29
Longing for the return of the serve & volley (and other musings)
6 Comments · Posted by Staff in Articles
By Ganapathy Viswanathan
Men’s tennis is thriving with competition and filled with super talents and extreme athletes. The main drivers have been Federer and Nadal, but Djokovic has just joined the elite club. We can’t say the same for women’s.
I echo the sentiments of Dan. I was a huge fan of Pete’s game. I love the volleying aspects of the sport much more than the baseline bashing. I still do not understand how the S&V tennis faced such a sudden death as soon as the Petes and the Rafters left the sport. It’s not like it took two decades for the transformation to occur. It appears to be a sort of overnight change. Therefore I don’t get it when experts attribute this change to technology. Did racquet technology change all that since between 2002 to 2003 or 2004?
We hear a lot from the experts in media that Wimbledon grass has been slowed down, but how come we don’t hear the same from the organizers of Wimbledon? Also, there are contradicting statements, arguments and not so clear explanations whether a particular court is playing faster when compared to the previous years or to other courts. For example, I heard commentators talk about how some players felt it was easier to hit through the ball in the recently concluded French Open than at this year’s Wimbledon. That’s turning tennis upside down.
Why isn’t there a definitive statement regarding the speed and bounce on various court around the world? I wonder if there has been a scientific study conducted to determine all this. There are people who do graduate program in sports. This could be a nice theme for their dissertation.
I also believe that the sport could use some changes such as these:
1. Enforce a strict rule about time between the points. Universal rule- no bias or fear for any particular player or left to the discretion of the umpire.
2. New rule on how loud you can grunt. There has to be an audio meter. First time abusers should be warned, repeat offenders should lose the point and chronic abusers should be taped! 🙂
3. Dress code to prevent players wearing stuff that has more holes than the covered parts. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day someone would show up with nothing on them! Maybe that’s the way to get tennis some more media attention.
4. Legalize coaching if you can’t stop them!
5. Strict and meaningful rules on medical timeouts
6. Conduct a scientific study on Hawk Eye. Once validated, eliminate linesman and challenge system. It is absurd that a person has to put up with a bad call after losing his right to challenge. An automatic Red light should indicate the ball was out. No light means the ball is in.
I have a weird idea. How about imposing a limit on serve speed? 🙂 Another extreme thought. A limit on how fast you can hit winners- not faster than 90 mph for example.
Even though I couldn’t post any comments for several months now, I have been reading your blog almost every day. Some of the folks who post comments every day have become part of my tennis family! I do not know any of you personally (neither do you know me), but I almost feel like am visiting home every time I visit your blog.
You are all gifted writers and very passionate about the sport. I wish I could meet you in the future. Where are you all located? Is any of you currently at Wimbledon?
I saw a little of Tomic’s game and was thoroughly impressed. I think, it’s going to be battle between Novak and Tomic. Also, the same with Tsonga and Fed although I have a feeling that Fed might come through. Mardy is playing great, but I give Nadal 60:40 edge. Murray should beat Lopez.
(Pete Sampras artwork by Brooklyn-based artist Bud Boccone.)
Ganapathay “Gans” Viswanathan resides in Louisville, Kentucky. He started watching tennis as a boy in India during the late 1980’s because of Boris Becker, fell in love with it because of Pete Sampras and became inspired to start playing in 2007 by Roger Federer. Gans and his wife have a seven-year-old son who plays tennis and also takes lessons.
No tags
Dan Markowitz · June 29, 2011 at 2:27 pm
The courts have definitely slowed down and the grass is not wearing down the way it used to at Ole Wimbledon. Thus we’re seeing this baseline bashing which if it’s the only motif of a match, gets a little monotonous for me. Look, I play tennis, I know it’s still a physical grueling game to play from the baseline, but when it’s solely played from the backcourt, a lot of the intrigue escapes the game. Shotmaking becomes more rote, there isn’t the spontaneous and improvisational genius we see when a player has to decide split-second what kind of approach to hit, volley, overhead or swinging volley.
You don’t see the quick, delicate steps of a dancer. This is too bad. When you see a Tsonga coming up to the net against Federer, and Federer not complying, or you see Fish and Lopez who will come up, it makes the game so much more appealing. Pat Mac just said that when you hit a good slice on grass, the ball will still stay low and its an effective shot.
Gan, you have some interesting changes proposed. I do think if Hawkeye can be installed on all courts, they should do without the linesman. And, of course, I concur with a shot clock. The speed of serve or winners would be adding too much technology and editing of the game, though.
Go Jo-Willy. Spice it, bro. Bring it home. 1-2 down in sets, but 3-1 in the 4th set.
Scoop Malinowski · June 29, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Very nice debut column Gans. Written like a true lover of the sport. Agree with your concept about missing the aesthetics of the attacking volleyers. Llodra is the only one, with Stepanek at times. You never see a match change by one player suddenly deciding to attack the net on every point, like Mats Wilander said in his Biofile about his slam final win vs. Lendl. He said the whole match changed when he went to the net on everything, and from being blown out to taking control of the match and he won. You never see this happen nowadays. Maybe the racquet and ball and string producers can work in unison to slow down the equipment as they can do with the court surface speeds. The shot clock is a rule that pretty much only Rafa and Djokovic might object too, but they are generally fair about it. There should be some leeway, especially after amazing full speed points. Thanks so much for the high praise for our site Gans it made my day and I’m sure Dan’s too. You are welcome any time and the door is always open.
Michael · June 30, 2011 at 12:56 am
“6. Conduct a scientific study on Hawk Eye. Once validated, eliminate linesman and challenge system. It is absurd that a person has to put up with a bad call after losing his right to challenge. An automatic Red light should indicate the ball was out. No light means the ball is in.”
I’ll address just this one.
It’s my understanding that Hawkeye notwithstanding the noise you’ll read from the manufacturer can’t be “validated” anymore then any simulation can be “validated.” It isn’t a high speed camera (like horse racing) and it is not reality. It is a commuter simulation and is subject to error, just like people are.
This for running out, there are considerations other then deferring to Hawkeye. Like keeping the game moving (interests of TV among others). If you aren’t penalized for incorrect challenges we will see a lot more — slowing the game. And the chair can step in if the chair thinks the error is clear.
PS, you probably never saw Ramesh Krishnan [sic?] play but he was a fav of mine as a kid. He had an incredibly smooth game with a beautiful slice/flat backhand that isn’t used anymore.
Dan Markowitz · June 30, 2011 at 1:35 am
I saw Ramesh Krishnan play. In fact, once he played in the finals of a pro event they held in Rye (Tommy Ho, remember that name? he was supposed to be the next Michael Chang) played in this event as his first pro tournament at like 16. It rained so they held the finals indoor on a very fast surface at the Rye Racquet Club and Krishnan played in the final. He had a precision backhand and played with the classical style of all Indian players of that era.
S. RAMAKRISHNAN · June 30, 2011 at 11:52 am
Excellent suggestions by Gans. I endorse everything except limiting speed of the serves which will kill interest in the game
S. RAMAKRISHNAN
Scoop Malinowski · June 30, 2011 at 1:42 pm
True S.R. the serve is the hardest shot in the game to develop. Great serves are no accident, it’s a precise skill and takes courage to go for them in big moments. But if it’s the equipment that is creating the power in these serves, maybe then it should be modified. It would be an interesting idea to see a special tournament with all players using the exact same racquet and strings and tension. Though a pipe dream of course.