Is 'Bash' the 'Biggest Hitter in Tennis"?

[jimlosaltos]

Jim Courier described Nikoloz Basilashvili, subject of this month's Tour Portrait on Tennis Player. Net as "The hardest hitter in tennis" back when I shot these photos at an Indian Wells final based on the average velocity of his groundstrokes. Please click here to see the album
https://www.tennisplayer.net/members..._basilashvili/


Courier, "Basilashvili averages 80 mph off both sides, the highest on tour. His forehand speed is the best by a narrow margin but the backhand speed is the best by a lot."

Part of that is his power, but another is that "Bash" simply redlines more than most top ATP players. He reached 16 in the world.
His forehand has a lot of rotation, and he "muscles" it a lot, as you can see in my composite photo, the first of 3 images here.

filedata/fetch?id=100286&d=1680722097&type=thumb

[jimlosaltos]

Bash's backhand is quite a contrast to that of Cam Norrie, featured on TPN last month, low-to-high, big swing with body weight and lead shoulder going into the ball. Next ... some stats

filedata/fetch?id=100288&d=1680722234&type=thumb

[jimlosaltos]

This Hawkeye/ Infosys Courtvision image shows a baseline shot at 162 km/h or 100 mph, and 3,223 RPMs (presumably a cross court forehand, although it was not labeled here. How the ATP presents this data varies from tournament to tournament, here labeling shots as "Winners").

BasilNorFinal162_3223r_IW21.jpg

[johnyandell]

Sounds like he's a new version of Fernando Gonzalez, the original basher. These stills are gorgeous. Love the three side by side of his wiper forehand.

[jimlosaltos]

Sounds like he's a new version of Fernando Gonzalez, the original basher. These stills are gorgeous. Love the three side by side of his wiper forehand.

Thanks! Yes, I miss Gonzo - also the first to use Luxilon, if I remember correctly

[stroke]

Bash is very interesting, just hits out all the time. The only 2 players to me that seem close to hitting the ball that hard off both sides are Sinner and Karatsev.