Djokovic In Crisis – Physical Or Mental?
Alessandro Mastroluca Novak Djokovic is in crisis. While many pundits have danced around that word for many months now, preferring to use euphemisms such as “rough patch” or “difficult period,” we can no longer call what he is experiencing anything other than a crisis. Indeed, for nearly a full year now, Djokovic has played well below the level his fans have come to expect from him. After winning the French Open last year, it looked as if he would cruise to the calendar Grand Slam, even further strengthening his hold on the world number one position. Instead, he went into an extended period of decline, losing his world number one ranking and rarely reaching the latter stages of big events. So far has his form fallen that he is currently 17th in the Race Rankings, which only take into accounts point accumulate in the current year. Ahead of him in
these rankings? The likes of Pablo Cuevas and Jack Sock. Of course, much has been said about Djokovicʼs struggles, with just about every tennis fan on Earth having a theory of their own. We do know for sure that the Serb had some personal problems towards the middle of last year, as he has admitted as much. Exactly what the problems were and when (or even if) they were resolved is unclear. While this may go some way to explaining the crisis, it is unlikely to be the only reason for it. Djokovic has even gone so far as to change his training methods, which certainly has nothing to do
with his personal life, and likely indicates that he himself doesnʼt quite know how to fix what is wrong. Boris Becker, who coached Djokovic from 2014 to 2016, has also revealed that his former pupil did not train as well as he should have after Roland Garros last year. But is his problem purely a mental one? Diving into his statistics could possibly provide us with some answers. Firstly, let us look at his performance in the final set of matches. In 2016, he won 9 out of 10 matches in which he was pushed to a decisive set, with his only loss coming against Jiri Vesely in Monte Carlo. This season, however, he has already lost two matches
that went the distance, alongside 8 victories. So even though he is still winning the majority of these matches, the fact that he is being pushed to a deciding set so often is definitely worrying. NoleĘźs problems in the fifth set certainly have a mental component to them, but he is physically struggling as well. The incredible defense that has become his hallmark over the past decade is now rarely seen, and he doesnĘźt manage to chase down nearly as many balls as he used to a year ago. His return has also let him down this season, and far from being his go-to
weapon, now it is at times bordering on a liability. Another sign of his physical issues can be seen in the two losses he has suffered when forced into a deciding set. Both those matches were tough, long, physical encounters, the first against Denis Istomin at the Australian Open and the second against David Goffin in Monte Carlo. When pushed to the limit this year he has hit a wall of fatigue, something that was unthinkable not too long ago.
negatively from a physical perspective, which has impacted his game on the court. Not being able to rely on his physical dominance has probably also caused him some mental distress. To be sure, he can still call upon his mental and physical talents to bail him out of tough spots on most days, but when it comes to the very highest level of play against the very best opponents, his body and his mind are letting him down.
It seems likely that whatever personal problems Djokovic had last year led, perhaps indirectly, to him changing his training regimen. This has in turn affected him
So what does Nole have to do to fix this? ItĘźs hard to say for sure, but the physical component is likely the most difficult to address. His psychological situation
can change relatively quickly, if he can catch a lucky break here and there and regain some confidence. To regain his physical peak will be more difficult and take more time, especially given that he has parted ways with the coaching team that saw him to those physical
heights. The final component is motivation. DjokovicĘźs personal life has change a lot over the past few years, and some have openly questioned how important tennis is to him at present. Does it still occupy the top of
his list of priorities? Most likely not. The question is whether he can still play at a high level with so many distractions vying for his attention.
Nadal By The Numbers His season so far Marco Di Nardo
If you showed someone the results of the tournaments played so far in 2017, and asked them what year the results were from, there is little doubt their guess would be off by about a decade. Roger Federer winning the Australian Open, and then Indian Wells and Miami to boot? Murray and Djokovic not even
making it to the final of any of those events? Why, this must be 2007! Indeed, the time machine theory only seems more plausible when we add Rafael NadalĘźs results on clay so far. Monte Carlo? Check. Barcelona? Check. Madrid? Check. Those cannot be results from the last few years, to be sure. Nadal has not played at that level for a long, long time. Yet here he is, not just beating but crushing his opponents on clay, including the likes of Novak Djokovic. ItĘźs true that a year ago, Nadal was showing some signs of his
former self on the clay, following successes in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. But a subsequent injury forced him to withdraw from Roland Garros, and the rest of the season was essentially a write-off, with the Spaniard posting no encouraging results. That is why his renaissance this year has been so surprising. While many expected him to play a bit better than last year, nobody expected this. Indeed, Nadal is playing as well now as he has in many a year, and the incredible statistics that follow confirm that
from Monte Carlo to Madrid, he is a perfect 15 for 15 in terms of winning the first set, and he has not lost a single match during that time. Nadal has a career record of 739 wins and 42 defeats (94.6%) after winning the first set. He is behind only Novak Djokovic and Bjorn Borg in this statistic (counting only the Open Era).
Success rate notion.
After winning the first set
Good players generally have good records in matches where they manage to win the first set, and Nadal has throughout his career, with the exception of the last few years, been no exception. 2017 has been particularly kind to the Spaniard in this regard. After his loss to Milos Raonic in Brisbane, the first tournament of the season, Nadal has not lost a match after taking the first set. In such encounters, he is now 31-1 on the season. In the clay court stretch
NadalĘźs match win percentage for 2017 is a perfectly respectable 87.2%, which translates to a record of 34-5. Roger Federer, with a record of 19-1, has a winning percentage of 95%, though he has played in fewer events than Nadal thanks to his skipping the clay court season. In terms of overall Open Era standings, Nadal is hot on the heels of Novak Djokovic. Nadal is at 82.4% (840-179), while the Serb is at 82.7% (767-160).
Against the Top 10
When it comes to measuring relative performance on the ATP World Tour, few stats mean more than
winning percentage against Top 10 opponents. Indeed, this has been one of NadalĘźs greatest struggles over the past few years, in that he simply could not consistently compete against Top 10 players. That has changed in 2017, however, with the Spaniard winning 7 out of his 10 encounters with Top 10 players. His victory against Djokovic in Madrid was particularly satisfying for the Spaniard, seeing as he had not beaten Djokovic in seven consecutive attempts.
Masters 1000
Another area where Nadal has excelled this year is in Masters 1000 events. The Majorcan has won 17 of his 19 matches in those tournaments, losing only to Roger Federer at Indian Wells and Miami. With wins in Monte Carlo and Madrid, he now has a total of 30 titles, equaling DjokovicĘźs number. With the very real prospect of success in Rome as well, he could very well reclaim the crown as the most successful Masters 1000 player ever.
In the final set
Keeping a cool head in the final set of a match is a major test of mental strength and self-confidence. With NadalĘźs struggles over the past few seasons, he has struggled to assert himself when a match went the distance. But in 2017 this, too, has changed. At the Australian Open, he won two out of his three matches that went to five sets, and very nearly won the final as well. In other events, he has won five matches that went to five sets, and lost just two. In Masters 1000, his record is even more impressive, having won all his three-set matches (against Philipp Kohlschreiber in Miami, Kyle Edmund at Monte-Carlo and Fabio Fognini in Madrid). With numbers like these, and with Federer taking an extended holiday, the Tour seems to be NadalĘźs playground. It appears unlikely that anyone will be able to challenge him at the French Open, and with him already leading the Race to London rankings, there is every possibility that he will further extend that lead and end the year as world number one. That is definitely not a position that anyone envisioned for him as recently as a few weeks ago.
Djokovic In Crisis – Physical Or Mental? Marco Di Nardo
Novak Djokovic is in crisis. While many pundits have danced around that word for many months now, preferring to use euphemisms such as “rough patch” or “difficult period,” we can no longer call what he is experiencing anything other than a crisis. Indeed, for nearly a full year now, Djokovic has played well below the level his fans have come to expect from him. After winning the French Open last year, it looked as if he would cruise to the calendar Grand Slam, even further strengthening his hold on the world number one position. Instead, he went into an extended period of decline, losing his world number one ranking and rarely reaching the latter stages of big events. So far has his form fallen that he is currently 17th in the Race Rankings, which only take into accounts point accumulate in the current year. Ahead of him in these rankings? The likes of Pablo Cuevas and Jack Sock. Of course, much has been said about Djokovicʼs struggles, with just about every tennis fan on Earth having a theory of their own. We do know for sure that the Serb had some personal problems towards the middle of last year, as he has admitted as much. Exactly what the problems were and when (or even if) they were resolved is unclear. While this may go some way to explaining the crisis, it is unlikely to be the only reason for it. Djokovic has even gone so far as to change his training methods, which certainly has nothing to do with his personal life, and likely indicates that he himself doesnʼt quite know how to fix what is wrong. Boris Becker, who coached Djokovic from 2014 to 2016, has also revealed that his former pupil did not train
as well as he should have after Roland Garros last year. But is his problem purely a mental one? Diving into his statistics could possibly provide us with some answers. Firstly, let us look at his performance in the final set of matches. In 2016, he won 9 out of 10 matches in which he was pushed to a decisive set, with his only loss coming against Jiri Vesely in Monte Carlo. This season, however, he has already lost two matches that went the distance, alongside 8 victories. So even though he is still winning the majority of these matches, the fact that he is being pushed to a deciding set so often is definitely worrying. Noleʼs problems in the fifth set certainly have a mental component to them, but he is physically struggling as well. The incredible defense that has become his hallmark over the past decade is now rarely seen, and he doesnʼt manage to chase down nearly as many balls as he used to a year ago. His return has also let
him down this season, and far from being his go-to weapon, now it is at times bordering on a liability. Another sign of his physical issues can be seen in the two losses he has suffered when forced into a deciding set. Both those matches were tough, long, physical encounters, the first against Denis Istomin at the Australian Open and the second against David Goffin in Monte Carlo. When pushed to the limit this year he has hit a wall of fatigue, something that was unthinkable not too long ago. It seems likely that whatever personal problems Djokovic had last year led, perhaps indirectly, to him changing his training regimen. This has in turn affected him negatively from a physical perspective, which has impacted his game on the court. Not being able to rely on his physical dominance has probably also caused him some mental distress. To be sure, he can still call upon his mental and physical talents to bail him out of tough
spots on most days, but when it comes to the very highest level of play against the very best opponents, his body and his mind are letting him down. So what does Nole have to do to fix this? ItĘźs hard to say for sure, but the physical component is likely the most difficult to address. His psychological situation can change relatively quickly, if he can catch a lucky break here and there and regain some confidence. To regain his physical peak will be more difficult and take more time, especially given that he has parted ways with the coaching team that saw him to those physical heights. The final component is motivation. DjokovicĘźs personal life has change a lot over the past few years, and some have openly questioned how important tennis is to him at present. Does it still occupy the top of his list of priorities? Most likely not. The question is whether he can still play at a high level with so many distractions vying for his attention.
The amazing story of Roger Federerʼs banner! Akshay
There are so many adjectives that can be used to describe Roger Federer. The record breaking, 18 times Grand Slam winner, most likely on his way to a 19th Major title, Federer is respected and revered by his fans and followers and is considered the God of tennis quite justifiably so. His demeanor on court and flawlessness while smashing winners and shooting aces do not in any way make him an immortal that cannot be annihilated even by the most powerful of opponents with even the most formidable serves.
Be it the Swiss maestro Roger Federerʼs dominant years on the ATP Tour from 2003-12 to his many struggles in 2013, his loyal fans have never left him alone. In fact, thousands of fans chant his name whenever he steps on to the court in his colourful avatar and the look of confidence that he exudes in a different style altogether that describes Roger Federer as the man who will go down in
this sportʼs history as the man to be. How best to immortalize this legend than to wave a banner, big enough to carpet a room and to show the world that you have to be Roger Federer to be ‘Roger Federerʼ. The ‘Genius Bannerʼ as it is known has the words “Shhh!! QUIET! GENIUS AT WORK” inscribed on it and is currently the fourth version of the banner doing its rounds in the spectator stands during Federerʼs matches. This red banner has been designed by fans from all over the world after discussion in a fan forum at rogerfederer.com. The first time the banner saw the light of the day was at the Sony Ericsson Open in 2006 - made of red fabric and white tape which was used for the calligraphy of that revered slogan. The banner is literally like a clothed version of the Olympic torch as over the years it has passed over from the
hands of several fans. A designated group of 15 fans have been entrusted with the responsibility to take care of the massive banner. Wherever Federer goes, the banner follows. At Indian Wells, the person with the responsibility on her shoulders was Kathy Woodward, a freelance writer from Pasadena who recently completed the
task of waving the banner at the tournament this year and had to ship it to France for the European clay-court season. The first edition of the banner was presented to Roger in 2007 at the Miami Open. The second banner made of hemmed fabric and hand painted words was retired at the end of 2009 after it was autographed by several top notch players. At the 2010 Australian Open where Federer won his 16th Grand Slam title, the third banner made its debut and was presented to Roger Federer in 2012. Since 2012 the fourth banner has been traversing the globe and the fans want this banner to last till the Maestro retires and finally make it to the Tennis Hall of Fame or a potential Roger Federer museum in the future. Owing to its massive size, the banner is not allowed at
Wimbledon and the US Open but dedicated as the fans are, they did manage to sneak it into the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York the one time. Where does the slogan inscribed in the banner come from? It was inspired by a 2006 article from the San Diego Tribune after Fedex won the Pacific Life Open in 2006 and since then has travelled more than 17,000 kilometres all around the
world. Roger Federer has even made a scrapbook with pictures of the fans carrying the banner, songs accompanying it and “The Genius Banner Oath” which took 5 months to be compiled by the fans from all over the world featuring in the scrapbook. Several banners have been made for Roger Federer throughout his reign in the tennis world including a banner which says “And God created Roger Federer”. It is not just banners that have been used to show him the love but merchandising all over the world has always played a special role while cheering for the Legend. In 2008, a group of Australian fans even came up with the idea to create the worldʼs first mobile shrine after converting a van - a 1988 Tarago to a ‘Federer Expressʼ to deliver fan mail. The idea was a success with the fans and the media
since its inception. We hope that the Genius who has been busy showing his opponents the door this year since the first tournament of the season continues with his impeccable display of effortless tennis till he betters his own record and that is when everyone will breathe a sigh of relief.
Roger Federer Nick Bollettieri
I have been around tennis for 60 years. I have personally witnessed many of the great tennis players playing in their primes including Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Rafa Nadal, Arthur Ashe, Poncho Gonzalez, Lew Load, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Margaret Court, Maureen Connolly, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Monica Seles, Justine Henin, and others. Among the great’s I have had the privilege of seeing, there is one player that stands out to me both on and off the court, both by his play on the court, by everything he stands up for
off the court, and by his ability to inspire both on and off the court. Why? God has blessed Roger with the talent and the ability to be a role model on and off the court, and Roger has accepted and embraced his position. There are only a few people, and I truly mean only a few, who can win grand slams and masters 1000’s, be a super son, spouse and parent, be a real gentleman, and give back to children in need. Roger has not only been able to do all of this from the time he was in his early 20’s, but even now at the ripe old tennis age of 35, he has continued to win grand slams and masters 1000’s with grace and humility and inspire on and off the court.
Roger has continued to have incredible success on the court because he was open to make changes. It’s not easy for a champion who has already won more grand slam singles titles than anyone in history to make changes to the formula that has proven so successful for him. However, that’s exactly what Roger did. He selected a new racquet with a larger head and larger sweet spot. This helped him handle heavy topspin shots hit to his backhand and has given him easier power for all his shots. He’s also started standing in closer to the baseline taking the ball much earlier. His mentality became much more aggressive whereby he is now always looking for a way to attack the net and finish points at the net. He is a very accurate server and can hit very specific areas of the service box under pressure. His larger racquet has given him easier power while serving without sacrificing accuracy. He has somehow maintained his movement at age 35. He’s still explosive and can move around every inch of the court like a jaguar. His incredible forehand has not lost any of its dominance. His slice backhand and drop shot have become more effective over the years and he knows exactly when to use them. Off the court, Roger has
surrounded himself with people who share his principles, discipline, ideals, and passion for the game. His management team has managed his schedule and activities well so he is not overextended by his tournament schedule or business obligations. Roger has also managed to maintain a happy and healthy family life by making his beautiful family a priority in his life. In addition, Roger is committed to providing educational opportunities to children. He has established the Roger Federer Foundation which provides educational services to hundreds of thousands of children without these opportunities in Africa. As education is the foundation of our world, there can be no greater endeavor than to provide educational opportunities for children who have no such opportunities. Well done, Roger! There are only a few players in the history of tennis that we admire as a role model both on and off the court like Roger Federer.
Maria Sharapova: A tennis fashion icon! Akshay
‘Over the years, I have learned, what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it ‘- Yves Saint Laurent. To achieve something, we need to aim really high, some say aim for the sky and you'll reach the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and you'll stay on the floor. Fashion defines Maria Sharapova, the epitome of fashion in tennis, does justice to this saying very convincingly. Undeniably tennis fashion over the years has come a long way. Mariaʼs feminine natural look on court is always a winner. She loves wearing long earrings on court and is not afraid to push the boundaries when it comes to unique outfits. In a fashion interview she was asked whether she likes being a fashion leader or someone who follows it, she said neither; she does not want to follow or start. Itʼs nice to be unique but she advises
that one should wear what oneʼs comfortable in and not whatʼs trending. Sports stars arenʼt always a natural fit with fashion. Sometimes the collaboration seems to be a forced one or the end product just not deemed fashionable enough. However, when a proven athlete like Maria Sharapova is regarded as a fashion icon, itʼs worth taking a closer look to see what it is thatʼs made people sit up and take notice. Arguably, there is no other player on the WTA tour who embodies the symbiosis between performance and style on court as impressively as Maria. Off the court, Maria has done a number of sports illustrated swimsuit issues; she has been picked as the face of many fashion houses. Sharapova in collaboration with Cole Haan came out with her very own collection of handbags and footwear a few years back. They began with sketches, wood board and inspirations from the tennis star. Maria infused aspects of her playful personality into every detail of the line from the polished buckles of the shoe to the leather wrapped chain straps of the handbags and footwear. Maria on court endorses the
sports megabrand Nike. Her kit includes some very chic skirts, dresses and shoes built for running around on the court. Sharapova has said that she prefers to use neon accent colours in her designs, which is very much in trend nowadays. Mariaʼs personal style is all about pastel colours decked with delicate jewellery. She is also the face of Tag Heuer watches and has appeared in many of their print ads wearing one of their elegant designs. The tennis celebrity has said that she wears the steel and ceramic diamond 32mm model from the Swiss brandʼs line. Maria has also had her fair share of criticism regarding her outfits. In 2008, the 154th ranked Russian Alla Kudryavtseva stated that she beat Maria because of her outfit. The 20 year old candidly spoke of her dislike of Sharapovaʼs fashion sensibility. Perhaps being emulous of her style statement, Kudryavtseva said, “I donʼt like her outfit. Can I put it this way? It was one of my motivations to beat her.” Irrespective of all this, Maria Sharapova is still the one who can raise the temperatures on a tennis court. It is not only her sense and sensibility that volley her into the hearts of many but also her confidence and unassuming nature that set her apart from the other ladies of tennis. With her trademark scream when she smacks the ball, banters with sports media, or her charm persuading us to buy a digital camera, she is the household name of a female athlete to reckon with.
Ethics Vs Aesthetics The Maria Sharapova problem
Alessandro Mastroluca Ethics and aesthetics. Principles and wealth. Opportunity and style. Maria Sharapova divides, polarizes and exasperates in equal measure. Throughout her long career, Sharapova has managed to delight and anger fans around the world. Italians, for example, largely dislike Sharapova at present because she was recently handed a wild card for the
tournament in Rome ahead of local favorite Francesca Schiavone, who is in the final year of her illustrious career. Of course, this situation cannot be blamed entirely on Sharapova. The tournament’s decision was based on its best interests, and its best interests involved an international superstar playing on its courts. Was it entirely ethical? Well, that’s debatable, but aesthetics often trumps ethics in every walk of life, and tennis is no exception. Italian sentiment against Sharapova also took a hit when the Russian beat Roberta Vinci in the first round of the Stuttgart event, which was also her first tournament back after the suspension. There, too, Sharapova was granted a
wild card, a move which was also not without controversy. Unfortunately for Sharapova, who has always had a way of eliciting strong emotions in tennis fans, she is in a tough spot at the moment. If she loses a lot of matches, some people will say that she cannot win without the drug she was banned for  Meldonium. If she wins a lot of matches, many will wonder aloud if she has indeed stopped taking that drug. Perhaps, the argument will go, she is taking something else. An English journalist recently asked Sharapova what drug she is taking instead of Meldonium. After all, she claimed that she was taking it for health reasons. So, if
drugs is the best way to go. That way, she no doubt hopes, the story will eventually die down.
she still has a health condition but can no longer take that drug, she must be taking something else. She was evasive in her answer, and in the end gave none. That’s not entirely unreasonable, given that she has a right to basic privacy, but it is also not a good look. Given what has happened over the past year, she would perhaps have been smart to be more transparent about her situation. Sharapova claims to have communicated with the WTA regarding her current medication situation, and that everything is above board. After all, Sharapova has a business empire to protect, and she no doubt feels that staying as quiet as possible about any and all
Large parts of the tennis world will harbor similar hopes. The WTA is not in great shape, and this year has already been dubbed as “the season without starts” by some cynical fans. It’s hard to argue against such sentiments. Both Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams are away from the sport indefinitely due to pregnancies, and Petra Kvitova is lying low after her terrifying knife attack. Angelique Kerber will no doubt return to the top spot in the rankings and remain there for some time, but given her poor results so far this year, it seems like an empty accomplishment at the moment. So tennis desperately needs Maria Sharapova. She is constantly talked about, whether she is playing or not, but it certainly better for everyone if she is playing and playing well. As Eugenie Bouchard’s recent critical comments reveal, Sharapova will never regain the trust of a certain segment of fans after her suspension. From a business perspective, this doesn’t really matter. Whether people love Sharapova or hate her, they will tune in to root for or against her. The point is that
they are tuning in, which is what matters to the organizers and the WTA. But the ethical issues will no doubt persist. “For the kids, for the young players, it is not OK to help with a wild card the player that was banned for doping,” Simona Halep said of the situation. “It is not about Maria Sharapova here, but it is about all the players that are found doped.” Thanasi Kokkinakis, who knows something about controversy and tennis, has a similar opinion, but is wary of expressing himself due to the criticism one receives from Sharapova’s fans for doing so. “I congratulated Grigor Dimitrov (Sharapova’s exboyfriend) after he had announced that he was dating Nicole Scherzinger”, he said in a recent interview. “But then I had to deal with an army of Maria Sharapova's fans. I don't know the ins and outs of doping, but if you do, maybe you should not get a wild card. I also understand the position of Roland Garros. She is a massive name, who has given much to our sport, so it is natural they want her in their draw.” But while Roland Garros has been receptive to having the Russian compete on a wild card, Wimbledon has been
more ambivalent. With the controversy surrounding the situation, and the tournament’s history, she may very well not receive a wild card there. Given how quickly Sharapova’s ranking is likely to improve in the current months, the wild card issue is likely to soon disappear of its own accord. But until then, it seems as if most tournaments will choose aesthetics and their business interests over murky ethical issues.
Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka: Best Friends Forever in Tennis? Akshay
Making friends when the nature of the sport is so competitive, is almost a troublesome task, one that requires major overlooking of the on-court rivalry and off court gossip. Hence, it has been stated that professionals in the WTA tour find it more difficult than the men in the ATP tour to make an everlasting bond with their female counterparts. A very stand-out example of this is Maria Sharapova, who probably isn't liked all that much by her compatriots. But there are some women in tennis whose friendships have stood the test of time and it is heartening to see that to date, probably barring a few women, their on-court rivalry takes a backseat when it comes to friendship which is regarded above all. Some of these women are: Victoria Azarenka and Alona Bondarenko, Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna Chakvetadze, Sorana Cristea and Ana Ivanovic, etc. Sorana Cristea and Ana Ivanovic: Romanian Sorana Cristea shares a deep bond with the Serbian player Ana Ivanovic. So deep is their friendship that once Cristea said about the two, “We are so similar in everything, now a lot of times, we don’t even have to speak, we know what we are feeling. It’s just so nice to have someone like her on the circuit and just be able to share this time together because we spend so much time at the tournaments. So it’s nice to have someone you can call family.” Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic The fellow Germans and former doubles partners have been good friends for a while now. The fact that the rapport they share with each other has been great from the start allows them to win matches with conviction. In an interview with USA Today in 2013, speaking of the German contingent at the Sony Open, Andrea Petkovic was all praise for her friend.
She said, “Angelique Kerber is a very close friend of mine. She came to practice with me where I was living after she went through a terrible losing streak and then she made the semi-finals of the 2011 US Open. We share a lot of things and it’s really funny because we are such different personalities. Somehow it seems to be functioning well. I’m an extrovert, I just like to go out, be loud, and talk a lot. Angie is a person who holds herself back. It’s good vibrations between us, which is really amazing because we played each other 15-20 times in juniors.” Anna Chakvetadze and her relationship with both Elena Vesnina and Svetlana Kuznetosova. The retired Russian professional tennis player and former World No.5 had a short run in the game. Due to her suffering from bouts of Neurocardiogenic Syncope and a persistent back problem, this top notch player had to retire early, despite that her friendship with fellow Russians whose careers are still very much flourishing unlike Anna’s, has been
very strong. With the social networking sites more often than not buzzing with photos of the three of them together captioned ‘the friends with whom I grew up’ in several tournaments and sometimes at the Fed Cup, the trio with their friendship stand above all the rest.
embarrassing imitations of her, she does admit that the reason why he does them is because she hates them. They have been travelling together since their junior days and try to play together whenever they get time (the two participated in a starstudded line-up at the Hopman Cup in 2013).
Stanislas Wawrinka and Roger Federer The Swiss No.1 and No.2 players, currently, both with the most stylish of single handed backhands share an impeccable friendship with each other despite the competition and rivalry in the game. After Stan’s first ever Grand Slam win, Roger Federer made sure that the congratulations were in order by welcoming him into the elite Grand Slam club.
Andy Murray and Ross Hutchins Amongst the closest friends in the tennis circuit, both members of the Davis Cup team have shared a lovely friendship for the past 16 years. Ross Hutchins’ shock revelation of his Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis sent the tennis fraternity in frenzy but hopes remained high and specially Ross’ best friend Andy, whose prayers needed answering for the well-being of his best friend. After Murray defeated Grigor Dimitrov at the Brisbane International in 2013, he dedicated the victory to his friend. Choked with emotions, Murray said, “You’re going to be okay. You’re going to get through.”
Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic These two fellow Serbians have been friends since they were four. The relationship has been going strong since then. Even though we hear the occasional complaints from Ana regarding Novak’s
Mischa Zverev And The Return Of Serve And Volley
In that match against Murray, Zverev approached the net an astonishing 118 times, winning 55% of the points (65/118). His win percentage from the baseline was considerably lower at 48%, which goes to show which part of the court he is most comfortable with.
"Ah, how I miss the days of serve and volley! Today itʼs all about long rallies.”
In his five matches in Australia, he played a total of 459 points from the baseline, winning 289, while he played just 348 from the baseline, of which he won 169.
Alex Bisi
This is a complaint that many of us have heard one too many times. Nostalgics long for the simpler days when most points were decided in a handful of shots at the most. When tennis was more about touch than power. Well, these romantics now have a new hero in the form of Mischa Zverev.
Of course, now that the tennis season heads to the European clay courts, his style of play will not be as effective as it has been. That being said, itʼs worth noting just how effective he has been this year. It all started with the Australian Open, where Zverev shocked the tennis world by ousting 2016 finalist and world number one Andy Murray.
This good start to the year earned him his best ever ranking on 27 February, when he rose to 30th in the world for the first time. His exemplary net game has, naturally, carried on well into his doubles career,
where he has won three titles at Tour level. One of these came with his brother Alex in Montpellier, while the others came in Tokyo and Halle in 2008 alongside Mikhail Youznhy. Now the German is biding his time, waiting for the inviting grass of the British summer, where he has every chance to do a tremendous amount of damage to whoever he comes across.
Lucas Pouille: The New Noah or Another Tsonga? Giorgio Perri
It was a midsummer night like no other for Lucas Pouille. The indifferent sky of New York, which has seen so many champions win and lose beneath its unceasing gaze, bore witness to one of the most extraordinary upsets the US Open had ever seen. It was a baptism of fire for the young Frenchman, who nobody gave a chance coming in to the match. But he emerged unscathed, and the question nearly a year on is this: do we have a new Noah on our hands, or another Tsonga? Pouille is an unlikely potential hero for the endlessly unlucky world of French tennis. He does not have the charm of some of his older compatriots Tsonga and Monfils in particular and does not have the raw talent of a Richard Gasquet. But he has something that these other men have often
been accused of lacking: a burning desire to win and the spirit of a true fighter. And he has needed that fighting spirit in his career. He started playing tennis at age 8 and had a relatively middling junior career, never ranking higher than 21 in the world not exactly a burning endorsement for someone who wants to go pro. His early pro career was similarly underwhelming, and for the most part struggled to make much of an impact. Yet there were moments of real magic that hinted that greatness might one day await the Frenchman. Such an example came as early as 2014, when he
went from qualifying at the Paris Masters 1000 to the third round of the main draw, where he played a solid match against his hero Roger Federer. He didn’t win that encounter, but he put up enough of a fight to convince many spectators that he has what it takes to succeed on the Tour. It was not a tournament that sparked instant success, but Pouille did continue to make steady progress over the following years. He developed his serve into a formidable weapon, and showed himself to be equally competent on all surfaces. His first truly significant breakthrough
came in Rome in 2016, where he lost in qualifying but got into the main draw as a lucky loser. There he went on a tremendous run, becoming only the second lucky loser in tournament history to make it to the semi-finals. There he lost to an inform Andy Murray, but the experience was a tremendous boost for Pouille’s self-confidence. He followed this with an even more impressive run to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, where he eventually lost to Tomas Berdych. En route to that defeat, however, he beat the likes of Juan Martin Del Potro and Bernard Tomic, another big step in legitimizing himself in the
eyes of the public. At the US Open he again impressed by reaching the quarter-finals. By doing so, he became the first Frenchman since Yannick Noah to reach the quarter-finals of two Grand Slams before the age of 23, an impressive feat indeed. Of course, that pales in comparison with his defeat of Rafael Nadal, especially considering that he had to recover from a break down in the deciding set. He also came to the net 63 times in that match, an enormously brave thing to do against Nadal, who usually devours serveand-volley players with ease.
Indeed, beating Nadal was the final step in the education of Lucas Pouille as a fully-fledge force on the ATP World Tour. Just a month or so later, he would win his second title in Metz, beating Dominic Thiem in the final. When taking the big picture view, things are lining up very nicely for Pouille. He is 23 years old and already making waves on the main Tour, a very promising development when looking towards the future. He is still a few years short of his prime, and already he is giving top players all they can handle. Along with Kyrgios, Zverev, Nishikori and Dimitrov, Pouille definitely is the future of men’s tennis. He will still co-exist with the other Frenchman Gasquet, Simon, Monfils and Tsonga on the Tour for quite some time, and hopefully he can learn much from them. Of course, he must learn from their triumphs as well as their failures in order to truly become the next Noah. For all their talents, this group of players was never able to break through to the very top of the game. Pouille might just change that.
Top Siblings in Tennis Akshay
Tennis is a game in which the love-hate relationship the players share is a plausible fact as it is the nature of this tough, competitive and alluring sport. The relationship is a part and parcel of the game's existence and the players cannot totally share a loving relationship with their opponents or a totally hateful and competitive relationship. However, there is one such relationship which does bring to mind an amicable relationship, that being with their siblings. The tennis fraternity has witnessed several
siblings in the game sharing both the relationships of rivalry and camaraderie on court and off court respectively. Amongst the famous siblings, the names that pop up first are the Williams sisters Venus and Serena Williams and then of course the Bryan Brothers. The Williams Sisters:
In 2002, Serena Williams was ranked No.1 by the WTA and her elder sister Venus was ranked No.2. John McEnroe stated, “This is unheard of. It has never happened in tennis and I don’t think it has happened in sports, where the number 1 and 2 have to face off against each other and are so close and who apparently still love each other so much.” Ranked amongst Forbes magazine’s top 100 wealthiest and most powerful celebrities, both the sisters displayed tremendous display of power and aggression on court since the day they came into action. Since childhood, during training sessions, their father Richard Williams avoided making them play competitive matches against one another as he feared it would tarnish the
family’s reputation. Owing to their rankings, there were occasions when the two were paired against each other but it was noticed that Venus played lacklustre matches on such occasions. Richard Williams was also accused of fixing matches and telling which daughter wins what tournament for such a match up. He however denied these
charges and said that he only asks his daughters to do their best. At the 2000 Wimbledon semi-finals, when Serena lost the match against Venus, she was brought down to tears. Their father said that losing for Serena was equivalent to dying. The sisters have been paired against each other in 8 Grand Slam finals. However, when paired together, the Williams sisters who also play in the doubles draw and were the No.1 pair once upon a time have 13 Grand Slam doubles titles including a career Golden Slam with 3 Olympic gold medals together. Their total net worth approximately in prize money is $102.7 million.
Bryan brothers share an off-court liking for music. They are both part of a rock n’ roll band called “The Bryan Brothers Band�. Together these two have held the top position for a record breaking 355 weeks. With 15 Grand Slam doubles titles and the 2012 Olympics gold medal, these Stanford University alumni, at the age of 35 are still playing the best tennis to date and hopefully will play for many more years to come.
The Bryan Brothers:
Marat Safin and Dinara Safina Both former World No.1s and the first brother sister duo to have achieved this milestone sadly, retired from the tennis world quite early in their respective careers. Marat Safin, known for his emotional
Mike and Bob Bryan, the identical twins, the first of their kinds in tennis are legends in the doubles game. Mike is the older of the two by 2 minutes but is shorter of the two by an inch. They have an apparent innate ability to communicate with each other making them so dominating on court. With signature moves of giving each other a flying chest bump on winning a point, the
outbursts on court and his style of play was regarded as the most talented player of the late 90s and the early 2000s. At the age of 19, when Marat defeated Pete Sampras in straight sets in the US Open final at Flushing Meadows in 200, he won several hearts and gained a heavy fan base all praising his uncharacteristic style of play and an even more uncharacteristic display
on court. At 6ft 4 inches, the Safinator was known for his temper tantrums on court and of course the love for his sister, six years his junior, Dinara. At being ranked number 1 according to the WTA, when Safina came under a barrage of criticism, Marat backed his sister a hundred percent and said, “She didn’t do the ranking. Deal with that. Leave her alone.” Safina whose retirement was announced by Marat due to a chronic back injury played the 2011 Malaysian Open and decided to call it quits there. She however decided to take more time to decide on full retirement from the sport. Safina was known for her on-court rivalry with Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva.
Andy identifies himself as both a British and Scottish player sometimes leaning towards being more of a Scottish player. With an approximate total of $33.9 million in total prize money between them both the brothers literally share a love and sometimes hate relationship on and offcourt. At the age of 10, Jamie Murray smashed his fist down on Andy’s left hand for taunting him a lot. The blow left a permanent dent on Andy’s ring finger and he has been unable to grow the nail on it ever since. Jamie Murray has however, never been jealous of his younger sibling’s success. After his US Open victory in 2012, Jamie commented by saying that Andy deserved the triumph after all the hard work he had
Jamie Murray and Andy Murray Cited as one amongst the Big 4 in men’s tennis, Andy Murray is definitely the better known Murray brother. But Jamie Murray, Britain’s no.4 doubles player has too carved a niche for himself in the sport. He won the Wimbledon mixed-doubles championship in 2007 with Jelena Jankovic and was the runner up during the 2008 US Open with Liezel Huber. Jamie is identified as a British player while
put in. Having played with almost 14 different partners in the year 2013 alone, Jamie Murray hopes to not remain as Andy’s forgotten brother in the tennis world and having a Wimbledon title under his belt, both the Murrays form quite the team with of course Judy Murray’s ubiquitous presence in every match her sons play.
Unusual Tennis Diets Akshay
While professional athletes are usually suppose to follow a strict regime in order to perform at their optimum levels, our tennis stars don't seem to buy into that philosophy. Right from Bjorn Borg's who would eat cheese burgers and beer during a tournament to Suzanne Lenglen who used to drink in between her matches, tennis players have rather odd methods of prepping for a match. Outside of the tennis tour, fans believe that their favourite players follow a strict regime when it comes to food. In fact most of us actually believe that all the players are like
Novak Djokovic and do not venture outside the diets prescribed by their dieticians. I too was a part of that club, only to get a rather pleasant surprise when I found out about the diets of certain superb players. While some of them are a bit unusual, others are like poison for any upcoming stars. Here is a list of 5 of the most unusual tennis diets of our favourite players.
Patty Schnyder Obsessed with Orange Juice? Former World No.7 Patty Schnyder was part of a golden generation from Switzerland that started from Martina Hingis and is still carrying on with Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka. The Swiss Miss had buckets of potential, but seemed to have other things on at all times. Patty was followed by the media wherever she went, and fell in love with a middle-aged man who called himself a “natural therapist” and claimed to have found the perfect solution for her to become the new no.1. His suggestion to Schnyder was she turned into a vegetarian and had a lot of orange juice. The same natural therapist also claimed to have found the cure for AIDS, so one can imagine why the OD on OJ didn’t quite pan out as expected.
Suzanne Lenglen’s drinking Legendary Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen was a bit of a rebel back in the day when women wore corsets on court, Lenglen refused to do so. In fact Suzanne even flashed a bit of ankle every now and then which was also something of a stigma at the time. Nonetheless, the cherry on the cake was her DRINKING on court. Yes, Lenglen used to carry a brandy flask with her
on which she used to sip on between games. The practise seemed to help her as she would almost inevitably play better once the brandy started hitting her. Martina Navratilova’s Journey: From Big Macs to Steamed Vegetables! While Martina Navratilova remains perhaps the greatest ever tennis player in history with 59 Grand Slam titles to her name, all of it didn’t happen overnight. In fact Navratilova caved in to her cravings for fast food far too often in her early days when she moved from Czechoslovakia to the US. At one point in time, Martina recalls that she was 20 pounds overweight and started to go by the name “The Great Wide Hope”. Navratilova however turned her career around by banning cheese burgers
and having just steamed vegetables through her playing career. Set Menu for a Wimbledon title: Goran Ivanisevic’s secret Goran Ivanisevic’s Wimbledon triumph of 2001 is by far the most romantic of stories about a player’s lone Grand Slam triumph. The Croat had missed out on the title three times in the
past, and in 2001 he decided to not take any chances. Apart from not shaving or having a shower all through the tournament, Goran actually stuck to the same food too. After a starter of fish soup he would have lamb and chips, following that up with some ice cream with hot chocolate sauce for 15 straight days in the same restaurant. Bjorn ‘Iceman’ Borg: Unfazed by hangovers too? Legendary Swede Bjorn Borg was nicknamed ‘Iceman’ and the reason for that was his ice cool temper on court. What it also seems to go in harmony with how he was unfazed the after effects of alcohol the next day. According to Michael Mewshaw’s controversial book “Short Circuit” which is based on the six months he
spent with the biggest stars on tour during the 80s Borg used to have “Plenty of beers, cheeseburgers and also some cocaine at times” in the never ending nights during a tournament.
An Interview With Giorgio Di Palermo Federico Mariani
At the Monte Carlo Masters, Tennis World sat down with Giorgio Di Palermo, a Member of the ATP Board, for a chat about the sportʼs present problems and successes, as well as what the future holds. Giorgio Di Palmero has a difficult job. He is a member of the ATPʼs board of directors, and along with ATP president Chris Kermode and his fellow board members, he holds the future menʼs tennis in his hands. The decisions these individuals take have massive consequences for not only the players on the Tour, but for tennis fans around the world. With such enormous responsibility, and with the sensitivity of some of the issues he has to deal with, one would think Palmero would be slightly secretive about his job. On the contrary, however, he is the picture of charm and grace, and was happy to share with Tennis World his thoughts on just about every issue touching
menʼs tennis today. How does the ATP board function? The ATP is governed by various individuals who have a stake in the goings on of the menʼs circuit. There are seven board members in total. I am one of three members who represent the playersʼ interests. Each player representative acts in the name of a certain region: the Americas, Europe and the rest of the world. Then there are three other members who represent the tournaments that make up the ATP Tour. Finally, Chris Kermode, the president, is the seventh member. The odd number of members ensures that there can
never be a tie in the event of a vote. So, hierarchically, there is only one man above you in the tennis world? Yes, although all board members have one vote per head. Everything about the operation of the ATP Tour goes through board decisions: calendars, format, regulations...everything. How did you get to be on the board? I spent 12 years as a Tour Manager, the person who needs to ensure that the tournaments run smoothly and fairly. I also had responsibilities relating to the schedule. I worked closely with the tournament organizers as well as the players during
this time. This allowed me to get to know the players and organizers very well. I met and interacted with a great many players from 1996 to 2008. After that I became the Director of Player Relations, which required me to work even more closely with the players. How will the ATP survive tennis after Federer? Do you think the Swiss can remain influential in tennis after his retirement? As Michael Jordan has done in the NBA? Tennis will survive and thrive after Federer retires. We should remember that Federer and Nadal have attracted many new people to the
sport of tennis, and not just themselves. Once they move on, those fans will root for the next generation of champions. You might start watching tennis because of a particular player, but the game has the sort of effect on people that they fall in love with it and stay loyal to it even after their favorite players retire. Do you think it is the right thing for tournaments to award wild cards to Maria Sharapova? If you were the director of a tournament, would you find it immoral to do that? It's a legal problem. Wild cards are a tool to be used at the discretion of the event organizers. I
find the reactions to the wild cards a little exaggerated. It is not for me to decide if it is immoral. I can say that it is certainly lawful and therefore I cannot stand against those who decide to invite her. What is your position on equal prize money between men and women? I think there are two kinds of discussion, a social one and an entertainment one. Socially, the discussion is already closed. We have decided that as a society that there must not be any discrimination based on sex, religion or race. At the same time, I believe that entertainment is based on other laws, that have nothing to do with social laws. It would be like claiming the same payment for male and female models on the catwalk. A male model will never make as much as Naomi Campbell or Claudia Schiffer. Anyone claiming this would be ridiculed, because female models deserve more money than male models. This is simply because the market has decided that in that world, women are to be paid more than men. I think tennis is the only form of entertainment in the
world where a social consideration is downgraded to the level of entertainment pay. Tennis, like other sports, is a show as well as a business, and is subject to market forces beyond its control. So, to answer the question, I believe that tennis has to adhere to the entertainment model rather than the social one. So if tomorrow women attracted more publicity, had more appeal and sold more tickets, it would be fair to pay them more than men? Of course, because it is always up to the market to decide. There are sports where women should and do earn more
than men, but I do not think tennis is among them. Tennis is characterized by stiffer, more rigid and unchanging rules than other sports. Is this a strong point? This is one of the more interesting questions going forward. I think it is important to remain conscious of the needs of the tennis audience, especially young people. The youngsters of the new generation are used to enjoying different sports, cinema, music and entertainment with much wider availability. Today there is so much on offer that we must try and stand out for young enthusiasts. So far, we have not had to deal with
this issue too much. Tennis has not had to change much to attract the crowds. But I believe that if it is necessary to change something, it is better to do so when things are going well, because when they are not going well it may be too late to fix it. Some changes are too extreme to consider, such as changing the court size or eliminating the second serve. But I think there are some interesting theories around changing the scoring format. One problem is that tennis is not timed. A match can be an hour or four hours, which causes problems in terms of the TV schedule.
Yes, right. The issue about TV and scheduling is interesting. With the good pace of digital channels worldwide, thematic sports channels are beginning to have an incredible appeal. American sports channels are paving the way in this. For example, on NBA TV, you can see every single game. Tennis must, and has already, look at ways to adapt to this new reality. If you are watching a channel, or channels, dedicated to only tennis, your audience wonĘźt care if a match runs on for too long. The problem with TV and tennis was present ten years ago, but not today. Will you make changes to the NextGen Finals? Definitely. The NextGen Finals is the ideal stage to experiment and experience some new things. But I do not want to ruin the surprise. It will be a wonderful event with wonderful players. It is great to have a showcase for young talent, and itĘźs also good to have another major tournament for Italy after Rome.
Dr. Howard Brody, an emeritus professor of physics at the University of Pennsylvania, received the International Tennis Hall of Fame 2000 Educational Merit Award. He is a member of the ITF Technical Commission, PTR Advisory Board and winner of the 1996 PTR Stanley
A tennis ball, to be approved for play by the ITF, must have a mass between 56 and 59.4 grams. Therefore, a perfectly legal tennis ball can have a mass several grams higher (or lower) than another legal ball. Also, during the course of play, the ball may acquire additional mass due to moisture, dirt or clay adhering to the it. It is also possible for a ball to lose mass due to wear on the cover. How this small variation in mass affects the way the ball plays is the subject of this article. The change in the ballʼs aerodynamics (the change in drag coefficient) due to the cover fluffing up or wearing out will not be discussed in detail.
Plagenhoef Award for excellence in sports science. In 2006 he was presented with a Faculty Emeritus Award at the USTA Tennis Teachers Conference. His most recent book, a collaboration with Rod Cross and Crawford Lindsey, is entitled The Physics and Technology of Tennis.
There are two primary ways in which a change in a tennis ballʼs mass changes the playing characteristics of the ball. The ratio of ball mass to effective racquet mass determines the inherent “power” (or Apparent Coefficient of Restitution (ACOR)), of a racquet. The heavier the ball, the lower the ACOR of
The Consequences of Adding or Removing Mass From a Tennis Ball Dr. Howard Brody
the ball-racquet system, so the racquet will appear to have less power if the ball is heavier. This means that for the same racquet swing speed, a heavier ball will have less speed as it leaves the strings.
compared to the speed of a lighter ball. Let us investigate these two phenomena separately and then combine them, since the effects work in opposite directions and tend to cancel each other out.
A tennis ball, in its trajectory through the air, slows down due to air resistance (it keeps running into air molecules). This force is called the drag force. This force on the ball produces an acceleration (actually a deceleration) that is proportional to the ballĘźs size and inverse to its mass. For a given initial ball speed, a heavier ball will lose less speed in the air than a lighter ball. Therefore a heavier ball will end up at a higher speed when it crosses the opposite baseline
Figure 1 displays the ACOR of a ballracquet interaction as a function of ball mass. The value of ACOR is one of the factors that influences the ball speed off the strings, Vh. The ball speed is determined using the formula Vh = ACOR x Vinc + (1 + ACOR) x VR where Vinc is the incident ball speed and VR is the racquet head speed. It is clear from this formula that Vh (the ball speed as it leaves the strings) will
change as ACOR changes. The ACOR of a ball-racquet interaction can be measured experimentally by firing a ball at a known velocity towards a free racquet. ACOR = VRebound / Vincident Figure 2 shows the speed of a groundstroke as it crosses the opposite baseline versus ball mass for a 65 mph initial ball speed, and for an initial ball speed adjusted for the change that the ball mass makes in the ACOR. Note that the air resistance effect alone (fixed ACOR) will change the ball speed by 10% for a change of 10 grams in ball mass. When the change in ACOR is also taken into account, the variation in final ball speed is about 2% for a 10 gram change in ball mass. Figure 3 shows the speed of a serve as it crosses the opposite baseline versus
ball mass for both a constant initial ball speed (120 mph), and an initial speed adjusted to take into account the change in the ACOR. The ball speed, as the ball crosses the baseline, is important, but more important is the time the receiver has to get to the ball. Figure 4 shows the time it takes a 120 mph serve to go from the racquet to the baseline as a function of ball mass. Note that when the ACOR is taken into account, a variation of 10 grams in ball mass will change the time the receiver has by only a millisecond or so. Conclusion The addition of a few grams of material to a ball will not appreciably change the way that the game plays. The ball may feel different when you hit it due to the change in mass, but unless you change your swing speed, the result will be the same.
consistent and patient. It’s hard to hit winners on clay since the ball bounces high and slowly. It is often easier to just hit a decent topspin shot and keep the rally going than to hit an overly aggressive shot. The best sequence to follow is: controlled rally shot, followed by a stronger shot that puts your opponent in some difficulty, ultimately followed by a winner.
What are the core principles you need to win on clay? Federico Coppini
Movement In order to perfect your clay technique, you first need to master the unique movement that is demanded of players on the surface. You need to be able to slide forward and backwards and from side to side. In particular, you need perfect stability while executing a shot
during a slide. Position on the baseline Personally, I try to make sure that my players take up a position close to the baseline and not retreat from there during rallies. It is a nice and aggressive position to take and has many advantages. Athletic conditioning To win on clay you need a training program focused on physical conditioning, given that the average point lasts longer on clay than on other surfaces. It is important to work on court movement through various targeted exercises. Patience You must be both
Attacking your opponent's movement On clay, you should always be looking at ways of taking advantage of your opponent’s movement. Hit deep balls that move your opponent from side to side, which then opens up the possibility of hitting angled and short shots for potential winners. Control the center of the court On clay, more than on any other surface, it is important to control the center of the court. Your serve should be out wide 70% of the time in order to immediately take control of the middle of the court. The first shot after the serve should be a forehand that further solidifies your control of the exchange. The next
shot should be good enough that your opponent finds himself in a poor position, which will allow you to end the point. Return of serve You should always try to hit the ball deep so that your opponent cannot control the center of the court, as detailed above. Mental strength The mental component plays a very important role on clay. You must try to be aggressive and smart at the same time. You need to be disciplined and mentally strong to come out on top in a long clay court battle.