Wimbledon

[jimlosaltos]

Presumably, Carlos will pay Andy and Novak and join the 80 Win Elite this August crowd in the first week at the US Open. But nothing in tennis is guaranteed.

Carlos Alcaraz currently holds a career Grand Slam record of 77 wins and 13 losses, with 5 Grand Slam titles won. He is a perfect 5-0 in Grand Slam finals, a record matched by Roger Federer as the only men in Open Era history to win all of their first five major finals.

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[jimlosaltos]

Woeful figures for a country so big. Allow me to put the US figures to shame:

Jannik Sinner's sensational Wimbledon victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the men's singles final was watched by 8.8 million UK viewers, the BBC revealed.

The BBC also revealed it enjoyed its highest overall audience ever for a Wimbledon championships, with a record-breaking 69.3 million taking in coverage across BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website, and BBC Sport app across the two weeks of the championships.

Get out there and promote the game over there, Jim! Something is not right.

I humbly bow before your national commitment to tennis


Also, to BST.

[stotty]

Woeful figures for a country so big. Allow me to put the US figures to shame:

Jannik Sinner's sensational Wimbledon victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the men's singles final was watched by 8.8 million UK viewers, the BBC revealed.

The BBC also revealed it enjoyed its highest overall audience ever for a Wimbledon championships, with a record-breaking 69.3 million taking in coverage across BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website, and BBC Sport app across the two weeks of the championships.

Get out there and promote the game over there, Jim! Something is not right.

[jimlosaltos]

TV Ratings

Sunday’s men's single match averaged 2.9 million viewers, according to ESPN.
That's a 31% increase over last year’s Djokovic–Alcaraz final and the highest viewership since Federer’s last appearance.

Now, beware of comparing apples with oranges.

Peak Viewership
Sinner alcaraz peaked at 4 million
Djokovic vs Alcaraz 3.20 M
Djokovic vs Federer 3.83 M 2023 & 2019 respectively.

Both the rivalry and the new stars presumably had an impact.

Also, we've had a somewhat unusual opportunity to do A-B tests on Djokovic's Q rating by having the same player meet Djokovic then a substitute.
Similarly, when Medvedev lost to Rafael Nadal in 2021, viewership in Australia was 20% higher than when he lost to Djokovic the prior year.

[jimlosaltos]

So much momentum and promise in that first set for the Italian, but the scoreboard read ‘first set Alcaraz’.

I might have to disagree with the above assessment of the first set. Carlos was comfortably better throughout the first set. He placed his serve better, was more assertive, moved better, and he played the big shots at the most opportune moments. Carlos was deadly and Sinner was little like a fish out of water for a while. The opening set was far from promising from Sinner. I was a little worried for him at that point.

Carlos inexplicably lapsed at the start of the second set and never regained himself. The opportunity was given (literally) to Sinner and he took it and then went from strength to strength. In the end, Sinner was finding all the spots with his first serves, and his second serves were pacey and deep. Plus, he started hitting out of the corners like he does on a hard court…amazing.

Todd Woodbridge shared the commentary box with TIm Henman and I found him knowledgeable and engaging. His said a key part of the Sinner’s tactics were to catch Carlos leaning to his left looking for a forehand and then pump a backhand down the line. I have to say Sinner hits one of the best down the line backhands I’ve seen; piercingly accurate.

I watched the YouTube video stroke posted…the guy with the unfortunate, squeaky voice. That was insightful also. That tiebreak Carlos played was something else.

On Woodbridge, you reminded me. Both players practiced specifically to counter their opponent.

“In practice yesterday Alcaraz was practicing the serve, and then getting someone slamming a ball back at him down the centre. He knows what is coming, but in that particular game, the next part was Sinner going hard into the Alcaraz forehand.”
— Todd Woodbridge commentary

I played against one of the best returners on tour, so it [Alcaraz’s serve] was a weapon I wished could be better, but today with the nerves and everything it was difficult to serve better”
— Carlos Alcaraz

Contrast Alcaraz practicing the first shot after the serve with what Sinner emphasized.

From Andrea Petkovic: "Jannik had said that the few days of preparation before Wimbledon were some of the hardest and most important ones he has had this year. ... In an interview me and my colleague Moritz got with Jannik, I high-pressed him like Pep Guardiola’s football teams presses their opponents, so high I could feel Wimbledon’s media people breathing down my neck (GO BIG OR GO HOME) until he finally admitted that the main focus in that preparation had been serving and getting quicker on the court, particularly on his first step. I played my questions as intensely and mercilessly as Iga plays points in Wimbledon finals."

And; "He got to almost every single drop-shot Carlos hit him with and not only did he get there, he also managed to hit it or push it long and close the net afterwards, making the room visually small for Carlos to pass him.

[stroke]

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16pj9ShDzw/

Another great snapshot of what classy looks like

[stotty]

So much momentum and promise in that first set for the Italian, but the scoreboard read ‘first set Alcaraz’.

I might have to disagree with the above assessment of the first set. Carlos was comfortably better throughout the first set. He placed his serve better, was more assertive, moved better, and he played the big shots at the most opportune moments. Carlos was deadly and Sinner was little like a fish out of water for a while. The opening set was far from promising from Sinner. I was a little worried for him at that point.

Carlos inexplicably lapsed at the start of the second set and never regained himself. The opportunity was given (literally) to Sinner and he took it and then went from strength to strength. In the end, Sinner was finding all the spots with his first serves, and his second serves were pacey and deep. Plus, he started hitting out of the corners like he does on a hard court…amazing.

Todd Woodbridge shared the commentary box with TIm Henman and I found him knowledgeable and engaging. His said a key part of the Sinner’s tactics were to catch Carlos leaning to his left looking for a forehand and then pump a backhand down the line. I have to say Sinner hits one of the best down the line backhands I’ve seen; piercingly accurate.

I watched the YouTube video stroke posted…the guy with the unfortunate, squeaky voice. That was insightful also. That tiebreak Carlos played was something else.

[stroke]

Cahill seems like a perfect fit for Sinner. Seems to have the same thoughtful attitude, laid back, knows his stuff.

[jimlosaltos]

Yes, to me, Hugh is the best write ups I have seen on ATP tennis, but that video instruction piece by the Fault Tolerant Tennis Instruction Site(Johnny) on the FO Final was very close. Here is the link if interested. https://youtu.be/w1FakobNq1Q?si=sP0p6tHeaikACppc

Thanks. I like their stuff, will check. Also this might interest or amuse.

Jannik Sinner wins Wimbledon—and a bet that might keep coach Darren Cahill around

"We had a bet before the final. He said: ‘If you win tomorrow, you can decide whether or not I stay,'" Sinner recounted. "Now the choice is mine. I've always looked for a person who is honest, a person who gives me a lot, not necessarily only on the tennis court, but (about) how to live."

Sinner went on to say that he would love to have Cahill stick around. Sinner also did acknowledge that if Cahill did continue to work alongside co-coach Simone Vagnozzi, Cahill probably would not travel on tour as much as he does currently.

https://share.google/SbJzUiUIIxYdXXBH0

[stroke]

I see why you like Hugh's stuff, stroke. This and the examination of Sinner's running forehand footwork stood out for me.

Sinner's Backhand: There’s only one other guy I can think of who could play with this much ‘strength’ on a back foot two-hander: Rafael Nadal. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they both had long, sweeping, in-to-out swings that enabled the top hand to get dominant. At this level, tennis is a backswing game. Technique is a lever.
-- Hugh Clarke on Substack.

The dark blue dots are backhands hit at over 75 MPH. The ATP is filled with guys that can hit 100 MPH forehands, while averaging in the 70s, but how many can repeatedly hit 75+ MPH backhands.

The image is uncredited but I presume comes from ESPN.

filedata/fetch?id=107932&d=1752511084&type=thumb

Yes, to me, Hugh is the best write ups I have seen on ATP tennis, but that video instruction piece by the Fault Tolerant Tennis Instruction Site(Johnny) on the FO Final was very close. Here is the link if interested. https://youtu.be/w1FakobNq1Q?si=sP0p6tHeaikACppc

[jimlosaltos]

https://open.substack.com/pub/hughcl...droid&r=1t7zzc

I see why you like Hugh's stuff, stroke. This and the examination of Sinner's running forehand footwork stood out for me.

Sinner's Backhand: There’s only one other guy I can think of who could play with this much ‘strength’ on a back foot two-hander: Rafael Nadal. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they both had long, sweeping, in-to-out swings that enabled the top hand to get dominant. At this level, tennis is a backswing game. Technique is a lever.
-- Hugh Clarke on Substack.

The dark blue dots are backhands hit at over 75 MPH. The ATP is filled with guys that can hit 100 MPH forehands, while averaging in the 70s, but how many can repeatedly hit 75+ MPH backhands.

The image is uncredited but I presume comes from ESPN.

filedata/fetch?id=107932&d=1752511084&type=thumb

[jimlosaltos]

Good clarification there. Fowler has definitely grown into the tennis commentator job

Here's what Google's Ai says for whatever that is worth:

In the 2025 Wimbledon final against Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz was heard saying to his team, "He is playing much better than me". Alcaraz also made a gesture indicating the perceived gap in their performance, pointing to Sinner and placing his hand up high, then pointing to himself and placing his hand down low, .
The original quote in Spanish is: "?l est? jugando mucho mejor que yo. ?Mucho mejor!"

[stroke]

https://open.substack.com/pub/hughclarke/p/alcaraz-vs-sinner-wimbledon-final?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1t7zzc

[don_budge]

For a fact...the stats on net play are grossly misleading. A prime example of the meaninglessness of statistics in tennis. Attempting to decipher quantitatively what is transpiring qualitatively. A number of times Alcaraz would get up 40-love on his serve and traipse into the net and get lambasted in the process. I was impressed at the audience live at the final...impressed at how dumbed down they were. The same can be said for the commentatoes. The most boring Wimbledon final ever. That's qualitative. Not particularly well played. The women's final...don't ask.

Fifty years ago if someone told you that the wear on the court would be solely behind the baseline in 2025, you would have looked at them as if they were out of their mind. You don't need any statistics to understand that net play has very little bearing on the outcome of any of the matches there. The net play as it panned out was very inconsistent. Some very easy volleys were just dumped into the net. A far cry from the artistry of yesteryear. Devolution.

Commentary on the state of the sport is dumbed down. You can't bite the hand that feeds you. I don't have a dog in this fight. I'm telling it like it is. This isn't tennis. It's fake. I think the forum has lost a lot of brain power. The guys that used to frequent this joint had a lot more tennis IQ. Stats and bookies. It's a shame. Time for a change. The website is going to have to evolve. I have some ideas...but surely nobody will ask. Telling the truth in times of mass deceit is a revolutionary act. George was right. Right down to the year.

It may be that I am talking to myself. That's ok. I'm on to something and it isn't necessarily what the crowd wants to hear. It's like that in life. The voice in the wilderness. Nobody listens...until it is too late.

Case in point. I am watching something on TV that I have never seen before and it is profoundly fascinating. The British Open is this week...what a time to be alive in England. With Wimbledon and the British Open golf tournament there the same week. Anyways...the program being televised is called, "A Day On The Range". I saw it on the menu and thought to myself...this can't be about golf. But sure enough...it is. The program is exactly what it says. They are televising the players practicing and tuning up their swings for the big tournament. The commentators are actually experts and know what the hell they are talking about. Quite the opposite of the current tennis group of lackeys.

One player is practicing with a shot monitor and it gives a number of instant results on any ball struck. This is the "new" in golf training. This instant feedback. Does it help? Everyone seems to be using it. But the commentator made a very interesting comment as he watched the tallies from one Keagan Bradley range shot. He said, "it's not going to take a mathematician to win the Open this year...it is going to take an artist." Quite the astute observation and brilliant at the same time. True aficionados understand what my point is about tennis and this fellow would too. Hands down.

[don_budge]

For a fact...the stats on net play are grossly misleading. A prime example of the meaninglessness of statistics in tennis. Attempting to decipher quantitatively what is transpiring qualitatively. A number of times Alcaraz would get up 40-love on his serve and traipse into the net and get lambasted in the process. I was impressed at the audience live at the final...impressed at how dumbed down they were. The same can be said for the commentatoes. The most boring Wimbledon final ever. That's qualitative. Not particularly well played. The women's final...don't ask.

Fifty years ago if someone told you that the wear on the court would be solely behind the baseline in 2025, you would have looked at them as if they were out of their mind. You don't need any statistics to understand that net play has very little bearing on the outcome of any of the matches there. The net play as it panned out was very inconsistent. Some very easy volleys were just dumped into the net. A far cry from the artistry of yesteryear. Devolution.

Commentary on the state of the sport is dumbed down. You can't bite the hand that feeds you. I don't have a dog in this fight. I'm telling it like it is. This isn't tennis. It's fake. I think the forum has lost a lot of brain power. The guys that used to frequent this joint had a lot more tennis IQ. Stats and bookies. It's a shame. Time for a change. The website is going to have to evolve. I have some ideas...but surely nobody will ask. Telling the truth in times of mass deceit is a revolutionary act. George was right. Right down to the year.