Learn how to be the BEST: Create the Ultimate Player

For those of you looking for information on how to create the best player possible this is for you:

A. Career Mode
1. Natural Talent
Both POWER and DEFENCE are good. Just don't be a
TECHNICIAN.

2. Make your player tall(6'6" or taller). It makes
serving ten times easier and there's no disadvantage
to it.
B. Mastery Star Allocation
1. Serve
(2 Stars) This may be suprising to some but the
fact is, a strong serve is not very important.
You could probably get away with just 1 star but I
can't yet give up the satisfaction of occassionally
blasting an ace past the computer, which having 2
stars allows you to do.[TIP]: A SLOW topspin serve
out wide will get your opponent out of position for a
second shot using topspin in the opposite direction.
With practice you will soon be able to when nearly
every service point this way, even on the hardest
levels. (I prefer to use the outwide risk serve,
which comes in at over 125 mph; with
practice you can hit this serve in about 95% of the
time. It'll give you the satisfaction of acing your
opponents, even occassionally againt Leyton Hewitt.
Yes, it is possible.)

2. Forehand and Backhand
(5 Stars on one, and 4 Stars on the other)
Put the 5 Stars on which ever stroke you find
yourself hitting the most. A good way to tell is to
go to player stats and see which shot you have hit
the most winners with. It is obvious that most of
your stars should be used on strokes, because about
80% of all points are your groundstrokes. The key to
stroking the ball is the risk shot. Anytime the CPU
hits a ball to you that you don't really have to run
for, you should be able to hit a risk shot. This
comes with practice. A LOT OF IT!!!
[TIP]:I'm not going to give away all my secrets
about the risk shot but I will say this. To become
a truly great player you should be able to hit 9 out
of 10 attemps at the risk shot and not even have
to look at the bar the pops up when you hit them.
It's all in your timing and aim. Use the trail and
error technique to find what works.

3. Volley
(3 Stars)
Some people overlook this disipline, but on the
highest levels your volleys may become crucial to
finishing out the point against a quick opponent
that seems to have a god-like ability to return even
the hardest risk shot. The third star in this
category gives you the ability to hit a crushing
overhead smash. Without a overhead smash a CPU
opponent on the highest level or a competitive
online player can hit a lob against you anytime they
want to basically restart a point you've worked so
hard to gain the upper-hand in.

You've now allocated all 14 Mastery Stars. If you feel
that being able to ace your opponent isn't that
important to you, then put the extra star wherever you
want. You can either master both strokes or you could
could master the fourth disipline of volleys, which is
the drop volley.

C. Skills
1. The levels:
Level 1 - Precision, Return Serve, Return Risk Shot,
and Curved Serve
Level 2 - Power, Volley, Speed, and Angle
Level 3 - Ace, Risk Shot, Drop Shot, and Passing Shot
Level 4 - Topspin, Slice, Aggressive Lob, and Smash

You can only choose on from each level, and you only
get four.

2. What to Choose:
Level 1 - If your never going to play this game
online or against a friend that's really
good, then get the Retern Serve skill.
This choice is the best for the player that
is only interested in completing career
mode and winning the grand slams.
However, for the truly competitive player,
the skill Return Risk Shot it the only
choice. Don't show up without it, if you
plan on playing a competitive online match.

Level 2 - This is where it depends which natural
talent you have chosen. If your a Powerful
player then you probably want to choose
Speed for this skill. However, if your
natural talent is Defense, then you should
choose Power for this skill.

Level 3 - Choose Ace or Passing Shot for this skill.
Your other choices are Risk Shot and Drop
Shot, which you should be able to master
without additional help. However, if your
consistancy with the risk shot just isn't
what it needs to be, the Risk Shot skill
might not be a bad idea.

Level 4 - Choose Slice or Topspin. Choose the one
you use the most. I prefer the Slice skill
because it is excellent for returns and is
a great shot when your really on the run.
This skill will add a lot of spin to either
your slice or topspin stroke making it
very difficult to read where it will land.

I strongly suggest getting your fourth skill before
you try and win the French Open in Paris. The fourth
skill becomes availible after you win your first
grand slam. Win the US Open or Austrailian Open
first, they're the easiest to win, but may still be
quite tough for most players, so don't feel bad if
your having a tough time. My suggestion is to truely
perfect your risk shots before you try taking on the
Grand Slams. You can actually win without using any
risk shots, but your points will probably last
several minutes instead of only about 5 seconds.
(I don't know about you, but personally, my thumbs
would be to soar to play by the time a reached the
finals, so I think all that practice it take to get
the risk shot down is worth it)

Now you now what it takes to be the BEST. All it will take
is PRACTICE!PRACTICE!!PRACTICE!!! and in no time you'll
be beating the pants off that CPU Grand Slam Finals opponent. But you still might won't to hope you don't run in to me in some online tournament.

I hope this has helped. Good Luck!

You both make some valid points, but the really important part is what yo plan on using the player for. Singles against the comp, doubles against the comp, or singles online, or doubles online. They all really require a different type of player. If you are a newer player and the really good AI players are too hard, then there is even a good player for that too.

Now mind you, this is all just just my opinion and experience...

For newbies -
0 stars in serve. Top spin serves out wide are the cheesiest thing in the word, but they work. The slower the better. Will the comp ace one once in a while down the line... yes, but more times then not they will return it week across the court and you can hammer a winner. Just make sure to break toward the center of the court after the serve, or they will take it down the line. If you start to run across the court, they will hit a cross court shot, and they will have no chance to get back into position for your return.

After that, put 5 stars in your preference on back or fore, four in the other, and five in volly. Go with defense. You will need the speed for rallies. Use deep slice shots to back up the comp and then use your speed to create easy volly winners. Remember, you don't need to be that close to the net to get good angles on your vollies. (Defense has angle and speed). Use precision if you have trouble staying between the lines. Otherwise, go with return serve. Power is a good choice. If you took powerfull, then you should take speed or angle (speed really). Passing shot is good for doubles and online, but the comp doesn't really attack the net well enough to need it. Ace is good, but you won't need it with the top spin serve. Both slice and topspin are good choices. I have smash, because the comp if forever trying to lob it over my head. I can usually turn a lob into a smash winner for me. Topspin lets you really put the comp away, but it can fly out from time to time. Slice lets you get into position better to make vooly winners. Either one will work.

The most important thing to remember is to put depth on your shots so the comp can't put a ton of angle on thier shots.

Now for Online, gotta have return serve. If someone puts down a good risk shot, you won;t be able to get to it to use the skill, so go with return serve. Everyone is going to have a good serve, so you need to be able to hit it back. Risk returns are the vogue right now, so you need to be able to hit consistent risk serves. You'll need either four stars and up, or you'll need three with ace. I recommend four with ace, or five without. For the second skill, I would use it to strengthen a weakness. Speed if you took powerfull, power if you took defensive, or volly if you have three stars or less. Passing shot is good if you don't need ace. Once again, both topspin and slice are good choices.

Agaist a person, you need to not have a weakness they can exploit.
Volly - defensive 4334 with return server, power, ace, and slice (or topspin)
Baseline power 3443 with return serve, speed, ace, and top spin. Or defensive with power.

Doubles online.
Volly is the key. 4334 with volly and ace, top spin and return serve or risk shot. With two players, you will get a lot more risk shots that you can reach, so return risk is good. Tough call between powerfull and defensive. I would take defensive for the angle.

Well that's just marvellous.

I remember this thread, got some very good tips for the 'ol character creation, a thank you.