Keep shamelessly bragging! I said earlier in the season I was reserving judgement on Carlos 1) because of the hype and 2) I wanted to see his game off clay. This shows me his game is made for hard courts, for all the reasons you give. Tremendous fast ball. But, what happened to the Stef serve? The Stef confidence? The Stef aggression. His court positioning alone gave so much away. He’s not my fav but I hope he bounces back m, altho I still dislike the off balance service action ……… which no one except Mert and I talk about :)
Hi Matt, fantastic analysis as always, and what a match! You have every right to brag by the way about calling all these developments on the tour before they actually happen :-)
My question is about it being harder to defend on the backhand wing with a 1HBH. This seems like a pretty big "hole" to have in one's game, and so how does one cover it--with better technique or a combination of smarter point construction, relying more on offense and other tactical adjustments? In your opinion is there something Tsitsipas can learn from the defensive games of other great 1HBH-ers Thiem, Wawrinka, and of course Federer? Thanks!
The best defensive one handers have one of two things traditionally. Either they're extremely strong around the chest and shoulders like Wawrinka and can hit powerful backhands from well deep in the court and from up around their shoulder height, or they're like Federer and they have wonderful defensive slice backhands to reset points. Or ideally, a mix of the two. Some of the modern single handers, Thiem, Tsitsipas etc didn't actually start their career with particularly good slices, although Thiem's has come a long way. Tsitsipas' slice may never be particularly natural given a few technique issues and the likelihood that his drive backhand was always so good, and because he grew up on clay where slice is needed less often, that this may always be a hole in his hard and grass court game. But in the pro column for Thiem and Tsitsipas, both defend quite well open stance out of their backhand corner.
I only made it home for fifth set but what a set! The confidence of Alcaraz and his ability to hit the forehand and backhand dtl and cross-court and to flatten out both was so impressive. It's been a great us open so far, hope it continues.
Keep shamelessly bragging! I said earlier in the season I was reserving judgement on Carlos 1) because of the hype and 2) I wanted to see his game off clay. This shows me his game is made for hard courts, for all the reasons you give. Tremendous fast ball. But, what happened to the Stef serve? The Stef confidence? The Stef aggression. His court positioning alone gave so much away. He’s not my fav but I hope he bounces back m, altho I still dislike the off balance service action ……… which no one except Mert and I talk about :)
Think Stef is still a bit burned out post-RG really. Hasn't looked the same player since! And agree on the service falling motion.
Hi Matt, fantastic analysis as always, and what a match! You have every right to brag by the way about calling all these developments on the tour before they actually happen :-)
My question is about it being harder to defend on the backhand wing with a 1HBH. This seems like a pretty big "hole" to have in one's game, and so how does one cover it--with better technique or a combination of smarter point construction, relying more on offense and other tactical adjustments? In your opinion is there something Tsitsipas can learn from the defensive games of other great 1HBH-ers Thiem, Wawrinka, and of course Federer? Thanks!
The best defensive one handers have one of two things traditionally. Either they're extremely strong around the chest and shoulders like Wawrinka and can hit powerful backhands from well deep in the court and from up around their shoulder height, or they're like Federer and they have wonderful defensive slice backhands to reset points. Or ideally, a mix of the two. Some of the modern single handers, Thiem, Tsitsipas etc didn't actually start their career with particularly good slices, although Thiem's has come a long way. Tsitsipas' slice may never be particularly natural given a few technique issues and the likelihood that his drive backhand was always so good, and because he grew up on clay where slice is needed less often, that this may always be a hole in his hard and grass court game. But in the pro column for Thiem and Tsitsipas, both defend quite well open stance out of their backhand corner.
I only made it home for fifth set but what a set! The confidence of Alcaraz and his ability to hit the forehand and backhand dtl and cross-court and to flatten out both was so impressive. It's been a great us open so far, hope it continues.