That final set tie-break was such a great encapsulation of what this substack taught me over the last months.
Even though he lost to a firing Hurkacz (who is looking more and more like an ATG server, feels like just like Isner in his time he can fire an ace whenever he wants to), Rublev is undeniably having his best year results-wise.
However, I can't seem to find any noticeable change in his game, technique or physical-wise. So I personnally give it to a bit of draw luck and tactical/mental improvements/being braver in his shot selection (that BH DTL he pulls off to make it 3-0 in the tie I don't think he tries it last year, for example).
However, one reddit user I follow because he has great technical knowledge and has a similar approach to you (JimKirk1) said he actually tweaked his backhand and it's now a fuller takeback (still noisy, but fuller) that allows him to try those riskier shots. But I can't seem to see it. If we focus on those 2 easy misses, yes he isn't quite 90° facing the net but he is far from a 180°/back fence also (additionnaly to serving down to up). Have you noticed any change?
Yeah I can't see a huge or noticeable change in the backhand or otherwise. Sometimes these players are making changes but their swings are so ingrained that very subtle differences in takeback/swing feel huge for them and can help them a little bit. He's also just more experienced, perhaps a touch fitter. And although it may be his best year, he's still failing to make inroads deep in slams to reach a semifinal.
Yes Sinner/Nadal roll the backhand, but they get a much deeper take-back. If you watch Rublev from a back perspective and pause the video at maximum lag/take back of the racquet head in the backswing, what you will often see in great backhands is that they "break the plane" (i.e., the racquet tip is actually seen behind the player's legs/back). If you pause Rublev, he doesn't break the plane, his swing or take-back is very short in this regard, and so it would be better if he had a more open grip or pushed the ball more with locked wrists. If you want to roll the backhand, you need a lot of racquet speed like Sinner or nadal by virtue of a longer swing path (you can't lag a backhand nearly as well as forehand because you have two hands on the grip).
Taking the racket behind the back is more like a one handed backhand. The rolling over of the hand also. I have been playing around with this as a few pros have been asking me to roll my wrist to create more acceleration. It also has the effect of making the ball drop into the court and also to spin sideways a bit. Kind of like a reverse banana shot. This is an interesting tradeoff here. My daughter and I tend to stay square at contact and hit up through the contact zone. We both hit with 1hbh. In any case, this is an interesting tradeoff in the case of the 2hbh. I did notice on one replay that Rublev's backhand tended to have some kind of inside out spin down the line. Funny, that a short backswing makes this worse not better. In general, short backswings are good for consistency. Lots to think about here. Thanks again for your very deep and thought provoking analysis!
Speaking of the serve what do you think of Wawrinka's serve?. Very unorthodox motion with more minimalist knee bend and both arms flared up in the air yet he can get insane mph on it (130-ish mph) even though he doesn't have a large knee bend or throwing motion of a record server (Roddick, Sampras etc.)?. And he isn't tall either only 6'0". Any thoughts?
Yes a little unique with a more front on orientation and as you say, little knee bend. His right arm gets very high (more than 90 degrees) so from here his racquet can actually drop a long way even though he doesn't have very big internal rotation. I think this is how he gets away with it. Not my ideal motion.
But yeah, his right arm gets very high and this allows the racquet to drop a lot as he starts to drive, so he is still building speed and getting a good amount of elastic energy.
His serve in that tiebreaker was ridiculous. Along with some patches of his wimbledon match against Djokovic, he's putting on ATG serve performances at times. I mean, nearly 100 aces for 2 double faults for the tournament!
And it such an easy looking repeatable motion. His technique to me could be a teaching model. Quite the contrast to the fast twitch guys like Kyrgios, Roddick, Sheldon, Goran etc. Those guys are unbelievable, but simply not a teaching model. Hubie is to me.
Hi Hugh, great analysis as always.
That final set tie-break was such a great encapsulation of what this substack taught me over the last months.
Even though he lost to a firing Hurkacz (who is looking more and more like an ATG server, feels like just like Isner in his time he can fire an ace whenever he wants to), Rublev is undeniably having his best year results-wise.
However, I can't seem to find any noticeable change in his game, technique or physical-wise. So I personnally give it to a bit of draw luck and tactical/mental improvements/being braver in his shot selection (that BH DTL he pulls off to make it 3-0 in the tie I don't think he tries it last year, for example).
However, one reddit user I follow because he has great technical knowledge and has a similar approach to you (JimKirk1) said he actually tweaked his backhand and it's now a fuller takeback (still noisy, but fuller) that allows him to try those riskier shots. But I can't seem to see it. If we focus on those 2 easy misses, yes he isn't quite 90° facing the net but he is far from a 180°/back fence also (additionnaly to serving down to up). Have you noticed any change?
Yeah I can't see a huge or noticeable change in the backhand or otherwise. Sometimes these players are making changes but their swings are so ingrained that very subtle differences in takeback/swing feel huge for them and can help them a little bit. He's also just more experienced, perhaps a touch fitter. And although it may be his best year, he's still failing to make inroads deep in slams to reach a semifinal.
Another great read! But Sinner does the same rotation thing with his BH. Doesn’t he?
Also, what about Rublevs 2nd serve. Seems like a weakness too.
Yes Sinner/Nadal roll the backhand, but they get a much deeper take-back. If you watch Rublev from a back perspective and pause the video at maximum lag/take back of the racquet head in the backswing, what you will often see in great backhands is that they "break the plane" (i.e., the racquet tip is actually seen behind the player's legs/back). If you pause Rublev, he doesn't break the plane, his swing or take-back is very short in this regard, and so it would be better if he had a more open grip or pushed the ball more with locked wrists. If you want to roll the backhand, you need a lot of racquet speed like Sinner or nadal by virtue of a longer swing path (you can't lag a backhand nearly as well as forehand because you have two hands on the grip).
Taking the racket behind the back is more like a one handed backhand. The rolling over of the hand also. I have been playing around with this as a few pros have been asking me to roll my wrist to create more acceleration. It also has the effect of making the ball drop into the court and also to spin sideways a bit. Kind of like a reverse banana shot. This is an interesting tradeoff here. My daughter and I tend to stay square at contact and hit up through the contact zone. We both hit with 1hbh. In any case, this is an interesting tradeoff in the case of the 2hbh. I did notice on one replay that Rublev's backhand tended to have some kind of inside out spin down the line. Funny, that a short backswing makes this worse not better. In general, short backswings are good for consistency. Lots to think about here. Thanks again for your very deep and thought provoking analysis!
Speaking of the serve what do you think of Wawrinka's serve?. Very unorthodox motion with more minimalist knee bend and both arms flared up in the air yet he can get insane mph on it (130-ish mph) even though he doesn't have a large knee bend or throwing motion of a record server (Roddick, Sampras etc.)?. And he isn't tall either only 6'0". Any thoughts?
Yes a little unique with a more front on orientation and as you say, little knee bend. His right arm gets very high (more than 90 degrees) so from here his racquet can actually drop a long way even though he doesn't have very big internal rotation. I think this is how he gets away with it. Not my ideal motion.
But yeah, his right arm gets very high and this allows the racquet to drop a lot as he starts to drive, so he is still building speed and getting a good amount of elastic energy.
https://youtu.be/_xmJO_ZUtWU?t=23
Great read Clarke.
We needed a little more internal rotation on the old Tearney bowl
The smallest of margins with those 2. The innate serve advantage Hubie has over Rublev is always a lot to overcome.
His serve in that tiebreaker was ridiculous. Along with some patches of his wimbledon match against Djokovic, he's putting on ATG serve performances at times. I mean, nearly 100 aces for 2 double faults for the tournament!
And it such an easy looking repeatable motion. His technique to me could be a teaching model. Quite the contrast to the fast twitch guys like Kyrgios, Roddick, Sheldon, Goran etc. Those guys are unbelievable, but simply not a teaching model. Hubie is to me.