Sinner Vs Baez Rd 32

I don’t know what I’m looking for. Cahill piqued my interest in a post-final interview where he talked about how effective Jannik’s slice had been.

“When,” I said to myself. “He only used it a couple of times in the final.”

So, I started digging into the previous matches.

BTW.

Baez is a damn good player.

Swartzman-esque.

After watching this match… I initially felt that he focuses on his training/conditioning and a form of zone tennis.

The match confirmed it.

Off the top of my head…Thiem is another one. A disciple of zone training mixed with big groundies.

I’m amazed at how Sinner dispatched Baez.

I will try to keep it quick (I want to watch the Khachanov match, the De-Jong, and the Rublev before ESPN+ takes them off the archives.

Game 1 Sinner’s Serve.

It helps to get some cheap points on your serve. As much as I say (+1) winners have low value…well…they still have some.

It’s how you use them that are the key.

The first point of the game he gets a “foothold” in the match (yet, loses the point on a lob winner by Baez).

-He hits a wide serve on the Deuce side and a (+1) to box 3. Then hits two more shots to the Ad side, before he shifts him back to the Deuce side for two.

NOT A BAD START.

He’s getting his feet “wet.”

-Look at the next Deuce point at 15-all.  

He switches him.

A Deuce T serve with a Box 1 (+1) for a winner.

To me, the switch of pattern is more important than the winner.

Now look at the 40-30 point.

He hits a triple combo to the Ad side and then a rip to Box 1 (Baez misses).

**Here’s the takeaway from the first game. He uses his three-ball combo to “get into” the rally and then hit the rip to the opposite side. Is it for comfort? Is it for timing? Does he use this often to start the match? (In hindsight this is what Khachanov, Rublev and Medvedev noticed and that’s why they went on the attack early in the point).

Maybe.

Either way, I like simple openings to games. It helps with timing.

Don’t forget. It helps to have a big serve for cheap points that allow for you to “play out” combos on the other points.

Game 2 Return

The 15-all point made me replay it a few times. The Pitch of Sinner’s ball caught my attention.

So I looked away and just listened to the ball.

0-00-000-O.

Rip-Regular-Rip Rip-Regular-Rip Rip Rip-Regular-then BANG.

Whether it’s what I heard or my mind playing tricks, it made me think about change-of-pace tactics and drills that can be messed around with.

This is a simple 1-2-3.

Rip a shot. Hit one regular speed.

Rip Two shots. Hit regular.

Rip Three. Hit regular.

Am I crazy?

Or is there something to be looked at?

I get change-of-pace drills…what about change-of-speed drills?

Do we work on these enough other than the normal?

Is it effective for players to keep the same ball level…the same depth…but add or minus some MPH?

It has to be worth the go.

Right?

**Before I forget. The other thing that was cool with this point is that Sinner used Big Margins even though he was ripping the ball. Stayed away from the corners (kind of)…another skilled decision this early in the match. He’s learning to now give away freebies.

**Or look at it as hiding two triples after the return…then a double…then BANG…Hmm!

How often would these happen in a match?

You plan for the worst and hope for the best.

These aren’t hard drills to put together.

Think two on one drill.

1…2,3,4 to the Ad side,…shift…5,6,7 to the Deuce side…8,9 to the Ad and then BANG.

Think about hiding variations.

1,2,3…shift…4,5,6

1,2,3…shift…4….shift 5,6,7

1,2…shift…4,5,6…7,8

Why would you train these combos?

Everyone should have three sets of combos to pull out of their hat….

Short, medium and long.

This pattern (like all patterns) can be at the beginning of the game, the middle, or the end…what matters is understanding the right time to bring them out….you might also need to play counterpunchers.

Like a counterpuncher cheat code.

I don’t know about you, but I hate playing good counterpunchers.

Had I had these combos to choose from, my mind might have been more engaged (and I would have had a lot of fun).

-Break point 30-40.

Sinner hits a wheel with the first three shots, a 4,5 slice cc, a mid, then a popper winner.

He goes from hiding triples in one point, hiding doubles in the next, and then uses a three-ball wheel…

…Confusing?

I get it.

But, that’s the point. He changes his patterns and his pace….and his drop areas…(hackers/wizards will call Bullshit on this…I don’t care…I don’t care what wizards say…that’s why their wizards).

What I do know is that when my brain is free…and I play/establish certain combo patterns…and then I have the presence of mind to alter them…they are devastating.

Two that crack me up at 9 UTR and under are a wheel…box 3, box 2, box 1…for some reason after two they want to shift back to the other side…

…the other one is a Box 2, then 4, then 3, then 1…(you can go the other way too)…it’s weird…it ties their feet up (Mids).

Anyway.

Time to re-focus.

Bop-Bop-Bop…Doo…Doo…Bop…Bop…Bop

Ok!

I’m good.

Game 3 The Serve.

15-40. Break Point Baez.

Sinner is getting smarter on his break points. He’s playing in a tighter area and allowing his opponent to dictate play (which is ok sometimes unless you’re a control freak…) He’s taking ACCOUNTABILITY for the game score. This is not easy. We all think we can hit that Dinger down the line and get out of the game…(but that works against lower-ranked players…)…Taking responsibility makes the brain function better under pressure. It frees you up. It allows for mental growth…even if you lose the point and the game….the payoff comes down the road.

**Important note…When you work on this in practice you should play games from 15-40…only play that point…so you can reprogram your brain.

NO! It’s not the same as playing a Deuce game to 7 or 11 or 15.

It’s not.

The feeling is different.

For younger players, you can play out games from 15-40 etc…like we always do…so you can “learn” the feelings of right and wrong enough times to get ready for what I previously said.

Better players…Play games at 15-40 only and play that point to 7 and work on tight spaces…specific areas etc…specific combos and re-program bad decisions.

Game 4.

Switches.

What’s the deal with them?

Are they designed systematically?

By Feel?

By the opponent’s ball speed?

By the opponent’s positioning?

(Switches are Box 2 or 3. It can be called a recycle. It’s when you use them during a rally to tap the player out and either keep their momentum going the same way…or Switching them back the other way…They’re effective. I wish I learned these back in my playing days.

“Even Better,” Dale Dobek said from Step Brothers. “I can use them in my 40’s.”

**What I’m getting at is there is more to tennis than Zone tennis. Or Power (+1’s).

At some point, you want to use your brain. You want to think about what you’re doing.

-There’s enough here to make you think about your game.

Re-watch this match.

Re-watch it with a different mindset.

Take some notes.

Look at the way Sinner played his “shift” game.

Look at the pattern variation.

Look at the “normal” points…(+1) tennis….but look at it in conjunction with the other patterns.

Understand how throwing in longer patterns helps the quick ones…

More importantly, understand attacking movement…

I’m moving on to the De-Jong match.

Before that…

I’m going na-nights.

ZZzzzzzzz!