Hopman Cup...Roger Federer vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas

[don_budge]

Roger Federer alert! Playing the up and coming Stefanos Tsitsipas for the first time as far as I can tell. Tomorrow at noon here in Sweden.

Judging from the results so far Roger seems to be in pretty darn good form.

[don_budge]

This match has been moved up to 10.30 AM here in Europe or 4.30 AM Eastern Standard Time. Roger Federer vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas. This is the match that I have been waiting for months. Federer some 16 or 17 years older than young Stefanos...this should be something special and a yardstick for Stefanos moving forwards.

[don_budge]

The match began right on time. An excellent first set. They matched service clear through to the tie-break. Stefanos leaped to a 4-1 advantage and this is where the rubber meets the road. Somehow the serve of Tsitsipas seemed to somehow desert him. He failed to get a first serve in and then he double faulted at 6-6 to give Federer a set point where he sealed the deal with an ace.

Interesting I have pointed out on numerous occasions that when the pressure mounts the seeming small glitches come pouring through like a sieve. Tsitsipas has a bit of a hitch in his backswing and when the two serves were simultaneously imposed on the screen you could not help but notice how much higher the ball toss of Tsitsipas is than Federer's. The reason is that the little tiny hitch in the backswing dictates that Tsitsipas needs just a bit more time to complete his swing thus the higher toss.

You can get away with this stuff up to a point. But when push comes to shove and the chips are on the line they seem to manifest themselves when you least want them to. Referring to Brian Gordon's analysis of the service motion in biomechanics terms and my "RollerCoaster Theory" service motion...the whole thing hinges on inertia. Little glitches are the equivalent of friction in the machine. Federer is well oiled and greased to insure that when the pedal meets the metal his motion is just going to get a little bit better. Not always...but more often than not.

Ultimately it is a game of percentages...as well as fundamentals. The better you are fundamentally the better able you are to play the percentages. Federer is so good at serving out sets and serving out tie-breakers when he gets the break. There is a reason for it. Friction...or the lack of it.

Now Federer opens the door with the advantage of winning the first set so the pressure is on Tsitsipas. He is making Tsitsipas work just a bit harder on the service game. But Tsitsipas is a huge talent and one of his hallmarks from what I have seen is to weather the initial storm and hang into the match. Federer will have to get this horse in the barn before he cracks the champagne.

[don_budge]

Boys and Girls...

You know what they say...the battle of the sexes will never be won. There is too much fraternization with the enemy. Not that she isn't my angel but once again the wife inadvertently throws a bit of a wrench in the plan. She schedules the horses to be vaccinated so there I am out in the stable holding them down for the vet to deliver the goods. But four for four and its over. Back to the action.

[stroke]

It was a great match. Stefano's game is really easy on the eyes, it was great seeing him out there with the easiest ever on the eyes.

[don_budge]

It was a great match. Stefano's game is really easy on the eyes, it was great seeing him out there with the easiest ever on the eyes.

"One universal feature is to be found in all great players. They never seem to be hurried. Watching such stars as Donald Budge, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs and Jack Kramer, one gains the impression that they glide or float to the ball. They never rush at it and snap at it. Lesser stars and mediocre players always seem to be going at top speed, but they are often late for the shot. Their racquet work is crowded and hurried. The reason lies in the method of starting footwork. The champion starts with the correct off and spaces his run so he arrives with the correct foot in position to hit, whereas the average player just runs at the ball to get there any way, without care in preparation on the way over. All footwork should be used to bring the player to the ball with his weight under such good control that he can use it as he wishes when he hits the ball. Whenever it is possible to reach a shot without running, walk to it and keep the body perfectly poised. When the shot requires you to run, do your fast running first so that you can slow up and gain control of your weight and body position before you hit the ball. Never jump or leave the ground with both feet or one foot if you can keep both placed firmly on the ground. The more solidly you are set, the easier it is to hit the ball solidly…The only effect of leaving the ground with the feet on drives is to dissipate most of the power of the shot because in the jump the weight goes off the line of the stroke, and is not transmitted through the racquet head to reach the ball."

It was great to see the two of them finally play. They seemed to be on course in a couple of tournaments but it never came off. Roger Federer wins 7-6, 7-6 and by the slimmest of margins at that.

Another Bill Tilden theorem came into play in this match as it does in all matches. Tennis matches are often won by the slimmest of margins. The statistics bear this out many times. I wonder what the total point breakdown was here. So it all comes down to one or two points and what is it that dictates who wins those key points. Most likely it will be the one who has managed to maintain more pressure on the opponent.

In the case of this match, as I wrote of the first set it came down to Tsitsipas was leading 4-1 in the tie-break. But you see there comes a point where you have to close it out. You have to seal the deal. What happens many times when the less experienced player gets into this position...they balk. They hesitate for the blink of an eye and he who hesitates is lost you know. When up 4-1 Tsitsipas suddenly seemed to lose just a bit of control of his nerve illustrated by the miss of a number of first serves and most crucial...a double fault at the most crucial of times. Suddenly it was Federer to serve it out at set point and he does it with an ace. It happened so quickly.

So now young Tsitsipas must process the fact not only that he had control of the set and lost it...he also has to immediately switch gears and concentrate on what happens in the second set. At the same time Roger Federer gains a bit more confidence and he is seizing the opportunity every chance he gets to put pressure on his younger and more inexperienced opponent. Federer never did break the kid in the second set but he was close a number of times. The Tsitsipas serve became just a bit shaky at times but he showed that he has got the belly for a good fight. He held off Roger...until the tie-break. At this point the cumulative pressure starts to mount on the younger man's psyche and once again it was just the blink of an eye and Federer never wavered.

There was a lot of wonderful movement and strokes that were exchanged in this match. Perhaps someday it will be a moment when we look back and remember that this was a passing of the baton of sorts. Tsitsipas idolized Federer coming up in the game and today one of the announcers somehow implied that Federer has been something of a mentor. Maybe he meant that he is becoming something of a mentor. Whatever it was it was a superbly played match by a couple of beautiful tennis players. The movement was certainly easy on the eyes. The match in its entirety was a work of art. In a way it is sort of sad that these two careers didn't overlap more than they did. In a fleeting moment one is waxing and the other waning.

[don_budge]

Roger Federer versus Alexander Zverev. The Golden Boy of the ATP...they are pinning their hopes that Alexander can live up to his billing in the future. If he doesn't it is going to result in a great amount of egg on their collective faces. This kid has gotten so much publicity and hype it is no wonder that he has struggled under the weight of it. Never mind that strange match against Novak Djokovic in November in London. Didn't Roger have a shot at him there too? Some strange story line at that tournament. That's for sure.

Currently they are 3-3 head to head. Starting at 9 AM here in Europe...3 AM EST in the States. I wonder which Federer and which Zverev is going to show up. They have had some really strange results.

That match with Stefanos Tsitsipas was a great treat to watch. A couple of splendid one hand backhands and some variety of play for a nice change.

[don_budge]

Roger Federer versus Alexander Zverev. The Golden Boy of the ATP...they are pinning their hopes that Alexander can live up to his billing in the future. If he doesn't it is going to result in a great amount of egg on their collective faces. This kid has gotten so much publicity and hype it is no wonder that he has struggled under the weight of it. Never mind that strange match against Novak Djokovic in November in London. Didn't Roger have a shot at him there too? Some strange story line at that tournament. That's for sure.

Currently they are 3-3 head to head. Starting at 9 AM here in Europe...3 AM EST in the States. I wonder which Federer and which Zverev is going to show up. They have had some really strange results.

That match with Stefanos Tsitsipas was a great treat to watch. A couple of splendid one hand backhands and some variety of play for a nice change.

No funny business today. Just a routine takedown of the ATP "Golden Child". He's a child compared to our Swiss Maestro and that is in a couple of ways. Zverev doesn't have the experience number one to take down Federer even though Federer is well past his prime. From what I have seen is that Zverev is no match for Federer's variety of shot and guile. With Zverev it is just hammer...hammer...hammer. No change of tactics...nothing subtle in his repetoire. At 30-30 and down 2-5 in the fifth Zverev double faults once again verifying my theorem that if the motion is not perfect it is going to let you down at some point. Not always...but it doesn't take much.

I anticipate that if Zverev doesn't hold his serve that Federer serves out the match routinely. You see...Roger has a pretty nearly perfect motion. That puts the pressure on the other guy and this game is all about "MAINTAINING PRESSURE ON YOUR OPPONENT". Zverev is broken...game, set and match to the Living Proof in don_budge's paradigm for teaching tennis.

[gzhpcu]

Federer destroyed Zerev with net attacks. Great play, seeing him attacking by going forward at the slightest opening. Zerev would do well to get Edberg as coach, not a baseliner like Lendl. Edberg helped Federer return to classicsl, attacking net play.

[don_budge]

Federer destroyed Zerev with net attacks. Great play, seeing him attacking by going forward at the slightest opening. Zerev would do well to get Edberg as coach, not a baseliner like Lendl. Edberg helped Federer return to classicsl, attacking net play.

The net attack is certainly an important part of the tactics of Roger Federer. It seems that he is the only player on tour that can use this tactic effectively at this high level of play. Apparently the courts were a tad quicker than they will be at the Australian Open but that remains to be seen. The AO has a reputation of having slightly quicker courts. Of course they are no where near as quick as the slick grass that they maintained until around 1978. Don't forget that three of the four Grand Slams used to be played on slick grass. Now it is only Wimbledon and that grass has been engineered to a velcro like consistency.

Roger in the interview gave away a couple of interesting insights. He mentioned how tall the players are these days and it used to be that players that were tall had a bit of an advantage in that they played serve and volley. Nowadays he pointed out that they are all baseliners. He didn't come out and say it but read between the lines...Tsitsipas and Zverev are going to be at a distinct disadvantage against the 37 year old Swiss Maestro all things being equal on a slightly faster court surface. The difference between Tsitsipas and Zverev is that the way that their games are constructed and the foundation upon they were built...only Tsitsipas has the ability to adapt. This is along the lines of my response to the recent video posted by postpre in his thread "Son's Forehand".

Roger mentioned also that the first half of his career was playing a completely different style of tennis than the second half. Obviously he is referring to his initial training as a serve and volley player. He is finding that it is most helpful to reinvent himself into a former self to deal with the process of getting older and hanging with the young Turks. Fortunately for him the young Turks have been so dumbed down and play such a cookie cutter version of the original game it is simple for him to adjust his tactics because he has the technique necessary to adapt.

It was a sheer joy to watch him play this week and his form looks really good. He seems to be serving much better than he was last year when his performance seemed to take a noticeable dip. He really struggled with his serve. When the perfect motion is cooking it makes the rest of the game so much better as his match against both of these players demonstrated. He puts so much pressure on his opponent by winning his serve so easily and quickly that the pressure is immediately shifted back on them to hold as well. Federer chips away at their nerves and confidence until he breaks them and they crumble like little toy soldiers. Zverev in particular looks to be on the verge of crying at times. This only makes Roger turn up the heat further...like a shark smelling blood in the water.