Why is Berrettini good on grass?

[Break To Win]

Because I see him as a claycourter. At least he plays like a claycourter, not a grass court specialist

In the same way I can't understand why Djokovic won 7 Wimbledon titles, when this one is a pusher

Okay, grass courts aren't like they were in the 1990s, and there's also the fact that they use bigger, heavier balls, and also modern equipment.

If it were in the 1980s-90s, I wouldn't have been able to see Djokovic winning Wimbledon, much less Berrettini reaching the third round of the tournament.

 

[ppma]

In the same way I can't understand why Djokovic won 7 Wimbledon titles, when this one is a pusher

I am already seeing the fireworks to come.

 

[Dane_is_Finnish_OJ]

The grass in Stuttgart is deadly fast. Berrettini is good on grass because of his 1-2 combination. Deadly serve, fast forehand. That stuff works.

 

[TheSlicer]

Simplistic view makes you think that, i still dont see how berretini plays a Clay court Game though

 

[BumElbow]

Berrettini plays attacking tennis and has a good slice backhand. On grass he is comfortable and confidant from his excellent showings. The grass court season is so short that few players and confidant and comfortable on it. Berrettini and Draper are my favorites to win Wimbledon this year. The final tomorrow featuring both of them will be very telling.

 

[TheGoldenEra1990’s]

Part of it is because of everyone else has been so bad on grass for the last 20 plus years

 

[Dunlop300g]

The grass in Stuttagart is deadly fast. Berrettini is good on grass because of his 1-2 combination. Deadly serve, fast forehand. That stuff works.

Exactly! Big serve! Big Forehand. Great server + 1. And a few months ago he was playing challengers in Arizona! Also Berrettini ... Big Heart! He's getting it done!

 

[dkmura]

Grass is a unique surface, and as others have said, playing attacking tennis is the key. Berrettini doesn't hesitate to come in a lot behind that slice BH and close out the point at net. combine that with a good serve and big FH and that's a good combo for grass.

 

[DjokoLand]

Big serve, big FH. As the comment above says it’s the same reason most the South American players are poor on grass as they rely on long rallies with high bounce.

Bublik, Brown, Isner and plenty more have been great on grass while being non existent on clay due to the fact they are big servers with massive groundstrokes and will move forward to end the point. Grass favours the one two punch and attacking tennis due to the speed and low bounce.

From playing tennis for years there is no surface close to grass it is unique. If you play on HC some will play slow and high bounce which is close to clay but even the fast HC is not like Grass.

You need to be either an elite player Djokodal or a big server with a top FH and net skills to be great on grass ie Pete and Fed

 

[beltsman]

It's not JUST his great serve and FH. He has a good slice, nice touch, the grass hides his movement issues, and he feels comfortable on it.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Berrettini and Draper are my favorites to win Wimbledon this year.

Maybe in the WTA division.

Surely this is a joke?? Jack Draper winning Wimbledon is a hilarious prediction. He's never won a single pro event and has never made it past the second round at Wimbledon!

You might as well predict 85 year old Rod Laver will win it. Berrettini also has 0 chance though he's a much better player than Draper on grass (and everywhere else).

 

[vokazu]

Because I see him as a claycourter. At least he plays like a claycourter, not a grass court specialist

In the same way I can't understand why Djokovic won 7 Wimbledon titles, when this one is a pusher

Okay, grass courts aren't like they were in the 1990s, and there's also the fact that they use bigger, heavier balls, and also modern equipment.

If it were in the 1980s-90s, I wouldn't have been able to see Djokovic winning Wimbledon, much less Berrettini reaching the third round of the tournament.

Why did a pusher Served and Volleyed his way to US Open 2023 title?

This forum, SMH lol.

 

[MeatTornado]

No clay courter relies on a slice backhand

 

[BauerAlmeida]

With his serve and return combo Djokovic would do well in any era.

 

[vokazu]

Because I see him as a claycourter. At least he plays like a claycourter, not a grass court specialist

In the same way I can't understand why Djokovic won 7 Wimbledon titles, when this one is a pusher

Okay, grass courts aren't like they were in the 1990s, and there's also the fact that they use bigger, heavier balls, and also modern equipment.

If it were in the 1980s-90s, I wouldn't have been able to see Djokovic winning Wimbledon, much less Berrettini reaching the third round of the tournament.

Maybe Federer is a pusher because he sliced a lot of return on the backhands, while Djokovic drives the backhand returns most of the time.

 

[Milanez82]

Because I see him as a claycourter. At least he plays like a claycourter, not a grass court specialist

In the same way I can't understand why Djokovic won 7 Wimbledon titles, when this one is a pusher

Okay, grass courts aren't like they were in the 1990s, and there's also the fact that they use bigger, heavier balls, and also modern equipment.

If it were in the 1980s-90s, I wouldn't have been able to see Djokovic winning Wimbledon, much less Berrettini reaching the third round of the tournament.

Djokovic a pusher?

Fun fact

He hits harder(and more importantly deeper) then 99% of the tour.

 

[merwy]

Big serve, big forehand. Good backhand slice. Not good in long, grindish rally's. His backhand is a weakness (together with his movement kind of), but if he finishes the point in 2-3 shots, his opponent never gets the opportunity to abuse that.

 

[tudwell]

The grass in Stuttagart is deadly fast. Berrettini is good on grass because of his 1-2 combination. Deadly serve, fast forehand. That stuff works.

Also a genuinely good, low-skidding backhand slice, which he can also use to block back returns. His backhand isn’t good at producing its own pace but on fast courts he can block it and slice it with decent effectiveness.

 

[Dane_is_Finnish_OJ]

Also a genuinely good, low-skidding backhand slice, which he can also use to block back returns. His backhand isn’t good at producing its own pace but on fast courts he can block it and slice it with decent effectiveness.

Yes, and he has a decent volley plus great reach.

 

[tudwell]

Yes, and he has a decent volley plus great reach.

I’ll admit I haven’t really seen too much of him in a while, but as I recall when he was a top player – I guess it’s not so much that he was a poor net player as it was he simply didn’t come to net. Lot of points I felt he could have finished at net but would rather stand back and try to blast another forehand. That’s my memory of him, at least. It’s possible the stats tell a different story.

 

[Sudacafan]

Part of it is because of everyone else has been so bad on grass for the last 20 plus years

Yes, and everyone on clay except for Nadal.
Sad.

 

[Sudacafan]

Big serve, big FH. As the comment above says it’s the same reason most the South American players are poor on grass as they rely on long rallies with high bounce.

Bublik, Brown, Isner and plenty more have been great on grass while being non existent on clay due to the fact they are big servers with massive groundstrokes and will move forward to end the point. Grass favours the one two punch and attacking tennis due to the speed and low bounce.

From playing tennis for years there is no surface close to grass it is unique. If you play on HC some will play slow and high bounce which is close to clay but even the fast HC is not like Grass.

You need to be either an elite player Djokodal or a big server with a top FH and net skills to be great on grass ie Pete and Fed

South American 70’s player, clay court specialist Guillermo Vilas, once said that grass is for cows.
They say he said that after he won his only year-end Masters in 1974 on Melbourne grass.
And he has also won 2 back to back AO’s in 1978 and 1979, albeit in times when most of top players did not participate in the AO

 

[helterskelter]

Berrettini is actually good on clay; too. For the most part, he is one of those players whose weakest surface is hard, especially slow hard. Steffi Graf is the classic of this type. Slice backhands work better on clay than on slow hard courts.

 

[CHillTennis]

Because I see him as a claycourter. At least he plays like a claycourter, not a grass court specialist

In the same way I can't understand why Djokovic won 7 Wimbledon titles, when this one is a pusher

Okay, grass courts aren't like they were in the 1990s, and there's also the fact that they use bigger, heavier balls, and also modern equipment.

If it were in the 1980s-90s, I wouldn't have been able to see Djokovic winning Wimbledon, much less Berrettini reaching the third round of the tournament.

Andre Agassi with an injured wrist took Pete Sampras to 5 sets at Wimbledon.

If he could do it then why couldn't Djokovic win their once?

 

[SonnyT]

Berrettini is very similar to Roddick. Both have terrific serves, have no BH, and are terrible at net.

Federer defeated Roddick 3 times at WB finals; Djokovic defeated Berrettini once.

 

[Ray Mercer]

Underrated slice for sure

 

[mental midget]

It's not JUST his great serve and FH. He has a good slice, nice touch, the grass hides his movement issues, and he feels comfortable on it.

yep. best surface for him, maximizes those strengths. he has nice touch, and and a great slice which on grass is a nice way to cover up his weaker wing. serve is great of course, and he's good at moving forward and putting away those +1s that drop short.

 

[mental midget]

Djokovic a pusher?

Fun fact

He hits harder(and more importantly deeper) then 99% of the tour.

yeah, hardly a pusher, just a 'doesn't miss-er', really. so freaking solid off the ground.

 

[mental midget]

Maybe in the WTA division.

Surely this is a joke?? Jack Draper winning Wimbledon is a hilarious prediction. He's never won a single pro event and has never made it past the second round at Wimbledon!

You might as well predict 85 year old Rod Laver will win it. Berrettini also has 0 chance though he's a much better player than Draper on grass (and everywhere else).

he could get through a few rounds though, agree unlikely champion but he has game for sure.

 

[MichaelNadal]

I really love the way grass makes you play
Some guys games are just made for it and they get to shine. Others have to adjust and it's fun.

 

[Angrybirdstar]

Maybe Federer is a pusher because he sliced a lot of return on the backhands, while Djokovic drives the backhand returns most of the time.

Player	Return Slice %	1st Return Slice %	2nd Return Slice %
Novak Djokovic	18.9	25.1	8.9
Roger Federer	16.6	24.3	6.9

 

[MichaelNadal]

Player	Return Slice %	1st Return Slice %	2nd Return Slice %
Novak Djokovic	18.9	25.1	8.9
Roger Federer	16.6	24.3	6.9

Where do these numbers come from? lol

 

[TheSlicer]

Player	Return Slice %	1st Return Slice %	2nd Return Slice %
Novak Djokovic	18.9	25.1	8.9
Roger Federer	16.6	24.3	6.9

Thats just not possible, maybe those are stats from one tournament alone or something like that?

 

[junior74]

Where do these numbers come from? lol

Must be true. It's written black on white

 

[Angrybirdstar]

Where do these numbers come from? lol

Thats just not possible, maybe those are stats from one tournament alone or something like that?

Must be true. It's written black on white

Tennis Abstract: Match Charting Project: Men's Return Leaders: Career

easiest way to directly compare Djokovic and Federer (i.e. see where they are statistically closest) is to sort by 1st RiP W%

edit: i forgot that the slice % stats are based only on returns in play, so the most likely explanation (especially for the 2nd return numbers) is that Federer attempted slice returns more often but a good chunk of those slices failed to go in play

 

[vokazu]

It's the tattoos on his arm. Tattooed arm players reached Wimbledon Final or won Wimbledon (Kyrgios, Marketa, Berrettini)

 

[ibbi]

Great 1-2 punch. His slice backhand that proves such trouble for him on other surfaces works out better for him on grass, and, for whatever reason, he knows how to move on the surface, which, for whatever reason... Not everyone does.

The answer to this question with most people today seems to me to be simply that very few people know how to play on the surface, so the few who do look like gods. Djokovic improving his serve in 2015 has helped him a huge amount there. You look how less consistently strong/dominant he was there between 2011-14. That was the key change. He straight-up escaped with the title in 2014. 2015 he was immense.

 

[GAS]

Because I see him as a claycourter.

That seems to be a you problem.

 

[ultimathule]

Homogenization of surfaces meant you excelled in grass if you had a ground game. Add to that the heart of a champ, and it's small wonder Djokovic was as great as he was on it. (He valued Wimbledon above all others.) Another thing the modern game rewards is the big serve big forehand combo. Berrettini has that plus an excellent slice bh, which is still effective on grass, and you have the perfect storm of a very good grass game.

 

[RS]

Good serve FH. Berrettini isn't good on grass anymore though.

 

[BumElbow]

Maybe in the WTA division.

Surely this is a joke?? Jack Draper winning Wimbledon is a hilarious prediction. He's never won a single pro event and has never made it past the second round at Wimbledon!

You might as well predict 85 year old Rod Laver will win it. Berrettini also has 0 chance though he's a much better player than Draper on grass (and everywhere else).

Hello? Berrettini and Draper are playing in the final of the Boss Open in Stuttgart today! They are 2 of the best players on grass and - don't forget - Djokovic probably won't be playing Wimbledon this year. Other Wimbledon contenders this year are Alcaraz and Dimitrov.

 

[Dane_is_Finnish_OJ]

Yes, and everyone on clay except for Nadal.
Sad.

EVERYBODY SUCKS!

 

[Dane_is_Finnish_OJ]

Good serve FH. Berrettini isn't good on grass anymore though.

He's doing fine me thinks. He's going to win Stuttgart again.
Edit: Oh, he didn't. Draper played pretty well and deserved it. Bit of a surprise.

 

[RF-18]

Berrettinis best on grass Is a super player. He is about to add another grass title.

 

[Sudacafan]

EVERYBODY SUCKS!

That's a given.

 

[tudwell]

Player	Return Slice %	1st Return Slice %	2nd Return Slice %
Novak Djokovic	18.9	25.1	8.9
Roger Federer	16.6	24.3	6.9

This has to be some kind of weird categorization issue. There’s simply no way Djokovic slices more second serve returns than Federer – certainly not on the backhand side. I can’t think of a single match where I’ve seen Novak slice almost a tenth of his second serve returns, but I can think of plenty of matches where Federer sliced a ton of his – like a quarter or more.

Edit: I do imagine Djokovic chips more on the forehand side, and that probably makes up some ground in the overall numbers. But those second serve return numbers just don’t pass the sniff test at all.

 

[Daniel Andrade]

Because I see him as a claycourter. At least he plays like a claycourter, not a grass court specialist

In the same way I can't understand why Djokovic won 7 Wimbledon titles, when this one is a pusher

Okay, grass courts aren't like they were in the 1990s, and there's also the fact that they use bigger, heavier balls, and also modern equipment.

If it were in the 1980s-90s, I wouldn't have been able to see Djokovic winning Wimbledon, much less Berrettini reaching the third round of the tournament.

In the 80's they would OBVIOUSLY play a different game. Lmao.

Is it only me that senses OP's question to come from salt and cope?

 

[Daniel Andrade]

Player	Return Slice %	1st Return Slice %	2nd Return Slice %
Novak Djokovic	18.9	25.1	8.9
Roger Federer	16.6	24.3	6.9

Source?

 

[ojo rojo]

Maybe in the WTA division.

Surely this is a joke?? Jack Draper winning Wimbledon is a hilarious prediction. He's never won a single pro event and has never made it past the second round at Wimbledon!

You might as well predict 85 year old Rod Laver will win it. Berrettini also has 0 chance though he's a much better player than Draper on grass (and everywhere else).

This didn't age well.
Draper just defeated Berrettini for the Stuttgart trophy

 

[Mainad]

Maybe in the WTA division.

Surely this is a joke?? Jack Draper winning Wimbledon is a hilarious prediction. He's never won a single pro event and has never made it past the second round at Wimbledon!

You might as well predict 85 year old Rod Laver will win it. Berrettini also has 0 chance though he's a much better player than Draper on grass (and everywhere else).

Nice bit of anti-jinxing there!