World No 37 Borna Coric has created his perfect ATP tennis player, with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Carlos Alcaraz all featuring.
In a video for the ATP Tour, Coric was asked to choose between current and former stars of the men’s game for a range of categories to build the ultimate player.
The 27-year-old Croatian, a winner of three ATP titles who has been ranked as high as No 12, largely selected active players, but also named a couple of retired Grand Slam champions he described as “idols.”
FOREHAND – Juan Martin Del Potro
“Whenever I played him, I just felt under so much pressure. It’s such a flat shot but at the same time, I feel it’s actually so safe and you know, I just felt like he cannot miss it.”
TWO-HANDED BACKHAND – Novak Djokovic
“I think it’s a super consistency shot. It’s not that fast but at the same time, I feel like he cannot miss it. I feel like the last time he missed it was probably 10 years ago and he can play it any angle on any surface.”
ONE-HANDED BACKHAND – Stan Wawrinka
“I did play him a couple of times as well and I felt like it’s his best shot. Again, he can create many angles with it and the power as well is absolutely unbelievable.”
SERVE – Goran Ivanisevic
“He had one of the best serves on the tour. I’ve actually never played him in official match obviously, but I was always looking up to him. I did try to pick up also his technique on his serve which didn’t work out well for me. But yeah, he was my idol, so I’ll take his serve. I think it’s also part because he’s left-hander and that makes also a big difference.”
RETURN – Andy Murray
“I played him a couple of times and I couldn’t get the serve past him; he can make the pressure on the return. That’s the two main components of the return in my opinion.”
SLICE – Grigor Dimitrov
“I really like his slice, I would say one of the best on tour. Super sharp, doesn’t miss it a lot and I feel like he can play any angle.”
READ MORE: Grigor Dimitrov builds unique perfect tennis player and picks himself with Djokovic, Nadal, Federer
NET GAME – Pete Sampras
“Never played him, also one of my idols. Definitely one of the best volleys out there.”
SPEED – Carlos Alcaraz
“We played a couple of times and I think at the moment he is the fastest on the tour.”
MENTAL TOUGHNESS – Rafael Nadal
“I played him many times and we all know how mentally tough he is. I just think he never gives up and we all know it and we all know he can come back from any situation.”
COMPETITIVENESS – Rafael Nadal
“Again, I’m gonna go with Rafa.”
CELEBRATION – Rafael Nadal
“Also Rafa, probably when he was a little bit younger especially.”
