2014 Wimbledon Championships...London, England

[don_budge]

Feliciano Lopez...A bit player or ???

He's plain, isn't he? It's not much of a pulse but I'm happy to call him one if he's all we've got.

That was quite a win over the big serving John Isner actually. But Stanislas Wawrinka is a newly conceived member of the Grand Slam Champions Club. This is a totally different echelon. What is more...Stan is vying for a spot in modern tennis' Big Four membership.

If Feliciano loses to Stan he is only a bit player still in the 2014 Wimbledon Championship's...but he has been a huge story considering his grass court results the past couple of weeks.

You say he is a bit of a plank and he is plain...this might be so but isn't it amazing what sound fundamentals and good tactical acumen has brought this young man in terms of success on the lawn. To me...more importantly than serve and volley returning...I like to see tactical forays into the net. Because if you see enough of this play, players just might get it into their noggins that the all court game is essential. Even the modern version of serve and volley was quite boring...way to fast for the average guy to comprehend.

If Feliciano puts a dent in Wawrinka's armor it might just be a shot in the arm for all court tennis. I like the service motion...although there is something that doesn't give me the oohs and ahhhs that a Gonzalesesque motion does for me. But what really thrills me is his "innovative" or his "retro" style of recognizing that a short ball is an invitation to the net...the left handed slicing tactics remind me just a bit of the tactics of another left hander from the past.

Left handed tactics are a whole another book...being left handed I know. What an advantage it can be on any given day. This is a key aspect of Feliciano's approach to his grass court play...the left handed aspect. What he is doing is that much more effective because he is left handed. Much like Fafa Nadal's game...much of the difficulty of playing him is that he is left handed.

[don_budge]

One for the archives...

Good modern day example for you Phil.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

I would love to see this one in the archives...begging to be critiqued. We will get a better look at the motion today.

[don_budge]

Moving Forwards...Wimbledon 2014 Fourth Round

The wheat separating from the chaff...the men from the boys. And so it goes...every year it is the same old story. Quarterfinals...all that are left are the thoroughbreds. All of the pretenders are gone. The bad actors...are gone. What remains is what is fundamentally correct...plus any bells and whistles that have been incorporated into making ones game as solid as humanly possible.

The quarterfinals in the top half are thus...

Novak Djokovic vs. Marin Cilic...One of the announcers was speculating that Tsonga might try and investigate some different patterns against Djokovic on account of his losing 5,000 times in a row to him. I could think of one pattern that I have never seen Tsonga use...get to the net. Thirty years ago if you would have told me that a guy his size, with his talent and athletic ability would be playing backcourt tennis with a two hand backhand I would have told you...that is modern tennis for you. By virtue of his splendid performances over Tomas Berdych and Jeremy Chardy, Marin Cilic has earned the right to meet the current Grim Reaper...Novak Djokovic. Djokovic just mows them down...his 100 square inches of Head Racquet serving as his scythe. Marin served 33 aces against Chardy. What? That is some big serving...any idea what percentage of the remaining serves were unplayable. A lot. Well he will be serving right into the Return Machine of modern tennis next round...if Novak can get his racquet on it generally it is coming back...with something on it no less. That something being pace and placement. Once Djokovic is into the point he is relentless. Great match up...don't expect to see much net play.

Andy "Mauresmo" Murray vs. Grigor Dimitrov...Grigor is right where he wants to be. Right where he always dreamed he would be. He is challenging one of the big four of modern tennis for the right to take the court in the semi-finals of Wimbledon. Grigor has stepped right up to the plate and he is taking health swings at the ball. He showed some patience against Dolgopolov and waited for him to cool down and then cooly dismantled him. Then he Leonardo Mayer and made him feel like he was totally outclassed...dispatched him in straight sets. Just a good contender for the crown does. He gets off of the court without wasting any time. Anndy on the other hand has returned to form just in the nick of time to defend his coveted crown on the lawns of Wimbledon. He has yet to grimace. He has yet to clutch at some feigned or imaginary injury. And that my friends is a sign...he has his head in the game and is fit for fight. That could change though if Dimitrov continues to man-up as he has. He is stronger and more resilient. He has really matured in the past year. We used to call it seasoning.

[gzhpcu]

Good modern day example for you Phil.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Time to move forward, huh, Kyle?

[klacr]

Kyle, remember Federer - Sampras at Wimbledon?

I like this about his serve:


The eyes looking up and toss points I discussed...

Good modern day example for you Phil.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

Stefan Edberg won the junior grand slam as a serve and volleyer. He came close to winning all four in the pros but lost in finals of French to Michael Chang in '89.

Now that's a true serve and volleyER!

I'll be in NYC this year for the US Open and a tennis teachers conference. If I happen to see Federer and Edberg leaving practice courts being swarmed by autograph seekers would it be a faux pas if Im the only one in the group who ignores Federer and requests for Edberg's autograph? Actually, I'm not an autograph guy, but would certainly appreciate the thrill of seeing him or shaking his hand

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stroke]

I love s&v also, and I love those players who have the true racquet skills, the true masters who understand the nuances of the continental grip, but I also feel the ultimate achievement of a pro male tennis player is winning all 4 majors. So few have been able. I think McEnroe came about as close(Kyle alluded to) as a s&v player is going to.

[klacr]

Not dead...Feliciano serves a pulse. Coupled with his left handedness...his net play tactics are really keeping his opponents off balance. Don't underestimate his being left handed as being a trump card in any situation with all things being equal.

He has used the slice backhand beautifully as well. He kept Isner pinned back on the baseline...often times using a higher arching ball deftly placed near the baseline. This was handcuffing Isner and often he played right into the hand of the crafty lefty from Spain.

Next up is Wawrinka...a very interesting matchup given the style of play that Lopez is employing. He could conceivably neutralize another big hitter with his deft slice and intelligent serving. Not dead...if you call one player judiciously using this tactic left in the draw. Just look at the wear in the grass.

Nice to see a player that appreciates moving forward, understands the value and geometric advantage of net play and respects and utilizes the advantages of slice still doing well at Wimbledon.

With that said, I'm finding it difficult to call him a true serve and volleyer. Perhaps Feliciano Lopez is. Or perhaps, just maybe, he's a smart and tactically savvy tennis player and exceptional athlete that knows he cannot compete with the worlds best players consistently from the baseline and must employ these tactics to his advantages. He knows that his groundstrokes are not groundbreaking in their technical make-up or emulated by juniors during a Monday afternoon clinic. Lopez is simply a player who may respect serve and volley and be quite good at it, but you can tell he is a player that has attempted to play with the big kids at the "baseline club" one time too many and has been turned away.

Serve and volley is a great tactic that can be successfully implemented and thats exactly what Lopez has done. Kudos to him. But a serve and volleyER...well, that's a different beast. That commitment is lifelong.

Credit to Lopez for showing these players how you are supposed to play on grass. But shame on him for abandoning it during other periods. Wanna consider yourself a serve and volley, make it a full game plan on clay. Edberg did. As did Rafter. And Henman. And McEnroe who came so very close to winning it all before the mighty Czech Ivan Lendl stole the La Coupe des Mousquetaires from his grasp.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stroke]

Feliciano Lopez serving and volleying on his first serve knocked out big serving Isner... serve and volley is not totally dead yet...

I love the form and tempo of the Lopez serve, one of my absolute favorites. I just think Lopez had gotten the most out of his game. He does have that serve and a great physique
for tennis, but that backhand, except for the slice(so like Rafter) is not even top 100.

[klacr]

That backhand return winner on match point from Djokovic is one of the reasons why players are scared shitless to serve and volley. That shot was absolutely ridiculous.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Pulse...just about.

Not dead...Feliciano serves a pulse.

He's plain, isn't he? It's not much of a pulse but I'm happy to call him one if he's all we've got.

[stotty]

Djokovic

I only caught parts of the first and second set of the Djokovic/Tsonga match, but from what I saw, Djokovic looked impressive for the first time this Wimbledon. In the few games I watched he was moving superbly and hitting the ball as clean as a whistle...starting to look ominous.

I just saw the match point...that was the best return of serve I have ever seen, bar none.

[hockeyscout]

After some much interesting discussion about swinging volleys and the like in various threads and articles...I have been very amused at the ratio of unsuccessful swinging volleys that I have witnessed during this Wimbledon fortnight.I even saw Roger muff one. Seeing that the volleying skills have drastically eroded from lack of use it is hilarious to watch the best players in the world come to the net and presented with a sitter...instead of merely volleying the ball away they make an extreme attempt to blast the ball into next week only to blow it long or even in the net. Can you spell "devolution"? It means the opposite of evolution.

I have been thinking about the usefulness of practicing drive volleys and we've stopped. Not sure # 1 it is efficient for an eight year old (or any arm), and I am convinced it is the lazy man's approach. Anyways no one really practices the half court volley and getting it on the rise either. Its the one thing I learned here from a few posters. Train with wood racket fundamentals and you'll be better with a space age racket.

On thing we do don_budge since you played baseball is we practice all the time changing pace on that volley, making it look like it will be a chip, short, easy, soft ball and then just exploding into it and trying to get it deep and down into the court. Then we practice the short shots (touch).

I think if you learn to volley, the back-court game becomes so much easier and less chaotic in terms of proper classical footwork, movement, coming to the ball and taking the ball with nice flowing stances.

Also, I would like to point out it's interesting to see some pretty good numbers on serve and volley being put up this year at Wimbledon.

[gzhpcu]

Well, let's hope the Last of the Mohicans does well...

[don_budge]

Feliciano...serves a pulse

Feliciano Lopez serving and volleying on his first serve knocked out big serving Isner... serve and volley is not totally dead yet...

Not dead...Feliciano serves a pulse. Coupled with his left handedness...his net play tactics are really keeping his opponents off balance. Don't underestimate his being left handed as being a trump card in any situation with all things being equal.

He has used the slice backhand beautifully as well. He kept Isner pinned back on the baseline...often times using a higher arching ball deftly placed near the baseline. This was handcuffing Isner and often he played right into the hand of the crafty lefty from Spain.

Next up is Wawrinka...a very interesting matchup given the style of play that Lopez is employing. He could conceivably neutralize another big hitter with his deft slice and intelligent serving. Not dead...if you call one player judiciously using this tactic left in the draw. Just look at the wear in the grass.