2015 French Open…ATP 2000...Roland Garros, Paris, France

[stroke]

Stan's victory was also a victory for the one-handed backhand and flat hitting. The final game was a cliff-hanger. It seemed as if Djokovic was on verge of getting a break. Hope Stan does well in Wimbledon...

I don't know about flat hitting with a 2700 plus rpm's off both sides, but it was about the best display of a power baseline game I have seen. A lot of on this board though Novak could absorb anything, but Stan definitely took it to him and took the match. Those last 3 sets by Stan were something.

[hockeyscout]

He was 3-17 against joker, and 2-16 against Fed. 60 winners to 25, and that's called out hitting. The blaster won for a change. So how did Norman get stan to blast so consistently?

And that's it for Becker, looking so guilty, as the joker volley is still so suspect. The one thing he was hired to do, to help with the volley/serve game, he can't do, so why pay him $80,000 euros a week after the lack of said results anymore?

Hey, Djokovic, come on over to Oakland and I will teach you to volley.

Drills all day long at the net, coming in against real time passing attempts, not easy rhythm feeds that teach nothing but how to hit lay up volleys that are fodder.

Geoff, kindly explain to me what you'd do with a world class player like Djokovic on the court. What would be your game plan? I will find a way to copy and emulate what you'd want to do. The more complex the better. No sense pointlessly practicing if you are trying to get to next.

[don_budge]

The Wawrinka Backhand…and a couple of other things

His backhand was great today…but more importantly so was his forehand.

Stan's victory was also a victory for the one-handed backhand and flat hitting. The final game was a cliff-hanger. It seemed as if Djokovic was on verge of getting a break. Hope Stan does well in Wimbledon...

Rod Laver also made the comment about Stan Wawrinka's play…his forehand has improved. As good as his backhand is he is running around it when he can in order to play the forehand. He hit reverse cross-court into the Djokovic backhand as often as he could. That was a contributing winning tactic. It would be interesting to hear Wawrinka's tactical plan before he took to the court. What was he thinking? How was he planning to play certain shots under certain circumstances. How was he planning to handle the drop shots for instance.

It is a huge victory for the one-handed backhand gzhpcu. His initial Slam may have been viewed as somewhat of a fluke. Rafael Nadal's behavior certainly may have encourage this view. But this French Open Championship certainly shows that this was no accident. It validates his victory at the 2014 Australian Open.

Regarding your preferences for Wawrinka's backhand or anybody's…it is immaterial. The Wawrinka game must be taken in context as a whole. Just as Roger Federer's game must be taken as a whole.

Wawrinka may have the best one-handed backhand in the game. He just may have the best backhand in the game period. Is his backhand better than Djokovic's? Immaterial. It has to be taken in context. What are the implications of playing the Wawrinka backhand on the rest of his game? Stan was brought up on the red clay of Europe and it is his favorite surface. His win at the Australian Open was on a reputedly "quicker" hard court surface. How do his chances at Wimbledon look? Federer handled him rather nicely last year in the quarterfinals.

That was so impressive how he closed out the final against Djokovic. Djokovic is the ever wily player who isn't out of a match until both players are in the locker room it seems. He had a break point which Wawrinka was able to erase. Finishing it off with a backhand blast up the line and so close to the baseline was a fearless stroke in the face of all of the pressure on him. What a great backhand and what a great match.

It certainly puts the one-handed backhand back on the map if there was ever any doubt that it wasn't. There was never any doubt with me. It is a very viable option…perhaps the most viable option in my view for most players. Certainly there are arguments for and against. But if history is any sort of barometer…all things being equal it is the stroke of choice. For most players…professional and otherwise. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom…but takes in consideration the faddish nature of things in the tennis world. Bill Tilden even wrote about this sort of thing back in the 1920's. There is nothing new under the sun…it seems.

[klacr]

He was 3-17 against joker, and 2-16 against Fed. 60 winners to 25, and that's called out hitting. The blaster won for a change. So how did Norman get stan to blast so consistently?

And that's it for Becker, looking so guilty, as the joker volley is still so suspect. The one thing he was hired to do, to help with the volley/serve game, he can't do, so why pay him $80,000 euros a week after the lack of said results anymore?

Hey, Djokovic, come on over to Oakland and I will teach you to volley.

Drills all day long at the net, coming in against real time passing attempts, not easy rhythm feeds that teach nothing but how to hit lay up volleys that are fodder.

Funny how soon we quickly forget. Djokovic has only lost three times this year and already has a grand slam title in Australia as well as being first player ever to win first three masters 1000 events (IW, Miami, Monte Carlo) in a season. He also won Wimbledon last year under guidance of Becker. This French Open loss had more to do with Djokovic's insistence of playing not to lose than Becker's prescence in player's box. Yes he wanted to win the French Open, but knowing your coach never won a single clay court title in his own career, was it really about x's and o's. Djokovic knows how to play and knows how to win, but Stan was the more aggressive player.

Djokovic will win the French Open one day, possibly more than one. Just wasn't his time or his year. Back to work.

You can't change a Tiger's stripes. Djokovic will never be a "great volleyer". It's not in his nature or instincts. It will be tough to convert/convince him as he's won numerous grand slam titles already and #1 in the world. Perhaps he will need it in order to progress and adapt. But it's a tough sell. He'll never be Edberg, Roche, Becker or even a LaCroix

$80,000 euros a week huh?
Djokovic should visit Florida and I will help him with this area of the game. I'll only charge him half the price. I've got red clay and a hard court at my club and a grass court a few miles down the road, so he has a choice of surfaces, and I'll even throw in a a complimentary towel courtesy of my club.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[GeoffWilliams]

Geoff, kindly explain to me what you'd do with a world class player like Djokovic on the court. What would be your game plan? I will find a way to copy and emulate what you'd want to do. The more complex the better. No sense pointlessly practicing if you are trying to get to next.

I'd work on his mind first, and see if he's on board with me or not as step 1.

If he isn't, or has resistance, like most do no matter what you approach, you have to prove yourself right as to what you are saying. Use video, suggestion, demonstration, and radar gun and video proof of the player's current or past state of mind and play. You have to have proof so you can be right.

The first and most important for any player is the mind.
He must believe in and be driven by improvement first and foremost.
He must believe in and be driven by the use of video bolstered by suggestion.

All technique, foot work, practice, training, depends on number 1 being in place. If not, you are wasting your time.

Once it is in place, point out his weaknesses and strengths. Come up with a game plan of targeted practice and training that will bolster strengths and turn weaknesses into strengths.

[gzhpcu]

Beautiful dreamers....

[stotty]

Djokovic will win the French Open one day, possibly more than one. Just wasn't his time or his year. Back to work.

I just get the feeling it will be a title that will allude him. A bit like Borg and the US Open...just not meant to be.

He is 28 now so effectively has another two years. Don't forget hardly anyone wins slams post 30...

[klacr]

I just get the feeling it will be a title that will allude him. A bit like Borg and the US Open...just not meant to be.

He is 28 now so effectively has another two years. Don't forget hardly anyone wins slams post 30...

It will be a tortuous test for Djokovic, no reason he can't win the French, just that mental hurdle on the terre battue.

as for the "post 30" comment. I turned 33 last week, you're telling me my hopes are lost? No Wimbledon title for me?

30 is not the event horizon it once was but still an uphill battle. An uphill battle that great champions (except for Borg) were willing to fight.

I hope the Wimbledon engravers notice my last name and adjust correctly for the championship trophy....
Wimbledon Men's Singles Champion KYLE LaCROIX

Admit it, it has a nice ring to it.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[GeoffWilliams]

It will be a tortuous test for Djokovic, no reason he can't win the French, just that mental hurdle on the terre battue.

as for the "post 30" comment. I turned 33 last week, you're telling me my hopes are lost? No Wimbledon title for me?

30 is not the event horizon it once was but still an uphill battle. An uphill battle that great champions (except for Borg) were willing to fight.

I hope the Wimbledon engravers notice my last name and adjust correctly for the championship trophy....
Wimbledon Men's Singles Champion KYLE LaCROIX

Admit it, it has a nice ring to it.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

So does Killie Lacroixly.

[don_budge]

The Eleventh Hour...

I just get the feeling it will be a title that will allude him. A bit like Borg and the US Open...just not meant to be.

He is 28 now so effectively has another two years. Don't forget hardly anyone wins slams post 30...

Roger Federer and Andre Agassi both won the French Open Championship on their eleventh attempt. This was Novak Djokovic's eleventh attempt.

He'll get a couple of more legitimate shots at the title. He certainly had it in his grasp…but once again Stan Wawrinka was the fly in the ointment. That pesky backhand of his. He ran into a white hot Wawrinka.

[stotty]

Roger Federer and Andre Agassi both won the French Open Championship on their eleventh attempt. This was Novak Djokovic's eleventh attempt.

He'll get a couple of more legitimate shots at the title.

I just think the whole Roland Garros thing will get into his head...make it too bid to win. He was rained off when massacaring Nadal one year...a gust of wind blighted his chances in the next year...and this Wawrinka played out of his skin this time. You just have to believe it wasn't meant to be.

Time will tell of course...

[don_budge]

The French Future for Novak Djokovic

I just think the whole Roland Garros thing will get into his head...make it too bid to win. He was rained off when massacaring Nadal one year...a gust of wind blighted his chances in the next year...and this Wawrinka played out of his skin this time. You just have to believe it wasn't meant to be.

Time will tell of course...

Novak Djokovic has a very interesting track record. He has dominated the Australian Open since 2008 when he won his first Grand Slam title there. He has five of his eight Grand Slam victories Down Under. After those five titles he has won the U. S. Open once and Wimbledon twice.

He has been a finalist at the French three times. I remember that match that was suspended due to rain. It did seem that he had Fafa Nadal on the ropes in that final. It must have felt great to finally take him down this year. I would think that particular victory gives him hope for the future at Roland Garros. Two of his three defeats at the French in finals were at the hands of Nadal. Wawrinka has now scored his second Grand Slam final knockout. Another obstacle in Novak's path.

[klacr]

Since 2005, there have only been two types of winners of the men's singles title: Nadal and Swiss

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton