Laver Cup San Francisco

[jimlosaltos]

We went to the pre-event "Open Practice", which was more "Savannah Bananas" than league play, if you're familiar with the Bananas. Lots of loud kids, nonstop
But it was fun, and energetic.

And, we got to see Carlos Alcaraz's white hair live for the first time. Whatttt ?

Much more later.

filedata/fetch?id=108389&d=1758238202&type=thumb

[jimlosaltos]

A tick before 8 PM the Laver Cup ended Red.
Demon was extraordinary.

Fritz beat both Zverev & Alcaraz.

https://lavercup.com/match/san-francisco-2025-match-12

filedata/fetch?id=108404&d=1758511366&type=thumb

[stroke]

Zverev definitely has scar tissue in his match up vs Fritz, as he should, he seems to have absolutely no answer for his woes vs Taylor. Taylor has a better 2nd serve, better fh, and his backhand is very close to Zverev's. Taylor is not a great volleyer, does not a good front court game(hands, etc.), but is certainly better than Zverev in those areas. Taylor got a great win over Alcaraz, Alcaraz was certainly not at his best, certainly Carlos at his best beats Fritz, but Taylor deserves his top 5 rank. He still could win a Major, but the window is definitely closing fast.

[jimlosaltos]

Zverev definitely has scar tissue in his match up vs Fritz, as he should, he seems to have absolutely no answer for his woes vs Taylor. Taylor has a better 2nd serve, better fh, and his backhand is very close to Zverev's. Taylor is not a great volleyer, does not a good front court game(hands, etc.), but is certainly better than Zverev in those areas. Taylor got a great win over Alcaraz, Alcaraz was certainly not at his best, certainly Carlos at his best beats Fritz, but Taylor deserves his top 5 rank. He still could win a Major, but the window is definitely closing fast.

Yes, totally BUT ... I heard on site that Zverev has back issues and spent much of one afternoon lying down on his back. Gutting it out. Doesn't negate your argument, just saying he was gutting it out. Lost pop on his first serve. Players were targeting his backhand, of all things.

Biggest revelation to me was Alex de Minaur. Late substitute won 7 of Team World's 16 points. I understand Coach Agassi (sounds strange to type) and Demon collaborated on his, dare I type this, Feder-esque tactics for the weekend -- low slices to no-man's land, then make big guys move diagonally. de Minaur returned great, moved spectacularly, but it wasn't nurf-and-turf. He ended as many rallies with winners as with opponent's errors.

By the end of matches you could see the big guys getting the yips -- "If I hit that half volley he'll be all over it, so I have to squeeze it a dime's width over the net and ... damn. Hit the net." Or "I'll change directions to end the rally! Mid-stroke "Oh, crap he'll get. I have to hit the line."

You could see the pressure building on de Minaur's opponents.

Then de Minaur would try the same shot -- take a heavy cross-court forehand from Mensik, Zverev, Ruud, Rune and flatten it out. Comes out of his shoes but with some margin. Left them standing flat footed over and over. Again, slow playing conditions.

[jimlosaltos]

Two quotes of interest. The players seemed struck by Alcaraz's redrop in a net face off.

“He comes up with the idea that I’m going to hit a drop shot when the other guy is actually like six feet away from me,” Federer said, shaking his head. “That type of confidence and inspiration is what obviously I admire with Carlos, that he’s able to take shots on that many, many other players would never dare to do, because they know they could maybe look silly or whatever. But he doesn’t care about that fact.”
-- Fed on Carlos.

"Carlos has 17 shots to his book. I say pick the one most likely to win. He picks the most difficult one and wins the point anyway."
-- Casper Ruud

[stotty]

Two quotes of interest. The players seemed struck by Alcaraz's redrop in a net face off.

“He comes up with the idea that I’m going to hit a drop shot when the other guy is actually like six feet away from me,” Federer said, shaking his head. “That type of confidence and inspiration is what obviously I admire with Carlos, that he’s able to take shots on that many, many other players would never dare to do, because they know they could maybe look silly or whatever. But he doesn’t care about that fact.”
-- Fed on Carlos.

"Carlos has 17 shots to his book. I say pick the one most likely to win. He picks the most difficult one and wins the point anyway."
-- Casper Ruud

Carlos has the best drop shot I’ve seen. He is equally good off both wings and can kill the ball stone dead. His opponents don’t seem to see them coming even though they know they must coming — in a game filed with incredibly athletes, that’s impressive.