[Xavier7]

Anyone think these 2 had a similar career.
Both seemed to be the best in their generation and won slams when very young and were world number one for a couple of years.

They both got overtaken by Sampras and Federer respectively however and did nowhere near as well as people would've predcited in their late 20s.

[StatRacket]

I definitely see your point. Nice one .

[Voo de Mar]

Yes, there's a parallel between them

[tommyg6]

Jim Courier

Lleyton Hewitt

Both guys play a pretty similar baseline game. Both guys are former no.1's. Both guys won a few slams. Both guy's reign at the top were overturned by better no.1's (Feds, Sampras). Overall these guys are pretty similar.

If you take a prime Courier vs. a prime Hewitt, who would win? And who would win on grass? on clay? on carpet? and on hard?

[Shinoj]

Courier is way way more talented than Hewitt.

Had a massive Forehand which was well discussed in the forum. Had a Solid Backhand. Great First serve. And a really Strong Strong game.

Hewitt on the other hand feeds on the strength of the ball from the opponents. Has a feeble game really as compared to Courier
and the Results show. 2 more Grand Slams for Courier.

[samanosuke]

Hewitt

[tommyg6]

Originally Posted by Shinoj

Courier is way way more talented than Hewitt.

Had a massive Forehand which was well discussed in the forum. Had a Solid Backhand. Great First serve. And a really Strong Strong game.

Hewitt on the other hand feeds on the strength of the ball from the opponents. Has a feeble game really as compared to Courier
and the Results show. 2 more Grand Slams for Courier.

How would the two do against each other on 4 different surfaces? carpet? hard? grass? clay?

[HKz]

Totally different players. Hewitt was a counter-puncher much more suited on faster surfaces while Courier was a rather prototypical baseliner suited for slower surfaces. Yes he had success on the faster surfaces, but he was a different player.

Courier would easily handle Hewitt in Australia and Roland Garros, however, I think Hewitt would beat Courier at Wimbledon/US Open, however, those matches would be a lot closer.

[Shinoj]

Originally Posted by tommyg6

How would the two do against each other on 4 different surfaces? carpet? hard? grass? clay?

All of them for Courier. Perhaps grass would be tight. But Courier had done good at Wimbeldon too and Hewitt dominated Grass at a time when nobody was there really.

But Clay,hard Court,Indoors without a Doubt Courier.

[HKz]

Originally Posted by Shinoj

All of them for Courier. Perhaps grass would be tight. But Courier had done good at Wimbeldon too and Hewitt dominated Grass at a time when nobody was there really.

But Clay,hard Court,Indoors without a Doubt Courier.

Courier's record at Wimbledon is still notably worse than Hewitt's even if you don't give Lleyton's win as much value. Courier made like one 4th round (which was his last Wimbledon), a QF and a final while Hewitt had four 4th rounds, three QFs, one SF and obviously the win. Lleyton also had the better record in New York as well by quite a stretch.

[tommyg6]

My picks as what the scoreline would be in the 4 slams,

Australian Open - peak Jim Courier def. peak Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
Roland Garros - peak Jim Courier def. peak Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
Wimbledon - peak Lleyton Hewitt def. peak Jim Courier 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6
US Open - peak Jim Courier def. peak Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

[Dougie]

Originally Posted by HKz

Totally different players. Hewitt was a counter-puncher much more suited on faster surfaces while Courier was a rather prototypical baseliner suited for slower surfaces. Yes he had success on the faster surfaces, but he was a different player.

Courier would easily handle Hewitt in Australia and Roland Garros, however, I think Hewitt would beat Courier at Wimbledon/US Open, however, those matches would be a lot closer.

I wouldnt say Couriers game was that suited for slower surfaces. It´s easy to say that because of the two RG´s titles, but he definitely wasn´t like the clay court grinders of that era. He hit relatively flat, and he was much more succesful on hard courts. Excluding the two RG-titles, he only won three other titles on clay.

Originally Posted by HKz

Courier's record at Wimbledon is still notably worse than Hewitt's even if you don't give Lleyton's win as much value. Courier made like one 4th round (which was his last Wimbledon), a QF and a final while Hewitt had four 4th rounds, three QFs, one SF and obviously the win. Lleyton also had the better record in New York as well by quite a stretch.

You have to remember that Courier made it to the WImbledon final in an era where he had to play against serve/volley-players like Sampras, Becker, Ivanisevic, Krajicek, Edberg etc, when they were at their prime, and grass was actually fast. That´s quite an accomplishment. Hewitt as a counterpuncher enjoyed playing in an era where the best serve/vollyers were already retiring and grass was getting slower. If prime Courier and prime Hewitt played against each other on fast hc or grass, i´d give Courier the edge, because he was the more active one of the two.

[Riosreigned]

Good question. Courier was bigger and stronger and won more slams but I think Hewitt was actually the more talented player. Quicker, more aesthetic and a better fighter, not that Courier wasn't a super animal great fighter but Hewitt was the greatest fighter I ever saw on court, even better than Nadal pound for pound, Nadal was much bigger and stronger but Hewitt was like a rabid pack of Heyenas. Hewitt loved to scrap it out, he was the supreme player and that was an incredible feat because he did it against all the HWTs and Hewitt was a welterweight in stature. I think Hewitt's backhand was far better than the Rock's too, and so was his net game and footspeed/court coverage. Not to take anything away from Courier because he was an overachiever and a phenomenal player too but Hewitt was more talented IMO.

[Riosreigned]

Prime Courier vs. prime Hewitt would have been one helluva slugfest, I'd really like to see that match. Can't remember if they ever played each other. Don't think they did.

[Bobby]

It's not possible to compare talents of two players.