Sometime in the 1990s, Mary Carillo, she of the flowery phrases, coined a term “big babe tennis”.  Carillo was already observing a trend in women’s tennis.  Dainty, petite players like Chris Evert and Tracy Austin were being supplanted by big women.

Big often implied two things.  “Big babes” were tall, often around 6 feet tall (183 cm) or taller. and they were sometimes a bit on the heavier side.  Fans used to seeing slim, model-like figures, were sometimes critical of what they perceived as excess weight on women.

Perhaps the prototypical “big babe” was Lindsay Davenport.  She was 189 cm (6’2″) and 176 lbs.   Women were often so self-conscious about their weight that they under-reported it.  This was not boxing where a boxer’s weight was officially registered in front of witnesses.  But you could perhaps put Mary Pierce (5’10”) and then later on, the Williams sisters, as “big babes”.

Big babe tennis also referred to a playing style.  With bigger women playing tennis, they were also hitting harder.  Smaller women found it challenging to handle the pace the bigger women could generate.

Pretty soon, there was an upward trend in women’s height.  Maria Sharpova is 6′ tall.  Ana Ivanovic an inch taller.  Dinara Safina and Yanina Wickmayer are similar in height.  Many of these women played similar styles.  Use their height to hit power tennis.  Sure, there were some movement issues, but in a way, hitting hard to some part of the court where their opponent was not was an effective strategy.

Although the trend has been more subtle, we can see the same thing happening in men’s tennis.  Call it “Big Guy” Tennis.

Perhaps like many things, Big Guy Tennis may have started with Big Bill Tilden.  “Big Bill” wasn’t big by today’s standards.  At 6′, he might be considered above average in height.  But Tilden was born in 1893.  In those days, the average height of everyone was shorter than they are today due to today’s better diet.  So, in his day, he may have been considered tall.

The first notable big guy (by today’s standard) may have been Victor Amaya, an American that stood 6’7″, with a huge lefty serve.  He is only remembered in a footnote, in a first round match against Bjorn Borg in the 1978 Wimbledon, he was up two sets to love, and a break in the third, up 3-1.  Borg was serving, and suddenly found himself down break points.  On a second serve, Borg decided to take a chance and went for a big serve.  Amaya netted the shot.  Borg, who had been playing lethargic, woke up, took the game, and eventually the match and the title, taking the 2nd of his 5 consecutive Wimbledons.

The best players of the 1960s were quite small.  Rod Laver was listed as 5’8″.  Ken Rosewall at 5’7″.  They were giants of the game.  Players that were above 6′ were considered slow and lumbering.  They had to have a big serve, and they had to play serve and volley, to take advantage of their height.  This thinking echoed in other sports.  Players 6’9″ and above were expected to play center.  They were considered slow and lumbering, and unable to play the quick game that shorter guards could play.  These days, there are players that height and higher playing other positions like point guards and forwards.

By the 1970s, the top players were around 5’10”.  Sure, there were occasional exceptions like Stan Smith, the serve and volleying American that stood 6’4″, but the best players were just under 6′.  These included Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, and John McEnroe.

Just as Ivan Lendl began the trend to the big hitting power tennis of today, he was also starting a trend in taller power hitters.  Standing at just above 6’1″, Lendl demonstrated that you could hit winners from the baseline.  By today’s standards, Lendl didn’t hit that many winners off the ground, but that he could even hit, say, a half dozen winners in a match was impressive.  And this kind of power forever changed how players would hit the ball.  Lendl used topspin with a graphite racquet.  To be fair, he did it with a racquet only marginally larger than a wooden racquet.

The top players of the mid-to-late 1980s were generally a touch above 6′ tall.  Stefan Edberg was a bit above 6’1″.  Becker was about 6’3″.  Mats Wilander a shade under 6′.  Andre Agassi also a shade under 6′.  This trend continued into the 1990s.  Sampras was a little above 6′.  Jim Courier was as well.  Perhaps the tallest of the group of Americans from the 1990s was Todd Martin at 6’6″.

Todd Martin is a pivotal figure.  He stayed in the top 20 from around 1993 to 2000 reaching a ranking as high as 4.  He reached the finals of the Australian Open and the US Open, once each.  But key to this, was his ability to hit off the baseline.  Although he played a fair bit of serve-and-volley, he was also able to trade shots from the back of the court.  He showed that a guy 6’6″ didn’t have to play baseline tennis.  Although not as tall, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, at 6’3″ showed a bigger guy could move around and play baseline tennis.

However, the big trend to tall players have really come since 2008.  The crop of big guys include: Juan Martin del Potro, Ivo Karlovic, John Isner, Sam Querrey, Tomas Berdych, and Marin Cilic.  Karlovic is the oddball in the group.  Possessing the biggest serve of the bunch, he might have been number 1 had he had proper lessons as a poor youth in Croatia.  Instead, his backhand is a huge liability, lacking the consistency to place the backhand on a dime.  His footwork is also suspect.  At age 30, Karlovic is probably playing his best tennis ever, trying to shore up his groundstrokes and volleys.  His fourth round result in the Australian Open is his best ever.

Look at the Australian Open draw in the round of 16.  The following players are 6’3″ or taller: Juan Martin del Potro, Marin Cilic, Ivo Karlovic, John Isner, Lukacz Kubot, Andy Murray, and four of the six are 6’6″ and above.  Only two players are under 6′ tall, which are Lleyton Hewitt and Nikolay Davydenko, who at 5’10” is the shortest player in the round of 16.

Big Guy Tennis is defined pretty much by big serves, and like days of yore, by less than ideal footwork.  Right now, the best players are among the best movers.  Juan Martin del Potro moves just well enough that he can use his power forehand, perhaps the biggest in today’s men’s tennis, that has him in the top 5 in men’s tennis.  Still, a player of Davydenko’s speed and precision was able to make del Potro look slow.

Perhaps this is why everyone is pointing to Marin Cilic, the Croat.  At 6’6″, he doesn’t hit as big as del Potro, but he moves much better and is steady to boot.  Whether it was due to del Potro’s wrist, or this just being Cilic’s time, Cilic was able to engineer the upset, in the battle of the Big Guys.  Final set score: 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

It’s often been said that champions are champions.  A player like Rod Laver would still be champion today, but as the best men get taller, the realization is “you can’t teach height”.  Consider Rod Laver’s style of play.  He played serve-and-volley with a continental grip.  Although he played topspin on his backhand, considered a bit of a novelty, one has to imagine it looked a lot like McEnroe’s topspin backhand.  Yes, topspin, but not the vicious topspin of today’s game.

Would Rod Laver, at 5’8″, hit a 135 mph serve?  Would he suddenly hit windshield wiper forehands with lots of topspin?  The kind of game Laver would have to play would be so different from the game he did play, you wonder if Laver could do it.  There are players that aren’t particularly tall.  The Rochus brothers.  Dudi Sela.  They exist, but they aren’t at the top of the ranks.  Davydenko is the closest to a very good short guy, but at 5’10”, he’s the same height as Jimmy Connors.

Right now, the best players are still right around 6′ tall, and it may be a player like either Juan Martin del Potro or Andy Murray that shows a big guy can play the game.  At 6’3″, Murray can move like no one else.  He is reaching balls at the Australian Open that even he may not have reached a year ago.  Admittedly, he tempts fate by hitting junk balls that allow his opponents opportunities to tee off.

The difference between Big Guy Tennis and Big Babe Tennis is ultimately movement.  The player that can serve big and move well is going to dominate men’s tennis.  Perhaps this is why people point to Marin Cilic as the next big player, which is funny, because it was only mere months ago that everyone thought Juan Martin del Potro had the most upside, the player most likely to win more Slams.  Right now, del Potro has demonstrated mental toughness, even in a loss to Cilic.  Can Cilic show the same mental toughness?

We’ll see if this is a true trend, much like it’s been for women’s tennis, or whether a guy around 6′ can always be successful?