Tennis: Legends of game share height as well as titles

Two years ago, the giants started to challenge the monsters.

It seemed part of the tennis evolution - taller and taller players started to make their mark, even at the expense of greats like Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer.

It began with the most improbable tennis victory in decades; Robin Soderling's dismissal of Nadal in the fourth round of the 2009 French Open. The towering 1.93m Swede handed Nadal his first defeat in 33 matches in Paris. He had never lost in 49 previous five-set matches on clay.

His vicious whipping forehand, chiefly responsible for the devastating high bouncing topspin, was easily countered by Soderling. The Swede also continually pressured Nadal with his flat groundstrokes hit from height.

A few months later, Juan Martin Del Potro was king of New York. After stopping Nadal in the semifinal, he beat Federer in an enthralling five-set final. The 1.98m Argentine, who became the first man to beat the duo in the same tournament, was also the tallest grand slam winner of all time.

Del Potro is not a great mover but didn't need to be, such was the reach of his long levers. By standing right on the baseline, he took Federer's angles out of the equation and was able to hit the ball on the rise.

For one of the rare times in his career, the Swiss had been outslugged from the baseline, his powerful forehand no match for the Argentine's brutality from the back of the court.

Young Croatian Marin Cilic seemed set to continue the revolution, with the 22-year-old coming out of nowhere to march to the Australian Open semifinals last year. Cilic, also 1.98m, confounded Andy Roddick in the quarter-final, with the American stunned by Cilic's ability to stand close to the baseline and hardly ever be forced wide.

Later in March the American duo of Sam Querrey (1.98m) and John Isner (2.06m) contested the tallest ATP final of all time in Memphis.

Since then, while giants like Soderling and 1.96m Tomas Berdych enjoyed big wins at Grand Slams, Federer and Nadal eventually monopolised all four major trophies in 2010, posing the question: Is there a genetic disposition; a height factor; that enables the perfect modern tennis player?

Apart from their undoubted brilliance and hunger for success, Federer and Nadal are also exactly the same height: 1.85m. It seems to be the magic mark in tennis over the past few decades. Pete Sampras? 1.85m. Other legends like Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg and Jim Courier were the same stature.

It is the perfect scenario - allowing quick movement and great defence along with the necessary elevation that produces a powerful serve. If you are much shorter in the modern game (think David Ferrer, Michael Chang, Nikolay Davydenko) it is harder to find weapons. They have to rely on speed and quick hands, both of which gradually diminish with age and injury.

Being 1.93m or more has many advantages, but it also seems to correlate with injury problems. Richard Krajicek, Mark Philippoussis, Todd Martin and Marat Safin were examples; either knee or hip problems from the lateral movement, or shoulder and abdominal issues from an over-reliance on a big serve. Del Potro and Cilic joined the lofty-with-lesions club in 2010.

The big guns have had mixed results so far in Melbourne, with Soderling, Berdych, Cilic and Isner all looking solid to make the last 32.

Del Potro and Querrey exited in the second round. Berdych is seeded to meet Djokovic in the quarter-final, while Nadal stands in the way of Cilic and Isner. Soderling will likely run into Andy Murray on his path to the last eight.

The situation on the women's side is clearer - more height (whatever it is) is usually right.

Justine Henin is unique at barely 1.67m but the new generation (Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Elena Dementieva, Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki) are all in the close vicinity of 1.83m. Serena Williams is just 1.75m, but she is a once in a generation freak.

In past times, Billie Jean King was 1.65m; Chris Evert 1.67m and Martina Hingis 1.70m.

Only time with tell, but it seems clear that the body of evidence is growing in modern tennis.