The sudoku of the hard court: “Before subtracting was like a penalty”

Carlos Alcaraz breathes the air of the Alps that keeps him with the options alive in this Masters Cup. He is still congested, but he is training without much stress in the run-up to his final against Alexander Zverev (2:00 p.m., Movistar+). He will try to do his job, and if he wins in two sets, all the better, but until the evening he will not know if he is in the semifinal or not, conditional on his passage to the Ruud-Rublev at 8:30 p.m. , which is adapting to the cold once the track has been able to handle it. «This one is good. There has been a sudden change with Paris-Bercy – he lost in the second round to Ugo Humbert – which was very fast. “I like them slower,” he says with relief. Not so Zverev: «It is too slow for a hard indoor court. We are losing playing styles. The dirt and hard courts are practically the same. ATP data indicates that the speeds of the tournaments with this type of surface were: Indian Wells, 36.9; Miami, 35.4; Cincinnati, 43.0; Canada, 37.8; Shanghai, 42.4; Paris, 46.6, and this Masters Cup, 38.3. Numbers that tennis players explain. «The thing in Paris was an exaggeration. No tennis was seen. For the spectator, if there are no exchanges and only the serve is the fundamental weapon, tennis does not attract attention,” says Alcaraz. «The speed of the court means that you cannot change the style of play. They take you out at 200 and all the shots are more direct, there is no variety and everything is flatter. It is more difficult to defend and do at different heights, more weight, softer. When everything comes so quickly it is very difficult to control it and be able to vary. If two servers play, you don’t see the game. It is very boring for the viewer. It goes against the spectacle of tennis,” explains Pato Clavet. Related News ATP Standard Finals Yes Zverev’s step forward to get closer to Sinner and Alcaraz: commitment to the summit and the challenge of the five sets Laura Marta The German, the one who most victories he has achieved this year, he stands firmly on the hard court and looks to the future, with training after each match, even the final won in Paris. This tournament also has its differences: in 2021, the speed index was 39.9; in 2022, 43.2; in 2023, 43.8, and in this 2024, 38.4. Which has favored the fact that even matches with two servers are seeing long exchanges and not just four shots per game. Something that Clavet celebrates: «Before, fast surfaces were faster. They were like ice. Even the grass was much more slippery. So starting to subtract was an exercise of faith. Like penalties, when faced with a good taker you had to choose where you went and if you got it right, try to score it. He remembers Goran Ivanisevic, Richard Krajicek and Mark Philippoussis as the most dangerous of their generation, especially the latter. «I played against him at Wimbledon and the objective was for him not to hit me. I didn’t even have a ‘break’ option. If they broke your serve, you almost knew they had won the set. “It was a little frustrating.” Because of how athletes are evolving, more athletic, stronger, better materials, the tennis player does not doubt that the speed of the ball on the serve will increase. Zverev scored an average of 220 kilometers per hour on his first serve in the match against Rublev. A fundamental tool in today’s tennis to which Alcaraz has also applied, a good round in training yesterday, ten direct serves in the duel against the Russian: “It has been a great weapon, it has helped me a lot throughout the match . In the tie break I got free points that help you stay calm and think clearly. If they make it difficult for you or they take everything away from you, it makes you anxious, but today it has helped me stay calm.” “Like bears” But it has also increased the players’ ability to anticipate the rest. Jannik Sinner, qualified for the semi-final, has an average grade of 8.0 in this year’s remains; In his debut in Turin, he scored a 9.3: compared to Taylor Fritz’s average serve speed (208 kilometers per hour), he subtracted 38%. «On these courts those who serve well still have an advantage, but the study of the rival and anticipation has been improved. You see speeds of 220 and 230 kilometers per hour that they are capable of subtracting. “Before that was unthinkable,” says Clavet. In addition to the improvement of athletes, tournaments also try to encourage long play that does not cause the spectator to flee, with barriers such as slowing down the courts or the balls. Perhaps too much now, in addition to the circuit’s complaints about the differences between one tournament and another, forced into an express adaptation every week. In this Masters Cup, while this track speed is defended against the supersonic speed of 2023, these are attacked slow balls «They die in the air. “Everyone has time to defend and the ability to make winners has been lost,” explains Medvedev. «The material is getting worse, and they make them 30 to 60% slower than before the coronavirus. The air and pressure does not remain in the ball and they drop a lot after a few hits,” adds Zverev. «After a game they become very big, like bears; There are exchanges, but it is impossible to find a gap and make a winner. “You have to try to choose the right balls to help the surface they put in each tournament,” Alcaraz completes about this complicated two-speed sudoku.

#sudoku #hard #court #subtracting #penalty