COUNTDOWN TO WIMBLEDON, 2 DAYS TO GO
World No 1 gives us his composite superstar...
ITH the big fortnight upon us, Sportsmail gave Andy Murray a task: build us your perfect tennis player, based on who you have played against in your career. If you could pick the best shots from everyone you have faced, which combination would make up your dream machine?
BEST 1ST SERVE
JOHN ISNER. He has a great service motion and it obviously helps being 6ft10in. He can hit angles on the court that other guys can’t due to his height but it’s technically a beautiful motion and he can repeat it for three or four hours at huge speed. The difference between him and IVO KARLOVIC is that Isner can use the spins more, so he can get the ball to kick up more and can put greater slice on his serve. Karlovic has a flatter delivery.
BEST 2ND SERVE
IT would probably be ISNER again but ROGER FEDERER has a very good second serve, very accurate, good under pressure. He can hit all his spots. Quite a few players are predictable but he moves his second serve around very well. If I’m playing Roger I can move closer to the baseline to receive but if I’m playing Isner sometimes he’s sending down 125mph second serves at my body.
BEST RETURN OF SERVE
A LOT of guys on the tour are great returners, but NOVAK
DJOKOVIC and ROGER are two of the best. Their ability to read the direction is as good as it gets.
DAVID FERRER probably has the most under-rated return of serve. I never played ANDRE AGASSI but loved watching him return, he was probably one of the best ever. He had the ability to not only return the biggest serves in the game, but to return those serves as aggressively as they were being hit at him.
BEST FOREHAND
IT depends on the surface but this category is between ROGER and
RAFAEL NADAL. On grass I would take Roger because he has the ability to hit through the court more and flatten it out. On slower surfaces like clay it’s Rafa. He creates more of an angle as well, when it’s slower you have more time to create the spin and angle but when it’s quicker it doesn’t have the same effect. It’s a toss up between the two.
BEST BACKHAND
OVERALL, in recent years, it would be DJOKOVIC. People talk about his down-the-line shot but he also changes the direction of the stroke very well. At his best it’s a very consistent shot and technically very good — he can go cross court or down the line effortlessly.
BEST SLICED BACKHAND
FEDERER. He hits it well both ways, cross court and down the line. His shot down the line comes with a bit of side spin, playing across the ball so it goes away from you. He can also get it to shoot through the court.
BEST ATHLETICISM
GAEL MONFILS would be the best athlete who plays tennis but, because his strokes are very long, when he is on the run he is not as dangerous as some of the other players. Some guys when they are defending are incredible at coming up with winners. Gael can chase down any ball but he is maybe not as dangerous as RAFA running onto his forehand, who can hit winners from anywhere. As a pure athlete, though, Gael is the best.
BEST VOLLEY
WITHOUT being biased this is an area where the Brits excel. My brother JAMIE has very good volleys and he would definitely be up there. I got to play against TIM HENMAN and he had a great volley. NADAL volleys well but a lot of the time he is coming in behind an amazing groundstroke, whereas Tim didn’t have that powerful a groundstroke, so he was coming in as a tactic and having to play more difficult volleys. JONNY MARRAY gets an honourable mention and so does DAN EVANS.
BEST OVERHEAD SMASH
A toss-up between ROGER and
RAFA here. It’s probably the shot that the pros make look easier than it is more than any other. Imagine doing a serve and trying to hit it from that height. And the wind makes a difference — tennis balls are pretty light — and sometimes you can have the sun causing an issue as well. It’s easier indoors as the ball doesn’t go up as high and there is no wind. Commentators often react when someone misses a smash as though it’s the biggest clanger of all time. But you only hit maybe three or four per match so you’re never in a groove with them.
BEST FOOTWORK
A difficult one. NADAL has got really good footwork, as has KEI
NISHIKORI. MONFILS is better when he is taking longer strides to get to the ball. NOVAK has very good footwork — he excels at moving backwards and forwards and making small adjustments. When the ball comes deep, he doesn’t just stand there.
BEST DROPSHOT
DJOKOVIC. It requires a lot of touch and a clear head. Novak has a good dropshot although he tends to only play them on his backhand side. Actually, DAN EVANS has a very good dropshot, he has got great hands.