2021 Wimbledon Championships...ATP 2000...London, England

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New York Post : Olympic Games in for a rude awokening, focus on wrong kind of ‘race’.

https://nypost.com/2021/07/06/olympic-games-in-for-a-rude-awokening-focus-on-wrong-kind-of-race/

Speaking of Cancel......

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Oddmakers have Novak at 91+% odds of winning vs Denis, Matteo at 71+% vs Hubert.

[stotty]

Thank you. And I still have hope for Roger! What if he won that second set? Go Shapo.

You're ever the optimist...but I think it's all over for Roger the Dodger.

[stotty]

New York Post : Boris Becker 'crossed the line' with comments about Marton Fucsovics fianc?e.

https://nypost.com/2021/07/07/boris-becker-blasted-as-sexist-for-players-fiancee-comments/

Cancel Culture on the hunt. At least the BBC dealt with it for what it is.

Best thing to do is shut up if you are in any kind of position in life. Ray Moore, remember him, said one comment about ''women's tennis hanging on to the coattails of men's tennis''. Next thing you know he was vaporised. Never to be seen again. Luckily us not too famous forum posters can say what we like...for now...until the thought police arrive.

Boris, by the way, said exactly what I was thinking when the camera panned that way. If anyone, fire the cameraman for pointing that way and setting the commentary team up.

On a side note, Boris may find himself behind bars unless he can explain the undeclared and undisclosed funds he had hidden away when he filed for bankruptcy a while back.

[stotty]

I think Shapo has more of a chance the he's been given credit for. He really has to go out there all guns blazing and use his serve to good effect. Novak has been very tight in some of his matches. There is so much pressure on him and the enormity of what he is trying to achieve. He's got to be feeling it at least a little bit.

[klacr]

I was starting to wonder if the whole thing about women not being strong enough might be true. Seeing a 16 year old with a one hander compete with other junior girls, I can say that it take some time to get the confidence more than anything. The 1hbh backswing can also get long which makes it harder when the ball comes in quick. Although Shapo seems to be liking grass quite a bit despite the long backswing.

With patience it can become a very good shot. Golubic is a bit older and it is Wimbledon. So a good slice goes a long way. I have yet to watch any of her matches so I will go take a look.

Are we going to see a few more women start to creep in with one handers?

Arturo,
The biggest thing for Golubic is understanding how effective and useful it is. Backswings can be edited and shortened, but the grasp of tactical advantages and variety can not. Viktorija lost to a player (Pliskova) that was playing on another level. Full credit to her. But for a player to understand the tools they have and utilize them is the key.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA, PTR
Delray Beach
SETS Consulting

https://www.setsconsult.org

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Denis has had a bit of a double fault issue. That is going to have to go away. Also, his backhand, though it gets some spectacular winners, is not anywhere close to the level of consistency as Novak. And his lack of an effective reliable slice backhand does not help. Novak is going to have to be in non clinical mood to me for Denis to have a chance to win.

Matteo looking very good. The ATP tennis profiler had Matteo at the #7 best serve in tennis. He could very well be the best non 6'10" server in tennis behind Raonic and Kyrgios. And we all know about his forehand, which is certainly top shelf. It just explodes off his racquet. His forehand is such a simple Fognini type motion, but he is big strong guy doing it.

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Denis down 2 sets, just not winning the big points as is necessary to beat Novak. Novak not in lockdown mode but he has adjusted with some good timely volleying.

[stotty]

The bottom line is Novak was so good in the clutch moments and Shapovalov just wasn't. I don't like Shapovalov's serve and the way the racket stalls in the wind up as it goes past the hip. The racket is left playing catch up with the toss and I am not a fan of that type of motion...give me frictionless serving, please.

Novak is looking pretty good and he hasn't played anywhere near as well as he can in any of his matches. He's just played well when it counts.

[stotty]

I used to think McEnroe was a good commentator but these days he comes out with all sorts of profound nonsense. He said Novak is the best match player he has ever seen (might well be true) and the only player that compares to him is Serena. Duh! Were Serena a great match player she would have won 40 slams by now, minimum.

I still think Pancho Gonazales holds the title for the best match player. I'll take Novak, Borg and Rafa in equal measure after that.

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Serena OMG. Well I know 3 people that would agree, Serena, her husband, and Mary Carillo.

[johnyandell]

Shapo proved he can play at the highest level!

[arturohernandez]

Shapo proved he can play at the highest level!

He sure did. Now it is whether he is willing to take it up one more notch. To me, he still lacks a good slice and the feel around the court of the greatest players. Even Agassi learned to hit drop shots and could volley when necessary. Not the prettiest but he could do it if necessary.

Shapo could have used a bit more serve and volley and guile to keep Novak on his toes. He is truly happy playing offense. I like that and think it will take him even further.

The question is whether he is willing to clean up his game even more and become a hall of famer.

[arturohernandez]

Denis has had a bit of a double fault issue. That is going to have to go away. Also, his backhand, though it gets some spectacular winners, is not anywhere close to the level of consistency as Novak. And his lack of an effective reliable slice backhand does not help. Novak is going to have to be in non clinical mood to me for Denis to have a chance to win.

Matteo looking very good. The ATP tennis profiler had Matteo at the #7 best serve in tennis. He could very well be the best non 6'10" server in tennis behind Raonic and Kyrgios. And we all know about his forehand, which is certainly top shelf. It just explodes off his racquet. His forehand is such a simple Fognini type motion, but he is big strong guy doing it.

I love his aggressiveness. But his backhand is built on a hardcourt model IMHO. He seems like a roboplayer that could hit balls on a hardcourt all day. Grass and clay are irregular. They require other aspects and adjustments.

I think playing on these surfaces will make him a better player.

It's funny you mention his backhand. Have you seen the videos of him hitting backhands at age 8. Turn off the music if its annoying on the video I pasted in below. He was hitting that long backhand from a young age. He might be facing what a lot of other players face on the forehand. Too long of a backswing from having to try and hit the ball hard at a young age.

https://youtu.be/xpYLSbZdYik

It seems the one handed topspin is a natural for him. I feel like there are two types of one handers. The ones who slice first and then topspin and the opposite. Shapo is topspin first and slice later. The opposite of Roger who clearly understands slice like no one else and has learned and developed a great topspin shot.

He is working on the slice but needs to make it better to stay in points longer and upset his opponents rhythm. Much like Rafa has learned do.

Berrettini looks like he is on fire. Just above my ideal height but is crafty enough to handle low balls. The slice is great and will give Novak fits.

My sense is that Novak will try to back Matteo in the backhand corner and then make him run to the forehand.

Can he pull off the blueprint he used against Delpo at the US Open a few years ago?

Or does Matteo have weapons that even Delpo did not have. The serve could effectively take the racket out of Novak's hand. And there are just not that many people who can do that.

Will be an interesting one!

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Good comparison on Del Po to Matteo. Both have top 5 forehands and not nearly as good backhands. Both tall guys, Matteo clearly has a better serve, 1st and 2nd. Matteo also plays with more rpm's( a lot more) or his forehand but it is hard to say who has a better forehand of those 2.