Djokovic on the stops - "Maybe I played too many of them"
Tournament favorite Novak Djokovic delivered a festival of stop balls in his opening game against Mikael Ymer. The world number one is not the only player who can fall back on this stroke.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Oct 01, 2020, 07:12 am
After his first match at the French Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas answered the question of what is most important for the coming days in Paris: “Adjustments. Adjustments. Adjustments. ”Three times in a row, in fact, with no further explanation. The Greek himself, who played against Pablo Cuevas today for a place in the third round, had to get used to the conditions in Paris against Jaume Munar. On the one hand, because he had only arrived from Hamburg on Sunday. On the other hand, because the Suzanne-Lenglen Court, to play an epic match against Stan Wawrinka at Tsitsipas 2019, will be played completely differently this year.
If Novak Djokovic had wanted to describe in three words how he imagines the way to the second title in Roland Garros, you would probably have heard the following from the world number one: “Variation. Variation. Variation. ”Djokovic offered that to the few spectators in the stands at the start against Mikael Ymer, especially the drop shots went very smoothly for the man from Belgrade. And numerous. “Maybe I played too many of them,” Djokovic was happy to admit. In view of a 6: 0, 6: 2 and 6: 3, however, it was pretty insignificant.
Djokovic doesn't serve from below
The bottom line of Djokovic's remarks is that the element of surprise will play a prominent role in the players' match plans. Especially since many of them make themselves comfortable well behind the baseline, not just on the return. Novak Djokovic has never seen a service from below, such as the Monfils conqueror Alexander Bublik. In contrast to Bublik, the industry leader has, of course, many other playful means to win a match. Not to mention his outstanding athleticism.
noleymer
In any case, it will be interesting to see who follows Djokovic's dictum. Rather, it can follow: An Andrey Rublev does not live from his fine blade, but from driving his opponents with propulsive blows from one corner of the square to the other. Which also applies a little to Stan Wawrinka, in whose toolbox the neat stop takes a rather hidden place. The exception was the match against Dominik Koepfer on Wednesday, when Stan did stop the balls. On the other hand, Rublev and Wawrinka can give the ball, which is a little lifeless this year, so much speed from the baseline that the fine blade may not even be needed.
Zverev stops longline, Tsitsipas rather cross
Alexander Zverev, after the Zitter win against Pierre-Hugues Herbert in Paris, is on the right track again, but has the stop in his repertoire, if it is close enough to the baseline to execute. Like Djokovic, Zverev prefers the longline variant, Stefanos Tsitsipas, on the other hand, likes to try the twisted backhand cross, which he also follows straight away.
It didn't work brilliantly against Munar, no comparison to Djokovic's demonstration against Ymer. Who is pretty quick on his feet. After all, that is the other side of the equation: that on the opposite side of the net there is a player who a) recognizes the stop too late or b) does not run or c) cannot do anything with the short ball. And since neither a) nor b) nor c) apply to the absolute top players, Novak Djokovic will show one thing above all else in the late phase of the French Open: variation.
Here is the men's single tableau
rg2020