Top two hard-court players of the Open era
With the arrival of the summer hard-court season, let us have a look at the greatest ever hard court tennis players of the Open era
1. Ivan Lendl:
Ivan Lendl is a former top ranked tennis player, who has won over twenty hard court trophies all through his career. Ivan made his way into a total of eight United States Open final in a row from 1982 to 1989. He won three consecutive US Opens from 1985 to 1987, by defeating Mats Wilander, John McEnroe, and Miroslav Mecir.
Lendl had a very powerful first serve that helped him a lot in dominating the hard court match in particular and other matches in general against his opponent. Lendl also fired a couple of aces as a result of that serve. His forehand was most famous in the game of tennis at that time and was regarded as one of the best tennis shots.
Basically the tactics of Lendl which allowed him to convert a good length ball into a fairly short one made him the greatest ever hard court player of the open era. This tactic was imitated by a couple of players after him as well.
2. Andre Agassi:
The former top ranked tennis player, Andre Agassi enjoys the record of the most hard-court trophies, with a total of forty-six in his career. The American won a total of sixty titles all through his career. Showing he won three quarters of his title on hard-courts. That proves Andre is one of the greatest hard-court players in the game.
In 1995, Agassi captured a total of seven trophies, all of them on hard surfaces. He captured the hard-court Australian Open title on four occasions in 1995, 2000, 2001 as well as 2003, in his career.
Agassi also participated in a total of six United States Open final rounds, triumphing in 1994 as well as 1999. He reached the final back in 2005 when he was as old as thirty-five years. The American, however, was defeated by the Swiss tennis maestro, Roger Federer at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Agassi also enjoys the record of triumphing in Miami on five occasions.
His philosophy as well as style of play was a little distinct from Lendl’s. He used to stand down the middle of the court in order to hit deep ground strokes. The American was most popular for his return of serve.
As a result of his excellent hand-eye coordination, Agassi was able to serve strongly and put his opponent on the back foot early on in the match.
The American holds a success record versus every single aggressive volley and serve player on the tour. Michael Stich didn’t manage to surpass him in a total of five clashes and the players with the nearest records were Richard Krajicek as well as Goran Ivanisevic. He also had superb records against Patrick Rafter as well as Boris Becker.
Agassi was not only popular for his superb forehand and coordination, but also for his serve that he developed over the years after a lot of hard work.
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