Cincinnati

[jimlosaltos]

Nobody's started this yet ... ? Here goes.


19 yo amateur Ben Shelton just took out world number 5 Casper Ruud in straight sets.

Big lefty serve looks awfully tough on hard courts. Ruud is a pretty good returner and didn't earn a single break point.

Father was coy with Jim Courier about whether his son would turn pro.

He's a lefty but serve is more Greg Rusedski than Rafa: 137 mph max, 126 mph average. ATP's "Courtvision" shows multiple non-service winners in the 120 mph plus range.

[jimlosaltos]

Raducannu beat Vika in straights sets, only 62 minutes and a bagel. Including her Serena match, Raducanu has 2 bagels against Serena and Vika back-to-back in less than 24 hours.

Not half bad.

Looks like after searching for eons to find a coach, her partnership with Dmitry Tursunov is off to a flying start.

[stroke]

Match of the day Fritz vs Medvedev. Oddsmakers have Med at about a 69% implied probability of winning. I like Fritz in this matchup. I loved the way put a large beatdown on Nick. Nick basicly just went away. And he played great in a very hard fought win over Rublev. Taylor to me has a better serve and forehand than Medvedev. His backhand is just as good as Medvedev's to me. Medvedev a slightly better mover. Taylor definitely has the game to win this match. I love the way Taylor hardly ever wastes energy and gives up court by running around to hit forehands. His forehand is a bigger weapon, but his backhand is about as good as anyone's.

[stroke]

Med was at ruthless best, Novak like lockdown. And he ourserved Taylor by a wide margin.

[jimlosaltos]

Men's semifinals set with Medvedev vs Tsitsi at the top, and surprise Borna Coric vs Cam Norrie on the other half.

Coric is playing great after a long recovery from shoulder surgery and is a perhaps underrated player. In Cincniatti he beat Musetti, Rafael Nadal, Auger-Aliassime (who took out Sinner). Coric is 5-4 against Nadal again showing how important match-ups are in pro tennis. Coric's backhand is a rock. I remember when Coric first beat Nadal as a teen ager simply out grinding Nadal with his backhand that, dare I say it, is Djokovic-level. {ducking ! }

Medy coming off a ragged Wimbledon "lay off" is starting to come into form just in time. Meanwhile, much thanks to Tsitipas for saving us from another Isner servebot match.

Cam's about to go top 10 and is playing well. But, as someone here (sorry can't recall who) says Cam is a bit of "Nadal-lite" so have to give odds to the much lower ranked Coric.

On the WTA side, the Coric equivalent is Caroline Garcia making the semis ! {Maybe Andy Murray's prediction comes true, just a decade later than he thought? <g>}. vs Arnya Sabalenka. Keys plays Sabalenka in a bit hitter fest, presumably.

This quote on the WTA Site intrigues: Sabalenka has brought on a biomechanics specialist to help address her motion.

Anybody have a clue who this mysterious "biomechanics specialist" is?

[stotty]

This quote on the WTA Site intrigues: Sabalenka has brought on a biomechanics specialist to help address her motion.

Anybody have a clue who this mysterious "biomechanics specialist" is?

No idea but it's the brightest thing I've heard a player doing in a long while.

[johnyandell]

Not me...

[jimlosaltos]

Not me...

I wish. It would have been fun to follow along <g>.

[stroke]

Samantha Stosar to me still the best women's serve ever.

[stotty]

Not me...

Do you have any footage of Sabalenka? We can start the dissection right here on Tennisplayer...

[arturohernandez]

Nobody's started this yet ... ? Here goes.


19 yo amateur Ben Shelton just took out world number 5 Casper Ruud in straight sets.

Big lefty serve looks awfully tough on hard courts. Ruud is a pretty good returner and didn't earn a single break point.

Father was coy with Jim Courier about whether his son would turn pro.

He's a lefty but serve is more Greg Rusedski than Rafa: 137 mph max, 126 mph average. ATP's "Courtvision" shows multiple non-service winners in the 120 mph plus range.

I am not a fan of Ruud and the idea of returning from the bleachers. I just don't think it will work long term. Rafa can pull it off but I still think a good serve and volleyer or someone who pulls him into the court will give him trouble. Ruud stands way out there and to me that is not going to work long term.

Blocking back like Wawrinka does is a better option than blasting it from the back. You can get away with it for a while but eventually someone will catch on and start to make you play the whole court. And running across the whole court gets to be a lot over several sets.

Shelton looks like the kind of player that can make Ruud pay on break points. He will serve wide and then have the whole court open to hit the next shot.

[jimlosaltos]

Do you have any footage of Sabalenka? We can start the dissection right here on Tennisplayer...

Update: Found this from Rick Macci in January, "Biomechanically, Sabalenk's serve is one of the best on the women's tour... (later) this is 100% not 99%, 100% psychological" . He does note that her second serve is a bit top/ bit slice so it doesn't have much margin.

So, she's hiring someone to fix her strength ..... hmmmmm.

~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, here's what I can dig up on short notice this am.

This video, which I only scanned shows her struggles:

https://youtu.be/MC2IZxsa2JI

And here are stills. FYI _ Aryna has the second fastest, recorded WTA serve ever 214 km/h (133.0 mph).
Of course, she only got 1 point for that and loses 1 for every double

filedata/fetch?id=98270&d=1661189851&type=thumb

filedata/fetch?id=98271&d=1661189851&type=thumb

filedata/fetch?id=98269&d=1661189851&type=thumb

#

[jimlosaltos]

Borna needn't worry about the sentiment of his arm ink any longer, not after winning his first Masters' shield <g>

"There's nothing worse in life than being ordinary"

My pic from Indian Wells, perhaps 2018.

filedata/fetch?id=98273&d=1661195306&type=thumb

[stotty]

Borna needn't worry about the sentiment of his arm ink any longer, not after winning his first Masters' shield <g>

"There's nothing worse in life than being ordinary"

My pic from Indian Wells, perhaps 2018.

filedata/fetch?id=98273&d=1661195306&type=thumb

Is there anything your camera doesn't miss...

[stotty]

Update: Found this from Rick Macci in January, "Biomechanically, Sabalenk's serve is one of the best on the women's tour... (later) this is 100% not 99%, 100% psychological" . He does note that her second serve is a bit top/ bit slice so it doesn't have much margin.

So, she's hiring someone to fix her strength ..... hmmmmm.

#

Extraordinary. I shall have to delve into this.