It's hard to get started on Mondays, isn't it? The weekend ended with a quiet Sunday evening of movie watching (recommended: *The Wind That Shakes the Barley*; no it's not a farming movie, it's about good stuff like firearms, revolution, and possible fratricide) and radio listening (click on the "Stochastic Hit Parade" show on WFMU to hear what Sunday night sounds like around my place). So it was a shock to have to brave the 20-degree gusts off the East River this morning and pile into a subway stuffed with winter coats, hats, and scarves (and the people somewhere inside them).
But I'm ignoring the Monday rust and getting an early post up, because TENNIS.com's great shots series is beginning its second week. Today Martina Navratilova makes her first appearance, as the owner of the greatest backhand volley of all time.
She joins Pete Sampras (serve), Jimmy Connors (return) Roger Federer (forehand), Ken Rosewall (backhand), and John Newcombe (forehand volley) on the list of big shots revealed so far by our writer, Joel Drucker. The only choice I would take issue with is the backhand, which I would give to Andre Agassi, or maybe Gustavo Kuerten. The shot has developed quite a bit since Rosewall's day, and it's more important, relatively speaking, in today's baseline-oriented game than it was when the Aussies ruled and points were decided at the net.
Back to Navratilova. As with Sampras, fans who only saw Navratilova at the end of her career, or who only know her as a 40-something doubles specialist and side act, probably have trouble imagining her in her athletic prime. Few players, men or women, have ever moved so fluidly or explosively or hit so naturally. Rod Laver caught a glimpse of her when she was just getting started and pointed her out as someone to watch in the future. Other women had very good backhand volleys, but Navratilova's was a mix of flowing artistry and sharp-angled effectiveness. I can still picture her closing on the net with fast feet, her racquet cocked behind her right ear and her hair flying behind her.
On the men's side, I didn't see much of Tony Roche's or Rod Laver's backhand volleys, both of which I'm sure are justifiably famous. Check out the clip of their epic 1969 Australian Open semifinal below if you don't believe me. Roche's looks like a bomb of a volley, and Laver's is, well, Laver's. The Rocket won in four and a half hours on a hot day, 7-5, 22-20, 9-11, 1-6, 6-3 to begin his march to his second Grand Slam.
The backhand volley that sticks out to me is John McEnroe's. I was a huge Bjorn Borg fan as a kid and was crushed when he lost the 1981 Wimbledon final to McEnore. The shot that killed him, and me, was McEnroe's stretch backhand volley. Against most players, Borg could win points with his backhand pass up the line. Not against Johnny Mac, who kept sticking his racquet out and finding a way to angle the ball off crosscourt for winners of his own. If it wasn't the best ever, McEnroe's backhand volley might stand as most important to the history of the sport.
Any thoughts on these subjects are welcome. Who has been wrongly forgotten, underestimated, or overestimated in the great shots discussion?