By Bill Simons
Over the past three years, IT asked leading figures in tennis a simple question: If you could play one player you’ve never competed against, who would that be?
ROGER FEDERER: Bjorn Borg. I probably wouldn’t have done so good. He was one of the greatest clay‑court players of all time. He was fighting with wood rackets, it was a different time. That’s why I never quite know who was the greatest of all time. We will never know how we would have all matched up, because Borg would have played totally differently today. And Rafa would have played very differently back then … You couldn’t have played the way Rafa plays today, but great players find a way, and that’s what Rafa has shown in these last years.
ANDRE AGASSI: Nobody now. I look at [Novak] Djokovic and I think, “I don’t want to feel that.” I am not curious about how it would feel [to play him], because I know what it feels like. I would go to the past, because that would give me an idea of just how the game has evolved—getting a chance to feel Rod Laver’s athleticism, or feel Bjorn Borg’s speed, and feel the speed of his [shots]. I would have enjoyed that.
JOHN ISNER: Agassi, because we play pretty differently. He’s considered one of the great returners of all time, and I serve pretty well, so a match like that would be fun. I’ve never played or practiced with him. His return would be tough, but I’d try not to let him touch it. I really would have liked to play him. I wouldn’t do [just] one thing, I would have to try to do everything to beat him: hit my spots, hit short angles, hit above the body, have variety on my serve. That’s how a lot of people were able to beat him back in the day. Especially Pete, he was able to mix his serve up pretty well and give him trouble with that.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Althea Gibson because of her being the first African-American tennis player, and having to do what she did, sleeping in cars and just everything. It would be really cool to just hit with her. She brought more than athleticism. She was thinking on the court. She clearly had to, because there wasn’t a lot of pace back then. She had to be pretty precise and hit her shots. She did all of that really well.
JOHN MCENROE: Oh, I’d like to play the best guys. Federer at the Open, Sampras at Wimbledon, Nadal on clay … I probably wouldn’t have done real well, but I would have done my best to figure out a way to get inside their heads and get under their skin … [Against Roger] I’d do what all competitors do to get an edge, and try to get inside a person’s head. With my style of play, on a reasonably quick court, [being used to] guys who’re staying back, potentially that could be difficult for him, but you never know … [As for Nadal on clay] I grew up on clay, and watched and played the best of the best, Borg and others, but Rafa without a doubt would be my ultimate nightmare. I used to think you could take advantage of his serve, but it’s gotten a lot better. I used to think maybe you could bring him in, but he’s one of the best volleyers in the world. He’s certainly one of the fittest in the world, and he’s certainly got more topspin than I’ve ever seen. He seems to have more shots than anyone on clay. So the only hope you have is if you’re blessed to be 6’5” or 6’6” and you swing for the fences. It would have be one of those days when everything works. You would basically just go for broke on pretty much everything. Otherwise you’re in for a nightmare. So that gives you an idea of how determined Djokovic was [in the 2013 French Open semifinal]. He put himself in a position to be up 5-3 in the fifth on a pretty hot day. To be that close, five points from winning. That was the greatest clay-court match I’ve ever seen.
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Justine [Henin] or Serena, or both, because I would always want to play the best, like I did in my day when I played Chrissie. Against Serena, I wouldn’t worry so much about her forehand. The faster, the better. I like the pace. It’s the serve I’d worry about. But once I was into a point I’d have a chance.
CHRIS EVERT: I’d like to play Martina—Martina Hingis—because Serena and Venus [Williams] would overpower me. Still, it would be tough with Martina. I would have to be patient. She would have to work against me. But I think I could chop her up.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I always wanted to share the court with Pete [Sampras], my childhood idol and role model. All the memories would come back. I was six when Pete won his first Wimbledon in ’93, and it was one of the images that instilled in me [the desire] to become a pro. I asked my father to buy me a racket after that, and since then, it has been all Pete. He’s such a great man outside the court. We had a dinner a few years ago when I had just became No. 1. I asked him a few questions and his advice helped. He’s so wise. He helped me to understand what I need to do on and off court to maintain being No. 1. He’s one of the best players to ever play. Our personalities and games are quite different. He was very calm and stable mentally, very strong. He never wanted to be a part of a big group. He always wanted to keep private and low-key, while I like the fun and entertainment. But what we have in common is that willpower, that desire. What I picked up from him was his mental strength and ability to cope with pressure. He was so good under pressure, serving aces.
(Asked how he would play Djokovic, Sampras said, “I couldn’t expose anything with Novak. I would just have to beat him. I know when I played Andre, I just had to serve big, and hit my groundies well and come in. But with Novak I’d just need to beat him. He’s not going to beat himself. He’s too good, too consistent. He never misses. I couldn’t expose anything. I’d just need to be on. It’s pretty simple. If I’m not on, I lose … I can get in with Roger [Federer] a little bit, [and] Rafa too. Novak’s 26. He’s returning so well. It’s like playing Andre, but he obviously moves better. He’s tough, he’s got some wheels. He has one of the best returns ever. I always said Andre had the best return ever, but you can get a dime off it… whereas Novak returns as well, but he moves a little better and hits a little longer. Novak’s return might be the best.”)
PETE SAMPRAS: I looked up to the old players Lew Hoad and Pancho Gonzales. I heard Gonzales had a wicked serve. I was a huge fan of Laver as a kid and I heard Hoad was a beast. I’m curious about those three and their games.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Rochey—Tony Roche—would be a lot of fun. Rochey is a ripper. He’s not only a fantastic coach, he’s a great mate for me. We get along extremely well. I can talk about anything with Rochey. I just love how professional he is. I can’t see myself doing what he’s doing at his age and having been around it so many times. He just loves it. He wants to be on the court, to get the best out of all the guys. And it’s not just myself, it’s all the young Australian guys. It’s really important.
JIM COURIER: I’d love to have played either Bjorn [Borg] or Rafa [Nadal] in my prime, because those guys are the mark on clay, and I was pretty effective, and a different clay court player than those two. I’d love to see how I’d do. … [As for breaking down Nadal’s game] I wish I had more options! [Laughs] If you don’t have a lot of options, [you need to] try to take the ball early and beat him to the punch, and use a drop shot when necessary. But those guys are just so good. It’s a fun thing to contemplate. The numbers indicate that Nadal is [the greatest-ever on clay], but no one thought Bjorn was touchable on the dirt, either. It’s funny, the guys that beat them at the French Open were attacking players.
GUSTAVO “GUGA” KUERTEN: Either Borg or Nadal. Playing them in the French Open would be fun. I have to believe I would win.
JAMES BLAKE: Arthur [Ashe] was one of my idols and role models in terms of sportsmanship. I have the utmost respect for him. It would be an honor to play him and try to gain his respect. What’s enduring about Arthur is that he will always be thought of more as a humanitarian and political activist than as an athlete. What he did as an athlete gave him the voice to better society. That’s something that’s especially rare with someone who was as great an athlete as him. He was a Wimbledon champion more known for his stand against apartheid and for charity work to help others with AIDS, a fatal disease which was basically a death sentence. He used his voice to help others that had it tougher than him.
KIM CLIJSTERS: Obviously, a dream that came true for me was playing Steffi Graf at Wimbledon when I was 16. That was my biggest “wow factor” on the tour. She’s who I would love to play against.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Great question. The person that comes to mind is Chrissie [Evert], but I don’t have a great explanation why. She stopped maybe four or five years before I started. I always loved watching her … [Asked if she saw a little bit of Evert’s game in her own] No, definitely not. But she was one of the greatest of all time. I’m sure I would lose. I never agreed with comparing generations. They didn’t learn to play with the rackets we learned to play with. We didn’t learn to play how they learned. Chrissie was the player I watched and cheered for the most.
AMELIE MAURESMO: Martina [Navratilova]— it would be fun because we both serve and volley.
TRACY AUSTIN: The first person that comes to mind is Maureen Connolly. Isn’t that funny, because she won so young, and I was so young when I won, and we are both from Southern California. How old was she when she won the Grand Slam? I think 18. I didn’t see her, but I met her daughters and know her story of winning the Grand Slam [in 1953] and leaving the game young [at 19].
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Steffi Graf, she had that forehand, that speed, that backhand. I actually played doubles with her, when I was 15, and was so nervous that I kept shanking the ball.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Would I be playing a man or a woman? … It’s amazing to think I have pretty much played all the greats, so I guess it would be my idol, Chris Evert, who I never played. With her great backhand and her groundies, the match would be tough, pretty much even and stroke-for-stroke. I miss the game tremendously.
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: Patrick Rafter, to see if it’s still possible to play serve-and-volley on tour.
JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: I’ve been fortunate to spend some time with Ken Rosewall, who was so kind and classy. I’ve heard so much about his slice, and his being an attacking player, that I would have loved trying to challenge him on that shot.
ILIE NASTASE: I would just want to play a few games against Federer. I would let him know about it if I won a single game.
IF YOU COULD COACH OR DO A BROADCAST OF ONE PLAYER…
MARY CARILLO: Put me down for Suzanne Lenglen. Graceful, flowing game, tremendous personal power, the game’s first diva. There would be many camera cuts—replays and slo-mos of Lenglen flying through the air, Papa Lenglen fidgeting in the stands, Suzanne sneaking brandy on the changeovers…oh yeah, it would be Lenglen.
BUD COLLINS: I’d broadcast Ilie Nastase. In Melbourne, we were broadcasting on a riser by the court and he came by and said, right into the microphone, “Don’t listen to a thing they’re saying, they don’t know a thing.”
NICK BOLLETTIERI: It would have been fantastic to [coach] Steffi Graf, because she was such an outstanding athlete with [great] movement. She worked. She didn’t offer an alibi, or ask “Why me?” and all that. To coach her would’ve been a hell of a treat. I probably would have put her on a two-handed backhand because if she had a two-handed backhand, I don’t think that anybody would have ever beaten her… [As for her low, deep, cutting, slice backhand]
it was good—a defining slice has a place, absolutely. But can you imagine if she had a two-handed backhand? And why? Her great footwork, her great foundation … When I talk about Serena as being the best player, that would have been a battle [with Steffi] … [Serena might be the best player of all time because] her serve stands in a class by itself. The movement of Serena—being able to get to those balls— and her big volleys, big returns, and she’s just got so much forehand. [Still] Martina, she was the best. She saw every inch of the court … [and that’s] not that easy.
JUDY MURRAY: If I could coach anyone it would be Sloane Stephens, although I don’t know her very well. She looks really easy on the ball, [with] effortless power. She’s got huge potential. She looks like she’s a lot of fun. The right person will get an awful lot out of her. It sometimes takes young players a while to come to grips with the demands of getting to the top and staying there. They’re not always ready at 19 or 20 to give everything. So you have to be patient.
IF YOU COULD PLAY ONE DOUBLES TEAM…
BOB AND MIKE BRYAN: Playing Mac and Peter Fleming would be fun because of Mac’s antics. Peter made sure he didn’t say much. He just let Mac, the mad scientist, do his genius work … Fleming was a great returner, Mac a good server. Back then there were a lot of slicers, and serve-and-volleyers. It was a more straight-out tradition. But then the lanes were open. You would come in and no one was going to move. You could bank on getting returns cross-court. Now we would be all over the net trying to scope returns. The doubles game is changing just like singles. There’s much more movement, so many different looks, I formation and guys faking. The singles game and doubles games were more similar back then. You could play the same style. Serve-and-volley tennis, with beautiful volleys cross-court—you could take your singles game out on the doubles courts and be successful. The strategies were kind of similar. Back then it was more fun to watch, now it’s more of a big pop-pop game—big serve and try to pick up the next shot.
JOHN MCENROE: (Asked about he and Fleming playing the Bryans) The way I hear people talk, they make it sound like we have no chance. I find it somewhat humorous. Peter and I complimented each other, and obviously good doubles teams know each other and have an instinct for what the other person is going to do. Peter fit in perfectly to what I needed. He returned great, he was a big guy, he covered a lot of territory on the net. And we were close friends. The Bryans are brothers, and they’re close, and that’s good for doubles. Peter had his best results in doubles and he was great at that. [But] people lose sight of the fact that Peter was top-10 in the world [in singles]. Also, when people talk about the greatest doubles team, they should remember we only played 16 majors and won seven of them. That’s a pretty good percentage. Before you start telling everyone how great the Bryans are [laughter] … Not that they aren’t a great team, but you’d think we’d be afraid to walk on the court with them.
