2014 Wimbledon Championships...London, England

[hockeyscout]

Anybody else notice that Kvitova has lost at least 10 lbs. She may not be quite as trim as Sharapova, but it is a quantum leap up in fitness level for the big lefty. I think it was enough of a difference that she wouldn't have been able to hold up as well in that solid match with so few breaks if she had not improved her fitness. I always wonder how good some of these girls would be if they ever came into the majors as fit as Dementieva did year in and year out. For me, it is an indication that Petra has decided she is willing to pay the price. With Serena and Li Na gone, she can still beat herself, but I don't think anyone else in the field can do it.

don

Man she looks great. I thought it would be here or Venus this year. Such a nice respectful kid. I hope she's finally figured out she needs to eat more to perform. The first time she talked about winning Wimbledon and how all she ate was rice pudding I shook my head. God.

Something to be said about Slavic genetics, and woman. So much talent over here, great mentalities and it never happens.

My wife had a baby 4 months ago, she is 6'3" and is back on track to being able to compete in a few marathons in 2015. It doesn't take much for these Slavic girls to turn the corner fitness wise.

Here's of the wife with the two little baby's of the house

[gzhpcu]

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

[don_budge]

Swinging Volleys revisited...Devolution

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.

[don_budge]

Maria Sharapova and the Russian Lady sitting next to me

Serena was certainly not herself in that match. Credit to Cornet for hanging in there, even after getting thumped in the first set.

For Serena, this is the 3rd straight grand slam that she has failed to reach the 2nd week. Lots of talk about her reign being over. She has dominated women's tennis and if she wanted to could completely obliterate it. She could have had 20+ grand slams by now. Her serve is the greatest weapon in women's tennis history when its firing. Greater than Graf's forehand. And I love Graf.

Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams played one hell of a match the other day. Love Kviova's game and strokes. What's with me and the Czech's? I did play college tennis with several of them and had an amazing time doing so. They do have place in my heart.

Many fans and coaches bash Sharapova. She's an easy target. But I love her simply for her determination. Very rare do you get a player that clubs the ball like she does and has the physical size yet when the match gets close, she gets tougher. Many players with Maria's ability would just claim "bad day at the office" but Sharapova fights and wins ugly. You gotta respect that and she's a great role model for young juniors out there because of that. Ignore her strokes, her grunts, her PR/business juggernaut and media blitz. She doesn't give up. Isn't that what we wish for every student we teach?

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Yes...it did appear as if Serena's nerves completely deserted her. She seemed to lose here rhythm on her serve and as noted with some interesting comments by stroke...her touch was completely nonexistent.

I have my doubt about the Williams sisters...most outrageous being the video that I posted about something so bizarre and strange most would reject it outright. But in my opinion life these days has gotten to the point where the old saying "fact is stranger than fiction" has taken over in my frame of reference so that I question everything and reject nothing outright. My dear Mother has told me for years "don't believe everything that you hear and only half of what you see". More and more this holds true for me...one only has to watch the news today to realize we exist in a different paradigm.

Alize Cornet is gone as she was defeated by Eugenie Bouchard. If only she could have stayed a bit more in the moment and not gotten so blown away by her win over Serena the round before. She was close enough to Bouchard but she lacked the resilience and commitment to her game plan to see it through. Although Serena Williams was clearly not herself, who is she really, Alize used some very clever tactics to disrupt the rhythm and confidence of the clear favorite to send her home whimpering. Forcing your opponent to play in the forecourt these days is a clever tactic and perhaps it is because as stroke suggests...it is because of poor technique because players these days...be they men or women or both...do not have the skills of yesterday in playing in the forecourt. It is very difficult to have any sense of feel or touch close to the net if you are grasping your racquet in an automatic strong eastern or semi western grip. The grip does not match the shots that are necessary to play in this area of the court.

As for Maria Sharapova...I have a little different take on this gal. I saw her playing at the French Open against a Spaniard who clearly had her on the ropes. Maria went into her gamesmanship mode and sort of psyched her less experienced opponent out of the match. Her psyche tactics included use of various pitches of screaming that were clearly varying in decibel and pitch depending upon the situation...Maria cleverly uses these various tones to inflect false signals to her opponent. She will feign that she is real trouble by her screaming or she may suddenly go for the war like aggressive pitch...depending on the situation. Her stalling around when she is receiving her opponents serve is actually quite clever as it disrupts the rhythm....somebody should try this back on Nadal. Since his constantly abusing the time in between points with his strange ticks and behaviors the opponent might just get sick of waiting on him all of the time and step out of the box a couple of times just as "Rodeo Fafa" is set to serve. Make him start all over and give him something to get a little annoyed at.

I sat next to a Russian lady on my left during the Sharapova match at Roland Garros and she didn't have much favorable to say about her as a human being other than to say that it was nice to have a successful Russian athlete. She didn't consider a good role model for her 12 year old daughter.

On my right were sitting some Canadians...which was interesting because Novak Djokovic's opponent was none other than Milos Raonic. Strange days...don't you think so?

[gzhpcu]

Kyle, remember Federer - Sampras at Wimbledon?

I like this about his serve:


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

[klacr]

Kyrgios says he's overwhelmed with happiness that he gets to play Rafa. The young Australian has a great attitude and a big game. But can he take out Rafa. Kyrgios, physically is still just a boy and Rafa is, well, He's Rafa. Expect Kyrgios to throw the book at Rafa. If there was ever a chance for Kyrgios to beat the world #1 at this stage of his young and promising career, it may just be at Wimbledon.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

Great to see Kyrgios win over Gasquet. Lots of self-confidence, great serve. Is this the heir to Philippoussis? Another Greek Australian. Hope so! Hope he beats Rafa!

[tennis_chiro]

...
Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams played one hell of a match the other day. Love Kviova's game and strokes. What's with me and the Czech's? I did play college tennis with several of them and had an amazing time doing so. They do have place in my heart.

...
Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Anybody else notice that Kvitova has lost at least 10 lbs. She may not be quite as trim as Sharapova, but it is a quantum leap up in fitness level for the big lefty. I think it was enough of a difference that she wouldn't have been able to hold up as well in that solid match with so few breaks if she had not improved her fitness. I always wonder how good some of these girls would be if they ever came into the majors as fit as Dementieva did year in and year out. For me, it is an indication that Petra has decided she is willing to pay the price. With Serena and Li Na gone, she can still beat herself, but I don't think anyone else in the field can do it.

don

[don_budge]

The Interview...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cce3gLVid4Q

Much ado about nothing. Another million dollar baby crying when things don't go her way. Look around you...there are those that really have something to cry about. If only she had a real job for a change.

You can skip the interviews as far as I am concerned. Athletes these days consider themselves to be entertainers. Of course the idiot fan base has bought into it. It is as if they are going to say something earth shattering? Jock talk. A bad example at that.

Whining...no credit to the opponent. No genuine credit that is. Barely an attempt to be gallant. The voice...is that a real woman?

Federer and Djokovic say the right things. The skunk Nadal cannot talk about anything other than himself or his feelings...much like this skunk. Serena Williams.

[hockeyscout]

IMO, the lack of touch, or hands of stone, is pervasive in women's tennis, I think it really comes down to lack of skill with the continental grip. McEnroe was the best of all time with feel, touch. Fed certainly has it, as may male players do. Serena is classic women's tennis hands of stone.

Funny, this is the grip my daughter moved into the continental naturally on her own.

[stroke]

Great post. Interesting is your comments on touch. I guess that (touch), along with that ball toss on the serve, are two areas one has to really pay special attention to or else it'll come back to bite you in a pressure situation, or when you have an off day and need to find an ugly way to win.

IMO, the lack of touch, or hands of stone, is pervasive in women's tennis, I think it really comes down to lack of skill with the continental grip. McEnroe was the best of all time with feel, touch. Fed certainly has it, as may male players do. Serena is classic women's tennis hands of stone.

[stotty]

http://espn.go.com/tennis/wimbledon1...k-introduction

Darren Cahill and Brad Gilbert hamming it up a bit. Discussing a couple of issues. See Roger Federer stick up for the game. The amount of time between points and between serves is just ridiculous. Toweling off after hitting one or two shots...every single point. Borderline insane. Ball boys are now cabana boys.

Bring back the old school. Modern tennis has some issues that need to be addressed. Lots of them.

Love the video...

Monfils is known to be the quickest between points, averaging 14 seconds.

Nastase was often under 10 secs and took a mere 3 to 4 seconds to hit a second serve after missing the first. I love a fast tempo. I play at a fast tempo myself. I don't ball bounce...just walk up and serve.

[don_budge]

Modern Tennis...a couple of things

http://espn.go.com/tennis/wimbledon14/story/_/id/11141395/roger-federer-calls-faster-play-talks-shot-clock-introduction

Darren Cahill and Brad Gilbert hamming it up a bit. Discussing a couple of issues. See Roger Federer stick up for the game. The amount of time between points and between serves is just ridiculous. Toweling off after hitting one or two shots...every single point. Borderline insane. Ball boys are now cabana boys.

Bring back the old school. Modern tennis has some issues that need to be addressed. Lots of them.

[klacr]

Serena was certainly not herself in that match. Credit to Cornet for hanging in there, even after getting thumped in the first set.

For Serena, this is the 3rd straight grand slam that she has failed to reach the 2nd week. Lots of talk about her reign being over. She has dominated women's tennis and if she wanted to could completely obliterate it. She could have had 20+ grand slams by now. Her serve is the greatest weapon in women's tennis history when its firing. Greater than Graf's forehand. And I love Graf.

Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams played one hell of a match the other day. Love Kviova's game and strokes. What's with me and the Czech's? I did play college tennis with several of them and had an amazing time doing so. They do have place in my heart.

Many fans and coaches bash Sharapova. She's an easy target. But I love her simply for her determination. Very rare do you get a player that clubs the ball like she does and has the physical size yet when the match gets close, she gets tougher. Many players with Maria's ability would just claim "bad day at the office" but Sharapova fights and wins ugly. You gotta respect that and she's a great role model for young juniors out there because of that. Ignore her strokes, her grunts, her PR/business juggernaut and media blitz. She doesn't give up. Isn't that what we wish for every student we teach?

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[hockeyscout]

Great to see you guys talking about woman's tennis. I wonder if Serena won if she would get any mention at all