Monfils builds his PERFECT player 🤩

[@coffeeandtrance]

super humble, doesn't pick himself for speed

[@nobody-vm2ee]

Monfils seems chill af

[@markosmrzlic]

I will never understand how they never pick Novak for mental toughness. I mean he is the only great player that always has audience always against him, booing him, celebratin his mistakes, he also has the media at times so against him, he was defaulted from that US Open where no other player would be, he was banned from entering Australia on the back of some politics, while other people and players entered Aus the same year in the same situation, Politics is always used against him in every possible way.... And he always takes all that hate (honestly) and he comes later and he wins. He also perfoms best under the preasure, I mean what are we talking about at this point.... Novak has had more hard match excapes into the WIN in the end then any other player, AND he had done it many times against actually Roger and Rafa, so.... how is HE not mentaly toughest player?

[@knotwilg3596]

Variety I think. Most of the time they will already have picked Novak for backhand and return, so when they didn't pick Rafa for forehand because they picked Delpo's or Roger, not wanting to leave out Rafa, they give him the mental toughness. In isolation you'll probably find more who'd pick Djokovic but Rafa is very close, if not on par.

[@catalyst2155]

100% with you. I never understood it either. I think they pick Nadal because of how intense he is during his games and returning miraculously for clay court season when out "injured" many times. Novak is definitely much more tougher mentally as he had to combat toxic crowds and clutch plays to win matches he was in losing positions against the very best in the biggest of tournaments. On top of that he had to fight traumas during his career especially the past few years to reach the very top of the game again. Nadal really has nothing that trumps any of his close rivals Novak and Roger besides being better than them on clay court.

[@aleksandarjovanovic5067]

At the absolute peak, I would say Novak is mentally tougher than Rafa. But over the course of an entire career, Rafa has always been mentally tough from a young age. They're the top 2 by far and either can be justified.

[@nickfury959]

They all got bullied by media 😅

[@Makaveli_93]

Yep 100% the same thoughts as this. I can easily say Nadal is #2 for mental toughness but he's coddled by the crowd + media, there's no way he'd be that mentally tough if he was in Novak's shoes.

[@playboisizer1820]

Perfect picks Gael

[@magic8800]

I have watched different players build their perfect player.. This is the closest thing to perfection..

[@kingnole4237]

Djokovic will crush your perfect player

[@JH-bb8in]

Chokervic is the GOAT of taking medical timeouts and cheating, yes@@kingnole4237

[@constantin194]

True!

[@bone9jdjkaye]

@@kingnole4237 Are you saying djokovic is the best at everything? If you had a player, identical to djokovic, with a stronger serve for example, would that player not beat djokovic?

[@AllMenMustServe]

@@bone9jdjkaye of course he would, but you know... fanboys are gonna be fanboys. No point in arguing with them.

[@ranrabi9381]

I like his choices. Can really see the difference from the younger players’ choices

[@Grant_Ferstat]

Monfils is a guy you'd love to hang out with. Entertaining and humble.

[@jacobthompson1097]

He's too nice to pick his favorite celebration haha what a guy

[@jwebber1234567]

Great picks - despite the fact that his vision on court is quite unique and unorthodox, you can tell he is a real student of the game. And he makes a good point about competitiveness, which could also be quite easily confused with mental toughness.

[@mihailopavlovic2027]

Serve - Yoshito Nishioka 2nd serve (I added a category cause why not) - Alexander Zverev Return - Maxime Cressy Forehand - Fabrice Santoro Backhand - Matteo Berettini Net game - Kei Nishikori Mental toughness - tied between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Bublik Competitivness - Benoit Paire Celebration - Casper Ruud

[@Baratheon.]

Del Potro had a monster forehand, but it could still get caught up in a rally. i'd take players like Nadal, Sinner, Djoko & Fed because of how consistently they play this shot.

[@rm1507]

Sinner is actually more unforced errror prone than Del Potro off the forehand side... People seem to forget Delpo knew how to be patient during rallies.

[@BigOllieSpin]

Blud said Sinner

[@Baratheon.]

You talk as if Jannik Sinner isn't Top 5 in the world right now. He's better than Alcaraz@@BigOllieSpin

[@BigOllieSpin]

@@Baratheon. rn yes but his FH shouldn't be in best of all time debates

[@ISGTC]

At peak, Delpos backhand is lightning faster than everyone you mentioned bruv, Monfils did really mixed it up. This one is the fav in this series.

[@vanditkhanna7477]

Best picks till date

[@irvinnicollier398]

I don’t like Novak but man, this guy has the greatest mental strength of all time with Cristiano Ronaldo

[@PalmSpringsSketchComedy]

Forehand: Marat Safin Backhand: Andre Agassi Serve: Mark Phillippousis Return of Serve: Novak Djokovic Slice: Roger Federer Net Game: Pete Sampras Speed: Michael Chang Mental Toughness: Rafael Nadal Competitiveness: Jimmy Connors

[@B23140]

That was the smartest answers and well-thought our of every answers from this series

[@jokelot5221]

As a Djokovic supporter, great picks from Gael 👍

[@seaneckhart9914]

Monfils would be the top pick for anticipation and positioning

[@constantin194]

True!

[@najeebhussain7530]

FH: Federer BH: Djokovic Serve: Isner Return: Djokovic Slice: Federer Net game: Edberg Touch: Federer Speed: Alcaraz Flexibility: Djokovic Mental: Djokovic Competitiveness: Nadal Celebrations: Medvedev

[@SherKhan0122]

I wish you asked about lob, dropshot, and overhead also!

[@Tronny]

I've listed mine before using only the same player once but If I can use them repetitively I'll say Forehand: Alcaraz Backhand: Djokovic Serve: Kyrgios Return: Djokovic Slice: Federer Net Game: Federer Speed: De Minaur Mental Toughness: Djokovic Competitiveness: Nadal Celebration: Medvedev or Rafa depending on the day

[@carolinegoncalves5107]

So smart to not choose competitiveness abd celebration i like what he answered

[@lartisan6274]

Best forehand DelPotro ? its just power, i will said Nadal for Forehand, crazy spin, angle, banana shot

[@carlosraventosprieto2065]

Its not just power. If you take nadal its ok but there are plenty of reasons to pick del potro as well

[@waholoopesorry74]

Del Porto had one of the games best forehands of all time. It wasn’t just power

[@Baratheon.]

You could still make Del hit errors with it by giving him difficult positions & shots, so a better pick would be a Big 3 forehand or someone like Sinner (easy power, every shot, hardly missing) @@waholoopesorry74

[@Rory626]

Did you listen to a word that Gaël said?

[@hertor8803]

Competiveness and mental strength are too similar for me. I'd like them to swap out competitiveness for lob and maybe replace celebration with style. I'd quite like second serve as a category and then finally my boy Sampras might get a look in.

[@PsycoFogna]

Sampras maybe smash?

[@egoro8905]

Dang all these Novak fanbois be salty over monfils pick for mental toughness. Gael has not only watched both players but played them both for years. So if anything he would know better than any of us who has the most mental toughness. In the end both Novak and rafa are good choices.

[@souleymanedoumbuoya4209]

Look at the comment they are all crying 😂😂😂😭

[@AshnaBihani]

Agreed, both are great choices, coming from a Novak fan, which you can see from my pfp

[@shivampandey5712]

Dubai 2020 Djokovic vs Monfils, Monfils serving 6-2, 6-6(6-3) in tiebreak, chance to win 1st time against and still looses the match, I guess its pretty much clear who monfils think is more mentally tough. He had to give something to rafa, poor guy would be sad otherwise

[@Rory626]

Yeah they're coping hard. Novak never had to deal with the injuries and conditions that Rafa has, period.

[@SoniListon-lu4cn]

Its just a reasonable question. Nadal was the strongest mentally until Djokovic edged him. Demonstration over the years is enough to form that oppinion. And man, when the crowd majority was opposite Nadal on a very rare occasion, he really did snap.

[@назовименятаккакпосчитаешьнужн]

monfils legend❤

[@ozik1912]

For me: Nadal's forehand, Agassi's backhand, Sampras' serve, Djokovic's return, Federer's slice, Federer's net game, Monfils' speed, Djokovic's mental, Nadal's competitiveness...

[@knotwilg3596]

Never understood why they have different categories for mental toughness and competitiveness. Most players don't know what to do with that duality. Going away from the usual suspects, I'm thinking about Schwartzman. Must be a mental giant to walk up that court against guys twice your size and still believe you can do something - and doing it.

[@gebmanini6465]

Ive never thought about it that way but yeah i have to agree on you that seems pretty daunting man

[@AllMenMustServe]

They have to take one of those categories out and add the 'Clutch' category. Because you can still be the number 30 in the world and be competitive af. You just don't have the technique to be ranked higher.

[@CRCH714]

Mental toughness has to be djokovic everytime

[@MrRazorblade999]

Nadal and him are equal. A huge part why they have been successful

[@sentoki183]

Hahaha no bro sorry

[@fundhund62]

He completely collapsed when it really mattered in that US Open final 2021 against Medvedev.

[@sonnysantino7849]

Easy, just pick Nole.He is the most perfect player in history 😉

[@Ninja-gt3zi]

Djoker fangirls already crying even though he chose novak for so much

[@kingnole4237]

You build perfect player Djokovic will crush him

[@Todeon]

How can you choose Kyrgios for serve? Karlovic, Raonic and Isner all day over Kyrgios

[@ISGTC]

Tsonga for celebration :)

[@JoaoSilva-qq5yh]

I love gael

[@florinstefan8417]

DelPo's forehand💪

[@wheresbaby7783]

It's kind of weird how noone ever selected Pete Sampras for the serve or volley

[@bastienlacote5651]

Maybe a better concept would be : "build a perfect player without taking Nadal/Djoko or Fed" because this concept is becoming boring and predictable

[@TranucTV]

For me: Serve, back&forehand, return everything are Djokovic

[@Msbreana13]

Got speed Alcaraz

[@Msbreana13]

Yourself for celebration or Ben Shelton. 🎉🎉🎉

[@asphaltcowboy7567]

Mac by farrrrr has the best net game...

[@loocas6448]

Bro how can he pick Rafa over Novak for mental toughness, he literally witnessed him save match points on him

[@leevihemmings707]

That's his choice - as simple as that

[@lartisan6274]

AO 2022 Nadal vs Medvedv watch it, u will understand . Nadal play with hurted feet, abdo. Look Djoko right now he had a diarhe=a stomack problem to Paris master. he will lose soon

[@IHaveAiCat]

Bro nitto 2019 finals he came back from 1-0 in sets and 5-0 in games to win the match

[@pravinkumar5987]

Djokovic Kanni/Sombhu

[@Almstfam]

Djokovic had one injury break in his career and he thought about retiring, nadal had more than 5 and still was able to win all those titles, i call that supreme mental toughness.

[@FLIP238]

I would take federers forehand. I think the best ever

[@yuanhu6031]

This guy would lose to Nadal im RG 😂

[@argumentativZerstört]

Net Brown or Fed

[@TheRafaelBond]

Everyone picks Rafa for mental toughness.

[@Pe11ePD]

Mental toughness - Rafa? We live in the same universe?

[@templemaster8386]

We sure do

[@michaelemmanuel6111]

Watched different players build their perfect player. Everyone has picked Novak for Return and Roger for Slice. The consensus!

[@johnwest194]

one of the most talented yet disappoiting player who does not care or respect the game

[@keithhayes844]

Novak Djokovic is the toughest ever mentally. The guy NEVER loses close matches, he comes from behind all the time, and he’s saved like 100 match points against Federer’s incredible serve

[@nemesisprime1890]

That makes him the best clutch player ever... Mental Toughness is different

[@TheRafaelBond]

Competitiveness is kind of a dumb question, yeah

[@cfvgskmynq2798]

Just take everything from Novak and servis from Roger and you have perfect player.

[@Pie-oq4np]

Service from Isner

[@KassiniKZ]

Celebration must be Ben 🤙🏼🤙🏼😂

[@jimmybrice6360]

net game - he doesnt know about mcenroe. edberg was better than rafter, though

[@samibenabdellatif8631]

Mental Toughness : Djoko* bro wtf xD

[@liebebile6515]

he's evaluating also all the injuries Rafa had to endure. Rafa has played in inhuman conditions at times. Anyway, both are good answers.

[@elwingy]

Mental Toughness Rafa seems strange. Rafa never had to beat the crowd and the media at the same time with his opponents. Also Rafa is subject to mind games and had a considerable string of matches where Djokovic was into his mind without having an answer for it. Otherwise good list if I may say so.

[@bone9jdjkaye]

I think it's the way he never gives up, and can comeback from very tricky situations (e.g. Medvedev AO finals). Djokovic is mentally tough in the sense that he plays some fantastic tennis in the most important points, Nadal is in the sense that he never gives up during a point no matter the scoreboard.

[@elwingy]

@@bone9jdjkaye I honestly dont see how Djokovic is any different than Nadal on this thing you describe. In fact Djokovic is famous for his ultra defense, making players play on more ball no matter what. Hunting down every single ball, even "impossible" ones.

[@nemesisprime1890]

Strange? U obviously started watching tennis post covid right? Rafa has been more mentally strong than the other two since the start of their careers.... Never has he lost his calmness n broken a racquet despite his game being completely physical.... He has come back from multiple injuries n also lives a permanent foot issue.... On the other hand Djokovic is best clutch player ever but he has lost his coolness multiple times including being disqualified but he is a close second in mental toughness, Rafa is the most tough mentally.

[@matisms]

at net there is only one... sampras

[@danieldcountonme]

Celebration has got to be ben Shelton

[@waholoopesorry74]

Most cocky celebration for Shelton

[@bonorojo]

Excellent picks. I would choose Fernando Gonzalez over Del Potro, but everything else then same.

[@waholoopesorry74]

Gonzalez did not have the best forehand. One of the fastest, yes. But not in of the best

[@free-can5609]

i ilke this guy

[@Tranquillou]

Bonsoir , Tu pourrais parler Français !???🤔

[@concettadalimonte8476]

Il dit tout connaître de tout !!!😂😂 mais bon c'est droit !!! Fause route !!! Le no1 mondiale est le meilleurs joueur du circuit en ce moment !!!😂😂😂😊😊😊😊😮😮😊😊

[@Msbreana13]

Serve isner all day long

[@jacobthompson1097]

The fact he's 6'11 helps though.. think Kyrgios has the best pound for pound height wise.

[@vasilijeboskovic5948]

You are both correct

[@gladiator0001]

lol

[@jasongillis1336]

Dannng he just described Ben Shelton, holy smokes. We shall see!