The Shape Of Things To Come: Denis Shapovalov!

mental midget

Hall of Fame
I'm a big Shapo fan, but I always found it funny that he owns RBA.
did not see match. haven't seen much of shapo in a long time. always rooting for his game, fun to watch. but yeah...RBA should be, like, the exact kind of player he'd lose to. i guess he's getting old though. nice to see denis win a round in a major. could certainly beat musetti but that's really a 'who the heck knows?' shrug emoji match from my perspective.
 

robyrolfo

Hall of Fame
Do you recall nearly as many posts about the onehander being dead back when Thiem was still around?
I wasn't on the forums at that time, but I'm assuming people weren't as negative about the 1HBH because Thiem was using it so well (and Roger was still active)?

I mean, all the talk of it being "dead" is just ridiculous anyway. I've posted this same remark about 10 times now, but anyone who thinks it is dead should re-watch Dimitrov absolutely dismantle Alcaraz in the Miami semi-final last year. It was glorious, and he won so many points with shots/play that is only possible with a one hander.

Unfortunately Perricard is out too. I think he has a good game, deceptively quick hands for such a big guy.
Something about those big guys doesn't quite make it as stylish, though. Eubanks is the same.
 

tennis24x7

Hall of Fame
I wasn't on the forums at that time, but I'm assuming people weren't as negative about the 1HBH because Thiem was using it so well (and Roger was still active)?

I mean, all the talk of it being "dead" is just ridiculous anyway. I've posted this same remark about 10 times now, but anyone who thinks it is dead should re-watch Dimitrov absolutely dismantle Alcaraz in the Miami semi-final last year. It was glorious, and he won so many points with shots/play that is only possible with a one hander.


Something about those big guys doesn't quite make it as stylish, though. Eubanks is the same.
True about not stylish, but for your point about Dimitrov, that is his day when everything he hits goes for a winner. If not then how many more times has he done that to a top level player. He has not hence the reason for his poor showing in the GSs.
 

robyrolfo

Hall of Fame
Tough loss for Shapo, but hopefully he keeps moving in the right direction.

True about not stylish, but for your point about Dimitrov, that is his day when everything he hits goes for a winner. If not then how many more times has he done that to a top level player. He has not hence the reason for his poor showing in the GSs.
I agree that it was one of those days for Dimitrov where everything was going his way. But my point is that a 1HBH isn't a liability, and can even be a special weapon, it just needs to be used correctly.
 

Trip

Legend
a 1HBH isn't a liability, and can even be a special weapon, it just needs to be used correctly.
Liability/inferiority for the modern game is debatable, but what makes it so difficult to even have a decent debate, is the fact that so few players use the stroke at all at this point (for juniors, it has to be in the low single-digit percentile, and that's probably too generous). So aside from biomechanical debates, there's such a small talent pool from which to draw real-life examples of how far one can master the stroke, it could quite frankly be that the best of the best of what we're seeing nowadays just isn't as high a level of mastery as what we used to see, and what we're currently seeing from the best of the best 2-handers.

As such, the statistical chances of any 1-hander developing the level they need to reach the top of the game from this point forward, has been decreasing, and will only continue to do so, as fewer and fewer people are learning the stroke at all. As of now, I would say Thiem or Wawrinka, maybe Guga (but that is questionable due to changes to the game since he played), were as close as we'll ever see to someone having a truly reliable and threatening 1HBH on a level where you could, without doubt, say they were not at any disadvantage for lacking a 2-hander. It's really the consistency piece and return percentages that are lacking in most 1-handers for today's game.

As for whether all of the above is due to actual inferiority of the stroke or just from a lack of practitioners, is anyone's guess. I remain unsure, and have been swayed in both directions myself.
 
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robyrolfo

Hall of Fame
Liability/inferiority for the modern game is debatable, but what makes even having a decent debate possible is the fact that so few players user the stroke at all at this point (for juniors, it has to be in the low single-digit percentile, and that's probably too generous). So aside from biomechanical debates, there's such a small talent pool from which to draw real-life examples of how far one can master the stroke, it could quite frank be that the best of the best of what we're seeing nowadays just isn't as high a level of mastery as what we're seeing from the best of the many-fold-larger pool of 2-handers.

As such, the statistical chances of any 1-hander developing the level they need to reach the top of the game from this point forward, has been continually decreasing, and continues to do so. As of now, I would say Thiem or Wawrinka, maybe Guga (but that is questionable due to changes to the game since he played), were as close as we'll ever see, of having a truly reliable and threatening 1HBH. It's really the consistency piece and return percentages that are lacking in most 1-handers for the modern game.
I agree with all of this. The issue is that so few players are using it, especially younger players that will be the pros of the future, so the debate will always be tainted. And that's a shame. So many young kids and coaches taking the easy route.

But I will continue to view the 1HBH this way: a race car that is potentially faster than any other car on the grid, but which is incredibly difficult to drive to its full potential.
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
Good match so far. We saw Denis The Menace in the first set, but now he's back to being the Federer Lite we've seen over the past 2-3 months and has taken the second 6-2. Fritz really has no answers when Shapo is cooking, and he's #4 in the world.

If Shapo can take this match he will validate all the noise I've been making. I think he has the game to beat anyone and this would prove it.
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
Good match so far. We saw Denis The Menace in the first set, but now he's back to being the Federer Lite we've seen over the past 2-3 months and has taken the second 6-2. Fritz really has no answers when Shapo is cooking, and he's #4 in the world.

If Shapo can take this match he will validate all the noise I've been making. I think he has the game to beat anyone and this would prove it.

Ok. I'm prepared to say now that Shapo is gonna make some noise this year. Once he found his game, Fritz had nothing. Shapo took the racquet out of the hands of the #4 player. Final set went to a TB and Shapo won it easily. Wow.
 
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