The professional tennis tour , at least the men's side of things, has landed in Toronto, Canada for the upcoming Rogers Cup scheduled to begin tomorrow.
As is my tradition, I like to go up the weekend before the tournament starts to catch some of the practice court action.
Yesterday, I saw a little of Andy Murray, Feliciano Lopez, and Radek Stepanek but the highlights of the day included the hour long session between Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo and the session pitting Novak Djokovic versus Thomas Berdych.
Obviously, the crowd was bonkers for both Nadal and Djokovic as they are huge crowd favourites.
I was out there looking for general impressions of their form.
My overall impression is that Djokvic looks more solid than Nadal on the hard court.
Djokovic takes almost every ball on the rise or at the peak of the bounce. This gives his game a metronomic feel and minimizes his need to cover court.
Rafa, on the other hand, relies on his brute power and great speed. He seems to take balls at different heights at times and is much more of a shot maker than the Djokester.
I think the regularity of the bounce on hard court will really play into the strength
of Djokovic and would not be surprised to see him have another great hard court season like last year.
The one obvious improvement that I saw in Nadal's game compared to 2 years ago is his serve. It is much bigger and better placed. This is the one unknown for Nadal going into the hard court season.
We all saw how effective his serve was at Wimbledon. If he can hold easily on hard court as well, then he becomes a lethal opponent on this surface as well.
Now, I didn't get a chance to see Federer so I can't comment on his form.
Let the games begin.
As is my tradition, I like to go up the weekend before the tournament starts to catch some of the practice court action.
Yesterday, I saw a little of Andy Murray, Feliciano Lopez, and Radek Stepanek but the highlights of the day included the hour long session between Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo and the session pitting Novak Djokovic versus Thomas Berdych.
Obviously, the crowd was bonkers for both Nadal and Djokovic as they are huge crowd favourites.
I was out there looking for general impressions of their form.
My overall impression is that Djokvic looks more solid than Nadal on the hard court.
Djokovic takes almost every ball on the rise or at the peak of the bounce. This gives his game a metronomic feel and minimizes his need to cover court.
Rafa, on the other hand, relies on his brute power and great speed. He seems to take balls at different heights at times and is much more of a shot maker than the Djokester.
I think the regularity of the bounce on hard court will really play into the strength
of Djokovic and would not be surprised to see him have another great hard court season like last year.
The one obvious improvement that I saw in Nadal's game compared to 2 years ago is his serve. It is much bigger and better placed. This is the one unknown for Nadal going into the hard court season.
We all saw how effective his serve was at Wimbledon. If he can hold easily on hard court as well, then he becomes a lethal opponent on this surface as well.
Now, I didn't get a chance to see Federer so I can't comment on his form.
Let the games begin.
Until next time,
Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Top Tennis Tactics AND Coaching Lessons guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level. Also, check out the world's top tennis humor screensaver
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3 comments:
Nadal needs to vary the spin on hard courts so the bounce is not predictable.
He will adjust and do that.
its a good review but I wouldnt really agree...you have compared the Nadal of previous year where the Nadal of this year...does simple things...he adapts and adjusts to different surfaces...
his simple strategy is "do anything to win..." heheh...
Djokovic has his best chance though at hard courts to get a slam this year...
I thought this was a tennis tips and tactics blogsite. It's just another player/event analysis website now.
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