Summary from my visit in Indian Wells on March 7th, Thursday:
Jakub Mensik: He has EASY power on both wings and his serve. He would love the IW conditions because he can easily hit through the ball in these conditions. He reminds me of Tomas Berdych (ironically they are both Czechs). Also, for an 18-year old, he is a huge guy! He is pretty much developed physically at 18.5 years old. One underrated part of his game that I like is that he does is the use of his drop-shot. For a big guy and having powerful ground strokes, he does not mind using that drop-shot to change the pace a little bit. Before I forget, he will also occasionally will finish the point on the net, so at least he some type of variety on his game already. His 2nd serve can be improved because sometimes he just puts the ball in to start the rally. However, he can hit some huge 2nd serves when he needs to, he just needs to trust it more. Overall, he will be a very good player as long he keeps improving his game overall!
Arthur Fils: My first impression watching him live: He can generate A LOT of power on both wings and his serve considering for his size (73 inches or 182 cm)! Like he can crank the ball! He actually hit a 140 mph serve! I am not even kidding either! I was like, "Woah, this kid can generate some power!" One change that Fils did that I really like is his service motion, particularly his ball toss. Last year, he was serve toss was high (like Del Potro did) so he lost some pop on his serve. This year, he changed his service motion and now he can crank his serve easily! One thing he needs to mindful though is to change the pace a little bit once in a while so he doesn't get predictable on his serves. This leads me to his weakness: While I like/love his aggressiveness and powerful shots, he needs to add some variety on his game. The reason I say this is because when he gets down in the match or he is making UFEs, he seems to get more aggressive instead of playing percentage tennis. Against Top 10 players, those powerful shots will get neutralized easily. The good thing though is that he is ONLY 19.5 years old so he ample of time to become more patient once in a while. Before I forget, Fils is really athletic and muscular at his young age! When I saw him came to the court, I was like "He does not look 19 years old at all!" Finally, it looks like a lot of fans (at least in IW) know Arthur Fils and his great potential as a player. A lot of fans came to watch him play and people were cheering for him when he broke serve in the 1st set at 4-5.
Jakub Mensik: He has EASY power on both wings and his serve. He would love the IW conditions because he can easily hit through the ball in these conditions. He reminds me of Tomas Berdych (ironically they are both Czechs). Also, for an 18-year old, he is a huge guy! He is pretty much developed physically at 18.5 years old. One underrated part of his game that I like is that he does is the use of his drop-shot. For a big guy and having powerful ground strokes, he does not mind using that drop-shot to change the pace a little bit. Before I forget, he will also occasionally will finish the point on the net, so at least he some type of variety on his game already. His 2nd serve can be improved because sometimes he just puts the ball in to start the rally. However, he can hit some huge 2nd serves when he needs to, he just needs to trust it more. Overall, he will be a very good player as long he keeps improving his game overall!
Arthur Fils: My first impression watching him live: He can generate A LOT of power on both wings and his serve considering for his size (73 inches or 182 cm)! Like he can crank the ball! He actually hit a 140 mph serve! I am not even kidding either! I was like, "Woah, this kid can generate some power!" One change that Fils did that I really like is his service motion, particularly his ball toss. Last year, he was serve toss was high (like Del Potro did) so he lost some pop on his serve. This year, he changed his service motion and now he can crank his serve easily! One thing he needs to mindful though is to change the pace a little bit once in a while so he doesn't get predictable on his serves. This leads me to his weakness: While I like/love his aggressiveness and powerful shots, he needs to add some variety on his game. The reason I say this is because when he gets down in the match or he is making UFEs, he seems to get more aggressive instead of playing percentage tennis. Against Top 10 players, those powerful shots will get neutralized easily. The good thing though is that he is ONLY 19.5 years old so he ample of time to become more patient once in a while. Before I forget, Fils is really athletic and muscular at his young age! When I saw him came to the court, I was like "He does not look 19 years old at all!" Finally, it looks like a lot of fans (at least in IW) know Arthur Fils and his great potential as a player. A lot of fans came to watch him play and people were cheering for him when he broke serve in the 1st set at 4-5.
He’s part of the growing Italian contingent.