Andre Agassi picked Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz when building his perfect tennis player, while he also selected one of his own shots.
In a video shared by the US Open on social media, Agassi was asked to create his ultimate player from five categories: serve, forehand, backhand, speed and mentality.
The eight-time Grand Slam champion could not find a place for any attributes from his fellow tennis icons Rafael Nadal or Pete Sampras.
The former world No 1 did, though, give honourable mentions to Sampras — who was his greatest rival — for two of his renowned strengths.
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Here is Agassi’s perfect tennis player:
SERVE — John Isner
“The serve, I mean it’s easiest one to get rid of because it’s the only standalone shot in tennis where nobody controls it. You control it, right? Never got to play him — thank God, he would have been a nightmare — but you have to go John Isner. You just have to.
“Pete [Sampras] had the greatest serve, I think ever, for a normal sized person. And I think his mechanics, the way he transferred that movement might be the greatest execution of any kind of sporting activity in the world. I mean, it was the most beautiful thing you could ever see.
“But you can’t not take someone that could make the box as big as Isner made [it].”
FOREHAND — Roger Federer
“So there’s so many ways to judge a forehand, but versatility, return, options… I mean, I probably would go Fed. Although for me, Pete’s running forehand was better than Fed’s, just that one activity of exploding and firing on a ball.”
BACKHAND – Andre Agassi
“I’m sticking with mine, because I feel like if my racket is on it — although it’s not gonna be on as many balls as a lot of other guys — I’ve always felt like I knew exactly where I was gonna hit it and wasn’t gonna hesitate. That shot paid my bills.”
SPEED – Carlos Alcaraz
“It’s the transition people that you really have to worry about, right? And when it comes to that, fastest guys on the tour now, three guys unquestionably: Alcaraz, [Alex] de Minaur and Tommy Paul.
“And out of those guys, I would worry most about Alcaraz, second Tommy Paul, third de Minaur, because they’re fine being on defense but they are going to try to turn that point around unquestionably. So I go Alcaraz.”
MENTALITY – Novak Djokovic
“Without question, I go Novak. I mean, actually out of all the questions you asked, the serve and the mental is the clearest to define.
“No, when Novak makes up his mind that he’s going to lock down, or when he makes up his mind that he’s sick and tired of this match being played on your terms, and he’s gonna go up a level — you see him use his speed defensively, locked down mentally, epically, and then you see him recognise when the tone of that match needs to to change.
“So somebody being able to recognise those nuances and intimacies is a beautiful thing and I don’t think anybody’s ever done it better than him.”