Sinner Med last piece

It just donned on me.

Medvedev is a pace hitter.

He eats up his opponent’s pace.

That’s why we saw Nadal using so much slice in their final a couple of years ago.

There are three ballflights to use with different timing.

Heavy.

Regular

Slice.

Each one has variations.

I wonder if the pros work on a three-ball (psycho).

Heavy, power, slice

Power, Heavy, slice

Power, slice, heavy

And so on.

Do you see where I’m going?

3 different ball flights.

So many variations.

One should work against every player…all you’re doing is trying to get a short ball or a mistake.

It’s not a strategy.

It’s more of a diversion to toss into the game plan.

Anyway.

This set was the shifting in play because the crosscourt patterns run themselves out in three out of five sets.

It comes back to adding packages based on what you’re trying to do and who you are playing against.

It also has game score implications too.

One “graduation” in tennis is to accept the score.

If it’s 15-40, its’ 15-40. You can hem and haw all you want. Play the game accordingly.

If the set is 1-4, it’s 1-4. Play accordingly based on down one break or two…set one or set two and so on.

**If you can’t accept things off the court, how can you do it on the court? Your outside and inside life co-exist.

Sinner played some killer mids at the end of the set.

This set was just a continuation of the match….Sinner perked up, Med fizzled (based on the amount of tennis both have played throughout the tourney (Med with his five-setters is starting to feel it???).

Fourth set.

My brain is toast. It’s recovering from watching the live late-night matches.

I would love to ask Medvedev about the constant crosscourt strategy.

I’d also want to talk about his transformation from when he was young and first on tour until now (so young players can understand the process).

Yes! You can initially get on tour with a Power game, A physical game or all the stuff you read about. Body size helps too. But, young players want to know about when to add more pieces to their game.

(Players generally see themselves as a finished product. So do average adults. IMO, winning is emphasized too much or it just becomes an end-all…for average adults…the pursuit of money (or the perception that you have it…racking up credit card debt).

*During the first game, Sinner is attacking Med’s movement. He wants to tire him out. He also wants to keep the points longer.

That’s a fine line though.

Players, when the adrenaline kicks in or the second wind comes, can be dangerous.

The opening game was solid from Sinner.

-Point one. He uses a wide serve (for positioning presumably). Because the ball comes back slow (and gives Med time to “over-recover”) Sinner hits his (+1) back to the same corner, then proceeds to hit five balls to the Ad side. Four that could be categorized as loads and finally a pull angle that Med hits out.

-Point two. Classic T-bender with an inside-out Power.

So…a long point, then a quick attack.

(I’m wondering what the effects would be if the first point was short. Do you play a longer point on the second? What if both points were short? Etc. That’s where the adjustments have to be made. It can be frustrating when you want to “grind” a player down but the points are consecutively short.

**As a young player, I wanted to change from playing too much open court quick points. I wanted to take the opponent’s legs out.

Makes sense, right?

I could run five-minute miles with no training (from all the laps we ran in soccer growing up…and I had to be first every practice for some reason).

I ran the stadium at UMASS.

What did I get out of it?

Players hitting short balls unintentionally during the points and I couldn’t work the points the way I wanted to…

…looking back, I tell students about that and say, “At the time, If I was smarter, I would have worked on mid-court and transition predominately.”

You lose your short balls when you play too many sets. At least I do. I lose the power because when you are playing to “WIN” and you hit a bad stretch, you end up under-hitting them and getting frustrated.

**Side note. As a joke, I had my daughter feed me forehands on the move to my right and hit Powers crosscourts (so I can hit sneaky pull shots back to and see where my 49-year-old legs are at. It was sloppy. I couldn’t hit the Heavy cross. I could only hit blasters. Blasters can be really good or really bad. They provide the pace for easy redirects to the opposite corner. At 49 I need more time…really, I just use that ball to set up my down-the-line attacks.

I could feel my legs tighten up a bit too.

I’m so out of playing shape.

I used to do blocks of thirty to forty balls consecutively…fifteen to twenty-five-second break and do another set…then another.

I still think “Block” training is important.

I never liked running by itself.

I liked conditioning by hitting a ball in some form or other.

**Point three. Wide serve and a Box 3 (+1) Mid.

Do you ever wonder if the pros miss intentionally? Like they would rather dump the ball than give up a winner? Not all the time. But, on occasion.

**Point four is a favorite. A 4 ball combo using three set up shots deep and then a cracker.

Game 2.

The first two errors on (+1)s by Med I see as mental mistakes. Whenever a player at this level makes those kinds of mistakes, I call them mistakes of the mind because their mind is focused elsewhere…on adjustments…I’m sure being tired lags the thought process too.

-The 30-all point was good by Sinner. Keep the point long and be patient for the cracker down the line.

-So was the 30-40. Both players played the point accordingly IMO. Sinner played a bit conservative through the center of the court…but the tactic was sound. Med just came up with the goods.

(This is progress on Sinner’s part. In the past, he found a way to go too big and misfire. Now he’s getting smarter. Mixing up his Ad points. Learning. Even though he lost the point, it pays dividends down the road).

(On the other side, Med is starting to hit more shots down the line than in the previous three sets…tired legs? I still want to know why a heavy dose of crosscourts the first three sets. I would want a bigger forehand I can cut the points short with.

One-Punch-Power.

To be able to end the point from any position…if I choose to.

What would you tell kids today?

A lot are just glorified pushers.

They get static at 7/8…even 9 UTR and can’t get past the hump.

This is another problem…and always has been and always will be…rankings. Players are so focused on rankings and winning…and college coaches (generally) are weak players who can’t develop players…so they choose by ranking. They recruit players based on them being a “finished” product. And expect them to “figure it out.”

There’s less development for young players and they fizzle out.

Coaches, like adults on social media, need someone to tell them what to do. My stuff comes from my mind. I didn’t read it in a book. I think about patterns and ways to manipulate point structure to “control” the points.

And building weapons (on the court dummy).

Game 3.

30-all. Back door (+1) by Sinner. At this point the Mids to Box 3 are paying off. Med turns his hips and takes off for the other side and Sinner pops a winner back to Box 1.

-It’s important to get there early and “hold” the player. To make them think the line shot is coming. A lot of club players get there late and by that time “telegraph” where they are going.

When you hold the ball longer, you can freeze them.

I call it Dr. Freeze probably because of all the Justice League I watched as a kid.

This comes back to peripheral vision and how to work on it.

I wrote about this in the past…but another simple thing to do is to…for lack of examples…stare at something…say a mailbox…and count all the things you “see” by not seeing them…that’s just a basic.

Then, find a place with activity…movement…and do the same.

Another thing I thought everyone did.

But, apparently not.

Especially now with cell phones dominating everyone.

My nine-year-old has an apple watch!!

Why?

What would they possibly need that for?

It’s funny to me that parents create bigger problems.

Jobs too.

“You have to be online! Or you will be left behind. Misinformed.”

The three months I quit all social media was awesome.

My brain came back.

My thoughts too.

I wasn’t distracted.

I cut the umbilical cord.

I was surprised to see messages from people.

Anyway.

Game 4.

Second point. Look for the slice and then the cracker forehand. These work well, but the slice has to be set up. I find that against fast players, they are taught to pounce on those. But, at moments when you “catch them deep in thought” or tired etc…you can catch them…If I’m playing someone below 9 UTR it’s a Go-to. They struggle with slice on the run to the forehand because they haven’t learned to use their wrist. You have to “Flick” a heavy cut.

Best way to work on it is find a player with a good slice and have them rally with you and you can work on “turning” the ball from their slice to your heavy…

Game 5.

-Sinner plays a great first point and then a double fault. This echos junior tennis. I constantly talk to them about sustainability. Meaning, playing longer consecutive points. I hate to retract from stuff ive written about in the past, but, half court groundstroke games have some value. SOME. They teach players sustainability. Long story short, I tell the players to stop thinking about the score and focus on a number. Like 5. Play 5 strong shots deep, 5 times in a row and see where the game is at. Do it again and see where you are at after 10 points. If you are behind, add 2 shots and try for seven…

Why the numbers?

It takes the focus off of winning and the emotional side and makes it about execution…you can work on changing speeds also…and height. I even work on deep/shorts during crosscourts games…hit in the box/ hit outside the box and I don’t care whether I win or lose groundstroke games…they have little value in gauging who is the better player. But, if you are not good at them, you need to change your approach.

In the past I wrote about 21 games having no value (because players with a big lead learn to be conservative to finish the games out and over time that creates bad muscle memory). But, they do have value in learning how to keep the score close…how to stop momentum…how to gain momentum…how to add patterns into play (because serve patterns can be too short depending on your training partner)…they can be exhausting too…and help with mental training…

…somewhat.

Too much of anything is a bad thing though.

Variety is the spice of life.

**The 15-all point. A switcher. The next time you go out to play sets, work on switchers. Use T serves and move the player in the direction they were going.

-Deuce T serve…hit box 3 or 4…

-Ad T serves…hit box 2 or 1

Do that for a bit….then reverse your (+1) to the opposite corner for a series of points

-Then do odds and evens…

-on odd points (Ad side) move the player back to box 4…on evens (Deuce side) move them to box 4 also….

Then flip the script on your first ball to the other side (Box 1 (+1s).

Those are easy switches…

Then do outsides only….first ball goes back to the same corner you served….

(Deuce side t…(+1) back to box 1 ect….Ad side T back to box 4).

Not all in one day…make notes…observe the outcomes…manipulation patterns are like working on strokes…they take time to glue to your brain…you need more than a couple of “test” subjects too…Certain Swicthes work better vs different players

$$. When do you use SWITCHES. $$

-When the opponent is tired?

-Against players with “hard stamps”…lunges on return (Ivashka…or many others….WTA has a lot of hard stampers).

-exploiting something….mixing switches with opens etc…

When you get your handle on it…it becomes situational.

-Beginning of games.

-Middle.

-End.

There is no right answer. It depends on how the match is going and what you are employing. And you need constant evaluation (kidding) (not really)…you just need observational awareness. But that you are supposed to work on in practice sets.

Game 6.

Dumper game. Nothing to see here

Game 7.

Interesting Deuce side points.

One takeaway from this game is the 0-30 point played by Sinner. He played the score meaning he was down and played a smart 0-30 style point. He loaded the backhand side and Medvedev made an unforced error.

(On Medvedev’s side, this is why I believe in combo/number manipulation. Heavy loads are great. They make the other player beat you. But, in a way, I would want to mix in a little risk. I’d want three types of patterns to exploit for different reasons and for different times in the match. Two balls (easy). Three balls (no problem) and 4 balls for starters. Once I got a handle on those I would move to mixed combos…(three two-ball sequences…or two three-ball with the objective to shut the point down….to play with them a little before I finish the point).

**Had Med known he would get aced three times in a row on the Ad side, maybe he would have changed something….haha.

Game 8.

One thing I would work on is grip switches. Attacking player’s grips (first you have to recognize and see the grips they use…and understand the benefits and the disadvantages…and see it). I would have someone feed me random balls all over the court and try to catch me in a grip change.

The point I like and it’s a quick tactic to mix in with the long ones is at 40-30. Sinner hits a 1-2-3. Two to Box three…One cracker to the line. A lot of players use these too much and never use longer patterns to wear the opponent down….then they wonder why the guy on the other side is always “fresh.” And they end of pressing more and more as the match goes on (most of the time, both players are pressing instead of wearing the guy down).

Game 9.

Dr.Freeze on the first point. Serve and “hold” the contact on the (+1)…and watch as the other player commits in the wrong direction.

-A “hold” at 30-15 also.

-40-30. Love it. Up game point and plays a power middle for 4 shots and pulls off the winner on shot 5. Again. Sinner is learning from his past. Making adjustments in his game…most notably…he’s playing more longer points at different parts of the game.

Game 10.

How he starts the game should be copied by young players. Two middle loads. You can play variations of this against whomever.

1)    Block out the middle on one side and play open on the other.

2)    Block out the middle and play ¾ one way or the other.

3)    Middle vs half courts etc…

Each game has different things you can learn other than the angle of attack. Playing vs full court is tough by itself.

**Playing in which you have to win two points in a row (while the other player just gets every point) is annoying…it adds value to the game…teaches you the importance of winning two points in a row.

If you want to be real daring…try playing when you have to win three in a row vs their one…

It sucks.

But, players who understand and see the value in it will get better.

I hated manipulation point games as a kid. I would piss and moan about how I would be winning if it was a “regular” scoring game.

(generally, the way academy tennis works is one guy controls the drills/games. He assigns the games and the coaches feed in the points. The coaches (most are not high-level players, to begin with) do as they are told. The HEAD guy doesn’t explain anything to them (for fear of giving away his “secrets”) so the players never get what they’re supposed to be working on.

This all comes back to insecurity.

I am guilty of this too.

As a young coach, I would hoard all my “good” stuff for fear it would be ripped off by lazy coaches.

Why do all the work and get it stolen, right?

Wrong!

As a coach, I've learned to communicate better with other coaches (I wish there was a group of us…a small one…I could make on my own and talk about different aspects…but, I want to talk to the “outsiders.”

I still hoard certain things.

Technically, from a life perspective, we are supposed to be sharing more and not being so closed-minded.

The problem is all the thieves out there.

**funny story. When I was around twelve, I was in a summer camp. The counselors made a scavenger hunt all through the park. All campers had to search for a key in the grass. Kids ran all over the park and no one could find it. The counselors called us in for a meeting. They laughed at us and said we were so close we practically stepped on it. Then one counselor slipped. He said that a certain counselor almost stepped on it. Right away, I remembered the counselors never moved from one area at the park. I leaned over and told a kid where the key was. It was right outside the office because that’s where the counselors stood the whole time. Once they let us go back to look, the other kid and I went right to the spot and he grabbed the key before me…I thought we would share the prize. He had different thoughts. I was pissed (sad part is later that day I laid in bed, closed my eyes and rehearsed a right cross to the jaw while he bent down to pick up the key.

I hate people who take credit for others’ work.

It’s filthy.

It’s sub-human.

I never talked to that kid again.

I let karma take over.

Bad things happen to bad people.

He died in a hang-gliding accident.

Just kidding.

I don’t know what happened to him.

He could be a billionaire.

Who knows.

Who cares.

Fifth set.

Sinner is content going after Med’s legs. With one set left it makes sense.

He’s mixing his combos with loads to mids to stretches.

If you open with stretches, there is that possibility of making errors and exposing court space on your side. Plus, with loads, you can get a feel for what the guy has left in the tank. It limits your losses.

Yet, by the third game, Sinner is mixing it up. He is using stretches to start the point and then sits in a crosscourt rally/load. These are weird. Try it sometime…Have someone hit you corner to corner and then sit in a crosscourt rally. It feels backwards.

I know I talk a lot about mixed combos.

What about flipping combos?

Play a series of shots and on the next played point, reverse it…like Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura Pet Detective.

Sinner is using his service games to spread the court and attack Med’s legs.

Watch game 5.

It was a ridiculous game of leg-breaking.

**Playing at this level and making changes in your game is like becoming a scratch golfer. As you get higher in level, one little change takes way more work to go from say, 85-80…you have to clean up a few things…in your game…but to go from 80-75 takes more mental discipline and you have to reinvent yourself in a way. What got you to 80 isn’t going to get you to 75.

**The same is true in tennis. What got you to 9 UTR isn’t going to get you to 11. And what got you to 11 isn’t going to get you to 13 etc.

**Last note. Watch Medvedev’s post-match interview.

This is the example that all players should aspire to. He’s come a long way at 27. He takes responsibility, he accepts outcomes and he moves on to the next tournament.

Like Belichick…”We’re on to the next game.” Accepting outcomes and taking responsibility is a hard pill to swallow. Most of us fail in this department.

It’s hard to find that place in life where you are at Peace with everything.

You can only control You.

We can’t change the world (although we think we can).

But, maybe, by making small changes in our lives, we can have a positive effect on others…especially our kids.

Anyway…

I’m out….

I will write a last piece before I hibernate…I want to look at Sinner’s path to the final and if there was a reason he destroyed players in straights etc…and gave himself a better opportunity in the final.