total career match win rate remains in the top five of the era. He retired in 1996 at the age of 43.
In the modern era of power tennis, Connors's style of play has often been cited as highly influential, especially in the development of the flat backhand. Larry Schwartz on ESPN.com said about Connors, "His biggest weapons were an indomitable spirit, a two-handed backhand and the best service return in the game. It is difficult to say which was more instrumental in Connors becoming a champion. ... Though smaller than most of his competitors, Connors didn't let it bother him, making up for a lack of size with determination." Of his own competitive nature Connors has said, "[T]here's always somebody out there who's willing to push it that extra inch, or mile, and that was me. (Laughter) I didn't care if it took me 30 minutes or five hours. If you beat me, you had to be the best, or the best you had that day. But that was my passion for the game. If I won, I won, and if I lost, well, I didn't take it so well."
His on-court antics, designed to get the crowd involved, both helped and hurt his play. Schwartz said, "While tennis fans enjoyed Connors' gritty style and his never-say-die attitude, they often were shocked by his antics. His sometimes vulgar on-court behavior—like giving the finger to a linesman after disagreeing with a call or strutting about the court with the tennis racket handle between his legs; sometimes he would yank on the handle in a grotesque manner and his fans would go wild or groan in disapproval—did not help his approval rating. During the early part of his career, Connors frequently argued with umpires, linesmen, the players union, Davis Cup officials and other players. He was even booed at Wimbledon—a rare show of disapproval there—for snubbing the Parade of Champions on the first day of the Centenary in 1977." His brash behavior both on and off the court earned him a reputation as the brat of the tennis world. Tennis commentator Bud Collins nicknamed Connors the "Brash Basher of Belleville" after the St Louis suburb where he grew up. Connors himself thrived on the energy of the crowd, positive or negative, and manipulated and exploited it to his advantage in many of the greatest matches of his career.
Connors was taught to hit the ball on the rise by his teaching-pro mother, Gloria Connors, a technique he used to defeat the opposition in the early years of his career. Gloria sent her son to Southern California to work with Pancho Segura at the age of 16. Segura advanced Connors' game of hitting the ball on the rise which enabled Connors to reflect the power and velocity of his opponents back at them. Segura was the master strategist in developing Jimmy's complete game. In the 1975 Wimbledon final, Arthur Ashe countered this strategy by taking the pace off the ball, giving Connors only soft junk shots (dinks, drop shots, and lobs) to hit.
In an era when the serve and volley was the norm, Björn Borg excepted, Connors was one of the few players to hit the ball flat, low, and predominantly from the baseline. Connors hit his forehand with a semi-Western grip and with little net clearance. Contemporaries such as Arthur Ashe and commentators such as Joel Drucker characterized his forehand as his greatest weakness, especially on extreme pressure points, as it lacked the safety margin of hard forehands hit with topspin. His serve, while accurate and capable, was never a great weapon for him as it did not reach the velocity and power of his opponents.
His lack of a dominating serve and net game, combined with his individualist style and maverick tendencies, meant that he was not as successful in doubles as he was in singles, although he did win Grand Slam titles with Ilie Năstase, reached a final with Chris Evert, and accumulated 16 doubles titles during his career.
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BJÖRN BORG
Björn Rune Borg (born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. Between 1974 and 1981 he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles (six at the French Open and five consecutive at Wimbledon). He also won three year-end championships and 16 Grand Prix Super Series titles. Overall, he set numerous records that still stand. Borg is the first player to win six French Open singles titles and was undefeated in French Open finals.
A teenage sensation at the start of his career, Borg's unprecedented stardom and consistent success helped propel the rising popularity of tennis during the 1970s. As a result, the professional tour became more lucrative, and in 1979 he was the first player to earn more than one million dollars in prize money in a single season. He also made millions in endorsements throughout his career. However, the constant attention and pressure eventually caused burnout and his retirement at the age of 26.
Borg had one of the most distinctive playing styles in the Open Era. He played from the baseline, with powerful ground-strokes. His highly unorthodox backhand involved taking his racket back with both hands but actually generating his power with his dominant right hand, letting go of the grip with his left hand around point of contact, and following through with his swing as a one-hander. He hit the ball hard and high from the back of the court and brought it down with considerable topspin, which made his ground strokes very consistent. There had been other players, particularly Rod Laver and Arthur Ashe, who played with topspin on both the forehand and backhand, yet Laver and Ashe used topspin only as a way to mix up their shots to pass their opponents at the net easily. Borg was one of the first top players to use heavy topspin on his shots consistently.
Complementing his consistent ground-strokes was his fitness. Both of these factors allowed Borg to be dominant at the French Open.
One of the factors that made Borg unique was his dominance on the grass courts of Wimbledon, where, since World War II, baseliners did not usually succeed. Some experts attributed his dominance on this surface to his consistency, an underrated serve, equally underrated volleys, and his adaptation to grass courts. Against the best players, he almost always served-and-volleyed on his first serves, while he naturally played from the baseline after his second serves.
Another trait usually associated with Borg is his grace under pressure. His calm court demeanor earned him the nickname of the "Ice Man" or "Ice-Borg." Star Trek: The Next Generation even used the Swede's last name for a race of remorseless, unyielding half-humanoid/half-machines.
Borg's physical conditioning was unrivalled by contemporaries. He could outlast most of his opponents under the most grueling conditions. Contrary to popular belief, however, this was not due to his exceptionally low resting heart rate, often reported to be near 35 beats per minute. In his introduction to Borg's autobiography My Life and Game, Eugene Scott relates that this rumor arose from a medical exam the 18-year-old Borg once took for military service, where his pulse was recorded as 38. Scott goes on to reveal Borg's true pulse rate as "about 50 when he wakes up and around 60 in the afternoon." Borg is credited with helping to develop the style of play that has come to dominate the game today
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Quote ( Lyee Chong @ August 1st 2019,04:24:37 ) If no one really anti the Spider Man and the Survivors, I think I will host a marvel hero edition with survivor cup after this season :)
Sounds good Lyee
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Thanks Ivelin for hosting, congratulations Lyee for your victory. Lyee, if you don't host the next game, I bet you'll win again .
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Liviu, don't provoke Ahmet and Ivelin, or else we all have no change to win anything later :)
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PETE SAMPRAS
Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971 as Petros Sampras) is an American former professional tennis player. A right-handed player with a single-handed backhand, his precise and powerful serve earned him the nickname "Pistol Pete". His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating rival Andre Agassi in the final.
Sampras held the all-time record of seven Wimbledon Men's Singles titles with William Renshaw until 2017 when Roger Federer won his 8th title. Sampras also won five US Open titles, a joint Open-era record shared by Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors, and two Australian Open titles. His 14 Grand Slam titles were a record, surpassed when Federer won his 15th Grand Slam title at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships and later also by Rafael Nadal at the 2017 French Open and Novak Djokovic at the 2019 Australian Open. Sampras won 64 singles titles. He first reached world No. 1 in 1993, and held that position for a total of 286 weeks (second behind Federer 310 weeks as No. 1 player), including a record six consecutive year-end No. 1 rankings from 1993 to 1998. In 2007, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Sampras won 64 top-level singles titles (including 14 Grand Slam titles, 11 Super 9/ATP Masters Series/ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles and five Tennis Masters Cup titles) and two doubles titles. He was ranked the world No. 1 for a total of 286 weeks (the second most of all-time after Roger Federer's 310 weeks) and was year-end No. 1 for an ATP record six consecutive years from 1993 through 1998.
Sampras was known for his natural attacking serve-and-volley game, all-round game, and strong competitive instinct. Sampras's best surface was undoubtedly the fast-playing grass courts, Sampras won seven Wimbledon Gentleman's Singles titles (1993–95, 1997–2000), broken only by a loss in the 1996 quarterfinals to eventual winner Richard Krajicek. Sampras's seven Wimbledon Gentleman's Singles titles, tied with William Renshaw, has only been surpassed by Roger Federer who won a record eighth Gentleman's Singles title in 2017.[37] Sampras is lauded by many tennis analysts as one of the greatest male grass-court players of all time. Sampras also shares the record of five US Open titles in the Open Era with Jimmy Connors and Federer. He won back-to-back US Open titles in 1995 and 1996, despite vomiting on the court at 1–1 in the final set tiebreak due to dehydration in the 1996 quarterfinals against Àlex Corretja. Combined with his two Australian Open titles, this gave Sampras a total of fourteen majors won on grass and hard courts.
Sampras's only real weakness was on clay courts, where the slow surface tempered his natural attacking serve-and-volley game. His best performance at the French Open came in 1996, when he lost a semifinal match to the eventual winner, Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Despite his limited success at Roland Garros, Sampras did win some significant matches on clay. He won a 1992 clay court tournament in Kitzbühel, defeating Alberto Mancini in the final. He won the prestigious Italian Open in 1994, defeating Boris Becker in the final, and two singles matches in the 1995 Davis Cup final against Russians Andrei Chesnokov and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in Moscow. Sampras also won a 1998 clay court tournament in Atlanta, defeating Jason Stoltenberg in the final.
Sampras style and demeanor influenced future generations according to opponent Sammy Giammalva, as he stated in the book "Facing Sampras": “I think Pete transformed – in a subtle, silent way – the attitude of the game and the attitude of the best players,” said Giammalva who played Pete in Philadelphia.
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NOVAK DJOKOVIC
Novak Djokovic (born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Djokovic has won 16 Grand Slam singles titles, five ATP Finals titles, 33 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles, 12 ATP Tour 500 titles, and has held the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings for over 250 weeks. In majors, he has won a record seven Australian Open titles, five Wimbledon titles, three US Open titles, and one French Open title. Following his victory at the 2016 French Open, he became the eighth player in history to achieve the Career Grand Slam and the third man to hold all four major titles at once, the first since Rod Laver in 1969 and the first ever to do so on three different surfaces. He is the first and only male player to have won all nine of the Masters 1000 tournaments.
Djokovic is the first Serbian player to be ranked No. 1 by the ATP and the first male player representing Serbia to win a Grand Slam singles title. He is a six-time ITF World Champion and a five-time ATP year-end No. 1 ranked player. Djokovic has won numerous awards, including the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year (four times) and the 2011 BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year award. He is also a recipient of the Order of St. Sava, the Order of Karađorđe's Star, and the Order of the Republika Srpska.
Djokovic is an all-court player with emphasis on aggressive baseline play. His groundstrokes from both wings are consistent, deep, and penetrating. His backhand is widely regarded as one of the best in today's game. His best shot is his backhand down the line, with great pace and precision. He is also known as one of the greatest movers on the court with superior agility, court coverage and defensive ability, which allows him to hit winners from seemingly defensive positions. After great technical difficulties during the 2009 season (coinciding with his switch to the Head racket series), his serve is one of his major weapons again, winning him many free points; his first serve is typically hit flat, while he prefers to slice and kick his second serves wide.
Djokovic's return of serve is a powerful weapon for him, with which he can be both offensive and defensive. Djokovic is rarely aced because of his flexibility, length and balance. Djokovic is highly efficient off both the forehand and backhand return, often getting the return in play deep with pace, neutralizing the advantage the server usually has in a point. John McEnroe considers Djokovic to be the greatest returner of serve in the history of the men's game. Occasionally, Djokovic employs a well-disguised backhand underspin drop shot and sliced backhand.
Djokovic is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Following his tremendous success in the 2011 season, he began to feature on all-time greatest lists and, in late 2011, Rod Laver listed Djokovic number six in his top ten male players of the Open Era. According to Tim Henman's June 2012 statement, Djokovic is "probably a top eight player in tennis history". Andre Agassi stated in September 2012 that Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic "may very well be the greatest three players to ever play tennis". In March 2012, contemporary competitor Andy Murray described Djokovic as 'one of the greatest players ever'. Following the 2013 US Open, in his September 2013 men's greatest players of all-time list, International Business Times' writer Jason Le Miere put the then six-time Grand Slam-winning Serb in seventh place, behind Federer, Nadal, Sampras, Laver, Borg, and Agassi. In January 2014, ESPN writer Howard Bryant called him 'arguably the best pure tennis player in the world'.
In April 2015, Henman offered another comment on Djokovic's standing among the all-time greats, saying "it's only a matter of time before he is considered alongside Federer and Nadal as one of the greatest players of all time". Having proclaimed him "one of the all-time greats" in November 2014, John McEnroe put Djokovic in all-time top five following his 2015 Wimbledon win, Djokovic's ninth Grand Slam tournament title: "My top four are Laver, Sampras, Roger and Nadal but Novak is at number five and rising". Andrew Castle stated in January 2016 that Djokovic is "undoubtedly moving towards being considered the sport's all-time greatest player". In June 2016, a panel of more than forty ESPN experts ranked Djokovic as number eight on their top twenty all-time combined list of both male and female tennis players; he was number five among the males, behind Federer, Laver, Sampras, and Borg. Rod Laver said in 2016 that Djokovic was tied with Federer as the best player of all time. In February 2018, Djokovic got placed No. 5 by Tennis.com in their list of 50 greatest male players of the Open era, behind Federer, Laver, Nadal, and Sampras. In February 2019, WTA legends Chris Evert and Lindsay Davenport said Djokovic will break the record for most grand slam titles won in history.
Some observers, tennis players and coaches describe Djokovic as the greatest of all time because he won the trophies with victories against the top players and the biggest rivals in one of the strongest eras of tennis. Djokovic has highest Elo rating score in Open Era, which takes into account the quality of opponents. Currently, Djokovic leads the head-to-head record against all members of the Big Four and he has highest number of Slams won beating Big Four member en route. Furthermore, he won on average higher-ranked players on the way to the Grand Slam trophies then Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Pat Cash emphasized that Djokovic is one of two players who beat Rafael Nadal at the French Open, which he considers to be „the biggest challenge in tennis". Richard Krajicek and The Roar, sports opinion website, pointed out that Djokovic should be considered for the greatest player of all time because he is the only one among his greatest rivals who won four Grand Slams in a row.
Djokovic is widely considered to be one of the greatest returners in the history of the sport, an accolade given to him even by Andre Agassi, who was considered to be the best returner ever. Though staying clear of best ever conversations, tennis coach Nick Bollettieri has continually been praising Djokovic as the "most complete player ever" and the "most perfect player of all time":
When you look at match players in the history of tennis, I don't believe that anybody can equal everything on the court that Djokovic does. I don't think you can find a weakness in his game. His movement, personality, his return of serve, his serve, excellent touch, not hesitant in coming to the net, great serve. Over all, almost every player has a downfall; to me he doesn't have one. He's perhaps the best put-together player that I've seen over 60 years.
Tennis pundits have classified many of Djokovic's matches as some of the greatest contests ever, with the 2012 Australian Open final being considered one of the greatest matches ever seen. Some longtime analysts claim that the Djokovic–Nadal rivalry ranks as the best rivalry in tennis history primarily because of the quality of matches they produce.
Some journalists and tennis players consider that the achievements of Djоkovic are not proportionally appreciated in the media and among tennis fans because of the prejudice towards Eastern Europe.
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RAFAEL NADAL
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player, currently ranked world No. 2 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Nadal has won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, the second most in history for a male player, as well as a record 34 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles, 20 ATP Tour 500 titles, and the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles. In addition, Nadal has held the world No. 1 ranking for a total of 196 weeks. In majors, Nadal has won a record twelve French Open titles, three US Open titles, two Wimbledon titles, and one Australian Open title. Nadal has won 82 career titles overall, including a record 59 clay court titles. With 81 consecutive match wins on clay, Nadal holds the record for the longest single-surface win streak in the Open Era.
Nadal was a member of the winning Spain Davis Cup team in 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2011. In 2010, he became the seventh male player in history and youngest of five in the Open Era, at age 24, to achieve the Career Grand Slam. He is the second male player, after Andre Agassi, to complete the singles Career Golden Slam. In 2011, Nadal was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.
Nadal's playing style and personality can be summarised by Jimmy Connors: "He's built out of a mold that I think I came from also, that you walk out there, you give everything you have from the very first point to the end no matter what the score. And you're willing to lay it all out on the line and you're not afraid to let the people see that."
Former ATP world no. 1 and coach of Nadal, Carlos Moya, remembers the first time he played Nadal in Germany, when he was 22 and Rafa was just 12. He shared the account in the book "Facing Nadal" by Scoop Malimowski: "I met him for the first time in Stuttgart. He was playing an under 12s and I was playing the Masters event. We actually played that day and he was twelve and I was twenty-two. I think he was a very great player under twelve, he was very shy off court. But then we saw something different on court. But he was very hungry to play and compete and that’s something you could see right away.”
Nadal generally plays an aggressive, behind-the-baseline game founded on heavy topspin groundstrokes, consistency, speedy footwork and tenacious court coverage, thus making him an aggressive counterpuncher. Known for his athleticism and speed around the court, Nadal is an excellent defender who hits well on the run, constructing winning plays from seemingly defensive positions. He also plays very fine dropshots, which work especially well because his heavy topspin often forces opponents to the back of the court.
Nadal employs a semi-western grip forehand, often with a "lasso-whip" follow-through, where his left arm hits through the ball and finishes above his left shoulder – as opposed to a more traditional finish across the body or around his opposite shoulder. Nadal's forehand groundstroke form allows him to hit shots with heavy topspin – more so than many of his contemporaries.
San Francisco tennis researcher John Yandell used a high-speed video camera and special software to count the average number of revolutions of a tennis ball hit full force by Nadal. Yandell concluded: "The first guys we did were Sampras and Agassi. They were hitting forehands that in general were spinning about 1,800 to 1,900 revolutions per minute. Federer is hitting with an amazing amount of spin, too, right? 2,700 revolutions per minute. Well, we measured one forehand Nadal hit at 4,900. His average was 3,200."
While Nadal's shots tend to land short of the baseline, the characteristically high bounces his forehands achieve tend to mitigate the advantage an opponent would normally gain from capitalizing on a short ball. Although his forehand is based on heavy topspin, he can hit the ball deep and flat with a more orthodox follow through for clean winners.
Nadal's serve was initially considered a weak point in his game, although his improvements in both first-serve points won and break points saved since 2005 have allowed him to consistently compete for and win major titles on faster surfaces. Nadal relies on the consistency of his serve to gain a strategic advantage in points, rather than going for service winners. However, before the 2010 US Open, he altered his service motion, arriving in the trophy pose earlier and pulling the racket lower during the trophy pose. Before the 2010 U.S. Open, Nadal modified his service grip to a more continental one. These two changes in his serve increased his average speed by around 10 mph during the 2010 US Open, maxing out at 135 mph (217 km), allowing him to win more free points on his serve. However, since the 2010 US Open, Nadal's serve speed has dropped to previous levels and has again been cited as a need for improvement.
Nadal is a clay court specialist in the sense that he has been extremely successful on that surface. He has won 12 times at the French Open, 11 times at Monte Carlo and Barcelona, and seven at Rome. However, Nadal has shed that label owing to his success on other surfaces, including holding simultaneous Grand Slam tournament titles on grass, hard courts, and clay on two separate occasions, winning eight Masters series titles on hardcourt, and winning the Olympic gold medal on hardcourt.
Despite praise for Nadal's talent and skill, some have questioned his longevity in the sport, citing his build and playing style as conducive to injury. Nadal himself has admitted to the physical toll hard courts place on ATP Tour players, calling for a reevaluated tour schedule featuring fewer hard court tournaments.
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ROGER FEDERER
Roger Federer (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 3 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles—the most in history for a male player—and has held the world No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings for a record total of 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks. After turning professional in 1998, he was continuously ranked in the top ten from October 2002 to November 2016. He re-entered the top ten following his victory at the 2017 Australian Open.
In majors, Federer has won a record eight Wimbledon titles, six Australian Open titles, five US Open titles (all consecutive, a record), and one French Open title. He is one of eight men to have achieved a Career Grand Slam. Federer has reached a record 31 men's singles Grand Slam finals, including 10 consecutively from the 2005 Wimbledon Championships to the 2007 US Open. Federer has also won a record six ATP Finals titles, 28 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles, and a record 23 ATP Tour 500 titles. Federer is also the only player after Jimmy Connors to have won 100 or more career singles titles, as well as to amass 1,200 wins in the Open Era.
Federer's all-court game and versatile style of play involve exceptional footwork and shot-making. Effective both as a baseliner and a volleyer, his apparent effortlessness and efficient movement on the court have made Federer highly popular among tennis fans. He has received the tour Sportsmanship Award 13 times and been named the ATP Player of the Year and ITF World Champion five times. He has won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award a record five times, including four consecutive awards from 2005 to 2008. He is also the only individual to have won the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year award four times.
Federer's versatility has been described by Jimmy Connors as: "In an era of specialists, you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist, or a hard court specialist... or you're Roger Federer."
An elite athlete, Federer is an all-court, all-around player known for his speed, fluid style of play, and exceptional shot making. Federer mainly plays from the baseline but is also comfortable at the net, being one of the best volleyers in the game. He has a powerful, accurate smash and very effectively performs rare elements of professional tennis, such as the backhand smash and skyhook, half-volley, jump smash (slam dunk) and an aggressive serve return known affectionately as SABR (Sneak Attack By Roger, a half-volley attack on an opponent's second serve). David Foster Wallace compared the brute force of Federer's forehand motion with that of "a great liquid whip", while John McEnroe has referred to Federer's forehand as "the greatest shot in our sport." Federer is also known for his efficient, deceptively effortless movement around the court and excellent footwork, which enables him to run around shots directed to his backhand, usually considered his weaker wing, and instead hit a powerful and penetrating inside-out or inside-in forehand, one of his best shots. He also has great variety with his forehand, able to hit with topspin or pace (or both), thus opening up the court and going in to the forecourt for aggressive volleys.
Federer plays with a single-handed backhand, which gives him great variety. He employs the slice, occasionally using it to lure his opponent to the net and deliver a passing shot. Federer can also fire topspin winners and possesses a 'flick' backhand with which he can generate pace with his wrist; this is usually used to pass the opponent at the net. He has averaged 90% of service games won throughout his career, oftentimes coming up victorious in clutch or pressure service games. His serve is difficult to read because he always uses a similar ball toss, regardless of what type of serve he is going to hit and where he aims to hit it, and turns his back to his opponents during his motion. He is often able to produce big serves on key points during a match. His first serve is typically around 200 km/h (125 mph); however, he is capable of serving at 220 km/h (137 mph). Federer is also accomplished at serve and volleying, and employed this tactic frequently in his early career.
Later in his career, Federer added the drop shot to his arsenal and can perform a well-disguised one off both wings. He sometimes uses a between-the-legs shot, which is colloquially referred to as a "tweener" or "hotdog". His most notable use of the tweener was in the semifinals of the 2009 US Open against Novak Djokovic, bringing him triple match point. Federer is one of the top players who employ successfully the "squash shot", when he gets pushed deep and wide on his forehand wing. Since Stefan Edberg joined his coaching team at the start of the 2014 season, Federer has played a more offensive game, attacking the net more often, and improved his volley shots. In the lead-up to the 2015 US Open, Federer successfully added a new unique shot to his arsenal called SABR (Sneak Attack by Roger), in which he charges forward to receive the second serve and hits a return on the service line. The SABR is a unique shot that Federer owns, in the way that he manages to add enough power and placement into the shot, which makes it very difficult, or close to impossible for the opponent to reach it. With the switch to a bigger 97 inch racket from 90 inches, Federer has gained easy power while relinquishing some control on his shots. The bigger racket has enabled easier serving and better defense on both wings with fewer shanks. However this has diminished control and power on his forehand, slice backhand and dropshot. Since his comeback in 2017, Federer is noted for his improved backhand both down the line and cross court which was cited as the reason for his win against Nadal in the 2017 Australian Open Final and Indian Wells 4th round.
Federer is also noted for his cool demeanour and emotional control on the court. In contrast to his early career, most of his professional game has been characterised by lack of outbursts or emotional frustration at errors, which gives him an advantage over less controlled opponents.
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NOVAK DJOKOVIC GP RESULTS
1. Shannon Fuerte
2. Lyee Chong
3. Tom Byrne
4. Harsh Sheth
5. Jaelan Smith
6. Gavin Adam
7. Alex Nikodem-Wing
8. Mairo Toom
9. Liviu Sandu
10. Wopke Hoekstra
11. Keith Partridge
12. Jonathan Beagles
13. Riley Dunlop
14. Richard Robin Paukson
RAFAEL NADAL GP RESULTS
1. Tom Byrne
2. Wopke Hoekstra
3. Jonathan Beagles
4. Lyee Chong
5. Ahmet Sonverdi
6. Riley Dunlop
7. Keith Partridge
8. Liviu Sandu
9. Jaelan Smith
10. Mairo Toom
11. Gavin Adam
12. Shannon Fuerte
13. Harsh Sheth
ROGER FEDERER GP RESULTS
1. Harsh Sheth
2. Shannon Fuerte
3. Kirsty Ridley
4. Keith Partridge
5. Alex Nikodem-Wing
6. Riley Dunlop
7. Liviu Sandu
8. Ahmet Sonverdi
9. Jonathan Beagles
10. Mairo Toom
11. Gavin Adam
12. Wopke Hoekstra
13. Jaelan Smith
14. Lyee Chong
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FINAL STANDINGS
DRIVERS
1 Lyee Chong 169
2 Harsh Sheth 135
3 Jaelan Smith 111
4 Ahmet Sonverdi 100
5 Shannon Fuerte 96
6 Liviu Sandu 91
7 Wopke Hoekstra 90
8 Riley Dunlop 85
9 Gavin Adam 83
10 Keith Partridge 83
11 Alex Nikodem-Wing 80
12 Tom Byrne 60
13 Mairo Toom 59
14 Sagar Abhyankar 27
15 Jonathan Beagles 27
16 Kirsty Ridley 20
17 Josh Marchant 1
18 Richard Robin Paukson 0
TEAMS
1 Porsche - Lyee Chong / Keith Partridge 252
2 Haas - Shannon Fuerte / Harsh Sheth 231
3 Shadow - Jaelan Smith / Ahmet Sonverdi 211
4 Footwork - Wopke Hoekstra / Alex Nikodem-Wing 170
5 Matra - Mairo Toom / Riley Dunlop 144
6 Alfa Romeo - Liviu Sandu / FREE SPOT 91
7 Minardi - Jonathan Beagles / Tom Byrne 87
8 Williams - Josh Marchant / Gavin Adam 84
9 Tyrrell - Kirsty Ridley / Sagar Abhyankar 47
10 Manor - Richard Robin Paukson / FREE SPOT 0
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Congrats to Lyee and Porsche for winning the titles! 
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Congrats to the Champs!
Thanks for hosting @Ivelin!
Harsh - are you going to host S188?
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Hasn't Lyee already offered?
tbh, I don't think hosting would be my cup of tea, but I will think more on that when the time comes :)
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Congrats Lyee... Thanks for doing all the hard work......!
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Quote ( Harsh Sheth @ August 1st 2019,17:13:14 ) Hasn't Lyee already offered?
Do you know what.... for some weird reason, even after congratulating Lyee, my eye went to your name.... just ignore me. I had a brain-fart moment!
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Thanks guys, and thanks Ivelin for hosting the season, where I like the theme.
Quote ( Ivelin Dobrev @ August 1st 2019,07:58:00 ) "In an era of specialists, you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist, or a hard court specialist... or you're Roger Federer." Love this phrase :)
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