Indian Wells court speed

[ultradr]

Originally Posted by spinovic

Federer is a great volleyer, so I'm guessing he would incorporate S&V as a big part of his game on faster surfaces. The other 3 top guys aren't great volleyers either.

Federer is a good volleyer in today's standard but not really a true volleyer.

And he uses it on non-crucial points only. He glues himself to baseline
on critical points like break points. In that sense, he is not much better
than other 3.

When he debuted in 99, he baselined on carpet when lots of players
were still S&Ving.

I'm not sure if he could incorporate S&V successfully. He is a power baseliner
perfect fit for post-2003 tour condition.

[Polvorin]

Originally Posted by tlm

Do these endless slow court crybaby threads have to be started for every atp tournament?

I can tell you that Paris and WTF will not be complained about. Possibly not Cincinatti either. But those are literally the only three tournaments out of more than a hundred that offer something different.

[spinovic]

Originally Posted by ultradr

Federer is a good volleyer in today's standard but not really a true volleyer.

And he uses it on non-crucial points only. He glues himself to baseline
on critical points like break points. In that sense, he is not much better
than other 3.

When he debuted in 99, he baselined on carpet when lots of players
were still S&Ving.

I'm not sure if he could incorporate S&V successfully. He is a power baseliner
perfect fit for post-2003 tour condition.

I wouldn't disagree. He probably isn't on the level of past great net players simply because practice makes perfect and a guy who does it at every opportunity should be better.

However you want to word it, by today's standards, at the net, I think he's the best of the guys in contention. In a neutral position, Federer has the best chance at net to win the point. Nadal is great at volleying to suit his game, i.e., he comes in when he's got the clear advantage and rarely fails to put the volley away.

And, I agree, Federer uses it to mix things up and now I think he uses it a little more to try to shorten points, but when the chips are all in, he stays on the baseline typically.

Regardless, it's all hypothetical. The technology, style and conditions today do not encourage or reward it. You're not going to win playing S&V too much.

Take a guy like Llodra. He's capable of beating some good players and making some good runs, but they're almost always at the indoor tournaments. And, even then, it is a struggle.

[mattennis]

I know this is what sponsors want (top-players in final rounds of all tournaments) but seriously....that Djokovic-Tsonga SF match sucked big time.

Heck, I love Djokovic consistency and unhuman defence, he is just a machine from the baseline. But these slow hard courts everywhere makes the Tour so predictable.

How can anybody hit through Djokovic's defence on these slow hard courts? It is almost impossible.

In previous decades there were slow hard courts in the first months of the year (as well as very fast indoor carpet too in February), but there were also fast hard courts during the summer and fast indoor carpet in Autumm.

It was so much unpredictable, because on faster hard courts casualties are much more common. You had the typical "big hitter" against "great defender" and in a fast hard court it depended so much on "the good day" the big hitter had that day.

Today, on these so slow hard courts everywhere, given Federer's decline and possibly Nadal declining too, who the heck is going to defeat Djokovic on slow hard courts?

It is very possible that we will see many Djokovic-Murray finals on hard courts this year (more so if Murray gets to nº2 in the world) but their matches lack that extra-something that people love. Their games look too much alike.

I really hope things change and let us hope we can watch more variety in conditions and playing style in the future again.

[War, Safin!]

Originally Posted by Tiebreak100

You do not seriously want the grass from the past to return? Whilst the purist may enjoy 3 shot tennis, the floating fans will switch off in huge numbers. Why should the court speed be faster to suit the big hitters? The majority of the big hitters are usually of considerable height, which is already a distinct advantage.

Players like Isner and Raonic should be intelligent enough to do better than they currently do, but they are clearly weak in certain key aspects of the game. By increasing the prominence of the serve by speeding up the court, you will see guys with gaping flaws in their game being unduly rewarded. That is not a positive step forward.

From a British perspective, I do not want my Slam tournament to be the one predominantly about serve. We have been there before, and it is dull as dishwater. Sampras won 7 Wimbledon titles, yet he was never that popular with the UK public; simply because people did not like watching his brand of tennis.

No, that's not what I was implying. (the reference to Wimbeldon grass was purely to illustrate how court-surfaces have changed over the years).

The fact that guys like Del Potro, Gulbis, Berdych, Raonic, Jancowicz, etc, all around 6'4", have big, big serves and even bigger groundstrokes...playing on court-surfaces from say, the mid-90s, would mean the pendulum would have swung back to far the other way.

However, having said that, it's much more effective and a lower% shot to end a point with a big-serve + volley than it is with a big-serve + huge-forehand.

[Polvorin]

Originally Posted by SassyRamirez

Yes according to Stakhovsky it's been slowed down even more:





Also I'm pretty sure their are clay tournaments faster than IW and Miami.

I guess they got the result they wanted

[SassyRamirez]

Originally Posted by Polvorin

I guess they got the result they wanted

Yes, Ellison (tournament owner) is a big Nadal fanboy; I bet the courts get even slower next year.

[Murrayfan31]

Originally Posted by mattennis

I know this is what sponsors want (top-players in final rounds of all tournaments) but seriously....that Djokovic-Tsonga SF match sucked big time.

Heck, I love Djokovic consistency and unhuman defence, he is just a machine from the baseline. But these slow hard courts everywhere makes the Tour so predictable.

How can anybody hit through Djokovic's defence on these slow hard courts? It is almost impossible.

In previous decades there were slow hard courts in the first months of the year (as well as very fast indoor carpet too in February), but there were also fast hard courts during the summer and fast indoor carpet in Autumm.

It was so much unpredictable, because on faster hard courts casualties are much more common. You had the typical "big hitter" against "great defender" and in a fast hard court it depended so much on "the good day" the big hitter had that day.

Today, on these so slow hard courts everywhere, given Federer's decline and possibly Nadal declining too, who the heck is going to defeat Djokovic on slow hard courts?

It is very possible that we will see many Djokovic-Murray finals on hard courts this year (more so if Murray gets to nº2 in the world) but their matches lack that extra-something that people love. Their games look too much alike.

I really hope things change and let us hope we can watch more variety in conditions and playing style in the future again.

Del Potro.