John Stuart Mill, the 19th-century British philosopher, wrote, “Every man who says frankly and fully what he thinks is so far doing a public service. We should be grateful to him for attacking most unsparingly our most cherished opinions.”
With this advice in mind, let's evaluate some frank statements in the tennis world this year.
When coaches and teaching pros project the ideal future playing style of a promising young prospect, they consider several factors: athletic ability, physique, character, and so forth. Of course, the player has to buy into the technique and tactics the coaches are trying to inculcate.
Recently, I had a discussion after a practice session with a former college soccer and lacrosse player who started playing tennis in his 30s. Touch shots are my forte. He asked me how I hit the drop shots that confounded him. I discussed the variables in terms of their relative importance.
Nobody asked me, but . . .
Daniil Medvedev may not have the most exciting game, but he relishes lively debates. When Tennis Channel’s topnotch interviewer Prakash Amritraj asked him about whether two-handed backhands will endure in pro tennis, Daniil replied, “I think we’ll still have amazing players with one-handed backhands.” He cited No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 18 Lorenzo Musetti as evidence.
Before the Wimbledon final, seven-time major winner Mats Wilander put Novak Djokovic’s chances of beating Carlos Alcaraz and winning the four Grand Slam events this year at 90 percent. “He’s got too many weapons. He knows everything there is to know about the sport. He’s got it all down to a science. The opponents aren’t ready for him,” Wilander told The New York Times.
