[tennisbear7]

Originally Posted by doujyr

was Maria the first to employ the lassoo forehand?

Seen Davenport and Pierce do it in the 90s.

[Viktymise]

Originally Posted by shap_half

And I have to disagree that Serena's serve is all muscle. She's got a beautiful and nearly impossible to read serving motion.

Agreed. It's a fantastic, natural action. But I wouldn't go as far as saying that it's the prettiest motion of all time.

Graf's FH was fug.

[Direwolf]

Only Serenas return could top the Serenas serve...
And Seles is more known for her angles than just her backhand

[In The Zone]

Serena's serve is all muscle? Jesus ...........

Davenport, one of the best returners of all-time, said she hated playing Serena because Serena would toss the ball and could hit all 4 corners with the same toss. Davenport could never figure out where it was going.

That's not muscle - that's the best technique a woman has ever used. If it were all muscle, we'd see all the women as lumberjacks instead of Sharapova grunting ball bashing clones.

Justine's backhand looked pretty but wasn't as effective as shot as it was made out to be. Graf's forehand and Serena's serve are 1 and 2 but tough to say which one is the greatest.

[Dominic]

Originally Posted by doujyr

was Maria the first to employ the lassoo forehand?

huh? Pretty much every tennis player hits the lasso forehand at times.

[doujyr]

Originally Posted by Dominic

huh? Pretty much every tennis player hits the lasso forehand at times.

huh yourself. read the question.

[Dominic]

Originally Posted by doujyr

huh yourself. read the question.

Quote: was Maria the first to employ the lassoo forehand?

Answer to that question: NO everyone does it.

[Sir Stefwhit]

Originally Posted by doujyr

i watched a VHS (recall that? ) recording i made of the graf novotna final the other day and there were an awful lot of ues, far more than i care to remember in rosy hindsight!

About 6 yrs ago I started buying Steffi DVDs and as I rewatched old matches and the unforced errors stuck out more to me than anything else. they aren't like the UEs of today with players going for shots and missing them, often times they were just routine shots.

The Seles Graf FO is regarded as one of the greatest matches but the first set and a half is nothing but errors- real poor play but they made up for that late in the second and all through the third.

Steffi deserves all the accolades and praise and she truly is the greatest player of all time IMO, but it's not because her forehand was perfect...it was a shot that could and did go awry and produce a mountain of errors. I only bothered to mention that because no one else ever has....lol. With all that said its still arguably one of the all time best shots- that in itself is a reason for it to go down as the best shot. Although I'm sticking w.my pick for Serena's serve.

Funny thing is if u asked Steffi if she could have Serena's serve but not her forehand she would say he'll freaking no- and if u asked Serena if she could have Steffi's forehand and give her serve she would probably smash her racquet over your head... the weapons that each player possessed was perfectly suited for their games.

[Brad[le]y.]

Originally Posted by tennisbear7

Seen Davenport and Pierce do it in the 90s.

Capriati and Clijsters did so as well.

[allezzzz]

Justine's backhand was a piece of art.

[SerenaSiren]

Yeah ryt Graf's overrated FH
which she can set because she was playing with a bunch
of Brie Whitehead's...
A 17 year old ImmatureRena without a serve and a FH
on par with her present arsenal Stomps GraFluke...

[Passierschlag]

Anke Huber's backhand crosscourt
there are several examples in this match
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHrzTI4bs98

[thrust]

Originally Posted by Sir Stefwhit

About 6 yrs ago I started buying Steffi DVDs and as I rewatched old matches and the unforced errors stuck out more to me than anything else. they aren't like the UEs of today with players going for shots and missing them, often times they were just routine shots.

The Seles Graf FO is regarded as one of the greatest matches but the first set and a half is nothing but errors- real poor play but they made up for that late in the second and all through the third.

Steffi deserves all the accolades and praise and she truly is the greatest player of all time IMO, but it's not because her forehand was perfect...it was a shot that could and did go awry and produce a mountain of errors. I only bothered to mention that because no one else ever has....lol. With all that said its still arguably one of the all time best shots- that in itself is a reason for it to go down as the best shot. Although I'm sticking w.my pick for Serena's serve.

Funny thing is if u asked Steffi if she could have Serena's serve but not her forehand she would say he'll freaking no- and if u asked Serena if she could have Steffi's forehand and give her serve she would probably smash her racquet over your head... the weapons that each player possessed was perfectly suited for their games.

I agree with you concerning that FO final. I saw it about a year ago on the Tennis Channel. What surprised me is how many errors Graf made. She looked like the better player as her shots were deeper and more forceful than Monica's for most of the first two sets. I really do think Steffi was lucky not to have to play a prime Evert or Court, who were more consistant and could move Steffi around the court. A prime Navratilova would give Steffi fits too, especially on faster courts. Steffi played in a weaker era than Court-King, Evert-Nav, or the Williams-Belgians 00-08 which is why she won 22 Slams and is overrated IMO.

[doujyr]

Originally Posted by Dominic

Quote: was Maria the first to employ the lassoo forehand?

Answer to that question: NO everyone does it.

#facepalm. i can't recall anyone from the 70's using it. so i say again read the question.

[doujyr]

Originally Posted by Brad[le]y.

Capriati and Clijsters did so as well.

capriati used it? can't recall that, must have a look on youtube.