The new season....love the feeling.

[ftan]

Me too Front and we both know who it is

 

[zalvar]

DelPo can be great this year. It'll be be nice to permanently add him to the big 4. A new guy needs to show up though. I'm looking at Janovicz.

 

[britbox]

I hope you're right. Personally I'm hoping it's some other famous guy

Some good vibes coming out of the Fed camp.

 

[Front242]

DelPo can be great this year. It'll be be nice to permanently add him to the big 4. A new guy needs to show up though. I'm looking at Janovicz.

JJ's great alright and I really hope he has a great year. The back injury late last year was a bit of a setback.

 

[zalvar]

DelPo can be great this year. It'll be be nice to permanently add him to the big 4. A new guy needs to show up though. I'm looking at Janovicz.

JJ's great alright and I really hope he has a great year. The back injury late last year was a bit of a setback.

He's the most all-court player out of the new guys and still have amazing power. And don't forget his dropshots lol. Yeah, hopefully the back thing won't be a reoccurring problem.

 

[Front242]

The dropshots are great against guys he hasn't played before but imo that element of surprise came and left right after the Paris masters last year. Everyone saw his promise and great use of the dropshot then but he started using it too much and it quickly became a bit too predictable. Recent matches saw him playing dropshot after dropshot, point after point. Throw it in every so often when your opponent is miles behind the baseline by all means, but I think he's overusing it now personally.

Also I'd really like to see him use more body serves. Clearly he has an incredibly powerful weapon there but again it's become a bit predictable and guys like Nadal, Murray and Fed didn't take long to figure out his serve. Nadal and Murray more than Fed as Fed's ROS is garbage a lot of the time these days. JJ wasn't getting anywhere near the amount of free points as he should against both Nadal and Murray last time they played as he didn't vary it enough. His serve had much more variety in the first set in Wimbledon against Murray but then he started pretty much hitting them all in the same place and they were quickly almost all coming back at him. And then he gets rattled and the rest of his game suffers. Much like most of the tall guys with huge serves. Neutralize their main weapon and they freak out and the rest of the game tumbles. In JJ's case he's neutralizing it himself by not varying it enough. It's in his own hands as to how to rectify this.

I'm hardly expecting every serve to be an ace but he needs to definitely vary it more to beat the top guys imo. Body serves and kickers are probably what he needs to work on. Sheer raw power won't get the job done if it's going in the same place all the time. Look at Fed and Nadal's serves...hardly fast by any means but it's all about placement and that's why their serves are world class and have bailed them out of tough situations time and time again. If he works on his serve more and cuts back a bit on the dropshots imo he's a potential beast.

 

[Moxie]

The dropshots are great against guys he hasn't played before but imo that element of surprise came and left right after the Paris masters last year. Everyone saw his promise and great use of the dropshot then but he started using it too much and it quickly became a bit too predictable. Recent matches saw him playing dropshot after dropshot, point after point. Throw it in every so often when your opponent is miles behind the baseline by all means, but I think he's overusing it now personally.

Also I'd really like to see him use more body serves. Clearly he has an incredibly powerful weapon there but again it's become a bit predictable and guys like Nadal, Murray and Fed didn't take long to figure out his serve. Nadal and Murray more than Fed as Fed's ROS is garbage a lot of the time these days. JJ wasn't getting anywhere near the amount of free points as he should against both Nadal and Murray last time they played as he didn't vary it enough. His serve had much more variety in the first set in Wimbledon against Murray but then he started pretty much hitting them all in the same place and they were quickly almost all coming back at him. And then he gets rattled and the rest of his game suffers. Much like most of the tall guys with huge serves. Neutralize their main weapon and they freak out and the rest of the game tumbles. In JJ's case he's neutralizing it himself by not varying it enough. It's in his own hands as to how to rectify this.

I'm hardly expecting every serve to be an ace but he needs to definitely vary it more to beat the top guys imo. Body serves and kickers are probably what he needs to work on. Sheer raw power won't get the job done if it's going in the same place all the time. Look at Fed and Nadal's serves...hardly fast by any means but it's all about placement and that's why their serves are world class and have bailed them out of tough situations time and time again. If he works on his serve more and cuts back a bit on the dropshots imo he's a potential beast.

This is a good overview of JJ's weaknesses. I agree. Who's coaching him? This is a clear case of good raw talent that needs to be nurtured. He needs someone to work on his strategy, and to calm his head.

 

[Front242]

No idea actually who's coaching him but it's a pity Ivanisevic isn't free (he's coaching Cilic) as I reckon he'd be good maybe.

 

[Front242]

Cilic says his net game has improved since Goran started working with him and he used great placement with his huge serve. Improved serving strategy coupled with a fine tuned net game = dangerous beast if JJ could manage this. And calming his head too as you pointed out, Moxie.

I mean, HOW MANY TIMES? HOW MANY TIMES? has he gone awol in matches that he had a real chance in.

 

[Moxie]

Cilic says his net game has improved since Goran started working with him and he used great placement with his huge serve. Improved serving strategy coupled with a fine tuned net game = dangerous beast if JJ could manage this. And calming his head too as you pointed out, Moxie.

I mean, HOW MANY TIMES? HOW MANY TIMES? has he gone awol in matches that he had a real chance in.

LOL! I know it's a bit cliched at this point, but he really does remind me of Safin in so many ways. Maybe Marat came in with some more native chops, but JJ has a chance to build on what he's got and mature. With good guidance, I think he could be top-drawer. Remember that Peter Lundgren took Safin to his 2nd Major at the AO. I believe that was purely a coach harnessing great talent. Safin couldn't have done it without him, imo. With a great coach, I think Janowicz could be one of the players we're waiting for.

 

[Front242]

Sure hope so. Definite parallels with Safin alright. Both headcases Safin was a class player. I just wish he'd committed more to tennis as he could and probably should have won many more titles, be they slams or masters.

 

[House]

Bang away. Who's your favourite player? Anyone who you root for?

Federer is my guy. Even in his deteriorating form lol.

Rest assured I'm not a zealot for the man though. I also respect his contemporaries, I.E Nadal Murray and Djoko currently. No need to put others down to prop my guy up. Seems counter intuitive.

I've also been trying to find a younger generation player to root for, but many just don't seem ready to step up yet.

Got a soft spot for Goffin and Dimitrov, but Goffin has admittedly a long shot to have a really great career. Still the kids got spunk.

 

[House]

Completely fell off the Tennis map for the last 4-6 months. Aussie Open is where I intend to get myself back on track for 2014.

Welcome back! You have a lot of homework to do!

Thanks

I've kept tabs on the results recently, but I haven't actually sat to watch a match in who knows how long. Looking forward to the AO.

 

[Front242]

I hope Goffin gets back up the rankings. After that breakthrough he started slipping with some bad results. Marty McFly needs to hop back in the Delorean and dial back in time to when he was taking sets off Federer and scoring some big wins. I'd like to see him beef up a bit (actually a lot!) too. Needs much stronger legs imo especially. Hits the ball hard enough thanks to good technique but needs a more stable, stronger frame/base. Loads of chicken and rice. Worked for me. I was a skinny little runt in school Started eating chicken and rice every 3 hours and wasn't long before I beefed up. He's probably afraid to eat more, many skinny people think they'll get fat eating tons of calories but little and often and the amount of running tennis players do anyway, he's burning tons of cals. I'd like to see hm around 75kg. Apparently he's 69 now.

 

[Moxie]

Completely fell off the Tennis map for the last 4-6 months. Aussie Open is where I intend to get myself back on track for 2014.

Welcome back! You have a lot of homework to do!

Thanks

I've kept tabs on the results recently, but I haven't actually sat to watch a match in who knows how long. Looking forward to the AO.

Good to have you back in the conversation!

 

[Front242]

I see Goffin reached only the first round of the AO in 2013 and obviously failed in qualifiers for the rest. That's a shame considering his 4th round and RG and 3rd round at Wimbledon in 2012. Definitely like to see him back playing better.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Goffin

 

[tented]

Bang away. Who's your favourite player? Anyone who you root for?

Federer is my guy. Even in his deteriorating form lol.

Rest assured I'm not a zealot for the man though. I also respect his contemporaries, I.E Nadal Murray and Djoko currently. No need to put others down to prop my guy up. Seems counter intuitive.

I've also been trying to find a younger generation player to root for, but many just don't seem ready to step up yet.

Got a soft spot for Goffin and Dimitrov, but Goffin has admittedly a long shot to have a really great career. Still the kids got spunk.

Welcome back, buddy. I'm glad you joined.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Cilic says his net game has improved since Goran started working with him and he used great placement with his huge serve. Improved serving strategy coupled with a fine tuned net game = dangerous beast if JJ could manage this. And calming his head too as you pointed out, Moxie.

I mean, HOW MANY TIMES? HOW MANY TIMES? has he gone awol in matches that he had a real chance in.

With that sloppy forehand he will never get to the top 5. He sprays it like a can of worms.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Bang away. Who's your favourite player? Anyone who you root for?

Federer is my guy. Even in his deteriorating form lol.

Rest assured I'm not a zealot for the man though. I also respect his contemporaries, I.E Nadal Murray and Djoko currently. No need to put others down to prop my guy up. Seems counter intuitive.

I've also been trying to find a younger generation player to root for, but many just don't seem ready to step up yet.

Got a soft spot for Goffin and Dimitrov, but Goffin has admittedly a long shot to have a really great career. Still the kids got spunk.

Golfin is great to watch but has absolutely no chance to get into the top 20 physically.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

The dropshots are great against guys he hasn't played before but imo that element of surprise came and left right after the Paris masters last year. Everyone saw his promise and great use of the dropshot then but he started using it too much and it quickly became a bit too predictable. Recent matches saw him playing dropshot after dropshot, point after point. Throw it in every so often when your opponent is miles behind the baseline by all means, but I think he's overusing it now personally.

Also I'd really like to see him use more body serves. Clearly he has an incredibly powerful weapon there but again it's become a bit predictable and guys like Nadal, Murray and Fed didn't take long to figure out his serve. Nadal and Murray more than Fed as Fed's ROS is garbage a lot of the time these days. JJ wasn't getting anywhere near the amount of free points as he should against both Nadal and Murray last time they played as he didn't vary it enough. His serve had much more variety in the first set in Wimbledon against Murray but then he started pretty much hitting them all in the same place and they were quickly almost all coming back at him. And then he gets rattled and the rest of his game suffers. Much like most of the tall guys with huge serves. Neutralize their main weapon and they freak out and the rest of the game tumbles. In JJ's case he's neutralizing it himself by not varying it enough. It's in his own hands as to how to rectify this.

I'm hardly expecting every serve to be an ace but he needs to definitely vary it more to beat the top guys imo. Body serves and kickers are probably what he needs to work on. Sheer raw power won't get the job done if it's going in the same place all the time. Look at Fed and Nadal's serves...hardly fast by any means but it's all about placement and that's why their serves are world class and have bailed them out of tough situations time and time again. If he works on his serve more and cuts back a bit on the dropshots imo he's a potential beast.

This is a good overview of JJ's weaknesses. I agree. Who's coaching him? This is a clear case of good raw talent that needs to be nurtured. He needs someone to work on his strategy, and to calm his head.

+1.

I also think he needs take it easy on that strut until he wins something.