Il tennis di Edberg era poesia ....poi a rete era sicuramente uno dei più forti di tutti i tempi ( il più forte non so , ed ero un suo gran tifoso ) ..ora , dopo Federer , il tennis e' brutto .....si va poco a rete , si gioca da fondo campo e si cerca di colpire la pallina sempre più forte !
Stefan Edberg converted tennis into pure art form- like Messi did to Football. He never hit the ball, his racquet caressed the ball. While the new generation of Rafa, FEdex and Djoker has achieved greater heights, but no one was aesthetically as pleasing as Edberg. And Becker-Edberg rivalry is still the top rivalry for me.
The ranking is spot on. Edberg is indeed the greatest proponent of the serve-volley game in the Open era. His backhand volley, in particular, is one of the greatest shots in the history of the sport.
The ranking is 100% correct. Edberg is the most sublime in this art of serve and volley game. He took it to an unattainable height and I am blessed to have played the game around that time. Order of other players are also spot on. Kudos for this compilation. Sadly we are missing the serve and volley game in today's tennis. Best wishes!!
Today I don't like tennis anymore. What I see are a series of players who are very good due to pure consistency, with a history of overwhelming results (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) but as a tennis spectacle, especially in the technical part, except for the swiss player, they seem colossally boring to me. The contrast in styles (baseliner player vs. volley player) was the most striking thing to see in this sport. A Lendl-Mcenroe match, or an Edberg-Becker (Becker was a great baseliner too) or a Sampras-Agassi seems to me today to be much more of a spectacle than an Alcaraz-Sinner match for example, no matter how prepared they are, which they are, I don't doubt it. But they all play to do the same thing, all baseliners, all covering their backhand, almost all with two-handed backhands, a lot of top-spin typical of clay courts, many kilometers of matches, a lot of consistency and no innovation in the technical part, with the exception of nonsense such as spoon service to surprise the rival, something that should be prohibited. It's a shame that back in 2002 onwards, more or less when Sampras retired, they made the decision "to exterminate" the volley player with fast courts slower and much higher bouncing balls that benefit the returning players and especially the clay courts baseliner players.
I completely agree, there are too many baseline players and the fact there are also many two-handed backhand players makes everything more boring. There is little variety, most of the games are all the same. How I miss one-handed backhand players
I was a ball boy at the net during a mid 1980s final (L.A. Open at UCLA) between Edberg and David Pate. Surprisingly, Pate won the match in straight sets in what was to be his only singles title. Edberg was #2 in the world at the time. Anyway, both of these guys came in on the first and second serves. It seemed as if neither man wanted the ball to bounce. It's the type of match that will never be seen again. Edberg was incredibly gracious to all and David Pate was ecstatic, as he should have been. Side note: In an earlier round, Brad Gilbert asked me to go back to the locker room and get him more towels. I ran the whole way, got him the towels, and do you think Gilbert said thank you? Nope. Not even close. He said, "Man, these towels are really rough. Were there any soft towels?" I glared at him and said, "This is all they had." Gilbert talked to himself the whole damn time and played his exceedingly ugly game -- and lost. But I digress. I agree with this list for the most part, but Sampras is my #1.
Crazy how Edberg & Sampras were both two-handed backhands & grinded from the baseline up until around 13 or 14. Johnny Mac was a grinder too, up until around that age. They add serve & volley (and switch to one-handed backhand for Edberg & Sampras), and here they are as the top 3 serve & volley GOATS!
Tennis history books would include Jack Kramer, Pancho Gonzales, Frank Sedgman, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver, John Newcombe and others who built their games around serve and volley.
@@Riri-oj1zs too long ago ? what is that supposed to mean ? if you want to talk just about players from the open era onwards, that is fine. but that doesnt discount what players did previously.
@@bluecat353 Not everyone who understands the technique of tennis. Edberg volley is fantastic and perfect textbook, But McEnroe volley is magic and beyond. Mac #1 for sure.
Any ranking that doesn't put McEnroe as the Top Serve&Volley guy is a joke. Here is the REAL ranking: 1) McEnroe 2) Edberg 3) Cash 4) Rafter 5) Becker 6) Sampras 7) Panatta 8) Leconte 9) Stich 10) Noah or Forget
Number five to one is subjective, but to include Henman (zero slams) and Krajicek while omitting some of the greats of the wooden racquet era like Ken Rosewall and Rod Lavar is criminal.
If it was just about success, then I agree with you. But that's not the point here. This is about the best serve and volley player... and of course the serve is part of it. For example, if I compare Laver's serve with Krajicek's, there is a world of difference. Sorry.
Edberg superb text book volleyer but for natural talent it has to be Mac at number 1, nobody else made it look so effortless and natural, the best hands in the sport ever
He truly was a genius. In 1985 he took a 5 month sabbatical and when he came back he was never the same. He won his last grand slam at 1985 US Open, he was only 25. Strange indeed. But in my book he was the greatest player ever, and he should have won 1984 French Open against Lendl in 4 sets.
I agree with that list, Patrick Rafter was my favorite of them all. The fun fact is that Roger Federer could beat Pete Sampras in 2001 using serve and volley, but after that he came less to the net, maybe because Hewitt, Nadal or Djokovic were too good at the return... After Sampras and Rafter left, we didn't see much serve and volley players, recently I saw Ben Shelton, Jan lenard Struff or Jordan Thompson using that technique but not constantly. One of the few who is still using systematic serve and volley is Maxime Cressy.
@@bluecat353 Grand Slam finals Singles: 11 finals (6-5)Career finals Singles: 77 (41 titles, 36 runner-ups)Head-to-head record Edberg's record against top 10 ranked players Boris Becker 10-25 IVAN LENDL 14-13 United States Michael Chang 12-9 Sweden Mats Wilander 9-11 United States Brad Gilbert 15-4 Croatia Goran Ivanišević 9-10 Switzerland Jakob Hlasek 15-1 Germany Michael Stich 6-10 Czech Republic Miloslav Mečíř 10-5 United States Pete Sampras 6-8 France Guy Forget 7-6 United States John McEnroe 6-7 Spain Emilio Sánchez 9-3 United States Jimmy Connors 6-6 Austria Thomas Muster 10-0 Sweden Anders Järryd 9-2 United States Aaron Krickstein 7-4 Sweden Jonas Svensson 10-0 Australia Pat Cash 8-2 United States Jim Courier 4-6 Spain Sergi Bruguera 6-3 United States Johan Kriek 6-3 Czech Republic Petr Korda 4-5 United States Andre Agassi 3-6 South Africa Kevin Curren 7-1 United States Jimmy Arias 7-0 France Henri Leconte 6-1 Netherlands Richard Krajicek 3-4 United States Todd Martin 3-4 France Yannick Noah 6-0 United States Tim Mayotte 5-1 Ukraine Andriy Medvedev 4-2 France Cédric Pioline 4-2 Ecuador Andrés Gómez 4-0 South Africa Wayne Ferreira 3-1 Czech Republic Karel Nováček 3-1 Australia Patrick Rafter 3-0 Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov 1-2 Sweden Joakim Nyström 0-3 United Kingdom Tim Henman 2-0 Argentina Alberto Mancini 2-0 Sweden Henrik Sundström 1-1 Argentina José Luis Clerc 1-0 Spain Carlos Moyá 1-0 Chile Marcelo Ríos 1-0 United Kingdom Greg Rusedski 1-0 United States Eliot Teltscher 1-0 Sweden Jonas Björkman 0-1
@@fanssolperez3430 yes against Becker 10:25...against Sampras 6:8 and against McEnroe 6:7. All three were serve and volley players. So why should Stefan be the best serve and volley player?
@@fanssolperez3430 Stefan won 10 times and lost 25 against Boris... I don't know if you can call him the best serve and volley player. Sampras won 14 Grand Slams with serve and volley and Stefan only won 6. I think everyone sees it differently.
Sampras was the best but I feel like he's a "server who can volley" as opposed to a "serve-volleyer". For me, McEnroe, Edberg, Rafter. These 3 volleyed very well bit did not have a "big" serve.
Yea those players ran up the net on almost all there serves Sampress stayed baseline after the serve and didn’t really come up as often as the other three players mention.
I saw Rafter up close at the Pilot Pen right before he won his first US Open in 1997. He was incredibly athletic and that kick serve my god. Interestingly, he lost this Pilot Pen final to Yevgeny but I bet he was happy he turned it on two wks later at the Open.
Great list. I especially agree with #’s 1-5. I would probably put Henri Leconte somewhere in #’s 6-10. He served and volleyed on 1st and second serve even on clay. He had great volleys. I would have him somewhere in #’s 6-10. I think he was better than Tim Henman.
Edberg without doubt the best I have ever seen as far as serve and volley goes.He had an amazing ability to read play at the net and put shots away.He no doubt would have won more grandslams but played in the era of Lendl,Becker,Agassi,Mcenroe,Courier,Ivanisevic,Sampras and other star players.Tennis was way more competitive back then with many players able to beat each other regularly.Who are the current genuine serve and volley players today like Edberg was? Most players I see today play exclusively from the baseline and only volley when necessary.
Watch old matches of Borg on different surfaces and although he wasn't serve and volleying all the time, he was coming to the net an awful lot. He probably did hit the ball from the baseline alot more than others but compared to recent times, Borg would be classed as a net rusher. Even think of clay court players as playing from the baseline but watching replays of guys from the 70s playing on clay, they came to the net quite alot, probably more than guys today come to the net on grass. The game has changed alot.
It is sad to note that in recent years the Serve & Volley players have disappeared. They are all players from a few years ago. At the top, for me, John McEnroe!
Edberg and Mcenroe are number one and two without a doubt, below them it's really tough to separate Sampras, Becker, Cash and Rafter. Federer would belong in that list, if he had chosen to play more often as he did v Sampras in 2001 at Wimbledon (his serve&volley was simply spectacular, just as good as any of the players mentioned above)
I agree to you, Boris Becker for me was the technically perfect player, he mastered all the shots, any of them were really good. His problem was physically, very prone to muscle injuries, and especially the mental part, where over the years he lost consistency. John Mcenroe is perhaps the coolest player, with the most talent and the most personality there has ever been, but like perfumes, they are served in small containers, and his reign only lasted two or three years (1982-84), then he was gradually diluting.
If you look at what Rod has won with serve and volley, he should be in first place. But...it was more like the beginnings of serve and volley. I do not want to say more. Kind regards and thank you for your comment.
que lastima no queden tantos saque y voleas. Hoy el circuito es de juegos de fondo. El mismo Federer con una volea increible, solo lo hacia para cerrar puntos, o canchas muy rapidas
To me inthe ATP era, it's 1- John McEnroe, 2- Pete Sampras and 3- Stefan Edberg. Edberg, as i much i loved to watch him play, was not better than the other 2. In fact, it's a debate with Borris Becker. I could easily put Becker as 3rd. Mc Enroe was the best serve of volley player i have ever seen... nobody is even close.
Le n°1 c'est incontestablement McEnroe. Edberg était excellent au filet, c'est vrai, mais McEnroe avait un meilleur "toucher de balle" ! Et il ne faut pas non plus oublier ces très grands voleyeurs qu'ont été Gerulaitis, Connors, Panatta, Lecomte, Scanlon, Tanner, Noah et Zibovinovic, pour ne citer qu'eux et lorsqu'ils étaient en forme et motivés. Actuellement il n'y a qu'un seul autre joueur ayant des volées de qualité et c'est Alcaraz, lorsqu'il est en forme.
Sampras is in my opinion the most efficient s&v player ever. He was quicker and more athletic than Becker and much more powerful than Edberg or McEnroe. The others had certain weaknesses but Sampras had none. He was the best of everybody else combined.
Well, it’s actually both serve & volley included here and to me this is probably a list of the greatest volleyers. If we actually include both Sampras is the obvious Nr.1. Great volley, all time great serve. Then.. I got into racquet sports 35 years ago because of Edberg. Was my idol all his career. Still, I actually think he is placed too high in this list. I would probably go: 1. Sampras 2. McEnroe 3. Rafter 4. Edberg/Becker McEnroe was the best volleyer if we isolate the volley. Edberg maybe 2nd but his serve (in my opinion) was too weak. I put Rafter as high as I do because his success came in the late 90’s, early 2000’s. A much harder time to be successful with s/v game than it was 5-10 years earlier. Edberg/Becker in 4th because Edberg was the better volleyer, Becker the better server. Kind of even. And I know Sampras as 1. is debatable. He is undoubtedly the best player ever who played s/v regularly but he was also a very capable baseliner. It’s anyone’s opinion
I think your comment nails the whole debate. Combined serve and volley, the big serve of players like Sampras and Becker counts a lot. Pure volley it is Edberg, McEnroe and Rafter (slightly behind due to less GS and shorter career). None of them served very fast. McEnroe had the difficult left hand serve, Edberg the weakest serve which makes his volleys all that more impressive. Edberg and Rafter covered the net better.
The order of this is off. Despite my belief that McEnroe is probably the most talented volleyer at the net, the top 5 should be: #1 Sampras; #2 McEnroe; #3 Edberg; #4 Becker; #5 Noah (who was left completely off the list which is a travesty.) Again this in the ATP era as any all time list would have to include Laver and others.
No way sampras is at the top of this list. that's ridiculous. its a tie between McEnroe or edberg. Becker had flaws in his forehand volley but he pulled off incredible low volleys under pressure and was better than sampras.
Yes, John Newcombe too, of course they were the forerunners of serve and volley. This offensive tennis was then developed to perfection in the 1980s and 1990s by players such as John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker and Pete Sampras.
Rod Laver??!! I'm guessing you are thinking he doesn't count because he wasn't playing during the ATP era, but his second Grand Slam happened when he was a pro. Also, let's get something straight. I LOVE John McEnroe, and he got me playing the sport; however, Sampras had more Grand Slams; hence, should be over both McEnroe and Edberg.
All I have to say in Rod's defense is, 2 Grand Slams. No one has done that. Budge has one, and Novak should have another. He held all four in a row, just not in one calendar year @@bluecat353
@@georgemelech8846 In Rod's defense, he was playing with wooden racquet (or steel) while all players on this list played graphite (though Mac started out with wooden) and was not allowed to jump on serve (not legal). So cannot be compared..
i respect a lot edberg . i have always rooted for him but sampras as volleyer was the best because he won many times against terrible players as agassi and courier .he plaYED the best volleyS in history of tennis.
none of the older players were mentioned. but come on, edberg is not as good as mac. not even close. i think mac's serve was better, but no one had the soft hands that mac, for volleying.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Please write down your top 3
1- Edberg
2- Rafter
3- Sampras
Didn't watch mcenroe play.
@@danielblanco9473 reads well too
@@danielblanco9473 he was awesome
1. McEnroe
2. Laver
3. Edberg
1SAMPRAS 2 EDBERG 3 BECKER
Edbergs serve and leopard like attack to the net is perhaps the most beautiful tennis I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot...
agree.
Il tennis di Edberg era poesia ....poi a rete era sicuramente uno dei più forti di tutti i tempi ( il più forte non so , ed ero un suo gran tifoso ) ..ora , dopo Federer , il tennis e' brutto .....si va poco a rete , si gioca da fondo campo e si cerca di colpire la pallina sempre più forte !
So true
right, But it doesn't have the element of suprprize that McEnroes game has.
Agreed.@@NisseOhlsen
Stefan Edberg converted tennis into pure art form- like Messi did to Football. He never hit the ball, his racquet caressed the ball. While the new generation of Rafa, FEdex and Djoker has achieved greater heights, but no one was aesthetically as pleasing as Edberg. And Becker-Edberg rivalry is still the top rivalry for me.
Agree although not totally. I prefer Sampras style to Edberg's by a whisker...
No way, Federer the most aesthetic, And he had the best volley
The ranking is spot on. Edberg is indeed the greatest proponent of the serve-volley game in the Open era. His backhand volley, in particular, is one of the greatest shots in the history of the sport.
Thank you for choosing Edberg as the No.1!
Edberg is just art. Amazing 🙏🙌
Could not agree more... Admiddetly being a fellow swede - but Edberg was the (last?) supreme serve-and-vollyer.
Non, McEnroe était meilleur que lui au filet avec un "toucher de balle" d'une qualité non encore réatteinte depuis ! 😯🙂
Yes correctly ranked. Edberg is pure textbook serve n volley ❤
Stefan…simply THE Tennis 🎾❤️
The ranking is 100% correct. Edberg is the most sublime in this art of serve and volley game. He took it to an unattainable height and I am blessed to have played the game around that time.
Order of other players are also spot on. Kudos for this compilation. Sadly we are missing the serve and volley game in today's tennis.
Best wishes!!
Today I don't like tennis anymore. What I see are a series of players who are very good due to pure consistency, with a history of overwhelming results (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) but as a tennis spectacle, especially in the technical part, except for the swiss player, they seem colossally boring to me.
The contrast in styles (baseliner player vs. volley player) was the most striking thing to see in this sport. A Lendl-Mcenroe match, or an Edberg-Becker (Becker was a great baseliner too) or a Sampras-Agassi seems to me today to be much more of a spectacle than an Alcaraz-Sinner match for example, no matter how prepared they are, which they are, I don't doubt it. But they all play to do the same thing, all baseliners, all covering their backhand, almost all with two-handed backhands, a lot of top-spin typical of clay courts, many kilometers of matches, a lot of consistency and no innovation in the technical part, with the exception of nonsense such as spoon service to surprise the rival, something that should be prohibited.
It's a shame that back in 2002 onwards, more or less when Sampras retired, they made the decision "to exterminate" the volley player with fast courts slower and much higher bouncing balls that benefit the returning players and especially the clay courts baseliner players.
Well described, thank you for the thoughtful words. I can understand you and yes, I miss the serve and volley game too.
Couldn't agree more.
@@6DoctorJ
Thanks, it's just my opinion. There will be people who disagree, or have another vision of what tennis should be for them.
I completely agree, there are too many baseline players and the fact there are also many two-handed backhand players makes everything more boring. There is little variety, most of the games are all the same. How I miss one-handed backhand players
You forgot Henri Leconte....
I was a ball boy at the net during a mid 1980s final (L.A. Open at UCLA) between Edberg and David Pate. Surprisingly, Pate won the match in straight sets in what was to be his only singles title. Edberg was #2 in the world at the time. Anyway, both of these guys came in on the first and second serves. It seemed as if neither man wanted the ball to bounce. It's the type of match that will never be seen again. Edberg was incredibly gracious to all and David Pate was ecstatic, as he should have been. Side note: In an earlier round, Brad Gilbert asked me to go back to the locker room and get him more towels. I ran the whole way, got him the towels, and do you think Gilbert said thank you? Nope. Not even close. He said, "Man, these towels are really rough. Were there any soft towels?" I glared at him and said, "This is all they had." Gilbert talked to himself the whole damn time and played his exceedingly ugly game -- and lost. But I digress. I agree with this list for the most part, but Sampras is my #1.
Sampras had a huge serve and probably the best second ball of all time. But on the fly, he didn't have the genius of Mc-Enroe and Edberg.
It's gotta be a whole lot better than the current slugfest 😆
Stefan was number 2 in the world in 1980?! You mean in Junior? He turned pro in 1983.
@@JohnDoe-dp4kx he wrote mid 1980´s, they played in 1987
Gilbert was always a jerk.
Edberg at #1. I love that! 💕
Crazy how Edberg & Sampras were both two-handed backhands & grinded from the baseline up until around 13 or 14. Johnny Mac was a grinder too, up until around that age. They add serve & volley (and switch to one-handed backhand for Edberg & Sampras), and here they are as the top 3 serve & volley GOATS!
And , take note everyone - not one double handed backhand player on this list 😂
some of the best serve and volliers were single or became single handed backhanders.
Krajicek too, double handed backhand and grinder until he got tall.
@@VerbalKint cool, didn't know about Richard Krajicek
@@johnrenehan7406 Ivanisevic was a two-hander.
Tennis history books would include Jack Kramer, Pancho Gonzales, Frank Sedgman, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver, John Newcombe and others who built their games around serve and volley.
Yes
That's too long ago. Open Era would be a better gauge.
That is very true good point.
@@Riri-oj1zs too long ago ? what is that supposed to mean ? if you want to talk just about players from the open era onwards, that is fine. but that doesnt discount what players did previously.
Edberg definitely. What a performance, especially vs. Becker.
Tennis was interesting then.
sorry but Stefan didn't have a good record against Becker. Only won 10 and lost 25.
@@bluecat353
Thanks,
I stand corrected.
@@bluecat353 True but he won more of the GS finals they played together. And the one semifinal they played at GS
Beautiful video. Nevertheless, as a serve and volley player, RF is certainly better than Goran in my opinion. Thanks so much
I see it that way too
I'd only include Open Era players only. Top 3 would be:
1. McEnroe
2. Edberg
3. Sampras
1. Pete Sampras
The only one 👌
1.Edberg 2.Mcenroe 3.Rafter.
Overall a very good list. I think Edberg is the most elegant one but you can make cases for JohnnyMac or Sampras as Nr.1 too.
Nice list and quite accurate in my view.
Pat Rafter is my favourite serve and volley player :) so intelligent :)
Mac should be #1, that is abundantly clear. Stefan is a strong #2, but no way was he as great as McEnroe at net.
Everyone probably sees it differently
@@bluecat353 Not everyone who understands the technique of tennis. Edberg volley is fantastic and perfect textbook, But McEnroe volley is magic and beyond. Mac #1 for sure.
McEnroe wrote of Edberg: 'He made my net play look inadequate.'
Any ranking that doesn't put McEnroe as the Top Serve&Volley guy is a joke. Here is the REAL ranking: 1) McEnroe 2) Edberg 3) Cash 4) Rafter 5) Becker 6) Sampras 7) Panatta 8) Leconte 9) Stich 10) Noah or Forget
Number five to one is subjective, but to include Henman (zero slams) and Krajicek while omitting some of the greats of the wooden racquet era like Ken Rosewall and Rod Lavar is criminal.
If it was just about success, then I agree with you. But that's not the point here. This is about the best serve and volley player... and of course the serve is part of it. For example, if I compare Laver's serve with Krajicek's, there is a world of difference. Sorry.
Edberg superb text book volleyer but for natural talent it has to be Mac at number 1, nobody else made it look so effortless and natural, the best hands in the sport ever
you can leave it like that
Agree, Mac’s half-volleys were out of this world.
@@Zenoandturtle Absolutely agree. Mac is for me the best net player ever! Volley, half-volley, touch and reaction were on another level!
He truly was a genius. In 1985 he took a 5 month sabbatical and when he came back he was never the same. He won his last grand slam at 1985 US Open, he was only 25. Strange indeed. But in my book he was the greatest player ever, and he should have won 1984 French Open against Lendl in 4 sets.
@@Zenoandturtle his last singles Grand Slam was the 1984 US Open but yes after he took time out he was never quite the same
I agree with that list, Patrick Rafter was my favorite of them all. The fun fact is that Roger Federer could beat Pete Sampras in 2001 using serve and volley, but after that he came less to the net, maybe because Hewitt, Nadal or Djokovic were too good at the return... After Sampras and Rafter left, we didn't see much serve and volley players, recently I saw Ben Shelton, Jan lenard Struff or Jordan Thompson using that technique but not constantly. One of the few who is still using systematic serve and volley is Maxime Cressy.
McEnroe was the best...Edberg a very close second but McEnroe still the best...period
Stefan Edberg is the best serve and volley player in the history of tennis.
Who says that ?
@@bluecat353 Grand Slam finals
Singles: 11 finals (6-5)Career finals
Singles: 77 (41 titles, 36 runner-ups)Head-to-head record
Edberg's record against top 10 ranked players Boris Becker 10-25 IVAN LENDL 14-13
United States Michael Chang 12-9
Sweden Mats Wilander 9-11
United States Brad Gilbert 15-4
Croatia Goran Ivanišević 9-10
Switzerland Jakob Hlasek 15-1
Germany Michael Stich 6-10
Czech Republic Miloslav Mečíř 10-5
United States Pete Sampras 6-8
France Guy Forget 7-6
United States John McEnroe 6-7
Spain Emilio Sánchez 9-3
United States Jimmy Connors 6-6
Austria Thomas Muster 10-0
Sweden Anders Järryd 9-2
United States Aaron Krickstein 7-4
Sweden Jonas Svensson 10-0
Australia Pat Cash 8-2
United States Jim Courier 4-6
Spain Sergi Bruguera 6-3
United States Johan Kriek 6-3
Czech Republic Petr Korda 4-5
United States Andre Agassi 3-6
South Africa Kevin Curren 7-1
United States Jimmy Arias 7-0
France Henri Leconte 6-1
Netherlands Richard Krajicek 3-4
United States Todd Martin 3-4
France Yannick Noah 6-0
United States Tim Mayotte 5-1
Ukraine Andriy Medvedev 4-2
France Cédric Pioline 4-2
Ecuador Andrés Gómez 4-0
South Africa Wayne Ferreira 3-1
Czech Republic Karel Nováček 3-1
Australia Patrick Rafter 3-0
Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov 1-2
Sweden Joakim Nyström 0-3
United Kingdom Tim Henman 2-0
Argentina Alberto Mancini 2-0
Sweden Henrik Sundström 1-1
Argentina José Luis Clerc 1-0
Spain Carlos Moyá 1-0
Chile Marcelo Ríos 1-0
United Kingdom Greg Rusedski 1-0
United States Eliot Teltscher 1-0
Sweden Jonas Björkman 0-1
@@fanssolperez3430 yes against Becker 10:25...against Sampras 6:8 and against McEnroe 6:7. All three were serve and volley players. So why should Stefan be the best serve and volley player?
@@bluecat353 The defeats with Sampras were at the end of his career, at his peak he clearly beat him.
@@fanssolperez3430 Stefan won 10 times and lost 25 against Boris... I don't know if you can call him the best serve and volley player. Sampras won 14 Grand Slams with serve and volley and Stefan only won 6. I think everyone sees it differently.
The top 4 absolutely, in any order I like it
Sampras was the best but I feel like he's a "server who can volley" as opposed to a "serve-volleyer". For me, McEnroe, Edberg, Rafter. These 3 volleyed very well bit did not have a "big" serve.
Yea those players ran up the net on almost all there serves
Sampress stayed baseline after the serve and didn’t really come up as often as the other three players mention.
I agree 100% with your well reasoned thoughts, but would put Edberg just above John
John McEnroe AT THE NET Is the best. Ever.
Nah, Mac was amazing (and had a better serve) but Edberg at the net was close to perfect.
Also true, Edberg's backhand volley was deadly.
Sampras had the best serve.
I saw Rafter up close at the Pilot Pen right before he won his first US Open in 1997. He was incredibly athletic and that kick serve my god. Interestingly, he lost this Pilot Pen final to Yevgeny but I bet he was happy he turned it on two wks later at the Open.
Keeping apart the old buddies, I'm glad to see Stich within the list but I'm missing Roger
1 mac enroe
2 sampras
3 Federer
4 becker
5 edberg
Great list. I especially agree with #’s 1-5. I would probably put Henri Leconte somewhere in #’s 6-10. He served and volleyed on 1st and second serve even on clay. He had great volleys. I would have him somewhere in #’s 6-10. I think he was better than Tim Henman.
Henman won more titles & was more consistent in Slams
Do not discount Borg! Connors said Borg's mishit volleys were impossible to read :)😊
1. McEnroe
2. Edberg
3. Becker
Edberg without doubt the best I have ever seen as far as serve and volley goes.He had an amazing ability to read play at the net and put shots away.He no doubt would have won more grandslams but played in the era of Lendl,Becker,Agassi,Mcenroe,Courier,Ivanisevic,Sampras and other star players.Tennis was way more competitive back then with many players able to beat each other regularly.Who are the current genuine serve and volley players today like Edberg was? Most players I see today play exclusively from the baseline and only volley when necessary.
Wouldn’t put him in the top 10 but Borg became a very accomplished serve and volleyer at Wimbledon.
Did Borg really play serve and volley at Wimbledon? is new to me
@@bluecat353 Almost every first serve and some 2nd serves.
@@marktace1 I only know Borg from the baseline
@@marktace1 Just watched Borg v McEnroe - 1980 Wimbledon Final...in fact Borg is playing serve and volley
Watch old matches of Borg on different surfaces and although he wasn't serve and volleying all the time, he was coming to the net an awful lot. He probably did hit the ball from the baseline alot more than others but compared to recent times, Borg would be classed as a net rusher.
Even think of clay court players as playing from the baseline but watching replays of guys from the 70s playing on clay, they came to the net quite alot, probably more than guys today come to the net on grass. The game has changed alot.
It is sad to note that in recent years the Serve & Volley players have disappeared. They are all players from a few years ago. At the top, for me, John McEnroe!
Agree with the ranking. Rafter can be joint 4th with Becker.
1 Mcenroe 2 Edberg 3 Becker
This is a good ranking but you forgot lecomte who should have been in place of henman, who is a minor player.
Michael Stich was incredible
Edberg and Mcenroe are number one and two without a doubt, below them it's really tough to separate Sampras, Becker, Cash and Rafter. Federer would belong in that list, if he had chosen to play more often as he did v Sampras in 2001 at Wimbledon (his serve&volley was simply spectacular, just as good as any of the players mentioned above)
1.Becker, 2. McEnroe, 3. Edberg. Beside that McEnroe showed a lot of brilliant returns ,too.
I agree to you, Boris Becker for me was the technically perfect player, he mastered all the shots, any of them were really good.
His problem was physically, very prone to muscle injuries, and especially the mental part, where over the years he lost consistency.
John Mcenroe is perhaps the coolest player, with the most talent and the most personality there has ever been, but like perfumes, they are served in small containers, and his reign only lasted two or three years (1982-84), then he was gradually diluting.
1 Mac 2 Edberg 3 Sampras
Henman???
Sampras, Edberg, Becker
That doesn’t make any sense
Very solid list, just flip Mac and Edberg…
I think I would changed a little in the ranking plus you forgot 1 player. Rod Laver should have been in top 5. He was a art like Edberg.
If you look at what Rod has won with serve and volley, he should be in first place. But...it was more like the beginnings of serve and volley. I do not want to say more. Kind regards and thank you for your comment.
@@bluecat353that makes no sense. He should be in first place then.
@@HankFinkle11 who?
Pistol Pete greatest off all time!!!
Honorable mentions for Nastase, Stepanek and Mirny
que lastima no queden tantos saque y voleas. Hoy el circuito es de juegos de fondo. El mismo Federer con una volea increible, solo lo hacia para cerrar puntos, o canchas muy rapidas
Edberg - Rafter
Cash was a much better volleyer than Krajicek, Henman or Rafter.
Yes, Pat Cash's volley was great, but unfortunately his serve wasn't that good.
He wasn't a better volleyer than Rafter.
Rafter, with McEnroe and Edberg, is one of the best 3 volleyers of all time
1 McEnroe 2 Boris Becker 3 Pete Sampras
McEnroe was so awesome
Edberg???
@@sonlampham9685 4. Edberg
To me inthe ATP era, it's 1- John McEnroe, 2- Pete Sampras and 3- Stefan Edberg. Edberg, as i much i loved to watch him play, was not better than the other 2. In fact, it's a debate with Borris Becker. I could easily put Becker as 3rd. Mc Enroe was the best serve of volley player i have ever seen... nobody is even close.
Absolutely no one who knows tennis would rate Becker a better volleyer than Edberg. A better overall player possibly but not purely as a volleyer.
1- Edberg
2- McEnroe
3- Sampras
John McEnroe, without a doubt.
McEnroe, edberg sampras becker
McEnroe
Edberg
Sampras
McEnroe numero 1 senza discussioni
McEnroe sampras edberg. Also pat cash. All great serve volley players. Bjprn borg the greatest of all time.!!!.
Le n°1 c'est incontestablement McEnroe. Edberg était excellent au filet, c'est vrai, mais McEnroe avait un meilleur "toucher de balle" !
Et il ne faut pas non plus oublier ces très grands voleyeurs qu'ont été Gerulaitis, Connors, Panatta, Lecomte, Scanlon, Tanner, Noah et Zibovinovic, pour ne citer qu'eux et lorsqu'ils étaient en forme et motivés.
Actuellement il n'y a qu'un seul autre joueur ayant des volées de qualité et c'est Alcaraz, lorsqu'il est en forme.
Don’t forget Henry Leconte
Edberg, Sampras,Becker
1. McEnroe 1a. Edberg 2. Becker 3. Cash 4. Stich 5. Rafter
great, but music is anoying
Sampras is in my opinion the most efficient s&v player ever. He was quicker and more athletic than Becker and much more powerful than Edberg or McEnroe. The others had certain weaknesses but Sampras had none. He was the best of everybody else combined.
Mac had to be the first. Respect Edberg but Mac was magic.
Edberg's serve was rock 'n' roll, his volley laconic
Rod Laver?
Well, it’s actually both serve & volley included here and to me this is probably a list of the greatest volleyers.
If we actually include both Sampras is the obvious Nr.1. Great volley, all time great serve.
Then.. I got into racquet sports 35 years ago because of Edberg. Was my idol all his career. Still, I actually think he is placed too high in this list.
I would probably go:
1. Sampras
2. McEnroe
3. Rafter
4. Edberg/Becker
McEnroe was the best volleyer if we isolate the volley. Edberg maybe 2nd but his serve (in my opinion) was too weak.
I put Rafter as high as I do because his success came in the late 90’s, early 2000’s. A much harder time to be successful with s/v game than it was 5-10 years earlier. Edberg/Becker in 4th because Edberg was the better volleyer, Becker the better server. Kind of even.
And I know Sampras as 1. is debatable. He is undoubtedly the best player ever who played s/v regularly but he was also a very capable baseliner.
It’s anyone’s opinion
I think your comment nails the whole debate. Combined serve and volley, the big serve of players like Sampras and Becker counts a lot. Pure volley it is Edberg, McEnroe and Rafter (slightly behind due to less GS and shorter career). None of them served very fast. McEnroe had the difficult left hand serve, Edberg the weakest serve which makes his volleys all that more impressive. Edberg and Rafter covered the net better.
Edberg goat
Dent ?
The order of this is off. Despite my belief that McEnroe is probably the most talented volleyer at the net, the top 5 should be: #1 Sampras; #2 McEnroe; #3 Edberg; #4 Becker; #5 Noah (who was left completely off the list which is a travesty.) Again this in the ATP era as any all time list would have to include Laver and others.
No way sampras is at the top of this list. that's ridiculous. its a tie between McEnroe or edberg. Becker had flaws in his forehand volley but he pulled off incredible low volleys under pressure and was better than sampras.
Edberg
Theres no way Edberg was better than Mac in serve and volleying. Mac number 1 for his creativity, touch, feel, angles.
maybe you are right
Edberg's backhand and backhand volley is unmatched by any players Mac included.
@@jliang70 Mac was also overall better player than Edberg in both singles and doubles.
And keep dreaming that Edberg hit better volleys than Mac lol
@@michaelrobbins282 better? Just with a slim margin of 1 slam, keep dreaming, he could not handle lendl after 85
I would say a tie between Mac and Edberg. Edberg did improve his volley exponentially
Early Federer accomplished more with serve and volley at Wimbledon and Halle than a few of the players on this list...
Yes, that's right
He actually didn't. He wasn't a pure S/V player. Stayed back on the second serve in Wimbledon 2003. Still my favorite player (and Edberg).
And Federer ??? I think he's better then Henman or someone else, also as serve&volley
Didn’t Rod Laver also play tennis?
Yes, John Newcombe too, of course they were the forerunners of serve and volley. This offensive tennis was then developed to perfection in the 1980s and 1990s by players such as John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker and Pete Sampras.
@@bluecat353 Laver and Newcombe were already developpers. It all started with Jack Kramer, Frank Sedgman and Pancho Gonzales in the late forties.
Rod Laver??!! I'm guessing you are thinking he doesn't count because he wasn't playing during the ATP era, but his second Grand Slam happened when he was a pro. Also, let's get something straight. I LOVE John McEnroe, and he got me playing the sport; however, Sampras had more Grand Slams; hence, should be over both McEnroe and Edberg.
If you compare the volleys of Rod Laver and, for example, Boris Becker, or the serve, then you will definitely understand why Rod is not on this list.
All I have to say in Rod's defense is, 2 Grand Slams. No one has done that. Budge has one, and Novak should have another. He held all four in a row, just not in one calendar year @@bluecat353
@@georgemelech8846 As I said, not here in this list, sorry
@@georgemelech8846 In Rod's defense, he was playing with wooden racquet (or steel) while all players on this list played graphite (though Mac started out with wooden) and was not allowed to jump on serve (not legal). So cannot be compared..
Vous ne traitez qu'es les années 90.
Sampras a clairement abandonné ce style de jeu pour contrer Agassi et Courrier.
Pete Sampras is the most succesful player with 14 Slams, he deserves to be No. 1.
Henman is no. 10
J'ai du mal à comprendre ce que fait Henman dans cette liste..
à quoi ressemblent tes trois premiers?
@@bluecat353 Dans le désordre, Edberg, Cash, McEnroe
Takao Suzuki is one of the best.
Edberg did not play tennis. He was tennis.
i respect a lot edberg . i have always rooted for him but sampras as volleyer was the best because he won many times against terrible players as agassi and courier .he plaYED the best volleyS in history of tennis.
Many people have different opinions, but that's a good thing.
Laver, Rosewall and Newcombe 26 Slam titles between them and all served and volleyed and they are nowhere on your list!
Federer 1. Boris 2. Edberg 3. Mc enroe 4. Sampras 5.
Great selection, Roger is of course not a pure serve and volley player, but he still plays serve and volley brilliantly.
Federer c'est pas un serveur-volleyeur
@@edwigechristian2996 C'est vrai, mais bien sûr, Roger peut aussi jouer au service et à la volée. Même très bien
Parece una falta de respeto no poner a Federer en la lista
none of the older players were mentioned. but come on, edberg is not as good as mac. not even close. i think mac's serve was better, but no one had the soft hands that mac, for volleying.
Mac no. 1...he is the onky genius on the list
Radek Stepanek
Patrik Rafter el mejor