I believe tennis in general now is rather boring with Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic all retired, it's really not the same, these days!
when agassi played sampras he always seemed defeated before the match was over. andre just couldnt hurt pete on a fast court over 5 sets. he couldnt match pete mentally. pete always knew he was going to win, andre was just hopeful he didnt get destroyed
Somehow Boris' serve'n'volley game never was effective against Andre, although he had a big serve and great volleys. Andre only had problems against serve'n'volley when he played Pete. Man, I miss those times, when tennis was diversified.
if you've listened to agassi in interviews or read his book, you will know that agassi KNEW which direction becker's serve was going. thats one reason why agassi had such a great record against becker.
@robertk2007 I was wondering about that, too. Anyway, "Se non e vero e ben trovato" (if it's not true, it is well invented). But then, I do know that Boris sticks out his tongue while serving. He was a member of the German juniors delegation when I was the coach of the Swiss team for a tennis camp in Wiesloch, Germany, close to Boris' home town of Leimen. The German kids were making fun of that little freckled red hair kid, but I noticed during the gym workouts that he kept going like mad
@robertk2007 Being highly regarded as the best returner of all time, I wouldn't put that past Andre. I want saw him return a serve for a clean winner, it was like a 110 mph return. I think he was far and away the best returner of serve that the game has ever seen.
couldn't agree more - I spent ages watching those dudes and I somehow stopped watching when Becker and Sampras quit , plus I gave it up completely when finally Agassi retired.
In my opinion Agassi and Becker were the most gifted ones in my time, what eye, what feeling! Both of them, on a good day, could beat anyone. They were only beaten by themselves now and then, which made tennis this wonderful big drama then, how they fought their demons (so funny they don't like each other at all); and that's why Sampras was the most successful: He was the steadyness in person, and perfect technique, but too tame, too perfect, too boring after all. The predecessor of Federer...
@kateholli I think service had a big part in it, too. If you think about it, the serve is so vital. Sure, Sampras was up 20-14 on Andre but throw them in there with equal serves, and I think Andre would have had a huge edge in h2h. Obviously, I can't say if Agassi had this that. Just saying that Pete's serve was his biggest asset. He served out of a lot of messes and it helped him win so many cheap points. As a returner of serve, to work so hard, then just get aced away, pains you!
@fullbatterie i agree man, i look back and think what great times that was, now its nothing but a bunch of baseline robots.....the 90's was the best decade, all the top players were like gunslingers.....
Boris had so much pride. He truly believe that he was the best. If someone told him that he could not do something, he would do it in the game just to prove them wrong. Not the best of strategy, but he pulled it off more often than not.
who says Becker wasn't competitive in the 90's. He remained competitive untill 96. He won a couple of majors and reached the wimbledon final 3 or 4 times in the 90's and won the masters cup one or two times. He was a top five permanantly from 90-96. He was an ecuation along Sampras, Agassi, etc.
Becker win the AO in 96 and plays an amazing final at the master cup against Sampras at the end of the year. During the 90s, he reach 3 times wimbledon final (90, 91 & 95). He win the master cup in 95 too.
You're right, he was very competitive in the 90s maybe not as much as in the 80s but at the time there were a new generation of powerful players. Anyway he was great.
Agassi says he figured out Boris had a tell on where he was going to hit his serve. Something about when he stuck his tongue out when he was serving. Agassi told Becker about it after they retired ha ha
Agassi has a very good head2head record against Boris, it's 10:4. He could hurt his second serve with his phenomenal return. But for me Boris is still the best.
I believe tennis in general now is rather boring with Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic all retired, it's really not the same, these days!
Jerry1978ish 1 year ago
I meant i once saw him""(correction of a previous message)
mousavsm 1 year ago
when agassi played sampras he always seemed defeated before the match was over. andre just couldnt hurt pete on a fast court over 5 sets. he couldnt match pete mentally. pete always knew he was going to win, andre was just hopeful he didnt get destroyed
robertk2007 1 year ago
Somehow Boris' serve'n'volley game never was effective against Andre, although he had a big serve and great volleys. Andre only had problems against serve'n'volley when he played Pete. Man, I miss those times, when tennis was diversified.
fullbatterie 2 years ago 7
if you've listened to agassi in interviews or read his book, you will know that agassi KNEW which direction becker's serve was going. thats one reason why agassi had such a great record against becker.
baronvg 2 years ago
Right -- Agassi wrote that Boris was sticking his tongue out in the direction he would be serving, like a little red arrow...
Funny stuff!
oldpossum 2 years ago
@oldpossum if thats true agassi had some sick vision. picking up the tongue and ball that early??? wow!
robertk2007 1 year ago
@robertk2007 I was wondering about that, too. Anyway, "Se non e vero e ben trovato" (if it's not true, it is well invented). But then, I do know that Boris sticks out his tongue while serving. He was a member of the German juniors delegation when I was the coach of the Swiss team for a tennis camp in Wiesloch, Germany, close to Boris' home town of Leimen. The German kids were making fun of that little freckled red hair kid, but I noticed during the gym workouts that he kept going like mad
oldpossum 1 year ago
@robertk2007 Being highly regarded as the best returner of all time, I wouldn't put that past Andre. I want saw him return a serve for a clean winner, it was like a 110 mph return. I think he was far and away the best returner of serve that the game has ever seen.
mousavsm 1 year ago
couldn't agree more - I spent ages watching those dudes and I somehow stopped watching when Becker and Sampras quit , plus I gave it up completely when finally Agassi retired.
kateholli 2 years ago
In my opinion Agassi and Becker were the most gifted ones in my time, what eye, what feeling! Both of them, on a good day, could beat anyone. They were only beaten by themselves now and then, which made tennis this wonderful big drama then, how they fought their demons (so funny they don't like each other at all); and that's why Sampras was the most successful: He was the steadyness in person, and perfect technique, but too tame, too perfect, too boring after all. The predecessor of Federer...
kateholli 2 years ago
@kateholli I think service had a big part in it, too. If you think about it, the serve is so vital. Sure, Sampras was up 20-14 on Andre but throw them in there with equal serves, and I think Andre would have had a huge edge in h2h. Obviously, I can't say if Agassi had this that. Just saying that Pete's serve was his biggest asset. He served out of a lot of messes and it helped him win so many cheap points. As a returner of serve, to work so hard, then just get aced away, pains you!
mousavsm 1 year ago
@fullbatterie i agree man, i look back and think what great times that was, now its nothing but a bunch of baseline robots.....the 90's was the best decade, all the top players were like gunslingers.....
fromanotherstar 1 year ago
You don't see that serve and volley style the kind of Becker anymore. I miss that kind of tennis.
leadimprov 2 years ago 4
Boris had so much pride. He truly believe that he was the best. If someone told him that he could not do something, he would do it in the game just to prove them wrong. Not the best of strategy, but he pulled it off more often than not.
arbibark7 2 years ago
who says Becker wasn't competitive in the 90's. He remained competitive untill 96. He won a couple of majors and reached the wimbledon final 3 or 4 times in the 90's and won the masters cup one or two times. He was a top five permanantly from 90-96. He was an ecuation along Sampras, Agassi, etc.
juandi2570 2 years ago
Becker win the AO in 96 and plays an amazing final at the master cup against Sampras at the end of the year. During the 90s, he reach 3 times wimbledon final (90, 91 & 95). He win the master cup in 95 too.
You're right, he was very competitive in the 90s maybe not as much as in the 80s but at the time there were a new generation of powerful players. Anyway he was great.
fred29600 2 years ago
Yeah you're right but we're forgeting that Becker won the Aussie open in 91 beating Lendl if i recall well.
juandi2570 2 years ago
Agassi says he figured out Boris had a tell on where he was going to hit his serve. Something about when he stuck his tongue out when he was serving. Agassi told Becker about it after they retired ha ha
stell29 3 years ago 2
Agassi is one of the greatest!!!!! in tha tennis history...
Ayrton1982 3 years ago 2
Agassi has a very good head2head record against Boris, it's 10:4. He could hurt his second serve with his phenomenal return. But for me Boris is still the best.
hebgab 3 years ago