bjk
Hall of Fame
Watching Sam play and his big serve and big forehand and solid backhand, it's hard to understand why his results are so mediocre. Considering that he's a much better athlete than Raonic, why is Raonic 3 and Querrey 30?
My best guess is that Sam goes for too many first serves and should go for bigger second serves or improve his second serve.
Comparing Raonic and Q:
Stats Aces DF 1% 1W 2W 2WinP Hold Brk
Sam 16% 4% 58% 80% 50% 56% 84% 17%
Milo 17% 4% 64% 79% 55% 62% 90% 19%
These stats are pretty surprising. Raonic wins more 2nd points in play (62-56%) and more breaks on return (19-17%). How can that be? Raonic is a total klutz who has a very iffy backhand. I don't get how he is beating Q off the ground. Objectively, his groundstrokes and movement are inferior.
On the serve, Raonic gets more 1st serves in and converts more 2nd serve points in play. Clearly Sam is going for more of his first serves which means he's relying more on his 2nd serve *but he is no good on second serve.* Sam needs to get more 1st serves in play and rely more on his serve-forehand combo instead of going for aces. He needs to improve his second serve, which is really no better than the avg second serve on tour. In general, the worse your second serve, the more first serves you need to get in. Sam goes for too many aces, and every ace/first serve fault is a missed opportunity to use his serve/forehand combination, which is his best pattern. He's like a fastball pitcher going for strikeouts and gives up too many hits when he's behind in the count. Get more first serves in and don't get in the position of defending serve on second serve. Sam may also get into situations where the score is 30-40 and he has no choice but to roll a second serve in. If he got more first serves in, he wouldn't get into as many 30-40 points. Sam wins 64% of first serves in play vs. 62% for Raonic (assuming that all aces come on first serves).
Sam likes easy points, that's why he likes aces. If he was willing to work a little harder on first serve, he wouldn't have to rely as much on his inferior second serve.
My best guess is that Sam goes for too many first serves and should go for bigger second serves or improve his second serve.
Comparing Raonic and Q:
Stats Aces DF 1% 1W 2W 2WinP Hold Brk
Sam 16% 4% 58% 80% 50% 56% 84% 17%
Milo 17% 4% 64% 79% 55% 62% 90% 19%
These stats are pretty surprising. Raonic wins more 2nd points in play (62-56%) and more breaks on return (19-17%). How can that be? Raonic is a total klutz who has a very iffy backhand. I don't get how he is beating Q off the ground. Objectively, his groundstrokes and movement are inferior.
On the serve, Raonic gets more 1st serves in and converts more 2nd serve points in play. Clearly Sam is going for more of his first serves which means he's relying more on his 2nd serve *but he is no good on second serve.* Sam needs to get more 1st serves in play and rely more on his serve-forehand combo instead of going for aces. He needs to improve his second serve, which is really no better than the avg second serve on tour. In general, the worse your second serve, the more first serves you need to get in. Sam goes for too many aces, and every ace/first serve fault is a missed opportunity to use his serve/forehand combination, which is his best pattern. He's like a fastball pitcher going for strikeouts and gives up too many hits when he's behind in the count. Get more first serves in and don't get in the position of defending serve on second serve. Sam may also get into situations where the score is 30-40 and he has no choice but to roll a second serve in. If he got more first serves in, he wouldn't get into as many 30-40 points. Sam wins 64% of first serves in play vs. 62% for Raonic (assuming that all aces come on first serves).
Sam likes easy points, that's why he likes aces. If he was willing to work a little harder on first serve, he wouldn't have to rely as much on his inferior second serve.
Last edited: