Queens Club Lineup on Grass

[jimlosaltos]

Yes, grass court tennis ! Yee-haw!

Among entrants: Carlos Alcaraz, Andy Murray, Holger Rune, Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti, Ben Shelton, Francisco Cerundolo, Cam Norrie, Seb Korda Jiri Lehecka.

Draw:

https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/london/311/draws

Queens Club lineup

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/alcaraz-queens-2023-draw

[jimlosaltos]

I can't keep track of which tournament is which on the grass tune-ups, since they change their names & sponsors at least annually. But London is now "Cinch Championships". OK.

Frances Tiafoe looked awesome on grass winning his first title in Germany. But ws taken out in straight sets by Sebi Korda, who looks to be serving awesomely on grass. Sebi just might be my very-dark horse for Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, 20 yo Ben Shelton (2x US NCAA champ) won 35 of 50 points at the net, hit 11 "lefty" aces (max 141 MPH) among 34 winners -- and lost to "clay courter" Lorenzo Musetti in 3.

Musetti's serve is getting better by the year.

[jimlosaltos]

Look out for Holger Rune on grass !

Well, here it should be look out -- Holger.

You might say Lorenzo 'runed' his day? Talk about stealing and point and then ending it with an exclamation point.

Short vid on Twitter (but it's video, so suggest enlarge to full screen with arrow)

https://twitter.com/josemorgado/status/1672273946073260033?s=20

But the 20 yo Dane got the last laugh: "6-4, 7-5 after one hour, 54 minutes. Rune won 54 per cent of points behind his second serve, compared to Musetti’s 29 per cent to advance to his first career grass-court semi-final."

--

[jimlosaltos]

Alcaraz's comments have to be scary for those that will draw him at Wimbledon:

"Right now I feel like I'm playing for 10 years on grass, it's something crazy for me," said Alcaraz, who is playing just his third tournament on the surface and entered London with a 4-2 grass-court record. "I didn't expect to adapt my movement, my game so fast on grass. I'm really happy with that."

Plays in his first final vs DeMinaur who upset Rune. If Alcaraz wins tomorrow, he'll return to number one in the world.

Earlier he was quoted as saying he was watching videos of Fed and Rafa to learn how to move on grass. Quick learner, I'd say.

[stroke]

Alcaraz's comments have to be scary for those that will draw him at Wimbledon:

"Right now I feel like I'm playing for 10 years on grass, it's something crazy for me," said Alcaraz, who is playing just his third tournament on the surface and entered London with a 4-2 grass-court record. "I didn't expect to adapt my movement, my game so fast on grass. I'm really happy with that."

Plays in his first final vs DeMinaur who upset Rune. If Alcaraz wins tomorrow, he'll return to number one in the world.

Earlier he was quoted as saying he was watching videos of Fed and Rafa to learn how to move on grass. Quick learner, I'd say.

He looks great out there, like the somewhat distant 2nd favorite at Wimbledon.

[stotty]

I am amazed how quickly Alcaraz took to grass this week. He was always that bit better than De Manaur in the final...just too much power. It will be interesting to see if he can make an impact at SW19.

[jimlosaltos]

I am amazed how quickly Alcaraz took to grass this week. He was always that bit better than De Manaur in the final...just too much power. It will be interesting to see if he can make an impact at SW19.

I think he will.

Curious final. De Minaur, despite his diminutive stature and limited power, did marginally better on first serve than Alcaraz, but got walloped on second serve points 65% to 48%.

If De Minaur's return bothers Alcaraz on grass?

Each got 2 break points, Carlos converted his De Minuar didn't.

[stotty]

I think he will.

Curious final. De Minaur, despite his diminutive stature and limited power, did marginally better on first serve than Alcaraz, but got walloped on second serve points 65% to 48%.

If De Minaur's return bothers Alcaraz on grass?

Each got 2 break points, Carlos converted his De Minuar didn't.

Strange because watching the match I thought De Minaur really needed a better serve to get further down the line at tennis. I don't remember him serving a single ace, unless it was when I went to make a cup of tea. It felt like his serve was constantly under threat at times.

The big difference between Rafa and Alcaraz is Alcaraz will switch off at times and let points or even games go. He can kind of afford to much of the time because he has room to spare against most opponents....but it's definitely an un-Spanish-like trait.

[stotty]

They made a statistical comparison between the forehands of De Menaur and Alcaraz during the final. Alcaraz hits the ball with more clearance and spin with the end result being that the opponent has to deal with a ball that rears up and more difficult to cope with. He averages forehand speeds of around 80mph but can inject far greater pace at times. One forehand he hit was 106pmh. It's this periodic injection of pace that is a great weapon of Alcaraz's...as it was Roger

[doctorhl]

They made a statistical comparison between the forehands of De Menaur and Alcaraz during the final. Alcaraz hits the ball with more clearance and spin with the end result being that the opponent has to deal with a ball that rears up and more difficult to cope with. He averages forehand speeds of around 80mph but can inject far greater pace at times. One forehand he hit was 106pmh. It's this periodic injection of pace that is a great weapon of Alcaraz's...as it was Roger

Great analysis! Perhaps a discussion digging a little deeper regarding how and when to use pace/spin to off speed your opponent could be started.

[jimlosaltos]

They made a statistical comparison between the forehands of De Menaur and Alcaraz during the final. Alcaraz hits the ball with more clearance and spin with the end result being that the opponent has to deal with a ball that rears up and more difficult to cope with. He averages forehand speeds of around 80mph but can inject far greater pace at times. One forehand he hit was 106pmh. It's this periodic injection of pace that is a great weapon of Alcaraz's...as it was Roger

That "switch" { some European announcer always calls it "an injection of pace" } was evident in his win over Korda. At a key juncture, Alcaraz stepped in took a reasonable rally ball from Korda inside the court and walloped it to Korda's backhand, then repeated to his forehand. Impressive against a very good player.