[RockSteady]

Who do you think are the top five strongest players in the game? Who hits it the hardest from the baseline, all things being equal? (Not including serves).

1) Lindsay Davenport. She is the Tower of Power! Really, she dominates every player, and if she only had speed she'd be unstoppable.

2) Kim Clijsters. She overhits, but still, hits it so hard. A prime example is the U.S. Open match vs. Venus Williams. Although she lost, Venus, the most aggressive player on tour, only hit ten winners. Kim had her pinned behind the baseline, and Venus was just sort of getting it back, letting Kim make the mistake.

3) Serena Williams. Yes, she hits slightly harder than Venus (as her higher winner: error ratio at the Open showed). Although other players, including Venus, might hit it harder point in point out, when she gets a chance to line one up and needs to hit a winner, she smacks it harder than anyone.

4) Venus Williams. She hits it hard. Duh. Is any explanation needed? Her shots are probably the most consisently the same speed. So while some other players hit their shots at x y and z miles per hour, she always hits it at a constant x mph. Hope that made sense.

5) Jennifer Capriati. Although I don't think she hits it as hard as the top four, she hits it so flat, pushing her opponents well behind the baseline, which is why she dictates a lot of points.

 

[Aloysius]

Believe me, Jennifer whacks the ball as hard as anyone of those other 4 players. She has natural strength, as does Serena and Venus. Lindsay is powerful because of those picture-perfect groundstrokes. Her technique allows her to utilize as much power as she can. Helena Sukova and Pam Shriver never had the same kind of power on their groundies like Lindsay despite being as tall as her. Their game was to attack the net, so I suppose their goal was not to get as much power as possible but to have more precision. The least strongest of those 5 is probably Kim and she's not exactly weak. But I'd say Kim was more in line with Anke Huber or Barbara Schett at the moment, and not quite on par with Lindsay, Venus, Serena or Jennifer.

 

[Jordan.]

1.Lindsay
2.Monica
3.Jennifer
4.Serena
5.Venus

 

[KindaNice]

You basically got them all.

However, I will say this. Two years ago at the US Open which I attended, the spectators were gasping at how hard Monica hit the ball. I saw her play Serena and doubles against them both...and she clocks that ball like you wouldn't believe.

 

[GrandSlammed]

Kim is NOT Top Five PowerHouse material.... yet.

CORRECTION!

2001 Us Open quarter-finals.

Venus scored 21 winners against Clijsters, and 43 errors, 7 aces.
CLijsters scored 5 winners against Venus, and 37 errors, 1 ace.

ANYWAYZZZ... all of the following women are POWERHOUSES of the highest order!

VENUS WILLIAMS POW!
SERENA WILLIAMS POW!
LINDSAY DAVENPORT POW!
AMELIE MAURESMO POW!
MONICA SELES POW!
Mijrihana LUCIC POW!

Mary PIERCE POW!
Alexandra STEVENSON POW!
Jennifer CAPRIATI POW!

 

[franny]

you guys forgot

you guys forgot mary pierce!!!! i kno that she hasn't played for a while so you guys probably forgot how hard she hits the ball, but she really does hit the ball the hardest. I remember in indian wells 2000, she beat serena 6-1, 6-2, and after the match, serena said that there was nothing she could do, she said "everything i hit to her she hit it back harder". Thats how hard Mary Pierce hits, if only she cut down on streakiness and errors. Also, martina navratilova has also said that mary pierce hits the ball harder and faster then lindsay davenport. Anywaz, here are my top 5

1) Mary Pierce(for the reasons given above)
2) Lindsay Davenport(strikes the ball so well, hits so heavy)
3) Serena(more powerful then venus but not as consistent and fast, even though she is close)
4) Venus Williams(she goes all out for her shots and thats what makes her even more powerful)
5) Monica Seles(she hits the ball incredibly hard, too bad she isn't as fast as some of the other players.

I was about to put jennifer capriati up there, but then i dont really think jennifer hits the ball that hard. Everytime i watch her, she usually juss hits the ball medium. I put her in the same power class as kim clijsters, which is a level lower then the top 5 up there. I remember at ericcson last year, she played a long long three set match agaisnt venus, and she only had 7 winners!!!! The only reason it was so close was because venus hit so many errors. Now i kno venus is fast, but someone who is said to have so much power by herself and her fans should hit much more then juss 7 winners in an overly long match. And whenever she plays agaisnt the power babes on my top five, she is always on the defensive, ALWAYS. She can't beat them unless they make errors.

 

[Kart]

When in position, I would say that Mary and Monica hit it harder than anyone. However, Lindsay and Williams sisters are more mobile and in position a lot more often and they don't exactly push the ball either.

 

[TeeRexx]

1. Davenport -A real master ball whacker of flat, hard shots.

2. Seles - Still hitting ground strokes harder than most of the field.

3. VENUS - Lost of topspin. If she hit it flat like Davenport, she could beat Roddick.

4. Capriati - The balls sound like gunshots of her racket when she is in the groove.

5. SERENA - Better angles than VENUS with a little less pace.

6. Henin - Though not physically as strong as some of the others, her shots have lots of pace and power from a small package.

TR

 

[Iconoclast]

Tulyaganova also punishes the ball with some heavy-duty whacks.

Mikaelian, the Swiss, looks like she can deliver a vile blow to those bouncy items as well.

 

[LucasArg]

1- VENUS
2- SERENA
3- LINDSAY
4- AMELIE
5- MONICA

 

[GrandSlammed]

Racquet To Racquet With The Almighty Davenport.

"you guys forgot mary pierce!!!! i kno that she hasn't played for a while so you guys probably forgot how hard she hits the ball, but she really does hit the ball the hardest. "

I didn't forget her! I know how powerful she is. BUT, I've seen her scrambling out of position before, trying to retrieve Davenport's shots. As hard as Pierce pounds the ball, Davenport pounds it that much harder, and then some.

"Also, martina navratilova has also said that mary pierce hits the ball harder and faster then lindsay davenport. "

Are you sure it was Martina Navratilova?? Cause at Wimbledon, back in 2000, M. Carillo and M. Navratilova discussed who they each thought hit the biggest groundstrokes. Carillo saying that, "when Pierce hits the ball, it stays hit". Carillo asked if Navratilova agreed, and Navratilova DISAGREED. She chose Davenport, saying no other woman has ever hit the ball as pure, hard and heavy as Davenport. She also went on to speak very complimentary of Davenport's whole game.


I STILL believe that there's really only TWO players who can actually STAY racquet to racquet with Davenport.

Venus and Serena Williams.

 

[RYNJ]

1.Lindsay- Hits it very hard and consistant, only lacks movement.
2.Jennifer- Hits it really hard but not always consistant, and she has nothing else to use but her groundstrokes.
3.Serena- Serena is a little bit different from the other two because when she hits the ball hard its also an angle shot.


Like Jennifer she wacks the ball really hard, but basically thats all she can do. Unlike Marti who is a great player on the court and counter puncher most of these power players have a hard time playing her. Same goes for Venus, in the last 2 years you don't see her hitting the ball as hard as she use too. Yes, she still hits it pretty hard, but she added more top-spin on her shots. Overall Martina Hingis and Venus Williams may not be the strongest players, but what they have is what makes them very hard to defeat. Its not always about power

 

[Tatiana Panova]

I think that hardest I have ever seen any woman hit the ball is actually Marjana Lucic - noone hits it as cleanly or as flat as her. Yet she can obviously not keep this up.

Mary Pierce is then the next player - when she is on the form she does hit it harder then Lindsay and the Williams Sisters, and I say this having watched them all by the court. Lindsay and the Williams sisters are much more dynamic though, and hit with a little more spin. Yeh Tennis mag 2000 - they were saying that Mary hit the ball harder than Lindsay and the Williams (why are we seeing her so injured?). Monica in position can hit as hard or harder than these three, and can hit with angle better than anyone.

Jenny has a very hard forehand, but her backhand and serve are weak and so she is in the strata along with Clijsters and say Schett and Dementieva.

 

[franny]

i remember

i remember that mary c said to martina, "is it true the mary pierce hits a heavier ball?" and martina N said "Mary Pierce hits a harder and faster ball, but not as heavy as davenport". And i agree with her, if your talking about power as how hard and fast they hit, its mary. if its about how heavy, its davenport. Also, i kno how mary isn't quite as mobile, but i thought we were talking about pure power.

 

[QueenV]

Lindsay
Serena
Venus
Monica
Jennifer

Though I think Venus handles the opponents power better than any of those five.

 

[GrandSlammed]

Franny is Correct.

Yes, that's the way the conversation went with Carillo and Navratilova, I remember now.

Mary being dubbed the player who hit the hardiest, fastest ball.

Davenport having the heaviest ball.


Zina Garrison happens to think that it's Davenport and Capriati, and Billie Jean King is convinced that Davenport could hit some men off the court.

I still think that Davenport hits a harder ball than Pierce does. Difficult not to, when you sit there, and watch that patented Davenport return winner!

 

[Double Fault]

Lindsay hits the ball as if she has lead in her raquet. Lucic is another that gives the ball a mighty smack. Pierce too, she hits the ball with frightening power.

 

[CanadianBoy21]

Serena Williams
Lindsay Davenport
Venus Williams
Mirjana Lucic
Mary Pierce
Monica Seles
Jennifer Capriaty
Kim Clijsters

 

[GOJELENA]

Its actually depending wether its a forehand or backhand.

Forehand: Mary for sure
Lindsay closed second
Capriati
Serena
Venus
Monica

Backhand: Lindsay way ahead
Serena
Monica
Venus

I will not include Jen and Mary in the backhand.

Williams advantage of this power players is their movement. way ahead from all of them.

 

[QUEENLINDSAY]

Is anybody here playing Tennis Sega Dreamcast 2k2
Its actually very real. You can actually see who hits hardest. and whats their weakness.

1. If I actually play Davenport, I cant make winners unless I take the net. No way anybody can win over Davenport if you stays in the base line.

2. If you play Mary Pierce. Dont put the ball on her forehand or else you will run everywhere in the court.

3. If you play the williams sisters, dont play them on the net or else they will ate you. rather stay on the baseline and exchange groundstrokes changing everysides. Dont let them stay on one side or else they will smack you with a beautifully angled hard shots.

4. Monica really hits hard and fast. But its easy to win vs her. Just hit it side by side and her power will diminished.

Back to the topic, in order of who hits the hardest?

1. Lindsay - hard and heavy ( thats her biggest weapon)
2. Serena - hard and fast( You can only win over her if you can run well)
3. Venus - hard and a little fast and little heavy
4. Mary- only her forehand hard and heavy and fast
5. Monica- Fast and hard but not heavy

Capriati- I dont put her in this league.