Reflection on the 2012 Australian Open: The Slow and Painful Death of Net Play

Posted: January 30, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Australian Open | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thrilling. Epic. Extraordinary. Jaw-Dropping. Marathon Classic. For all the adjectives lavished on the Australian Open Final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, it escaped unnoticed that net play continues to be relegated to novelty status in men’s tennis.

Forays to the net have become increasingly rare in an era where serve-volley should be put on the ICUN’s list of endangered species. Of the four semi-finalists, Andy Murray and Roger Federer could be described as competent volleyers, but neither man enjoyed much success at the net in their respective semi-final. Federer suffered from his usual paralysis against Nadal and his awful choices of net approach precluded any sort of success there. Murray fared slightly better but largely was engaged in a colossal baseline match in which net approaches featured strictly as a means of mixing up play. David Nalbandian has shown in past meetings against Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal that there is a formula for coming to the net against the prototypical modern baseliner who has the deadly combination of vicious passing shots and tireless movement around the court.  First of all, Murray and Nadal both have great forehand passing shots which are arguably even more potent when they are on the run, meaning there is little safety in approaching to this side even when it seems they are dead and buried.

You might enjoy some success serve and volleying against Nadal, who stands way back for the return, but the Spaniard is capable of roasting you on the pass even from six or seven metres outside the court so it is not a regular play. Forget about frequent serve and volleys against Murray or Djokovic, both of whom have built their games around the return and their quick reactions. The backhand has proven more fruitful for net approaches – while both Nadal and Murray possess versatile two handed backhands which are formidable weapons for passing at the net,  Nalbandian was able to spot a chink in the armour – when both men are stretched far to their backhand side, they tend to make frequent use of the floated backhand slice in order to give them time to retain court position after they have been dragged out wide. It is here that Nalbandian in past meetings has taken advantage by sneaking into the net and putting away what is generally a quite comfortable volley.

This does not equate to a renaissance of net play – instead, is just a singular, specific net play which has been fruitful against top players, whereas in the past just chipping the return back and surging to the net was a viable play. Furthermore, to execute it requires four things of the player in question, the combination of which is very much a rarity on today’s tour.

  • The control and power of groundstrokes necessary to move the opponent around before striking hard to the backhand side and sneaking in.
  • An acceptance that this tactic can only be used sparingly, and even then that a spectacular passing shot might be coming your way.
  • Sound volleying technique is necessary if the ball is dipping below net height, although if the reply is a slice it will not be dipping violently. Due to the deep court positioning of many baseliners today, the drop volley has become increasingly popular and effective. Where many players fall down here is that even if a great volley is hit, the opponent may still get there so good net positioning and reactions are necessary for the second volley.
  • Most importantly, the tactical knowledge to envisage this plan and the clarity of mind to execute it.
The future of net play at professional level is not promising.

– TN

Djokovic vs Nadal: Key Patterns of Play

Posted: January 28, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Australian Open, Match Reports | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

With the Nadal-Djokovic final less than 24 hours away, this post will analyse the crucial patterns of play between these two baseline masters.

With Djokovic winning all six of their encounters in 2011, it is fairly safe to say that he has a successful gameplan against Rafa, one which he has put into practice numerous times and which he must have enormous confidence in.

Therefore, this post will focus more on what Nadal can do to counter Djokovic’s gameplan which so clearly has a stranglehold over him, much in the same way as Nadal has had a complete ownership of Roger Federer for so many years.

The Nadal Forehand Down-the-Line:

While Nadal has reigned as undisputed King of Clay for some years now, there have always been doubts over his hard court ability at the highest level when up against a real big hitter on the surface. Due to his long swing on the forehand, players will often target that side with deep, pacey shots, hoping that Nadal will cough up a short ball or an unforced error from that side.

Novak Djokovic is perhaps the player best equipped to pummel the Nadal forehand. Rafa is a lefty,which means that to attack his forehand the ball must be struck towards the left hand side of the court, more easily termed the Ad-court. Djokovic is right handed, therefore his cross-court backhand will go the Ad-court, as will his inside-out forehand. Djokovic hits the backhand cross court better than just about any other player on tour (taking into account movement to that side as well). He has a short take back, sets it up precisely and is extremely consistent. More importantly, his movement when stretched to his backhand is freakishly good, probably even better than Nadal’s. He is rarely forced to take one hand off the racquet and resort to a slice – for the most part he uses his flexibility and speed to slide into the shot, always perfectly on balance with his upper body rotation making errors from this wing very rare.

His inside-out forehand is a much improved shot. Like many other modern players, his extreme western grip and naturally spinny forehand means it is a lot more comfortable to hit with power when he can open up his body on the inside-out shot. He seems to have great confidence in this play against Nadal, and despite the very flat trajectory of the shot, also has a great consistency when hitting it.

All this amounts to Nadal’s forehand wing receiving a jolly good rogering whenever he comes up against the Serbian star. When under attack, Nadal’s natural strategy has always been to use his left handed forehand to hit an extremely spinny shot up high to his opponents backhand: the spin pushes the opponent back further being the baseline, and the height of the shot makes it difficult to attack. For the aforementioned reason of Novak’s backhand being an impregnable fortress, Nadal simply must force himself to hit his forehand down the line, to the Djokovic forehand. It is a far riskier shot (less net clearance and less space to bring the ball up and down), but he has proven in the past that he is capable of executing.

The Nadal Serve:

It is almost a tennis-euphemism to say that spinning a three-quarter pace serve to Novak Djokovic’s backhand is a death wish. Towards the end of the fourth set of their semi-final, Djokovic was hitting winners at will off Murray’s first and second serve. Murray’s first serve is far quicker and stronger than Nadal’s, meaning Rafa will enjoy very little success in trying to coax errors or short balls from the Djokovic backhand by attacking it with the kind of spinny serve usually reserved for drawing an innumerable amount of errors from Roger Federer’s backhand.

Therefore, he will have to abandon his high-percentage strategy in favour of  more risky serving. On the ad-side, he can’t keep on trying to slide a slice serve out to Djokovic’s backhand – he must also mix it up with the flat cannon down the T. Likewise on the deuce court, he will have to be able to hit both corners to keep Djokovic off-guard and guessing. A tall order for a man not usually associated with Croatian–level serving, but a vital one nonetheless.

The Djokovic Volley:

Despite an impressive change in attitude in 2011, Djokovic is not a natural volleyer. In his post-match interview after the semi-final clash against Andy Murray, he joked that he was sorry to legendary player Rod Laver (who was in the crowd for the match) for not serve-volleying more, saying that his generation isn’t accustomed to moving forward from the baseline.

Djokovic is correct in that today’s players are pitifully poor in the volleying department compared to the great players of the past. In his relentless pursuit for greatness, Djokovic has ironed out every weakness in his game, improving not only the technical aspect of his volleys and approach shots, but also developing a very positive attitude toward the net game and a healthy sort of humility in his admittance that this is not a strong area of his game.

In an era when Roger Federer, one of the true all-time greats, stubbornly refuses to work on his weaknesses (even when it is resulting in being absolutely dominated by his closest rival), it is refreshing to see a no.1 player who acknowledges and can even laugh about his weaknesses. More importantly though, Djokovic put in the hours on the practice court, honing his volleying technique and improving his reactions at the net. This was combined with Novak coming forward an increasing amount during matches; he didn’t always win the point, but he kept coming, and gradually started to improve to the point where he could competently finish points at the net

This might not seem important when he’s up against Rafael Nadal, a man who has some of the most ferocious passing shots in the history of the game. But it is because of the Spaniard’s incredible defense, speed and anticipation that it becomes vital to have the confidence and the ability to come to the net when Nadal is off balance, and finish the point. Many players lose the confidence to come to the net against Nadal after one-too many spectacular passing shot winners from the Spaniard tends to rips the belief from them. One aspect in which Djokovic has been excellent is in his mentality – he is extremely self assured, calm and does not mind losing the kind of long ‘highlight reel’ points which end up with him passed at the net, Nadal aggressively pumping his fist and shouting Vamos! in his direction and the crowd going crazy on their feet. Where others might become intimidated, frustrated or annoyed, Djokovic will calmly go about his way. Nadal must go outside of his comfort zone to find a way to break Djokovic’s confidence.

– TN

Video of the Week: Federer @ Miami 2002

Posted: January 25, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Video of the Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

With the dust settled on Roger Federer’s drubbing of Juan Martin Del Potro at the Australian Open quarter finals and the hype mahine already working in overdrive for his semi final clash with Rafael Nadal, TennisNiche shall make use of its powerful nostalgia chip to bring the kind readers back ten years to 2002, when Fed was just a young whip with dreams of grand slam glory in his eyes.

There are few sights in tennis as dazzling as Roger Federer fully imposing his will on an opponent: at his best, he possesses an arsenal of shots superior in both variety and potency to perhaps any player to ever step on a court.

This clip shows Federer at the age of twenty, before he had reached even a grand slam quarter final. What enabled Federer to accumulate sixteen grand slams in the following ten years was not so much that he added something new to his game or improved on any one shot, but that he learnt how to utilise his many weapons and to manage his decision making.

To witness Federer before he came to full maturity is to see the raw building blocks of an all time sporting great, but still a tennis player who had not yet learnt to rein in his emotions and impulses on the court. While he is certainly a less polished product here than he is in say, 2008, he is in some ways more fun to watch for it. It is easy to forget just how rapid Federer was around the court in his youth, an explosive combiation of his raw athletic speed and graceful, efficient footwork. He was also perhaps more risky with his forehand, resulting in a ridiculous number of improbable winners from that wing. I would like to draw attention to two rallies in particular in the clip:

The first is a stupendous bit of flexibility and improvisation. Federer hits a drop shot, drawing Andre Agassi to the net, where after an exchange of five shots he punches a volley to Federer’s forehand side. The Swiss moves to the shot but the deeply struck volley is already behind him when he gets to it – where most players would desperately lunge at the ball, just hoping to get it back into play, Federer somehow manages to contort his arm behind and around the ball to hit a perfect topspin lob which Agassi does not even reach for.

The next point against Hewitt is even more perplexing. After a long rally, Federer wrong foots Hewitt with a backhand down the line. Rushed, Hewitt only has time to prepare a squash shot in reply. In a split-second Federer has recognised his opponent’s grip change and has himself edged forward, anticipating a weak reply- Hewitt obliges and floats a deep forehand slice down the line. Faced with this situation, the attacking player (Federer in this case) has three conventional options: continue to move forward to the floating ball and hit a conventional volley; stand your ground, wait for the ball to come to you and hit a drive volley; or acknowldege that your opponent has hit a deep shot by moving backwards and waiting for the ball to bounce.

Federer, of course, chooses the fourth option, the type of shot only he can pull off: he stands his ground roughly three quarters of the way up the court (traditionally known as ‘no man’s land’, being too far from the net to hit an effective volley and too far from the baseline to allow the ball to bounce and hit a groundstroke), but instead of drive volley, Federer decides to hit a sliced drop shot volley, one which leaves Hewitt totally stranded, not even running for the ball. I will not waste any more words trying to do this shot justice – just watch and marvel at the flair.

Australian Open: 4th Round Results

Posted: January 23, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Australian Open, Results Round-Up | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In typical TennisNiche fashion, this entry will arbitrarily skim over the largely unspectacular Third Round clashes, dismissing these matches as entirely unworthy its rather embarrassingly oversized intellect. Instead, here is a round-up of the first batch of 4th round action from the Australian Open.

Roger Federer swept aside spunky Australian Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, producing this spectacular shot of tennis artistry in the process. TN has cast it’s unwavering, omniscient eye over the young Australian in a previous post, and this match largely confirmed suspicions. His opponent, the legendary Roger Federer, is a man who has been in gradual decline and yet is still capable of beating any mere mortal when it so fits his fancy. The one-sided scoreline may suggest that Fed was indeed enjoying such an evening of imperious form, but unfortunately for Tomic’s pride, this was not the case.

Federer produced several shots of unique magnificence, the type of shot which, to coin a cliché, cannot be taught (Novak Djokovic, for all his dominance, can still only dream of such improvisational brilliance). Despite this, it would be a vast exaggeration to compare his performance in this match to the god-like figure who took to the court in the years 2004-2007. The simple truth is that Federer didn’t need to be that good – at this stage in Tomic’s career, he simply does not match up well with Federer, even more so when they are playing on slower surfaces.

The type of player to bother Federer has changed throughout the course of his career, but a Tomic-like player has never been problematic to the great man. In the early years of his career, when ‘surface specialists’ had not been made redundant by the homogenisation of court surfaces, Fed struggled both with fast court serve – volleyers (most notably, Tim Henman) and classical clay-courters (Mantilla, Kuerten and Horna). In his peak years, the only players to truly bother him were Nadal, Safin and Nalbandian, none of whom have styles which can be exactly replicated. Now, in the twilight of his tennis career, he has started to lose to heavy-hitters such as Del Potro, Berdych, Soderling and Tsonga.

Unlike the above-mentioned players, Tomic does not rely on power or speed for his primary gameplan. Instead, he prefers to win matches through his variety – he can play one point retrieving everything his opponent throws at him, the next point attacking on the third or fourth shot of the rally with a flat forehand, the next with a delicate drop shot followed to the net. He relishes the act of frustrating his opponent, ripping away from them the element of control with his unpredictable play. Unfortunately for Bernard in this match, it was simply a case of Federer doing everything that little bit better. Tomic is able to exploit the fact that many of today’s players are one-dimensional baseliners who do not enjoy playing against variety, but Federer has been doing this far longer and far better.

Tomas Berdych beat Nicolas Almagro 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6 in a contest packed with controversy. With the contest at 5-6 in the fourth set, Berdych approached the net and hit a rather weak first volley. Almagro approached the ball on what was a fairly comfortable passing shot, and decided to go straight for his man. He hit Berdych in the chest, causing the tall Czech to dramatically jump to the ground. After the match Berdych refused to shake Almagro’s hand, much to the mire of the typically boisterous Aussie crowd.

 Rafael Nadal defeated compatriot Feliciano Lopez in an encounter as predictable as night following day. 

Juan Martin Del Potro overcame Phillip Kohlschreiber in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1. Del Potro was fairly comfortable in victory, his potent mixture of brute power applied with consistency and a low unforced-error count proving too much for the German.

-TN

Australian Open 2012: Day two and three Round-Up

Posted: January 18, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Australian Open, Results Round-Up | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Some very sporadic and arbitrary musings from the second and third day of play at the 2012 Australian Open:

In a first-round clash, Juan Martin Del Potro defeated Adrian Mannarino 2-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 in an enjoyable clash of styles. Both men are strictly baseline operators but have contrasting approaches defined by their physiological differences. The 6’6 Del Potro has long swings on his groundstrokes and hits the ball as hard as anyone else on tour, constantly probing for a short ball on which to unleash his devastating forehand. Mannarino, 6′ tall with a very slight build, is as pure a counterpuncher as one is likely to see. His abbreviated, minute backswings are almost comical to the eye, giving the impression of a louche, very Gallic indifference.

The lower ranked Mannarino was able to take a set off the 2009 US Open champ and competed well throughout, using his compact groundstrokes to redirect Del Potro’s typically  fierce but central groundstrokes, totally catching the Argentine off guard. Ultimately though Del Potro was too good for his opponent and prevailed in just under three hours.

Moving on to the second round, Stanislas Wawrinka overcame Marcos Baghdatis in an entertaining encounter, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6, 6-4 . Wawrinka deserved the victory – he was the more aggressive of the two, taking up a more offensive position on the baseline and seizing the initiative in rallies with his spectacular backhand down the line. His opponent was curiously feeble in his resistance, only showing fighting spirit when faced with the almighty challenge of demolishing four of his rackets in succession.

For Baghdatis to lose in such passive fashion would have been almost unthinkable five years ago. The Cypriot established himself as one of the game’s most exciting talents when he reached the final of the 2006 Australian Open where he took the first set of Federer and looked like the more likely winner until his inexperience caught up to him. He missed much of the 2008 season with injury and truthfully has never looked the same player. The injury seems to have had just as much a mental effect as it has had physical. He is far more risk-averse now; while he still hits one of the cleanest balls on the tour, he is no longer the unpredicable, gung-ho player who struck fear into his opponens with a sudden, unexpected injection of pace. He now appears more conservative and consistent, happy to play extended rallies further back in the court. It’s unfortunate that he has spent so long injured, as he is far less effective playing this new, patient game – his athletic prowess is falls considerably short of his natural talent on a tennis court, and against a powerful and experienced opponent like Wawrinka his limitations will always be exposed when he is playing defense and not taking the initiative in rallies.

Lastly, in tragic news, TennisNiche golden boy David Nalbandian fell to serving god John Isner in a Eurpidic encounter,  the American winning 10-8 in the final set. With Isner serving at 8-8 in the fifth set, Nalbandian suffered from the fatal mixture of inopportune lapses of concentration combined with bad fortune, which could be said rather neatly symbolises his career. Firstly, Nalbandian squandered two break points with backhand unforced errors. Widely considered to be one of the greatest backhands of the past ten years, it is perplexing how he could miss two of these, particularly as his 6’10 opponent is not quick at the best of times, even more so when he is cramping after four hours of play. This was followed by the classic Nalbandian screw job, in which the umpire absurdly did not allow Nalbandian to challenge a dubious ace down the middle by Isner, as he felt the Argentine had taken too long to challenge (in reality, the serve was originally called out and the umpire overruled. Nalbandian went to look at the mark, asked confusedly whether the serve was called in or not, by which time the umpire had decided that the time for a challenge had gone).

The sentient being which is TennisNiche would verbally dismantle this petulant umpire right here and now, were it not for the fact that it has been programmed as an omniscient and benevolent artificial intelligence designed to educate the wider tennis world on the perils of an ATP Tour dominated by generic baseline clones who hit drop volleys with full-western grips. So, the last word will be left the the blonde haired, rally team owning David Nalbandian:

“I asked for Hawk-Eye as he made an overrule. I say ‘okay, I see the mark, I challenge’ – not a big deal, but he didn’t want to do it,” said Nalbandian. “How many times do we check the mark and ask for Hawk-Eye?

“So somebody from the umpires or ATP can explain this situation. I mean, what is this? This is a grand slam. I haven’t seen the video but I don’t think it was too late to call. John said, ‘yeah, ask’.

“It’s ridiculous playing this kind of tournament with this kind of umpire. Eight-all, break point. Can you be that stupid to do that in that moment? What does the umpire need? Press, the name, his picture [in the paper] tomorrow? Incredible.”

– TN

Australian Open 2012: First Day Results Round Up

Posted: January 16, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Australian Open, Results Round-Up | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A brief look at what happened on the men’s side of the Australian Open last night:

Rafael Nadal defeated Alex Kuznetsov but announced in his press conference immediately after that he was considering pulling out of the whole tournament after an injury scare which he said caused the worst feeling he has ever had in his knee. Fortunately the Spaniard slept on the decision and then easily dispatched the world no. 167 Kuznetsov in a straightforward 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 encounter

Donald Young triumphed in a bizarre five set encounter against Peter Gojowczyk, 6-1, 6-2, 4-6, 1-6, 6-2. Gojowczyk led 2-0 in the last set before his form totally collapsed, collecting a mighty four points in the final six games. Unfortunate recipient of futile British hopes James Ward put in a mammoth effort to wrestle eleven games from Slovenian clay-merchant Blaz Kavcic.

Two exciting young talents scraped through in five sets, with Grigor Dimitrov overcoming the erratic big-hitting Jeremy Chardy 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, while the great white hope of Austrlian tennis Bernard Tomic came back from a two set deficit against notorious headcase Fernando Verdasco.

Former Australian Open semi finalist Nikolay Davydenko crashed out to Italian Flavio Cipolla. Formerly a regular of the top ten, Davydenko’s form has tailed off badly after sustaining a wrist injury in 2010, his ranking now lying way down at 52.

Meanwhile, talented shotmaker Alexander Dolgopolov won from two sets down against Greg Jones. Dolgopolov produced his usual mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly to overcome the Aussie wildcard recipient Jones 1-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.

Barrel-chested Argentine hero David Nalbandian was the fortunate beneficiary of a Jarkko Niemenen abdominal injury which forced the Finn to return 2-4 down in the second set, having lost the first 6-4.

Roger Federer breezed through in typical first-round fashion, defeating Alexandre Kudryavtsev 7-5, 6-2, 6-2. Sergiy Stakhovsky beat Ilia Marchenko 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in an all-Ukranian clash.

Video of the Week: Tim Henman vs Juan Ignacio Chela @ Roland Garros 2004 Quarter Final

Posted: January 15, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Video of the Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

This edition of Video of the Week takes us back to the 2004 French Open, and a very peculiar Quarter Final featuring Tin Henman and Juan Ignacio Chela, two players who had never previously gone beyond the third round at Roland Garros.

Both men exceeded expectations by reaching the second week of the French Open. Henman was certainly not out of place in a the draw of a Grand Slam quarter-final – he had been to the semis at Wimbledon four times and was unlucky not to reach the final – he was, though, a grass court specialist who struggled with the movement on clay and had never showed signs of adapting his serve and volley game to the surface. Chela is perhaps less of a surprise to see at this stage of Roland Garros; clay is his favourite surface and this his best Grand Slam, and with a fortunate draw he was able to make the second week. The surprise factor comes simply as he is a limited player, a journeyman who never really threatened the top rank of players and lacked the flourish of even a Henman – calibre player.

Onto the encounter itself, a convincing 6-2 6-4 6-4 victory for Henman. He routed Chela thoroughly, outplaying him both at the net and at the baseline. Henman was at the very pinnacle of his game; the volleys were outstandingly crisp and accurate, his groundstrokes deep and consistent and even the passing shots were on form.

Most of all Henman played an intelligent match. He took advantage of the movement problems associated with clay by constantly wrong footing Chela with drop volleys and short slices – he cleverly brought Chela outside of his comfort zone at the baseline and passed him at the net with surprising ease.

-TN

Player Profile: Nikolay Davydenko & Fernando Verdasco

Posted: January 9, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Australian Open, Match Reports, Player Profiles | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

This post focuses on an encounter between diminutive Ukrainian Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco, and is complete with a beautifully crisp HD highlights video.

Such a contest between two of the most exciting and talented baseliners in the game presents a perfect opportunity to analyse each players game and describe what makes each man so good at dominating from the back of the court.

As such, it will break down their games into the following categories: Serve, Volley, Forehand, Backhand, Movement and Return of Serve.

(The match took place at the 4th Round of the 2010 Australian Open with Davydenko winning 6-2 7-5 4-6 6-7 6-3)

Serve

Verdasco has a good service action and a very ‘live’ arm which results in excellent snap upon pronation of the forearm. He has hit serves up to 140 Mph and can also generate great spin.

However as shocking as it may sound for a top 10 player, Verdasco has never managed to master the ball toss. His toss is extremely inconsistent owing to the fact he doesn’t keep a rigid, linear movement with his right throwing arm and thus the ball often travels too far behind his head. This leads to frequent double faults and he hit no less than twenty in this match alone. With a consistent ball toss (and perhaps a brain transplant for Mr. Verdasco himself), his serve would be a serious weapon.

Davydenko has had his own share of serving problems. No stranger to fits of double faulting, he has improved his serve immensely, cutting down on double faults and vastly increasing the pace on his first delivery. Nonetheless, he tends to takes a percentage approach to serving, often going for a safer first delivery in order to protect his weaker second serve. Where stronger servers will aim for the corners with a 130mph+ delivery, Davydenko will (unless his confidence is high) go for a 90% pace first serve hit with moderate spin to his opponents weaker wing in order to maintain a high first serve percentage.
Volley

Not a great deal to comment upon here. Verdasco is extremely limited at the net, both in volleying technique and knowledge of how to approach the net (see 06:10 for a particularly bad approach shot). He generally will only move forward only if lured in by a drop shot or if his opponent is dragged so far off the court that they can only hit a floated lob in response.

Davydenko has improved vastly, to the point where he has been able to consistently hit winning drop volleys against Nadal, widely recognised as one of the best players in the world at passing shots. Like many of his generation, he is better on the backhand side than forehand and lacks the ability to punch the volley, instead relying almost exclusively on drive and drop volleys.

Movement

Davydenko is one of the most efficient movers on the tour. His strategy is to always take the initiative in rallies and so likes to stand right on the baseline, only retreating behind it after he has been forced to hit a weak, defensive shot.  The downside of assuming such an offensive position is that he has little time to react to the opponents shot. To balance this, he has developed infallible footwork to complement his natural agility and footspeed. This ensures he is always on balance and set up properly to take the ball on the rise. This in turn takes time away from his opponent and means he is rarely on the defense – however when he is forced into chasing down balls he is more than capable, both with passing shots and defensive slices (See 5:05 for a ridiculous winner hit on the run).

Verdasco has improved on this aspect during the off season of 2009-2010, but at times still appears sluggish around the court. He has developed a strong, muscular build but is not naturally an explosive athlete and his movement suffers for this. When pulled out wide into a defensive position he tends to simply pull the trigger in an all-or-nothing fashion, especially so on the forehand side – a spectacular, rally-ending shot he pulls off with surprising frequency. Quite mediocre when forced to stretch on his backhand side, particularly when hitting a passing shot off-balance.

Forehand

Davydenko’s forehand is beautiful in its simplicity. The short take back, moderate grip and absolute adherance to textbook form enables him to maximise his exceptional hand-eye co ordination. He is able to take the ball extremely early and hit cross court or down the line with equal ease, but it perhaps lacks one exceptional attribute; he does not have the power of a Berdych, the spin of a Nadal or the and variety of a Federer. Overall it is probably an inferior shot to his backhand.

Verdasco’s forehand has received much praise, and rightly so. It is a beautiful shot which is no less effective than it is aesthetically pleasing. His full western grip allows him to rally with a low-risk, heavily spun forehand which pushes his opponent back and sets up his devastating, point-ending flat forehand. He can also hit extraordinary angles with it it, making it one of the best forehands on tour, and one area in which he has a decided advantage over Davydenko.

Backhand

A victory for Davydenko.

Verdasco’s backhand is rarely a weapon as he simply is too sluggish in his preparation. Two handed backhands tend to be quite flat hits compared to the one handed variety, but Verdasco actually brushes up on the ball and has a more Nadal-esque follow through. Similar to his Spanish compatriot, his backhand usually functions simply as a shot to set up his forehand, but can pummel it when really in the mood. Even so, he will always need time to set up when going down the line.

Davydenko hits a far flatter backhand, with a short and confident backswing. The result is that he is able to take the ball earlier, hit harder and has more possibility to change the direction of the ball (something Verdasco struggles with). He has a devastating cross court backhand which has tormented Nadal in their hard court meetings, and an equally punishing down the line backhand. While perfectly capable of hitting acute angles, he doesn’t tend to do so unless provoked by his opponent with angle of their own.

Return of Serve

On second serve, Davydenko is one of the best in the world at punishing weak deliveries. Verdasco can be devastating when he chooses to run around his backhand and crack a forehand but is not active enough in doing so.

Davydenko is also the superior returner of first serves owing to his superior reaction speed and shorter take backs, despite having a smaller wingspan than the taller Verdasco.

–TN

Video of the Week: Agassi vs Sampras 1991

Posted: January 6, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Video of the Week | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This edition of Video of the Week features a classic match between the two most iconic players of the 1990s, Pete Sampras and Andrea Agassi. Fast courts, contrasting styles of play, a best of five set format in the final and a title with real prestige – precisely what the End of Year Masters lacks as of late. 

Sampras won 6-3 1-6 6-3 in an outstanding match between two of the most gifted players to ever grace a tennis court. Notable in the 13 minute highlights are: Sampras’ brute sledgehammer of a forehand which both set up his net approaches perfectly and was probably the greatest running forehand ever – nothing more than a flick of that huge forearm and the ball would inevitably rocket into the corner; Agassi’s surreal, video game-esque returning of the legendary  Sampras serve (see 0:58, 02:12, 02:17, 03:55 and 04:05); and Agassi’s backhand, a contender for the greatest backhand of all time, which he hit with particular venom both down the line and as a passing shot – it is scary to consider that his backhand was this good when his forehand was considered to be his biggest weapon!

Most astounding about Agassi is that he won all four grand slams in an era of diverse surfaces where to win on grass, clay and hard court logically necessitated a variety of skills and attributes particular to each surface – Agassi ignored this and played the same brand of tennis no matter where, relying solely on his groundstroke ability. He did so despite having poor volleys, being a mediocre athlete and lacking a strong serve. To achieve the career grand slam in face of such deficiencies is testament to his pure quality of groundstroke and absurd hand eye co ordination – probably the greatest combination of the two in recent history.

Sampras if anything was even more gifted. Taking height into account, he possessed arguably the greatest serve of all time, a beautifully languid motion executed with the most fantastically elastic and strong right arm. He combined this devastating serve with great volleys (he had perhaps the best semi-volleys among his generation) which made his service games fly by, merely routine affairs against all but the best opposition. More so, players who possess such enormous offensive capabilities tend to lack the inverse defensive tools. Not so with Sampras, an athletic specimen who moved with the acceleration and ferocity of a panther both when called to defend at the baseline and when stretching for a volley at the net. 

Testament to the quality of the match, midway through the third set, Agassi had 12 errors, Sampras a paltry 10 – they just don’t make em like this anymore!

– TN

Player Profile: The Curious Case of Bernard Tomic

Posted: January 4, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Player Profiles | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The typically suave Australian teenager Bernard Tomic begins his ball toss at the 2011 Australian Open

In an era of tennis characterised by ever homogenising court surfaces, a static top ten and a rather tedious prevalence of baseline play, the sport is crying out for a top player to emerge who plays with something approaching flair, ingenuity and flamboyance. Roger Federer epitomizes these qualities but is nearing his thirties and has his best days behind him, while Andy Murray possesses the tools to play both a varied baseline game and to effectively finish points at the net, but lacks the mental intangibles to fully utilise his abilities on the biggest stage.

Going through the current ATP top 30 makes depressing reading – the vast majority of players have solid two handed backhands, possess excellent lateral movement and defense (those who move sluggishly tend to compensate with a cannon of a serve – read, John Isner, Andy Roddick) but move towards the net with a great reluctance and lack both volleying technique and the awareness of how to cut off angles for passing shots.

Tomic, not unlike fellow counter-puncher and strategist Andy Murray, does not suffer for lack of natural talent or variety in his game. On the surface his style has some facets which are symptomatic of the generic modern game – a two handed backhand, excellent defensive anticipation and a inclination toward prolonged baseline points. What separates Tomic from this group is his unique technique and tactical variety. His languid, relaxed style on the forehand and his willingness to hit a series of slow, floated slices followed by a flat, risky forehand are among the facets which mark him as a potential saviour from a future tennis scene dominated by those with great consistency and athletic talents but scant in the way of court craft or ingenuity (think along the lines of Viktor Troicki).

Strengths & Weaknesses

Tomic’s unusual forehand technique is perhaps the most notable of his traits. One feature of modern tennis is a progression of players hitting with greater amounts of topspin, especially on the forehand. Most players now employ a  semi western or full western grip on their forehand and follow through on the shot with a high finish (occasionally, like Nadal, with a lasso style above-the-head finish), both of which combine to produce maximum topspin.

Tomic’s forehand does not conform to the modern standard, but is not exactly a traditional stroke either. He has a moderate semi-western grip, a short take back and a fairly lateral motion throughout the swing, as opposed to a low-to-high finish. Consequently, Tomic’s forehand is concurrently a strength and a weakness. As a more conservative rallying shot it is vulnerable to falling short and inviting pressure from the opponent, but equally when he decides to go for a flat hit, can act as a deadly and unexpected weapon (crucially, owing to his technique, Tomic can vary the pace on his forehand without changing the take back on his swing).

Tomic possesses other weapons which are a rarity on the tour today; an almost insultingly effortless slice backhand which he can skim low over the net cross-court or just as easily hit down the line with vicious side-spin, producing both shots with the kind of grace which makes a mockery of Nadal and Djokovic’s muscling of the ball; a beautiful feel on both sides, particularly for drop shots; solid, textbook volleying technique; a good return of serve aided by a short take back on both forehand and backhand; a good service action which, although has ample room for improvement, produces a pacey and dangerous first serve; the ability to change direction of the ball with ease; and a great spatial awareness on the court which helps to compensate for his lack of foot speed and aides his already intelligent shot selection.

While it may seem harsh to point out flaws while he is still so young, there are obviously areas for improvement in Tomic’s game. Besides the aforementioned weakness in his rallying forehand, he also needs work on his second serve, which unfortunately resembles too much that of Murray’s (slow, lacking kick and easily attackable). Some have placed question marks over his attitude, pointing out his occasional arrogant off-court statements and seemingly indifferent attitude on the court. While clearly he hasn’t fully developed physically, at present he certainly fits into the ‘lanky’ category, and his rather anaemic movement around the court reflects this (although some connect this to the aforementioned indifference on court).

Predictions

  • Tomic will be a top 5 player and a grand slam contender within the next three years; TennisNiche predicts multiple grand slam titles and the no. 1 spot but this is heavily dependant on how Tomic’s character develops and whether he can stay injury free.
  • As for 2012, TennisNiche will go out on a limb and predict the following:
  • 1 Grand Slam semi-final (Wimbledon or the US Open) and one 4th round. An early exit at Roland Garros seems a near certainty owing to his lack of wins on clay at the professional level.
  • 1 Masters Series final (probably later in the year, at Shanghai or Paris), and one semi-final.
  • 1 victory over the ‘top 4’ of Federer/ Nadal/ Djokovic/ Murray in a best of 3 format.

-TN

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