by jr_thebaselinebasher » 15 Feb 2025, 11:05 I wanted to make a post that would be kind of fun. I took inspiration from the fabulous Davyd_1982 who posted a topic on many players and their playing styles in Tennis Elbow 2013, and I wanted to do an update for Tennis Elbow 4. His post can be found here:
https://www.managames.com/Forum/topic29-33217.php
As you may know, Tennis Elbow 4 introduced some new playing styles which makes it more easier to match players in TE4 with the playing style of their real-life counterparts. I do have the XKT mod installed, but I find that many of the allocated playing styles are unrealistic for the players they are assigned to. So I wanted to compile a list of the Top 100 players in the world as of 15/02/2025, and go through which playing styles match them best. Please note that when I was originally making this list, I went in to detail about why I gave some players a specific playing style, but I forgot to save the draft and clicked preview (which logged me out) at the very end and lost all my progress.
So because of that, this list isn't as detailed as originally planned, but I still hope you find it useful. If you're curious to why I gave a player a playing style, feel free to ask me in the comments. 
Anyways, here are the playing styles that come with Tennis Elbow 4 with a short summary:
Counter (uses opponents pace to outpace them)
Counter Puncher (absorbs opponents pace and attacks when necessary)
All-Rounder (good from all areas of the court, more attacking minded than defensive)
Bulldog (good defensively, but can be very aggressive when in attacking positions, usually a clay court specialist)
Defender (plays defensively with lots of spin shots, but can attack on easy balls)
Power Baseliner (aggressive baseliner who uses lots of acceleration shots)
Puncher (similar baseline game to the Power Baseliner but more willing to come to the net irrespective of net presence stat)
All-court Attacker (somewhat similar to All-Rounder but even more attacking minded and not as good defensively)
Volleyer (traditional serve-and-volley player)
And here's the list of playstyles for the Top 100:
1. Jannik Sinner (Power Baseliner)
2. Alexander Zverev (Counter Puncher)
3. Carlos Alcaraz (Puncher)
4. Taylor Fritz (Power Baseliner)
5. Casper Ruud (Defender)
6. Alex de Minaur (Counter Puncher)
7. Novak Djokovic (Counter Puncher)
8. Daniil Medvedev (Counter Puncher)
9. Tommy Paul (Power Baseliner)
10. Andrey Rublev (Power Baseliner)
11. Stefanos Tsitsipas (Puncher)
12. Holger Rune (Puncher)
13. Grigor Dmitrov (All-Rounder)
14. Ben Shelton (Puncher)
15. Jack Draper (Power Baseliner)
16. Lorenzo Musetti (Defender)
17. Ugo Humbert (Power Baseliner)
18. Frances Tiafoe (Power Baseliner)
19. Arthur Fils (Power Baseliner)
20. Hubert Hurkacz (Counter Puncher)
21. Karen Khachanov (Power Baseliner)
22. Felix Auger-Aliassime (Puncher)
23. Sebastian Korda (Power Baseliner)
24. Tomas Machac (Puncher)
25. Jiri Lehecka (Power Baseliner)
26. Alexi Popyrin (Puncher)
27. Alejandro Tabilo (Power Baseliner)
28. Francisco Cerundolo (Power Baseliner)
29. Jordan Thompson (Puncher)
30. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (All-court Attacker)
31. Sebastian Baez (Power Baseliner)
32. Denis Shapovalov (Power Baseliner)
33. Gael Monfils (Counter)
34. Matteo Berrettini (Power Baseliner)
35. Lorenzo Sonego (Puncher)
36. Flavio Cobolli (Power Baseliner)
37. Alex Michelsen (Power Baseliner)
38. Matteo Arnaldi (Power Baseliner)
39. Nuno Borges (Puncher)
40. Nicolas Jarry (Puncher)
41. Pedro Martinez (Power Baseliner)
42. Tallon Griekspoor (Puncher)
43. Brandon Nakashima (Power Baseliner)
44. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (Power Baseliner)
45. Jakub Mensik (Puncher)
46. Jan-Lennard Struff (Power Baseliner)
47. Mariano Navone (Bulldog)
48. Alexander Bublik (Puncher)
49. Marcos Giron (Defender)
50. Roberto Carballes Baena (Bulldog)
51. Roberto Bautista Agut (Counter Puncher)
52. Zhizhen Zhang (Puncher)
53. Jaume Munar (Defender)
54. Juncheng Shang (Power Baseliner)
55. Fabian Marozsan (Puncher)
56. Miomir Kecmanovic (Counter Puncher)
57. David Goffin (Counter Puncher)
58. Alexandre Muller (Counter Puncher)
59. Luciano Darderi (Bulldog)
60. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Power Baseliner)
61. Cameron Norrie (Counter Puncher)
62. Zizou Bergs (Counter)
63. Yoshihito Nishioka (Defender)
64. Benjamin Bonzi (Power Baseliner)
65. Arthur Rinderknech (Power Baseliner)
66. Corentin Moutet (Bulldog)
67. Alexsandar Vukic (Puncher)
68. Mattia Belluci (Puncher)
69. Yunchaokete Bu (Power Baseliner)
70. Roman Safiullin (Power Baseliner)
71. Kei Nishikori (Counter Puncher)
72. Rinky Hijikata (Puncher)
73. Thanasi Kokkinakis (Puncher)
74. Quentin Halys (Power Baseliner)
75. Facundo Diaz Acosta (Bulldog)
76. Alexsandar Kovacevic (Power Baseliner)
77. Thiago Seyboth Wild (Power Baseliner)
78. Jacob Fearnley (Power Baseliner)
79. Christopher O'Connell (All-court Attacker)
80. Daniel Altmaier (Power Baseliner)
81. Dusan Lajovic (Counter Puncher)
82. Learner Tien (Counter Puncher)
83. Luca Nardi (Power Baseliner)
84. Francisco Comesana (Bulldog)
85. Botic van de Zandschulp (Counter Puncher)
86. Gabriel Diallo (Puncher)
87. Camilo Ugo Carabelli (Power Baseliner)
88. Alexander Shevchenko (Puncher)
89. Adam Walton (Counter Puncher)
90. Damir Dzumhur (Counter Puncher)
91. Hugo Gaston (Bulldog)
92. Francesco Passaro (Power Baseliner)
93. Lucas Pouille (All-Rounder)
94. Fabio Fognini (Counter)
95. James Duckworth (Puncher)
96. Hamad Medjedovic (Power Baseliner)
97. Marton Fucsovics (Power Baseliner)
98. Otto Virtanen (Power Baseliner)
99. Joao Fonseca (Power Baseliner)
100. Thiago Monteiro (Power Baseliner)
As you may have noticed, players towards the top of the rankings are usually more aggressive (Power Baseliner or Puncher). Towards the middle or so, around the 50s and 60s, there are a lot more grinders (Defenders, Bulldogs, Counter Punchers). Even with that, most players these days play pretty similarly which is kind of sad. Most players are the mould of either a Power Baseliner, or a Defender/Counter Puncher. I counted no Volleyers amongst the top 100, although some players utilise similar strategies (like GMP). Feel free to comment asking why I gave each player their playstyle. As I said before, I did have reasoning for many players in my last unsaved draft, but I wanted to just come up with something quickly to save the hassle. Hopefully, this is still helpful, and you find this rather niche topic interesting.
