The Decline of the Power Player in Men's Tennis

rs. Thus, their purely offensive approach was necessary, as defense was a task they weren’t built to perform.

Sampras had all the strengths of PPPs and few of their weaknesses. The fact that he could hit winners at virtually any moment and moved better than many baseliners is the reason for many of his titles, while his sheer determination, especially near the end of his career, earned him the all-time record for grand slam titles (at least until Roger Federer surpasses it).

The tide began to turn against the PPP in 2000, when Marat Safin won a shockingly one-sided match over Sampras in the U.S. Open final. Ivanisevic finally got his Wimbledon in 2001, and Sampras took the Open in 2002, but Federer humbled Philippoussis at the 2003 Wimbledon, which now appears to be the PPP’s last gasp.

Safin and Federer have all the assets of a PPP: they can overpower opponents from anywhere, including the net (Safin lacks perfect form at net, but is blessed with naturally good touch). Unlike PPPs past, who were almost defined by their inability to rally indefinitely, Safin and Federer move well enough win matches from the back court. This gives them the ability to come to net only when in excellent position to do so, unlike PPPs, who sometimes came in behind less suitable approach shots.

Racquet technology proliferated, making longer rallies and more accurate passing shots possible. The Wimbledon courts were designed to play slower, and big guns like Sampras, Ivanisevic and Krajicek retired, ushering in the PPP's disappearance.

 

Ivo Karlovic, probably the most one-dimensional player in tennis history, represents the last of this style in the top 100, along with Ivan Ljubicic, Mario Ancic and a few others.

The previously mentioned Johansson and Paradorn Srichaphan vanished after repeated injuries. The occasionally brilliant Ljubicic and Ancic are unable to serve and volley their way past Federer and Rafael Nadal.

When Andy Roddick won his lone U.S. Open in 2003, he did so with a suspect backhand and a non-net rushing style; he was like Jim Courier with a rocket launcher for a serving arm. His subsequent attempts to improve his backhand and volleys have not brought him back to the top of the game; occasionally the results have been disastrous.

However, few tennis fans mourn the passing of this type of player. PPPs drove men’s tennis out of the public eye in the 1990s, and despite this style’s disappearance, the sport has yet to return to popularity. Most fans say a heartfelt “Good riddance” to these players, due to Federer and Nadal’s much more watchable brilliance.

Matchups between PPP’s and players with contrasting styles often led to interesting matches. Andre Agassi in particular had an untold number of great matches with Sampras, Becker, Ivanisevic, then later Philippoussis and Johansson. Even mid-90s matches between Sampras and Becker today seem revelatory in terms of the service placement, touch volleys and the passing shot angles on display.

The brilliant run of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at this year’s Australian Open shows that the PPP style can still make an impact, especially when there’s a whole field of players who never before had to adopt a strategy to counter it. Tsonga, sadly, has been injured almost ever since.

The baseline-oriented nature of today’s game has done great things for the sport, as highlight reels have much more to show, especially at Wimbledon. Every now and then, though, a difference in style is fun to watch. Once in awhile, the game could use a dose of pure power.

Just not too much.

 

Visit my blog at www.rjamesyork.blogspot.com or contact me at rjamesyork@gmail.com.

 

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