John McEnroe on Andre Agassi - Part 1

This interview is an excerpt from the Tennis Channel documentary on Andre Agassi -- Agassi: Between the Lines premiering September 8 on Tennis Channel.

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[DexterHaven49]

This is not the money quote. Mac said Agassi had the best return of serve game he faced back when Agassi was 16 at Stratton Mountain tourney. That put Andre in Tennis magazine. Then Andre owned Mac at the '92 Wimbledon.

[HoneyIEducatedTheWeb]

@KaitainCPS

And a lot of Agassi's game is based around players like Jimmy Connors. Everyone evolves their game around other players so to talk about this particular aside is largely useless.

[KaitainCPS]

As an aside, I would say this: Agassi's hip rotation ground strokes pretty much redefined the modern game. So the techniques he developed probably lead to Federer and Nadal striking the ball the way they do. So would the guys have grown up in a post-Agassi world have played the same way if they were born at the same time as Agassi? Doubtful. Agassi was an innovator, so it's slightly problematic to predict that those who built on his legacy would have beaten him as contemporaries.

[KaitainCPS]

@HoneyIEducatedTheWeb

Depends what you mean by "redundant". I'm saying that his muscular shots hit with heavy topspin and ferocious pace would not have been viable with 90s racquet tech. Whether or not his overall talent would still have lead him to the top of the game (but playing in a different way) remains a hypothetical.

[KaitainCPS]

@HoneyIEducatedTheWeb

Sorry, misunderstood your reply. Didn't realize you were talking about my hypothetical. I thought you were saying, "Remember, he was using his top spin effectively when he played in the 90s".

[HoneyIEducatedTheWeb]

@KaitainCPS

Grass courts have slowed. Sampras' game of serve and volley is not as effective now. However, Federer & Roddick use it well. And Sampras had a much better back court game than Roddick. Sampras would most probably still win six or seven titles in Wimbledon assuming you had him against the same competition.

Flip it over with Nadal. Clay courts are slower now, so it's HARDER for him. Only grass has changed. And the raquets haven't changed so much that his top spin would be redundant.

[HoneyIEducatedTheWeb]

@KaitainCPS

To your first reply I was very surprised.

You had already sent me numerous comments pertaining to the hypothetics of the Nadal of today plying his trade in the 90's. Thus I follow suit, but arguing that he would be almost equally as prolific.

Why are you acting as if I think that Nadal is about forty years of age? Can you not remember your comments?

"He could still use his top spin in the 90's". i.e. if he played then as he is now, he could still use it. Get it?

[KaitainCPS]

@HoneyIEducatedTheWeb

And btw you don't need to use your most dangerous shot every shot for it to help dominate opponents. If you have one awesome shot in your arsenal, the threat of it will tend to manipulate opponents to stay in certain parts of the court, allowing you to control the game more easily.

[KaitainCPS]

@HoneyIEducatedTheWeb

Nadal could use his top spin in the 1990s, eh? Well, he only turned pro in 2001, so he wasn't exactly dominating men's tennis in the 1990s. And he turned pro at almost exactly the same time that ProBlend was on the wane in tennis and the new elastic polyester strings were appearing. So his entire pro career falls within the era of the new topspin-assisting string technology.

[HoneyIEducatedTheWeb]

@KaitainCPS

That is not true at all. Does Nadal have a great top spin? Yes. Does he use it every shot? No. Can he beat every single player in the world using mainly his flat shots? Yes. Remember, he could still use his top spin in the 90's. It's like asking if Sampras would do as well on grass today due to the slowing of the courts. Well if we assume the 90's players play on this era's courts, I imagine he would still win seven titles.

I don't think Nadal would beat Fed as much without it.