'JUST GET IT BACK'

The return of serve has long been considered possibly the most under practiced shot in tennis. How often do you see a young player working on this particular shot ?
Most players will be happy to just groove the ground strokes with their practice partner doing exactly the same at the other end. It may just be the key though to being a complete player as opposed to one who just lacks 'that one thing'.
The game has seen many great returners such as Borg , Agassi, Chang and Wilander plus the current Big 4 with all of them possessing an art to simply getting the delivery back. I vividly remember Bjorn Borg at Wimbledon with an amazing style that is not replicated too often now days.
The Swede would let the serve take it's full spin as he sat way back behind the base line then return it as you would a normal ground stroke. I believe that it was perhaps why Borg was so good, he treated every ball he received whether it be a return or rally ball with the same technique, he gave himself time to hit it.
The way the return is hit now days is remarkable to say the least and Andre Agassi took it to another level as he saw the serve quicker than any other player in his era. Watching the Las Vegas showman step inside the base line and belt the Sampras serve back just as hard as it arrived was one of the most amazing things I have witnessed in tennis. He seemed to know where they were going with surprising ease.
The return of serve can either get you back into a 50/50 situation in a game or it will produce an energy conserving game from the server as he dictates play. I believe Federer has once completed a service game in 49 seconds, that's dictating play in any man's language.
I recall once a Davis Cup tie between Germany and the US with Agassi taking on the great Boris Becker or 'Boom Boom' as he was known, for obvious reasons. In practice the Americans actually came up to the service line to belt serves at Agassi to give him a realistic idea of the pace of serve that he was about to receive from the German.
This practice idea on the return may not have been unique but it was one that had merit then and still does now. From memory Agassi lost in 5 after winning the first two but he was around 18 years old at the time and he only got better from that point, especially on the return.
So to the recent Paribas Open in Paris where the Quarter Finals were just a tie break away from having the top 8 seeds play off ( Wawrinka lost 6-7 in the third to Anderson). The return of serve statistics were alarming. Grigor Dimitrov who was seeded 9 won just 8 of 44 service return points or 18 per cent in technical terms. The player who beat him 6-3, 6-3 Andy Murray won 22 of 53 service returns or 42 per cent, that was the difference in the end with 3 breaks to Murray and none to Dimitrov. As flashy as the Bulgarian is he may just have to find a way to get the serve back before he can start to show the World his obvious talent on his ground strokes.
Other match statistics saw Federer win just under 40 per cent of his return points against unseeded Frenchman Lucas Poille who managed just 22 per cent whereas David Ferrer was outstanding. In his match against countryman Fernando Verdasco he returned with amazing ease against a serve that comes down regularly at 200 km. Ferrer in fact won 25 of 39 return points or 64 per cent, that's seeing it with an eye like Agassi.
Even the brilliant returning of Novak Djokovic could not get him to the 50 per cent mark against the big delivery of Frenchman Gael Monfils with just 38 per cent or 23 of 60 points won. Novak still won in straight sets however. So if a player can't regularly break another player what does he do ? 
Against a player such as Isner or Karlovic most players are content to get to a tie breaker and chance their luck on either a double fault or a look at a second serve or two. I have never seen two players contest more tie breakers than the above mentioned two. Why these guys don't work more on their returning is a mystery but they are making plenty of $$$ so they obviously have a plan.
As I mentioned in the Federer 'Genius' chapter I am a big fan of the '50/50 ball' return that Roger does so well, the ball that asks the question of his opponent. A ball returned down the middle with depth but lack of pace is almost an insult to a big server. "Is that the best you got buddy" ?? 
I am sure the Gentleman in Mr Federer would never say that out loud , he may not even think it, but it's what it looks like to the rest of us. Just get it back, life is a whole lot easier on court if you do.......

'WELL PLAYED TOMMY'

My last chapter was about Tommy Robredo, the Spanish Champion who has lived in the shadow of some more famous countrymen for quite some time now. Robredo's season has been soul destroying to say the least as his match point conversion rate in title matches recently has been disastrous. So what do you do if you can't convert a match point or maybe 10 of them in two title matches over the past month or so ? Simple, you keep turning up with your racket and a philosophical attitude.
The Paribas Masters currently underway in Paris has the who's who of Men's Professional Tennis playing with the exception of an injured and out of sorts Rafael Nadal, his season over. This particular event will have the Tennis World watching intently as the Swiss genius Mr Federer has the chance to reclaim the number 1 spot. It would be fitting if he reached the final along with Novak which I am certain would make for a title match of huge proportions, the winner to be crowned King for the year.
Only two can get there, so what about Tommy ? Well at his current standing of World Number 17 Tommy Robredo will go into a break toward the end of the year with a few questions to ask of himself. The showdown of the best eight players is well out of his grasp even if a couple get injured. So at a rather 'respectable' ranking and around 1.5 Million this year in prize money does the Spaniard bury his head in the towel and feel sorry for himself after his last two heartbreaking losses ? 
Tommy is a former top ten player so he knows he is capable of a more than just matching it with the best in the World but his confidence would surely have taken a pounding lately. So for him to be at 5-5 in a third set tie breaker in his very next match , this time in Paris he would surely have been asking some questions of himself. Vasek Pospisil of Canada can play the game, he is half of the current Wimbledon Doubles Champion team so this match was a first round match that was worthy of perhaps a round of 16 , not one to start proceedings.
Robredo is a seasoned campaigner, he has already beaten World Number 1 Novak Djokovic this year in Cincinnati and last year he beat Federer in straight sets at the US Open. The first round match against the Canadian in Paris however was a match that could have gone either way from a set all and five all in the final set tie breaker. 
You always feel for players who are at the end of their careers in any sport and you just want them to have one more title to go out on. He was perhaps two points away from a ranking of around 12 or 13 if he had converted against Murray in both China and Valencia yet he has to be content with where he currently sits.
So it pleased me greatly to read that Tommy had at last won a close match, 7-5 in the tie breaker against a player who has plenty more years ahead of him to figure out a way to win the close one's.
He now plays Kei Nishikori in the second round, it doesn't get any easier. An older, wiser head against the exuberance and talent of youth , it has the makings of another epic match. I just hope for Robredo's sake it doesn't go to another final set tie breaker.
The questions a player asks of them self at that point in a match are one's that require a calm set of answers and only the best players win the tight one's on a regular basis. All part of the fun of playing tennis........

'TOUGH TO DEAL WITH'

Spanish Tennis Champion Tommy Robredo must be wondering what he has to do to win a tennis tournament. In the space of just over a month he held no fewer than 10 match points over two title matches in two different countries yet he failed to convert any of them. Andy Murray somehow managed to save all 10 match points with a will to win and a refusal to lose.
The Shenzhen Open in China in September saw Robredo lead by a set and 6 points to 2 in the second set tie breaker before somehow finding a way to lose all of them . He held another match point at 7-6 before Murray took the breaker 11-9. The final set was all one way traffic in a 6-1 romp to Murray . A loss like that from a commanding position would no doubt be soul destroying however it seemed that Robredo was philosophical in defeat and headed to Beijing.
When a player loses a tight match it can test the mind in many ways and he lost in the round of 16 to John Isner in a third set tie break. Perhaps Robredo was now starting to doubt his ability to win the close ones and his very next tournament perhaps proved the theory correct. He lost to a player ranked more than 60 places behind him , again in a third set breaker. Mikhael Kukushkin has been playing well of late but should be no match for a player of Robredo's experience. Maybe he got the Spaniard at a time where his mental state was at an all time low, he had lost his ability to close out a match.
The Valencia Title match against Andy Murray was almost history repeating itself as Robredo lead by a set and held two match points in the second set tie break , he failed to convert either. He broke Murray to lead 4-3 in the final set , was broken back immediately but then held a further 3 match points in the tie breaker.
The point at 6-5 was one that if Robredo could have his time again I am sure he would have played it differently. After a huge forehand inside out to Murray's backhand he had the Brit right where he wanted him but he made a huge mistake by not coming in behind it. In fact his forehand was that good that it was a surprise that Murray got it back at all but his backhand slice offered Robredo a choice.
If the Spaniard had followed the forehand to the net I am certain he would now be the Valencia Open Champion but he chose to step back and hit an awkward half volley that allowed Murray back into the point. Murray in fact closed this particular point out with a winning volley after  reversing the roles of perhaps 4 shots earlier. The 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 win by Murray will go down in history as a fantastic title match but the two tie breakers that Robredo lost by 9-7 and 10-8 will also be looked upon as chances that went begging.
Would Roger Federer have come in after hitting a forehand as good as the one that Robredo hit on his third match point at 6-5 in the breaker ? 
I have no doubt he would have as the Swiss Genius is a man who can sense an opportunity better than any other current player when it comes to finishing a point. When it comes to decision making the top ten in the World are where they are for a reason. Robredo currently sits at number 21 at age 32 with time running out to clinch tournament victories. 
What was going through Murray's head when faced with 10 match points against him over two title matches with Robredo is anyone's guess but it shows why he is as good as he is. Tennis is a game full of split decisions, some simply decide how to play them better than others......

'A CHANGE OF PACE'

From 1985 through to 1988 it seemed as though there was a change of pace as far as men's Professional Tennis was concerned . Players such as Thomas Muster, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier , John McEnroe and Sergi Brugera were all hitting with graphite tennis rackets. This was the next change up from the wooden rackets that we were all used to from the beginning of time. Players were starting to hit the ball harder and it seemed more than just a coincidence that from 1985 through to 2001 at Wimbledon a big server was crowned the Champion. Andre Agassi was perhaps the only 'odd man out' in 1992.
Perhaps the most 'uninteresting' final in that era was the 1994 title match between Pete Sampras and Goran Ivanisevic, this was a farce of epic proportions. A 7-6, 7-6, 6-0 win to Sampras with a four shot rally being perhaps the longest exchange for the day had experts wondering if tennis was on the decline as far as a spectacle was concerned. This match forced some changes, but it took a few years for them to be implimented.
In 2001 Wimbledon changed it's grass seed to 100 per cent perennial rye which actually resulted in a higher bounce and the following year in 2002 a bigger tennis ball was introduced. It was said to have given players at least 10 per cent more reaction time on a service return and that is a big difference in any player's game. The change in both the grass surface in London along with the slower, bigger ball in fact saw the last of the predominantly big server's domination on the turf.
From the very next year it was in fact won by the back court expertise of Australian  Lleyton Hewitt over another base liner David Nalbandian . From 2003 through to this year it was then dominated by the current big four of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. None of the above mentioned dominated with either a serve or a volley. Federer served perhaps slightly bigger than the rest however he is not just a server as we all know and his serve and volley routine is not his only style of play.
Looking back on the winners from '85 through to 2001 it was a rarity if the eventual champion (except for Agassi) didn't follow both the first and second serves into the net for a volley . So did Wimbledon do the tennis loving public a favor in regards to the changes made in slowing down the play ?
Well personally I like watching a serve and volley expert up against a base line master as it reminds me of my first impressions of the game, Borg vs McEnroe, entertaining. These two however were in a class of their own and they both almost perfected their respective ways of playing.
Federer and Nadal have always been entertaining to watch because it was never going to be two players sitting at the base line. Federer was always going to try to finish it at the net, he knew then and still knows his limitations .
What Wimbledon did do however was unique as it opened up the tournament to a different style of play due to the domination of the big server. Some of the past Champions such as McEnroe, Ashe, Laver , Newcombe, Borg etc all had good serves, some bigger than others but the equipment then used had it's limitations as far as effect was concerned.
So when players such as Sampras , Ivanisavic , Krajicek and Becker came along with a new racket it required a special type of returner to even get close to them. Only Agassi springs to mind, not too many others made an impression in that time frame.
Wimbledon I believe saved it's own tournament by counter acting the new pace of server due to the new racket technology that enabled players to serve bombs and win without rallying. The other side of the coin now though is the fact that the game is pretty much all the same, a base line war of attrition. Only Federer really has a game that differs from the rest as far as the top 20 players are concerned.
Personally I believe that Wimbledon got it right, slowing it all down opened the tournament up to all styles of play, it's now an even playing field. It will be even more so when the Big 4 have hung up their rackets.
Perhaps a new Borg and McEnroe will one day serve us up a classic like they did in the 1980 Men's final, a serve and volley expert vs the base line master. That would be worth the wait..........

'THE 50/50 BALL'

I wrote a chapter a while back regarding Women's Tennis, under duress, I don't like Women's Tennis for more than one reason but above all I dislike the lack of variety that is dished up. The lack of volleying is one thing but the variety from where they all sit, the baseline, well that's even more one dimensional. The two chapters that I wrote back to back involved the mix of play by Roger Federer and the lack of it in Women's Tennis.
So what about the headline ? The 50/50 ball in tennis is a ball that is put back into play that does not give your opponent anything to hit back to you with any real conviction. Whilst the heavily hit topspin ball is one option I believe that the other option is what Mr Federer again does better than any other player, the slice backhand.
The return of serve from Federer's backhand side is a shot that blunts the opposition's power when he chooses to slice it as opposed to hitting over it. Most Male Pro's serves' have such a huge amount of kick on it that the sliced return, if hit well is a much safer option than the driven one.
If you look at the return from the ad court by Roger in particular you will see two types of shot, one that is placed back deep with no real pace and the other, a short angled service box return. Both of these shots have merit. The one that is hit back deep is a ball that most players hate, a ball with no real speed on it that is tough to generate pace on. The other is a shot that a baseliner in particular probably dislikes even more as it forces them forward from a wide part of the court. Both of these returns are not easy to deal with and it's why Federer is known for having such a vast repertoire of variety in his play.
It's not just the return that Federer offers the slice on , he will also put a sliced ball in during a topspin rally that mixes up the pace. This type of shot quite often will throw his opponent's timing and rhythm out, a smart tactic. Even Rafa has learned to slice his backhand more now from both the return and the rally and it has added some more variety to his once one dimensional game.
Djokovic is not so happy to slice his backhand as the wide ball he receives to his backhand side will often be hit with just as much pace as the one in his hitting zone, freak of nature.
So to the ladies, why isn't the slice backhand a more commonly hit shot ? I don't believe that it is being taught, that would be my take on it. When a female tennis player is drawn wide it seems that the idea is to get there with the open stance and do the 'Djokovic style' type of backhand.
But wouldn't it be easier to hit a slice ? Well according to the 17 time Grand Slam winner from Switzerland it is, and it's rather obvious that the great man's preference is the shot that puts his body under the least amount of stress when under duress.
Even the great Andre Agassi learned to slice from his backhand side, it wasn't what you would call a text book style slice yet he used it as did Jimmy Connors. Now here was a backhand slice with a difference, he did it with two hands. Jimmy could return the high ball to his backhand side with a two handed slice just as well as could hit a short ball and approach the net with, it was a rather unique way of slicing.
Most players have a slice backhand but very few play it as regularly as Federer except for perhaps Feliciano Lopez from Spain, now there's a man who may even play it more than his topspin ball. When a slice is hit from the backhand side it is a shot of grace, an effortlessly guided shot that can do so many different things to an opponent's mindset. If a player is dealt a series of both topspin and slice it puts doubt into their mind as to whether the backhand side is actually the side to try to attack.
There is usually less variety from a forehand and if a player can deal with pace then perhaps the forehand is a better option to attack than a backhand that has two options.
I believe in teaching the slice backhand from a young age, it has merit, it adds dimension to a player's game and it can conserve energy.
There is more upside than down to learning a slice backhand........

'WHERE'S ROBIN' ?

Swede Robin Soderling has gone missing, he disappeared from World Tennis just prior to his wife giving birth to their first child in 2012. The reasons for Soderling's absence from the tour have varied from a wrist injury to mononucleosis. Now the latter is actually known as 'the kissing disease' and can give sufferer's among other things an enlarged spleen , sounds uncomfortable. So they are the reasons given for the former World number 4 player's absence.
Soderling won over ten million dollars in a career spanning just over ten years so I doubt whether he would have to go and get a 'real job' in the near future. It seems that the Swede is rather content in semi retirement with no plans at this stage to return to a game that he seemed to be getting better at, his last tournament suggested just that.
The Swedish Open in July of 2011 saw a display from Soderling that will possibly be marked in history as one of the all time dominant performances in Men's Professional Tennis. The hometown hero dropped just 13 games for the entire tournament including a 6-0, 6-1 demolition of then World number 9 Thomas Berdych in the semi's then a 6-2, 6-2 whitewash of then World number 6 David Ferrer in the final. Yet he has not played since.
It's almost like one of those fairy tale sporting story's where the local champion comes home to finish his career, something like that anyhow. Soderling is now aged 30 and nearing the time when most tennis players are looking at life outside of the game so if he is going to make a come back you would think it would have to be soon. Word has it though that the tall Swede has developed and marketed a tennis ball complete with his own brand on it, perhaps he will add to that ten mil after all.
In 2007 at Wimbledon in the third round Soderling sparked controversy when he made fun of Rafa as he tugged at his own shorts 'Rafa style' as he narrowly went down 5-7 in the fifth set. Now I am all for tennis players behaving themselves however that effort from Soderling has to be considered rather humorous to say the least. Did I mention unique and original also ??
Apparently Rafa was not happy with the impersonation but all players are different and some simply don't appreciate his ritualistic ways before delivering his serve , the Swede was simply giving his version of it all. Freedom of speech ?
Soderling had the last laugh and this probably hurt Rafa more than an impersonation, his only loss in the French Open in the last ten years. The four set round of 16 win by Soderling in 2009 will no doubt be classed as one of the all time great upsets in Men's Tennis. To put that win into perspective, just a month earlier in Rome Rafa belted Robin 6-1, 6-0 , work that one out.
Soderling lost in the final that year in Paris to Federer which gave the great man from Switzerland his career Grand Slam. He then lost in the following year's final to the 'original shorts tugger' Rafa, so I suppose Rafa had the last laugh after all.
Robin Soderling was a different type of character on court, arrogant in many ways and seemed to be not overly friendly toward fellow pro's. I do recall a match against Djokovic , from memory in Rome again where the handshake was possibly one of the quickest and coldest you will ever witness.
The big man from Sweden had a unique style, he basically thumped the cover off the ball, he had one pace, flat out, tough to play against when he was on song. He definitely did not fit into the regular mould of past Swedish Champions with their heavy looping topspin shots.
If you get a chance look him up on You Tube , he is the sort of player most Tennis Coaches will not want a student to watch too often for a style check. Playing that sort of way requires amazing timing and fitness, give me the slower loop any day.
Personally I think we have seen the last of Robin Soderling, Rafa I am sure won't be too upset about it........

'JUST MAGNIFICENT'

The following highlights are from 2010 in Miami where Argentinian David Nalbandian is up against Viktor Troicki of Serbia. I am not quite sure why Troicki is so furious with himself , especially at the end of the match as Nalbandian is in the 'zone'. 
I shared this on my site as I believe the camera angle is unique, not enough tennis matches are televised like this, it gives a clearer insight into what a player is up against. As my last chapter suggested David Nalbandian's backhand is quite remarkable and should be used as a coaching bench mark for that shot.
It does not matter how high the ball is hit to that side of the court, height is not something Nalbandian struggles with, he simply 'climbs' over the ball. A truly gifted tennis player was Nalbandian and one who I believe did not win as much as his ball striking would suggest.......