McEnroe's Unwritten Rule?

[Achillesg]

When J. Mac. was providing the US Open color commentary, Federer hit a drop shot return off of an Agassi serve. Agassi won the point, and Mac commented that he was glad that Agassi won the point because it is an unwritten rule in tennis that you don't hit a drop shot service return.

He did not explain his comment. Was he saying that it was not a smart play? If so, I understand that. But if he meant that it was poor form, then I'd appreciate it if you'd flesh out the reason a little bit. I can see that if you were in a friendly match with someone with limited mobility it might be bad form, but Agassi is not quite that crippled yet.

[SageOfDeath]

what..... I've never heard of any such rule..... Are you sure?

[Achillesg]

I've got it on tape and replayed it a couple of times to see if I heard it right. Maybe Mac was making it up on the spot. I guess it could be an insult to say that your opponent's serve is so soft that you can drop shot it. Or maybe it's just too trashy for a US Open finals. Or, maybe just that it's not a smart shot. If so, I would agree with that at the pro level.

[Kaptain Karl]

Mac was just ... talking. I believe Mac was saying that at that point because Roger already had the match pretty much in control. IOW, I think Mac was sort of kidding that drop shot returns at that point were like "rubbing salt in the wound."

Mac makes a few remarks as if they are "law" when they are really just his opinion.

- KK

[hampshire6]

fed has stated himself that he does not like to use drop shots if he can help it. It was on his website last year.

[Galactus]

So it's okay for McEnroe to rant and rave and throw tantrums to gain some kind of 'advantage' over an opponent...yet when someone simply drop-shots a service return, he comes out with some 'unwritten law' bull5h!t ?!

[kevhen]

Never take McEnrone seriously. You cannot be serious!

[joe sch]

Its pretty hard to drop shot a server, especially an ATP serve.
Also, for open level players, most drop shots are not high percentage points or high probability of winning the point. Ofcourse this does not count for dirt or for dirt ballers that play from far behind the baseline :)

[Bora]

Hey, I'll drop shot on a serve return left and right and win 80% of the time. The heck with what he says.

[Thanatos]

When J. Mac. was providing the US Open color commentary, Federer hit a drop shot return off of an Agassi serve. Agassi won the point, and Mac commented that he was glad that Agassi won the point because it is an unwritten rule in tennis that you don't hit a drop shot service return.

He did not explain his comment. Was he saying that it was not a smart play? If so, I understand that. But if he meant that it was poor form, then I'd appreciate it if you'd flesh out the reason a little bit. I can see that if you were in a friendly match with someone with limited mobility it might be bad form, but Agassi is not quite that crippled yet.

McEnroe is a hyprocrite! When he was playing he broke almost ever rule there was (cursing at opponnents\umpires, throwing rackets, knocking over table full of Gatorade, etc.). Now he's using that players should abide by unwritten rules, when he himself had problems with written rules?

[Tim Tennis]

Drop shot him till his hammies give out. Tough. I would like to see more drop shots on the pro level. Actually I think you see a lot more then you used to.

[C_Smith]

i think Mac is right. A drop shot off a 120 or 130 mph service is not a high percentage play at all.

[Baseline Basher]

No, but if you can pull it off, we'll, I'll clap.

I do it, because most people I play with don't serve very hard, or their first is at about 1% consistency, and their second is a dink serve.

[CivicLx]

not sure if this got cleared up, but the drop shot off Agassi's serve was in the first set I believe when neither were really in control of the match and JMac did make the comment about the unwritten rule...to me, it seemed like he was saying it because it's perhaps disrespectful

the other drop shot ocurred when it was 5-0 in the 4th set and Federer used a drop shot...it was right after he got done saying that Federer is the cleanest ball striker in the history of the game :D

[GregOz]

All he meant by the comment was that it's a stupid play. Of course you can do it but your chances of winning the point are very low. The only exception is a weak serve -usually a second- on clay against an opponent who plays a fair way behind the baseline. Even then it's not smart tennis. Basically, it's a lot like saying that an unwritten rule or tennis is to not dropshot on hardcourts. You can do it and it might come off every now and again but its not the percentage play.

All McEnroe meant was that Federer played a dumb shot and he was glad to see that he hadn't gotten away with it. 'Unwritten rule' is just a figure of speech, not anything literal.

[Fred132]

I thought he was referring to the fact that Federer had the match all but won at that point, and he was making poor 'ol Andre run for a dropper.

[nkhera1]

He also said this once during the Davis Cup when Ljubicic was playing Agassi and Ljubicic hit a drop shot on Agassi's serve.

[ta11geese3]

The EXACT same topic!!!! from the same match, too!

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=67986

[Mahboob Khan]

Let's not take McEnroe's comments literally. What he meant was that it is not a good idea to try a drop shot as a return of serve because you may not be able to control the drop shot because it is against the serve! It's likely that your drop shot may not drop that short, and the server will get to it and hit a winner off it!

[Mahboob Khan]

If there is such a rule it is unwritten and if it is unwritten it does not exist, period.

[AndrewD]

If there is such a rule it is unwritten and if it is unwritten it does not exist, period.

All of the second last post is exactly what GregOz wrote but really, something doesn't have to be written to exist. If you believe in Common Sense then you can believe an unwritten law exists because that's what it's based on.