re: Tennis Summer Hardcourt Swing 2023 -- An Unofficial Thread

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Navratilova responded to a post from Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) founder Kim Shasby Jones who wrote that "women’s tennis is turning into a laughing stock because of these terrible policies prioritizing the mental health and identity of men over women who have discovered a love of tennis." "Come on @USTA- women’s tennis is not for failed male athletes- whatever age," Navratilova wrote on X. "This is not right and it is not fair. Would this be allowed at the US Open this month? Just with self ID? I don’t think so…"

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Thoughts?

Alex Michelsen officially goes pro and is skipping college at Georgia. UGA almost had Quinn and Michelsen on campus at the same time.

Michelsen should have the US Wildcard Challenge WC in the bag. Top points scorer July to mid-August that doesn't have direct entry earns a WC. Ethan Quinn gets a WC with his NCAA Singles Title. One more WC for USTA Boys U18 Winner.

Craziness in Tiafoe Raonic.

12-13 in breaker. Tiafoe runs for a drop shot, hits net before winner bounces twice, but wins the point because it was between the singles stick and the doubles post. In singles that part of the net doesn't exist.

7 MPs and of course Venus breaks.

Wozniacki is on the court right now. What year is it?

I'm on Tallon 1st set but he probably won't win it.

Yeah man what is up with Auger-Aliassime? He seems to really be struggling. I feel like he has not made a run at any tournaments this season — continually losing in 1st and 2nd round. It’s actually sad to see such a deterioration in form. Is Toni Nadal still his coach?

Edit: Actually looks like he made it to the semis in Qatar and the quarters of Indian Wells. Aside from that, not a lot of success though.

Sounds like it's in the past, for now at least. Wanted to bet him to win Toronto but that draw is pretty brutal. I think he can win today though considering Sinner hasn't played since Wimbledon.

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What's the benefit of the 1-handed backhand? Seems like it's a handicap more often than a weapon.

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You don’t need 2 arms

I posted my thoughts on this before but can’t seem to find my old stuff anymore these days. Wonder if they are cleaning up the site.

The biggest benefit is probably more reach. You can handle more balls out of the strike zone just by not having to bring the other hand with you for every shot.

Next is probably a tie between more power and the ability to switch to a slice grip quicker/easier. But both are very negligible advantages imo. You can swing 1 arm a lot faster than 2, which is why someone like Stan can hit with pace that 2-handers never can.

I guess another minor benefit is that by hitting more shots with 1 hand you probably naturally get more comfortable hitting backhand volleys, although its generally a different grip and swing motion.

Personally I think it’s garbage and wouldn’t even teach it these days. It’s an error waiting to happen and you don’t get enough stability on returns. It requires too much hip turn and backswing to be done correctly so you need more time. It’s also terrible for high balls, which is why players have to resort to the slice for anything above the shoulders.