Gaudio's Weakness

[RiosTheGenius]

so I was watching an old video of a match between Gaudio and Rios back in 2003 when they played the semis of Viña del Mar. During the post-match interview Rios was asked about the fact that Gaudio was never even able to win a set against him in their 5 meetings. and Rios replied, "well, I think he does well against the spaniards and all those guys who stay in the back because he needs time, I take the ball a bit early and he doesn't seem comfortable with that, all matches are tough, but I know how to play Gaudio, while he hasn't figured me out yet".
so this little comment got me thinking about that double bagle he suffered against Federer at the masters cup. and after looking at his record against other top early-hitters, he has never done well against any of them.

Against Agassi 1-4
Against Rios 0-5
Against Federer 0-5

while he is pretty even with other guys who give him more time like Kuerten, Gonzalez, Gasquet, Martin.

 

[Bogie]

i think gaudio's main weakness is his mental strength out on the court. this comes after than

 

[35ft6]

Interesting thought and I don't doubt there's some truth to it, but proving it by posting his head to head against 3 former #1 players doesn't really do much for it.

 

[diegaa]

Interesting thought and I don't doubt there's some truth to it, but proving it by posting his head to head against 3 former #1 players doesn't really do much for it.

but thats the whole point. if he had managed to beat any of those 3 (and others in-form, top players) he could have been (still can) considered a much better player.

 

[Shabazza]

it's one of the reasons why he is useless on grass...

 

[alfa164164]

Probably an accurate assessment, Gaudio needs/likes time to setup & react.
I actually saw Rios beat Gaudio at the 2002 TMS Cincinnati.
It was fun to watch Rios hit the ball early and move Gaudio all over the court.
Gaudio's backhand is a beauty to watch, and he was spanking his groundies hard, but Rios just looked like he was toying with Gaudio and won easily.

 

[LeftyServe]

This may be Gaudio's weakness, but isn't it also the "weakness" of the vast majority of the top level professionals who also had/have trouble with Rios, Agassi, and Federer? But, on another note, Gaudio decided to have a go at Wimbledon this year and was rewarded with an incredibly easy (on paper) draw to the Round of 16. Wouldn't it be interesting to see this quintessential clay-courter push it to the quarters?

 

[fastdunn]

Just drop Federer and it might be more convincing.
He beats everybody all the time anyway and he does not particularly hit
it on the rise. He hits at optimal points(near peak of a bounce)
or tad later. He hits "some" of specialty shots on the rise but that's not
his meat and potato shots.

 

[RiosTheGenius]

Probably an accurate assessment, Gaudio needs/likes time to setup & react.
I actually saw Rios beat Gaudio at the 2002 TMS Cincinnati.
It was fun to watch Rios hit the ball early and move Gaudio all over the court.
Gaudio's backhand is a beauty to watch, and he was spanking his groundies hard, but Rios just looked like he was toying with Gaudio and won easily.

I would really like to see Gaudio vs A. Martin sometime. there's probably a shot every 2hrs. those two stay waaaay back and the idea is to loop the ball as high and deep as it is technically possible.

 

[textbook strokes]

I wouldn't be in tennis if it wasn't for Gastón!!... Well, that's probably an exaggeration... but he is so fun to watch on the rare occasions that he is on . He took that first set of Nadal brilliantly in Monte Carlo, returning every hig ball with his state of the art backhand, in a way even Fed could learn from. Sadly, his head gave up after...

But he also defeated a bunch of players that strike on the rise. Rios was just so damn good during his short career that he became #1.

 

[RiosTheGenius]

oh no doubt. I also enjoy it very much when I watch him play... I just wonder about his strategy against guys who rush him a bit.

 

[naturalgut]

Though I really like watching his backhand, I don't really like watching Gaudio play. Its always seemed to me that his forehand and serve look awkward.

 

[Tchocky]

I agree with Rios' comments. You get much more time to set up your shots on clay as opposed to any other surface. I think winning the French Open was the worst thing that could have happened to Gaston. It's been all downhill from there.

 

[Gugafan_Redux]

I think as a 3.5 rec player I can say better than M. Rios, former world No. 1, what it about Gaudio's game that is weak.

WTF?

 

[diegaa]

I think winning the French Open was the worst thing that could have happened to Gaston. It's been all downhill from there.

Your comment is inaccurate. Gaudio won 5 titles back in 2005, after his triumph at RG04. To that date, he had won just 3 tourneys, including the french open.
On the contrary, i think it was the best it could´ve happened to him.

 

[RiosTheGenius]

I think as a 3.5 rec player I can say better than M. Rios, former world No. 1, what it about Gaudio's game that is weak.

WTF?

I highly doubt it.

Marcelo Rios understood the logic of this game better than most players out there... he was able to read his opponents in a way only guys like Federer, Agassi or Nalbandian could ( as for current players).

if you're a 3.5 recreational it means you have trouble reading recreational players' games... I find hard to believe you could figure out Gaudio the way these guys can.