Madrid ATP 1000

[jimlosaltos]

https://open.substack.com/pub/hughcl...droid&r=1t7zzc

My question has been answered. Ruud had a significant edge on Draper rpm wise on the forehands. That is something.

Thanks for sharing !

Here's one TennisViz table from the Clark Substac you linked to. What stands out to me is Ruud's forehand "usage" at 70% vs 45% for Draper. Ruud has long been, along with Stef Tsitsipas, the leading proponent of running around the backhand to hit inside-out forehands (ala Peak Fed). But Draper being down below tour average at 45% is a bit of a surprise. One reason is that his backhand is excellent BUT Draper beat Alcaraz and Rune to win Indian Wells but being extra aggressive at getting to his forehand from the backhand corner and hitting, I believe it was an amazing 51% inside-in. Not Sunday. By choice or because of Ruud's forehand?

As for Ruud averaging 10% more on his forehand, sometimes averages deceive. I suspect that when both players went for a big heavy forehand, Draper had as much or more RPMs than Ruud. But Ruud hit some slow spinners to push Draper back and change pace, while Draper flatted out more forehands.

To me, the difference was Ruud serving better and with more variety than I've ever seen from him. Secondly, Ruud came up with special shots on big points -- the biggest being the topspin, lob return of serve from the back wall against a serving-and-volleying Draper to steal the first set. Gutsy & brilliant. Literally sprinted back during Draper's motion.

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[stotty]

That's interesting. On the ground level rallies they sometimes showed during the final (wish they showed more), it looked like Draper was hitting with significantly more clearance than Ruud, which suggests (could be wrong) more rpm's.

I found Ruud the more natural clay courter of the two; he's really well balanced and moves a little better on clay than Draper.

[jimlosaltos]

That's interesting. On the ground level rallies they sometimes showed during the final (wish they showed more), it looked like Draper was hitting with significantly more clearance than Ruud, which suggests (could be wrong) more rpm's.

I found Ruud the more natural clay courter of the two; he's really well balanced and moves a little better on clay than Draper.

Here's a highlight video by TennisTV from that ground level perspective. YouTube 4:52 min. You really get a sense of the pace of the game

The way the camera pans makes this better than most of these. I'm not sure if they've got some amazing dolly/ track to scoot a small camera back and forth OR it's done digitally, merging several cameras images. The tone at points makes it look like the latter.