‘Who is the best squash player of all time?’ It’s the age old question hopefully still doing the rounds in club bars. Jahangir Khan or Ramy Ashour? Sarah Fitz-Gerald or Nicol David? To name just a few.
But how about cross-sport duels with other racket sports?
British tennis star Andy Murray conjured just that question in a Tweet on Sunday after watching Tyson Fury take on Francis Ngannou, the latter making his first bout from the UFC ring in Riyadh on Saturday.
Murray posted: “How many points would the world no1 squash player win vs the world number 1 tennis player in a tennis match and vice versa? I’m thinking close to zero for both.”
He’s got a point and most pros would probably agree. Some obviously have natural all-round transferable skills — and would whole-heartedly disagree with Murray’s assertion — others don’t.
How many points would the world no1 squash player win vs the world number 1 tennis player in a tennis match and vice versa? Im thinking close to zero for both….bad look for boxing 🥊 #FuryvsNgannou
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) October 29, 2023
Take James Willstrop, who wrote this a few years ago.
“A squash player’s skills would go so far in tennis, but there would be a limit and that limit would reach nowhere near world level. If you asked the world’s top squash and tennis players to face each other and the two sports, it would be a damp squib of a spectacle, which might be a surprise to some. If I were to transfer to another sport, I should forget about tennis, or any other sport involving such complex skills.”
So, Ali Farag v Novak Djokovic. Would it be a ‘close to zero’ set of matches, despite the Egyptian’s remarkable volley and drop skills?
Have your say below…