Everybody Hyeon Chung Tonight!

I agree that he needs to improve his serve.
Before changing anything, he should try slightly lower toss and toss balls slightly into the court. It might fix current serves instead of completely changing serve motion. It might be quicker way to fix his serve problem.
If he change his serve motion, it might take at least 6 month or even one year or two but still in the long term, I prefer to see some changing in his serves.
Yes he needs serve specialists to improve quickly. He is hard working guy and quick leaner so if he has sessions with serve specialists, He can dramatically improve his serve in short period time.

Neville changed his game strategy/plan with two months and I thought Neville might address his serve issue but his serves are exactly same as AO so he might not address chung’s Serve yet but as a coach, Neville is a genius.
Now chung has clear game plan and execute well. Probably Neville’s preparation is good enough.
Chung should clam for match against Fed and focus on attacking fed’s Backhands. If he consistently do that, He has a chance but Fed is Fed hahaha Hopefully it will be entertaining match.
BTW Chung should learn from Fed. Double socks ^___^
 
Arm problems?

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Isn't Chung meant to be endorsing the new Vcore Pro starting at Indian Wells?

Other players have been, but that is still the old Duel G paint!
 
Isn't Chung meant to be endorsing the new Vcore Pro starting at Indian Wells?

Other players have been, but that is still the old Duel G paint!

His PJ is not ready hahaha.
There is no reason to change racket at this point for him.
If he needs to change his racket, Yonex Regna might be better choice because he hits flat shots often but I don’t see it will happen since it might need long adjustment period.
 
His PJ is not ready hahaha.
There is no reason to change racket at this point for him.
If he needs to change his racket, Yonex Regna might be better choice because he hits flat shots often but I don’t see it will happen since it might need long adjustment period.

Yeah, I expect him to get a PJ'd frame unless he likes the new frame which they seem to have designed around his current setup of using 16x19 on the Duel G... Just odd that Yonex said he would be endorsing it at this tournament but he isn't is all.
 
Yeah, I expect him to get a PJ'd frame unless he likes the new frame which they seem to have designed around his current setup of using 16x19 on the Duel G... Just odd that Yonex said he would be endorsing it at this tournament but he isn't is all.

As we all know, endorsing isn’t the same as using it.
 
Chung is now #21 in the live rankings, which is great as it is. But 1100 of the 1700 points he has were won this year. Huge potential for a meteoric rise in the rankings. He’s #3 right now in the Race. If he does well I can see him ending up in the top 15 at the end of the year. Not an easy task but would be a hell of an accomplishment
 
these stats tell plenty. I suppose you didn't see my added p.s.? Here it is:
p.s. As for winning a solid % behind his 2nd serve, he's second to last on HC last year among the people they've included with an awesome 46,7 % won on HC: http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/stats/2nd-serve-points-won/2017/hard/all/ - not that the 2nd serve stats is the best indicator of how good your service game is, but he sure as hell doesn't have a strong nor solid 2nd serve.

Your turn: Show me some return (and serve) stats against top-20.

I do not have stats. I'm not sure if 2017 stats can be relevant. He raised his game from November, NextGen final which is not official ATP tourney.
You won't have exact stats but his serving stats on break points should be high.
That's most relevant stats if you can collect from somewhere.
That's what matters most and similarly that's why I regard Nadal has great serve, not Zverev for example. These are my criteria.

His overall return game stats might be high but he just can't make a dent on top 10 players serving games (now target should be top 10, not 20).
He has only 1 win over top 10 AFAIK, and that's mostly why.

His groundies are already top 10 level, serves are great enough. His serve return/passing shots are just still at top 30 level.

We can gauge his current state of return game when he faces Federer tomorrow.
(I'm expecting great improvements though)

I'm telling you that he will be inside top 8 if he can improve his return game against top 10 - 20 players.
 
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I do not have stats. I'm not sure if 2017 stats can be relevant. He raised his game from November, NextGen final which is not official ATP tourney.
You won't have exact stats but his serving stats on break points should be high.
That's most relevant stats if you can collect from somewhere.
That's what matters most and similarly that's why I regard Nadal has great serve, not Zverev for example. These are my criteria.

His overall return game stats might be high but he just can't make a dent on top 10 players serving games (now target should be top 10, not 20).
He has only 1 win over top 10 AFAIK, and that's mostly why.

His groundies are already top 10 level, serves are great enough. His serve return/passing shots are just still at top 30 level.

We can gauge his current state of return game when he faces Federer tomorrow.
(I'm expecting great improvements though)

I'm telling you that he will be inside top 8 if he can improve his return game against top 10 - 20 players.
abmk already replied to you too with top-20 stats. And if you want to measaure vs. top-10 since NextGen finals, you have an extremely small (and almost irrelevant) sample size.
But even if you just go by 2018 data (which I believe is a poor indicator as it's too focused on current form), where his serve has done better, he's hold game percentage at 82 puts him at 39th on tour, whereas his return stats put him at 16th on tour.
But yes - he's saved 65 % of BPs faced, which is very good. But as important as that stat is, how many service games you win is, needless to say, more important.

He only has 1 win vs. top-10 yes, but I'm sure @falstaff78 or @abmk can dig up the numbers and show you it ain't because of his return, but because he gets broken left and right vs. top-10 players.
 
abmk already replied to you too with top-20 stats. And if you want to measaure vs. top-10 since NextGen finals, you have an extremely small (and almost irrelevant) sample size.
But even if you just go by 2018 data (which I believe is a poor indicator as it's too focused on current form), where his serve has done better, he's hold game percentage at 82 puts him at 39th on tour, whereas his return stats put him at 16th on tour.
But yes - he's saved 65 % of BPs faced, which is very good. But as important as that stat is, how many service games you win is, needless to say, more important.

He only has 1 win vs. top-10 yes, but I'm sure @falstaff78 or @abmk can dig up the numbers and show you it ain't because of his return, but because he gets broken left and right vs. top-10 players.

In real life, stats are used to tell a lie way too much more often than to tell the truth. I still look at stats but don't "rely" on it.

I think Chung's serve can be improved but grossly underrated mostly by casual fans who has zero insight into tennis.

It's my opinion that his serve returns/passing shots are very very sub-par for his current level.
If I would coach him, i would work on them, ignoring casual fans who hardly watched chung until recently.
 
Chung is now #21 in the live rankings, which is great as it is. But 1100 of the 1700 points he has were won this year. Huge potential for a meteoric rise in the rankings. He’s #3 right now in the Race. If he does well I can see him ending up in the top 15 at the end of the year. Not an easy task but would be a hell of an accomplishment

he will be top 8 at the end of the year
 
I do not have stats. I'm not sure if 2017 stats can be relevant. He raised his game from November, NextGen final which is not official ATP tourney.
You won't have exact stats but his serving stats on break points should be high.
That's most relevant stats if you can collect from somewhere.
That's what matters most and similarly that's why I regard Nadal has great serve, not Zverev for example. These are my criteria.

His overall return game stats might be high but he just can't make a dent on top 10 players serving games (now target should be top 10, not 20).
He has only 1 win over top 10 AFAIK, and that's mostly why.

His groundies are already top 10 level, serves are great enough. His serve return/passing shots are just still at top 30 level.

We can gauge his current state of return game when he faces Federer tomorrow.
(I'm expecting great improvements though)

I'm telling you that he will be inside top 8 if he can improve his return game against top 10 - 20 players.

In real life, stats are used to tell a lie way too much more often than to tell the truth. I still look at stats but don't "rely" on it.

I think Chung's serve can be improved but grossly underrated mostly by casual fans who has zero insight into tennis.

It's my opinion that his serve returns/passing shots are very very sub-par for his current level.
If I would coach him, i would work on them, ignoring casual fans who hardly watched chung until recently.

really ? switching now from top 20 to top 10 ?

after stats completely disprove what you were saying. (re : his serving and returning vs top 20)

You are the only one who thinks his return is more of a problem vs top 10 or 20.


Regarding Chung's return :

The golden age of the returner has spawned another great returner.

Chung is ranked No. 29, but he is 11th best on the ATP Stats Return LEADERBOARD, powered by Infosys Nia Data. The Leaderboard is determined by adding the winning percentage in the following four areas:

  1. First-Serve Return Points Won

  2. Second-Serve Return Points Won

  3. Return Games Won

  4. Break Points Converted
Chung’s performance serving is not yet at this elite level, as he is ranked just 59th best on tour in the ATP Stats Serve LEADERBOARD during the past 52 weeks.

https://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/chung-infosys-january-2018


Re : his passing shots :

Here's Novak regarding his passing shots in their AO match:

“He was a better player on the court tonight and he deserved to win, whenever he was in trouble he came up with some unbelievable passing shots and he was like a wolf at the back of the court,”Djokovic said of Chung before admitting his elbow bothered him during the match.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...k/news-story/e768a577c94421940293599974a0c981

Some examples of passing shots from Chung :



2:37, 5:29 vs Zverev at the AO :


and of course the djoko match was had quite a few of them, so just going to post the link to the highlights :

 
In real life, stats are used to tell a lie way too much more often than to tell the truth. I still look at stats but don't "rely" on it.

I think Chung's serve can be improved but grossly underrated mostly by casual fans who has zero insight into tennis.

It's my opinion that his serve returns/passing shots are very very sub-par for his current level.
If I would coach him, i would work on them, ignoring casual fans who hardly watched chung until recently.
I doubt me and abmk can be regarded as casual fans, but if you don't want to listen, it's fine. We (and the rest of TTW) are right and you're wrong on this one, but stats etc. don't seem to work on you
 
In real life, stats are used to tell a lie way too much more often than to tell the truth. I still look at stats but don't "rely" on it.

I think Chung's serve can be improved but grossly underrated mostly by casual fans who has zero insight into tennis.

It's my opinion that his serve returns/passing shots are very very sub-par for his current level.
If I would coach him, i would work on them, ignoring casual fans who hardly watched chung until recently.
Broken 4 times. Won 35 percent of the return points and earned 6 BPs. Convinced?
 
Serve/free points aside.... Here's what separates the top guys from the upstarts IMO.

First game of 2nd set... when Chung missed the volley at break point. I just had the feeling that Fed was just going to start rolling.... which is exactly what happened. I'm thinking... How many countless times have I seen this? Once the top guys smell/taste blood... it's over. They pounce and pummel their opponents.

Look at Chung's match against Cuevas... blood in the water and Chung almost let him back in the 2nd set.
 
I watched entire match from 4hr flight. Thanks to southwest which has ESPN. The 4 hr flight was not boring because of this match.

Where was backhand attack???
I was very surprised by Chung’s game plan. Good news was He did not have old game plan which he hits directly to opponents.
Chung hit directional shots well but he rarely attack Federer’s weakness. Looks like Chung wanted to show/prove that he can play any ground strokes to anyone in the world. That’s it.
There were very few backhand attacks. He should play the point like when it was 5-5 and second point.
It’s so obvious that Federer might hit many backhand slices if he attacks Federer’s backhand. Chung should spend decent time to prepare this.
If there is 40% chance to win points against Federer’s forehands and 60% to win points against Federer’s backhands, why Chung did not do?
Chung had good backhand rallies against Berdy. Both hit two-three rallies then chung hit flat hard down the line backhand winners. I have not seen any for yesterday match.

For serve....
I am not surprised by all commentators who pointed his weak serves and Chung has to improve his serve in order to play better and better.
A little surprised that Patrick said that same thing with me especially high toss issue. I am not an expert on tennis techniques and still see this issue??? then it’s real problem with his serves.
They talked about stances but I just want to see current serve motion with low toss and slightly tossing a ball inside court. It can be easy quick adjustment than fixing stances.
Honestly it will be more benefits to fix entire serve motion but it might more time. There was no easy point for him. I don’t think he can stay inside top 20 for a while. Also probably he will have wear and tear more and more so He might start to decline his career around age of 28.

One more. I am curious about his box.
Nowadays, I see Neville and there is one more guy next Neville and not sure he is a trainer or not... I see different person for different tournaments so it might be one of a trainer from current management.
there are two managers. one Korean manager and American manager. Surprised to see managers follow him every tournaments....
Also I am wondering why he needs a Korean manager???? And what’s his roles...... Hope Chung does not pay for their trip expenses and does not pay huge fees for those people.
 
Broken 4 times. Won 35 percent of the return points and earned 6 BPs. Convinced?

I don't think I used term correctly, "return game" in general. What I really meant was strokes required for it.
We were discussing a stroke, serve and I claimed serve is fine and skills to return top players serve is more urgent.

I still think chung's weakest link is "return game strokes": serve return and passing shots.
He will not be solid top 10 without them. His serve return and passing shot are still reminiscent of challenger level but makes up with ground strokes and footwork.

Currently chung's strength to weakness, imho,
Backhand > forehand > serve > volley > serve return > passing shots
Chung's Serve is very underrated. Particularly by casual viewers(both expert and non tennis players) who did not watch Chung much.


Chung's young. He will have plenty of chances to experience top players' serves a lot more from now.
 
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Where was backhand attack???

Noticed same thing.
He couldn't hardly hit his money shot: down the line backhand.
Maybe Federer intelligently prevent Chung from hitting that ?
For example, federer hit sliced to chung's backhand a lot and did not hit to chung's deep backhand corner.


But my assessment is that Chung will beat Federer in the next a few matches between them.
 
I don’t think he can stay inside top 20 for a while. Also probably he will have wear and tear more and more so He might start to decline his career around age of 28.
Chung is almost certain to enter the top 20 and stay there until the end of the year. He has like 500 points to defend in the rest of the entire season and he’s already #23 now.
And I don’t think you can predict when he’s going to deteriorate. His game is a physical one but there have been other physical players (Ferrer) who didn’t exactly decline early. I just hope he won’t have a career riddled with injuries like Nishikori and Kyrgios are having.
 
Chung is almost certain to enter the top 20 and stay there until the end of the year. He has like 500 points to defend in the rest of the entire season and he’s already #23 now.
And I don’t think you can predict when he’s going to deteriorate. His game is a physical one but there have been other physical players (Ferrer) who didn’t exactly decline early. I just hope he won’t have a career riddled with injuries like Nishikori and Kyrgios are having.

Ferrer is smaller and lighter so less wear and tear on the lower joints.

Chung was wearing Kineseo Tape on his right arm earlier this week. Was he wearing it last night?
 
Noticed same thing.
He couldn't hardly hit his money shot: down the line backhand.
Maybe Federer intelligently prevent Chung from hitting that ?
For example, federer hit sliced to chung's backhand a lot and did not hit to chung's deep backhand corner.


But my assessment is that Chung will beat Federer in the next a few matches between them.

Perhaps.
From 3-3 to 5-5 in the first set, Chung actually seemed to dominate. He was winning more rallies and every serve game of Federer went to 30-30 kind.
But still, for Chung to beat Fed, courts have to be slower ones.
 
Perhaps.
From 3-3 to 5-5 in the first set, Chung actually seemed to dominate. He was winning more rallies and every serve game of Federer went to 30-30 kind.
But still, for Chung to beat Fed, courts have to be slower ones.

Chung's winning records in tems of % so far.
Indoor hard corts > hard courts > clay > grass.
 
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He never plays on grass because he's always injured that time of year. He made the final of 2013 wimbledon so it's not like he's incompatible with the surface

I agree. He is junior Wimbledon finalist as i recall.

By the way, the winning records i mentioned were %.
 
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He and his team knows challenger tour type of safe serve returns and passing shots not going to cut it against top players.

Expect Hyeon make more aggressive serve returns and passing shots against top 10 players in coming tournaments.

Once he does that successfully, he will potentially rise to top 8 this year.

Enjoy it guys.
 
Chung's winning records in tems of % so far.
Indoor hard corts > hard courts > clay > grass.
That is his winning record against the field. Not against Federer.
In my view, beating Federer on indoor faster courts is a much much bigger challenge than on outdoor courts.
 
I only saw first set highlight for Fed vs Coric match.
Chung should review the strategy against Federer. Even though I only watched highlight of the first set.
I saw Coric attacked federer’s Backhands as much as he can.
Coric missed several backhands shots but Chung might be better to have those points since Chung’s backhands were slightly better than Coric in my opinion. I am still not sure why chung did not attack Federer’s backhands often in that match...... I know Chung can hit his forehands as good as Federer but still Fed is fed. There is a reason for Federer run around to hit Forehands instead of backhands...

Yes. Serves are another story though.
 
That is his winning record against the field. Not against Federer.
In my view, beating Federer on indoor faster courts is a much much bigger challenge than on outdoor courts.

Probably yes I would have to agree. Particularly indoor is a factor considering the best serve of last 15 years, Federer's serve, IMHO.

But I think it is almost equally hard to beat Federer on any surfaces of last 15 years or so.
Federer is very neutral player actually.
In his peak, Federer was 2nd only to the absolute clay GOAT Nadal.
Grass courts of last 15 years are not exactly fast particularly on the 2nd week of Wimbledon and it comes bouncy and slow.
It also depends on player. For example, Del Potro beats Federer mostly on indoor hard courts.
 
I only saw first set highlight for Fed vs Coric match.
Chung should review the strategy against Federer. Even though I only watched highlight of the first set.
I saw Coric attacked federer’s Backhands as much as he can.
Coric missed several backhands shots but Chung might be better to have those points since Chung’s backhands were slightly better than Coric in my opinion. I am still not sure why chung did not attack Federer’s backhands often in that match...... I know Chung can hit his forehands as good as Federer but still Fed is fed. There is a reason for Federer run around to hit Forehands instead of backhands...

yeah, still wonder why Chung hardly hit his best shot, down the line backhand (winners, usually :p).
 
yeah, still wonder why Chung hardly hit his best shot, down the line backhand (winners, usually :p).
His game plan and strategy was massively improved under Neville and I thought neville prepare him with some strategy to be competitive against Federer but I have not seen those strategy.
I don’t understand why chung did not attack federer’s Backhands........ maybe next time. Hope he learned something from this match and review Coric’s match against Federer.
 
Wow. Mmoh was schooled by Chung. Chung’s directional control was improved with his power.
Have not seen Mmoh’s game but there was noticeable power differences.
Still don’t see any difference on serves though. He needs more easy and free points.
If he plays well For clay season, he can reach inside top 20.
 
Can Chung reach final/win?

It's wide open. He can beat Cilic and Delpo on a good day in Miami.
Without improving his serves, I don’t see him he can reach and win tournaments without helping from opponents.
He needs easy and free points from serves.
His ground strokes and strategy/game plans are enough to win against any players but serves make him harder to hold easy games. I’ve seen 40-15 goes to deuce so many times.

Chung should have long term goal to fix his serves (6 months or even three years) but it’s time to address this issue now in order to become a better player. inside top 5 even GS champions.
 
he needs to spend some time with karlovic and isner. eat and drink anything they eat.
No-no. Both of them are just tall. Those serves derive from their height. Chung can’t serve like them.
Both of them have slowest movement on tour because of their height so if chung can drink and eat samething like them, it might have higher percentage that Chung will move lower instead of better serves hahahahaha.

Seems like Chung plays better for early matches (probably he is morning person).
Good match today against Sousa except usual his serves. His serves were not bad but that’s only his weakness so he deserves to criticize now.

Honestly, He improved much quicker than I thought. If he can continue to play like this, he might be able to reach inside top 10 in this year and if he improve his serves, I can see multiple GS.

Next match will be tough for Chung. Chung always struggled with Isner because of “SERVE”.
There will be no problem with Chung’s groundstrokes against Isner but Isner hit huge serves and he barely returned his serves so Isner mostly hold his service game easily but Chung’s service game often went shaky because Sometimes Isner goes for aggressive return or double faults from Chung.

If Isner does not have good serving day, Chung might win 6-4 or 7-5 but Isner has decent serving day, there will be good chance that Isner might win 6-3.
Chung should win the match but it won’t be easy since Isner might hit a lot of junk balls since Chung will hit powerful strokes and decent return against Isner’s big serves will be the key.
 
No-no. Both of them are just tall. Those serves derive from their height. Chung can’t serve like them.
Both of them have slowest movement on tour because of their height so if chung can drink and eat samething like them, it might have higher percentage that Chung will move lower instead of better serves hahahahaha.

Seems like Chung plays better for early matches (probably he is morning person).
Good match today against Sousa except usual his serves. His serves were not bad but that’s only his weakness so he deserves to criticize now.

Honestly, He improved much quicker than I thought. If he can continue to play like this, he might be able to reach inside top 10 in this year and if he improve his serves, I can see multiple GS.

Next match will be tough for Chung. Chung always struggled with Isner because of “SERVE”.
There will be no problem with Chung’s groundstrokes against Isner but Isner hit huge serves and he barely returned his serves so Isner mostly hold his service game easily but Chung’s service game often went shaky because Sometimes Isner goes for aggressive return or double faults from Chung.

If Isner does not have good serving day, Chung might win 6-4 or 7-5 but Isner has decent serving day, there will be good chance that Isner might win 6-3.
Chung should win the match but it won’t be easy since Isner might hit a lot of junk balls since Chung will hit powerful strokes and decent return against Isner’s big serves will be the key.
Chung is now just three victories away from top 10. NCH #19 in live rankings.
 
Chung is now just three victories away from top 10. NCH #19 in live rankings.
He has to earn it. It’s not “JUST”. Since he is a young player, no one can predict he will continue to play well or not. I trust him more than any other next gen players because of his hard working and calm personality.
Also it will be a clay season which he usually play better.
Honestly I am no longer interested in his ranking. I am more interested in how he can improve his serves in order to be potential GS winner.
I’ve watched him since his Wimbledon junior and many challenger matches. I always harshly criticized his game plan/strategy which just hit to opponents and try to overpowering opponents. Worked well in challenger level but never worked in ATP. I felt those can be easy fix with ATP experienced coach/team. It took two-three years but finally he got new coach and only took about two months to become real ATP player. I thought it will take one full season to be successful with new coach but it’s so quick to adjust almost everything for ATP level playing.
Nadal, Djokovic, Federer will retire within 5 years and Dimitrov does not show too much potential as GS winner now.
I don’t see other dominant consistenct players around age group of 25. Zverev, Coric, Shapo and Chung might be the one who have more potential to win GS but Zverev and Coric can be questionable.
Zverev might have similar career like Berdych and I am not sure how long Coric can keep his hot temper and playing well.
 
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