For Mr Frausto,

[airforce1]

Exactly, Murray is a very intelligent player and retriever. He doesn't seem to try to do more than he's capable of , it will be interesting to see how his season turns out. He would be even scarier if he had the big can opener forehand that the current top 3 have. Longevity might be an issue if he keeps playing a defensive oriented game throughout his career.

his big serve and BH should, along with the ability to finish at net should keep him from working as hard as most have to

[uspta146749877]

For Mr.Frausto,

Dear Mr.Frausto,
my wife tried to fax a newsletter.
Please let me know whether it made it

[uspta146749877]

Djokovis looses to Gulbis

---> just a quote
Brisbane International
Brisbane, AustraliaJanuary 6, 2009

Gulbis Upsets Djokovic In Opener

Ernests Gulbis caused a major upset at the Brisbane International Tuesday, when the 20-year-old Latvian knocked out reigning Australian Open champion and World No. 3 Novak Djokovic with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in 90 minutes on Patrick Rafter Arena at the Queensland Tennis Centre.
“I was trying to keep my focus to the next point,” explained Gulbis. “Not [thinking] about winning or losing because last season I lost a lot of matches because I was up, maybe a break up in the third set and I had match points and I started thinking about winning the matches. This time I was really focused till the last game on my serve.”



In the first set, Gulbis led 4-2 and had 0-40 on the Serbian’s serve before Djokovic rallied and ultimately saved four break points in that game to hold. But Gulbis went on to close out the opening set without dropping serve.

The second set started with four breaks of serve for a 2-2 score line, but it was Gulbis who broke decisively for a 5-4 lead and went on to wrap up the victory on serve. Top seed Djokovic offered Gulbis 13 break points – eight in the first set and five in the second set.

“We all study each other’s games and he took the best out of the two losses against me last year,” said Djokovic, who had beaten Gulbis at Roland Garros and an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati. “It’s not a good to start the year with a loss, nobody likes to lose. But on bright side it's only start of year and there are more tournaments to come.”

[jasonfrausto]

Dear Mr.Frausto,
my wife tried to fax a newsletter.
Please let me know whether it made it

Thanks, it's much appreciated. And regarding Gulbis and his win over Djok I'm not too concerned about that one. I'm sure Novak's biggest concern was showing up to pick up his appearance fee at the tournament. Gulbis definitely has game, and I'd be glad to see him put up great results week after week on tour. At the Aussie Open we'll see who really comes to "play".

[hyperwarrior]

Mr. Frausto,

Do you think Federer's forehand overall backswing today is slightly different than 4 or 5 years ago?

Maybe it is just me, but it looks a little more compact than before. I just think that his forehand has changed recently and it's very subtle to see. I'm not sure but what do you think?

[uspta146749877]

For Mr.Fausto

There is a chance Nadal will play Murray at semi-finals of Ozzies.
A littele wager?

[jasonfrausto]

I did receive the Murray/Tsonga article in the fax and wanted to thank you for sending that out. I haven't had much time recently so I didn't get much of a chance to look at it. Hopefully in the next few days I'll get the opportunity.


As far as the Murray Nadal semi. Murray has an interesting matchup with Pavel in round 1, probably Murray without dropping a set in that one. I'd bank on 3, 4, 3. If Nishikori keeps improving that could be a possible matchup in round 3 between some young guns. I just don't see Murray and Nadal making the semis, but if they did with the 3 out of 5 format I would probably bet on Nadal. Because of Murray's style he would be more likely to come into that match more fatigued and it's hard to bet against Nadal if a match ends up going 5 sets. I don't see Nadal making it that far. Tursunov, Gonzalez, Monfils,and Youzhny all sit in his section and any of them could take him out or have in the past on hardcourts.

It should be an interesting tournament for sure, can't wait til tomorrow.

Jason

[jasonfrausto]

Mr. Frausto,

Do you think Federer's forehand overall backswing today is slightly different than 4 or 5 years ago?

Maybe it is just me, but it looks a little more compact than before. I just think that his forehand has changed recently and it's very subtle to see. I'm not sure but what do you think?

It does appear to be slightly different from years past, it may be more related to footwork and positioning relating to his ever dwindling shot tolerance, but I'll take a look at it.

[uspta146749877]

Why should I trust you?

I did receive the Murray/Tsonga article in the fax and wanted to thank you for sending that out. I haven't had much time recently so I didn't get much of a chance to look at it. Hopefully in the next few days I'll get the opportunity.


As far as the Murray Nadal semi. Murray has an interesting matchup with Pavel in round 1, probably Murray without dropping a set in that one. I'd bank on 3, 4, 3. If Nishikori keeps improving that could be a possible matchup in round 3 between some young guns. I just don't see Murray and Nadal making the semis, but if they did with the 3 out of 5 format I would probably bet on Nadal. Because of Murray's style he would be more likely to come into that match more fatigued and it's hard to bet against Nadal if a match ends up going 5 sets. I don't see Nadal making it that far. Tursunov, Gonzalez, Monfils,and Youzhny all sit in his section and any of them could take him out or have in the past on hardcourts.



It should be an interesting tournament for sure, can't wait til tomorrow.

Jason

www.espn.com/tennis says
Final projection
Murray def. Federer

[jasonfrausto]

www.espn.com/tennis says
Final projection
Murray def. Federer

Murray is a great pick, he has as good a chance to win it as the top 3 players. My only question is will his fitness hold up in the heat playing so defensively just running ball after ball down over 5 sets? Projected temps on day 1 are 100 degrees. ESPN didn't pick Gulbis for a finalist spot? I couldn't honestly pick a winner right now, the top 4 really make it a crapshoot and Federer has extra motivation going for #14, it's anyone's tournament to win.

[airforce1]

Airforce,

Glad that your son was able to improve upon his forehand through some of the articles and topics in the forum. I have a general belief that with stroke mechanics and certainly on the forehand certain preparation and technique is optimal for the best results at the highest level.


I would like to hear more about your son's improvements, I think you commented on being able to go a little further on the topic and his improvements.

As far as my thoughts about the superiority of the closed face position at the top of the backswing it's more theory than anything. From what I've seen and studied the players who have a closed or partially closed face at the top of the backswing have the ability typically to hit the forehand more offensively on a steady basis. To my knowledge Murray is the only top 10 player that has the face in more of a neutral position at the peak of the backswing. Gulbis is the next player that comes to mind and his forehand is absolutely monster but he lacks the ability to pound it for an entire match let alone an entire tournament without making tons of unforced errors.

My theory is that the wrist and face need to be in a similar closed position throughout the majority of the stroke. When teaching I break the forehand down into 6 stages, and that alone would probably be a multi page article on tennisplayer. What I see with Murray and Gulbis is that they don't close the face until stage 4 of the swing, but with most players they not only start the face closed but they go through each stage of the swing in what I consider to be a closed or "safe" position. Murray and Gulbis are in an open position in stage 3 which from what I've seen is too late in the swing to have steady power of the ground without making large numbers of errors.

Which is why Murray is doing it right and Gulbis....well hopefully Gulbis will catch on I'd like to get into it a bit more when I have some more time, but for now it would be interesting to hear about your son and his progress. Take care.

Some more on my son's progress.
He is still making it more natural, but we had a little break thru by focusing on when the left hand comes off the throat to stretch across
or more to the point of where it comes off and how far back that is.

Even though the racket never really stops there, it does seem to be a loaded and prepped position where the racket can begin the more aggressive part of the motion. When he gets to this position on time, there is no problem getting to the CP on time. From there the distance is shorter and there is not a bunch of momentum fighting you as you change directions with the stick to start back forward to the ball. (but enough momentum to help load the stroke some) before we were both taking off that left hand nearer to the body mid-line, but now it is coming off further back, maybe just aft of the back shoulder.
Does this agree with the things you are seeing in how you breakdown the segments?

[hyperwarrior]

Mr. Frausto,

I don't know if you're following Nadal at the Aussie Open right now, but I think he goes back to his old forehand unless I'm having problems with my eyes.
At the top of the backswing, his racquet face is neutral. I don't know if he's pulling his arm though. Hard to see from the naked eyes.

Anyways, I thought the change of his forehand from last year was awesome and devastating. It was natural looking. If he's really going back, I'm wondering if it's because he's feeling more comfortable with this awkward backswing.

[jasonfrausto]

Some more on my son's progress.
He is still making it more natural, but we had a little break thru by focusing on when the left hand comes off the throat to stretch across
or more to the point of where it comes off and how far back that is.

Even though the racket never really stops there, it does seem to be a loaded and prepped position where the racket can begin the more aggressive part of the motion. When he gets to this position on time, there is no problem getting to the CP on time. From there the distance is shorter and there is not a bunch of momentum fighting you as you change directions with the stick to start back forward to the ball. (but enough momentum to help load the stroke some) before we were both taking off that left hand nearer to the body mid-line, but now it is coming off further back, maybe just aft of the back shoulder.
Does this agree with the things you are seeing in how you breakdown the segments?

You guys can all call me Jason, no Mr. needed I've been extremely busy lately so I'll go in depth with you further soon but I think you have the right general idea. John and I have a different view on the top of the backswing on the forehand and use slightly different terminology to describe the visual points, but IMO it's critical to have the face closed (or partially closed) at the top of the backswing.

I would also like to add that Andy Murray is closing his face earlier in the swing at the Aussie Open compared to the footage from even this last summer of 08'. He seems to be more aggressive with the shot at the tournament, but it's not at the level of the top 3 in terms of the damage he doing with it. His swing is also more circular compared to at least Federer and Nadal. Still Gulbis sticks out more than anyone as having this part of the swing unlike that of his peers yet he continues to try to punish the ball with the stroke and it's been proven not to be the right thing for him to do.

I'll give you better feedback with some images of the forehand as I see it and John and I see it differently which is good because it presents different points of view and ways of looking at things. It also makes for good discussion and questions. The bottom line is if you look at the top 10 players on the men's side each of them get into a closed position at or near the top of the backswing, Murray was/is the lone exception. To me the number of degrees that it's closed isn't important, I always refer to that position as closed no matter what. Djokovic is "completely" closed probably mostly because of his grip which you already covered although that doesn't cover Nadal as his grip seems to be in a similar position.


I guess I view it as it's just as important how efficiently or quickly you get to your destination as it is to actually arrive. You can arrive in a variety of ways, but from the simple perspective of what seems to be the trend in the modern game it would seem that having somewhat of a closed face at the top of the backswing is something that most top players on the mens side tend to do. Certainly the guys that are going for big power on that side, and John viewed Federer as neutral but I see him as partially closed. Just different view points really. I'll put up something more in depth on the forums when I get some free time in the next few weeks.

[jasonfrausto]

Mr. Frausto,

I don't know if you're following Nadal at the Aussie Open right now, but I think he goes back to his old forehand unless I'm having problems with my eyes.
At the top of the backswing, his racquet face is neutral. I don't know if he's pulling his arm though. Hard to see from the naked eyes.

Anyways, I thought the change of his forehand from last year was awesome and devastating. It was natural looking. If he's really going back, I'm wondering if it's because he's feeling more comfortable with this awkward backswing.

I'm watching Nadal and Gonzo right now, it looks like he's still closing in the backswing like we saw with the footage John filmed in the summer, but it does appear that it's opening slightly again after that and closing at the bottom of the swing again. It could be something he changed but his natural swing might be taking over the change, he's still compacting it more than in the past though and keeping it more on the left side during the swing.

[hyperwarrior]

I'm watching Nadal and Gonzo right now, it looks like he's still closing in the backswing like we saw with the footage John filmed in the summer, but it does appear that it's opening slightly again after that and closing at the bottom of the swing again. It could be something he changed but his natural swing might be taking over the change, he's still compacting it more than in the past though and keeping it more on the left side during the swing.

Yeah, you sum it up pretty well. That's also how I'm seeing it but I couldn't explain it accurately. Yeah, it's still different from 2005 and a little bit compact and more to the left.