I watched this Mark Kovacs video a couple of weeks ago on serving. You're right about the back hip. The biggest determinant in serve speed is how fast you can get your back hip to rise vertically https://youtu.be/krKYy4eqgdQ?si=Fmx_vulit2PdmnGC&t=345
I've been tweaking my 1st serve, and I've noticed that I have put too much of my weight on my front leg in a platform stance. That's something you discussed with De Minaur. That has caused me a hip flexor issue. I am now practicing jumping up into the ball with both legs equally.
Yeah, although for amateurs I would say the best thing to focus on is having a good throwing motion with the arm. Even guys like novak/sampras don't use the back leg all that much, but turned sufficiently and had good shoulder mechanics
That's a fascinating video. Later on in it he seems to suggest that people who learnt with wood rackets had slightly better technique in terms of body rotation than (some) nowadays because with the weight of those rackets you just couldn't do it wrong - you'd feel it at once. Even though the _data_ on hip drive as a key determinant is new, I recall reading Vic Braden back in the 1980s illustrating that the thing that made McEnroe's weird-looking serve so effective was his body rotation: the drive from the left foot (as a left-hander) pushing the left hip around and up.
You mentioned "A comparison of de Minaur’s flatter and eastern-gripped forehand with Alcaraz’s more semi-western and spin-oriented one showcases why the Spaniard has more of a heavyweight shot compared to his Australian opponent (a distinction that I also touched on with respect to Sinner’s versus de Minaur’s backhands in the 2023 Toronto final). From the slot position the Spaniard has got a longer path to swing out toward the ball, from a lower position relative to the ball, and with a more closed racquet face. More spin and more speed." When you explain the de Minaur eastern grip FH technique in this instance being inferior to the Alcaraz semi-western FH technique, is this a generalized carry over for every eastern FH compared to a semi-western FH or just those two in particular. I say this because in the death of the forehand Del Potro and FRAUDerer were amongst the top tier FH models you mentioned yet they are eastern and had plenty access to spin so I'm confused if de Minaur's issue is partly due to his eastern grip for today's FH metagame or the actual "elbow high" take back, "back-to-front" swing or are both factors. Is the eastern grip a grip to be wary of using today? (I myself have an eastern grip with a trigger finger hold).
You also mentioned "That slice from Alcaraz is really quite effective against a flat and underpowered hitter. It’s difficult for de Minaur to attack it with his flatter strokes compared to someone like a Sinner (or Alcaraz) who can wail on that kind of ball given they produce a lot more spin and racquet speed." Does that slice bother the likes of Del Potro who despite his ability to clock the ball insanely hard he is on the flatter side albeit he isn't underpowered, FRAUDerer also had the first strike abilities and has had spin rates clocked at levels second to Nadal at one point despite his eastern grip? does the slice bother those two despite them having the ideal "global maximum" eastern FH?
You also mentioned "Alcaraz gets farther beneath the ball and with his strings still closed compared to de Minaur, who’s racquet face is already “on edge” or perpendicular to the court. These differences are what dictate much of the spin and speed data." So for example here correct me if I'm wrong but in the case of having a closed racquet face as you swing with a more classic grip like eastern is nothing a conscious effort to just tip your racquet face "more" closed as you swing can't fix? You wouldn't propose that an eastern grip player is technically capped as a result of that grip naturally guiding through the ball instead of the more natural extreme upcut of the semi-western on the ball today's FH metagame seems insistent on? Think an eastern grip FH can top the charts today/or future on a heaviness/speed/spin chart or is there a glaring limitation you notice with the eastern grip FH.
P.S: Congrats on being a dad. Didn't realise you were till I listened to the podcast weeks ago.
No eastern grip isn't inferior, but if you have a flat swing path AND it is less in-to-out (by virtue of a compact, outside setup up), you can't generate spin easily, and hence you will have a hard time being aggressive from low contact points inside the court. I'll touch on these things in death of a forehand part IV
Has Alcaraz ever lost a match where his north-south movement, net game and variety was in full display? I can't think of one. Such feel at the net (and to rush it) should lend itself to prefering faster conditions (agressive, forward-intent games, and net offense usually work better there), but Carlos is an outlier in that he builds his empire with time. Whether it is from the baseline or coming a deep return, when he has time to load he can then go to the net and from there he'll finish you off. That's why you need to take his time away and rush him with depth/power, because if you don't his all court offense will be too much for anyone.
On the defense side of thing, Carlos, as you mentioned multiple times with the slice, is just as dangerous. Has he ever lost to a net-rusher? Again, nothing on top off my head, and I think he's on par with Djokovic (who is more classical in his way of defending/passing opponents at net) when it comes to net defense, and in some way his defense when the opponent is at the net is in some ways better than his groundstroke defense, especially when stretched (altough it's good).
Rushing him is clearly the gameplan against Alcaraz, but net-rushing isn't I think.
Not many great net-rushers these days to test him, but yeah I can't think of a match where his forward game was working but he lost. Kind of hard, as the forecourt stuff is the last link in the chain for him (i.e., his bad play usually undoes him too early in the point to showcase his net skills).
Please. Christopher Clarey gave us the overall narrative. But I am still dying to hear what the blueprint looked like. I am almost ready to unsubscribe from almost everything else on Substack and just read about tennis. The news is so much hype that we cannot agree on what the truth is. Tennis remains, as Larry Ellison noted, based on actual tangible things. You cannot hide on a tennis court.
Please give some of us something else to think about. A tangible thing that we can all see with our eyes and talk about.
Not something imaginary that we have no idea if it really exists or not.
Save me please! Write a short note about the Dallas final! :)
Great write-up Hugh! Alcaraz continues to amaze. De Minaur's serve reminds me a bit of Wawrinka's. As you mention, not closed enough and very little leg drive. Obviously Stan could make up for that with the raw power but both still very low on the 1st serve %
that's a good comparison. One of the unique aspects of Stan's serve was how high his hitting elbow got through the trophy position, so he dropped it behind his back from a great height, and I think that helped him generate, or make up for the los speed, with his front on orientation
"That slice from Alcaraz is really quite effective against a flat and underpowered hitter. It’s difficult for de Minaur to attack it with his flatter strokes compared to someone like a Sinner (or Alcaraz) who can wail on that kind of ball given they produce a lot more spin and racquet speed. "
I saw the Demon lose to Evans a couple of years ago in person and he just couldn't generate the speed & spin to hurt Evans, especially off his backhand. Evans would keep slicing to Demon's backhand and then wait for the chance to attack with his forehand, while Demon couldn't generate the spin and speed to hurt him back.
Also why Tsitsipas has such a good matchup against De Minaur (his only loss coming at Los Cabos last year, which was probably the low point of Tsitsipas's HC decline as his serve was in total shambles). He can't rush the BH in any way and that gives Stefanos way too much confort. The Greek's slice even works better than usual in this matchup
I watched this Mark Kovacs video a couple of weeks ago on serving. You're right about the back hip. The biggest determinant in serve speed is how fast you can get your back hip to rise vertically https://youtu.be/krKYy4eqgdQ?si=Fmx_vulit2PdmnGC&t=345
I've been tweaking my 1st serve, and I've noticed that I have put too much of my weight on my front leg in a platform stance. That's something you discussed with De Minaur. That has caused me a hip flexor issue. I am now practicing jumping up into the ball with both legs equally.
Yeah, although for amateurs I would say the best thing to focus on is having a good throwing motion with the arm. Even guys like novak/sampras don't use the back leg all that much, but turned sufficiently and had good shoulder mechanics
That's a fascinating video. Later on in it he seems to suggest that people who learnt with wood rackets had slightly better technique in terms of body rotation than (some) nowadays because with the weight of those rackets you just couldn't do it wrong - you'd feel it at once. Even though the _data_ on hip drive as a key determinant is new, I recall reading Vic Braden back in the 1980s illustrating that the thing that made McEnroe's weird-looking serve so effective was his body rotation: the drive from the left foot (as a left-hander) pushing the left hip around and up.
You mentioned "A comparison of de Minaur’s flatter and eastern-gripped forehand with Alcaraz’s more semi-western and spin-oriented one showcases why the Spaniard has more of a heavyweight shot compared to his Australian opponent (a distinction that I also touched on with respect to Sinner’s versus de Minaur’s backhands in the 2023 Toronto final). From the slot position the Spaniard has got a longer path to swing out toward the ball, from a lower position relative to the ball, and with a more closed racquet face. More spin and more speed." When you explain the de Minaur eastern grip FH technique in this instance being inferior to the Alcaraz semi-western FH technique, is this a generalized carry over for every eastern FH compared to a semi-western FH or just those two in particular. I say this because in the death of the forehand Del Potro and FRAUDerer were amongst the top tier FH models you mentioned yet they are eastern and had plenty access to spin so I'm confused if de Minaur's issue is partly due to his eastern grip for today's FH metagame or the actual "elbow high" take back, "back-to-front" swing or are both factors. Is the eastern grip a grip to be wary of using today? (I myself have an eastern grip with a trigger finger hold).
You also mentioned "That slice from Alcaraz is really quite effective against a flat and underpowered hitter. It’s difficult for de Minaur to attack it with his flatter strokes compared to someone like a Sinner (or Alcaraz) who can wail on that kind of ball given they produce a lot more spin and racquet speed." Does that slice bother the likes of Del Potro who despite his ability to clock the ball insanely hard he is on the flatter side albeit he isn't underpowered, FRAUDerer also had the first strike abilities and has had spin rates clocked at levels second to Nadal at one point despite his eastern grip? does the slice bother those two despite them having the ideal "global maximum" eastern FH?
You also mentioned "Alcaraz gets farther beneath the ball and with his strings still closed compared to de Minaur, who’s racquet face is already “on edge” or perpendicular to the court. These differences are what dictate much of the spin and speed data." So for example here correct me if I'm wrong but in the case of having a closed racquet face as you swing with a more classic grip like eastern is nothing a conscious effort to just tip your racquet face "more" closed as you swing can't fix? You wouldn't propose that an eastern grip player is technically capped as a result of that grip naturally guiding through the ball instead of the more natural extreme upcut of the semi-western on the ball today's FH metagame seems insistent on? Think an eastern grip FH can top the charts today/or future on a heaviness/speed/spin chart or is there a glaring limitation you notice with the eastern grip FH.
P.S: Congrats on being a dad. Didn't realise you were till I listened to the podcast weeks ago.
No eastern grip isn't inferior, but if you have a flat swing path AND it is less in-to-out (by virtue of a compact, outside setup up), you can't generate spin easily, and hence you will have a hard time being aggressive from low contact points inside the court. I'll touch on these things in death of a forehand part IV
Hi Hugh,
As always, a great analysis.
Has Alcaraz ever lost a match where his north-south movement, net game and variety was in full display? I can't think of one. Such feel at the net (and to rush it) should lend itself to prefering faster conditions (agressive, forward-intent games, and net offense usually work better there), but Carlos is an outlier in that he builds his empire with time. Whether it is from the baseline or coming a deep return, when he has time to load he can then go to the net and from there he'll finish you off. That's why you need to take his time away and rush him with depth/power, because if you don't his all court offense will be too much for anyone.
On the defense side of thing, Carlos, as you mentioned multiple times with the slice, is just as dangerous. Has he ever lost to a net-rusher? Again, nothing on top off my head, and I think he's on par with Djokovic (who is more classical in his way of defending/passing opponents at net) when it comes to net defense, and in some way his defense when the opponent is at the net is in some ways better than his groundstroke defense, especially when stretched (altough it's good).
Rushing him is clearly the gameplan against Alcaraz, but net-rushing isn't I think.
Not many great net-rushers these days to test him, but yeah I can't think of a match where his forward game was working but he lost. Kind of hard, as the forecourt stuff is the last link in the chain for him (i.e., his bad play usually undoes him too early in the point to showcase his net skills).
Great recap! Was hoping to get huir thoughts in Shapo-Ruud. A lefty 1hbh is a rarity these days.
Maybe I could do a shorter mid-week bonus post
Please. Christopher Clarey gave us the overall narrative. But I am still dying to hear what the blueprint looked like. I am almost ready to unsubscribe from almost everything else on Substack and just read about tennis. The news is so much hype that we cannot agree on what the truth is. Tennis remains, as Larry Ellison noted, based on actual tangible things. You cannot hide on a tennis court.
Please give some of us something else to think about. A tangible thing that we can all see with our eyes and talk about.
Not something imaginary that we have no idea if it really exists or not.
Save me please! Write a short note about the Dallas final! :)
Great write-up Hugh! Alcaraz continues to amaze. De Minaur's serve reminds me a bit of Wawrinka's. As you mention, not closed enough and very little leg drive. Obviously Stan could make up for that with the raw power but both still very low on the 1st serve %
that's a good comparison. One of the unique aspects of Stan's serve was how high his hitting elbow got through the trophy position, so he dropped it behind his back from a great height, and I think that helped him generate, or make up for the los speed, with his front on orientation
Interesting point. Yeah, certainly wasn't orthodox!
"That slice from Alcaraz is really quite effective against a flat and underpowered hitter. It’s difficult for de Minaur to attack it with his flatter strokes compared to someone like a Sinner (or Alcaraz) who can wail on that kind of ball given they produce a lot more spin and racquet speed. "
I saw the Demon lose to Evans a couple of years ago in person and he just couldn't generate the speed & spin to hurt Evans, especially off his backhand. Evans would keep slicing to Demon's backhand and then wait for the chance to attack with his forehand, while Demon couldn't generate the spin and speed to hurt him back.
Also why Tsitsipas has such a good matchup against De Minaur (his only loss coming at Los Cabos last year, which was probably the low point of Tsitsipas's HC decline as his serve was in total shambles). He can't rush the BH in any way and that gives Stefanos way too much confort. The Greek's slice even works better than usual in this matchup
Plus Demon can't get it high to the backhand of tsitsi either with a big serve or heavy groundstroke