2021 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters...ATP 1000...Monte Carlo, Monaco

[arturohernandez]

I only watched the second set of Evans/Novak. It's the only set I saw all week....working flat out at the moment. Novak didn't seem to be playing too badly. I have certainly seen him more disinterested and far more ropey-a-dopey in the past. I think Evans went out there with nothing to lose and made a good account of himself. He does believe in himself more than the typical tour player. He definitely thought he could win that match and played well. His sliced backhand caused problems for Novak, and he caught Novak out with some exquisitely played drop shots. Drop shots are a great ploy against Novak because he's awfully difficult to beat when he's patrolling the baseline and in no fear of being brought into the forecourt. Novak hates the forecourt on clay, where only a very good volley wins the point.

I didn't see Stef but form what you say he must have been playing awfully well. He's a bit like Stan in the sense that once he gets his big game rolling he can beat most anyone. The problem for him, as it has always been with Stan, is playing so big week in and week out is hard to do on a consistent basis.

I thought Stef was just playing great clay court tennis. It's not far from Moratoglou's place so he must feel at home playing in MonteCarlo. It seems to me that at that level, he could go very far at RG. Of course, a lot can change in a month. And as I noted earlier, a major is not a master's 1000.

[don_budge]

Stefanos Tstisipas...aka "Tsipsy"

I was really high on Stefanos Tsitsipas when I first saw him a few years ago and he was very impressive for a while. Then he seemed to level off and hit a plateau and I am not sure if that was mental, psychological, physical or due to his focus on a point beyond the immediate present. It looks like he has been working very hard on his physique and he plays doubles all of the time with his younger brother. He may have been handicapping himself with extra loads to steady himself for the long haul to come. This was a very interesting tournament and lots of new information came through the draw sheet. As you know, in every draw sheet it tells a story.

In this case the draw sheet shows that Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-3 for the title. But it also tells a bigger story and it began in the first round with Daniel Evans beating Dusan Lajovic. Lots of other names revealed what they are made of as tennis players and human beings as well. We got some feedback on Aslan Karatsev who show the ability to bully lesser opponents but when it comes to the big boys it is apparent he doesn't have the answer for them...yet. It's a process. Jannik Sinner weighed in also. He shows some of the same proclivity as Karatsev. He wasn't prepared for what Novak Djokovic had to offer. One of the biggest surprises of the tournament was the next round when Evans showed Djokovic the door in a display of full court...entire court tennis. Evans, now has a bit of a conundrum swirling around in his noodle. Does he really belong in such elite company? That initial breakthrough might just confuse him a bit. He should just keep his nose to the grindstone and keep grinding. Making his opponents grind. He has the formula but does he have the intestinal fortitude to sustain it. Very, very impressive nonetheless. He validates my teaching paradigm. The coaching went full on board with one style of play and completely neglected a very viable method...albeit somewhat more difficult to coach. Coaches are so limited intellectually it seems.

The Tsitsipas serve held up very well.

For the skeptics, Tsitsipas won Monte Carlo today...

Spare me "the skeptics" routine. I know a thing or too about service motions. The real question is...how much better could it be? If one is ever satisfied with the state of things as they are...just roll over and let them throw the dirt on you. I am convinced that Roger Federer was forever tweaking his "perfect" strokes to try and eek out just a tad more. Something for the reserves when things get tough. There is plenty of room for improvement in the Tsitsipas serve...this is a thing that I know. The other thing is...do his coaches see the potential or are they also convinced that his motion status does not need to be tweaked or even overhauled?

Stefanos stepped up last week. That is for sure. His best performance may have been his win over Karatsev. Let's face it he saved some serious "bullying" for the Ruskies this week. That beat down against Rublev was a bit surprising although Rublev's best performance maybe took a little of the spunk out him over the course of the week. His win over Nadal had to be both psychologically and physically draining. He also had a tough bout with what's his name...Roberto Bautista Agut. Two days in a row he had the pedal to the medal while Tsitsy had it in neutral and seemed to be coasting. All in all perhaps the most interesting week in tennis in a long time. The worm is turning. Time stands for no man. No man is perfect. It's evolution Baby!

There was loads more to discuss in the story of this draw sheet, but it will have to wait for another time.

[arturohernandez]

Stefanos Tstisipas...aka "Tsipsy"

I was really high on Stefanos Tsitsipas when I first saw him a few years ago and he was very impressive for a while. Then he seemed to level off and hit a plateau and I am not sure if that was mental, psychological, physical or due to his focus on a point beyond the immediate present. It looks like he has been working very hard on his physique and he plays doubles all of the time with his younger brother. He may have been handicapping himself with extra loads to steady himself for the long haul to come. This was a very interesting tournament and lots of new information came through the draw sheet. As you know, in every draw sheet it tells a story.

In this case the draw sheet shows that Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-3 for the title. But it also tells a bigger story and it began in the first round with Daniel Evans beating Dusan Lajovic. Lots of other names revealed what they are made of as tennis players and human beings as well. We got some feedback on Aslan Karatsev who show the ability to bully lesser opponents but when it comes to the big boys it is apparent he doesn't have the answer for them...yet. It's a process. Jannik Sinner weighed in also. He shows some of the same proclivity as Karatsev. He wasn't prepared for what Novak Djokovic had to offer. One of the biggest surprises of the tournament was the next round when Evans showed Djokovic the door in a display of full court...entire court tennis. Evans, now has a bit of a conundrum swirling around in his noodle. Does he really belong in such elite company? That initial breakthrough might just confuse him a bit. He should just keep his nose to the grindstone and keep grinding. Making his opponents grind. He has the formula but does he have the intestinal fortitude to sustain it. Very, very impressive nonetheless. He validates my teaching paradigm. The coaching went full on board with one style of play and completely neglected a very viable method...albeit somewhat more difficult to coach. Coaches are so limited intellectually it seems.

The Tsitsipas serve held up very well.



Spare me "the skeptics" routine. I know a thing or too about service motions. The real question is...how much better could it be? If one is ever satisfied with the state of things as they are...just roll over and let them throw the dirt on you. I am convinced that Roger Federer was forever tweaking his "perfect" strokes to try and eek out just a tad more. Something for the reserves when things get tough. There is plenty of room for improvement in the Tsitsipas serve...this is a thing that I know. The other thing is...do his coaches see the potential or are they also convinced that his motion status does not need to be tweaked or even overhauled?

Stefanos stepped up last week. That is for sure. His best performance may have been his win over Karatsev. Let's face it he saved some serious "bullying" for the Ruskies this week. That beat down against Rublev was a bit surprising although Rublev's best performance maybe took a little of the spunk out him over the course of the week. His win over Nadal had to be both psychologically and physically draining. He also had a tough bout with what's his name...Roberto Bautista Agut. Two days in a row he had the pedal to the medal while Tsitsy had it in neutral and seemed to be coasting. All in all perhaps the most interesting week in tennis in a long time. The worm is turning. Time stands for no man. No man is perfect. It's evolution Baby!

There was loads more to discuss in the story of this draw sheet, but it will have to wait for another time.

Actually, it was also Rublev's second serve that let him down. Tsitispas was all over it. The serve is key at the highest level. Not so much to win points but to at least put you in neutral on the second serve.

I think this is one place where Djokovic has really elevated his game. His serve is so good you don't even notice it. The same with Federer. He is so good at serving that you almost don't notice how good it is.

Agassi improved his serve and made it very effective so that he could win points with it. It wasn't like Sampras's serve but it was definitely not a weakness.

The very best players always improve their serve and always improve their games. I saw some of that from Tsitispas on Sunday. I hope it is a sign of things to come.

Finally, there is nothing like winning. Winning is the biggest reward. In fact, I really think that an early win can help boost a player and motivate them to practice harder. Tsitsipas is now starting to win big tournaments. Once he starts winning more it will be hard to stop him.

Tennis is a game of such slim margins. The confidence that you can win can sometimes be enough to push you over the top.