Draper in trouble here. A set and a break down to Cilic and doesn’t seem to have answers yet.
Can someone explain why players hit the ball back down the centre of the court so much? I appreciate they don't always have the option and are often building a point etc. But why not go for the corners more, bearing in mind their accuracy means they can pretty much hit a sixpence? Cilic seems to be playing route one tennis (mostly) - go for the corners and has Draper running from one side to the other; first one corner then the other etc.
Cilic was outstanding in 3 of the 4 sets and Jack Draper still can't reach the second week of Wimbledon. 81 wins on grass by Cilic, second only to Djokovic of the current players.
The only positive that came out of the defeat is I won't have to listen to Andrew Castle blowing Smoke up Jack's arse until the next slam. Excellent that Draper has reached 4 in the world but he was out hit today and his backhand just didn't have any zip.
Cilic was on his game, but Draper could have given himself a better chance with better percentage tennis, he’s not a big game player yet, not enough nous which Cilic has plenty of and taught him a lesson, agree about Drapers backhand, kept landing around the service line letting cilic dictate.
Draper in trouble here. A set and a break down to Cilic and doesn’t seem to have answers yet.
Can someone explain why players hit the ball back down the centre of the court so much? I appreciate they don't always have the option and are often building a point etc. But why not go for the corners more, bearing in mind their accuracy means they can pretty much hit a sixpence? Cilic seems to be playing route one tennis (mostly) - go for the corners and has Draper running from one side to the other; first one corner then the other etc.
It’s to not give the opponent any angles to use, so they aren’t pushed out wide, trying to push them back to force a shorter ball to attack or bring them in to pass, The more they go for the corners the more the opponent can then create an angle themselves and hit a winner. Of course it can also sometimes be because they’re playing badly and not creating anything.
Draper in trouble here. A set and a break down to Cilic and doesn’t seem to have answers yet.
Can someone explain why players hit the ball back down the centre of the court so much? I appreciate they don't always have the option and are often building a point etc. But why not go for the corners more, bearing in mind their accuracy means they can pretty much hit a sixpence? Cilic seems to be playing route one tennis (mostly) - go for the corners and has Draper running from one side to the other; first one corner then the other etc.
It’s to not give the opponent any angles to use, so they aren’t pushed out wide, trying to push them back to force a shorter ball to attack or bring them in to pass, The more they go for the corners the more the opponent can then create an angle themselves and hit a winner. Of course it can also sometimes be because they’re playing badly and not creating anything.
Yes, I can see that, but Cilic was so accurate in hitting the corners cross court, that by the time Draper got to the ball, the angle it was hit meant the ball was so wide of the court. And then he had to get to the opposite side, outside of the court, and so on he got run out of the rally
Draper in trouble here. A set and a break down to Cilic and doesn’t seem to have answers yet.
Can someone explain why players hit the ball back down the centre of the court so much? I appreciate they don't always have the option and are often building a point etc. But why not go for the corners more, bearing in mind their accuracy means they can pretty much hit a sixpence? Cilic seems to be playing route one tennis (mostly) - go for the corners and has Draper running from one side to the other; first one corner then the other etc.
It’s to not give the opponent any angles to use, so they aren’t pushed out wide, trying to push them back to force a shorter ball to attack or bring them in to pass, The more they go for the corners the more the opponent can then create an angle themselves and hit a winner. Of course it can also sometimes be because they’re playing badly and not creating anything.
Yes, I can see that, but Cilic was so accurate in hitting the corners cross court, that by the time Draper got to the ball, the angle it was hit meant the ball was so wide of the court. And then he had to get to the opposite side, outside of the court, and so on he got run out of the rally
It’s a mixture of playing the percentages and playing the angle given to you. Plus you can hit with more power down the centre because the ball has further to travel to get deep to the baseline compared to 3/4 down the court on the sideline.
The other factor is that if you hit an angle an angle will come back and you’ll have to run further, hit down the middle and it’s actually relatively hard for your opponent to push you too far either side.
Tennis tactics are genuinely fascinating and it’s amazing how much of a difference something basic like directional tactics can upgrade the play of relative beginners
If you did it constantly tho the other player would know how the point is going to unfold and act on it, at this level anyway, its as much about where you receive the ball before you play the shot in cilic”s case and this was where Draper was almost feeding him the ball to do this with his backhands that were landing short. Also Draper was standing way too far back which increases the angles a lot. Tactically he didn’t have a good day.
Agassi was a master at hitting returns of serve past the advancing server over the ends of the net, sometimes even around the end of the net bending the ball back into the court.
If you did it constantly tho the other player would know how the point is going to unfold and act on it, at this level anyway, its as much about where you receive the ball before you play the shot in cilic”s case and this was where Draper was almost feeding him the ball to do this with his backhands that were landing short. Also Draper was standing way too far back which increases the angles a lot. Tactically he didn’t have a good day.
Thanks. Yes, I realise a lot of that. I think the drop shot and serve/volleying is making a bit of a resurgence. I certainly have seen a lot more players come up to the net than the past few years, rather than just slugging it out from the back
With players standing so far back, the court has got 'bigger' in a way, so the drop shot is even more effective.
I think Draper has shot up the rankings so quickly, it is quicker than his knowledge/development has evolved. Hopefully that will catch up pdq
There’s a rough rule of thumb, you stand further back on hardcourts and clay courts, where the rallies are longer and nearer the bassline on grass, although this difference has become smaller as the game changes.
Agree about draper, his big game game has to improve, just like Murrays did before him, he actually cited this in his post match interview.
Comments
81 wins on grass by Cilic, second only to Djokovic of the current players.
The only positive that came out of the defeat is I won't have to listen to Andrew Castle blowing Smoke up Jack's arse until the next slam.
Excellent that Draper has reached 4 in the world but he was out hit today and his backhand just didn't have any zip.
The more they go for the corners the more the opponent can then create an angle themselves and hit a winner. Of course it can also sometimes be because they’re playing badly and not creating anything.
The other factor is that if you hit an angle an angle will come back and you’ll have to run further, hit down the middle and it’s actually relatively hard for your opponent to push you too far either side.
Tennis tactics are genuinely fascinating and it’s amazing how much of a difference something basic like directional tactics can upgrade the play of relative beginners
Also Draper was standing way too far back which increases the angles a lot. Tactically he didn’t have a good day.
With players standing so far back, the court has got 'bigger' in a way, so the drop shot is even more effective.
I think Draper has shot up the rankings so quickly, it is quicker than his knowledge/development has evolved. Hopefully that will catch up pdq
Agree about draper, his big game game has to improve, just like Murrays did before him, he actually cited this in his post match interview.
The changes she made when 1 - 4 down were impressive