Are there any 'pushers' in the ATP? (2025)

Simon and Monfils.

conjoshruk said:

I constantly come across threads, labelling wta players including Halep, Wozniacki and Keber, as pushers, and too defensive at times. This term generally has very negative connotations to it.
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, whether there

.Are there any players who fit the typical profile of a 'pusher' and why it is seen as a bad thing amongst pro players. I would say that David Ferrer was quite the pusher and possibly Andy Murray at times. Personally, I feel like the playing style of pushing can be very effective at wearing down, certain power players, and prefer to watch that rather than ball bashers constantly aiming for the lines and making countless unforced errors.

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You made a mistake that I corrected in bold.

Other than that, Simon is a tactical genius pusher that makes all the pushers green with envy that they thought they could play tennis with that tactic. There are others.

Other than that, every tactic is legit when you try to win, as long as it is within the rules. That doesn't mean that people would want to watch it or think positively of it.

EasyGoing said:

Why on Earth would anyone want to watch pushers?

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To me "pushers" or players that move the ball around the court rather than smacking it at 200km/h every time are more interesting to watch because they build their rallies and each one is interesting rather than every point being over in the first 3 shots, which happens a lot.

BasilashvilitheGOAT said:

To me "pushers" or players that move the ball around the court rather than smacking it at 200km/h every time are more interesting to watch because they build their rallies and each one is interesting rather than every point being over in the first 3 shots, which happens a lot.

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But are they really constructing a rally to eventually hit a winner or are they just waiting for the error? I think people always want to see a point end in a winner. There’s nothing wrong with moving a guy side to side and then blasting an open winner. What sucks is when a guy does nothing but push mid pace shots to the center of the court.

Gilles Simon is the best example of a pusher on the ATP. The modern day Brad Gilbert.

Ofc this is relative to ATP standards, they obviously hit harder than club pushers. If they played a club player they'd knock them off the court.

George Turner said:

Gilles Simon is the best example of a pusher on the ATP. The modern day Brad Gilbert.

Ofc this is relative to ATP standards, they obviously hit harder than club pushers. If they played a club player they'd knock them off the court.

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This. /thread

BasilashvilitheGOAT said:

To me "pushers" or players that move the ball around the court rather than smacking it at 200km/h every time are more interesting to watch because they build their rallies and each one is interesting rather than every point being over in the first 3 shots, which happens a lot.

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Ironic coming from a Basilashvili fan.

Also David Ferrer is not a pusher, hes a grinder who wears opponets down physically in the Hewitt/chang mould. Djokovic is the ultimate grinder, he took this style onto a new level.

Pushers tend to wear opponents mentally more than physically, their pushing stops opponents establishing a rhythm (djokovic 100 unforced errors vs simon) which gets into their head.

Santoro was good at this, as Safin would attest to.

Ray Mercer said:

But are they really constructing a rally to eventually hit a winner or are they just waiting for the error? I think people always want to see a point end in a winner. There’s nothing wrong with moving a guy side to side and then blasting an open winner. What sucks is when a guy does nothing but push mid pace shots to the center of the court.

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This. I have nothing against long rallies, but when 90% of them are just safe shots and waiting for an error, they all blend into one long borefest. Aside from the other already mentioned players, Murray vs Nole matches come to mind. Nole can play some breathtaking stuff but those matches are the cure for insomnia.

BasilashvilitheGOAT said:

To me "pushers" or players that move the ball around the court rather than smacking it at 200km/h every time are more interesting to watch because they build their rallies and each one is interesting rather than every point being over in the first 3 shots, which happens a lot.

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Username says otherwise.

George Turner said:

Also David Ferrer is not a pusher, hes a grinder who wears opponets down physically in the Hewitt/chang mould. Djokovic is the ultimate grinder, he took this style onto a new level.

Pushers tend to wear opponents mentally more than physically, their pushing stops opponents establishing a rhythm (djokovic 100 unforced errors vs simon) which gets into their head.

Santoro was good at this, as Safin would attest to.

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Ferrer was aggressive with his forehand, you could call him a grinder though - perhaps Chang as well. Hewitt was a counter puncher though, different style of play. Hewitt had underrated aggression.

Tennis_Hands said:

You made a mistake that I corrected in bold.

Other than that, Simon is a tactical genius pusher that makes all the pushers green with envy that they thought they could play tennis with that tactic. There are others.

Other than that, every tactic is legit when you try to win, as long as it is within the rules. That doesn't mean that people would want to watch it or think positively of it.

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haha, it wasn't a mistake lol. But yes i agree Simon is quite the pusher.

Benjamin Rio said:

Do you think Nadal is a pusher? More likely than Novak

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Nadal is a moonballing grinder happening to be a lefty, that’s a bit different.

Kyrgios is a rare combo of servebot and pusher

Yes, every now and again he will hit a very flashy shot, but 95% of his shots are very, very safe. Here are the average groundstroke speeds for 87 players:

http://on-the-t.com/2016/11/26/aoleaderboard-forehand-speed/
http://on-the-t.com/2016/10/22/aoleaderboard-backhand-speed/

Kyrgios's forehand speed is 68th out of 87 (bottom 1/4), BH is 57th out of 87 (bottom 1/3)

jm1980 said:

Kyrgios is a rare combo of servebot and pusher

Yes, every now and again he will hit a very flashy shot, but 95% of his shots are very, very safe. Here are the average groundstroke speeds for 87 players:

http://on-the-t.com/2016/11/26/aoleaderboard-forehand-speed/
http://on-the-t.com/2016/10/22/aoleaderboard-backhand-speed/

Kyrgios's forehand speed is 68th out of 87 (bottom 1/4), BH is 57th out of 87 (bottom 1/3)

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Courts are so slow nowadays you have to play safe tennis in order to succeed.

Actually watch Simon or Ferrer play. thyare widely regarded as "pushers" but he does hit winners.

Zeref said:

Username says otherwise.

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People that smack the ball hard can be just as interesting to watch.

MajesticTennisManiac said:

Ironic coming from a Basilashvili fan.

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Again I never said players that do got it hard aren't interesting to watch, just that players that don't got it hard are interesting to watch too.

conjoshruk said:

I constantly come across threads, labelling wta players including Halep, Wozniacki and Keber, as pushers, and too defensive at times. This term generally has very negative connotations to it.
I'm curious, whether there are any players who fit the typical profile of a 'pusher' and why it is seen as a bad thing amongst pro players. I would say that David Ferrer was quite the pusher and possibly Andy Murray at times. Personally, I feel like the playing style of pushing can be very effective at wearing down, certain power players, and prefer to watch that rather than ball bashers constantly aiming for the lines and making countless unforced errors.

Click to expand...

dJokerb i t c h

Getting rid of Andrew Murray and David Ferrer at the same time is really cutting down on the max level pusher players

Best thing to happen in tennis in a while