The one-time Grand Slam winner who Gael Monfils thought had a better forehand than Roger Federer at his peak

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To this day Gael Monfils remains one of the most popular players on the ATP Tour.

Unfortunately for Monfils, his run at the Miami Open ended at the round of 16 stage at the hands of Sebastian Korda – a home favourite who will be hoping to stay the course.

And at 38-years-old, Monfils has played through more than one generation of ATP players, enjoying some brilliant battles with the likes of Roger Federer over the years.

Therefore, there’s not many better placed to build their perfect tennis player from those who have played the sport past and present.

Gael Monfils made a surprise pick for the best forehand of all-time

Speaking to the ATP Tour back in 2023, Monfils was asked to do exactly that – tasked with building his perfect player when it came to the strongest forehand, backhand, serve and so on.

And whilst it was no surprise to see Novak Djokovic’s name repeated more than once, Juan Martin del Potro’s name perhaps wasn’t so expected.

READ MORE: The tennis surface Roger Federer claimed was ‘too easy’ to play on as you didn’t need a serve or a volley on it

When sculpting his player Monfils chose De Potro’s forehand, overlooking the likes of Federer and Rafael Nadal, who might be a more obvious choice to some.

Choosing the best forehand right off the bat, Monfils said: “Forehand I will take…oh it’s a good one, forehand I will take Del Potro.

“Del Potro’s forehand was fast, heavy, very accurate – you know he wasn’t missing that much.

“He could hit it anywhere from the court with that weapon so one hundred percent I will take his.”

And whilst very few will debate the power of Del Potro’s booming forehand, it perhaps didn’t have the finesse of Federer’s, or even Nadal’s.

Juan Martin Del Potro’s only regret in his tennis career

Speaking at a Roland Garros Junior Series event in Sao Paulo, also in 2023, Del Potro revealed the one ‘dream’ he had in tennis that he was never able to realise.

The Argentinian was desperate to become world number one in his career, a dream that was halted by the likes of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

READ MORE: Rafael Nadal’s response when asked if Novak Djokovic was good enough to challenge him and Roger Federer back in 2011

Del Potro’s highest rank was at number three towards the end of 2018, the year in which he won Indian Wells and also reached the final of the US Open.

Speaking at the event, Del Potro said: “The only thing I lacked was being number one.

“It was always a dream and I always worked for it, but I was proud of my career and I never made it because there was either Federer, or Nadal or Djokovic.

“When I look at the rankings and the years of my career and who was fighting to be number one, I see that it was beautiful that these were the ones who didn’t let me make it, this dream.”