Mike Agassi

[lukman41985]

Can someone explain to me what Mike Agassi, father of Andre, is talking about here (taken from The Tennis Week Interview: Mike Agassi (December 2004) By Richard Pagliaro 12/14/2004:

Tennis Week: Do you see any player out there whose style reminds you of Andre? You know, who can take the ball early, take command from the baseline, punish returns?


Mike Agassi: Rios was like that. He reminds me of Andre and in one way he was something better than Andre: you couldn’t read his contact point and direction of the ball. Do you know the beauty of a mirror? If you throw light at a mirror at five degrees, then the light comes back five degrees the other side, correct? Now if the ball comes at your hand and if you meet the ball with an angle on the racquet then they cannot read your shot and where the ball is coming. Do you know what I’m talking about? Do you understand?


Tennis Week: Yeah, I understand what you’re saying. You’re saying the angle of the racquet face can be deceptive to the opponent and make it tougher to read the shot?


Mike Agassi: Yes, you can change the angle of the racquet head, some players. But if Roddick hits the ball crosscourt, before he hits, you know he’s hitting crosscourt. If you have the same swing and you meet the ball with the angle, then the guy crosscourt cannot read if you’re going to his backhand or forehand.


Tennis Week: Yeah, but that takes incredible timing and technique to do that.


Mike Agassi: Yeah, listen the guys who can do it are making a hell of a lot of money. You wanna do that? Go work on it. That’s what you have to work on it. My practice was the ball machine. I couldn’t give him 5,000 balls like that. I would put the ball machine on serve and ask Andre to change the direction on his return without telegraphing where the ball was going.

[ladycoach]

Mike Agassi, master of disguise?
Certainly master of spin, both in the tennis and the media sense. He and Bolletieri may not like eachother, but they do have a lot in common...even their speech patterns.

Disguise players: Manuel Santana, Martina Navratilova and Hana Mandlikova.

[ajchabria]

Good call on the 'disguise players', Lady. While we're on Hard-to-read Czechs, you guys remember Korda's 7-6 in the fifth win over Pete in the 97 US Open? Quarters or 4th round, I think. Pete just was not reading Petr's backhand pass, especially at the very end there. There was also a Davis Cup match in which Korda had Mal Washington absolutely flailing every time he tried to approach. Korda definitely had his moments.
I agree that Rios is in that class. Mac and Federer for sure. Safin, Edberg, Kafelnikov and Stich on backhand passes alone. There are more, certainly. What do you guys think? Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal seem to love to 'hold' the ball. Honorable mention to Hewitt and Chang for their last-moment lobs, maybe?

[lukman41985]

I just don't understand how the mirror analogy works with tennis. I don't understand the whole racquet face angle being used as a way to disguise the ball. I thought that the angle of the racquet face tips off the direction of shot. How is racquet face angle used for disguise?

[ajchabria]

Without saying it, I think Mike is saying that you can read most players' directional intent by reading their bodies. With the best of the best, their bodies are doing the same things for x-cts and DTLs. Some players are just better than others at this. The subtle difference lies in the racquet face. It's like they sell you on a cross-court pass, then stroke it down the line (or vice versa). Or the way a baseliner would 'read' a McEnroe volley to the open court nice and deep, Mac, of course, would drop it short behind his opponent. I've been that opponent. And Mac does not do this with any wristiness at all.

Now, the rest of Mike's mirror analogy is hocus pocus, and confusing at best. He is referring to light, which naturally behaves differently from 2.2 ounces of rubber and felt against a stringbed.

[johnyandell]

Yeah let's remember that this guy is bitter because Andre doesn't play serve and volley--the natural style his dad taught him...because we know Andre's volleys are just so frickin' great, right?

[ladycoach]

What Chabria is talking about - I believe in and show to practically ALL of my students. Some players can pull it off to a certain degree, some cannot. But I think it is an important element to show people, if only for the other side of the equation (the reading side).
What Yandell is talking about - I love Agassi, but I'm still laughing. I did not know that about Agassi's dad being so bitter.

Well, you guys take it easy.
TLC

[lukman41985]

Yeah let's remember that this guy is bitter because Andre doesn't play serve and volley--the natural style his dad taught him...because we know Andre's volleys are just so frickin' great, right?

The reason they're not has to do with the fact he never developed them in the first place, right? If you read interviews with Mike Agassi, you are right, he did want Andre to play that style, but after going to NBTA, he became much more of a baseliner. Check out these interviews:
Interview 1
Interview 2
The guy is a nut and a tennis genius. I think about how many times Andre hit a well struck, well placed groundstroke and didn't follow it up to the net, and think, how many more grand slam titles would this guy have if he was more willing and comfortable to come to the net?

[JoeTennis]

Danke for posting the Mike Agassi interviews, Luk.
Wonder if Dre himself has any comments.

Sure could've used some more disguise today against Nadal in the Canadian Open final. Three or four better volleys too. TOo much pressure from Nadal, I guess.

[lukman41985]

No problem Joe. The match with Nadal was tough. You've got to remember, Andre's running on 35 year old legs whereas Rafa's are only 19. I'm starting to wonder, is this extreme spin the unusual/standout element in this kid's game or is it his strength/athleticism/tenacity? I really wonder if the spin is that tough to deal with, especially after Andre adjusted to it during the second set, and also how Fed adjusted to it down in Miami. I wasn't watching tennis during the days of Brugera/Berasutegi/Muster, the guys that are mentioned as Rafa's spinsakes--but those guys seemed to get handled by Agassi/Sampras, whom if you take bits and pieces of each, are combined in Federer's game. Watching Rafa, I wonder how many try to hit that extreme topspinning ball, but don't have the grinding attitude or the body to run around like that and swing like that? For me, sometimes I find myself on the courts trying to emulate that Western style--but it's really, well, it's perfectly described as a grinding style because it seems quite tiring and unelegant. Yes, yes, I know John, that's fickle of me...

Call me selfish/unrealistic/whatever, but I can't stop asking myself these questions: What if Fed had some of that Nadal/Agassi charisma? Why can't a player come along that is that kind of combo?