CAMELOT FANTASIES

its the evolution of the sport emma.

they just cant make a living serving and volleying anymore.

llodra is a great net player but his success came mostly at home (france) on indoor fast courts. and he did not face anybody like nole who would have demolished him from the backcourt.


llodra also was successful in doubles because he could volley.

there is not a single player out there who can compete at the top level in singles serving and volleying today. they can try but they wont win any titles.

what is needed today is a rock solid movement, bullet proof ground game, and then also the ability to attack and finish the points at the net.

the war on the courts today has to be waged from the backcourt.

What evaluation? The baseline game has always been there since the dawn of tennis - it's nothing new. Volleys are also the same part of the same game. Baseline is safe, volleys are of risk. They require natural skill. You must have a great serve to begin with followed by equally great volley. Today's players don't possess a great serve let alone volleys. They stick to the baseline because it's much safer. Plus, baseline game can be learned unlike volleys. Volleys require a great sense of the net and the right approaches.

Agassi was an out an out baseliner and yet Sampras wasn't at all afraid to come to the net half the times. If Sampras were to play today, he would have come just as much against any baseliner - be it Federer or Nadal or Nole or Murray etc. He was very comfortable at the net as well at the baseline, so he would have adjusted his game accordingly - whatever required at that point basically.

If a player doesn't spend half the time of a match at the net, you can't call him an all courter. You can say 'oh, I've seen him being successful at the net in the past' but that's not good enough. First, the sample size is too small but more importantly, if you didn't play half the times at the net and if you weren't consistent and if your results aren't based on all aspects of the game, then you are not an all court player. It's a myth that Federer is an all court player simply because he's never proved it. He didn't spend half his career playing at the net. Anything else anyone insists will be pure assumptions on his part, simply put. There's virtually no evidence to prove it.

So anyway herc, don't say it's the evaluation of the sport. That's utter rubbish. The game itself didn't change much. If it changed then it changed for the worse since players aren't brave enough to play at the net so they ditched it altogether. What truly changed are the tangibles - like slowing down the surface, racquet technology, balls, physical aspects etc.

Even though talented enough but today's players are less skilled than yesterday's players - make no mistake on that. Yes, they have taken the baseline game to a new level but that's all they did. They suck at serving great and at the net, they are simply dire. So they had no choice but to focus on the only game they knew and work on that. And yes, fitness is a major part now since these mindless long rallies require heavy fitness so they had to work on that too.

Tennis is essentially a sport of skills - anything else takes the second place. Tennis is also the most intelligent game in physical sports so taking it to wrestling level is like taking it to a new low.