S
Slicehand
Guest
i dont wanna ask why but, how on earth is that slice so bad, i tought he spent most of his life training tennis, please apostolos tell him how to slice, he needs it, its your son
James P
G.O.A.T.
Handle checks out
Tsitsipas seems to hit slice mostly in defensive situations. Consequently, it's a much weaker shot than his topspin backhand which is hit harder and is much more offensive. Tsitsipas needs to learn to use slice in offensive situations as well as defensive ones. And, he has to hit through it more so that his slice bites into the court and skids rather than floats.
S
Slicehand
Guest
True, but just seems to me that the swingpath in his slice is so lame, like someone who hasnt trained it properly, am i getting into a slice hating spiral? Maybe, maybe is just dissapointment, but really, i think there is a big flaw in that shot of his
initialize
Hall of Fame
True, blows my mind how he has a beautiful serve, forehand, and backhand, yet a mediocre slice, one of the easiest strokes to develop…
initialize
Hall of Fame
Just my opinion. And I don’t necessarily mean an effective serve, just that he has a good service motion
Kralingen
Talk Tennis Guru
Tsitsipas developing even a passable defensive slice would be a big issue for the Tour tbh. Too easy to draw errors out of on the BH side, too easy to put in a corner, and overall too easy to break that return side down.
let alone the offensive potential a short slice would have with his volleying and FH.
Hell even if he could slice back some BH returns instead of sending them into the 15th row it would be an improvement. He does have real potential as much as I think he is a snide cheater and dislike him. The kid has 6+ Slam potential as he’s easily the best on clay of the NextGen.
However he is having a garbagio year post RG and looks to have completely lost his confidence. Will be interesting to see how the rest of his year goes.
Either way the last person on earth who will help him is that clown Mouratoglou. We won’t see a really competitive tour until Zverev and Tsitsipas man up from under their fathers and get a proper coach.
let alone the offensive potential a short slice would have with his volleying and FH.
Hell even if he could slice back some BH returns instead of sending them into the 15th row it would be an improvement. He does have real potential as much as I think he is a snide cheater and dislike him. The kid has 6+ Slam potential as he’s easily the best on clay of the NextGen.
However he is having a garbagio year post RG and looks to have completely lost his confidence. Will be interesting to see how the rest of his year goes.
Either way the last person on earth who will help him is that clown Mouratoglou. We won’t see a really competitive tour until Zverev and Tsitsipas man up from under their fathers and get a proper coach.
He was working on it at the US Open. It is bad. We all know. It is his grip on slice. Not sure why he does not change it when slicing. Maybe it affects his normal backhand :shrug:. With that grip the balls pops up or floats - it needs to stay low and bite. He can still manipulate his wrist or angle to have a decent slice with that grip but it is tough.
Not all players have good slices. Have you seen Med's? Many players including big 3 develop parts of the game later in life. Remember Djokovic's serve or his takeback on forehand? Nadal perfected his backhand slice later on. Have you seen Kerber's shots? - all of them weird and she's won slams.
S
Slicehand
Guest
Yeah, but those players dont need slice as much as tsitsipas, it woul be so beneficial for his game, more so than all the players you mentioned i think
guanzishou
G.O.A.T.
He needs a heavier racquet for a better slice.
mike danny
Bionic Poster
Slice for a 1HBH player is pretty crucial. More so than for a 2 hander.
mike danny
Bionic Poster
Has a worse looking slice than Djokovic LOL.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
Djokovic's slice isn't that ideal to look at it, but it is very effective nonetheless.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
Thiem sliced and diced Medvedev to a straight sets beat down in the 2020USO by mainly using his BH slice to break his rhythm and force errors. Med has made a huge improvement in his slice this year. If Tsitsipas acknowledges his weakness and works hard on it, he can likely improve his slice significantly - but, he and his dad might be too arrogant to think he needs to improve.
Permitlady
Professional
I saw a clip of Montelgoulu coaching Tsitsipis's slice, telling him to hit the outside of the ball. In practice they were looking good. In the game he is just a tight mess.
The slice has a lag for a moment before you pull it through. Try telling that to a pro with a successful stiff armed backhand drive.
The slice has a lag for a moment before you pull it through. Try telling that to a pro with a successful stiff armed backhand drive.
STRONGSTYLE
Rookie
A pretty one dimensional player, Stef is.
Keizer
Hall of Fame
He hired Mouratoglou to help him get better at social media methinks.
Omega_7000
Legend
Even with his pathetic slice, his backhand overall is still better than the pathetic pos backhand that Berrettini possess!
S
Slicehand
Guest
For sure, his backhand is very good, its just that i think ive never seen a one hander with such a bad slice
junior74
Talk Tennis Guru
Nah, it looks better! but Novak's slice is very good, stays low and he can also add sidespin to it. It just looks a little out of balance, so closer to Tsitsipas' serve in terms of awkwardness
goldengate14
Professional
His grip is wrong. He hits under the ball not slice under and through. He floats the ball . It is a very poor shot.
S
Slicehand
Guest
How can a pro, specially one as concern with technique as tsitsipas, grip a backhand slice wrong? Its beyond my undertanding, an i dont think switching grips for the backhand is an excuse at all, i just think he doesnt have the fundamentals in this shot, im not even talking about using it smartly, thats going further, im just talking about how he cant hit a good clean slice from static position... anyway
Start da Game
Hall of Fame
only player in the history who can hit a drop slice but not a regular slice.......
Yeah, he tries to put so much topspin on his backhand that it becomes an inoffensive rallying shot.
Dude, his forehand slice is very underrated and surprisingly effective at resetting points.
TennisNiche
Rookie
His topspin BH is fine for rallying - it has undergone one of the sternest tests in tennis (Nadal on clay) and come out OK for the most part.
He desperately needs a better slice and blocked return. As socallefty and Kralingen have pointed out, he is handicapping himself by relying on a topspin drive for 90% of his backhand shots and neglecting the other side.
I think if he could improve three relatively small areas - his ball toss; slice return; and rally slice backhand - he could conceivably win 6-8 slams. Without these improvements I think he's only going to win 1-3 titles at Roland Garros.
He desperately needs a better slice and blocked return. As socallefty and Kralingen have pointed out, he is handicapping himself by relying on a topspin drive for 90% of his backhand shots and neglecting the other side.
I think if he could improve three relatively small areas - his ball toss; slice return; and rally slice backhand - he could conceivably win 6-8 slams. Without these improvements I think he's only going to win 1-3 titles at Roland Garros.
TennisNiche
Rookie
Does not appear to be a true continental grip
S
Slicehand
Guest
Wow it definetly isnt, i never tought it was true that he used a bad grip, but there you go, no wonder his strange swing
Does not appear to be a true continental grip
MeatTornado
Talk Tennis Guru
Makes sense that it floats so much then
Does not appear to be a true continental grip
TennisNiche
Rookie
Hurcacz has an great driven backhand but he’s hitting 35% slice against Dimitrov in the first set and it’s working well
No excuse for tsitipas, he needs to develop this aspect of his game
No excuse for tsitipas, he needs to develop this aspect of his game
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
It's really bizarre since the slice BH is one of the easiest strokes in tennis. Even untalented hackers can hit a decent slice.
Good overhead too
beltsman
G.O.A.T.
Does not appear to be a true continental grip
Disgusting
that's interesting ... looks like an eastern BH grip with the fingers close together, but rotated one bevel over? what grip does he hit volleys with, then? serves?
Does not appear to be a true continental grip
Tshooter
G.O.A.T.
TennisNiche
Rookie
Stefanos hit a few decent slices today, mixed in with some absolute howlers. If he had a slice which was even at the level of Rafa, it would be a huge improvement.
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