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U. S. Open - 2018


Jeff Matthews

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I'm watching.  I love watching and playing tennis, although I'm a lousy tennis player.  Too much wristy racquetball in my swing. 

 

Cool that you recently took up tennis.  Good for you, it's a lot of fun.  B)

 

I watched Federer lose last night.  He had a lot of unforced errors and he couldn't get a first serve in but the guy who beat him went all-out on every swing and deserved to win.

 

I tuned in after Nadal got bageled in the first set!  I presume he got broke a couple of times then tanked the rest of the set to focus on the second set, which he won.

 

Nadal just got broken in the 3rd set with a tremendous serve return on break point!  Wow!  :o  Nadal is in trouble.

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9 minutes ago, wvu80 said:

Nadal is in trouble.

He is!

 

Tonight, I went up against a player who made me play my heart out... and lose every game of 2 sets, except 1!

 

It was very exhilarating to meet my match.  I gave it my all.  Unfortunately, for the other guy, I've got some learning to do if I'm going to continue to earn the privilege to play with him.  I made him try, but most importantly, I gave him a hard time and refused to go down.  We had a good number of deuces and repeat deuces.  Now, I have a better feel for where my level should be.  I think I am in the 4.0 range, and the guy I played is 4.5. 

 

He's 51, and I'm 50.  We both played the full court.  It was fun, but he made me run a lot more than I made him run.

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5 minutes ago, Jeff Matthews said:

Now, I have a better feel for where my level should be.  I think I am in the 4.0 range, and the guy I played is 4.5. 

You've been playing 3 months and are 4.0 level?  Wow, that's impressive.  I don't know my rating, but I would guess it's safely below 4.0.  B)

 

You are smart playing a player better than you.  You'll take your lumps now but you will improve faster.  You can lose all your games except one and still have a close match which is what sounds exactly what you did.

 

The ideal situation to improve is to play somebody less good than you, same as you, and somebody better.  Eventually you will beat the guy on your level and play even with the guy better than you.  Then look for somebody better than him and drop the first lower level player.  If you have a challenge ladder at your club those are fun.

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4 minutes ago, wvu80 said:

You've been playing 3 months and are 4.0 level?  Wow, that's impressive.  I don't know my rating, but I would guess it's safely below 4.0.  B)

TBH, it's because I can run the court like a 20 year-old.  I'm lucky to have that going for me.  The other guy taught me the other part of the game - consistency and placement.  Just playing him tonight, I started making the adjustments and played the best I have since I started.  I know where I need to improve, so it was a great experience.  

 

I want to look into a league.  He helped me build my confidence.  I was unsure if I could step-up or not.

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17 minutes ago, Jeff Matthews said:

I know where I need to improve, so it was a great experience.  

 

What's your style?  Serve and volley?  All court?  Aggressive baseline?  These guys tonight are playing aggressive baseline at world class level.

 

Can you serve, and how's your backhand?  My serve is lousy, all it does is start the point, and I have a slice backhand.  Lots of control, no power.

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9 minutes ago, wvu80 said:

What's your style?  Serve and volley?  All court?  Aggressive baseline?  These guys tonight are playing aggressive baseline at world class level, obviously.

 

Can you serve, and how's your backhand?  My serve is lousy, all it does is start the point, and I have a slice backhand.  Lots of control, no power.

I tend to play baseline and run up for the short ones.  If it looks like my opponent will get to my return, I tend to run back to baseline and not play net.  If I get stuck, though, I'm not afraid to volley it back.

 

My serve sucks!  3.0.

 

No backhand (maybe a quick volley on the left at the net).  I naturally gravitated toward ambidextrous.  Left is still kind of weak, but I'm working on that.  Having a left really helps my reach, and that is what enables me to play the whole court a lot better.  

 

I have decent power but not a lot of spin technique.  I am learning the importance of hitting to the backcourt more than ever.  It buys more time to react.  A phenomenal sprint to catch up to, and return, the ball is not good enough against this guy.  I have to also place it in the backcourt.  I made that adjustment and started improving on it already.

 

My whole style is unconventional, but I can make up for it through hustle and continuing to learn the strategy.

 

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Watch the depth where these guys make the ball land.  It should be halfway between the service T and the baseline.  If they hit deeper close to the baseline they are being aggressive. 

 

If they  hit it closer to the service T, it's a mistake (at their level, not ours) and the other guy will attack and put it away.

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2 minutes ago, wvu80 said:

Watch the depth where these guys make the ball land.  I should be halfway between the service T and the baseline.  If they hit deeper they are being aggressive.  If they  hit it closer to the service T, it's a mistake (at their level, not ours) and the other guy will attack and put it away.

Yes, makes sense!  That, and just generally keeping it alive and hoping the other guy returns it short and slow before you do.

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That's a surprise.  Rafa didn't get to be #1 by losing tie-breakers.

 

Did you see them both attack short balls at the service T in the last two points?  Thiem made his and Rafa missed his but both attacked the short ball.  Very unusual for Nadal to miss a pressure shot like that.

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4 minutes ago, Jeff Matthews said:

Did you see Nadal's play at the net?  He hit the ball right to Thiem in the backcourt.  No time to react to Thiem's return.  You better either score at the net or make it go where you can have enough reaction time.

That's what you are supposed to do with the approach shot when you take the net, it's part of a 1-2 combo play.

 

You are supposed to hit the ball straight in preferably at the opponent's feet, in front of him.  That keeps the opponent from hitting with power and cuts down on the passing angle.  Then at the net volley the ball away from the opponent.

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2 minutes ago, wvu80 said:

That's what you are supposed to do with the approach shot when you take the net, it's part of a 1-2 combo play.

 

You are supposed to hit the ball straight in preferably at the opponent's feet, in front of him.  That keeps the opponent from hitting with power and cuts down on the passing angle.

I can go along with that.  I feel safer making the other player go cross-court to get it.  

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12 minutes ago, Jeff Matthews said:

I can go along with that.  I feel safer making the other player go cross-court to get it.  

If you hit away from the opponent while taking the net he can now easily pass you down the line, hit the cross court shot or hit a safe lob diagonally over your back hand.  Hit it directly at his feet and he has few options and no angle for a pass.

 

By the book, you've got to hit the approach shot while attacking a short ball, usually from the T.  If you hit an approach from the baseline you can't cut down on the angle at the net fast enough and you'll get passed like you were tied to a tree. 

 

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