Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[Deuce]

Sure, Garcia definitely deserves serious consideration for 'comeback player'.
The differences between Garcia and Tatjana Maria are that A) I believe Garcia was ranked higher at her highest than Maria ever was, B) Maria is older than Garcia, C) Maria left the tour to give birth (to her second child), whereas Garcia had just faded away on her own for a while.

And let's not forget that Maria would be ranked significantly higher now if her points from the Wimbledon Semi-Final counted.

I wonder if Kenin will ever win the 'comeback (or resurgent) player' award.

I like Qinwen as 'newcomer of the year'.
Maria's daughter Charlotte will win 'newcomer of the year' in 2033 .

[ponchi101]

We Venus fans knew all about Witt. He was the same man he is now when it comes to his behavior on court. There was the time when they had a huge blow out though and he quit only to come/be brought back. He wanted Venus to quit a few years ago too.

Iga stans wanted her coach to get the nod.

That is not totally farfetched. She was a very good clay courter. She has now become a very good hard court player, and if the coach has been there, he gets some credit.
Also. A very dominant year, and a well-managed schedule. Coaches get credit for that.

[ashkor87]

Finally got to see the latest US sensation Alycia Parks ..very impressed. Silky smooth like Rybakina...power, touch, volley, good serve..moves reasonably well ( room for improvement), even has drop shots .lot of upside, more than Gauff, perhaps! Keep an eye on her..

surpisingly ungracious handshakes from Pliskova and Sakkari, considering Parks is a young player.. wonder why?

[Deuce]

Finally got to see the latest US sensation Alycia Parks ..very impressed. Silky smooth like Rybakina...power, touch, volley, good serve..moves reasonably well ( room for improvement), even has drop shots .lot of upside, more than Gauff, perhaps! Keep an eye on her..

surpisingly ungracious handshakes from Pliskova and Sakkari, considering Parks is a young player.. wonder why?

It's possibly related to a negative reputation Parks may have earned for herself via the kind of behaviour shown in my post on Dec. 11th.

[meganfernandez]

I agree Ferrer and Nalbandian could be in the conversation. Nalbandian did win the most incredible tour finals ever. Ferrer reached a RG final. Plus, of course, he suffered playing his entire career under the yolk of the Roger/Rafa/Nole dictatorship.

Like Ferrer, Berdych also made a Slam final and played his whole career under the yoke of the Big Four. I think Berdych was better than Ferrer. You?

[meganfernandez]

We Venus fans knew all about Witt. He was the same man he is now when it comes to his behavior on court. There was the time when they had a huge blow out though and he quit only to come/be brought back. He wanted Venus to quit a few years ago too.

Iga stans wanted her coach to get the nod.

Was it ever confirmed that Venus and David Witt dated while he coached her? I agree that he was very prominent on tour during his time with Venus.

[JTContinental]

Finally got to see the latest US sensation Alycia Parks ..very impressed. Silky smooth like Rybakina...power, touch, volley, good serve..moves reasonably well ( room for improvement), even has drop shots .lot of upside, more than Gauff, perhaps! Keep an eye on her..

surpisingly ungracious handshakes from Pliskova and Sakkari, considering Parks is a young player.. wonder why?

Parks is already 21, so the comparison to Gauff is moot. Also, I've seen her play a bunch, and she lacks consistent control on her groundstrokes, so that will need to be a serious improvement if she wants to compete at the top level.

[ti-amie]

We Venus fans knew all about Witt. He was the same man he is now when it comes to his behavior on court. There was the time when they had a huge blow out though and he quit only to come/be brought back. He wanted Venus to quit a few years ago too.

Iga stans wanted her coach to get the nod.

Was it ever confirmed that Venus and David Witt dated while he coached her? I agree that he was very prominent on tour during his time with Venus.

As far as I know it was never confirmed.

[ponchi101]

...

Like Ferrer, Berdych also made a Slam final and played his whole career under the yoke of the Big Four. I think Berdych was better than Ferrer. You?

Three very similar careers: Ferrer, Berdych, Tsonga. Berdych/Ferrer H2H: 8-8 (that was surprising). Who was better? I'll chicken out; I really can't tell.
But I would not include any of them in a list of best player EVER to not win a slam. I don't think they achieved enough (Tsonga's game was good enough for a slam. I consider him an underachiever).

[ashkor87]

I agree Ferrer and Nalbandian could be in the conversation. Nalbandian did win the most incredible tour finals ever. Ferrer reached a RG final. Plus, of course, he suffered playing his entire career under the yolk of the Roger/Rafa/Nole dictatorship.

Like Ferrer, Berdych also made a Slam final and played his whole career under the yoke of the Big Four. I think Berdych was better than Ferrer. You?

Yes, Berdych may be better than Ferrer,- he actually beat the big 3 from time to time at a major..

[ashkor87]

Finally got to see the latest US sensation Alycia Parks ..very impressed. Silky smooth like Rybakina...power, touch, volley, good serve..moves reasonably well ( room for improvement), even has drop shots .lot of upside, more than Gauff, perhaps! Keep an eye on her..

surpisingly ungracious handshakes from Pliskova and Sakkari, considering Parks is a young player.. wonder why?

Parks is already 21, so the comparison to Gauff is moot. Also, I've seen her play a bunch, and she lacks consistent control on her groundstrokes, so that will need to be a serious improvement if she wants to compete at the top level.

I haven't seen her that much ..but remember, control is something players develop as they grow older, power and touch is something you cannot learn

[Deuce]

The following from:
https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/n ... top-coach/

Retired American player and Roger Federer's former coach Paul Annacone has given an insight into the Swiss legend's mindset from the time he was a child.
"Yeah, I think it's almost unfortunate because people thought that it came so easily, he didn't ever have to do anything," Annacone said. "Well, I can tell you first-hand that the pre-season training sessions in Dubai after the US Open with Pierre Paganini and Severin Luthi, it was very strategic."

"He spent a ton of time in the gym, he spent a ton of time on the practice court. And one of the things that I found most interesting about Roger was that the first time I met him, we talked about doing something and I asked him to do it, and he said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘What do you mean why?’ And he goes, ‘Well, when I was a kid, everyone used to call me the 'Why Man'. I'm happy to do it but you have to tell me why and how does it fit into my game.’ And that mantra lasted from the day he started to the day he stopped as a professional tennis player," he added.

[JTContinental]

surpisingly ungracious handshakes from Pliskova and Sakkari, considering Parks is a young player.. wonder why?

Parks is already 21, so the comparison to Gauff is moot. Also, I've seen her play a bunch, and she lacks consistent control on her groundstrokes, so that will need to be a serious improvement if she wants to compete at the top level.

I haven't seen her that much ..but remember, control is something players develop as they grow older, power and touch is something you cannot learn

For sure, and with her unique serve and volleying abilities, she could give the main tour fits if she can reign it in a little bit.

[ponchi101]

I disagree that control is something you develop with age. Hingis came to the tour already with magnificent control. Radwanska too. People may forget but Navs had god-like control on her volleys, always. On the men's side, Roger came already with control while, at the other end, Laconte did not have the same level.
I agree that those three things can be worked at, but improvement is menial after some early age. Wozniacki never had any power to speak of (and her switch to Yonex did not help) and she was never able to develop enough. Sharapova had all the power, but lacked control (for her level) and so on.
The one thing that you can develop is shot selection; that way, if you don't have enough control, your shots will land in because the margin of error was better.

[ashkor87]

I disagree that control is something you develop with age. Hingis came to the tour already with magnificent control. Radwanska too. People may forget but Navs had god-like control on her volleys, always. On the men's side, Roger came already with control while, at the other end, Laconte did not have the same level.
I agree that those three things can be worked at, but improvement is menial after some early age. Wozniacki never had any power to speak of (and her switch to Yonex did not help) and she was never able to develop enough. Sharapova had all the power, but lacked control (for her level) and so on.
The one thing that you can develop is shot selection; that way, if you don't have enough control, your shots will land in because the margin of error was better.

Yes, it varies a lot ..