thanks teeks! Yeah there are less than 200 courts in the US at the moment, but there are a lot of investors lining up to build them

Thanks mate appreciate it !

Yeah I haven’t reinvented the wheel, but I do think Padel will continue to grow a lot because it kind of satisfies both ends: easy for beginners, but still a lot to learn for more advanced/hungry players.

Tennis is hard and has no “fun, social, easy” analog like topgolf, go-karting etc that some other sports have. Perhaps pickle is meant to be that analog, but yeah, the rise of these variants is something for tennis to think about and try and fix in terms of “how do we make the beginner experience great”

Link to full article here

the full article can be found here

Technique can change by kind or by degree - at the pro level most are by degrees; it’s very hard to change the overall style of your shot this late.

Djokovic’s forehand was essentially the same kind, only shortened (still was a great change).

The same can be said for Thiem’s adjustments in 2019 where he shortened his forehand in particular to be able to play up in the court and beat the big-3 consistently on hardcourts.

Djokovic’s serve is another case: it was great in 08, then 09/10 he developed a kink, then got it back in 11, but improved it with the scorpion lag later in his career.

Wawrinka’s technique was always very similar in my eyes, but I’ll go back and watch some 2010 stuff of his because I do that in my spare time anyway.

Nadal’s forehand had many iterations, some better than others. His grip was a little more extreme in the earlier days 07-ish, but the worst in my eyes was 2009 and the best was 2010/2013 style.

Ruud adjusted his backhand midway through 2022 and had good results in the second half of the year with a fuller takeback.

Agassi shortened his groundies late in his career to also enable him to maintain a hyper aggressive court position.

Alcaraz has shortened his backhand since his 2018/2019 junior days to play more aggressively.

The list goes on. The single best change I have seen?

Thiem for me.

When you get two counterpunchers against each other that can get boring (Med v Zverev baseline), but honestly Nole wasn’t a counterpuncher in the final. He was crushing it.

And often a counterpuncher against an offensive guy is great; both act as a canvas for the other to display their talents

🙏🏻

Thanks Novak!

mainly racquet work, but I have written pieces on footwork and how that has changed

Federer

Nadal

Djokovic.

​

They each had unique footwork patterns that suited their games

Thanks Mik!

Thanks for the suggestion Holiday. I have a few ideas in my head as to why he seemed to regress!

Thanks heat!

Thanks Ganache! It’s free to subscribe if you want articles going direct to your inbox :)

Thanks doc!

Full article HERE

While I agree that what Adrian did this year is mighty impressive, I don’t think 35 is that old anymore. There’s a clear trend across a lot of sports that, thanks to sport science and recovery methods, players can keep their bodies in very good shape into their 30s. So now they have all that experience and can delay the physical decline.

I think we will see more and more athletes peaking in their 30s in tennis as they become smarter players and better mentally with experience. My hunch is also that a certain play style—one predicated on timing and stamina with efficient strokes rather than explosive firepower—can age more gracefully. Like mannarino, like djokovic, like lopez etc.

Recent examples: Federer - wimby final at nearly 38

Lopez (career high rank at 34). Guy never hit a topspin backhand, just chipped that oney. Saved energy and wear-and-tear big time I think. But yeah he’s also just a specimen.

Struff - 33 and played his best stuff this year

RBA - career high at 31

Stanimal’s prime was 28-32

35 today is like 29-30 from 15 years ago