Fabrice Santoro 'The Magician': Brilliant Shots!

[@MM-cr4ol]

This guy has beaten 18 number 1’s including Federer, Djokovic, Agassi, Sampras, Roddick, Becker..simply astonishing.

[@joemarshall4226]

Tied with Agassi for the most wins over number ones. He beat Connors when he was 17 and Djokovic when he was 33 or 34.

[@theyoguishow]

But never Y. Kafelnikov... ^^ (6-0, and just 1 set lost)

[@ВячеславУ-у4м]

Saffin...

[@shafqatishan437]

​@@theyoguishow yeah, he's also 0-2 vs murray, 0-1 against Nadal

[@uknun5766]

lol that mean he not defeat nadal and murray, djokovic had lost by him

[@AfricanHeavyMetalGuy]

He was so unorthodox especially considering that he never really favoured his right arm except for serving and difficult shots that were placed far from him. That always mesmerized me growing up. Such a legend of the game.

[@zezo3002]

A true Magician. Hats off to Fabrice!

[@damerkharmawphlang4196]

His R2 match in USO against Fed was magic

[@lajos3980]

He had a magic point against Ferrero in AO, that was one of my best rally I have ever seen :)

[@satjiwan]

Lajos several good ones vs nalbandian at AO too.

[@nathan2497]

Santoro was always entertaining to watch👌

[@markriobr]

Santoro was a player who could beat the best on any given day . A right hander that often hit his forehand with a slice left hand , his shots were not in any text book . Players had a hard time to read his game , and once his opponent got really frustrated he had them in his pocket . Was fun to watch , small not much power on the baseline and serve but was able sometimes mess with their minds . Whenever hitting his forehand with his right was usually for a passing shot .

[@0innerself0]

Right on. Remember what Safin said.

[@rushabhkapasi]

*gives short ball to Santoro* Santoro: Ah so you’ve chosen death?

[@SuAlC90]

did you know? there were 2 players who ever played grand slams in 4 decades: santoro and federer!

[@wernervonhurtsaug]

what?

[@AfricanHeavyMetalGuy]

LMFAO

[@joemarshall4226]

@@wernervonhurtsaug Fabrice played in 1989, the 1990s the 2000s, and one grand slam match in 2010....so for different decades. Fed played in the 90s, the 2000s, the 2010s and the 2020s

[@lajos3980]

He enjoyes every point, He loves tennis that is his magic :)

[@sergiofisch8424]

Uno de mis tenistas favoritos. No importaba si ganaba o perdía, daba igual. Como contó Frana cuando comentaba sus partidos, Santoro envolvía a sus rivales en una especie de telaraña, de la que era difícil liberarse. No le pegaba fuerte, pero sí calculaba bien sus tiros (efecto, ángulo, destino). Jugaba con ambas manos (no pocas veces cambió la raqueta de una mano a otra yendo a la red) y hasta jugaba tirado en el suelo, con bastante éxito. Era frecuente sorprender en el público a pares suyos (o sea otros tenistas del circuito), que lo iban a ver camuflados de simples espectadores. En fin, un mago, un artista, un tenista inolvidable.

[@oggythebug]

When he was young here in france he was only pushing and lifting the ball from the baseline, he had no power and he was small, he understood that he won't be able to increase his ranking with that kind of game so he decided to change everything and he tried to find another way of playing considering his weaknesses, so he began to play at the net, playing in the corners of the court, drop shots, lobs...

[@YOUENNNN]

6:06 The way he was doing those retro was mindblowing

[@zuichiang5088]

The one and only true magician on court! Super amazing skills....

[@BrotherTree1]

Hilariously talented. It's like a magic wand he's wielding.

[@Jaijaisinger2727_]

MAN, I LOVED WATCHING HIM PLAY, HE TRULY WAS A MAGICIAN.💯💯💯💯💯👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

[@eMeNeSeRocK2309]

Era un distinto, por su "rara" forma de jugar. Me encantaba verlo jugar, por lo que su juego me marcó cuando era un adolescente.

[@ajwasp3642]

Never underestimate unorthodox shot-making.

[@chrisansell2174]

absolute wizard. Safin used to hate playing him, would melt each time

[@zelinskyn9003]

Man's grip is one of a kind.

[@Botafoguense89]

I miss u a lot, Fab

[@youtpfpm6097]

Marat Safin : " Everyone can beat Fabrice Santoro. Everyone, except me." Santoro was his pet peeve.

[@senthilveeran1723]

Santoro is a wonderful player. He is a rare breed playing with two hands whether it is FH or BH. He had an unusually long career of over 2 decades.

[@shafqatishan437]

4 decades

[@Doni080589]

Aga Radwanska and Fabrice Santoro... we so miss them

[@kingmajo87]

He was always entertaining to watch, even though I was not his biggest fan. He was also the only player, who played the doublehanded forehand in perfection.

[@antoinev9733]

"He was always entertaining to watch, even though I was not his biggest fan." tu as tout dit ^^^^

[@vijayendranvijay457]

Only his 2nd biggest fan, eh?

[@internaute_]

Great video. Le magicien, tout simplement :)

[@yukibobz9633]

god banned Santoro from using single-handed forehand for fear of his dominance

[@yanu7414]

Imagine if he partners with Hingis in mixed doubles 😍😍

[@arvindvanati106]

1:48 santoro is the one of the few who can fool Federer 🙏🔥

[@gyozop]

I am missing the special technique players from the tour. Santoro, Berasategui, Seles, Braasch, Leconte, Korda, McEnroe.

[@noelnoelle4118]

He makes tennis art

[@hottakes5294]

If Santoro had a forehand, he would have been one of the most talented players of all time (still is)

[@antoinev9733]

no tennis player was less powerfull on tour, but he drives his game with talent.

[@ericpecuch8634]

i miss him so much :(

[@0innerself0]

Miss you Fabrice

[@soevjaanoemar2761]

OMG that true Magic

[@BentHestad]

Great artist!!

[@sergioricardoasgiselealves5336]

Eita!santoro,hi sieh,bartoli e a sensacional Mônica seles !!!

[@rolinti9146]

The male Hsieh Su-Wei

[@thedragontactic]

Not wrong at all.

[@cjabalos]

Rolin Ti she’s the female Santoro 😉

[@rolinti9146]

Carl Abalos I know it’s just cause the video was about Santoro so it was easier to say the male Hsieh

[@masters.1000]

The conditions of those times allowed this kind of special playing styles, very entertaining and enjoyable. I can't watch any match outside of the Top guys anymore, it's as dull as it gets.

[@sanchayanroy8699]

Dustin brown,bahrami they are entertaining, although brown gets injured a lot.

[@sergiosarmiento4371]

Here we go

[@dr.benjamincaceres5036]

No lo disfruté mucho..pero me encantaba en sus ultimos años verlo jugar ese tenis peculiar y aveces frustrante para sus contrarios..

[@alexsokolov330]

Санторо ,вероятно, сам учился играть в теннис или у него был тренер-любитель,который научил его такой манере игры.

[@standardking5077]

This made me do alot of unnecessary research why fed san match court says 'Madrid 2012' when clearly this is around 2002 (Fed hair). ATP site lists match as 2002 Madrid outdoor clay. Which says this likely due to it currently* being on outdoor clay it doesn't reflect past surfaces. Anyway, what relevance does 2012 have in 2002???

[@mariavictoria2283]

Back in the day Madrid was a candidate to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

[@あにやん-u5t]

本当にサントロ選手は魔術師

[@shafqatishan437]

Wait a minute! How is it Madrid 2012? Santoro retired in 2010.

[@meinsouza]

Actually it was 2002, that was an ad for madrid to host the 2012 Olympics

[@TheNewsstandMan]

Yes, I’ve heard of Fabrik Santis. Wasn’t he the one that taught Ilie Nastase?

[@matthewbuck5067]

A right hander who followed through a forehand slice with his left arm…only Fabrice could do that lol

[@misaelcapone135]

When was that Madrid match vs Roger? 2002 or 2003?

[@xtenis383]

2002. 👌

[@steven7846]

21 years of career!! He managed to stay within 17-60ish ATP ranking range most of it. He has not won any grand slam but still truly very talented player and very consistent.

[@Dman9fp]

Best result was QF australian open 06. Respectable player with a respectable career. I don't get this myth of "you must win slams, if you don't you're a failure". I get that it's the Ideal goal. Some players probably knew ideally they were never going to win one or come close most likely, but still trained & brought their best, and props to them for still bringing it. Tennis at a pro level must be Much harder than it looks. Everybody is fit & talented, have to have supreme level mental consistency & weapons, or something to get to finals, let alone win finals with any regularity

[@steven7846]

@@Dman9fp yep totally agree! Most people don't realise the amount of work, strength and resilience it takes to just stay within the boundaries of the top 100 for many years. It's incredibly difficult and if you look at the players that manage to do it, there's very few, because most of them end up getting either injured or do not have the mental fortitude to keep going again, again and again. A tennis career is like a tennis match, it's a marathon and it's not just about playing countless matches in a row with the same motivation and concentration. It's also about surviving 9 months of world trip, endless flights and hours waiting for your match in your hotel room. All of that takes a toll on your body and mind and only a few wealthy players can make it less painful because they have the mean to bring their whole family into their jet, so it feels like home. Nobody discusses that, nobody consider that but it plays a big difference. A career in tennis is incredibly tough and only a few survive it a decade.

[@simon0yeung]

Did Safin once said: “to play against Santoro is like death”? Something like that 🤣

[@patrickcarson290]

OMG IT'S CHARLIE SHEEN OF TENNIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@arvindvanati106]

4:55 wtf is the commentator talking about 😂😂

[@orotnas]

I took my name "orotnas" from Fabrice Santoro. Ever since I took up playing tennis, I've been working on a two handed forehand slice like his.

[@uncletony8172]

The points against Roger in the 2005 US Open first round are missing !!!!!

[@mehdiz1052]

Santoro messed with Safin so many times. He just could not find a solution for him. And safin did not like that at all haha !

[@theyoguishow]

What is weird is that another Russian has always exploded Santoro (one set of lost in 6 games) : it's Yevgeni Kafelnikov ! Yet his game looked like that of Agassi (in less good) but he has never had any diffuclted to beat French unlike all the other stars of world tennis

[@Tennerd]

Where did he learn to play tennis like that??

[@oggythebug]

When he was young here in france he was only pushing and lifting the ball from the baseline, he had no power and he was small, he understood that he won't be able to increase his ranking with that kind of game so he decided to change everything and he tried to find another way of playing considering his weaknesses, so he began to play at the net, playing in the corners of the court, drop shots, lobs.......cheers

[@Bokgat]

So FB was the first to player now popular tweener, no?

[@anseinueseima408]

does he have a forehand? his shots confuses me so much

[@maurirobles1803]

Guillermo Coria Plis !

[@save215]

What is he now? left handed or right handed? Such a Mystery.

[@synhet84]

He is handed that's for sure ;)

[@jms123456789sandiego]

I'd say right handed. In the video he hit an overhead smash with his right hand only and at least one single handed volley with the right hand only.

[@kwansikkim8712]

Whoa, young Federer didn't exactly have a great foot work.

[@warriorson7979]

Why he plays double handed forehand...?😟

[@0innerself0]

Cause he learned to play like that from his young age. His first racket was too heavy for him so he had to use both hands to hold it.

[@minboogie]

Reminds me of Monica Seles

[@sunflowersofinferno7904]

He is a cricket player that mistakenly chose tennis.

[@nTo-vlog]

Makes me wonder is he righty or lefty?

[@HacheHaine]

Very Style, Atypic player

[@chuint459]

DO A GUGA ONE

[@hadrienboulanger1686]

I still dont know if he's lacking of a forehand or a backhand

[@teodora_chan560]

Use unlesses on the net

[@TheNaKio]

If Aragorn happened to be a hobbit it would be this guy.

[@ciprianghenghea6008]

Remember when Chokovic threw a match against Santoro at the Paris Masters in 2007. Did he lose deliberately or was it another choke🤣🤣

[@teodora_chan560]

How who knows that now songs listen life live simple english before after river desert mountain won wonderful

[@mariavictoria2283]

This video was downvoted by Marat Safin and his family.

[@teodora_chan560]

The doors room caracter girl ...

[@teodora_chan560]

Watch see ...

[@ivanandreevich8568]

No way my dudes, there's WAY WAY better plays by Santoro out there.

[@nviewroyroyce]

Great player. But I remember he holds the record of most matches lost which is hard to break (444)...

[@augustinolivier9834]

If i'm right, it's feliciano lopez who holds this records with 447 or something like that

[@nviewroyroyce]

@@augustinolivier9834 Yeah my info is outdated 😂😂at least he holds the record for around 10 years.

[@alexduio7639]

c quasiment le dernier a avoir un coup droit a 2 mains ds le top 100 ms c pas le seul y avait gambill ...

[@teodora_chan560]

Error pass croos

[@yungsimpson179]

Great player but man that 2 handed forehand ain't it chief

[@twain27]

Fun fact: Santoro always had hot girlfriends

[@Busola29]

Gentleman ... ;) Today girls no love this... Big respect for this tennis player

[@samrajsongs149]

His forehand is a weaker hand slice😂😂. Maybe if he developed an actual forehand he would've had an even more prestigious career.

[@teodora_chan560]

Drink exhaustive

[@thierrygaudin341]

Haha santoro peuf!

[@basudevparida9914]

Player with no forehand

[@Lula35378]

if he plays today, i’m sure he won’t be able to reach top 50.

[@dajohn990]

Here what what you're saying but I'm a bit divided on that based on his record of who he was able to beat and were they were ranked at the time: Sampras no 6, Agassi no 3, Becker no5, Federer no7, & most impressive Djokovic no 3.

[@youtpfpm6097]

He was in top 100 during 13 years, so top 50 now wouldn't be hard for him, even for one week.

[@liondandylion]

@@youtpfpm6097 top 100 during 18 years !!