"Crushing the Breaker"

[johnyandell]

Would love to get your thoughts on John Sherwood's first piece, "Crushing the Breaker"!

[gzhpcu]

Agree about practicing tie breakers. With my hitting partner, sometimes we terminate a practice session playing tie breakers for 15 minutes instead of a set.

[GeoffWilliams]

I play 24 point breakers, all by each server. That gives the server time to gain rhythm, and if each player has two rotations, that takes 1.5hr with warm up, mostly first strike of the ball practice.

[klacr]

I loved this article. Glad an article on tiebreakers has been published for this site. We talk so much about strategy and tactics yet fail to mention the extra importance of tiebreaks. Many of the comments rings true. If you want to see a tiebreak that had everything, The Lopez-Raonic 2nd set breaker was unique. Bravery, aggression, stupidity, tactics. It had it all.

At the end of most practice sessions and clinics, I have my juniors, men's teams and ladies teams play tiebreakers. I will have them play straight up tiebreakers and then depending on what issues I see occuring I will put stipulations in. Such as...

Tiebreakers to just 5 points if teams have a tendency to get off to slow start or lacking intensity. (I also play this game called speed tennis where the first player or team gets to 30 in the game wins. Places great value on the first two points of the game and getting ahead)
I award 2 points if a team or player can hit a volley or overhead winner.
2 points lost if a return of serve is missed.
2 points lost for a double fault
For advanced players, I will put the stipulation in that one side (one player) can only hit topspin shots, while the other can only hit underspin.You see some really interesting stuff there and helps them develop a feel for multiple shots.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[jsherwood]

Crushing the Breaker

Coaches and Players,

I would enjoy your thoughts and feedback on "Crushing the Breaker", its always great to learn from you.

Coach Sherwood

[don_budge]

Weird Scenes...

9-POINT TIE BREAKER

The USTA 9-point Sudden Death System will be used in all matches when a match score reaches 6-6 in games in any set. The procedure is as follows for doubles.

Assume teams “A” and “B” are playing. Team “B”, player 4, has finished serving and the score has reached 6-6 in games. Sudden Death begins.

--- Teams DO NOT CHANGE ENDS OF COURTS.

--- Team “A” player 1 due to serve next in normal rotation begins serving Sudden Death. She serves 2 points.

.--- Team “B” player 4 due to serve in that court serves 2 points. Teams exchange ends of court.

--- Team “A” player serves 2 points. Team gaining 5 points first wins the set 7-6.

--- If necessary, Team “B” player 2 serves final three points. The receiving team has the choice which court will receive the ninth and deciding point. (In doubles, this naturally determines which player will receive the deciding serve.)

--- The team who served points 3 and 4 begins serving the next set. ---

(i.e. The team who serves first in the tiebreaker, serves second in the next set.
In the event all three sets in a three-set match go to Sudden Death, a racket should be spun to determine which team commences serving the final Sudden Death.


I actually saw John McEnroe play one of these tie-breaks in what is now an infamous match. He was qualifying for the U. S. Open for the first time...I believe that he was 17 so it must have been 1975. The match was against one Zan Guerry who was a really tough nosed competitor in his own right.

The match came down to 6-6 in the third set and 4-4 in the tie-breaker...double match point. Somehow...I cannot remember the exact circumstances but I believe that McEnroe indeed writes about this particular match in his memoir, "You Cannot Be Serious"...but the match point is played and McEnroe believes that he has won the match. But Guerry sought for an overrule from the umpire and received it so the match point was replayed and to McEnroe's great dismay (if you can imagine) Guerry won the replayed match point and the match to boot. Not only that but he had entry into the main draw at the Open played at The Westside Tennis Club in Forest Hills. This was one of the two years that the tournament was played on Har-Tru.

This match was being played at some Tennis Club outside of the main event and we were in the parking lot when a clearly upset young John McEnroe came by himself past us. He was kicking at the gravel just a bit and I said to him..."you got robbed." He then realized the monumental clarity of what I said to him...to my words to heart and proceeded to become one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

How's that for a tie-break story?

Aaah... now I see the connection for the fascination...


Guerry responds:

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/200...ree-clay-court

"I didn't feel badly toward John because he'd behaved fine during the match," Guerry said. "Since then, I'm not sure."

"The story is only about 70 percent true."

"It was a great match and there were no problems the entire time up to the match point."

"I didn't feel badly toward John because he'd behaved fine during the match," Guerry said. "Since then, I'm not sure."

Great catch...interesting that you dug this out of the ethernet. Fascinating to hear Zan's spin on this match. In this article there is no mention of the "Van Alen" tie-breaker...the 9 point variety. To me this is perhaps the biggest irony of the whole story. The replaying of a double simultaneous match point situation.

Of course John McEnroe was livid. That doesn't make Zan Guerry guilty of anything...afterall he wanted to win just a badly as McEnroe. He seemed to be a super nice guy as a competitor and believe me...it was a real battle.

I have ordered McEnroe's book and look forward to reading the account of it. I will never forget that when I was at that same tournament that Bobby Blair is writing about there were several players sitting around on the lawn there at the club. I was there with Aaron Krickstein...and Patrick McEnroe was one of those sitting around and I brought up the subject of this match to him. He lit up and really appreciated my memory of it some seven or eight years later. Who knows...Bobby Blair may have been there with that group of young future great players when we were having our little reminisce.

But that match will always stick out in my mind and it is part of a larger collage of memories from my first trip to New York. It goes something like this...Stevie Wonder "New York...just like I pictured it...skyscrapers and everything"... Kennedy bit by a guard dog in a gas station...Jeff Wolfman, this Jewish kid from Queens...Negroes throwing garbage cans at each other from opposite sides of the street in Harlem..."To Catch a Rising Star"...the John Mcenroe vs. Zan Guerry match...the next Ilie Nastase.

Now I am tripping again... Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mind. Go ask don_budge when he's ten feet tall. It's another story...one that I have to write about. Stay tuned...it should make it's appearance in "Traditional Thoughts about Tennis".