Last week I lost to a guy who chopped his FH and sliced his BH in a 3.5 tournament in Southern California. It's tough for me to play against that kind of paceless game and long games like that.
Today I went back to watch his semifinal match with someone else to see how others played him.
It was around 2:00 when I got there. This lefty guy had just won the first set, and they were starting the second set. This guy still chopped his FH down, sliced and dinked his BH even more now that I could actually see it. His opponent was almost the same. He would hit his FH high, like a half-moonball, with a lot of inside-outs. His BH sometimes would be high too. So, the lefty chopped all things down with a grunt. The opponent would lift things up. Once in a while the lefty would hit a short ball, or dink a drop shot. The opponent would run in to drive, no, to direct his reply to the other corner and then try to hit a volley when the other still brings it back. Suddenly it dawned on me that, yes, I was watching two classic pushers in battle! At least one is a classic pusher and the other is a semi-pusher!
At first, it looks boring. But if one to look more closely, it can be seen that these two guys are tenacious and won't give up anything. In an article, an author said "pushers have great wheels." Yes, these two guys can run all day. More than that, it is just that they won't give up on any point! After a while, I went to watch a 5.0 match. When it was finished, I went back to the pushers' match. They are still there, the balls still going back and forth. I made myself comfortable on a chair. The afternoon breeze from the beaches nearby made me sleepy. I kind of dozed off for a minute. When I woke up, the balls still went back and forth. I dozed off again and woke up again. The ball was still being chopped, sliced, and moonballed! No one served! Probably they were still in the same point!
Finally, they get to 5-5. Now the semipusher is serving. The point is again very long. The classic pusher pushes one shot, it goes short. The semipusher runs in, whacks it to the other side. It looks like it catches the other sideline to me. But, the pusher calls "out." The semipusher crys foul, standing there at the net with his mouth open, both palms up. The referee, who wis close to me, now walks out. He is in no position to overrule. So he makes them continue, and stands guard there near one post. The semipusher walks back to his baseline, shoulder slumping. The batlte continues.
Again, it goes back and forth. Again, either of them would be pulled to the net or wide and would not given up. And then, after a long point, the semipusher pushes an easy volley into the net, and both of them go to the chair and sit down. The semipusher has been broken.
But, no, the referee is approaching. He tells both of them to continue because it's now "deuce." They look at each other, realize their mistakes, and walk out on the court. It looks like both of them have lost half of their minds, cannot remember points clearly any more! Again, the semipusher is serving. Again, the point is long. Things heat up on the court. The classic runs hard to the sideline, flings his body trying to retrieve one shot. In the same motion, he falls rolling down in a circle, throws his racquet. He stands up, walks to the referee, says something to him and then goes to his chair and sits down. The referee runs into the clubhouse to get something. Probably he'll get a band-aid. Yes, he appears with one, hands it to the classic, and now we have "injury timeout"!
At last, the semipusher is broken for real. Still, they are back and forth. Still, the semi would be moonballing. Still the classic pusher would chop, slice, and dink. His grunts are getting louder. Now, for real, he holds, and the match is over! Around us, all the courts are empty. All the other matches are over. Theirs is the last match finishing. I look at my cell phone. It is now 5.00 P.M. In a sense, it was a great tug-of-war between two mentally-tough and physically-strong opponents. (Now, now, can we forget about those words like "technique" or "strokes" for a moment?)
I don't know about you guys. But for me, the solution is still trying to get my groundies bigger and better to blow these guys off the court or to play the X (diagonally to alternate corners). Wheelless players like me have no chance against either of them to even think about hanging with them playing their kind of game. Like McEnroe said, "If I lose, at least I'll lose faster." (He said that, and then attacked Lendl with both serves at the net, broke Lendl's win streak agains him and then ruled the world in 1983...)
Today I went back to watch his semifinal match with someone else to see how others played him.
It was around 2:00 when I got there. This lefty guy had just won the first set, and they were starting the second set. This guy still chopped his FH down, sliced and dinked his BH even more now that I could actually see it. His opponent was almost the same. He would hit his FH high, like a half-moonball, with a lot of inside-outs. His BH sometimes would be high too. So, the lefty chopped all things down with a grunt. The opponent would lift things up. Once in a while the lefty would hit a short ball, or dink a drop shot. The opponent would run in to drive, no, to direct his reply to the other corner and then try to hit a volley when the other still brings it back. Suddenly it dawned on me that, yes, I was watching two classic pushers in battle! At least one is a classic pusher and the other is a semi-pusher!
At first, it looks boring. But if one to look more closely, it can be seen that these two guys are tenacious and won't give up anything. In an article, an author said "pushers have great wheels." Yes, these two guys can run all day. More than that, it is just that they won't give up on any point! After a while, I went to watch a 5.0 match. When it was finished, I went back to the pushers' match. They are still there, the balls still going back and forth. I made myself comfortable on a chair. The afternoon breeze from the beaches nearby made me sleepy. I kind of dozed off for a minute. When I woke up, the balls still went back and forth. I dozed off again and woke up again. The ball was still being chopped, sliced, and moonballed! No one served! Probably they were still in the same point!
Finally, they get to 5-5. Now the semipusher is serving. The point is again very long. The classic pusher pushes one shot, it goes short. The semipusher runs in, whacks it to the other side. It looks like it catches the other sideline to me. But, the pusher calls "out." The semipusher crys foul, standing there at the net with his mouth open, both palms up. The referee, who wis close to me, now walks out. He is in no position to overrule. So he makes them continue, and stands guard there near one post. The semipusher walks back to his baseline, shoulder slumping. The batlte continues.
Again, it goes back and forth. Again, either of them would be pulled to the net or wide and would not given up. And then, after a long point, the semipusher pushes an easy volley into the net, and both of them go to the chair and sit down. The semipusher has been broken.
But, no, the referee is approaching. He tells both of them to continue because it's now "deuce." They look at each other, realize their mistakes, and walk out on the court. It looks like both of them have lost half of their minds, cannot remember points clearly any more! Again, the semipusher is serving. Again, the point is long. Things heat up on the court. The classic runs hard to the sideline, flings his body trying to retrieve one shot. In the same motion, he falls rolling down in a circle, throws his racquet. He stands up, walks to the referee, says something to him and then goes to his chair and sits down. The referee runs into the clubhouse to get something. Probably he'll get a band-aid. Yes, he appears with one, hands it to the classic, and now we have "injury timeout"!
At last, the semipusher is broken for real. Still, they are back and forth. Still, the semi would be moonballing. Still the classic pusher would chop, slice, and dink. His grunts are getting louder. Now, for real, he holds, and the match is over! Around us, all the courts are empty. All the other matches are over. Theirs is the last match finishing. I look at my cell phone. It is now 5.00 P.M. In a sense, it was a great tug-of-war between two mentally-tough and physically-strong opponents. (Now, now, can we forget about those words like "technique" or "strokes" for a moment?)
I don't know about you guys. But for me, the solution is still trying to get my groundies bigger and better to blow these guys off the court or to play the X (diagonally to alternate corners). Wheelless players like me have no chance against either of them to even think about hanging with them playing their kind of game. Like McEnroe said, "If I lose, at least I'll lose faster." (He said that, and then attacked Lendl with both serves at the net, broke Lendl's win streak agains him and then ruled the world in 1983...)
