 |
| Denis Shapolavov: the romantic's hero |
 |
| Denis Shapovalov: airborne |
I was cheering for Denis Shapovalov in the Wimbledon semi-finals last night. Shapovalov was the underdog. He is Rohan Bopanna’s doubles partner. He was also great to watch, hitting inside out lefty forehands into crazy angles and ripping backhand down-the-line winners while running full tilt.
Unfortunately, Shapovalov lost. He wasn’t outplayed. He hit more
winners than the defending champion (40-32). He lost because he made twice as
many unforced errors (36-15).
Why did Shapovalov make so many mistakes? It could have been
nerves. But, watching the game, I got the feeling that Shapovalov’s higher
error rate was something intrinsic to his style of play. The big backswing,
flamboyant follow through, ball-contact while both feet are still in the air – great
to watch, but error prone.
By contrast, Djokovic’s movements were never exaggerated. They were as economical as possible while still getting to the ball and generating
that prodigious power. Roger Federer’s and Andy Murray’s styles are also
similarly classical and therefore economical. They don’t just conserve energy. Minimizing
the number of moving pieces reduces the error rate.
Should Shapavolov change his style?
Well, this style got him as far as the Wimbledon semis. It
isn’t not working.
Brian Lara, another stylish lefty, had an exaggerated back lift. He did all right.
 |
| Brian Lara's high back lift (spot the ball!) |
The right approach for Shapavolov is probably to reduce his error
rate while retaining his natural style, rather than trying out any substantial technique reconstruction.
Regardless, here’s a bet I’d be happy to lose: Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev and Stephanos Tsitsipas will all win more career Grand Slam titles than Denis Shapovalov. They make fewer mistakes.
______________
Note: Are Infosys smart stats on tennis available to the public? I spent some time surfing the net looking for an analysis of unforced error rate by tennis player. Google didn’t manage to find anything.
 |
| Novak Djokovic: doing what it take to win |
