Whos your pick?

Sampras???

I voted Lendl but hadn't Fed lost his confidence on that side for the whole of 2007 almost, I would have voted for him.

I am not sure why you are surprised by Sampras being mentioned Tenez. For me his forehand is definitely one of the best of all time, especially his running forehand.

I am much more surprised by the inclusion of Roddick in this list. Tennis.com what are you on? His forehand used to be one of his main weapons and it was good.....but should it really make the best of all time list??!?!?

My pick for this....well I am undecided at present but it would be between Sampras, Federer and Lendl....although I am undecided so won't vote.

I am not surprised he does, somehow, the list but being picked up, that really surprises me. I don't remember Sampras having such a deadly FH like Lendl, Fed and to some extend Nadal now has. Yes Sampras won some nice points with it but so did many many players. Lendl and Fed were clearly in a different league in that department.

But like you, I think Roddick should not be listed either. Jimmy Arias or Krickstein had a much more deadly FH as far as i remember.

OK, this poll's still fresh but 0 out 4 votes?
Com'on?!

Many are considering Federer as the best player ever, that forehand helped him a lot to achieve that status.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skDrN77kbas&feature=related

The best FH ever, hands down
(a few tournies with a bit of confidence loss doesn't change that...)

Yes, though I did not vote for him, I much agree with you. This is why I was surprised at some other votes. As mentioned, only his last year blip (only 3 GSs! ;) ) made me vote for Lendl.

Also Lendl had that devastating FH early in his career with a wooden racket. Probably one of the first player to play percentage tennis with a small wooden frame. He kept a small frame all his career.

But I agree that Federer's is probably the best ever in terms of power/consistency ratio.....helped a bit by new technology though.

yep but that's relatively, IMO Federer's FH is more distinguished now than Lendl's back then. Although i agree in the early/mid eighties most of the players, including the elite couldn't cope with the constant powerplay from Lendl's FH (combined with his equally powerful BH BTW). Pioneering stuff those days.

That was probably true up to 2006. But Lendl's FH was imo feared for close to 14 years!

In any case, it's got to be between those 2, but strangely enough, even combined, they haven't got as many votes as Sampras.!?!?

Come on CC we can do better! ;)

I don’t think they mean Pete Sampras why that would be crazy!, crazy i tell you! They must mean Sergei Sampras, Pransylvanian forehand maestro and part time theoretical physicist. Sergei was Pransylvanian Open champion from 1991-97.
I didn’t think he was that well known outside his native Pransylvania, and for political reasons he was unable to leave the country. However he played an exhibition match against Pete in 94, after losing the match Pete said ‘I can only dream of having a forehand like Sergei’s, mine is good, but not best ever good'.
Sadly Sergei died 3 years ago while on a scientific field trip, he tripped on tin of :spam: and fell into a black hole.


:blush: actually that's a lie, he fell over a half eaten pork pie, i just wanted to use the spam emoticon-i've never used it before and i felt the moment had come to use it.

Yeah Smapras had a great forehand, and his running forehand is legendary :bow: I don't get Roddick either - it's really nto that great. I'm undecided too. And I wish I coudl see soem fo the old players' forehands. As always we onyl vote for the ones we know. I've rarely seen Fred Perry play for eg as it was so long ago.

Ah the good old Serguei! I am glad some still remember him.

Sampras

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWizTgFh-iY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wZaT4YZcKg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS5ShIsqhFg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gj8GFK-QiQ

Federer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlUZ6DC20e8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbNInOKpdp4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ErN8U7SPBw

Agassi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK2nPvtmVJw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIkQu9KGRt4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4yzWnlDu4E

Not much Lendl stuff on youtube unfortunately.

I voted Pete

now you don't say, i would have thought you'ld have gone for Fed. ;)
It's to some extent an aesthetic thing i guess, i love the versatility of Federer i guess, the angles and the magical shots that don't seem to come from any text book.
I did enjoy the pacey winners Sampras would go for-esp on return-i think maybe Pete had more power, but Feds consistency (at least over his career) means no-one goes to his forehand at all which speaks volumes.
Agassi's too is worth a mention, one of my all time fav shots.

I know Lendl's is considered one of the best ever, but i must admit i havn't seen a much of it as he played before my real interest in tennis took off.

Federer he doesn't just hit equally good shots on the run he dominates everything with his forehand. More variety as well with topspin I'd say.

I can't beeleive Petes winning although i do think he had a great forehand.

Tennis said Federer me too.

Well I'm not basing my opinion on a few running forehands, I'm basing it over a 12 year period from 1990 to 2002. Sampras often used his forehand to dominate matches, like the 1997 Australian Open semifinal and finals against Muster and Moya. He lost some of his movement after 2000 and his game became almost too serve and volley but throughout the 1990s he could do absolutely anything with that shot, and can make any angles with the best of them, which you need topspin to do remember. He hit passing shots past you whether his opponent was at net or baseline, he has so much power and control, plus he also very much used it as a rallying shot, not just to go for winners.

Plus along with Agassi and Courier he took the inside out forehand to a new level from Lendl which is now a standard shot. If you look at those clips I put, you will see how much topspin he actually puts on his shots (these are parts of matches, not edited highlights) And Pete getting his forehand back in 2002 allowed him to win the Open, he says the final against Agassi is one of his best matches, if you watch that match again, you will be amazed by some of those forehands.

I agree Federer has equally an incredible forehand but I prefer Sampras' forehand. It would be nice if Federer could play more attackers because watching forehand return winners and forehand passing shots is a wonderful sight, something Sampras excelled at.

I'm shocked Fed isn't winning this, or rather Sampras is.
Pete had a great forehand in many ways but it just wasn't as complete for me or half as conistent as Mssr Federer.
Pete's doesn't look that natural either, sometimes can look a little awkward or contrived whereas Fed's just appears to be an extension of his arm.

I say this as a big fan of them both but for me there is no contest who has the better forehand. Fed is just way too consistent and can generate supreme power when needed while still controlling the shot.

It's simply an outrage, I intend to boycott this thread in protest against the voting, which i might add must be rigged-i demand a recount!

well im modding this contest and can assure you it isnt rigged, otherwise i would have Nadal winning :) If you are suggesting the tennis.com vote was rigged i whole-heartedly agree.....

It's all a conspiracy Liam, don't believe otherwise-we're all just prawns in a huge game of seafood chess.
You see i was boycotting this thread now i've joined in again....damn.

Poor Lendl! getting less than a tenth of votes!

The other day however Fed in an interview was asked to name the GOAT and as he rightfully refused to pick one in particular, gave 3/4 names and guess what, Lendl was one of them!

Lendl, according to Courier, could silence half of the Arthur Ashe Arena with a single glance at the crowd! ....With his FH he silenced McEnroe!

I voted Federer because he's a genius with it but IMO Lendl deserves second because he basically invented the modern power forehand.

Well, only 10 people have voted.

Tennis Warehouse did a poll like this some time ago. I think there was hundreds of votes for that one. Lendl got much more of a mention but I think on Tennis Warehouse there are a lot more guys there who have been watching Tennis since the 1970s and even before.

In fact, last year Tennis Warehouse started an excellent section called Former pro Player Talk where there even lots of threads involving names like Laver, Borg, Rosewall, Ashe, etc. Not just the 1980s and 1990s.

Lendl certainly has one of the very best forehands of all time.

I was lucky enough to witness the raw power of Lendl,and he basically invented the inside out forehand which everyone drools over when Gonzalez hits it.
I think this shot like the volley before it is one of the biggest weapons to enable players to win matches.
Particulary in the modern game if you're missing this shot from the arsenal then it's hard to win from the baseline.

I don't know whether it's because of his objectionable personality,and the fact he upset so many former players who are now commentators,that he isn't mentioned as much as other favourites.

Despite this his tennis should be judged alone and it's impact on the game,and respect given for that,not his lack of people skills.

Agree,

I was there and lucky to see Lendl FH and I agree it was a massive weapon..Nevertheless, FED FH owns, IMO, more "varieties" (this is why IMO Pete's FH is less impressive): He can build any sort of strategy with this shot defence/attach and in particular move from defence to attach (IMO, one of the major underrated feature of FED's Tennis).

It is just amazing what he can do when he is in top day.

Moreover, his FH is the "building shot" of his game (Even or at least at the same level of the quality of his first serve ball): Indeed, please notice, and the AO semi proved that once again, that it is precisely the quality of the FH that gives us the indication when FED is in a good day or in a bad one..

If he starts making more than a couple of FH errors..No way this will be a good day for FED: For my perspective, it is the quality of the FH that determines his "feeling" with the BH..Bad FH implies a bad BH..

And this is true even on clay: See the magnificent semi at Rome against Rafa, which he lost, BTW with a FH error.. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: