Davydenko's forehand and serve

[crosscourt]

From a technical point of view, what struck me most about Roland Garros on the men's side was how good Davydenko's forehand and serve were. The forehand was as smooth and effortless a way of moving the ball crosscourt as I remember seeing. The guy just moved to hit the ball and it was already in the far corner of the court. The serve wasn't huge, but like the forehand it was fluid and just seemed ready to do a job. The backhand is just a workhorse shot. That's a shame because there seems to be a lot of good backhands in the men's game right now. Many of them single handers in clay court players. That surprised me.

[crosscourt]

No views on this forehand. What are you all doing? Sleeping? It's time to work on your game.

[crosscourt]

I am still surprised that more fuss isn't made about Davydenko's serve and forehand. While Hrbaty is probably close to the perfect opponent for Davydenko, what Davydenko did yesterday was pretty impressive.

Have you seen how far Davydenko takes the ball out in front, while standing on the baseline? And his movement is getting better and better. All credit to him.

cc

[stroke]

I saw the Davydenko/Hrbaty match in the Paris Masters Final, and it was a very impressive performance by Davydenko. Davydenko is now #3 in the world, and his play backs ups his ranking. John Barrett, the commentator for the match on the Tennis Channel, pointed out a couple of times how Davydenko's play, taking the ball early and pretty much dictating play from the center of the court, reminded him of Agassi. I tend to agree with this. If he stays with this form in the season ending Masters tournament in Shanghai, it would be very interesting to see him go against Roger.

[EricMatuszewski]

Stroke,

I watched Davydenko up close verse Thomas Zib in 2005 at the US Open. I put most of it on video.

He was amazing. The next day I was telling everyone how he's my darkhorse favorite.

He's got great strokes, great movement, great intensity. He made Zib look like a junior player that night. It was scarey to watch a pro get crushed like that. Davydenko was like a shark that smelled blood and sparred no mercy. The other spectators were reacting like they were watching a mouse being fed to a snake.

What do you think holds him back from making a slam final?

[stroke]

Eric,

I think he is on the verge of really having a breakthrough, if you can put it that way for a guy who is ranked #3 in the world. I agree with you, he really has no weakness in his game. He has a great forehand, backhand, serve, movement, and he takes the ball early off both sides and controls the center of the court. I saw him play a tough match vs Fed earlier in the year in some tournament, Fed won it in 3, but it was the only hardcourt match I have seen Fed play(certainly within the last year) when he was not controlling most of the points, Davydenko seemed to be controlling most of the action. I do think an in form Agassi is the best comparison to Davydenko, but I think Davydenko has more on his serve, and better movement. His forehand probably is a little heavier too, it looks to me he hits with a lot of spin. This upcoming season ending Masters may be the first breakthrough for Davydenko.

[EricMatuszewski]

Stroke,

I definitelly agree that Davydenko hits his forehand in a "heavier" style on average than Agassi. This is not suprising though for someone who grew up playing to win on slow red clay courts, as compared to Agassi who grew up on hard courts in the dry air (fast conditions) of Vegas.

He hits his serve rather "heavy" on average as well, he seems more concerned with making topspin than hitting flat bombs.

Another thing that really struck me was how much he slid on hard court when I watched him live. He had great powerfull acceleration with his first steps and slid into his changes of direction. You just keep hearing the screeeech of the rubber being ripped off his shoes. It's very powerfull sounding. Like watching F1 cars go by.

One funny thing about the whole Davydenko story I've joked with friends about is his lack of a major clothing sponsor. For a guy who's now #3 in the world it's very strange not to have a major clothing sponsor.

There seems to be more to getting a clothing deal than just putting up wins.

[stroke]

Eric,

I think he is sponsored by Prince, and is wearing their clothing. The Prince line does seem to be rather nondiscript, and it appears to a lot of folks that he is unsponsored by a clothing company. I agree with your take on his serve. He does not go for a big, flat type 1st serve, but more of a heavy topspin/kick serve. He is another example of a guy that is not very big, being able to serve very effectively. He has a somewhat low toss, and I think he has a very fluid motion. After watching his play in the Paris Masters, I can't think of hardly any players that are going to want to get into regular baseline rallies with him. The announcers for the Paris final mentioned toward the end of his fairly quick 3 set win, that Hrbaty had run 28% more that Davydenko during the course of the match. That is pretty significant, but it looked to me like it was even worse. Davydenko was just dominant. I really thought to myself as I was watching it that Fed is the only other player that I have seen that has looked so totally in command of the court. A lot of Davydenko's shots reminded me of the Fed/Roddick US Open Final, where Roddick would hit heavy/quality forehand, and Fed would just step up and take it on the rise, and hit a clean winner. Roddick was kinda shellshocked at the end of his US Open Final, as was Hrbaty at the end of the Paris Masters Final.

[EricMatuszewski]

Stroke,

that 28% stat is funny because Hrbaty clearly hits the ball flatter (he's one of the flattest hitting of the top guys) and it's usually assumed to be easier for a guy that hits flat to take the ball early.


I think the lower contact point accomidates more of a topspin component on the serve. Safin does this rather similarly.


I think there is a new commercial in your post some where for Davydenko.

Davydenko is Dominance!


When he's on, he's scarry to watch. How do guys beat him? Does he just have off days or something? I haven't watched him in a while.