Not a lot of commentary out there on Rublev's fitness. The guy plays among the most matches every year for a top 10 player and he rarely breaks down. The simplicity of his game helps...when tired he's not forced to make difficult shot choices...his game is his game. I made this comment last year in jest, but I kind of think Draper needs to move to a hot climate and train year-round.
But Rublev falls into a category of player that I think always, or nearly always, maximizes ability...Does the player win because of their legs or their hands? Players that rely on their hands, generally, walk a tightrope and are often streaky. Players that win with their legs or their movement (I include Fed here, too), sustain their success.
I’d often thought that Rublev’s serving grip wasn’t quite Continental - good to have confirmation.
His serve mechanics though are lovely: no hitches or pauses, and the racket hand is so close to the head - which I think(?) is a source of consistency; I look at Cerundolo, whose racket hand is miles away from his head at the point where it accelerates and think it must be hard to do that precisely again and again. (Maybe one for a future Death of a Serve? 😬)
We get fh and bh rpms but never serve rpm - that would be really interesting for slice and topspin serves. Does Hawkeye not collect it?
Good question and I would assume they do collect it. They just track the ball so it shouldn't matter how it is hit. But I've often wondered the same thing. It would be interesting to see who is hitting heavy serves versus flat serves/how often etc. I think one difficulty is that it's not as black and white as topspin/backspin. There's quite a bit of side spin
Great nugget on the Rublo serve grip / second serve issues!
One thought that came to mind while I was watching this match is, despite being much improved from juniors, whether the Draper FH still a bit too long? It repeatedly broke down in the third set any time Rublo came at it with pace. I know some of this is fatigue driven, but playing in a fatigued state is a reality of the sport.
I like the volley analysis. I'm hoping you can write a volley blog post-Death of a Forehand IV since you had mentioned you were thinking of making a blog on volleys. I feel like my volleys have always been not that good in terms of technique, especially on the forehand side.
My friend recently asked me who I thought would be in the top 5 for ATP at the end of 2027. I thought one of the spots would be claimed by Draper (I said Sinner/Alcaraz/Zverev/Fonseca/Draper). But alas, it seems like it will be difficult for Draper to play a full season. He dropped out of Dubai for "load management"
Head Edgewood!! Do you still hit with that racquet, Hugh? If so, how is it? I got a Prince Graphite Series 110 (POG, Single Stripe) couple of years ago and play with it every so often. I can't play with it for more than an hour because it's so heavy (serving is tough), but it has such easy plow.
It's my dads frame and I hit with it for the first time last week. So soft and low-powered, even compared to my Dunlop CX 200 Tours! It does make you prepare early, watch the ball, exaggerate follow throughs etc. Kind of a training aid. Beautiful frame though
Draper's fitness has improved greatly but I feel he does need to try conserve energy a bit more where possible. He may have a natural limit on energy due to his size, he's listed as 85kg (compare Alex De Minaur at 69kg, he's ~20% heavier) so will be using a lot more calories to throw himself around. It may not be possible to consume enough calories before/during a match to sustain these efforts.
I guess him chasing down every ball does add pressure to his opponents but ultimately the better plan may be to up the aggression and conserve a bit more where possible
Found it interesting how the commentators were talking about how Draper played a more defensive counter-attacking style as a junior (apparently he was very small and hit a growth spurt late) and how he seemed to like to fall back on this strategy because it was what he felt comfortable with.
Yeah he's a big fella. I walked past him at the AO and he's not far off the physique of a back in rugby. I think he's improved this aspect and 3 five-set wins in Australia was a good sign, but still a way to go to cement the notion that he's a bonafide top-10 guy at slams
The best analysis I have seen on Rublev and his grip. I certainly agree about the similarly to Tsitsipas. They both have exactly the same grip and both seem to have identical compact reactive brake technique.
On the fist grip, I find that there is some loss in control, stability and topspin production without the index finger of a trigger grip "steering" the handle. Is that something you have noticed as well?
for eastern fh I feel that index finger certainly helps extend through the shot. The fist grip feels like it helps to lag the racquet more. Will discuss in a forehand article soon.
I have seem some topspin rpm data on the Rublev forehand and his is up there, certainly not sacrificing any topspin. Tsitsipas has identical grip and technique to me and his rpm rates are in the very top tier of the ATP.
Not a lot of commentary out there on Rublev's fitness. The guy plays among the most matches every year for a top 10 player and he rarely breaks down. The simplicity of his game helps...when tired he's not forced to make difficult shot choices...his game is his game. I made this comment last year in jest, but I kind of think Draper needs to move to a hot climate and train year-round.
Rublev reminds me of Davydenko: Plays every week, makes deep runs, no slam final, Russian, smaller endorsement company, never breaks down!
Davydenko never hit that hard!
But Rublev falls into a category of player that I think always, or nearly always, maximizes ability...Does the player win because of their legs or their hands? Players that rely on their hands, generally, walk a tightrope and are often streaky. Players that win with their legs or their movement (I include Fed here, too), sustain their success.
Lots of tennis commentary agrees with you.
I’d often thought that Rublev’s serving grip wasn’t quite Continental - good to have confirmation.
His serve mechanics though are lovely: no hitches or pauses, and the racket hand is so close to the head - which I think(?) is a source of consistency; I look at Cerundolo, whose racket hand is miles away from his head at the point where it accelerates and think it must be hard to do that precisely again and again. (Maybe one for a future Death of a Serve? 😬)
We get fh and bh rpms but never serve rpm - that would be really interesting for slice and topspin serves. Does Hawkeye not collect it?
Good question and I would assume they do collect it. They just track the ball so it shouldn't matter how it is hit. But I've often wondered the same thing. It would be interesting to see who is hitting heavy serves versus flat serves/how often etc. I think one difficulty is that it's not as black and white as topspin/backspin. There's quite a bit of side spin
Great article!
One question, through your research, what grip is better for a one handed backhand? A fist grip or a trigger grip?
I don't have a strong opinion on that, haven't looked into it closely enough!
Great nugget on the Rublo serve grip / second serve issues!
One thought that came to mind while I was watching this match is, despite being much improved from juniors, whether the Draper FH still a bit too long? It repeatedly broke down in the third set any time Rublo came at it with pace. I know some of this is fatigue driven, but playing in a fatigued state is a reality of the sport.
Great stuff--learning as much as I can absorb. Love your match breakdown--
I like the volley analysis. I'm hoping you can write a volley blog post-Death of a Forehand IV since you had mentioned you were thinking of making a blog on volleys. I feel like my volleys have always been not that good in terms of technique, especially on the forehand side.
My friend recently asked me who I thought would be in the top 5 for ATP at the end of 2027. I thought one of the spots would be claimed by Draper (I said Sinner/Alcaraz/Zverev/Fonseca/Draper). But alas, it seems like it will be difficult for Draper to play a full season. He dropped out of Dubai for "load management"
Head Edgewood!! Do you still hit with that racquet, Hugh? If so, how is it? I got a Prince Graphite Series 110 (POG, Single Stripe) couple of years ago and play with it every so often. I can't play with it for more than an hour because it's so heavy (serving is tough), but it has such easy plow.
It's my dads frame and I hit with it for the first time last week. So soft and low-powered, even compared to my Dunlop CX 200 Tours! It does make you prepare early, watch the ball, exaggerate follow throughs etc. Kind of a training aid. Beautiful frame though
Draper's fitness has improved greatly but I feel he does need to try conserve energy a bit more where possible. He may have a natural limit on energy due to his size, he's listed as 85kg (compare Alex De Minaur at 69kg, he's ~20% heavier) so will be using a lot more calories to throw himself around. It may not be possible to consume enough calories before/during a match to sustain these efforts.
I guess him chasing down every ball does add pressure to his opponents but ultimately the better plan may be to up the aggression and conserve a bit more where possible
Found it interesting how the commentators were talking about how Draper played a more defensive counter-attacking style as a junior (apparently he was very small and hit a growth spurt late) and how he seemed to like to fall back on this strategy because it was what he felt comfortable with.
Yeah he's a big fella. I walked past him at the AO and he's not far off the physique of a back in rugby. I think he's improved this aspect and 3 five-set wins in Australia was a good sign, but still a way to go to cement the notion that he's a bonafide top-10 guy at slams
Tsitsipas, FAA and Khachanov are all just as big and have far better endurance.
Just checked and Rublev listed at 75kg
Grip analysis is really interesting.
The best analysis I have seen on Rublev and his grip. I certainly agree about the similarly to Tsitsipas. They both have exactly the same grip and both seem to have identical compact reactive brake technique.
On the fist grip, I find that there is some loss in control, stability and topspin production without the index finger of a trigger grip "steering" the handle. Is that something you have noticed as well?
for eastern fh I feel that index finger certainly helps extend through the shot. The fist grip feels like it helps to lag the racquet more. Will discuss in a forehand article soon.
Looking forward to the article!
I have seem some topspin rpm data on the Rublev forehand and his is up there, certainly not sacrificing any topspin. Tsitsipas has identical grip and technique to me and his rpm rates are in the very top tier of the ATP.
RPM- I don't think it's an especially useful value. I think we're better off converting to Revolutions Per Meter to gauge how spinny a shot is.
RpMeter = (RPM/V) * 1000/60
For a given racquet-head speed (amplitude), what fraction goes to linear velocity and what fraction goes to spin? RpMeter provides a gauge.
A fast "flat" shot can have the same RPM as a slower spinny shot. RPM tells us nothing about their vastly different shape. RpMeter does.
Interesting idea. I think rpm is useful in conjunction with speed data, but on its own it doesn't tell you a lot.