Fabrice Santoro : between the legs shot

[hattrickster33]

So that's where Federer learned it:P

[123BenThere]

@Ntennis95 And he also spells style* right.

[Ntennis95]

lol...Federer does this with a lot more stile.

[carlotapuig]

Federer got totally owned again

[SiemensAGDTennisTeam]

Magician!!!!!

[TrolloftheTube]

So THAT'S where Federer learned that shot. lol

[ZikicaKikica]

Federer learned from the best :)

[pep1815]

This one looks clumsy. Not even close to the ones made by Federer.

[littleshy1234]

@pep1815 santoro is still the first one to do it

[l2enegadesofFunk]

@pep1815 Ahh c'mon don't hate, that shot was executed perfectly. Federer didn't have a chance. Also, when Federer did the shot to Djokovic and Dabul they were both further back from the net. Federer was in a much better position to defend the shot.

[pep1815]

@l2enegadesofFunk Hate? What's about hate here? Are you crazy?

The shot was executed clumsily, unlike the ones Federer does. Federer does it with grace, like an artist.

[l2enegadesofFunk]

@pep1815 You're a twat.

[pep1815]

@l2enegadesofFunk

What's that, you nerd? It's your "expert" remark? lol

[l2enegadesofFunk]

@pep1815 I repeat. You're a twat.

[pep1815]

@l2enegadesofFunk

lol... What a funny troll... lol

[l2enegadesofFunk]

@pep1815 True story.

[Mzee1084]

@pep1815 Watch the lob tweener Santoro did against Spadea.

[Rafathaman94]

Federer learned this shot from the magic man!

[gardenvarietypenis]

best between the legs ever. fed's against joker was great but this one was so difficult to run down and pull off....plus--it's was against the g.o.a.t..

[2nadalfederer1]

And Federer pissed and kicked to the ball.

[TheTennisMan11]

If you look at statistics and grand slams, Santoro is not the best tennis player ever. He was never ranked one, in the top five, or top ten or even fifteen. He didn't win a grand slam. But Santoro was unique, creative, just simply elegant to watch. His style is just so interesting and eye-popping. And, of course, he could produce some amazing shots. The Magician will be missed.

[saintsaens21]

@TheTennisMan11 and he beat 17 world #1s...and has most appearances in grand slams record

[UnknownMagician93]

ahha against federer no less

[gardenvarietypenis]

go back and look at fed's tweenie (not his weenie), and you'll see fed has much more time to set up for the shot against the flat-footed, djokovic. plus, the aerial perspective on fed's shot makes it look far more impressive than the court-level perspective of santoro's.

[hattrickster33]

Don't try this...because you havn't even gotten to 1st base yet

[gardenvarietypenis]

even better than fed's beautiful tweenie against djokovik.

[destoroy4]

@gardenvarietypenis

erm no...

[gardenvarietypenis]

@destoroy4 far tougher lob to run down..plus, it was against federer and not djokovic.

[sharpasaneraser]

@destoroy4 who's "erm"?

[TheTennisMan11]

Wow, this was an amazing shot by Fabrice Santoro. It's sad that he's retiring.

[wickedmario007]

No wonder santoro is called the magician...he is my 3rd fav player after federer and pete...he has perhaps the most unique game in history of tennis along with johnny mac...

[TheSicou]

nice... but Federers shot is better xP

[bwpbruce]

At least Federer got a bracket on it. Djokavic couldn't even react to the one made by Federer.

[swifts1968]

Fabrice Santoro will retire at the end of this year ( 2009 ) after an astonishing 20 -year - long career.He reached top 17 seed in 2001 in single and n°1 in double too.+over, he won the Davis Cup 2001 ( along with Cédric Pioline, Sébastien Grosjean and Arnaud Boestch ) against Ausralia.He lately said that : " he would like to be remembered as a player who was passionate with his sport and who always tried to do his best ".

No doubt he succeeded ! MERCI FABRICE

[joCkelius88]

santoro looks like viggo mortensen with a too big head :)

[jpetienne05]

It's not Federer that invented the famous shot between the legs...this one happened in 2005 by another magician, Santoro.

[DIGitSuka7]

"dont try this if u havent had children" hahahhaha

[Spike45000]

haha

[R0bski]

this one is better than federers... as it went further and needed a much more timed shot to hit it, yo can see he only just hit it in time. They're both pretty stunningly well placed to win the point but you can see where Federer got the idea from...

[bwpbruce]

Federer's shot was better. His was a clean winner and his got him to match point. No contest.

[thegreatNEb]

yeah you cannot deny it. Fed's had power on it and it just shot by a bemused Djokovic who was then so demoralized he let the next point fly by him too. when that happens the opponent can really go on tilt.

anyway, the point is Santoro loves his tennis and it is HIS. No one plays like him and its a joy to watch. Check out the match with Fed in Oz 08 to see true sportsman ship and entertainment. They both loved it and you can see Federer trying to copy santoro's sneaky tricks out of respect :)

[snappycruise]

it's actually not a santoro but yannick Noah trick, he was famous for it

[SSky06]

It's not better. Roger hit his at a crucial stage in a Grand Slam Semi-Final. If he doesn't break Djokovic, that match could have went into another tie-break and possibly a 4th set.

This was an early round match where Fabice had no chance of winning. Plus it was early in the match with basically nothing riding on whether he hit a good tweener or not.

[demondayzzz]

federer wasn't at the net yet in this point, he was slightly behind the box, an easier pass, and he got a racket onto it. it's still a great shot, but it doesn't compare to a clean winner. and i don't know what you're going on about timing, both needed to be incredibly precise or they'd simply have gone haywire. and Santoro didn't invent the tweener either, even Roddick's hit it, tons of players have. just not on such a big stage at such a big point to demoralize a top 5 opponent.

[896423658]

believe it or not, Santoro is an original player, more original than Federer for example.

[demondayzzz]

i didn't say anything to disrespect santoro's game, he's one of my favorite players. and what does being original have to do with it? he still wasn't the first to hit that shot, and that's not a discredit to him, I was addressing jpetienne05, who thought that he was. and there isn't a shot that Federer can't hit, and he has invented a number of shots that Santoro (nobody else either) can't, so no, i don't believe that he's less original than Santoro. i don't think it matters either.

[timafi]

Santoro hits both backhands and forehands with 2 hands

slices and dices and drop shots just like Federer

difference is Federe has power and serves bigger

originality hasn't won Santoro a major.His best slam result was the 006 Australian Open btw

huge fan of Santoro but I'm being honest here

[Fernandez218]

yeah, yet for some reason - some very odd reason - Federer received more attention when he nailed the shot than Santoro did. Probably because Santoro will never be a top-seeded player and no one takes him seriously despite his major success in doubles. It'll be sad when he retires this year - Santoro.

[DFrysk]

both were amazing, although this one is probably a bit harder

[wildcatbungalo]

Better than Federer's

[talismanic86]

Exactly right... This shot is as good as Federer's one, but many so called "experts" don't even know that this one exists!!

[P4NCAK3S]

I think Federer's shot looked better as it was a clean winner and also because it was an important point, setting up match point. But this was a really good point as well, and it was probably harder to hit this as Santoro was sprinting just to get to it while Federer had that extra millisecond to prepare.

[dubbyah1]

so when federer does it it's the best shot of tennis history - problem is, though, shots like that have happened many times before in the past as shown here in this video

[nollicon]

I guess this is where Federer learned it from :]

[geozelo]

Federer did it today against Djokovic... But this is spectacular too...

[ramanathan16]

roger the master santaro the magician

[sickair08]

I LOVE this shot!!! Not an out-right winner, but absolutely spectacular & against Roger Federer as well!!!

TOO GOOD!

[2random4tomatoes]

Lol "don't try this if you haven't had children"

[levo106]

fantastic comment lol

[baze128]

Santoro might not be among the truly best but numbers don't tell everything. His soft hands and his arsenal of trick shots always guarantee fun and a good spectacle. Each sport needs a guy like him.

[ducvy10]

I LOVE Santoro's unique style, he defeated the best players of the game (17 world#1 from Becker, Edberg, Agassi, Sampras to el maestro Federer). He stayed 2 decades in the ATP top 100, how can some of you say he sucks, I wish I was one of the 100 best in my field one year only!! Give him some credits. Pistol Pete himself gave him his "magician" nickname! Safin at his best (who lost 7 times against him) said "Being told I would play Santoro was being told I was to die." One word for you: RESPECT!

[bretdegilmanjar69]

GRANDE VIEJO

[RubinJayJay]

the magician and the master

[geebus83]

willem defoe

[Pectiniculus]

Viggo Mortensen.

[dot0net]

agreed.

[mg205]

he is amazing!!

go santoro

[DHCrawford711]

fucking amazing

[Bodelicious89]

LE MAGICIEN!!!

[leeboy620]

eh...feds lob was out...:P

[jamesguo66a]

rubbish

[rockerduff1231]

my friend told me that stefan edberg was the first to do the between the legs shot not santoro...i tend to think it was santoro

[raulfiber]

i believe the first one was vilas

[Killerpropol]

It is Noah at the US Open. Dont remember the year.

[Pectiniculus]

and that was the 2nd point of all the match!

[monthejoe]

No, Federer was already 1 game up. That was the second point of Santoros service game.

[Pectiniculus]

you're right. but it's incredible anyway.

[lboygrace]

Viggo

[Pectiniculus]

what the fuck! i thought i was the first to realize that! what's Viggo Mortensen doing there?

[RastafarianPikachu]

santoro barely seems to win any unremarkable points

[deeyon12]

on federer. wow. lol

[babychimp16]

Santoro is just too cool

[ihateuutube]

for santoro, this seems kinda ordinary. there is a much cooler shot of his during this same match where he is at the net with his racquet on his right side preparing to volley. federer hits a passing shot to santoro's left, but fabrice swings his racquet behind his back and hits a volley, which federer can't return.

[woz199]

Santoro has to be one of the most exciting players ever!

[Wisin58]

that`s shoot calls "La Gran Willy" and it was invented by Guillermo Vilas

[elecbass100]

Oh my. That was cool.

Also, in that close up of Santoro's face, doesn't he remarkably resemble Viggo Mortensen?

[Hirottoq]

so much power on a between the legs shot.

[JamesBlake13]

Unbelievable!!!!!

[lacarotte31]

trop énorme ! trop fort fabrice !

[reefric]

santoro is awesome! such a personal style of playing tennis..

[jamespaullo]

this is done by a trained professional.

don't try it at home!

[polipoli7]

Or do You Mean "DontTry It At The Tennis Court"Because You Cant Try It At Home...

[JKwingsfan]

I did it once off a double bounce, but my opponent couldn't tell cause I was blocking his view of the ball : )

A lot of people can do it, but few do it consistently and almost none can do it like Santoro

[AAMLfan]

Awesome :D

[slimdavy5]

gotta love santoro he is the most unique player

[vhnate]

that was godly

[andres0491]

-_____________________________­______-

[egglings]

LEGEND!!!

[xedvux]

Santoro is God!

[habibko]

"don't try this if you haven't had children"

LOOOOOOOOOOOL very true, I wonder why I don't see women do this shot that often though!

[xxRebelxxFitz]

Mauresmo did it in Moscow!

[aznic3]

that's a man, baby