Laurie's Tennis articles

As you know by now, Jo Wilfried Tsonga made a great comeback in the Wimbledon quarterfinal against Roger Federer.  Tsonga lost the first two sets 6-4 and 7-6 but fought back to win the next three sets 6-4 6-4 6-4.  It was the manner of Tsonga’s comeback which was really impressive.  Federer played a good match and his level didn’t actually drop much, but Tsonga stuck to his principles and style of play and got his reward as a result. Meanwhile Federer probably played too passive which he is prone to do often. The style of play which could be described as attacking tennis, is a rare sight in the mens game today.  We hear the phrase “aggressive Tennis” a lot but certainly not attacking Tennis.  Aggressive tennis can be described as taking the game to your opponent, that usually means big groundstrokes off both wings and a big first serve.    The majority of players have adopted this strategy over the last 10 years.  Examples...

I recently read a very interesting comment on ATP website attributed to Rafael Nadal about the difference in Tennis today and Tennis in the 1990s.  Nadal is quoted as saying “Personally, to watch a Pete Sampras versus Goran Ivanisevic match, or one between those kind of players, is not enjoyable.  It's not really tennis, it is a few swings of the racquet. It was less eye-catching than what we do now. Everyone enjoys the tennis we play much more. I am not saying we are playing better tennis, just more enjoyable tennis. For me, in the past it was just serve, serve, serve." That’s a very interesting comment from a current number 1 player in the world.  It is also a comment either by design or not, which denigrates a whole era of Tennis.  Not only that, but for the younger generation, it would paint the impression that every player from that time period were just good at serving and nothing else. Now for slightly older Tennis fans who have been watching Tennis for m...

With Wimbledon upon us for another year, it would be interesting to take a look at some of the best players who excelled at Wimbledon but never managed to lift the trophy in the last 30 years. Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl had a very good grass court record. He made it to two finals in 1986 and 1987, plus the semifinals in 1983, 1984, 1988, 1989, and 1990. You won’t get a much better record than that. Plus, there have been players who have won Wimbledon with nowhere near as good an overall record of wins. Lendl lost in straight sets to a brilliant Boris Becker in 1986 and Pat Cash in 1987. Lendl had many attributes to win Wimbledon, including a big serve plus athleticism, but the criticism was that he changed his game for grass by serving and volleying when he should have played his natural game instead. This critique is tough because back then everyone came to the net, and the grass courts weren’t as playable for baseline tennis as they are now. Pat Rafter   Pat Raf...