Jannik Sinner, of Italy, executing a picture-perfect backhand volley against Holger Rune, of Denmark, at the 2022 ATP Sofia Open tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria
An Interview with Joy Parker
Paul — If my memory is correct, you became passionate about tennis in the 1990s. What or who ignited your passion for tennis?
Joy — My youngest son, Jason, and Pete, as a teenager, looked quite similar, and when Jason went off to get his Master’s degree and was no longer playing football, my mother-in-law sent me an article on Pete. She said you should follow him now that you do not have Jason to follow because Pete reminds me of Jason. So, in 1996, I went online and joined a Pete fan club that eventually got hit by the Melissa Virus and was destroyed. But we had a group of people still who wanted a fan club, and so we started Samprasfanz.
What happens in a sport where “you can’t run out the clock” and a Grand Slam tournament that starts men’s matches at an insanely late 11:10 p.m. in a “city that never sleeps”?
How has Thiago Augustin Tirante, listed at 6’1” (185 cm) and 178 lbs. (81 kg), produced four of the five fastest serves this year?
Tirante blasted the fastest serve—149.3 mph—at the Madrid Open. The only other player with a serve among the five fastest is 6’8”, 225-pound Giovanni Mepetshi Perricard.
Rafael Nadal exemplified and even perfected the first definition of "serve plus one," especially on clay, when he capitalized on his viciously spinning lefty forehand by maneuvering to hit it more than 80% of the time after his first serve went in. The tactic proved especially effective when Rafa served wide in the ad court. Opponents had to hit returns from outside the alley, and Novak Djokovic, the greatest serve returner in tennis history, was the only player who could significantly lower that 80% by hitting returns sharply and accurately enough to force Nadal to hit backhands more often.
The proverb that “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link” applied perfectly to both French Open champions. Mirra Andreeva and Alexander Zverev dramatically improved their forehands by making them more aggressive.
No longer mere rallying shots or even occasionally timid point losers, their forehands became weapons to complement their strong backhands and powerful first serves. Both first-time major winners benefited from relatively easy draws; neither played a former Grand Slam champion or even a finalist.
Other Books by Paul Fein
