Interesting analysis. Thank you. It was fascinating to watch Raducanu vs Kovinic in the second round of the AO. In the second set, Raducanu completely dominated Kovinic, who had no answer to Raducanu's sliced forehand. Radders was unable to use her favourite topspin forehand due to blisters, after coming back from a Covid-induced layoff, so resorted to a forehand slice. Obviously this didn't put pressure on a tender spot, because she uses the slice so infrequently in practice!
As the match went on, the medic tried a new bandage, which gave some protection to the topspin forehand, and Radders returned to using it. This was a mistake, in my opinion. If she had persevered with the slice, saving the forehand for occasional winners, she might well have won that match, as Kovinic was bamboozled by it. We know Radders is good at learning on the run. But this time, she simply couldn't let go of her familiar topspin forehand.
I would love to see her develop the slice as a weapon. But I don't think coach Beltz is bold enough to experiment with it this early in her career. It would actually be the perfect time to learn this shot, if her profile wasn't so high.
How come the slice is so underused at pro level? Can't even think of many players that can really punish you for it (outside Nadal, I don't understand how he does it, if I try to attack a slice in that manner I usually brush it too vertically and end up framing it).
It's a bit different for the men's and women's tour because the competitive landscapes are different. But I do think the shot is probably slightly underused on both tours, for slightly different but still related reasons, partially just because the training of it became slightly deprioritised by many of the more popular coaching methodologies over the past 20 years.
Thanks. Really enjoy some WTA analysis. The slice complements her forehand so well - it's hard to reliably attack off a good slice, so normally her opponent will give her something low which she can hit a topspin FH off. Sometimes you see players use the slice for variation's sake rather than to look for a particular opportunity to attack (nothing wrong with that but not as deadly or critical to rally patterns). The obvious weakness for a player who mostly slices would be a good approach shot and net attack, forcing a driven backhand - but net attacks don't seem to be too common in the women's game right now. Although Muchova did come to the net 32 times in 155 points when beating Barty at last year's Australian Open (https://www.tennisabstract.com/charting/20210217-W-Australian_Open-QF-Ashleigh_Barty-Karolina_Muchova.html).
Interesting analysis. Thank you. It was fascinating to watch Raducanu vs Kovinic in the second round of the AO. In the second set, Raducanu completely dominated Kovinic, who had no answer to Raducanu's sliced forehand. Radders was unable to use her favourite topspin forehand due to blisters, after coming back from a Covid-induced layoff, so resorted to a forehand slice. Obviously this didn't put pressure on a tender spot, because she uses the slice so infrequently in practice!
As the match went on, the medic tried a new bandage, which gave some protection to the topspin forehand, and Radders returned to using it. This was a mistake, in my opinion. If she had persevered with the slice, saving the forehand for occasional winners, she might well have won that match, as Kovinic was bamboozled by it. We know Radders is good at learning on the run. But this time, she simply couldn't let go of her familiar topspin forehand.
I would love to see her develop the slice as a weapon. But I don't think coach Beltz is bold enough to experiment with it this early in her career. It would actually be the perfect time to learn this shot, if her profile wasn't so high.
How come the slice is so underused at pro level? Can't even think of many players that can really punish you for it (outside Nadal, I don't understand how he does it, if I try to attack a slice in that manner I usually brush it too vertically and end up framing it).
It's a bit different for the men's and women's tour because the competitive landscapes are different. But I do think the shot is probably slightly underused on both tours, for slightly different but still related reasons, partially just because the training of it became slightly deprioritised by many of the more popular coaching methodologies over the past 20 years.
Thanks. Really enjoy some WTA analysis. The slice complements her forehand so well - it's hard to reliably attack off a good slice, so normally her opponent will give her something low which she can hit a topspin FH off. Sometimes you see players use the slice for variation's sake rather than to look for a particular opportunity to attack (nothing wrong with that but not as deadly or critical to rally patterns). The obvious weakness for a player who mostly slices would be a good approach shot and net attack, forcing a driven backhand - but net attacks don't seem to be too common in the women's game right now. Although Muchova did come to the net 32 times in 155 points when beating Barty at last year's Australian Open (https://www.tennisabstract.com/charting/20210217-W-Australian_Open-QF-Ashleigh_Barty-Karolina_Muchova.html).