Would Lew Hoad Be Able To Beat Modern Players Like Nadal?

Lew Hoad was so good that the very best spoke of him in whispers to avoid his mojo. But he didn't always win, as you noted; neither does Nadal. Certainly a very good player had a chance to beat him. Questions like this have always wasted tennis fans' time. Was Tilden as good as Laver?, was the question in my dad's mind. It's impossible to reach agreement. But I suspect at their best Hoad and Nadal would have had a fantastic match, and Nadal would have won, but only because his style was pretty much unknown in Hoad's time, and Nadal has had years of intensive training and better equipment. Note that Hoad lasted a very short time and was not particularly inspired by the competition to perform at his best always.

Yes, Lew Hoad would be able to beat the very best modern players of today, like Federer, Djokovic and even the great Nadal. Keep in mind, that Hoad would also have been beaten by this cadre of world-class players.

Naysayers may have forgotten that Lew was EXTREMELY close to winning the Calendar Grand Slam in 1956 and had a winning record over Rod Laver!

All things being equal ... equipment, current surface variations, and training, a player of Lew Hoad's caliber would definitely be ranked Top 8 today ... his work ethic was the only questionable element of his impeccable professional character.

I actually saw Lew Hoad play in the late 50s. At that time, he was playing in a touring group of pros like Gonzales. Open tennis had not started yet, so he could not play at Wimbledon or the US Open since he was a pro. Therefore he did not win a lot of Slam tournaments, and also did not earn a lot of money. There was little incentive to keep on playing so he had a relative short career. I think he would have done well against modern players if he had the same equipment and training that they do now.

Just to add a bit of detail I saw some ancient footage of Hoad. The guy was just so powerful. When on no one could touch him. He was so strong that when Laver played him, and lost mind you, he heard this squeaking noise he didn't know what to make of. He asked Lew about it and he said it was just the racquet handle squeaking from how hard he held it. Gonzales, no slouch in the power department himself, was easily over powered by Hoad - when Hoad was on. But he had a very slack attitude as far as winning was concerned and a troublesome back so he want on as often as he should have been. To him being friends with everyone was much more important than winning. Even Gonzales liked Hoad - and he disliked just about everyone else.

So, with modern equipment and coaching would he be able to take it to guy's like Nadal?

First of all, being a pro doesn't mean you can beat Nadal on clay. You need to be a pro of the caliber of Roger Federer, or even Murray or Djokovic. Then maybe you have a chance. Secondly, I don't think it's possible to beat Nadal on clay when his game is on - regardless of how good you are. You need to find a way to frustrate him. 1) Perhaps try blocking and slicing a lot of balls back to make him go for difficult shots. These days Nadal plays a lot more aggressively on clay than 4 years ago. 2) Come to the net every now and then. You have no chance of beating Nadal from the baseline. Yes you will get passed, but you have to condition yourself to forget that. 3) Hope that he isn't fully fit or tired.

I think that he could not win. Now the sport more power and mobility.