There's combat and then there's mortal combat.
Tennis allows for the psychological strains of one-on-one combat minus the threat of annihilation or permanent physical injury, though I've seen psychological injuries result at all levels. Some are never the same after a certain loss.
Martial arts can be to the end, but primarily it is just pain or possibly permanent injury at risk. Then there is actual mortal combat with loss defined as death. None of the rest truly compare.
I like to think of elite coaches as World Class Chefs while others know how to run a fast food joint and put out the volume with palatable results that fill stomachs on the cheap. You need the spectrum. You even need so-called inferior coaches just as much as you need people with quirky personalities so you have a basis and reference points for judging the norm. If you have a norm in a skill set, then you can judge the superior ones and even the brilliant. Should we only allocate court time for players and teachers above a certain skill level? We need anyone willing to share the game with others, and even volunteers with limited skills and knowledge have a place just like parents coaching kids as volunteers. I had a former college player as a team coach once and I learned little from him while a music teacher volunteer turned out the be the one who got all the kids out to play, including me. I suggest that it's best to help other teachers move forward and not drive them out.
Landsorp on American Tennis Coaching
Yes, Novak is acrobatic much like a flier might maneuver his aircraft. He maintains improbable balance under almost all conditions.
Exemption for AO?
They should give him one since he's had health issues prior to this with food allergies.
Federer wins in this important statistic
Maybe we should just go with the most Sportsmanship awards as the deciding statistic. As for winning percentages, why stop at the Open Tennis Era?
A former world #1 and Now a Coach explains why
I tend to agree with this simply because of the probability that even one play can stay at the top this long much less three in the same era. This has been a second Golden Age of Tennis if you count the '60s-'70s as the first one.
Does playing for precision and consistency make you less of a player? Does playing it safe make you a pusher? Askign for a well known friend.
These people should worry more about the vax effectiveness vs natural immunity than individuals who are willing to undergo a quarantine.
Make them do what they don't like to do. That usually means bringing them up to the net on your terms. Once at the net you can pass or lob them depending on their skillset and yours. Short angle shots are also an option.
With serving, always think of body serves. Pushers tend not to like being forced and this may give you midcourt returns you can attack.
When receiving most pushers have no strong serve or they wouldn't rely on defense only. Try stepping in on their serve before they begin their motion so that they can clearly see you standing well inside the baseline to attack. If they are really weak on the serve, I've seen players standing a foot behind the service line as a challenge and it can rattle a server.
While in the heat of the struggle, I'd keep trying new things. Find one weakness and attack it relentlessly. As a group, pushers are risk-averse and mentally strongest when frustrating their opponent. You need to frustrate them. For instance, if they have an iffy low backhand since pushers tend to play well behind the baseline, keep going to it with angle and backspin. Isolate their weakness and focus on it.
As a proviso: If they are good at handling all of these things then they just might be better than you and your options may decline down to learning from your loss.
Renaming the AO: The Aussie Open might soon be known as the Semi-Open in honor of the common Semi-Open Stance in Tennis. Some suggest naming it the closed once only fully vaxxed citizens of Australia are eligible to play it due to travel restrictions.
I'd get the student into a group class of the same beginner level where you can introduce practice and play and she can meet other students. This is a tried and true approach and will keep her in the game. To me, part of your job is to do that and also not lose paying students. She will thank you if you accomplish that.
This is an interesting perspective on Novak in that it might help explain the disdain many have for him that may be very much attributable to his playing style combined with his personal style. I've adjusted myself to both and see the precision he has achieved as an equally superb attribute. I am still also a Fed and Rafa fan among many other top tennis players. They all have their place in the Pantheon of Tennis Greats.
His critics can claim what they want. Unfortunately for them, he has made his place in the front of the Pantheon of Tennis Greats.
Even his worst critics are now forced to admit it even if only with backhanded and underhanded commentary.
He leaves Alcaraz Speechless for his praise.
I see Fed is hoping to come back to play singles again. He's a few years ahead of Novak in age so this will be a portent of what Novak may face.
For Fed: As long as he can move past the injury I can see some flashes of his old self, but it will be hard to keep it up. Recovery at this age is the problem especially if you're in a tournament for a couple weeks and have matches day after day. I would actually like to see him and many other top singles players shift to doubles play to extend their careers and also popularize that aspect of tennis again. He could also take some trophies with the right partner that would add to the tally. That is how they are counting it still right, slam title wins, not broken down by singles and doubles.
As for Novak, I think he has years left on the singles court and I hope that when that time comes when he finds trouble getting to the finals of big tournaments. I'd like to see Novak play doubles at the end of his career as well to prove that in every category that he can rule the court.
Visualize how a basketball player prepares to defend against a player with the ball coming their way. It looks the same as a tennis player about to receive. The requirements are the same to prepare for a fast break in Basketball and a ready stance/position in tennis.
This isn't a good look for Rafa. He should reconsider his judgement toward those who question the narrative for the necessity of an experimental medical treatment.
Coming from Mats, this has the perspective of actual experience and insight. Novak does seem to remake himself after every disaster or defeat. Few have that resiliency.
Can Novak Prove Himself in Turin?
He has love enough from his ardent fans. I believe that he should only worry about 21 slams and that is it along with staying at #1 as long as possible.
BJK on Rafa and her admiration for him
I agree with BJK on Rafa as a very good model of behavior and self control. It's fun to consider the numbers might have been if another player wasn't around to compete for the titles. Guessing on this gets you nowhere because there are so many other factors. Saying that Chris or Martina would have 40 slams without the other is probably to diminish Margaret Court who she never mentions. Without Rafa and Fed, Novak might already have 30+ and so would the other two if their direct rivals didn't exist. Oh, and Rod Laver would have had another dozen or more for thos 7+ yeas he was kept from competing by turning pro, and same for Ken Rosewall. Woulda coulda!
I
think that the AO won't give in after the way they have been
mercilessly treating their citizens over mandates of both masks and the
Vax. Then the question is will Novak and the others submit. Someone
mentioned that they can just get a jab of water and call it a Vax with
enough money. That is plausible. What are the AO authorities going to
do, challenge the documents? Then the whole thing falls apart. As it
is, they don't include the Sputnik Vax or the Chicom one as far as I
know. This is a mess.
AO 2022 Up in the Air over Vax
I posed this question to other coaches.
He does whatever it takes within the rules. This is commitment.
Novak
playing doubles recently now makes sense in hindsight. It was part of
a grand strategy to become an all-court-player. I think that he has
arrived. Reminder: Fed took the same route along with a racket change
as he lost a step to age. This is also the path of Ken Rosewall who
was a dominant back court player who used it to stay competitive into
his late 30s. He made it to two GS finals at age 39 only to be beaten
by a young Jimmy Connors. Then of course there was Laver who relied on
his serve and volley more and more as age slowed his step.
Americans focus on time when it comes to tennis.
I saw a post online that mentioned that the Spanish focus on timing while Americans focus on time when it comes to tennis. I believe he had a point.
Take no prisoners and fight to the last man. No retreat. I used to tell those students that tended to back up and move in to never give up ground. Having a great deep volley also made the court smaller so that you were closer to the net than you believed.
I remember myself telling students that they can compress time by moving forward and thus remove time from their opponent. Americans are time focused. Imagine when hey played some matches on parquet back in the '60s. Time was everything. There wasn't time for timing.
"Stat of the Day: Novak Djokovic has now reached at least the final at 50 of the last 100 Masters 1000 events he’s played."
The best matches of Novak DJokovic 2021
Most people don't know how hard this is to accomplish. Even your average tennis player has no idea the improbability of this. It takes an exceptional effort especially when you look at the total number of matches that a player must play in a year to get this result.
Tsitsi says I need to be more selfish
I didn't mean to pick on Tsitsi but he comes up with some off-the-wall-stuff. I like his game but he needs to mature just like Novak did over time. If wanting to win is just being selfish then I think most every tennis player is guilty. I do remember that Jimmy Connors said that his friendship with Nastase prevented him from beating him for a while until he figured out that Nastase used it on him. You have to separate the individual on the other side from your purpose. Jack Kramer said that he temporarily hated his opponent on the other side of the net no matter who. Like the Mob said, it's just business, nothing personal. I like that Novak and Med can fight it out on the court yet retain a friendship and mutual respect. I hope it stays that way. They could all take a lesson from the Aussies of the '60s and '70s. I don't remember any bad blood among them or against other players they faced. I'm sure there were some personality differences but most players back then were congenial and respectful of each other.
I'm fairly well beaten up with many injuries though few are tennis related but instead I carried them onto the court. The tennis injuries were from overuse rather than traumatic ones such as falls, crashes, and other unplanned violence. If you are escorted into your 50s already having a laundry list of problems it just intensifies and at least you have the mindset to cope with it though I will say that arthritis is the most mentally taxing so far. Your best bet is to find ways to manage the pain as you go along.
As for recovery, I've found with experience that strength training is the best answer to all of these. If my legs were out of use I'd focus on upper body strength by doing pushups, pull-ups, and curls or weight training. I'm stronger now in that area than I have been in decades out of necessity as arthritis takes away leg strength and flexibility.
Back injuries are debilitating and the only answer I've found is endless focus on core building. It's always about consistency in doing the needed work. As an athlete, you at least have that as a long developed skill set. Those that had fewer injuries of course are more mentally bothered by later debilitating problems. It's all about expectations. If you are just happy to be alive, breathing, and in not too much pain I'd say a little injury and recovery routine is just another speed bump.
I studied Tanner's serve in the '70s because at the time he had the ultimate serve. To this day his serve still stands as one of the cleanest and simplest, and thus very reliable and effective. He could probably put serves into the service box with his eyes closed. An extra benefit of his shorter and simplified motion was that it never broke down in difficult conditions since the toss was less vulnerable to wind movement and also gave him an edge when serving into the sun thanks to a lower more efficient toss. What I learned back then is echoed in his words now. Toss to the highest point of your extension, strike it at the apex before it begins to fall, and coordinate your motion so that it's continuous making it a very fast delivery often mesmerizing an opponent used to long rhythmical motions. The net effect is not only more velocity on the ball but a much shorter interval between the beginning and the end of the motion. His opponents always felt rushed when he was serving.
In his own words at CongruentTennis.com
I think of all of those undefeated winners in tennis leagues worldwide. Should they claim a superior record as well. Things are getting ridiculous.
I became a Novak fan in 2011 after seeing him play at the US Open. His style may not please you and his mannerisms and missteps might not either, but you cannot deny his success. He grew on me over time.
Novak - people who follow him understand
It is an interesting idea to consider that he may have gotten a vax or as someone else pointed out that at the financial level any of the tennis players are they could get a placebo just to satisfy the documents, especially if they've had Covid.
Next, we'll be hearing about antibody tests.
Also, does the Sputnik or China Vax count? I bet the Western Countries will side with Big Pharma on that.
No, you could say that he's proven himself quite clearly. As for early retirement, that's a matter of opinion.
Adios Nick until next year - "I have nothing left to prove."
First she has to win another major. This is a hope and may happen, but it's time for her to get to work.
I'd like to see Novak finish at least a record 350 weeks for an even number. Then of course there is the Graf record 377 weeks that some mention to downplay Novak's record in the men's category. Maybe he needs to aim for 378, oh why not go for 400.
My view of that moment was that he was frustrated by his body simply not being there as expected leaving him without hope. If you've ever faced such a moment, like when age catches up to you, it can be very hard to accept and feels like betrayal. Real or not, that's what I saw.
Disclosure: I am a tennis fan foremost, and feel that Novak has earned more respect and better treatment than he gets. Thus, I am a Novak fan.
It's easy for a side line spectator to call falling just short a choke when they have no knowledge of the difficulty involved in this goal.
Suggestions Novak Choked Absurd
This tweet from Zemek says it quite well. Novak had a rough day after a superb year. Losses happen.
Consider this as well.
If you've ever been jammed into an immediate follow up match by a tournament director while your opponent is rested, you know the issue. I've had it happen to me twice in my youth. In Novak's case, it is apparent that previous long matches took their toll that made full recovery in the time available very unlikely.
He was spent at the beginning. His legs looked dead. He tried various changes such as taking the net to make up for it, but to no avail. It wasn't going to be his day.
This happens to the best and has over the history of the sport. What I'm amazed at is the level of visceral hatred for Novak and the gloating that he lost. His playing record still indicates that he's one of the best ever and no matter the chatter, he's at least the equal of the other members of the Big 3.
The Calendar year Grand Slam is a unique measure for men's tennis among many metrics and maybe it's meant to be so rare that only two men will hold it. It allows Laver to stand alone for his two CYGS making his lower numbers in other categories less reliable indicators. We know he was prevented from slam competition during much of his prime when he turned pro as were many other big names. Here is another take on what Med did. ATP Article.
I think all of the strategy available to Novak wouldn't have made up for lethargy. He was below par and not admitting that means you weren't watching.
Novak isn't done for sure. I expect him to win more events and more slams.
Yes, a win tonight would confirm his position as the GOAT to many if not most tennis fans. There are reasons to continue forward. First, Novak doesn't seem motivated by money but for the records and the challenge to be the best. Walking away now would always leave him and the rest of us wondering what could have been
Second, to achieve this Grand Slam would give him more power within tennis to help shape the direction of the ATP and other aspects of player representation. He cares about this based on his past efforts for player representation.
Third, you don't get this far without having a drive within you to keep pushing forward. It's not like Sampras where he seemed finished and then came back to prove himself, and then retired when he did. Novak is still at the very top and hasn't been displaced. I suspect he'll wait for that time.
Finally, I don't think he'll retire post win, nor do I think he should. Always finish the job. One slam past Fed and Rafa isn't absolute. Rafa is like a movie character that always comes back to life. Don't turn your back on him when he's on the ground face down. It means nothing.
He's covering every category that anti-Novak GOAT deniers might try to use. They may not be any left except most popular, best hair, or biggest abs. His overall winning records stand alone. If he takes the final and wins the Calendar year Grand Slam, it's over unless Fed or Rafa can get back out there and extend their runs, not likely. Meanwhile, Nole has some years left to extend his run.
