Interactive Forum December 2025: Joao Fonseca: Forehand

[jimlosaltos]

Possible interest and has many forehands, Highlights of Fonseca vs Alcaraz, brand new vid, from their match at the Miami Invitational. Exo TB for third set.

Plus, you get to see Joao with his new look buzzcut. I'm more likely to take forehand tips from these guys than aesthetic ones

Alcaraz vs Fonseca Miami YT Tennis Channel, 5:33 min

[tennisskip1515]

Agreed. Let me take another try at explaining my point. We don't know TDI's recipe or how it compiles these stats to get its ranking, just the ingredients. IF, as their words imply, they give a higher ranking to a forehand that has greater "clearance" over the net, they may be falsely penalizing Sinner's forehand (and perhaps Fonseca's) for something that is actually a strength. i.e. That aggressive often (surely not always) lower trajectory WITHOUT lots of UFEs is a comparative advantage.

Doesn't the consistency of someone's forehand, or any of their shots, count more than the shot's average clearance height over the net? Do you know if TDI factors in consistency at all, i.e., shots attempted vs shots that land in, or similar? To extend your hypothetical above, I'd say Agassi hit lower over the net than many of today's ATP players, while remaining famously (and winningly) consistent. To grade against that lower net clearance, if that's what TDI does, would be to inaccurately rate a forehand like Agassi's, no?

[stroke]

Doesn't the consistency of someone's forehand, or any of their shots, count more than the shot's average clearance height over the net? Do you know if TDI factors in consistency at all, i.e., shots attempted vs shots that land in, or similar? To extend your hypothetical above, I'd say Agassi hit lower over the net than many of today's ATP players, while remaining famously (and winningly) consistent. To grade against that lower net clearance, if that's what TDI does, would be to inaccurately rate a forehand like Agassi's, no?

Per the tennisinsights explanation of how shot quality is measured, it is the spin, speed, depth, and width of the shot. That is pretty much it. The explanation also stated that AI recognizes the nuances of the game, and specifically points out a flatter ball hitter is not penalized.

[jimlosaltos]

Per the tennisinsights explanation of how shot quality is measured, it is the spin, speed, depth, and width of the shot. That is pretty much it. The explanation also stated that AI recognizes the nuances of the game, and specifically points out a flatter ball hitter is not penalized.

Thanks. I'll take their word for it. Confusing (for me) since TDI's graphics have posting rankings images that include ranking of "clearance". So, they rank them but don't include them .... hmmmmmm.

[jimlosaltos]

Here's a TDI card on Djokovic. They don't specifically say, "There are the categories we consider" but it looked that way to me.

filedata/fetch?id=108703&d=1765584441&type=thumb

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[don_budge]

Doesn't the consistency of someone's forehand, or any of their shots, count more than the shot's average clearance height over the net? Do you know if TDI factors in consistency at all, i.e., shots attempted vs shots that land in, or similar? To extend your hypothetical above, I'd say Agassi hit lower over the net than many of today's ATP players, while remaining famously (and winningly) consistent. To grade against that lower net clearance, if that's what TDI does, would be to inaccurately rate a forehand like Agassi's, no?

Consistency matters. My dear old tennis coach always emphasized that word...consistency. A singular most important hallmark of great tennis players. So does intelligence...as in tactical acumen. The rest of this comment is not directed at you tennisskip1515.

You guys really do love your forehands. Statistics as well. Other things that you can cut and paste. Whatever happened to individual perception? Group think. Well...it
is a mighty fine forehand. You don't have to be too dumb downed to see it. Big deal. But what about the rest of the game. If this site is devoted to educating tennis people...what about the rest of his game. The backhand and the serve. I know it is modern tennis so volleys, approach shot tactics and technique, half volleys and general overall full court play is not relevant.

TDI factors. That's rich. Critical thinking is at a all time low these days. Coaches are all on board. I started writing how the coaching was hijacked back in the 1980's. That has certainly come to fruition. It's a shame what they have done to tennis. Not to mention a whole lot of other things nowadays. tennisskip 1515 wrote the single critical thinking comment in a thread of how many comments. Don't tell him that I said so.