Del Potro, Gonzalez, Rublev, Tsonga, Soderling? You're too much results biased.

 

Only one slam combined from this list.

 

You haven’t really seen Sampras play, have you? The “serve and volley era” line is a fallacy. You don’t downgrade the quality of a shot because the game style was different.

Sampras’s forehand was
• explosive off both wings, inside out and inside in. If he got set, the rally was often basically over. His running forehand was his trademark shot (along with the jump smash).
• technically modern with his windshield wiper finish. That swing path is the foundation of the modern forehand everyone hits today.
• deadly on fast courts. Wimbledon, US Open, indoors, his forehand cut through the surface and ended points outright.
• respected by peers. Agassi, Courier, Rafter, they all pointed to his forehand along with the serve as the shot that sometimes made him unplayable.
• his lifeline on clay. Even on his weakest surface, and in an era when clay really played different, it was the forehand explosion that often kept him competitive.

Saying baseline rallies weren’t as important is irrelevant. That’s like dismissing Bolt’s 100m because it’s not a 1500m. The shot itself was elite, era independent and often decisive.

Sampras doesn’t just belong in the conversation for top forehands. On influence, mechanics, and raw effectiveness, he’s right at or near the top of the list.

 

You haven’t really seen Sampras play, have you? The “serve and volley era” line is a fallacy. You don’t downgrade the quality of a shot because the game style was different.

Sampras’s forehand was
• explosive off both wings, inside out and inside in. If he got set, the rally was often basically over. His running forehand was his trademark shot (along with the jump smash).
• technically modern with his windshield wiper finish. That swing path is the foundation of the modern forehand everyone hits today.
• deadly on fast courts. Wimbledon, US Open, indoors, his forehand cut through the surface and ended points outright.
• respected by peers. Agassi, Courier, Rafter, they all pointed to his forehand along with the serve as the shot that sometimes made him unplayable.
• his lifeline on clay. Even on his weakest surface, and in an era when clay really played different, it was the forehand explosion that often kept him competitive.

Saying baseline rallies weren’t as important is irrelevant. That’s like dismissing Bolt’s 100m because it’s not a 1500m. The shot itself was elite, era independent and often decisive.

Sampras doesn’t just belong in the conversation for top forehands. On influence, mechanics, and raw effectiveness, he’s right at or near the top of the list.

Great post.

 

Alcaraz, Sinner, and Djokovic having top 5 forehands of all time is quite debatable.

 

1- Federer
2- Nadal
3- del Potro (with better movement could be 1, who knows)
4- Alcaraz (no recency bias, I genuinely think it's becoming an insane shot)
5- Sampras
6- Lendl
7- Borg
8- González
9- Djokovic
10- Sinner

 

Top 3 all time already? Damn, recency bias is crushing it

Off clay Alcaraz is tied with Roger now ,

At AO he got routined by a soon to be 38 yr Novak. GTFO with that "tied with Roger" crap

 

Top 3 all time already? Damn, recency bias is crushing it



At AO he got routined by a soon to be 38 yr Novak. GTFO with that "tied with Roger" crap

His improvement happened on hard courts only after Wimbledon.

Probably will end up tied with Roger off clay by the end of his career.

 

It was quite inconsistent just a short while ago, leaking a lot of UEs. Maybe he´s just on a hot streak now, maybe he really entered his prime, we´ll see.

 

Honestly Stanimals forehand gets forgotten about due to his out of his world backhand - but really his punishing forehand was as much of a factor in his success - brute power!!

 

Because @Halba1 declared it is law by law

 

Nadal's FH was actually exposed quite a bit on HC, it often resulted in a spinny useless shot. When he managed to win it was thanks to his crazy defense, grit and draw magic.

 

Sampras is definitely outside top 5, as he played in an era of S&V where baseline rallying shots werent that important.

Agassi, Courier, Lendl, Chang, Bruguera, Kuerten and many other baseliners played in that era. What total nonsense is that.

 

To say that Chuck's forehand is tied with Rogie's forehand is absurd!!

 

It's not Ruud's but it's alright.

 

Yep
Djokovic, Nadal, and Alcaraz are the three best forehands of all time
Lendl is fourth

 

I've been saying the Alcaraz forehand has potential to be the best ever

 

Sinner should not even be in the top 30. A complete joke of a forehand, especially when stretched. Alcaraz is definitely tied with Federer.

 

Sinner should not even be in the top 30. A complete joke of a forehand, especially when stretched. Alcaraz is definitely tied with Federer.

4 majors though, his forehand looked good in those wins past 2 years. Hes been a bit out of form Apart from the Wimbledon win this year.

Off clay Alcaraz is tied with Roger now , yep, but Nadal has a lot of clay wins and that forehand was mighty strong on Clay.

 

Novak at 4 😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹

 

Across all surfaces

1. Federer
2. Alcaraz*
3. Nadal
4. Novak
5. Sinner*

Fixed

Only Nadal forehand above Alcaraz is on clay not across all surfaces... and Sinner top 5 is a very bad joke, maybe top 10 with luck and he is still boring asf anyways.

 

Only Nadal forehand above Alcaraz is on clay not across all surfaces

So where would you rank Nadal's forehand on hard and grass?

 

Across all surfaces

Forehand starting to look amazing. Similar to a short king version of Del potro in terms of power and acceleration off that wing. Similar take back and follow thru on this shot.

1. Federer
2. Nadal
3. Alcaraz*
4. Novak
5. Sinner*

* denotes currently playing.

Besides, are you also putting Novak in the retired column already?

 

Imo it comes after
Del Potro, Tsonga and Fonseca

 

Del Potro (the best FH)
Federer
Nadal
Alcaraz

Verdasco
Gonzalez
Djokovic
Berdych
Tsonga
Sampras
Agassi
Tsitsipas

That's my FH list. Not necessarily in order but first 4 are kinda clear to me. Delpo still tops that list for me. It was just a perfect shot and had the most power. Consistent power and topspin mattered the most in FH duels and none dared to trade FHs CCs for long with prime Delpo. Not even Federer. He had to resort to other means to get his wins.

 

Del Potro (the best FH)
Federer
Nadal
Alcaraz
Sinner
Verdasco
Gonzalez
Djokovic
Berdych
Tsonga
Sampras
Agassi
Tsitsipas

I fixed it. No need to thank me.

 

He is the thing about Djokovic's FH. It's the perfect counterpunching FH, but it clearly lacks a bit when it comes to killing a point from just anywhere. No all-time pace generation there (especially from low balls) so it does have some offensive limits. Simply not big enough (from several positions) basically, but defence-to-offence, consistent depth and changing directions make it a very special shot. It's somewhere in the top 10 perhaps but not top 5. Top 5 should be for big FHs that are flamethrowers at their peak.

 

That's why Djokovic has a bit of a special place here. Djokovic’s forehand is unique. He could absorb Del Potro’s missiles and redirect them in ways no one else could. It’s not raw power but timing, precision, and anticipation, almost like jiu-jitsu - using an opponent’s strength against him. In that sense, it could be number one, but only when orchestrated with the opponent.

 

Federer
Nadal
Alcaraz
Sampras
Del Potro
Djokovic
Sinner
Gonzales
Soderling

It's very consistent and can be a weapon when he wants it to be.

 

This conversation like many on this forum is incredibly nuanced and not black and white. Nadals forehand is the single greatest forehand, or weapon period, on a clay court in tennis history; and it ain't close. It however, was more vulnerable for Nadal on a quicker, lower bouncing surface due to his longer take -back in the stroke and less compact mechanics, so could be rushed and rendered less effective though still great. Therefore, the Federer or sampras forehand, is better on grass for example. So it's nuanced. No definitive greatest forehand. Have to factor in surfaces and conditions.