2015 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals…ATP 1500...London, England

[stotty]

Berdych did hit some great volleys during the match. Sadly, it's the one he missed that made the difference. Yes don_budge, it's always the little things. Bummer. Doesn't help that Berdych's first serve was once again below 60%. Against the top guys, you can't give them that many looks on a 2nd serve. Tough week in London for my boy. We'll use this as motivation in the offseason.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

It's interesting this "little things" business. This was all the discussion at my club the other day. As one member rightly pointed out, the top players seem to win those odd points here and there that count most. It's not as if Nadal and Djokovic don't have "little things" missing form their game either.

[klacr]

Doing the little things well adds up to accomplishing big things.
If you can't do the little things, how in the world can you ever accomplish the big things?

The top players always seem to get that extra shot back, they seem to go for more and usually get it just when they needed to. They seem to always stay on course and although they will lose points, they manage and control the damage done to them while inflicting more on opponents. Great players know where their best interests lie and they know what they need to do to get there.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Doing the little things well adds up to accomplishing big things.
If you can't do the little things, how in the world can you ever accomplish the big things?

The top players always seem to get that extra shot back, they seem to go for more and usually get it just when they needed to. They seem to always stay on course and although they will lose points, they manage and control the damage done to them while inflicting more on opponents. Great players know where their best interests lie and they know what they need to do to get there.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Yes I think Pete Sampras got it right when he said you have to figure the game out as you progress through the different levels...the requirements being different the higher up you go. Federer burst through at the age of 22 all of a sudden. It had taken a while be had finally figured things out. He became the greatest player in the world literally overnight...after his 2003 Wimbledon victory.

[klacr]

Semifinal Saturday

Djokovic v. Nadal
Federer vs. Wawrinka

These 4 men survived group play.
Nadal was in a 2 hour 38 minute battle with Ferrer (Nadal could have thrown in towel and still taken 1st place in the group) His reward, a date with Djokovic.

Wawrinka hung tough with Murray. Murray was battling and got to 4-2 in the tie-breaker. Then he went off the rails. Losing 5 straight points and gifting Wawinka the set. Murray then got down 2 breaks in the second. Valiantly fighting back to capture one break back and had chances for another with break poins. But Wawrinka could not be denied.

Murray now his other tennis on his agenda. Great Britain takes on Belgium next week in Davis Cup. Michael Llodra has been training and coaching the Belgian team the past week. Let's see what effect that has.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Playing to the Score...

At 4.40 in this highlight video…the turning point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Uiv_PRWvQ

At 3-4, advantage Djokovic, Berdych hit a good serve to wide to Djokovic's backhand and the return came back high, slow and in the middle of the court. Berdych came swooping in…and muffed a swinging volley harmlessly into the net. Novak then routinely served out the first set.

If Berdych comes in and plays that shot the way it is supposed to be played…the first volley sets up the kill shot he is back to deuce. Interestingly he did make a number of nice forehand volley's. There's one at about 6.30 in the highlight video. If he had gotten back to deuce and won his serve he is still in the first set. It's little things that decide matches. This was a key point.

Berdych did hit some great volleys during the match. Sadly, it's the one he missed that made the difference. Yes don_budge, it's always the little things. Bummer. Doesn't help that Berdych's first serve was once again below 60%. Against the top guys, you can't give them that many looks on a 2nd serve. Tough week in London for my boy. We'll use this as motivation in the offseason.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

The low first serve percentage and the poor decision to try a lower percentage shot in the topspin swinging volley are indications that there is still a lot of potential in the game of Tomas Berdych.

He needs a good sound tactical coach to impress upon him the importance of playing to the score. Getting the first serve in is critical at all times and on more important points it is even more critical. That being said…he did get his first serve in on the critical point where he elected to hit the swinging volley.

I believe that this is another facet of the game that Novak Djokovic is outdistancing the field in too. He always seems to be present and in the moment. He always knows the score and in many situations he just refuses to make a mistake and hand over something of importance to the enemy. When he needs the first serve he gets it in. When he needs a crucial return…if he can get his racquet on it he will get it back.

Roger Federer seems to have a bit of difficulty in staying present when he is playing Rafael Nadal…whereas he really has figured out how to stay with Djokovic on faster surfaces.

These are three really dynamic matches coming up. There will be loads of opportunities for each and every player to dictate play and to play to the score. The one that does the best job of playing to the score will be the champion. Novak seems to have the Nadal number and Nadal doesn't seem to have reached his peak performance at this point. He is trying to salvage a year and what better time for it. I wonder if the strength of Novak just might be waining a tad.

As we saw last year it could be a toss up between the two Swiss comrades. Once again it seems as if it is Federer's moment to shine but Wawrinka showed that he is still to be reckoned with, with his performance against Andy Murray when the chips were down. He also has a new girlfriend and between the two woman he has attracted more attention to himself than perhaps his two Grand Slam victories. Ok…maybe a slight exaggeration.

For Federer…every single match takes on a new level of urgency as he nears the finish line of being THE player of the century so far. At his age it is monstrous to imagine what kind of mental preparation it takes to get ready for these kinds of challenges. He himself said in his interview that the challenge of Novak Djokovic and the like is what keeps him going. Amazing. Here he is tonight facing a situation he has seen before. In fact he saw this precise situation last year and produced an epic match between the two of them. One of the best two out of three in my recent memories.

You couldn't have asked for a better finish to this tournament and any of the outcomes are going to be interesting. Particularly so because one of the finalists is going to playing a one hand backhand. Style counts heavily these days since there is so little of it. That being said…there is nobody that comes close to being stylish when compared to Roger Federer.

But when push comes to shove the truth is…we want to see Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic. It is the final that we didn't get to see last year. We can double the pot…make it a motherlode.

[don_budge]

Roger Federer versus Stanislas Wawrinka…Redux

Wait a minute…haven't we been here before. A deja vu moment. The semi-finals at the O2 in London. Roger Federer versus Stan Wawrinka.

Last years match was perhaps the best tennis match of the year. You can see what I wrote about that match in post number one of this thread.

Roger got himself sucked into a knockdown throw down. A match that went down to the wire and surely kept him up until the wee hours…not to mention the psychodrama. He cannot afford to get involved in such a tussle and hope to have a chance against Novak Djokovic tomorrow who barely expended himself against Nadal in his straight set…no muss, no fuss beating of Fafa this afternoon.

Roger has to come out and give his Swiss compatriot a quick exit but is this possible? Last year Roger came out a bit tentative and Stan was ready from the opening bell. At the end both players were sort of teeter tottering and it was Federer that survived.

[stotty]

Disappointing semi's

Djokovic rolled over Nadal like he wasn't there. Federer did the same against Wawrinka.

Wawrinka's movement isn't great, is it? He is like a donkey compared to Federer. He doesn't always retreat when he should to get better position. He's great when he's on but that's usually only a handful of times a year.

The matches have been disappointing so far. I have never been a fan of the tour finals and wonder if there isn't a better way to finish off the season, another format perhaps. If organisers want to play around and change things, the tour finals would be a good place to do it in my view.

Hopefully the final won't disappoint. It's always a good ding dong with those two.

[johnyandell]

Question for you guys. I have not been watching the matches. How did Andy's second serve look??

[stotty]

Question for you guys. I have not been watching the matches. How did Andy's second serve look??

Not great from what I saw. The thing is his first serve percentage is never all that high and sometimes it's poor, so he is relying on that second serve more than is comfortable.

He has little variation on his second serve and just pops the ball in. If he just tossed the ball a little more to the left...

[johnyandell]

Great point about the first serve percentage.

Cursory look showed Andy to be a lifetime winner of 52% of second serve points versus 57% for Fed who is at about at the top. Huge difference??

[klacr]

Question for you guys. I have not been watching the matches. How did Andy's second serve look??

Tough to give a fair critique of Andy's serve as I don't think Andy was 100% there this week. He's got Davis Cup coming up on clay and he really is concentrating on that. His serve didn't seem to be any different...yet. I'd wait until 2016 to really see any adjustments. No doubt the offseason will be the time to make progress on the serve.

A bigger issue for Andy in his match vs. Wawrinka is how Wawrinka was able to win the match....against one of the best returners in the world, serving only at 45% first serve percentage for the match. That's very un-Murray like. That's what tells me he was not 100% engaged this week.

2016 is right around the corner. A better serve for Murray in Australia is something I'm optimistic about.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

Finals

Djokovic vs. Federer

Djokovic lost earlier in the week to Federer. Will Fed eat him twice in one week. Djokovic will be a different player in the finals than he was in round robin play. Federer is playing, not only to make a statement about his rivalry with Djokovic if he can beat him twice in span of 6 days, he's also playing to secure the #2 spot in the world. Peanuts perhaps for a player like Fed after his illustrious career. But that #2 ranking could solidify him as a #2 seed for Aussie Open in 2016, which guarantees he's in opposite half of draw as Djokovic.

Federer vs. Djokovic. It's what the fans want. As don_budge mentioned...it's what we all missed last year.
Djokovic is one tough hombre. Say what you want about his game, he's a hell of a player. Federer is going to have a real test.
Fasten your seatbelts. Serve and volley will be on display from Fed. It's a necessity.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

The Andy Murray Setup Position…compared to Roger Federer's

Question for you guys. I have not been watching the matches. How did Andy's second serve look??

Tough to give a fair critique of Andy's serve as I don't think Andy was 100% there this week. He's got Davis Cup coming up on clay and he really is concentrating on that. His serve didn't seem to be any different...yet. I'd wait until 2016 to really see any adjustments. No doubt the offseason will be the time to make progress on the serve.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Who said anything about being fair? I had a close look at the motion and compared it to that of John's modern model…Roger Federer. Here's a few thoughts that I came up with.

It doesn't compare does it? Not artistically and not fundamentally either. It is poorly engineered right from the setup position.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/rogerfederer/rogerfederer_serve/rogerfederer_1st_serve/rogerfederer_1st_serve.html?Federer1stSDeuceCourtLevelSide2.mov

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/andy_murray/am_serve/am_1st_serve/am_1st_serve.html?AM1stSDeuceSide2.mov

What better way to critique a serve than to compare the two motions side by side? If only I had the skills to put the two side by side so that we could see them simultaneously with a magic voice over. Put me on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

Let's begin by counting frames. Andy Murray's service motion from the initial movement back is 54 frames to contact. Roger Federer's motion is 62 frames from the initial movement back until point of contact. I am assuming that they were filmed at the same speed.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/rogerfederer/rogerfederer_serve/rogerfederer_1st_serve/rogerfederer_1st_serve.html?Federer1stSDeuceCourtLevelSide2.mov

The Federer Setup Position…

Right out of the book…and you know what the book is. It's don_budge. Roger's weight is squarely positioned over the front of his front foot with his back foot poised on his toe. Left leg absolutely straight and bearing the weight. Take a look for your self...a picture in this case is worth a thousand words. The thing to keep in mind with the service setup position is that the backswing is largely dependent upon the setup. Rogers posture is rather erect with a slight bending at the waist and leaning over his front foot.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/andy_murray/am_serve/am_1st_serve/am_1st_serve.html?AM1stSDeuceSide2.mov

The Murray Setup Position…

Not quite Andy. Andy's weight is shared and distributed with his head forwards and his butt back. Most of the weight is centered in his front foot and not nearly so pronounced forwards in the foot as Roger's weight…Andy's weight is more in the middle of his foot. While Murray's back foot appears to be on the toe it is definitely bearing more of the weight than Federer's and it is because of the weight that appears to be balanced in his ass position. Also note the position of the ball in his hand compared to Federer's…he has the ball more positioned in the head of the racquet whereas Federer has it squarely in the throat of the racquet.

The Comparison...

See how much further Federer has his racquet head into the court than does Murray. The whole positioning of Federer from his weight to his racquet head has a more pronounced forward balanced look to it. Forward emphasized setup position as worldsbesttenniscoach may have said. Roger's chin appears to be over the baseline and his racquet hand appears to be almost over the baseline as well. Murray on the other hand has his chin and head set back noticeably from the baseline and look at the position of his racquet hand. The Murray setup looks to be decidedly backwards emphasized. See how Roger's toe is just barely behind the line and Andy's is a couple of inches behind. Another indication in the difference of the two setups…forwards emphasis versus backwards emphasis.

[don_budge]

The Andy Murray Backswing…compared to Roger Federer

The Federer Backswing…

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/rogerfederer/rogerfederer_serve/rogerfederer_1st_serve/rogerfederer_1st_serve.html?Federer1stSDeuceCourtLevelSide2.mov

What a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing synchronized motion the Roger Federer backswing is. Even at the very onset of his backswing in the micro stage of the start he is beautifully moving his body and the racquet head in perfect coordination. See how in the first three frames the subtle descent of the racquet head is synched with the lowering of the back heel…an indication of the subtle commencement of the weight transfer. Subtle movement of the racquet head equals subtle movement of the being. It’s poetry in motion.

At frame #23 the racquet head is passing his front foot and wouldn't you know it…the front toe is beginning to lift off of the ground. The racquet head is swinging backwards at the exact speed that the weight is being transferred from the front foot to the back foot.

Frame #26 is another interesting focal point...here is the absolute bottom of the descent of his racquet head and Roger’s head is perfectly in line with the head of his racquet. In the very next frame we can see that both hands are starting to lift together in perfect synch...up together.

By the time we get to frame #28 his weight is squarely set into his back foot and it is no coincidence that the racquet head is absolutely dead nuts even with his back foot. Roger's shoulders are also squarely on line with his feet at this point and he looks so relaxed and balanced at this point in his backswing…as he will during the entire motion.

At or around frame #43 Roger's racquet tip is pointing directly upwards and we can call this the end of his backswing. Perfect. In the very next frame Roger's racquet will make its descent behind his back which is evidence for the continual motion of his racquet head without any unnecessary interruptions than may create "friction" in his motion. For the past 15 frames he has been slowly rotating his shoulders while placing all of his weight on his back foot. See how his front foot has so little weight on it. His back leg has been bending for the past 4 frames to receive even more of his weight. He is balanced and poised to begin his "forward" motion at this point.

Another interesting aspect of the perfect motion of Federer is the movement of the head. It also moves in the direction of his racquet head up until the point where the racquet head passes the lineage of his head. Then he is holding it still as he rotates his shoulders around his head.

The Murray Backswing…

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/andy_murray/am_serve/am_1st_serve/am_1st_serve.html?AM1stSDeuceSide2.mov

Pardon my French...eeewww. What a contrast to the aesthetically pleasing backswing of Roger Federer. I want to say convoluted...but the last time I used that word it got me into all kinds of trouble. Speaking of which...where is julian1?

But here goes with the Murray backswing. Warning...it isn’t going to be pretty.

For the first 5 frames it appears that Andy’s weight is beginning to shift into his back foot and even his back side if you see what I mean. But his racquet head does absolutely nothing. In fact it may just be pressing forwards...afterall how would it be possible to to hold that ball directly over the baseline while moving backwards without moving the ball forwards.

Right around frame #12 he appears to have the lion’s share of his weight in his backfoot but he is still leaning forwards and the racquet head is lagging far behind in relationship to his weight shift compared to Roger Federer’s.

In frame #19 Andy’s racquet appears to have bottomed out in his backswing and his back leg is rather bent whereas Federer in this position has a very straight leg. In fact Federer is standing very erect whereas Andy is sort of hunched forwards. Look how far Andy has come back with the ball as well. It is completely hidden to the front of his body.

Going forwards to frame #26 we see the ball finally emerging in directly front of Andy and his right knee looks to be sort of collapsing away from the court. He appears to have shifted his weight too far backwards.

At frame #30 we see Andy release the ball and in it looks to me as if this is an extremely awkward position to release it from. Somehow he is going to have to navigate it forwards with a sideways to the net motion of his arm. The right leg is collapsing (bending) and the front foot is sort of awkwardly places as well. This is an indication of some rather poor weight transfer.

In frame #37 I want to say that this is the end of Andy’s backswing but look how long he hangs on to this position with his racquet as he brings his back foot up into his “pinpoint” position. It’s another 12 frames to frame #49 when he finally has his right foot in position and the racquet head will begin to fall behind his head. Just for funsies click another three frames to #52 and look at this rather squeamish position where he is going to make his move on the ball from. Another couple of clicks and you can really see that this boy doesn’t have all of his ducks in a row. His shoulders appear to have opened up rather prematurely...the racquet head is lagging too far behind this move.

Click on through to the hit and his ass never seems to catch up with the action. It is dead ballast and it’s position from the setup to the hit prevent anything to appear even remotely fluid...fluid as in Roger Federer.

The Comparison...

Roger Federer has it all going on…and he has it going on in perfectly orchestrated moves. The synchronicity is a splendour to behold and John has certainly picked the right serve to model his teaching system from. Andy Murray has it all going on too. Unfortunately not in a good way. Right away in his setup position he is preordained to make moves in his backswing that are not in perfect synchronicity. His "pinpoint" technique also play havoc with his timing and seamless execution.

Roger's racquet head seems to be an extension of his being whereas Andy's appears to be some sort of hammering tool that doesn't get the proper engineering that it should. Roger's tool is more of a whip…it is fluid in the hands of an artist.

[stotty]

The Federer Backswing…

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/rogerfederer/rogerfederer_serve/rogerfederer_1st_serve/rogerfederer_1st_serve.html?Federer1stSDeuceCourtLevelSide2.mov

What a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing synchronized motion the Roger Federer backswing is. Even at the very onset of his backswing in the micro stage of the start he is beautifully moving his body and the racquet head in perfect coordination. See how in the first three frames the subtle descent of the racquet head is synched with the lowering of the back heel…an indication of the subtle commencement of the weight transfer. Subtle movement of the racquet head equals subtle movement of the being. It’s poetry in motion.

At frame #23 the racquet head is passing his front foot and wouldn't you know it…the front toe is beginning to lift off of the ground. The racquet head is swinging backwards at the exact speed that the weight is being transferred from the front foot to the back foot.

Frame #26 is another interesting focal point...here is the absolute bottom of the descent of his racquet head and Roger’s head is perfectly in line with the head of his racquet. In the very next frame we can see that both hands are starting to lift together in perfect synch...up together.

By the time we get to frame #28 his weight is squarely set into his back foot and it is no coincidence that the racquet head is absolutely dead nuts even with his back foot. Roger's shoulders are also squarely on line with his feet at this point and he looks so relaxed and balanced at this point in his backswing…as he will during the entire motion.

At or around frame #43 Roger's racquet tip is pointing directly upwards and we can call this the end of his backswing. Perfect. In the very next frame Roger's racquet will make its descent behind his back which is evidence for the continual motion of his racquet head without any unnecessary interruptions than may create "friction" in his motion. For the past 15 frames he has been slowly rotating his shoulders while placing all of his weight on his back foot. See how his front foot has so little weight on it. His back leg has been bending for the past 4 frames to receive even more of his weight. He is balanced and poised to begin his "forward" motion at this point.

Another interesting aspect of the perfect motion of Federer is the movement of the head. It also moves in the direction of his racquet head up until the point where the racquet head passes the lineage of his head. Then he is holding it still as he rotates his shoulders around his head.

The Murray Backswing…

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/andy_murray/am_serve/am_1st_serve/am_1st_serve.html?AM1stSDeuceSide2.mov

Pardon my French...eeewww. What a contrast to the aesthetically pleasing backswing of Roger Federer. I want to say convoluted...but the last time I used that word it got me into all kinds of trouble. Speaking of which...where is julian1?

But here goes with the Murray backswing. Warning...it isn’t going to be pretty.

For the first 5 frames it appears that Andy’s weight is beginning to shift into his back foot and even his back side if you see what I mean. But his racquet head does absolutely nothing. In fact it may just be pressing forwards...afterall how would it be possible to to hold that ball directly over the baseline while moving backwards without moving the ball forwards.

Right around frame #12 he appears to have the lion’s share of his weight in his backfoot but he is still leaning forwards and the racquet head is lagging far behind in relationship to his weight shift compared to Roger Federer’s.

In frame #19 Andy’s racquet appears to have bottomed out in his backswing and his back leg is rather bent whereas Federer in this position has a very straight leg. In fact Federer is standing very erect whereas Andy is sort of hunched forwards. Look how far Andy has come back with the ball as well. It is completely hidden to the front of his body.

Going forwards to frame #26 we see the ball finally emerging in directly front of Andy and his right knee looks to be sort of collapsing away from the court. He appears to have shifted his weight too far backwards.

At frame #30 we see Andy release the ball and in it looks to me as if this is an extremely awkward position to release it from. Somehow he is going to have to navigate it forwards with a sideways to the net motion of his arm. The right leg is collapsing (bending) and the front foot is sort of awkwardly places as well. This is an indication of some rather poor weight transfer.

In frame #37 I want to say that this is the end of Andy’s backswing but look how long he hangs on to this position with his racquet as he brings his back foot up into his “pinpoint” position. It’s another 12 frames to frame #49 when he finally has his right foot in position and the racquet head will begin to fall behind his head. Just for funsies click another three frames to #52 and look at this rather squeamish position where he is going to make his move on the ball from. Another couple of clicks and you can really see that this boy doesn’t have all of his ducks in a row. His shoulders appear to have opened up rather prematurely...the racquet head is lagging too far behind this move.

Click on through to the hit and his ass never seems to catch up with the action. It is dead ballast and it’s position from the setup to the hit prevent anything to appear even remotely fluid...fluid as in Roger Federer.

The Comparison...

Roger Federer has it all going on…and he has it going on in perfectly orchestrated moves. The synchronicity is a splendour to behold and John has certainly picked the right serve to model his teaching system from. Andy Murray has it all going on too. Unfortunately not in a good way. Right away in his setup position he is preordained to make moves in his backswing that are not in perfect synchronicity. His "pinpoint" technique also play havoc with his timing and seamless execution.

Roger's racquet head seems to be an extension of his being whereas Andy's appears to be some sort of hammering tool that doesn't get the proper engineering that it should. Roger's tool is more of a whip…it is fluid in the hands of an artist.

Thanks for posting all this. It's about time we took a good look at this serve and put it through the grinder. For some time posters have recognised Murray's serve is not as good as it could be.

I have studying his serve quite a bit recently.

I just don't like the way he oscillates. He has a motion that kind of oscillates and I don't think is as good as it might be because of it. I think he would be better taking the weight more directly back then forward again. I also think the ball toss is too much to the right and the left arm flails wildly out of the back after contact as a way of counter balancing that problem. As others have noticed, I don't think he gets the racket in a position where he can execute internal rotation to the degree he might. He needs to centralise his ball toss more.

I wonder if his grip the heel of the hand, is erring slightly toward bevel 2, which must inhibit his internal arm rotation also