Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[don_budge]

But it's always a pleasure to watch KM, in my opinion. She has a genuine all-court game and is a wonderful shot-maker (playing hero - Roger Federer). Without her approach today's final would be...well...what the mens' final promises to be.

regards
Rob

The book is William Tilden II. Richard Gonzalez is the model with the Don Budge backhand. Harry Hopman is the coach. Roger Federer is "The Living Proof". ...don_budge tennis coaching paradigm.

[don_budge]

My favorite tennis student in the little club here in Sweden recently sent me an email informing me that he graduated from Architecture School and will be pursuing his Master's Degree in Switzerland. I told him I couldn't have been prouder of him than if he had won Wimbledon.

I might add that in the vein of vanity...I am also so proud of myself that I am bursting at the seams. Gustaf and I have kept in touch ever since. I am friends with all of his family on some basis more than surface. I have worked with his mother. Collaborated with her in her career. Dad was in the tennis program. Consulted some with his brother.

But it was me who steered Gustaf into the Architecture program. He had been drifting from subject to subject without committing to a singular objective. I took a look at his wanderings...his meanderings and concluded that he would be a GREAT Architect. Perhaps the likes of Howard Roark. I made the suggestion. I recommended the book "The Fountainhead". That was all he needed. I used a little "persuation". It wasn't a one off sell. But I persisted...just as I do when coaching tennis.

So for those that think this site is solely about tennis...I feel sorry for you. For those who have a problem with me...I sympathize with you. Because I defy you. Every single one. I am true to myself and my Lord...and the game of tennis. Classic tennis. Gustaf was taught classic tennis. He has an appreciation for more than tennis.

[don_budge]

For those who dare to be different. For those who dare to think outside the box. For those who refuse to conform. For those who reject herd mentality. "You need people like me. So you can point your fingers and say...look at him. That's a bad guy. Take a look at the bad guy. You are not going to see too many more like him."

The Fountainhead is a 1943 novel by Russian-American author Ayn Rand, her first major literary success. The novel's protagonist, Howard Roark, is an intransigent young architect who battles against conventional standards and refuses to compromise with an architectural establishment unwilling to accept innovation. Roark embodies what Rand believed to be the ideal man, and his struggle reflects Rand's belief that individualism is superior to collectivism.

Roark is opposed by what he calls "second-handers", who value conformity over independence and integrity. These include Roark's former classmate, Peter Keating, who succeeds by following popular styles but turns to Roark for help with design problems. Ellsworth Toohey, a socialist architecture critic who uses his influence to promote his political and social agenda, tries to destroy Roark's career. Tabloidnewspaper publisher Gail Wynand seeks to shape popular opinion; he befriends Roark, then betrays him when public opinion turns in a direction he cannot control. The novel's most controversial character is Roark's lover, Dominique Francon. She believes that non-conformity has no chance of winning, so she alternates between helping Roark and working to undermine him.

[don_budge]

It's funny how it works that way doesn't it?

Yeah...it's funny alright. In an ironic sort of way.

[don_budge]

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The glass is half full and half empty. It is important to understand this in order to realize that both conditions can exist at the same time. They can in fact coexist. Are you a half full type? A half empty type? If so...you are missing the point. This riddle has been misunderstood from the beginning. Fortunately...I was here to solve it for you.

[don_budge]

Match of Yesterday...Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Dominic Thiem

As I was making my way to dreamland last night I switched on Eurosport just in time to catch the fifth set tie-break between these two one handed backhand players. I watched the first set and a half the other day before the rain delay and had high hopes of a Dominic Thiem upset over Tsitsipas. As the tie-break began I said to myself that the player with the stronger serve is going to win this match. Thiem started serving and won his first point. Tsitsipas followed with two aces. Hmmm...

The concluding match point was interesting. Apparently there had been some traffic to the net during the match and Thiem was presented with a short ball on his backhand side. He drove the ball and it landed somewhat short and right into the wheelhouse of the Tsitsipas forehand. Stefanos made short work of it. A rather poor choice of approach on Thiem's part I thought. Better to wicked slice down the line with a couple of choices in depth. Either deep into the corner or short up the line. Even something cross court would have been better than putting a sitting duck on the Greek's forehand.

Between the two of them there was a rather nice presence on the court. The one handed backhands and players all dressed in white. Some tactical net play. Nice first round.

[don_budge]

Match of Yesterday...Taylor Fritz vs. Mikael Ymer

Best of five sets is one of the toughest asks in professional sports. Just ask Taylor Fritz. Taylor found himself down two sets to one against Yannick Hanfmann before grinding out a five set win in the first round. He was quickly up two sets to one against the number 55 ranked player in the world, Sweden's Mikael Ymer before succumbing as his legs went out from under him in another five set match. Back to back five setters...it ain't the miles, it's the terrain. Either way...five sets is one tough road to hoe.

Ymer has a fellow Columbian in his sights now. He has lost to him in their only previous encounter which was on clay. Funny fellow this Ymer. He has refused to play in B?staad for two years running here in Sweden because he feels that they don't offer him enough appearance money. Viewed by many as a thankless ingrate he is marching to his own drummer. Of Ethiopian heritage, not sure if his parents are actual immigrants. They could be. He isn't your stereotypical Sweden. The Nordic type. But immigration is changing all that. Currently Mikael and his brother Elias are the top two tennis players in Sweden.

Fritz, on the other hand, has to be kicking himself in the butt. This should have been a no brainer for him. Being ranked number nine puts him in the top echelon...the five setter against the 45th ranked player cost him dearly. Then a loss to the number 55. Uh oh...question marks. Once you reach the top, there is only one way down. He could conceivably climb a couple of more spots but the question is...has he reached a personal pinnacle. At this point he has a huge target on his back...not to mention one beautiful lady in his corner. The demands start to magnify. Players are gunning for him. Take Ymer for instance...a win over Fritz is a huge feather in his cap. The converse is not true. Fritz is expected to beat Ymer. The expectations have a way of creeping into your psyche. You begin to feel the pressure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I

[don_budge]

2023 Match of the Day Wimbledon...Novax Djokovic vs. Stan Wawrinka

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/djokovic-wawrinka-wimbledon-2023-six-previous-epic-matches

Another epic in the offing? These two sluggers have produced some of the most awesome ball striking of the modern era of bazooka racquets. They have played eight times at Grand Slam events and they have split the eight...it is four wins apiece. Tie breaker anyone? The two times they have played in the finals it has been all Stan. This is their first meeting at Wimbledon and it is about time.

Novak has been virtually unbeatable at Wimbledon in the past few years. Was he banned from the Covid edition? But this could be huge. It depends solely on the condition of Wawrinka. Novak has been totally focused on majors. Grand Slams. He has absorbed some shellackings in lesser events by lesser players because he has viewed all of it a foreplay. He doesn't care...if it isn't a Slam. But now he is focused. Wawrinka is on his way out...or is he? A win here just might revive the old boy. What a great guy outwardly. One of the Swiss bookends for years. But this is his moment and I for one hope he is up to it.

[stroke]

https://www.wfsb.com/sports/betting/2023/07/07/stan-wawrinka-vs-novak-djokovic-tennis-prediction-betting-odds-wimbledon/

[don_budge]

Fascinating match against Norrie the other day. Underlying theme of a psychological subject. How will Eubanks react under the glare of the big moment? His serving rating was a solid nine out of ten. More surprising and absolutely jaw dropping was a backhand rating of eight plus. I don't know how they came to these numbers on the channel I was watching but I can't say I disagree with them. Eubanks impressed me with his use of the slice in the warm up tournament but he was being very aggressive with his drive in this match. So this fellow has got everyone's attention now. Which in turn amps up the expectations...which in turn renews the question about how he will react. Every rising star goes through this process and most fizzle out at some point. They reach a zenith and then...plop.

Tilden wrote about maintaining pressure on your opponent. If Eubanks can keep up the serving and back it up with not only a forehand but his backhand as well and factor in trips to the net...this is a recipe for trouble. For his opponent. Tsitsipas next. Christopher...can you answer the question!!!???

[stroke]

Fascinating match against Norrie the other day. Underlying theme of a psychological subject. How will Eubanks react under the glare of the big moment? His serving rating was a solid nine out of ten. More surprising and absolutely jaw dropping was a backhand rating of eight plus. I don't know how they came to these numbers on the channel I was watching but I can't say I disagree with them. Eubanks impressed me with his use of the slice in the warm up tournament but he was being very aggressive with his drive in this match. So this fellow has got everyone's attention now. Which in turn amps up the expectations...which in turn renews the question about how he will react. Every rising star goes through this process and most fizzle out at some point. They reach a zenith and then...plop.

Tilden wrote about maintaining pressure on your opponent. If Eubanks can keep up the serving and back it up with not only a forehand but his backhand as well and factor in trips to the net...this is a recipe for trouble. For his opponent. Tsitsipas next. Christopher...can you answer the question!!!???

That extraordinary 8 on the Eubanks backhand refers to the shot quality rating now provided at times sometimes during a match. From what I can gather, it is accumulated from the speed, spin, width, and depth of particular stroke such as the backhand, forehand, and serve. It is very revealing it seems. Obviously a 9 on the serve is a lot for an opponent to overcome. How a player is doing on it during a match vs the "tour average" is very interesting. Chris has been hitting on all cylinders, no where for his opponent to go. It has been something to see. I watched him play(and practice)at Georgia Tech several times. It was obvious his very unusual natural firepower, but his backhand in particular, seemed problematic. It has not been at Wimbledon and he has been spectacular. His topspin backhand has looked better and more confident than ever, and his slice, as you pointed out, and I certainly concur, has looked better than ever. In fact, I remember calling out his slice as being not where it needed to be at his level on some old thread. That no longer appears to be the case. In fact, I don't think I have ever seen such what seems dramatic transformation of shot quality. It started in Mallorca, and has been same old ever since.

[don_budge]

No matter if one likes it or not...politics are a part of life. Sometimes it isn't pretty.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/wimbledon-fans-boo-belarusian-victoria-azarenka-no-handshake-ukrainian-elina-svitolina

[don_budge]

Wimbledon 2023...Yawn

Well it looks like it all winding down. Alcarez is soon to be done mopping up a somewhat listless Medvedev. Mr. Pencil failed to come up with a game plan. Djokovic will simply have too much experience...until he doesn't. He schooled an overmatched Jannik Sinner. The Russians are all defeated. I was rooting for them because I know you guys hate them. I felt somewhat embarrassed for the civilized world that they don't have their countries flag attached to their names. That is very childish. Absurd even.

All of it foreplay for a rather limp conclusion...whichever way it goes. Alcarez is not likeable. Hardly at all. There is something about the attention getting gestures that imply something about him. All of those matches Novak lost in the preliminaries. The tournaments leading up to Slams. All of the losses he "suffered" in the buildup to Slam Row. All of it foreplay...just titillating the ignorant masses. Wimbledon has outdone itself. As tennis has in general. It's boring. Quite boring. The most exciting thing that happened is when the Belarusian refused to shake the hand of the Ukrainian. As if any of that matters either. It's childish. Life or tennis...take your pick. Each is mimicking the other. It's irony. Which I am a master of.

[don_budge]

Wimbledon 2023...Yawn

Djokovic will simply have too much experience...until he doesn't. He schooled an over matched Jannik Sinner.

All of it foreplay for a rather limp conclusion...whichever way it goes. Alcarez is not likeable. Hardly at all. There is something about the attention getting gestures that imply something about him. All of those matches Novak lost in the preliminaries. The tournaments leading up to Slams. All of the losses he "suffered" in the buildup to Slam Row. All of it foreplay...just titillating the ignorant masses. Wimbledon has outdone itself. As tennis has in general. It's boring. Quite boring. The most exciting thing that happened is when the Belarusian refused to shake the hand of the Ukrainian. As if any of that matters either. It's childish. Life or tennis...take your pick. Each is mimicking the other. It's irony. Which I am a master of.

Without belaboring a point. Trying not to force the obvious on loyal tennis "fans". But this has been the weakest Wimbledon ever. Nothing remotely of interest. Not to a true tennis "connoisseur". If there was any moment that illustrated this better than any...it was at the end of the women's final. I won't call it the "Ladies Final" for reasons of my own. I cannot imagine paying for a ticket for this match. I wouldn't go to the end of my driveway to watch it for free. There was no way I was going to pass up a round of golf to stay home and watch it for free on television. But I came home just in time to see the last couple of points and as a performance analyst I found the performance level to be very low. Embarrassing. The women get equal pay for this? WOWSA...WOWSA...WOWSA. If only the Ukrainian and Russian ladies had made the final...that might have saved the day. The handshake moment was going to be priceless. Not to be.

Instead what the tennis world got was an unseeded woman winning the whole damn thing. Not to mention the tattoos. Just ugly. All of the trained seals in the stands coughing up big bucks to watch it. For the first time an unseeded woman won it. Anybody with a young woman in the game should take notice...the entire field is there to be had. All it will take is a reincarnation of Roger Federer...as a woman. Or maybe...should I say it? Better not. Thought police out in force.

So Novak will simply have too much experience until he doesn't. What does that mean don_budge? (Since nobody else is home to ask). That simply means...until his legs give out. He put a real "hurt dance" on Jannik Sinner the other day. Sinner is one of the "Golden Children" in the sport not. But he showed a real lack of experience on the grass against the weight of Djokovic's experience. So here is the question...what about Alcarez? Well...for one thing, this guy is not likeable. He's young and maybe not the most intelligent animal on the farm, but he has legs. But on grass it is all about being nimble. That is what the experience adds up to nowadays. Forget about serve and volley. Nobody knows how to play it. But it might not be a bad time for Alcarez to bring this trick out of his hat.

He gained a ton of experience in the French final. Unfortunately it was a very bad experience. To his credit he stayed out there on the court and absorbed the punishment. He showed some courage and courage is going to be a huge ingredient of the equation that will be required to take out Novak. Djokovic has had the most positive of performances up to this point in the tournament. His legs are relatively well rested. He has surgically worked his way through the draw. Has he dropped any sets? If he has it was only because he wanted some extra time on the court. To get the nimble toes dancing on the slick surface. Measuring his steps. Ever since when? When he was banned from the Australian a couple of seasons ago? Don't you know...the only revenge in life is success? I hope he puts "Nadal Lite" down right on his backside. This fellow spends way to much air time egging on the crowd to show him the love. They all do it. Except Roger. Everyone already truly loved him and it was unnecessary. At any rate...do us all a favor Novak.

[don_budge]

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This quote from Aldous Huxley rings true for me and particularly true for the tennis world. The game has not evolved as it was when Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe were dueling on center court at Wimbledon way back in the day. It has devolved into a contest from the backcourt and a contest based solely on groundstrokes. The service motions have devolved into a sole focus on speed. Gone are the multi layered and faceted tactics. I'm just pointing out the obvious and I am quite certain that the tennis establishment doesn't want to hear it.