What clay courts can do for your game.
Watching the clay court events so far reminds me of why I love clay court tennis so much. But just what is it that makes this surface so special and what can we learn from playing on it?

1. Clay is a natural, soft surface you can slide on which helps protect your body from injuries
2. All types of spin are more effective on clay, especially topspin and slice for drop shots
3. With a slow high bounce it is much more difficult to win a point than on any other surface
4. As a result, tennis is more physically demanding on clay due to the longer rallies and having to control your balance while sliding around
5. Players who may not possess big serves or massive forehands, but are good defensively and have a variety of shots and spins can still be extremely effective e.g. Diego Schwartzman
6. For any level of player it provides an opportunity to develop your technique with more time to set up, your strategy due to the chess-like nature of the surface, your physical side as the rallies are longer and of course the mental aspect as you must be extremely resilient.

MY CURRENT FAVOURITE CLAY COURT PLAYERS 
 
MEN Nadal & Murray – Nadal is just the King although Alcaraz is the young pretender and may soon dethrone him! Andy Murray on any court surface is always great to watch but on a clay court his variety of spins, drops, topspin lobs and ability to hoist the ball to the sky and land on the baseline when defending defies belief at this stage in his career.

LADIES It was Barty, but now that she has retired I'm really enjoying watching Raducanu on clay as she is such a great athlete who can slide, drop shot, change the rhythm and compete like crazy. When she becomes stronger I think that clay might be her best surface.

​SO WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN TO PLAY ON CLAY?
 
We still have some spaces on our Special Hosted Week in Florence from the 27th August until 3rd September.
Our Florence tennis venue is considered to be one of the best clubs in Italy with a beautiful setting and world class facilities - 

• A minimum of 20 hours of tennis including coaching, doubles clinic, video analysis, social tennis, a fun tournament with prizes PLUS free court time
• SUNDAY - Video analysis and two hours play (10am - 12 noon) & social tennis (3 - 5pm)
• An individual tennis goal sheet to work on during the week - discussed with you during the video analysis
• MONDAY - Two hours group coaching (10am - 12 noon) & doubles clinic (3 - 5pm) tactically based for all standards & group dinner in the evening (cost of dinner not included)
• TUESDAY - Two hours group coaching (10am - 12 noon) & social tennis with Ian Campbell providing tips (3 - 5pm)
• WEDNESDAY – 2 hours group coaching (10am - 12 noon) plus a guided walking tour of Florence in the afternoon. Group dinner in the evening in one of our favourite Florence restaurants (cost of dinner not included)  
• THURSDAY - Two hours group coaching (10am - 12 noon) Afternoon free or more tennis opportunities
• FRIDAY – Social tournament with Italians (10am – 1pm). Afternoon free for last minute shopping, cultural visits or more tennis! Awards dinner in the evening (cost of dinner not included)
• Extra free court time during the week
• Quality Italian lunch daily Sunday to Friday
• Use of the tennis club facilities which include 16 tennis courts (9 red clay courts, 2 Red Plus artificial clay courts, 3 hard courts, & 2 artificial grass courts), swimming pool (open from 1st of June until middle of September), plus a snack bar, bar/restaurant, fully equipped gym, Turkish bath, & sauna
• Complimentary Tuscan Tennis t-shirt
• Our insider guide to the best restaurants and bars in the area 

Click HERE for full info

ITALIAN OPEN PREDICTIONS
Men – Alcaraz is the man of the moment but Nadal is always the favourite.
Ladies – Difficult to predict as so many different winners in the women's game at the moment but Swiatek has to be the favourite with Sakkari & Halep close behind.
​
CAN MURRAY BEAT DJOKOVIC?
After watching Andy beat Shapovalov last night in Madrid I would say yes, especially that he will have a day's rest. It will be very interesting to see how they match up after such a long time playing each other and all that they have both been through in recent times.

It would seem that Novak is getting back on track, but Andy is now serving even better than he used to and is also able to defend well and get to drop shots. It's interesting to hear him talk about the hard work he's put in recently and in particular how pleased he is with his ability to get the drop shot back. If you didn't see the match last night please have a look at the highlights and one of the most incredible drop shot gets I have ever seen by Andy! The contrast between their match last year at Wimbledon and this one was startling.
I am so looking forward to seeing him play in Rome next week where Laura and I will be hosting 2 groups during the Italian open. The men's game at the moment has so many exciting players who will all be in Rome and I can't wait to see them all competing and hopefully get to see some of their practice sessions which can often be more interesting than a match. The prospect of seeing Alcaraz for the first time live will be amazing and if Raducanu continues to improve her clay court form (and avoids injury) it could be very interesting.

We will post some photos and keep you up to date with what's happening in the tournament plus of course where to eat!

Men's Game

In terms of quality, role models and box office attraction I would include the following players:

Alcaraz/Nadal/Tsitsipas/ Medvedev/Ruud/Berrettini/Rublev/
​Auger-Aliassime/Sinner/Norrie/Schwartzman/Hurkacz/Fritz/Korda

I've left out Djokovic as I don't see him as a role model anymore after the Australia fiasco and obviously Federer would be there if he comes back. There are lots of other players lower ranked on the men's tour who are also very exciting players and too many to mention. The Andy Murray comeback effort will also be extremely interesting and hopefully successful.

For me Alcaraz is a huge stand out in terms of becoming an iconic figure like Nadal or Federer. The game has been so lucky to have had perhaps the 2 greatest role models of all time over the past 20 years or so and at the moment Alcaraz is the most likely player that I can see coming anywhere close to the all round skills of Roger & Rafa. He has just about every shot going, moves like lightning, competes like an animal, stays calm under pressure and most importantly has great humility similar to Rafa. I would imagine that he has a great family but the influence of his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero cannot be overstated. Ferrero was another wonderful competitor with great humility.

If Sinner improves physically, then he would be my 2nd choice as a humble warrior with all the skills to develop into a great player. Medvedev has still to persuade me that he is worthy of being considered as a positive role model for kids but all the rest of the players that I've listed would appear to be relatively sane and humble in this hugely competitive environment.

Obviously with crowds coming back the game is getting back to normal with a much improved atmosphere which makes a huge difference when watching on TV.

Women's Game

Here is my list of players who in my opinion provide the best box office attraction:

Swiatek/Krejcikova/Osaka/Badosa/Sabalenka/Halep/Sakkari/Gauff/
Raducanu/Bencic/Fernandez

I must admit to preferring women's doubles to men's as it represents more of what your average club player is trying to achieve in the one up and one back style of play. Men's doubles has some interesting moments but is too often serve, return and one volley unless on a clay court where you see more rallies. And as much as I get the importance of communication it can become rather tedious to watch players covering their mouth and facing away from each other. Just how many players on the tour can lip read from 20 metres away?

Raducanu beating Fernandez in the US Open was one of the greatest ever sporting stories and brought a huge amount of attention to tennis and the women's game. Fortunately, Raducanu is a wonderful role model who I am sure will produce many other great results in her career, but we need to give her time. From the outside it's always easy to criticise and yes I have been a bit surprised at the amount of endorsements she has taken on which one could argue might be having a detrimental effect on her game. Let's wait and see what happens over the next few years as I'm sure she will improve physically and mentally to the rigours of the tour. When that happens she will be extremely competitive on all surfaces.

Ashley Barty leaving the game is a huge loss and a massive blow to women's tennis. All sports need personalities to attract people to the game and I'm looking forward to seeing if Swaitek, Raducanu, Gauff and Badosa can step up and fill the huge gap left by the departure of Barty?

Full polyester vs Full soft vs Hybrid?

The key point is that you (the player ) should decide and not the stringer or coach. By all means, be guided in the right direction but if finances permit try a few variations of string types & tensions to see what you like best.

In a nutshell:

1/ Full polyester for more spin and control but harder on the arm.

2/ Full soft strings for more feel and less loss of tension. Natural gut is the best but very expensive - only if you play in dry conditions and don't use too much spin as the strings won't last!

3/ A hybrid of polyester and a softer string which provides a mix of good spin, power, and feel

What do the top male players in the world use in terms of strings/tensions:

Novak Djokovic | Babolat VS Team Natural Gut / Luxilon ALU Power Rough 59/56lbs
Roger Federer | Wilson Natural Gut/Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power Rough 48.5/45lbs
Andy Murray | Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power/Babolat VS Touch 62lbs
Nick Kygrios |Yonex Poly Tour Pro 125 51lbs
Rafael Nadal | Babolat RPM Blast 130 55lbs
Gael Monfils | Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power 57/55lbs
Milos Raonic |Luxilon M2 44/46lb
Alexander Zverev | Babolat VS Touch/Head Hawk Touch 62lb
Roberto Bautista Agut | Luxilon Big Banger Original 57lb
Diego Schwartzman | Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power 50lbs
Out of this group of 10 players we have 6 using only polyester and the other 4 with a hybrid of polyester and a softer string. Tensions vary from 44/46lbs - Raonic to 62lbs - Zverev & Murray. Therefore, quite a variation in string types and combinations plus different ideas on tensions.
In general lower tensions provide more power and higher tensions more control. Polyester strings can be strung looser and still have decent control which is probably why all the players using polyester only are no higher than 55lbs - Nadal. (Rafa is one of the few players on tour who never changes his string tension no matter whatever the conditions are)
For young players and lower-level club players, a hybrid restring is generally better to help protect the arm and provide a bit more feel. If a mid-level or slightly older junior likes polyester I would advise no more than 50lbs again to protect the arm and provide easier power for slower racquet head speeds.
If you want a restring that doesn't lose tension quite so much then VS Gut would be the best but as I said previously it's very expensive and breaks easily.
Higher-level club players are probably the ones who will experiment a bit more to find out what suits them best and a huge consideration for aspiring young pros is the cost as they will break strings regularly no matter what the type of string they use! 
To sum up... try not to get too fanatical about strings as a good stringer should be able to guide you towards the most appropriate tension and string type for your level of play. The higher the level of player the more they will feel subtle differences. You will sometimes see pro players complaining to their team about string tensions in practice or during matches which can be genuine but can also be players looking for excuses. 
Find a string and tension that you like and stick to it - just like Rafa!

How to succeed in competitive tennis.....
I was extremely fortunate last weekend to attend a coach conference at Gleneagles where Jose Higueras was the main speaker. For anyone unfamiliar with Jose he achieved a world ranking of no 6 as a player and then went on to coach Michael Chang (winning French Open (at 17years of age) plus Jim Courier , Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and many others. So, a reasonable pedigree as both a player and coach! 

 So, what does Jose put down as the secrets to success in tennis? His 4 non negotiables were as follows:
 
1/ Respect
2/ Engagement
3/ Effort
4/ Punctuality
 
I have just finished reading a book about Pep Guardiola and his methods of management in football. It's interesting how similar an approach that both Guardiola and Higueras have towards creating a culture of success. "Barcelona my way" is certainly worth reading.
 
My experience of Spanish players and coaches in both tennis and other sports is quite similar in that they show great humility and work extremely hard. The idea is always to develop the person first and then the player will follow. Obviously the greatest example of this is Rafa Nadal who in my view is the greatest competitor I have ever seen. And just listen to him speak to appreciate how much he believes in respect and humility.

 
How does this relate to club level players?
 
Respect
I would argue that you can follow these guidelines even at club level and you will have greater success. Most people who compete in tennis at any level will experience difficult moments especially when they lose to someone they perceive to be of a lower level! If you truly respect your opponent and at no time during the match are worrying about losing to an "inferior" player I will guarantee that there will be fewer losses to this person. You may well lose but try not to let it be for a lack of respect.
 
Respect and humility are the key areas for competitive club players as the other 3 attributes are generally easier to commit to (engagement, effort, punctuality). After all, it's your choice to play tennis! Full time players of any age sometimes struggle to find the motivation every day to be engaged, working hard and to be on time! The element of fun instilled by coaches, parents, and others combined with the other key factors listed above is what will give a young player the best chance of success.

 
My favourite lines from Jose Higueras
 
"Federer and Rafa are great people. I love the way they treat others"
"Use your strengths on big points" (Good to have a plan)
"Quality is always better than quantity" (Smart training)
"Roger is how to play the game" (His opinion)
"McEnroe, Borg and Connors played every point" (Great focus)
"I don't need a palace to help players" (No excuses)
"At a recreational level inspire them and have fun" (What we try to do on TTH)​

​Air Pollution at the Australian Open
The humour of Nicolas Mahut may well be lost with the organising committee of the Oz Open!

The rain falling in Melbourne at the moment will hopefully help to ease the terrible the air pollution that the city is experiencing as a result of the never-ending bush fires.

Unfortunately, the forecast for the next coupe of weeks doesn't include much rain at the moment which may mean that the tournament might suffer some serious disruption.

They do have 3 indoor courts with retractable roofs and a further 8 permanent indoor courts in the National Training Centre which is on site. These courts have been seen as a potential escape route in the event of air pollution continuing. But, when GB's Jay Clarke tried to warm up for his match in the NTC, he found the courts unusable after smoke founds it's way in through the ventilation system.

Even if 11 indoor courts were available, only 3 of them would have the necessary seating capacity required. And more importantly the health and safety of all the players must surely be a priority.

Reducing the number of events and/or making the men's singles event the best of 3 sets instead of 5 could be among the more radical options. Otherwise, I am struggling to see how this Slam will be able to go ahead.

The only hope might be that with Melbourne's weather being so unpredictable it will hopefully rain quite often and overnight only!

Is Federer a serious contender for the French Open?
Uncle Toni certainly thinks so as he named Djokovic, Thiem & Federer as Nadal’s biggest threats for the title.

• Federer will be playing his first clay event since 2016 when he steps onto the court in Madrid.
• Federer has been making his readjustment to the clay with his coaches Severin Luthi, Ivan Ljubicic & long-time fitness trainer Pierre Paganini.
• Federer’s decision not to play on the clay in the past was in part due to an effort to protect his knee and back in his advancing years.

But the 37-year-old is now ready to return to the French Open, for the first time since 2015, on the 10th anniversary of his sole Roland Garros title.
Paganini is tasked with getting Federer in optimum physical condition for clay and the fitness guru says Federer should have no injury worries on the surface.
He told Swiss publication Blick “He was rarely injured in the course of his career and in principle no more often on a certain surface. It is important when changing surface to quickly adjust to something new in your head, so you have the right reflexes in the implementation"

Luckily, that's one of Roger's most underrated qualities.
If Paganini is right how good would it be to see a Nadal/Federer final??

You will probably have noticed Rafa replacing his string dampener when he changes racquets? And then you will see Roger playing without one so who is right?
It's all about the feel that a dampener provides which determines if a player will use one or not. The feel with a dampener is a bit softer as the dampener helps to absorb the vibrations of the string. It doesn't help you hit the ball any harder or reduce vibrations in the arm or cure tennis elbow unfortunately! It's all about feel and personal preference so no right or wrong.
We had a custom made dampener produced for TTH which is slightly wider than the average one just so it doesn't fall out!
If unsure try one and see what it feels like and if you are a real cheapskate just put in a rubber band like Agassi used to do!

This is the 2nd year of the Laver Cup and here are the teams - 
​
Team Europe - Captain Borg
Federer
Novak
Zverev
Dimitrov
Edmund
Goffin

Team World - Captain McEnroe
Anderson
Isner
Schwartzman
Kyrgios
Tiafoe
Sock
It's Europe v The World in a kind of Ryder Cup format with a very strong European team against a decent world team. Any team with Federer, Djokovic and Zverev in it is going to be hard to beat! It's a mixture of singles and doubles each day with the number of points up for grabs increasing daily over the 3 days and it's the first team to reach 13 points who wins.
Last year Europe won it with the highlight for me being when Fed teamed up with Nadal to win an important doubles v Sock & Querrey. It was this pre match build up where we gained an interesting insight into the mental toughness of both Roger & Rafa. Nadal was the driving force mentally and Roger was there when it mattered most. A pity Nadal can't make this one!
It could be an opportunity for us all to get to know the nicer side of Kyrgios as he does like to help orchestrate some elaborate celebrations with his team mates! Jack Sock too will no doubt get in on the act.
All in all it should be loads of fun and just what tennis needs - seeing our idols enjoying themselves in a fun, competitive environment. After the "Serena" incident it will be nice to see some fun on the court. Maybe the women could arrange a similar event and have Navratilova and Chris Evert as captains? It could be "The Graf Cup" and maybe even Steffi would grace us with an appearance?? Or maybe one event too many with the new Davis Cup and other "new" events coming up soon!
The venue in Chicago looks amazing and for me it's extremely interesting as we see players in an entirely different arena which allows us to witness other sides of their personalities. Adding to the glamour and drama is the same choice of captains from last year with McEnroe in charge of the world team and Borg captain of Europe. Ice cool Borg was my hero and one of the main reasons that I fell in love with tennis so I'm always happy if he beats the big mouth McEnroe. (yes now likeable I agree).
Looking forward to it even if Europe look far too strong on paper? But.... as we know you don't win tennis matches on paper so let's hope for tennis that it's a tight Borg/Europe win. Having a Brit in the team not called Murray is incredible and great for him (Kyle).​​