If you want to get better at tennis and improve your fitness, these gadgets maybe a starting point?
Tennis is a very physical sport. For example, the tennis serve represents a complex movement that requires muscles throughout the entire body to rotate in unison to deliver accuracy and power.
Whether you’re new to the game or a seasoned veteran looking to get just a little bit better, there are a handful of tech gadgets you should check out.
These gadgets can track and analyze your swing, keep track of the score, and measure the speed of your serves, among other things.
00Robhttps://www.tenniswhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-LOGOWhisperer1024-300x300.pngRob2023-01-11 16:51:312023-01-11 16:51:316 Gadgets Which Improve Your Tennis (Maybe??)
I know this sounds pretty crazy, but you should not be trying to think while you are playing a point.
This idea goes against what our mind is telling us as well as what it is trying to do. We will usually have the tendency to try to work things out in our head during the exchange of shots in a point. Unfortunately, this will have a negative impact on all of the practice and training we have done, and it may cause us to make errors due to indecision.
It is much better to just play the point once it starts. [Just focus on bounce hit: Whisperer]
Before the point, choose one technique idea and one strategy idea to remind yourself how you would like to hit the ball and play the point.
After the point is over, assess what has just happened and repeat the one technique, one strategy idea. You may have to make some adjustments based on what the last point was like, but try to keep things simple.
On the changeovers you can have a little more detail in your own self-coaching, but overall, try not to over analyze.
Letting your body react automatically and instinctively gives you the best chance to execute your shot and play the point the way you want to. To do this, we need to have less going on in our head.
Don’t think during the point!
Steve Annacone, USPTA Pro
00Robhttps://www.tenniswhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-LOGOWhisperer1024-300x300.pngRob2023-01-08 17:39:002023-01-08 17:39:00Don’t overthink each point | AskThePro
Too often, the average player’s focus is on their “Hardware” — coordinating muscles to hit the ball. True, for most, just coordinating your body to consistently hit the ball week in and week out is difficult to say the least. It quickly becomes very frustrating when playing in the wind, changing court surfaces or against, what I will call, an awkward opponent. And escalates even faster as we age and our muscles lose strength and coordination.
Our Hardware skills pathway includes three essential skills which underpin any tennis stroke: ball watching, balance and rhythm. The basic Tennis Whisperer program teaches the development of the core supporting muscles to both enhance those skills and prevent injury. As an example, just improving your ability to “really see the ball” rather than merely trying to “watch” it during play can go a long way to improving your consistency — at any age and stage of tennis. These basic skills can be taught or refreshed at any age.
But Hardware is only one part of the equation. Hardware is very much about muscles, joints and physical traits. “Software” is brain perception, action and decision making. Software is what often gives a player a head-start on those who might be physically stronger, quicker or, dare I say, younger! And from time to time, a win against the ‘better hitter’.
Your neural system is the third part of this equation, and in basic terms, connects a player’s “Software” to their “Hardware”.
Software should be view as a “Pyramid”. At its base be more aware of your end of the court: basic court positions when returning serve or covering the net. And the positions change depending on the opponent and the conditions. For the more powerful opponent, it’s better to play further back when returning serve — not only to give yourself a little more time to watch the ball, but more importantly to ensure you’re moving forward into the shot to stay on balance. This is why Nadal, one of the best players in the world, plays so far back to improves his balance by moving forward into each shot.
Moving up the Pyramid, and still at your end of the court, where you stand in the court, particularly in dubs, has a huge impact on your ability to stay in the point. For example, at ANY level of tennis, Tennis Physics means that EIGHTY PERCENT (80%) of shots fall in a two (metre) circle around the middle T of the serve line. Merely standing in that circle guarantees you’ll get a shot at most balls — you might not make the shot but you’ll be in the point.
As the Pyramid narrows, and looking at the opponent’s end of the court, action and decision-making comes to the fore. Your focus is on the Hardware of the opponent. Do they have any “obvious weaknesses” — not just the weaker backhand side but where do they consistently return the ball? Any physical limitations in running down lobs? Are they comfortable hitting volleys or overheads? Are they comfortable moving forward, backwards, sideways? What did you learn from the warm-up? [You didn’t try to win the warm-up, right??]
Even further up the Pyramid, and still at your opponent’s end of the court, your focus is on the opponent’s Software. How can you identify and find a way to exploit their limitations? Where do they stand in the court, to return serve, at the net etc? Do they stand too close to the net and therefore are suckers to a simple lob return? What’s their state of mind at different times of the match? Do they rush under pressure? Consistently miss first serves on game and tie breaker points?? How can you adjust your Software and Hardware to take full advantage of your observations during play??
And lastly, at the very Pyramid Top, and now we are back to your end of the court, what’s your decision-making style to analyze opponents during match play. It’s the rare player who can change their Hardware midpoint to hit a different shot under pressure. Even rarer, the player who can consistently play more than one type of game — to unsettle an opponent and match the conditions. For most of us, suffice to say, it’s better to rely on a simple ritual to prepare to play each point — at least to start out each point standing in the right position and with a calm mind.
Tennis is a great game. And you’ll get so much more enjoyment by NOT leaving your Software on the sidelines. And who knows, perhaps a few more wins.
00Robhttps://www.tenniswhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-LOGOWhisperer1024-300x300.pngRob2022-12-19 14:08:022022-12-19 14:08:02Tennis Intelligence: It Takes Pyramid Power | ATP
Have you ever experienced hitting an amazing shot when you know it “doesn’t count”?
For me it usually happens on a casual swing at a serve that landed a foot out – so I call it out and just let’r rip.
No pressure. No expectations.
Amazing how those swings feel so smooth, and yet the result is a booming shot that paints a corner.
Just like hitting in practice, right?
In practice you aren’t concerned with winning or losing so everything is smooth and relaxed.
Effortless.
So why the 180 degree turn around in match play?
It comes down to one ugly word.
Fear.
Now that the shots you’re hitting really “matter” your mind is racing and the feeling of fear takes over:
Fear of embarrassment
Fear of letting down your doubles partner
Fear of disappointing your teammates or coach
Fear of losing to a weaker opponent
Fear of losing your reputation as a player
Unfortunately, most tennis players treat fear as the problem when it’s actually just a symptom.
Once you understand what the root cause of your fear (and how to best manage your particular issue –emphasis added by Tennis Whisperer) is it melts away leaving you free to play your best tennis.
Source: Jorge Capestany, USPTA
00Robhttps://www.tenniswhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-LOGOWhisperer1024-300x300.pngRob2022-12-16 07:16:102022-12-16 07:16:10Here’s Why You Play WORSE In Matches | ATP
Annacone started his tennis journey as a high-level player, where he had a very respectable pro career that saw him peak at No. 12 in the singles rankings. But he saw the game at an expert level, and was drawn to the coaching ranks where he excelled at a nearly unprecedented rate.
He started coaching Pete Sampras in 1995, and was with him for nine major titles. He coached Roger Federer from 2010-13, and the Swiss Maestro won a Wimbledon title and returned to the No. 1 ranking during that span.
Annacone was able to use transfer wisdom through teaching methods, and his core coaching philosophy is based on three pillars. The individual is made up of three things:
Their head, which is how they process stuff, how they figure out and problem solve.
Their heart, how well they can unconditionally compete.
Their physical attributes.
After digesting every bit of those components in his mind, then it was time to transfer the knowledge: “My philosophy is, how simply after that can I say what I need to say, the way they need to hear it.”
Sampras and Federer are of the greatest players to ever pick up a racquet, but as Annacone explains, they couldn’t have been more different to coach.
Sampras fit into Annacone’s “magician” category, in the sense that he could process information very quickly and didn’t necessarily need a lot of repetition to master certain elements of his game.
Federer, on the other hand, wanted to be coached and instructed thoroughly, with the caveat that he would challenge the methods and force Annacone to defend the reasons for his tactics. “I’ve never seen a guy happier on a tennis court,” Annacone said in regards working with Federer during countless practice sessions.
“The most important thing [with each player] is they knew themselves really well. Pete knew exactly how he wanted to be to achieve his goals, and Roger knew exactly how he needed to be to achieve his goals. Very different, but it worked for them.”
00Robhttps://www.tenniswhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-LOGOWhisperer1024-300x300.pngRob2022-12-05 06:29:052022-12-05 06:29:05Talking Shop with Coach Paul Annacone | ATP
When I was a young aspiring player, I often lost tennis matches by being too adventurous, which is my attempt to avoid admitting I was very impatient. I enjoyed playing the front court as much or more than staying near the baseline, and I never saw a short ball I did not want to attack.
Even by the age of twelve I would try and dominate my opponents with strong shots, or I would even serve and volley. Naturally, a game style with this risk profile produces plenty or errors. (In addition to an occasional spectacular play). After lost matches coaches would always tell me the number of unforced errors I had made. I never knew what to do with this information. (It’s not like it was my intention.)
“You made 41 unforced errors today!” a coach would say.
“What does that even mean,” I would respond rebelliously. “You’re just going for too much.”
I struggled with this feedback. How can I learn from this? In hindsight, I wish the coach would have helped me with situational play. When did the errors occur? How long were the rallies before I missed? When may I give myself permission to attack and when is patience more prudent. Certainly, an unforced error at the score of 40-0 is different from one produced at 30-40, don’t you agree?
Last week I was having a conversation with one of my adult clients about her most recent match. She mentioned that she had made too many unforced errors, and then she added a few more stats that she probably got from watching tennis on television. I told her that I was getting the gist of what she was saying, but I still could not get a good feel for the match as stats do not always paint the entire picture. I said that some stats are completely useless, and others can be counter intuitive.
“What ya talking ‘bout Willis?” (she did not actually say this) I continued by asking my Harvard- educated student the following question:
“After the match, what would yourather have the stat sheet say regarding break points, 2/3 or 4/17?”
She looked at me slightly confused (she suspected it was a set up): “I want to say 2/3, but it’s probably wrong, isn’t it?”
“Yes”, I continued. “Think about it, a 66.67 percent success rate (2/3) is indeed much better than a 23.5 percent (4/17), but in this case it is still better to break your opponent’s serve four times, instead of only two”.
She agreed to it being counter intuitive. I only mentioned that my client was Harvard-educated to show that intelligence was not in question here. I wasn’t teaching Penny, the waitress from the Cheesecake factory (no offense if you are a waitress, or don’t like The Big Bang Theory).
For some reason we look at all those break point opportunities and consider it a failure. What can we learn from this? The more opportunities we give ourselves, the better it is. A mindset of neutrality will be helpful here, an unattached approach to the outcome: if the break happens, great. If not, great.
Another stat in this realm is net points won/lost. When you look at a ratio of 4/9, you might judge it as a bad ratio. The player won four points at net, and she lost five points. What if I were to tell you that those four points won were all at break point! Then we might conclude that the nine attempts at net were not enough. If she had attacked the net twelve times for instance, she might not have needed those seventeen breakpoints! Your personal call to courage and to be brave at the right moments is a key strength for a competitor.
In any case, tennis stats are helpful, but have their limitations. Match play will still come down to being patient at the right times, being courageous at the right moments, and staying disciplined all match. Use the stats to dig into those areas more specifically. Answer the questions ‘when’ and ‘why”!
[Our Tennis Whisperer teaches the GHOST LINE strategy to answer the ‘when’ and ‘why’ questions — emphasis added]
Tonny van de Pieterman is a tennis professional at Point Set Indoor Racquet Club in Oceanside, NY. He has previously been named USTA Tennis Professional of the Year for the USTA/Eastern-Long Island Region.
https://longislandtennismagazine.com/tennis-numbers Tennis By The Numbers | Long Island Tennis Magazine
00Robhttps://www.tenniswhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-LOGOWhisperer1024-300x300.pngRob2022-11-27 17:48:542022-11-27 17:48:54Tennis By The Numbers | AskThePro
Technique improvements are great, but if you’re in a pattern of losing to lower level players it’s NOT the answer.
A quick story from Olivier in France illustrates that perfectly.
He was able to play at a “9 out of 10” during practice but only a “2 out of 10” during matches, especially against players who were weaker than him.
During one particular match he actually completely lost confidence and feel for his backhand while his opponent floated him weak shot after weak shot.
Here’s how he tried to solve the problem at first:
“I had mostly looked at the technical aspects. I had looked at the internet already because I remember doing some drills and stuff like that because I was really thinking that I needed to find the technical stuff that makes me be more consistent in my tennis. But then I realized, no, what is happening that I lose all this confidence in just a moment, in just a second? So either I fix that and I progress so that I can see that it’s no longer a disaster or I quit and do something else.”
Olivier eventually came to understand a vital truth: if technique execution is good during practice but significantly worse during matches you do NOT have a technique problem.
You have a mental demon problem.
Mental demons cause a wide range of problems for players. Low performance during matches is just one of them but it’s definitely one of the most common.
Here’s how another one of our students describes it:
“I have a regular weekly match with someone I have been playing for many years. Our matches were always competitive but then I started overthinking my shots and forcing changes and he started beating me (badly).
Technique is a fundamental element to tennis success, but becoming fixated on it can cause big drops in match performance!
Source: Jorge Capestany, USPTA
00Robhttps://www.tenniswhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-LOGOWhisperer1024-300x300.pngRob2022-11-21 07:19:032022-11-21 07:19:03Technique Is NOT The Answer | AskThePro
Whether or not you agree, it’d be tough to argue Serena Williams hasn’t had an impact on women’s tennis and what it means to be an athlete, period. Her 27-year professional career is one of the longest in her sport’s history.
And the mental toughness she’s consistently displayed throughout the decades is certainly noteworthy, says Eric A. Zillmer, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist and the Carl R. Pacifico Professor of Neuropsychology and an athletic director emeritus at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
“Some people may be ‘broken’ by a crisis, while others emerge from a stressful experience sometimes even stronger than before,” he says. An abundance of research backs this up.
While mental toughness is talked about often in sports, it translates to everyday life as well. “Mental toughness and resilience can be learned,” Zillmer says. They’re skills and qualities that are accessible to everyone.
Ultimately, it’s about treating yourself well and cultivating a sense of purpose and belonging in the world.
Losing is a key part of competitive tennis. Here are three examples of how to better deal with it….
1. Find Joy in a Highly Competitive Sport — and Show It
It’s no secret that tennis is an especially high-pressure sport. Players compete alone, travel often, and are subject to constant scrutiny by the press and the sport itself.
Williams’s appreciation for all aspects of her sport, not just winning, is key to her success. “Sports by definition is competitive, hard, stressful, and deals with a constantly changing environment,” Zillmer says. Learning to enjoy all the ups, downs, and pressures of the job, at least to some degree, is the very definition of resilience and mental toughness.
2. Find Motivation in Setbacks
Serena Williams wasn’t always great. “When I was little, I was not very good at tennis. I was so sad when I didn’t get all the early opportunities that Venus got, but that helped me. It made me work harder, turning me into a savage fighter.”
She’s fought her way out of many scoreboard holes to win matches (including, famously, the 2012 U.S. Open championship match), and has been dubbed the “queen of comebacks”.
That kind of determination in the face of adversity is part of what defines mental toughness. Rivalry is a great way for people to learn resilience starting at a young age. Learning to cope with failure early on, and even be motivated by it, is another thing that sets certain individuals apart.
3. Lose With Grace
Losing is part of ALL sports. And Williams has lost many tennis matches throughout her career. She does it with grace — even when she lost the (presumed) final match of her career.
“Dealing with winning is easy, but losing is tough,” Zillmer says. If and when a loser does muster up that good sportsmanship, s)he actually has a lot more to gain by doing it graciously than sorely.
“In sports psychology, losing graciously can also help someone maintain belief in themselves, even after (or because of) a setback.” It can help keep your confidence up, which makes you more likely to succeed in the future.
When Ajla Tomljanovic was a little girl, she asked her father about a prized photograph of him holding a big trophy on his head. Ratko Tomljanovic was a great professional handball player, winning two European Championships for Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, and was the captain of the Croatian national team; before that, he was a member of the Yugoslavian team.
His daughter wanted to know where that shiny trophy was, because she had never seen it in their home. Ratko Tomljanovic explained that it had been a team award, and that he did not get to keep it. Unimpressed, Ajla told him that she would not play handball.
“I want the trophy just for myself,” she said.
So Ajla Tomljanovic chose tennis, and she is still striving for that big trophy, for a professional championship. She has shown the talent for it, though her nerves have betrayed her at times — what she calls “the bad Ajla.”
But on Friday night, Tomljanovic, who is ranked 46th, demonstrated to herself and the world that she had the mettle and the shotmaking ability to win a trophy of her own. If she wins four more matches in the coming week, it will be one of the most coveted in sports.
That night, Tomljanovic beat the six-time U.S. Open champion Serena Williams, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-1, in front of a raucous, partisan crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York to advance to the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the first time.
“I feel like I belong here now,” she said.
That was not necessarily what she was thinking in the moments before she took the court.
Tomljanovic was nervous, and for good reason. Williams was her idol, and Tomljanovic had never played her before. She had never played in Ashe. In fact, she had never even practiced on that court. She had asked tournament organizers if they could find a time for her to hit some balls in the largest tennis stadium in the world at least once, but nothing was available.
Then there was the matter of her playing the role of villain, of facing down nearly 24,000 fans, virtually all of them screaming for Williams to win, and millions more watching on television. It would make anyone a tad nervous.
Tomljanovic confided the anxiety to her father, who was happy that his daughter admitted to the nerves. Better than hiding them, he thought. Ratko Tomljanovic also knew about playing in hostile environments, especially in Europe, where handball is intensely popular and the stakes are high. He tried to calm Ajla by evoking the almost comical role of the hard-bitten veteran of scrappy handball matches — the kind of yarn he had spun to her and his other daughter, Hana, many times before.
“Don’t tell me you are afraid of the crowd,” he told Ajla. “I played in some terrible places with 5,000 people booing and spitting, and one time the crowd came on the floor and there was a big fight. Don’t tell me it’s hard because some guy in the 35th row is yelling at you.”
It was not exactlyMickey yelling at Rocky. It was a speech designed to lighten the mood, and it worked. Ajla laughed. “She doesn’t care about what I did, at all,” Ratko said, chuckling.
But then he brought out another motivational tool. He mentioned one of his favorite movies, “For Love of the Game,” in which a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, played by Kevin Costner,reflects on his life and careerin the midst of a perfect game.
“But she didn’t know the movie, so I had to explain it to her,” he said. “I told her, ‘You have to be Kevin Costner today.’”
In the film, he told her, the pitcher focuses explicitly on the catcher’s glove and ignores everything else in the stadium. Ajla understood, and she followed the advice with her own unique resolve.
She blocked out all the noise, the roars for Williams, the indecorous cheers when Tomljanovic missed a serve, all the celebrities in the stands, the video tributes to Williams and her own childhood adulation for Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion standing across the net and playing as well as she had in years. But Tomljanovic was better.
“From the first moment I walked on court, I didn’t really look around much,” she said. “I was completely in my own little bubble.”
00Robhttps://www.tenniswhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-LOGOWhisperer1024-300x300.pngRob2022-09-04 16:00:512022-09-04 16:00:51How Ajla Tomljanovic Faced Down Serena Williams and 24,000 Others
This week’s question comes from our club captain: Denis. “With finals approaching do you have a philosophy for tiebreakers?”
Ah… tie breakers. Regrettably most people hate playing tiebreakers! Why?
For some reason, as the pressure mounts towards the end of the set, many feel they have to overplay. Even though it was their current play that got them to the tie breaker!
Now is NOT the time for those trick shots, topspin lobs or the screaming sideline winner that just misses! CONSERVATISM is the name of the game. So what’s our preferred strategy?
First a little background. At our Badge level whether Grade 1 or Grade 10, most points are LOST. Read that again, yep most players beat themselves. Therefore, your basic strategy is to ‘give’ your opponent a chance to miss. You’ll find that, as the pressure builds after 3 or more shots, your opponent will try to finish the point and probably make an error.
So the basic strategy is strong and steady wins tie breakers. Get your first serve in, get your return of serve in play and hit your shots to ‘big targets’ typically down the centre of the court and midcourt to stay in the point. You’re trying to get your opponents to hit the ball to your partner at the net, who has a much greater chance of winning the point for your team.
And to improve that ‘first serve in’ percentage, take a little more time to prepare to serve (i.e. don’t rush) since this is the only time you have control of the point. Nothing happens until YOU serve — use the time to calm down with a little slow breathing. And perhaps, a little more spin to help your control if that’s within your capabilities, otherwise just aim for the middle of the service box. You want a 80% success rate.
When you’re receiving, err on the side of a higher net clearance and aim for the centre of the court to get into the point. A lob return can be a great return in a tie breaker. Even so, lob high — give ’em a chance to miss.
Recognize, there is no need to overplay and do more, rather just try to do more of what you’re been doing a little better. Trust yourself, your game, and do your best. Just keep playing. You might surprise yourself. I guarantee you’ll surprise your opposition!
And lastly, the most important point is always the next one. It’s never over until you shake hands.
Go Manly Lawn! Rob
00Robhttps://www.tenniswhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-LOGOWhisperer1024-300x300.pngRob2022-08-08 17:05:112022-08-08 17:05:11Badge Tie Breaker Strategy | ATP
ATLANTA — The phrase “future of American men’s tennis” mostly inspires groans these days, as 74 Grand Slams have come and gone since Andy Roddick lifted the U.S. Open trophy in 2003.
Invariably, the burdenof that drought falls on the American youngsters who quickly rise up the rankings, start making an impact on the ATP Tour and then run into the Grand Slam wall that Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have erected over the last two decades.
So let’s not saddle Ben Shelton, just 19, with that kind of albatross. But we can say this: The rising University of Florida junior, who won the NCAA singles title in May, is very, very good. And he’s on the precipice of a career-defining summer that may well put himon a very different trajectory from the one that seemed laid out for him just a few weeks ago.
Shelton, whose father Bryan is a former top-100 player and now is the head coach at Florida, played his first ATP-level match Tuesday, at the Atlanta Open. He won it in pretty straightforward fashion, beating veteran pro Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-2, 7-5 and letting out a big scream as he put away an overhead on match point.
“It’s really special,” said Shelton, who was just a few blocks from the courts of his childhood at Georgia Tech, where his father coached until 2012.
But with each tournament he’s played, the bigger story is that Shelton himself might be special, and his performance could very well force some decisions about his future much faster than anticipated.
As of now, Shelton is slated to return to Florida in the fall. But after performing well in several Challenger-level events and impressively winning his first round here, he’s on a fast track to the top 200 in the world rankings. Brad Gilbert, the longtime pro player, coach and ESPN analyst, wrote on Twitter that Shelton will be “top 50 for sure.” And the U.S. Open already has granted him a wildcard into the main draw, which would be a guaranteed $75,000 in first-round prize money — if he turns pro.
“That’ll definitely be a talk later in the summer with my parents and my team and we’ll make a decision based on where my development is and what’s going to be best for me not just on the court but off the court as well,” Shelton said. “There’s no real results or rankings that are going to sway my decision in a big way.”
There’s plenty, of course, that could bring Shelton back to college. It’s a comfortable place for him, he wants to complete his finance degree and it’s certainly a big deal to play for his father on one of the most successful teams in the country.
But as he goes through the process this summer, it certainly seems possible Shelton and those around him will conclude that he’s just too good to go back to school.
“I’m just a college guy out here having fun,” he said. “I don’t put too much stress on my matches. I’m focused and want to do the best I can, but it’s not do-or-die for me out here.”
Shelton will get a better sense of where he stands on Thursday when he faces No. 25-ranked John Isner, who has won the Atlanta event six times. After going 11-4 against pros ranked mostly in the 150-300 range, this will be Shelton’s first opportunity to see how he stacks up against a top-100 player.
But regardless of how it goes against Isner — and certainly it’s a major step up in class for someone who hasn’t turned pro yet — it’s Shelton’s explosive game at 6-foot-3 that is drawing as much attention as the results.
With a big lefty serve that averaged 126 mph against Ramanathan and the ability to get a massive kick on his first and second serve, Shelton already has a legitimate weapon that can win him matches. But he also appears to be very solid off both of his groundstrokes and is very comfortable coming into the net to finish points behind both his power and slice. Shelton won 15 of 22 points when he came in for a volley or overhead.
“I love to get to net, be able to use some of my hand skills, athletic skills and going up to get the ball (to put away overheads) is one of my favorite things to do,” Shelton said. “I could have done a better job today incorporating my serve and volley and getting to net quicker in points but I think that’s a big part of my game and a big part of my development.”
Only the hardest of hardcore tennis fans would have been watching Shelton on a Tuesday afternoon in Atlanta, but it was easy to see why he’s been a dominant college player, going 37-5 in singles last season. It was also a huge advertisement for other tournaments this summer and fall to offer him a wildcard entry, as Atlanta did. Every tournament wants to boast that it helped launch a great career.
It’s far too early to project that Tuesday’s match was the debut of the next great American champion, but at the very least Shelton appears poised for an interesting and successful pro career. Shelton may have some things pulling him back to college for another year, but if he keeps playing like he has the last several weeks, it will be difficult to turn down the opportunities he’s creating for himself right now.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Dan Wolken
00Robhttps://www.tenniswhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-LOGOWhisperer1024-300x300.pngRob2022-07-28 07:39:452022-07-28 07:39:45NCAA champion Ben Shelton
Credit…Corey Sipkin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
