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June 14th, 2016

14/6/2016

2 Comments

 
Can Lendl help Murray to beat Djokovic at Wimbledon?
The French Open final provided yet another example of the challenges Murray has in winning against Novak in a Grand Slam final! The Rome Masters win gave us all hope but once again "the machine" proved to be too good when it came to the crunch in a best of 5 set final.
So, can Lendl help Andy beat Novak? I'm not sure it's possible for any player to beat him in a Grand Slam final as by then he is totally ready and when performing at anywhere near his best he doesn't have any obvious weaknesses.
However, I'm sure Andy/Lendl will be thinking otherwise (obviously) and planning their strategy even at this early stage. Yes, Murray would need to make the final but any changes he makes to his game would have to be worked on both on the practice court and more importantly in matches. Queens will give us a chance to see if any changes are being made.
So, what might be the solution? In recent Grand Slam finals with Novak I felt that Andy wasn't able to maintain the necessary fitness levels but why should this be? Andy is considered to be one of the fittest players in the world so why should he get tired?
Do his emotional outbursts at himself, and in recent times towards his box, have a tiring effect on his physiological output? When playing everyone except Novak his constant rants don't seem to have such a negative impact on his energy levels? It seems that since Becker appeared on the scene Novak is much better at handling his emotions in the critical stages. The results speak for themselves.
To have any chance of beating Djokovic, Andy's concentration needs to be at the highest possible level especially in the clutch moments and I will be interested to see if his ranting continues under Lendl. I would imagine that abuse of his team box will be out of the question as it was when Lendl was there previously. The emotional calm Andy displayed when winning Wimbledon and during the final set of his US open win remain in my mind as his ideal performance state. So, can Lendl help him get into that state once again?
I'm certainly looking forward to watching Murray's wonderful tennis abilities without the boring negative self talk. Okay Mr Lendl over to you.........
​

What can we learn from Lopez & Lopez winning the French Open doubles?
Feliciano and Marc Lopez are not brothers but play together as if they were and compliment each others style of play.

They have different strengths with Feliciano a great serve/volley player and Marc a wonderful shot maker from the back of the court. Club players can learn so much about strategy and court coverage from them as they play one up one back often just like many club players.

During our Special Hosted Weeks we always do a doubles clinic and focus mainly on the one up & one back format. I find myself speaking about Marc Lopez  as one of my favourite exponents of this particular style as the predominantly baseline player. Who says you can't win from the back in doubles especially on a clay court?

So just what can we learn from the Lopez boys?

1/ Being good friends both on & off the court helps a lot!
2/ Try to find a partner who compliments your game style i.e. a strong serve/volleyer plus a good baseliner with great court craft utilising all areas of the court can be a powerful combination.
3/ This is their first season together and they won the first event they entered and now a grand slam! So this tells us that if you can learn the basic strategies of doubles (re your game style) and combine this with someone who compliments your style, winning can happen fairly quickly.

The great thing about doubles is that you can try loads of tactics in order to win a match but always play to your individual strengths and find someone you get on well with who will support you no matter what happens!


Trapani Hosted Week
May 22nd to 29th

Our recent hosted week in Trapani , Sicily was a huge success - so much so that we had 2 famous players attend. Can you guess which 2 famous Grand Slam winners the above 2 ladies are thought to be?


Ian & Laura Special Hosted Weeks for 2016
Here is a list of what's left on our Special Hosted Weeks & for more information please click HERE 
  • Florence (Tuscany) - July 16th to 23rd - Adults Only - 1 space left
  • Florence (Tuscany) - July 23rd to 30th July - All Welcome - 8 spaces left
  • Lucca (Tuscany) - August 20th to 27th - All Welcome - 3 spaces left
  • Lucca (Tuscany) - August 27th to September 3rd - Adults Only - 3 spaces left
  • Sardinia - September 3rd to 10th - Adults Only - 5 spaces left 

String Tension in Cold/Warm Weather
 
Great news in Glasgow that we have had some warm weather for the first time in years but how does this affect the playability of our racquets? The French open posed not only fixture problems but tension dilemmas for all the players with the unusually cold damp conditions.
So what tension should you have in your racquet for varying conditions? In a bid to keep it simple I would advise going up or down tensions by 2-4lbs eg 

Normal tension -50lbs
Cold conditions - less 2-4lbs
Warm conditions - up 2-4lbs

This is a very simple guide and please remember your racquet will lose tension just sitting there but even more so in cooler temperatures. Pros have their racquets strung for every match and then change them every 8 games! Perhaps too costly for most of us, but if the ball is flying or it feels dead then get a restring suitable for the air temperature. The type of string also plays a part but if you have a string you like then stick to it and alter the tension.Always better a bit loose than tight as you will get more power and less shock to the arm.
2 Comments

A 2 Day O2 Experience

14/6/2016

3 Comments

 
Going for 2 days at the start of the World Tour Finals at the O2 gives you the opportunity to see all the players compete.
Seeing it live allows you to focus in on players in a way watching on the telly doesn’t. So without going into too much statistical analysis just what I did see/observe that may be of interest?

SINGLES
  • Murray – His focus & court coverage is just incredible and will be very difficult to beat. I would say now that he’ll win it and I’d love him to beat Novak in the final!

  • Djokovic – Observing him during the match with Raonic, I felt he was easily irritated and was in fact rude and impatient with the ball kids. Very disappointing to see and for me says something about his state of mind?
  • Stan – In his first match he appeared not to be interested and more or less gave up as a petulant kid would. With tickets costing up to £80 it is just not good enough!
  • Cilic – The worst pair of tennis shorts in the history of the game which made Murray’s combat green ones look positively trendy!
  • Nishikori – Played solid v Stan and seems motivated to finish as world No 3. So impressive how well he does with such a dodgy serve action. Love his attitude on court.
  • Thiem – Saw him Play Monfils and could see him as a future No 1 with such a big all round game.
  • Monfils –Always entertaining, but suspect under pressure. 3 double faults in his last service game to lose the match! Hits all the best shots but too many poor ones at important times.

  • Raonic – Still not convinced that mentally he is tough enough in the big moments. His reaction on errors at crucial stages is always to look towards his team which shows a lack of resilience in my view. Unless he improves his movement he will always be dangerous but unlikely to beat the top guys.
General Points
  • The use of the towel is just so boring when you see it live. I wish they would make the players get the towel themselves and put it back which may speed things up a bit. Raonic gets aced and asks for the towel!

  • Doubles - I really fear for the future of mens doubles on this type of court. Average rally length is 2-3 shots and very rarely do the crowd get involved. Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares are wonderful players, but watching them practice is much more fun than seeing a real match.

    On a clay court it is much more interesting as there are more rallies and 1 up 1 back play, but on medium to fast courts they are all just too good at serving and covering the net off returns.
  • Made me think that it might be a good idea to widen the court for mens doubles at this level making it more difficult for the net player to intervene thereby providing more rallies?
Sad to see the Bryan bros in decline. Their average 1st serve speed is down considerably – maybe due to injuries? Funny to see they both have strapping on their playing arms – even get injured together!
Murray and Soares to win but Kontinen and Peers outsiders if Peers can stay cool at crucial points.
 
  • O2 venue – This year they’ve taken away 2 of the 3 practice courts and much reduced the Tennis Fan Zone which was a highlight in my view. It’s a great shame and detracts from your visit on what is an expensive day out. I sincerely hope they will return to having 3 practice courts in particular.
 
  • Best coffee/food – The Craft Bar just outside the main entrance has by far the best cappuccino in the whole of the O2 plus great pizza and salads with free fizzy water!

3 Comments
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    Ian Campbell,
    ​Tuscan Tennis Holidays


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