2020 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships...ATP 500...Dubai, United Arab Imirates

[stroke]

I love Stef's backhand, but his return of serve will never be where Novak is at. Additionally, in baseline exchanges, it is clear to me that Stef is just more likely to make an unforced error off the bh side than Novak. Stef's movement in equal to Novak and his fh is arguabally as good as Novak's. His serve is arguabally as good and his net play is arguabally better.

[don_budge]

The Novak Djokovic Backhand versus The Stefanos Tsitsipas Backhand...hands down to Djokovic

I love Stef's backhand, but his return of serve will never be where Novak is at. Additionally, in baseline exchanges, it is clear to me that Stef is just more likely to make an unforced error off the bh side than Novak. Stef's movement in equal to Novak and his fh is arguabally as good as Novak's. His serve is arguabally as good and his net play is arguabally better.

Arrogance? You've got to be kidding me. This is supreme confidence and it is based on his "personal experience". He escaped that match with Monfils by willing the horse in the barn. Not too many players exhibit that kind of wherewithall. A rather unimaginative performance by Tsitsipas...he should borrow a couple of chapters from Daniel Evans who is getting much more mileage per gallon than anyone else on the tour. Stefanos has the game but he doesn't explore the possibilities. Evans is willing to slice and dice his opponents and does it rather successfully with about a third of the horsepower that Tsitsipas has. Stefanos is still learning. This was a schooling by the most confident player on the tour. The most boring best tennis player ever.

That's right stroke...in baseline backhand exchanges Tsitsipas is more likely to make an error. Why is that? It's simple...it is because the Djokovic backhand is head to head a superior stroke. So it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to go head to head against it but that is exactly what Tsitsipas did virtually the entire match. The quote above from me is something I wrote on the ATP website in response to someone calling Novak arrogant for saying that he would go undefeated the entire year. But that is within the realm of possibilities and if not undefeated very nearly so. Who is going to man up and take him? He steamrolled everyone except "The Amazing Mr. Monfils" and even that win had a halo embossed all over it. A gift from God? Or Novak just believing supremely in his game and his ability to win. I think the latter.

But back to Tsitsipas and his backhand conundrum against the once again "Meteoric" Djokovic. When he runs into a situation like this and this goes for the match up with Nadal too...if he cannot overpower an opponent in a given type of exchange then he has to exhaust all of the possibilities and find one that works. Precisely as Daniel Evans is doing when he encounters the two handed backhand player. Instead of trying to knock down the wall that is the Djokovic backhand...and it is a wall trust me, Stefanos must think that he will dismantle it one brick at a time. He just might have the game, the strength and the foot speed to accomplish this. I felt that he should try to keep Novak out there as long as he could and really try and test his stamina. At 32 Novak is no spring chicken and this is the age where you might begin to see just a bit of a loss in the legs. Think 29 year old Pete Sampras versus a 19 year old Roger Federer in the 2001 Wimbledon quarterfinals. Tsitsipas must test Djokovic where he is most vulnerable. Novak rarely visited the net in this match if he did at all. I remember him looking quite shaky on a couple of overheads...but I don't remember any volleying. Like Evans he should try to draw Novak halfway in and force him to do something that he would prefer not to do.

As far as Stefanos not having the answers this is a colossal observation. The answer is not to try and overpower this human backboard who is adept at running anything down in the stadium. I think the answer is to test his patience in a way that he doesn't like to be tested. He doesn't want to play in the forecourt when the ball is ankle or shin high. Same goes for the forehand side. When the opportunity presents itself instead of going for the homer it might be better advised to hit singles...hit for the cycle actually. Mix it up. Destroy the rhythm. Much as Mats Wilander was suggesting in that interview with John Yandell years ago on how to play Djokovic. Mats was maybe joking to hit balls out of the stadium. Djokovic is the ultimate rhythm player and if you play to his rhythm you are asking to get your ass handed to you.

Tsitsipas played a very unimaginative match. He never showed any creativity at all. This is what is so intriguing about Daniel Evans. This guy is defying conventional wisdom and coming up with nuggets of gold. I am not so impressed with the braintrust of Tsitsipas. He is really lacking in the perfect service motion because his team is not even aware of such a concept. His backhand is a bit two one dimensional for me. I like the creativity of a Roger Federer or a Daniel Evans backhand. Exploring the possibilities and exhausting the permutations.

[stroke]

I have not seen the Fed level slice bh by Stef, but I do agree with you that playing Novak in endless baseline exchanges is futile at this point(except maybe Nadal on clay). Fed has the gold standard game to tempt or make Novak come forward with his gold standard slice backhand and then make him hit a quality volley against a formidable ball, but even Roger has not employed this tactic in my eyes.

[don_budge]

I have not seen the Fed level slice bh by Stef, but I do agree with you that playing Novak in endless baseline exchanges is futile at this point(except maybe Nadal on clay). Fed has the gold standard game to tempt or make Novak come forward with his gold standard slice backhand and then make him hit a quality volley against a formidable ball, but even Roger has not employed this tactic in my eyes.

I believe what you say about the Tsitsipas serve grip as well. Annabelle Croft, the British lovely, was doing the matches and she made a couple of comments about the forehand grip of Stefanos' serve. Somebody else asked if the grip could effect the backswing, where I detect a friction hitch, it might have been doctorhl. Interesting technique observations.

[stroke]

Coincidentally, I too was watching when Annabelle brought up Stef's serve grip to her fellow commentator and asked him if it is or could be a detriment to his possible serve development. The fellow commentator said it was not. I disagree, not that it matters.

[don_budge]

Coincidentally, I too was watching when Annabelle brought up Stef's serve grip to her fellow commentator and asked him if it is or could be a detriment to his possible serve development. The fellow commentator said it was not. I disagree, not that it matters.

Annabelle Croft...there is one fine lady. She can mix it up with the boys but still maintain her feminine mystique. There is something very iconically British about this gal. The kind that all of the British blokes are dying to have. I've reading some epic historical novels by Edward Scissorhands...I mean Edward Rutherford about Great Britain. Thirteen hundred pages gives you a glimpse into the soul of their people.

But anyways...you were quite right to be on to the little glitch in the Stefanos Tsitsipas and I am going out on a limb and call Annabelle's partner in the booth a horse's ass for pooh-poohing her observation. Now that she got my attention...not that you didn't...but two was a charm. She is lovely isn't she? But it matters. I forget who it was on this forum who was pondering whether a slight deviation in the grip might make a difference in the backswing. At first I thought it was doctorhl but then I thought it may have been glacierguy.

In the case of Stefanos Tsitsipas it matters big time. When I put two and two together here...the grip and the backswing...it sums up to friction. What is the coefficient of friction? Just the way he sets the racquet back when he is bouncing the ball it shows that the grip is askew. So there you have it...alert the Tsitsipas braindead trust. Fix the grip and you can fix the backswing. Fix the backswing and you are on your way to a frictionless motion that would most likely have a tremendous impact on the Stefanos Tsitsipas game.

One more thing...the tossing motion is another factor in the lack of rhythm in the swing. It almost looks as if he is not tossing the ball far enough in the court which is of course another factor of the faulty grip. With the forehand grip he cannot reach as far with the racquet head.

It matters stroke. Good observation. Excellent as a matter of fact.

[stroke]

FAA and Nishikori also have this almost 2/3 grip. And all have serve issues. It is a long way from the gold standard Fed 2/1 grip. I also like Annabelle. She is charming and knows what she is talking about.

[doctorhl]

I believe what you say about the Tsitsipas serve grip as well. Annabelle Croft, the British lovely, was doing the matches and she made a couple of comments about the forehand grip of Stefanos' serve. Somebody else asked if the grip could effect the backswing, where I detect a friction hitch, it might have been doctorhl. Interesting technique observations.

DB, I made that grip comment In a previous thread somewhere. I personally lose a little serve rhythm on backswing when I change grips because it forced a little hitch for some reason if I don’t alter the backswing path or ball toss timing/ location. Never could figure out why! Old schoolers( at least at club level) gave away grip change with slightly altered stance or ball toss location. If I saw a heavy backhand grip on a right handed server, I would gamble that they couldn’t hit pronates ou enough to hit flat to my backhand(as a righty). Today’s pros seem to be able to hit all type of serves by revealing very little altered grip, stance or toss location.

[don_budge]

DB, I made that grip comment In a previous thread somewhere. I personally lose a little serve rhythm on backswing when I change grips because it forced a little hitch for some reason if I don’t alter the backswing path or ball toss timing/ location. Never could figure out why! Old schoolers( at least at club level) gave away grip change with slightly altered stance or ball toss location. If I saw a heavy backhand grip on a right handed server, I would gamble that they couldn’t hit pronates ou enough to hit flat to my backhand(as a righty). Today’s pros seem to be able to hit all type of serves by revealing very little altered grip, stance or toss location.

What grip is McEnroe using in this clip and do slightly different grips affect anything in the backswing rhythm?

I found it. Taking this comment and stroke's observation together it poses a very interesting question about the service motion of Stefanos Tsitsipas. Very, very interesting. It matters too. It definitely matters big time to Stefanos Tsitsipas. A prerequisite for playing big time professional modern tennis is not a perfect service motion.