Masters 1000 Paris

[stroke]

That serve to me(overall, 1st and 2nd) the best in tennis ever, even better than Isner and Karlovic . Just so smooth. The match of the day coming up, Stan vs Alex. Alex is playing as well as he ever has, but I prefer Stan's game.

[stotty]

Raonic takes out Humbert. Very handy to have a massive serve in a tiebreak.

[stroke]

Stan shows us once again that at this point tennis has plateaued. The next generation players just are not as good as the 3 generation. Jordon says he is not surprised.

[stroke]

Nadal gets his 1000th ATP win. He's in good company looking at the top 8 all time chart below. It's an impressive list.

_115183845_atp_match_wins.png.jpeg

No doubt, that list does not leave any wiggle room for interpretation.

[stotty]

Nadal gets his 1000th ATP win. He's in good company looking at the top 8 all time chart below. It's an impressive list.

_115183845_atp_match_wins.png.jpeg

[stroke]

Alex has his hands full vs Mannarino. Adrian has such a pretty and minimalistic game. He seems to have all day to hit the ball off both sides. To me, a lot of players at all levels could learn something from his game.

[stroke]

Nadal , and his clean partition model type 3 forehand in particular, really rained down the pain on a 1st set 6-1 beatdown on Jordan Thompson. Hawkeye stats on that forehand confirmed what appears to be the case watching. The Nadal forehand is putting at least 20% more rpm's on that forehand than almost any other player out there. Throw in the hook spin on top of that and the court dimensions have a new look. Nadal stands alone with his ability to dictate play without really taking much risk(with his spin and net clearance on the forehand). I think it is the closest thing we will ever see to a ping pong looking ball fight in tennis.

[stroke]

Ugo continues to impress taking out Cilic.

[don_budge]

Kyle, good thoughts. Glad to see your input again.

Apparently on extended honeymoon leave. I noticed on the ATP site that Ugo Humbert also plays a mean piano. That's interesting...it seems that would be a tough balancing act to practice tennis and practice piano. It would take a special type of person.

[stroke]

Great matches today. The demon has taken the 1st set over Medvedev. I don't think anyone moves better on hard courts that De Minaur. Cilic vs Ugo. Zverev(who is playing as well as he ever has) vs Mannarino. And my match of the day, Stan vs Rublev.

[stroke]

Kyle, good thoughts. Glad to see your input again.

[klacr]

Had the privilege to watch Humbert at Delray Beach Open earlier this year. Very crafty player, high tennis IQ, multiple gears and to top it all off, he's a lefty. I had a feeling he would give Tsitsipas issues.On top of all of his skills, Humbert is a nice, young man. Generous with his time to all the fans and tournament sponsor social events (I usually despise those but Ugo did very well.)

Kyle LaCroix, USPTA, PTR
Boca Raton, FL
SETS Consulting

[stroke]

Ugo wins in 3.5 hour match over Stef. He played liked he belonged the whole time. He looked absolutely physically spent though at the end, and we all know how physically demanding these Masters 1000's are, having to recover so quickly for another highest level opponent. But Ugo definitely announced himself today. That venue would have been absolutely rocking for that match in normal times.

[stroke]

Ugo Humbert takes the 1st set tiebreaker vs Tsitsipas and just won it. Stef is playing well and Ugo looks very comfortable matching his level. He looks like top 10 could happen sooner rather than later.

[stroke]

Youzney really knew how to shorten up his forehand backswing and kind of block the ball back(without going to a more continental slice kind of grip in order to do so). Gasquet who also has a big forehand swing was doing that today well vs Fritz. Denis needs that. Fed is the master of that technique, just getting the racquet out in front with body weight positioned forward, feet on the ground. Stan tends to go to a continental slice type forehand return when he does it. Not as effective to me. Either that or just way back like Nadal and swing away.