History
For many years the 1940s player Bobby Riggs was considered to have had the greatest drop shot of all time, off both his forehand and his backhand.
The drop shot became unpopular in the 1990s, but has experienced a recent popularity due to its success rate. The drop shot is most commonly used by clay court specialists, such as Rafael Nadal, Guillermo Coria, Marcos Baghdatis and Juan Carlos Ferrero. Even players who previously never opted to use the drop shot, such as Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt and Maria Sharapova, now occasionally execute the shot. It is a generally accepted belief that the term "drop shot" comes from its ability to make the ball "drop" right into the opponent's side of the court. Marat Safin and Rafael Nadal are known for their ability to chase down drop shots and returning them with one of their own, requiring great touch.
Some of the notable players with great drop shots are:
- Roger Federer
- John McEnroe
- Novak Djokovic
- Andy Murray
- David Nalbandian
- Marat Safin
- David Ferrer
- Juan Carlos Ferrero
- Guillermo Coria
- Ivan Ljubicic
- Marcos Baghdatis
- Michael Chang
- Agnieszka Radwanska
- Sara Errani
- Martina Hingis
- Hsieh Su-wei
Read more about this topic: Drop Shot
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