Paris Masters Begins

[stotty]

Novak gets through in 3rd set tiebreaker. Novak to me is going to have to play much better than that to beat Holger bully boy Rune. Tsitsipas had 1 backhand winner(on a drop shot) and 18 backhand errors. I would say that is his biggest problem.

Well spotted. Stef served awfully well to get forehand dominant in the rallies which started to make all the difference. I was surprised Novak didn't get more over to Stef's backhand when he had the chances, since Stef is incapable of nailing a winner on that side.

Much was said of Stef's serving by the commentators while Novak actually served better, or at least more effectively, in the third...think he only dropped a few points on serve the entire set. It was a super match to watch by both players and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Rune v Novak should be a great final.

[jimlosaltos]

Novak gets through in 3rd set tiebreaker. Novak to me is going to have to play much better than that to beat Holger bully boy Rune. Tsitsipas had 1 backhand winner(on a drop shot) and 18 backhand errors. I would say that is his biggest problem.

Good point. I got there after first set but announcers said if I caught this right -- this was near the end of the third set -- that Djokovic had won 100% of his first and second serves when he went wide to the forehand in the deuce court. From what I saw Tsitsipas was blocking all those back (stuck in backhand grip, perhaps?).

Still, Tsitsipas had the mini-break in the final tiebreak and let it slip away, missed a not-easy but makable volley, and Djoko hit two lines in the tiebreak.

Plus/ Minus and total points makes it look like a runaway for Novak when he had to serve to get into a tiebreak and come from behind in the tiebreak. Maybe the first set was more one sided?

Stef wants to patiently work points. I wonder with his weapons if he should go big earlier?

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Oddsmakers have installed Novak as favorite at an implied probability of 79.4%. Bully Boy is fearless out there, and he has a real shot at this to me.

[stroke]

https://www.tennis.com/news/articles...caraz-in-paris

Article on Rune.

[stotty]

Good point. I got there after first set but announcers said if I caught this right -- this was near the end of the third set -- that Djokovic had won 100% of his first and second serves when he went wide to the forehand in the deuce court. From what I saw Tsitsipas was blocking all those back (stuck in backhand grip, perhaps?).

Still, Tsitsipas had the mini-break in the final tiebreak and let it slip away, missed a not-easy but makable volley, and Djoko hit two lines in the tiebreak.

Plus/ Minus and total points makes it look like a runaway for Novak when he had to serve to get into a tiebreak and come from behind in the tiebreak. Maybe the first set was more one sided?

Stef wants to patiently work points. I wonder with his weapons if he should go big earlier?

Novak played a clinical first set, almost flawless, and Stef couldn't get enough forehands to take charge of things. By contrast, in the second set Novak couldn't get a foothold in the rallies on Stef's serve and points were short. Stef started to serve better in terms of placement.

The stats can be misleading as they seldom show placement. In the third set, Novak only got 56% first serves in but very few came back and his second serves were extremely well placed. He lost just 3 points on serve in total in the third set. That's a very dominant place to be in.

[jimlosaltos]

https://www.tennis.com/news/articles...caraz-in-paris

Article on Rune.

Good article. Like this quote:

“Yeah, I was almost out,” Rune said today of his great week in Paris. “I was down with three match points. I actually just told my coach I was really two or three centimeters from losing in the first round here. I had a forehand which I played inside out and was like this from the net.

“But often it's like this. You're on the edge to lose and then you go deep in the tournament. Hopefully I can go all the way. You know, it's just about staying in the moment. I'm super happy on how I progressed the whole tournament playing better and better, improving small things. Yeah, today was really good from my side.”

Here are 3 screen caps that might be of interest. I'm impressed with how compact his swings are. Today, the backhand was the more effective wing. All edited from TennisTV.

First two are backhands, third a service return. He's well inside the court, short but hard punch. His forehand take back on a general groundstroke is also quite short, as can be seen in the short practice video linked to earlier.

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Foot vs racket ...

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Fast hands = aggressive feet.

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#

[jimlosaltos]

Just realized that the biggest stroke in the Rune-FAA match was Rune's backhand by far, at least counting average velocity at about 75 MPH. That's roughly the speed of both Djoko and Stef's forehands in the other semi.

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[stotty]

https://www.tennis.com/news/articles...caraz-in-paris

Article on Rune.

Thanks for this. He sounds like a kid who gets up everyone's nose. Be interesting to see how he behaves against Novak.

The great thing about Roger and Borg is even the worst behaved brats behaved themselves in their company and when in combat. They just commanded respect and always got it.

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Thanks for this. He sounds like a kid who gets up everyone's nose. Be interesting to see how he behaves against Novak.

The great thing about Roger and Borg is even the worst behaved brats behaved themselves in their company and when in combat. They just commanded respect and always got it.

I think he is getting a bit of a bad rap. Yes he yelled at his Mom, not good, but I expect he apologized to her. I saw the Stan match, did not see anything there really. Now Ruud, something must have happened as Casper seems like a really nice guy. That being said, Rune does not back down. He is headed very quickly to the very top of the game. He has the game and the mental side. Novak looked a bit weary getting run around by Stef. Rune, totality of forehand and backhand, looks to me hits the biggest ball on tour. He closes down the net very well when it is there, moving forward very well. Novak has his hands full. Not every player is going to be as well liked by the other players as someone like Grigor.

[jimlosaltos]

IRune, totality of forehand and backhand, looks to me hits the biggest ball on tour. He closes down the net very well when it is there, moving forward very well. Novak has his hands full. Not every player is going to be as well liked by the other players as someone like Grigor.

Wow! That's a big statement.

Agree. Great all around game. Aggressive baseline position challenges players. We'll see if it is sustainable.

Biggest hitter all around? Tough one.
Basilishvili averaged - averaged - 80 mph on both sides, tops on ATP last year. Rune isn't close.

Now, I wouldn't call Bash " the biggest hitter on your" as Jim Courier did because he redlines all the time. Prime Thiem hit much bigger ( hope he gets all the way back). Matteo has a far bigger forehand. Tsitspas probably hits more velocity on both sides - and is definitely hitting a heavier ball.

For me, on a small sample, it's not the weight of Rune's shot, but the weight with his court position.

One view.

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Wow! That's a big statement.

Agree. Great all around game. Aggressive baseline position challenges players. We'll see if it is sustainable.

Biggest hitter all around? Tough one.
Basilishvili averaged - averaged - 80 mph on both sides, tops on ATP last year. Rune isn't close.

Now, I wouldn't call Bash " the biggest hitter on your" as Jim Courier did because he redlines all the time. Prime Thiem hit much bigger ( hope he gets all the way back). Matteo has a far bigger forehand. Tsitspas probably hits more velocity on both sides - and is definitely hitting a heavier ball.

For me, on a small sample, it's not the weight of Rune's shot, but the weight with his court position.

One view.

Bash an outlier no doubt. He seems to just hit all balls as hard as he can, keeping it simple is one viewpoint I suppose. I just noticed several times Rune just beat FAA with sheer pace in their match, and FAA, never seen that happen to him. FAA one of the very best movers and athletes on the tour. Thiem hits big also, but as you pointvout, giving up so much court, which really changes the dynamic. Rune really tries to hug the baseline, similar to what Agassi did. Fed too obviously. Tsitsipas great forehand, but totality of shots, his backhand takes him out of the conversation to me. Karatsev in there also, and Sinner. If all the fastest players in ATP were lined up for a 60 yard dash, I am picking FAA.

[stotty]

I might go with Monfils. Watch the last three gets in this point...with the last get the best I have ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtuf12Uw1dk&t=47s

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I might go with Monfils. Watch the last three gets in this point...with the last get the best I have ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtuf12Uw1dk&t=47s

Both of them are built like world class sprinters(particularly FAA in the legs), but I am still going with FAA. Monfils in his prime vs FAA, well that would be 2 very good 60 yard dash times.

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Novak clinical in 1st set. Rune, who uses the BG "probation" serve motion, has been serving well, but had 4 doubles. Novak on the way to Master's 1000 title 39 thus far.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XrTYfTXac61x9f4RA

[stotty]

Novak looking comfortable so far. I am not well versed in Rune's game but I was expecting more. He can certainly inject pace and spin but doesn't have the constant power of Bash and the other crash-bang-wallopers. It's hard to judge pace on TV to be honest.

Novak has one of his little lapses and goes 0-2 down after have a golden chance to break in the first game of the second set. Should be interesting from here on. Let's hope Rune hits form and makes a game of it.