The perils of prediction be damned. I say: full speed ahead. This year my crystal ball is quite clear. If it’s wrong, then I’ll just have to get a new crystal ball. Seriously, despite all the talk of the narrowing of the speeds of court surfaces — grass, hard, and clay — grass has several unique and important characteristics. And the best practitioners have the skills and tactics to best exploit these characteristics.
Great champions often take our sport to a higher level. They do that simply by playing better than anyone ever has on a given surface, such as Rafael Nadal on clay, Roger Federer on grass, or Novak Djokovic on hard courts.
Great champions often take our sport to a higher level. They do that simply by playing better than anyone ever has on a given surface, such as Rafael Nadal on clay, Roger Federer on grass, or Novak Djokovic on hard courts.
Frances Tiafoe, an exuberant American competitor, recently proposed two rule changes. In a Forbes interview, Tiafoe said, “I think fans should be able to come and go and move around and speak during matches. Imagine going to a basketball game and not saying anything.”
As I watched Christopher O’Connell, a 28-year-old Australian journeyman ranked No. 98, valiantly extend heavily favored Daniil Medvedev to 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the Doha quarterfinals, I knew it was only a matter of time before his weak one-handed backhand would break down. It took longer than expected because Medvedev inexplicably hit too many shots to O’Connell’s forehand. But the result was still inevitable.
