Joao Fonseca's Forehand

[jeffreycounts]

Video with some of Fonseca's big shotmaking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORirHW5AFuE

That kid can really crush the ball. Wow. Looking forward to seeing more of him in the future.

[don_budge]

That kid can really crush the ball. Wow. Looking forward to seeing more of him in the future.

Tennis definitely needs some new blood in the mix. The current Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz is woefully insufficient to sustain any interest in the game. But with today's dumbed down audience it might fly for a while. Unfortunately half of the current paradigm is "incarcerated" for drug cheating. Alcaraz's and Sinner's initial hype of chasing records set by Djokovic, Federer and Nadal was ridiculously premature. Longevity being one of the hallmarks of a truly great tennis player. In most cases. There have been many a flash in the pan types.

Nowadays there is a super pressure put on the player's psyche in the social media universe. Many a modern player has failed to live up to their initial billing. This kid will be no different and he will be faced with the same troubled and difficult road to navigate. He has a great forehand? How many times have we heard that? I would be looking for a player with the nonexistent all-court game that would set them apart from the herd of the current paradigm. A player along the lines of Roger Federer. Haven't seen any evidence of that happening.

[don_budge]

What about the service motion? Is there anything in that motion that looks as if it will be something special?

[seano]

DB -

I found these clips of Fonseca's serve. Would love to hear your thoughts.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joao+fonseca+serve+slow+motion

[don_budge]

DB -

I found these clips of Fonseca's serve. Would love to hear your thoughts.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joao+fonseca+serve+slow+motio n

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGuk3SylaIk

Thanks seano...enjoy your analysis and nice to see you writing articles for the website. I don't spend a lot of time with tennis lately. My thoughts tend to be more philosophical as I get older. Reflecting on the ethical nature of things. So let's see what I come up with in a few minutes.

First of all, it is very impressive that this young man has accomplished a win on the ATP tour at such a young age. An interesting footnote to that is my boy, Aaron Krickstein, won an ATP tournament when he was sixteen. He did go on to have a most respectable career on tour, yet did not quite reach the zenith. When we parted ways, the last conversation that I had with Aaron's father Herb was regarding Aaron's service game. I spoke of deficiencies in the motion that hindered him from having the fullest range of tactical possibilities along with the complete spectrum of nuance that goes along with the service game.

If I were in the corner of this young man I think that the conversation would be a very similar one. I watched the video a bit that I posted and that you referenced. It was interesting listening to the coach and comparing his serving analysis to mine. Most of my time these days, as a seventy year old, is devoted to the game of golf. The golf swing. Often in the past I have compared this motion to the serve motion. I say that the two are very similar in many ways. Golf swing being somewhat of the upside down version of the service motion. Instead of teeing it down we tee it up with the toss.

The thing about professional golf swings is that most of the swings look to be fundamentally the same, even to the untrained eye. This sits well with me. It seems to me that fifty years ago all of the service motions looked to be pretty much fundamentally similar compared to the hodge podge of deliveries in the modern game. Surely in all professional athletes, in tennis and in golf, you are going to see and find some individual interpretation. Some artistic license. But artistic license should end where engineering efficiency begins.

That being said...the man in the video acknowledges that the Fonseca motion is somewhat "unorthodox". He doesn't say unorthodox but that is the word that I would use. His motion deviates significantly from the most efficient motion that I imagine. My ideal has the greased friction free motion of a rollercoaster.

I like the fact that it is platform. Yet the feet are so close together that I refer to this as a hybrid platform. It is as if he is serving out of the pinpoint. Consequently, I tend to "agree" with the coach that his CADENCE or rather his RHYTHM is for lack of a better word...sporadic. In fact, it looks to be rather inconsistent as well. As usual, it is first the setup position that is analyzed in order to set the subject up for the proper backswing. So, I am not impressed with his setup. The setup should have the same sort of approach as that of an archer...designed for aim and accuracy. He is much too "disorganized" to begin his motion. As a consequence the backswing is clearly muddled without even an idea or clue about maximizing the three elements of control (power) into his motion. As consequence becomes consequence, the transition from forward swing from back swing is now a bit of an adventure. His is purely an athletic move on the ball without thought or design. There is nothing aesthetic pleasing about this delivery at all. Aesthetic in serving as in a golf swing is a large part rhythm. He lacks rhythm in a most fundamental way.

It's interesting how this kid is similar to my young friend Aaron. Aaron's forehand was just off the charts. When he was a very young junior his forehand was problematic for the top men players in our district. In my opinion it was his service motion that held him back some. I'm not sure how much but I sure would have loved to had the time to follow up on that last conversation with Herb. But then Nick B. had his hooks into the process and I can say with confidence that there was zero positive influence on the service motion until the end of his career. The fix wasn't overly complicated...it is attention to details. As in the aiming process of an archer. Setup. Backswing. Transition into delivery. Follow through. All blended into a greased, fluid motion.

Fonseca lacks fluidity. What is the most impressive impression of the Roger Federer serve? I would have to say fluidity. As a result Roger had the perfect combination of control/power in speed, spin and placement. Various amounts of each depending upon the situation. The Fonseca serve is a typical modern serve. Cookie cutter. It is all about raw speed and placement and spin are mere afterthoughts.

It will be interesting going forwards to see how this young man responds to the expectations now that he has made this rather momentous accomplishment. Can he challenge the new leaders in the game? He won't have to worry about Sinner for a few months. Lucky for Sinner it wasn't a few years. But he has also created a target on his own back now. The other players will be gunning for him. All of this creates pressure with time. And we all know what pressure can do to a service motion that is not perfectly fluid. It can create havoc. So we'll see. Thanks seano.

[don_budge]

DB -

I found these clips of Fonseca's serve. Would love to hear your thoughts.

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...ve+slow+motion

Wow...that was fun. Reminds me of old times. Didn't proof read my post. One stream of consciousness...just like old times. That was fun.

[seano]

DB -

Appreciate the insight. It has been awhile since I've seen one of your "stream of consciousness" threads

[jimlosaltos]

A few stats at 18 yo: Joao Fonseca's serve can reach speeds of up to 216 km/h (134 mph) and has an average speed of around 199 km/h (123 mph) for his first serve. His second serve averages around 157 km/h (97 mph).

Fonseca's serve speed at various matches"

• Jeddah 2024 Round Robin
  Fonseca's first serve average speed was 199 km/h (123 mph) and his second serve average speed was 157 km/h (97 mph)
• Madrid 2024 Round of 64
  Fonseca's first serve average speed was 190 km/h (118 mph) and his second serve average speed was 174 km/h (108 mph)

[don_budge]

DB -

Appreciate the insight. It has been awhile since I've seen one of your "stream of consciousness" threads

LOL...let's hear your thoughts seano. We'll blend them with mine and no doubt it will be a pretty good word salad.