Tennis 'Experts' Build Frankenstein

Sports Illustrated has decided to ask their panel of 'experts' to build their version of an ideal tennis player based on the current form of today's ATP and WTA players for your mass consumption in 90 seconds.

If you want to read the article, go here. Or your could just look at the summary table below.

	Jon Wertheim	S.L. Price	Bruce Jenkins	Richard Deitsch	Brian Armen Graham	Andrew Lawrence
Serve	Ivo Karlovic / Venus Williams	Andy Roddick / Serena Williams	Andy Roddick / Serena Williams	John Isner / Venus Williams	Ivo Karlovic / Venus Williams	Rafael Nadal / Serena Williams
Return	Andy Murray / Vera Zvonareva	Andy Murray / Caroline Wozniacki	Andy Murray / Venus Williams	Andy Murray / Victoria Azarenka	Andy Murray / Victoria Azarenka	Novak Djokovic / Jelena Jankovic
Forehand	Juan Martin del Potro / Ana Ivanovic	Juan Martin del Potro / Samantha Stosur	Robin Soderling / Samantha Stosur	Fernando Gonzalez / Kim Clijsters	Roger Federer / Samantha Stosur	Robin Soderling / Venus Williams
Backhand	Novak Djokovic / Justine Henin	Richard Gasquet / Venus Williams	Rafael Nadal / Justine Henin	Novak Djokovic / Justine Henin	Novak Djokovic / Kim Clijsters	Richard Gasquet / Francesca Schiavone
Net Play	Bob Bryan / Samantha Stosur	Mardy Fish / Francesca Schiavone	Michael Llodra / Francesca Schiavone	Bob Bryan / Francesca Schiavone	Mardy Fish / Francesca Schiavone	Michael Llodra / Cara Black
Fitness	David Ferrer / Francesca Schiavone	Roger Federer / Kim Clijsters	Nikolay Davydenko / Caroline Woznaicki	Nikolay Davydenko / Samantha Stosur	Nikolay Davydenko / Caroline Woznaicki	Roger Federer / Justine Henin
Footwork	Roger Federer / Kim Clijsters	Novak Djokovic / Jelena Jankovic	Roger Federer / Kim Clijsters	Roger Federer / Caroline Wozniacki	David Ferrer / Justine Henin	Andy Murray / Maria Sharapova
Mental Toughness	Rafael Nadal / Serena Williams	Rafael Nadal / Justine Henin	John Isner / Maria Sharapova	Rafael Nadal / Serena Williams	Rafael Nadal / Serena Williams	Andy Roddick / Kim Clijsters

Some of these choices are trivial: Rafa & ReeRee for mental toughness, Federer for footwork, Djoker & JuJu for backhand, Andy Murray's return or ARod's serve. Others deserve this reaction.



Sharpie's footwork? The cow on ice is a smooth dancer. Vee's forehand or serve? Every commie points out those strokes get wonky because she doesn't keep her head still. Izzy's mental toughness? Yeah it was great for the Wimbly marathon but he hasn't won any majors. Bob Bryan and Cara Black getting consolation prizes for their net play so that the present top players like Nadal and Federer don't take all the top spots? Rafa's serve? Sure it has improved but is it the best?

More to the my present point, this assemblage is a Frankenstein. A player with the serve like Dr. Ivo or Tree will be tall (over 6' 6") but will he actually move as well as Fed to hit punishing inside forehands off of slices skidding at shoe lace level? If you've seen ATP pros up close and personal, many will hit slice shots that well. Or if a player actually had a backhand like Reeshard, how does a player avoid letting such a strength take over his game so much that it prevents him (or her) from rounding out the rest of his game?

If you do want to use your brain a little bit to actually analyze the game of tennis, allow me. My main criticism of this "dream player" meme is that it treats a player's game as an additive summary of parts. If you've consciously tried to improve your own tennis game beyond the beginner level, you know it isn't as simple as acquiring a different forehand. Changing a stroke will have ripple effects on the rest of your game which requires adjustments to your other skills. Justine Henin's game over the last several years is a perfect case in point. She's always had an excellent backhand, but it's her forehand that's improved the most to the point that it's now her main weapon. Her backhand went from being her main weapon to her set-up shot. Yes, it's still a thing of beauty to see her flick a sharply angled top spin BH roller that puts her opponent in the stands, but she can now do that with her FH too. Present-day Henin is so solid from both sides of the court that she's one of the few pros who won't hit a running reverse FH, because she probably feels she doesn't need to.