ATP Finals

[stotty]

Medvedev squeezed through against the run of play at times. Not a pretty match in my view but then sometimes matches aren't.

[stroke]

Well done by Medvedev. He is a tough out, no doubt. As I said before, he is probably going to become the uneasiest on the eye #1 ever. And Thiem, I love his game and his attitude, but in my book, he has too much swinging out of his shoes head movement on his forehand. Like BG, I much prefer the ATP model type 3 forehand and the accompanying independent arm action.

[don_budge]

Nitto ATP Finals...ATP ???...London, England

Daniil Medvedev it is. The champion of the tour championships closing out the season for 2020. A strange year for sure. An even stranger tournament in some ways. But nevertheless it's in the books. A historic final as it is. Not necessarily the best played but not all that bad all things considered. Somehow it managed to keep my attention throughout from beginning to end with a few breaks in the middle. But so interesting...Dominic Thiem versus Daniil Medvedev. "Mr. Pencil" prevails. Tell me that the guy doesn't look like a pencil. Never mind...I don't need a second opinion.

He is a very, very interesting players. I can't quite label him one of the cookie cutter generation. He's got some quirks...a bit like Florian Mayer in that respect. As stroke astutely observed. Quirky Mr. Pencil. Take the forehand for instance. It isn't the classic looking stroke of Roger Federer. He doesn't appear to belt the ball as Dominic Thiem tried to hit the cover off the ball all match long...until Daniil decided that he shouldn't. This is the beauty of the Medvedev forehand. One might say that it isn't as powerful as Thiem's forehand but that would be one hasty judgement. After all...what is power? Here we go again...I can hear the eyes rolling. But it's true...power is control and control is various parts spin, placement and speed. Daniil chooses to play a flatter ball on the forehand and it doesn't appear that he hits as hard as some of the opponents but that is because he is getting more bang for the effort. His flat ball gets through the surface a bit quicker and it wouldn't surprise me to hear from his opponents that it is surprisingly heavy. HIs emphasis on placement is a bit more pronounced that Thiem's as well. Medvedev has some pretty fancy angles that takes his opponent out of position and the stroke is ultra reliable. He rarely misses.

The backhand is the strength in some respects. His defence is very sound and on the level of a Novak Djokovic backhand. Even when he is pulled way out of position he has the ability to throw in a neutraliser or a nothing burger that doesn't give the opponent much to swing at. As on the forehand side he is very, very secure and rarely makes an unforced error of this wing as goes the forehand. He hits a fair amount of spin but he seems to rely more on placement than on speed or spin. It's common thread in his game. He has built his game around the percentages. He is playing percentage tennis.

The serve is much the same...he consistently matched Thiem in the mph department with much less spin. Go figure. Which is more effective. It looked to me as if the Medvedev was more effective particularly when it came down to crunch time. Towards the end he was really forcing Thiem to play to his tempo as he was almost "quick-serving" Thiem into the locker room. Compare that tempo with the other two nitwits that have dominated the finals of all majors for the last years. Federer withstanding. This guy gets the ball from the kid and suddenly he is into his windup. The windup is no slo-mo job either. Suddenly the ball is right on top of you or even past you. He's deceptive...just as he is off of both ground stroke wings. It's tough to get into any kind of rhythm as he doesn't give you any.

I'm not done and this is the interesting part to Daniil "Mr. Pencil" Medvedev. He's a deep guy. He's a deep player. It isn't just strong gripped forehand, two handed backhand and a blast for a serve. Nope...he already blew that up in my first four paragraphs. What about that forehand volley? So many times he got the forehand volley off of his approach against Thiem. I think he went to the net at least 30% more than Dominic. But when he got that ball on the forehand he as all business. That is as good of a forehand volley that you are going to see on the tour, at least in the singles department. Time and time again he made the right choice on the volley whether he was drive volleying deep into the backhand corner or angling to the service box corner or even the more acute angle. Beautiful classic technique. The backhand was a totally different concept and at times it looks a bit homemade...but guess what? Very, very effective. Again...he is always playing the percentages.

Which leaves the best for last. See how I did that. The slice backhand! What in the hell was that??? That is one wild interpretation of a backhand slice and that shot will certainly not find it's way in the John Yandell backhand slice lesson. He was hitting a shot that he was completely coming from the outside of the ball and making a nasty swipe all the way across his body towards the opposite side of the court. Most unusual. You might see this kind of play as a gimmick from time to time. Some kind of hybrid backhand. But again...very, very effective and did exactly what it was designed to do. To neutralise the pulverising Thiem. Much of the more unusual shots came toward the end of the match as he was closing Thiem out. I noticed that he was using a bit more overspin on the forehand...which certainly did not have the elegance of a Federer or the bullish nature of a Nadal but guess what? It was very, very effective.

Do you notice a common thread through this analysis? It is very, very effective. The Daniil Medvedev game is very creative for a modern player. It doesn't seem to match up like the rest of them do. It makes him very difficult to read. Even emotionally this guy is very tough to read. Jeepers...he was down a set to both Nadal and Thiem and beat them both going away. Against Thiem it was almost as if he was racing to the locker room. He routined both Zverev, Schwartzman and Djokovic in earlier rounds. Very unusual tempo. Kept his opponent off balance while maintaining pressure on them. Who does that sound like? Uh oh...it is none other than Bill Tilden.

[don_budge]

o you notice a common thread through this analysis? It is very, very effective. The Daniil Medvedev game is very creative for a modern player. It doesn't seem to match up like the rest of them do. It makes him very difficult to read. Even emotionally this guy is very tough to read. Jeepers...he was down a set to both Nadal and Thiem and beat them both going away. Against Thiem it was almost as if he was racing to the locker room. He routined both Zverev, Schwartzman and Djokovic in earlier rounds. Very unusual tempo. Kept his opponent off balance while maintaining pressure on them. Who does that sound like? Uh oh...it is none other than Bill Tilden.

You know how I mention that tennis is metaphoring life. I know that I repeat myself. It's the nature of the coach. It's a mantra. If you keep repeating the student is eventually going to accept what you are preaching as true. But there is something enigmatic about Daniil Medvedev. He appears to be somewhat "quirky". Much in the same sense as one Florian Mayer appeared to be. He's a difficult read. One of the reason's is as I reference in the above quote what Bill Tilden wrote extensively about in match play and tennis psychology. I read this this morning and something about it seemed appropriate to the Medvedev personna.

"So a military force has no constant formation, water has no constant shape: the ability to gain victory by changing and adapting according to the opponent is called genius". ...Sun Tzu

Daniil Medvedev has the ability to constantly change shape. He was a totally different look against Thiem than when he started the match. That is genius. That was one interesting tournament. A splendid performance by Medvedev. The elusive Mr. Pencil.

[don_budge]

I would say that Daniil is a bit "Mercurial".

[doctorhl]

Anyone see any similarities here with Mecir and Medvedev(early contact, gliding footwork, angles/ placements, FH volley), even though match is on grass?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DvmthcDVXGI

[stroke]

I do see the similarities, but to me, the big cat's game is easier on the eyes.

[stotty]

Anyone see any similarities here with Mecir and Medvedev(early contact, gliding footwork, angles/ placements, FH volley), even though match is on grass?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DvmthcDVXGI

Some similarities...not many. Medvedev can serve while Mecir just popped it in and rarely served an ace. Mecir could really volley whereas Medvedev can't. One ability they both have is the ability to switch the direction of their ground shots. They both do this incredibly well although Mecir employed greater disguise. His passing shots were close to impossible to pick. Misdirection was a massive feature of Mecir's game.

I generally much prefer Mecir's court positioning and his all round movement is better. He moved beautifully in all areas of the court and not just laterally as is the case with many of today's players. He had amazing timing (best I have ever seen) and his time on the ball was just something else.

And, yes, Mecir was a hell of a lot easier on the eye.

[stroke]

https://europebetweeneastandwest.wordpress.com/2017/06/28/genius-cannot-be-taught-the-mystery-of-miloslav-mecir-a-sly-slovakian/

Very good article on Mecir.

[stotty]

https://europebetweeneastandwest.wor...sly-slovakian/

Very good article on Mecir.

Excellent article. The man was completely unique. The only other player that unique is McEnroe. And I could watch both players all day long...infinitely interesting.

[stroke]

Excellent article. The man was completely unique. The only other player that unique is McEnroe. And I could watch both players all day long...infinitely interesting.

I like unique a lot also. I guess that is why I was always particularly disappointed with the way Tomic seems to have let his career slip away. It is funny what Wilander said about the Big Cat. He said something similar about Mac one time in saying something like Mac can make you feel real stupid out there. Mercir definitely had some of that McEnroe genius.

[gtaapk]

Excellent article

[don_budge]

The Art of the Self Congratulations...don_budge and Donald J. Trump

Nitto ATP Finals...ATP ???...London, England

Daniil Medvedev it is. The champion of the tour championships closing out the season for 2020. A strange year for sure. An even stranger tournament in some ways. But nevertheless it's in the books. A historic final as it is. Not necessarily the best played but not all that bad all things considered. Somehow it managed to keep my attention throughout from beginning to end with a few breaks in the middle. But so interesting...Dominic Thiem versus Daniil Medvedev. "Mr. Pencil" prevails. Tell me that the guy doesn't look like a pencil. Never mind...I don't need a second opinion.

He is a very, very interesting players. I can't quite label him one of the cookie cutter generation. He's got some quirks...a bit like Florian Mayer in that respect. As stroke astutely observed. Quirky Mr. Pencil. Take the forehand for instance. It isn't the classic looking stroke of Roger Federer. He doesn't appear to belt the ball as Dominic Thiem tried to hit the cover off the ball all match long...until Daniil decided that he shouldn't. This is the beauty of the Medvedev forehand. One might say that it isn't as powerful as Thiem's forehand but that would be one hasty judgement. After all...what is power? Here we go again...I can hear the eyes rolling. But it's true...power is control and control is various parts spin, placement and speed. Daniil chooses to play a flatter ball on the forehand and it doesn't appear that he hits as hard as some of the opponents but that is because he is getting more bang for the effort. His flat ball gets through the surface a bit quicker and it wouldn't surprise me to hear from his opponents that it is surprisingly heavy. HIs emphasis on placement is a bit more pronounced that Thiem's as well. Medvedev has some pretty fancy angles that takes his opponent out of position and the stroke is ultra reliable. He rarely misses.

The backhand is the strength in some respects. His defence is very sound and on the level of a Novak Djokovic backhand. Even when he is pulled way out of position he has the ability to throw in a neutraliser or a nothing burger that doesn't give the opponent much to swing at. As on the forehand side he is very, very secure and rarely makes an unforced error of this wing as goes the forehand. He hits a fair amount of spin but he seems to rely more on placement than on speed or spin. It's common thread in his game. He has built his game around the percentages. He is playing percentage tennis.

The serve is much the same...he consistently matched Thiem in the mph department with much less spin. Go figure. Which is more effective. It looked to me as if the Medvedev was more effective particularly when it came down to crunch time. Towards the end he was really forcing Thiem to play to his tempo as he was almost "quick-serving" Thiem into the locker room. Compare that tempo with the other two nitwits that have dominated the finals of all majors for the last years. Federer withstanding. This guy gets the ball from the kid and suddenly he is into his windup. The windup is no slo-mo job either. Suddenly the ball is right on top of you or even past you. He's deceptive...just as he is off of both ground stroke wings. It's tough to get into any kind of rhythm as he doesn't give you any.

I'm not done and this is the interesting part to Daniil "Mr. Pencil" Medvedev. He's a deep guy. He's a deep player. It isn't just strong gripped forehand, two handed backhand and a blast for a serve. Nope...he already blew that up in my first four paragraphs. What about that forehand volley? So many times he got the forehand volley off of his approach against Thiem. I think he went to the net at least 30% more than Dominic. But when he got that ball on the forehand he as all business. That is as good of a forehand volley that you are going to see on the tour, at least in the singles department. Time and time again he made the right choice on the volley whether he was drive volleying deep into the backhand corner or angling to the service box corner or even the more acute angle. Beautiful classic technique. The backhand was a totally different concept and at times it looks a bit homemade...but guess what? Very, very effective. Again...he is always playing the percentages.

Which leaves the best for last. See how I did that. The slice backhand! What in the hell was that??? That is one wild interpretation of a backhand slice and that shot will certainly not find it's way in the John Yandell backhand slice lesson. He was hitting a shot that he was completely coming from the outside of the ball and making a nasty swipe all the way across his body towards the opposite side of the court. Most unusual. You might see this kind of play as a gimmick from time to time. Some kind of hybrid backhand. But again...very, very effective and did exactly what it was designed to do. To neutralise the pulverising Thiem. Much of the more unusual shots came toward the end of the match as he was closing Thiem out. I noticed that he was using a bit more overspin on the forehand...which certainly did not have the elegance of a Federer or the bullish nature of a Nadal but guess what? It was very, very effective.

Do you notice a common thread through this analysis? It is very, very effective. The Daniil Medvedev game is very creative for a modern player. It doesn't seem to match up like the rest of them do. It makes him very difficult to read. Even emotionally this guy is very tough to read. Jeepers...he was down a set to both Nadal and Thiem and beat them both going away. Against Thiem it was almost as if he was racing to the locker room. He routined both Zverev, Schwartzman and Djokovic in earlier rounds. Very unusual tempo. Kept his opponent off balance while maintaining pressure on them. Who does that sound like? Uh oh...it is none other than Bill Tilden.

Great post don_budge. Why thank you kindly don_budge. Those were some certainly poignant and thoughtful insights into the game and head of Daniil Medvedev. Let's see where was I...don_budge or don_budge.

Donald J. Trump is often criticised for his touting his accomplishments but I agree with him. The "Fake News" media doesn't serve an ounce of truth so he has to bring it up himself. At least 95% negative coverage in the media...you would think that all he does all day is go golfing and think of ways to destroy America. So he toots his own horn...as a last resort. Actually he tweets his own horn. It's genius.

Down below are two articles from the ATP website. Once in a while they get it right without a lot of propaganda. Daniil makes it a bunch easier because here is some fresh subject material and it is outside the box in terms of the relentless mind-numbing drivel being served up in the absence of Roger Federer. The guy has a mind of his own and is an individual. In the second article I quote him on the non-celebration after winning a match and more importantly the entire tournament. Just go up to the net and shake your opponents hand for God's sake. No drama Queens. This to me shows respect for his opponent, the audience and the great game of tennis as well. He is a breath of fresh air in many regards and first and foremost he doesn't move with the herd. To me this is rule number one. Be a man about it.

Without feeling the need to compare him to Miloslav Mecir or anyone else for that matter...I celebrate this fine young, individualistic gentlemen for his performance and I wish him nothing but good luck in the future. A fine young Russian example for all of his countrymen and to the tennis world itself. This is one tough hombre. I remember when he all but flipped off the New York crowd after they thought that they had given him a good going over in a very tough match that he eventually won. I love the rebellious underdog. The man with the conviction to stand his ground no matter what the odds are. Two million to one...okay. Bring it on. Mano to Mano...better yet.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/medv...-november-2020


https://www.atptour.com/en/news/medv...monday-feature

“Inside of me, there is a winner that maybe sometimes is a bit childish, but wants to win every match he plays," said Medvedev. "That is why when I am not playing good, I can be angry [with] myself for this, because that is why I lose matches. That is also part of my success, why I am where I am, but I am working hard because I know that the more calm you are, the most focussed you are on the goal, the better it is for [my] tennis.”

Medvedev has certainly mastered the art of keeping calm after converting match points. The 24-year-old made the decision last year to adopt a unique signature celebration: the non-celebration. While some fans may not like the Russian’s lack of emotion in milestone moments, Medvedev took the time to explain the thought process behind his decision.

“Last year I just decided that it is going to be my trademark,” said Medvedev. “A lot of people like it, some [do] not, but that is how I feel… When there are huge crowds when you win a big title or big matches against big opponents and you don’t celebrate, you actually have the opportunity to look around you and feel all the energy that is going around. All of this energy is for you. If you win a match, all of the applause goes to you. As an artist, as a tennis player, you can feel it all if you think about it.”

That's right Daniil...the herd is making big emotional productions of their wins after a match. It was the drama queen Andre Agassi who started all of this rather queer behaviour. But Daniil is a man about it. A good friend of mine told me that once...he said to me, "don_budge, sometimes you just have to be a man about it". I can live with that.

One person had the balls or the courtesy to like my post and I know who that was. I know it because of my ability to discern and to not only know who's who but what the score is at all times.

[stroke]

I like Medvedev's way of doing things and his "non celebration". I think Vince Lombardi once said regarding touchdown celebrations, "act like you have been there before".

[doctorhl]

“Speak softly and carry a big stick”. Teddy Roosevelt