Even though there are more and more great players in the circuit, in my opinion, Djokovic is still quite ahead from everyone. Sure, every now and then, an inspired player (like Rune in Paris) might be able to beat him, but overall, and especially in Grand Slams, I believe that the rest of the players need to increase the consistency of their game. You have a point, Djokovic dominates long rallies because most players that are thriving now are hard-hitters (Ruud could be the exception to this, but I believe he still has a long way to go in big matches), and that can only get them so far against arguably the best defender of all time.
I wonder if somebody will be able to challenge Nole seriously this year. It somehow reminds me of the times when Roger dominated the circuit, even though there were so many talented players (Roddick, Blake, Gonzalez, Davydenko, Nalbandian, Safin, etc), Roger played in a league of his own until Nadal came up. Would love to hear your thoughts.
When you have a great slice you can neutralize your opponent's offence. Wawrinka neutralised first-serves and made a high-percentage by blocking them back deep middle. Evans/Federer stay in rallies when rushed largely by slicing the backhand. Because Tsitsipas doesn't have a great slice, he is forced to come over the ball on first-serve returns and when rushed; the result is that he misses a lot and as the commentators mentioned, when he is forced to hit two-backhands in a rally his win% drops significantly to around 30%. That's just not good enough against ND. If he had a great slice he had a much better chance to create break point chances and reset points.
Feb 7, 2023·edited Feb 7, 2023Liked by Hugh Clarke
So if im. understanding properly the slice would help him the most on return of serve? Would it be more fair to say that he needs a good backhand chop return, or are those mostly the same thing?
About the 2-backhands stat:
interesting, but we need a point of reference. what's the tour average for 2 backhands? does that count a backhand return? etc?
From reading your article it seems like Tsitsipas doesn't have a single thing that he does better than djokovic. Djokovic serves better, hits harder forehands, has the up the line option on his backhand, and returns better. Maybe if he gets a slice he can win a set, but not more than that.
Not trying to be critical, just looking for understanding :)
And I agree! Novak does everything better than Tsitsipas other than attack with the forehand. I'd say Tsitsipas has more attacking options with his forehand but he misses more.
Return of serve yes, but anything where he is rushed or under pressure, the slice is a great shot to use; easier to time/make, buys you time as you recover, stays low so it's hard to attack for your opponent. So many upsides to it for him.
yes we would need a comparison for a very accurate point of reference, but I will say that there are several instances where we can see his BH metric really lagging compared to his competition and opponents. Primarily in this article with the ATP backhand stat:
Tsitsipas needs a better slice, I agree, but doubt that would have helped him. But what about his serve toss and motion? For a guy with such fluid groundstrokes and volleys, his serve looks awkward, even ugly.
His issue on the serve is less with the motion and more to do with the fact that he falls left a long way after hitting it. Really exposes his forehand side as he recovers out of the serve landing. Joel Myers has pointed that out repeatedly before.
Great article!! I agree that Djokovic will rule the tour for as long as his body and mind allows him to do it. I believe that his consistency is miles ahead of the rest and is way too much to handle for the new flashy, instagram/facebook/youtube reels shots that new gen players like to play.
Super analysis. I too wonder how Stef would fare with a more old school set up racquet weight and swing weight, of Novak, Stan Fed. I guess we will never know, but as you know, margains in men's tennis are super thin.
to be honest the weight is less a cause of poor performance and more a symptom I think. I just think it promotes swings that can get a little noisier. Just a hunch. But the slice could be fixed with just a technical adjustment. Racquet change or not.
What are your thoughts on why his slice hasn't corrected yet? The technical adjustment seems relatively simple and something that would be feasible to do through focused training over a period like offseason. Is the muscle memory really that hard to change? Especially when the other slice looks and feels so much more fluid.
Good question and I don't have the answer. He has the Scud in his team and you would think he knows a thing or two about slicing. Motor patterns are sticky yeah but it's such a key part of his improvement as a player especially on hard courts that I'm surprised it hasn't been addressed
Even though there are more and more great players in the circuit, in my opinion, Djokovic is still quite ahead from everyone. Sure, every now and then, an inspired player (like Rune in Paris) might be able to beat him, but overall, and especially in Grand Slams, I believe that the rest of the players need to increase the consistency of their game. You have a point, Djokovic dominates long rallies because most players that are thriving now are hard-hitters (Ruud could be the exception to this, but I believe he still has a long way to go in big matches), and that can only get them so far against arguably the best defender of all time.
I wonder if somebody will be able to challenge Nole seriously this year. It somehow reminds me of the times when Roger dominated the circuit, even though there were so many talented players (Roddick, Blake, Gonzalez, Davydenko, Nalbandian, Safin, etc), Roger played in a league of his own until Nadal came up. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Great article and very thought provoking, but how would the slice have helped tsitsipas here?
When you have a great slice you can neutralize your opponent's offence. Wawrinka neutralised first-serves and made a high-percentage by blocking them back deep middle. Evans/Federer stay in rallies when rushed largely by slicing the backhand. Because Tsitsipas doesn't have a great slice, he is forced to come over the ball on first-serve returns and when rushed; the result is that he misses a lot and as the commentators mentioned, when he is forced to hit two-backhands in a rally his win% drops significantly to around 30%. That's just not good enough against ND. If he had a great slice he had a much better chance to create break point chances and reset points.
So if im. understanding properly the slice would help him the most on return of serve? Would it be more fair to say that he needs a good backhand chop return, or are those mostly the same thing?
About the 2-backhands stat:
interesting, but we need a point of reference. what's the tour average for 2 backhands? does that count a backhand return? etc?
From reading your article it seems like Tsitsipas doesn't have a single thing that he does better than djokovic. Djokovic serves better, hits harder forehands, has the up the line option on his backhand, and returns better. Maybe if he gets a slice he can win a set, but not more than that.
Not trying to be critical, just looking for understanding :)
And I agree! Novak does everything better than Tsitsipas other than attack with the forehand. I'd say Tsitsipas has more attacking options with his forehand but he misses more.
Return of serve yes, but anything where he is rushed or under pressure, the slice is a great shot to use; easier to time/make, buys you time as you recover, stays low so it's hard to attack for your opponent. So many upsides to it for him.
yes we would need a comparison for a very accurate point of reference, but I will say that there are several instances where we can see his BH metric really lagging compared to his competition and opponents. Primarily in this article with the ATP backhand stat:
https://hughclarke.substack.com/p/djokovic-v-ruud-world-tour-finals
But also here:
https://hughclarke.substack.com/p/alcaraz-v-tsitsipasmiami-match-analysis
Here:
https://hughclarke.substack.com/p/djokovic-x-tsitsipas-rome-final-analysis
Here:
https://hughclarke.substack.com/p/kyrgios-x-tsitsipas-match-analysis
Here:
https://hughclarke.substack.com/p/kyrgios-x-tsitsipas-wimbledon-4th
Here:
https://hughclarke.substack.com/publish/post/69735498
Here:
https://hughclarke.substack.com/p/djokovic-v-tsitsipas-astana-final
And a comparison with dan evans here:
https://hughclarke.substack.com/p/player-spotlight-dan-evans?s=w
Wow! This was so thorough. Thank you for the response.
Tsitsipas needs a better slice, I agree, but doubt that would have helped him. But what about his serve toss and motion? For a guy with such fluid groundstrokes and volleys, his serve looks awkward, even ugly.
His issue on the serve is less with the motion and more to do with the fact that he falls left a long way after hitting it. Really exposes his forehand side as he recovers out of the serve landing. Joel Myers has pointed that out repeatedly before.
Great article!! I agree that Djokovic will rule the tour for as long as his body and mind allows him to do it. I believe that his consistency is miles ahead of the rest and is way too much to handle for the new flashy, instagram/facebook/youtube reels shots that new gen players like to play.
Super analysis. I too wonder how Stef would fare with a more old school set up racquet weight and swing weight, of Novak, Stan Fed. I guess we will never know, but as you know, margains in men's tennis are super thin.
to be honest the weight is less a cause of poor performance and more a symptom I think. I just think it promotes swings that can get a little noisier. Just a hunch. But the slice could be fixed with just a technical adjustment. Racquet change or not.
What are your thoughts on why his slice hasn't corrected yet? The technical adjustment seems relatively simple and something that would be feasible to do through focused training over a period like offseason. Is the muscle memory really that hard to change? Especially when the other slice looks and feels so much more fluid.
Good question and I don't have the answer. He has the Scud in his team and you would think he knows a thing or two about slicing. Motor patterns are sticky yeah but it's such a key part of his improvement as a player especially on hard courts that I'm surprised it hasn't been addressed