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Fabrice Santoro: Just a "Super Pusher"?

Let me start by saying that I love Santoro. When he plays, I grab a drink and sit back to enjoy. I am personally sad that he is getting a little long in the tooth. I heard someone the other day call him the "ultimate pusher" and it pissed me off. I'll start by sharing some of his results with you:


Santoro -- Federer 2-8
Santoro -- Djokovic 1-0
Santoro -- Ferrer 1-1
Santoro -- Roddick 1-2
Santoro -- Nalbandian 2-2
Santoro -- Haas 3-6
Santoro -- Canas 2-1
Santoro -- Moya 3-1
Santoro -- Ljubicic 3-4
Santoro -- Hewitt 2-2
Santoro -- Karlovic 2-0
Santoro -- Lopez 1-0
Santoro -- Bjorkman 1-3
Santoro -- Grosjean 8-3
Santoro -- Kiefer 6-2
Santoro -- Sampras 3-4
Santoro -- Agassi 3-3
Santoro -- Becker 1-1
Santoro -- Connors 1-1
Santoro -- Courier 1-2
Santoro -- Edberg 1-3
Santoro -- Gomez 2-0
Santoro -- Henman 2-6
Santoro -- Ivanisevic 3-5
Santoro -- Kuerten 1-1
Santoro -- Muster 4-3
Santoro -- Rafter 1-1
Santoro -- Wilander 1-0
Santoro -- Safin 7-2

Wow! Right? Totally impressive. First off, I don't think any of these players could be beat by a "pusher". I think this guy was misusing the word "pusher". IMO, there is no pusher at the pro level. Maybe the word has changed meaning and I haven't noticed. But, to me, a pusher is a player that just tries to get the ball back in play. Now a "hacker" maybe the word he was looking for. Hackers are known for their junk balls and nasty spins. When I play tournaments, I meet hackers and pushers. Pushers are in great shape and just wait for me to miss a shot. And the hackers are chopping shots, doing drop shot/ lob combos, and moving me around the court to frustrate me - they're the guys that pull stuff out of their a##. Santoro is not a retreiver; he has a weapon - he hits with a variety of pace an spin and often is controlling the point. Just ask Safin. A pusher's only weapons are his mobility and his consistency.

Hackers dictate play and pushers don't. I've watched Santoro and he can dictate play. Right? Besides, I love the shirt.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mark / The Mayor on January 7, 2008 at 7:41pm
Well said JL. That match at the USO was so amazing. Who did Santoro beat on his way to that match. I'm going to have to go look that up, but those were nailbiters too if I remember correctly.
Permalink Reply by JUN on January 8, 2008 at 11:01pm
i would compare santoro more to like a junkball pitcher like tim wakefield of the red sox. no two strokes are the same.
Permalink Reply by Bill B on August 10, 2008 at 5:22pm
Yeah, that's right. He plays good defense, but he is not a Monfils in that way, he does control points and make the opponent run.
Permalink Reply by Jim on August 27, 2008 at 5:21pm
For the record, I like Santoro. He's a light version of guys like Gasquet and Stepanek -- players who have *all* the shots, but lack a true *weapon*. There are loads of JAG's in tennis, who simply do not have a definitive weapon to set them apart. On the other hand, these are the players who the recreational player should look to in shaping their games, rather than the super-elite players.
Permalink Reply by Nanova on August 28, 2008 at 8:25am
Jim, what's a JAG?

But Santoro really looked horrible last night against Andy.
Permalink Reply by Jim on August 28, 2008 at 7:36pm
"Just Another Guy". Yes, he looked terrible, and went head-case to boot. Andy looked pretty good; I hope he is building some momentum.
Permalink Reply by JUN on May 29, 2009 at 12:05pm
old post, time to revive it. we old guys can pick up a lot of things that santoro does and add to our game.
Permalink Reply by Mark / The Mayor on November 28, 2010 at 9:12am
Now it is a really old post and probably time to revive it again because I noticed a few threads on the forum about "pushing" and beating "pushers". Hopefully some new eyeballs will see this thread.
Permalink Reply by CoachV - William Vazquez on November 28, 2010 at 11:39am
Fabrice Santoro Ultimate Chess player. he has more pieces than any other player.
Permalink Reply by Kelvinator on November 29, 2010 at 11:39am
I also just am amazed to see the name Wilander on there...wow...he played a long time! Go Fabrice!

kt
Permalink Reply by Mark T. on November 29, 2010 at 1:59pm
Santoro was no pusher. I totally agree with you, the pusher is the one that is going to sit out there all day long to prove to you that they are "wall" like. Everything comes back. Players get frustrated, and try for too much, which ultimately leads to their demise. The hacker on the other hand (Santoro) does exactly like you said. And Santoro was great at it. He was a blast to watch. The shots he came up with were sometimes mind boggling. I do think he retired at the right time. His age was starting to hamper his ability to get to balls.
Permalink Reply by CoachV - William Vazquez on November 30, 2010 at 6:39am
Yes but we can still have Santoro in the Senior Tour. how great will it be to see MAC Vs Santoro. just imagine the orange juice.

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