The Castle

[EnriqueIG8]

I'm around...

well I wasn't really impressed but it's his first hardcourt match since Indian Wells (where he really hurt his back) so it was expected that he was gonna be rusty. also the switch to 98 and back to 90 didn't help.

forehand was okay, footwork pretty good although he looked sluggish and slower (he is 32 now) to me.

volleys were exquisite and 1st serve was pretty accurate and as good as it can be these days.



what concers me is that his mind wanders on the big points, his backhand was subpar and his return of serve was horrific. at one point in the second set Kohli was getting only 32 % 1st serves in and Roger couldn't even reach BP. on the backhand return he chipped all the balls back and that's not gonna cut it against a Top 10 player.

 

[britbox]

He should improve... Roger really needs matches right now, so I'm more worried about getting the W. Kohli was a potential banana skin navigated successfully.

It sounds like the 98 will be the 2014 choice realistically.

 

[ClayDeath]

With that kind of racquet head speed that he generates I believe 90 is weapon of choice.

For roger anyway.

I don't see him going back.

He gave the bigger racquet a try. It did not work out for him.

 

[ClayDeath]

I agree generalito. The most glaring issue is the return of serve for roger.

He has got to start hitting those returns as opposed to chipping /slicing them back.

More on this later.

 

[ClayDeath]

I agree generalito. The most glaring issue is the return of serve for roger.

He has got to start hitting those returns as opposed to chipping /slicing them back.

More on this later.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

With that kind of racquet head speed that he generates I believe 90 is weapon of choice.

For roger anyway.

I don't see him going back.

He gave the bigger racquet a try. It did not work out for him.

For the long term going to 98 is definitely a good idea. and he will go to it.
It is just that the timing is not right. You cannot say, it did not work for him
as there were other factors interfering in the evaluation of the racquet.

 

[kskate2]

Here comes the Spanish Bull for the night session

 

[ClayDeath]

I'm around...

well I wasn't really impressed but it's his first hardcourt match since Indian Wells (where he really hurt his back) so it was expected that he was gonna be rusty. also the switch to 98 and back to 90 didn't help.

forehand was okay, footwork pretty good although he looked sluggish and slower (he is 32 now) to me.

volleys were exquisite and 1st serve was pretty accurate and as good as it can be these days.



what concers me is that his mind wanders on the big points, his backhand was subpar and his return of serve was horrific. at one point in the second set Kohli was getting only 32 % 1st serves in and Roger couldn't even reach BP. on the backhand return he chipped all the balls back and that's not gonna cut it against a Top 10 player.

he likes this surface and he is back with the racquet he is comfortable with generalito.


those 3 early round losses can shake up one`s confidence a little bit.

but I am concerned about that return of serve.


he has to keep working on it and try to improve it.


consistent and solid return of serve is absolutely key on quicker surfaces.


it takes all the pressure off on your own serve and makes the game so much easier.

 

[ClayDeath]

Popsicle couldn't refreeze. He's left the facilities courtesy of Marty McFly.

popsicle was missing some of his pop today.

 

[ClayDeath]

8 break points for the clay warrior so far.

he has converted only 1 of them.

 

[kskate2]

Even though he went up 4-0 I see some areas for improvement. Mainly in consistency

 

[ClayDeath]

With that kind of racquet head speed that he generates I believe 90 is weapon of choice.

For roger anyway.

I don't see him going back.

He gave the bigger racquet a try. It did not work out for him.

For the long term going to 98 is definitely a good idea. and he will go to it.
It is just that the timing is not right. You cannot say, it did not work for him
as there were other factors interfering in the evaluation of the racquet.

I was watching his strokes pretty closely last night. that whippy nature of them suggests that a smaller racquet works for him best. he generates far more racquet head speed than meets the eye.

I think he might just dance with what brought him there all these years.


a question:



can nadal benefit from a bigger racquet?


what do you think?

 

[ClayDeath]

Even though he went up 4-0 I see some areas for improvement. Mainly in consistency

he is also playing a guy who is probably ranked outside top 100 even though I have not checked.

the actual weight of his shots is too much for an average player. especially off the forehand wing. way too much spin and way too much weight behind them.


these courts are slightly faster than those in montreal.


lets see how it goes as the tournament progresses.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

With that kind of racquet head speed that he generates I believe 90 is weapon of choice.

For roger anyway.

I don't see him going back.

He gave the bigger racquet a try. It did not work out for him.

For the long term going to 98 is definitely a good idea. and he will go to it.
It is just that the timing is not right. You cannot say, it did not work for him
as there were other factors interfering in the evaluation of the racquet.

I was watching his strokes pretty closely last night. that whippy nature of them suggests that a smaller racquet works for him best. he generates far more racquet head speed than meets the eye.

I think he might just dance with what brought him there all these years.


a question:



can nadal benefit from a bigger racquet?


what do you think?

Nadal already plays with 100 sq in racket. Going bigger than that is not a good idea.
In Fed's case he is like the odd man out playing with a small racquet when 90% of the
players use bigger ones.

 

[ClayDeath]

good heavens. I had no idea.

are you 100% sure he is playing with a 100 sq in racquet?

I have not paid much attention to it. I had always assumed that it was 90 racquet.



I hit with heavy topspin. bigger racquets did not work out for me.

 

[kskate2]

Looking at it on TV it looks large to me CD. I know that's not a good way to judge, but still

 

[ClayDeath]

I was thinking exactly the same thing princess.

I was looking at it closely too. it does look large.

and that does not make sense to me for the reasons I have stated.

there is a relatively significant loss of maneuverability with giant racquets.


especially for those with whippy strokes that rely on incredible racquet head speeds.

 

[ClayDeath]

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

good heavens. I had no idea.

are you 100% sure he is playing with a 100 sq in racquet?

I have not paid much attention to it. I had always assumed that it was 90 racquet.



I hit with heavy topspin. bigger racquets did not work out for me.

Nadal plays with a 100. Roger is pretty much the only guy that uses a 90. Dimitrov played with the same racket for a bit , but upgraded to 95 later on.

 

[ClayDeath]

welcome to the castle general murat.


evidently he does play with a bigger racquet than I thought.

this really surprises me.