On the Origin of Contemporary Tennis – Part 2: The Inside-Out Forehand

The inside-out forehand is one of tennis’ biggest weapons.  Many players use the shot to end a point out right or to take control of a point that will end shortly.  This shot did not emerge out of thin air.  Nick Bollettieri products who emerged in the 1980s tended to have big forehands that included…

Metz 2016: Thiem vs. Pouille Championship Prediction

Dominic Thiem vs. Lucas Pouille This should be a very fun match.  Thiem has been carving out space on the tour for the past 18 months plus and made a nice run to the Roland Garros semifinal round. Pouille gathered a lot of attention for his 5 set win versus Rafael Nadal at the 2016…

St. Petersburg 2016: Wawrinka vs. Zverev Championship Prediction

Stan Wawrinka vs. Alexander Zverev Zverev is a young player with a lot of power and snap in his lanky frame.  Stan Wawrinka is coming off of his 3rd major title and seeks his 5th tournament win of 2016.  If Stan takes care of his service games, my guess is the pressure will shift to…

On The Origin of Contemporary Tennis – Part 1

First, my post-US Open sabbatical is over, and I am glad to be writing about tennis once more.   Second, I am not departing on the HMS Beagle, but tennis has its own historical record nicely preserved on sites such as youtube.  In my Tim Mayotte interview, I posted a video in which Mayotte described…

How Stan Wawrinka Thrives in an Era of Oligopoly

Stan Wawrinka’s career haul is pretty impressive In 2008, Stan partnered with Roger Federer and won a gold medal in men’s doubles In 2013, Stan pushed Novak Djokovic to 5 sets at both the Australian quarterfinal and US Open semifinal, after beating defending champion Andy Murray at the US Open In 2014, he won the…

Tennis Power Ranking 2016: Stan Takes New York

10th Tennis Power Ranking of 2016 Novak Djokovic – Novak has not had the post Roland Garros victory lap he may have hoped for, but a title in Toronto and runner-up finish in New York keep him comfortably on top. Andy Murray – Murray followed up his strong Rio and solid Cincinnati events with an…

US Open 2016: Angelique Kerber’s Rise to #1

Angelique Kerber is Number One Kerber started 2016 with a bang.  She was runner-up in Brisbane and then avenged her loss to Victoria Azarenka en route to the Australian Open final.  Kerber upset a 6-time Australian Open champion in Serena Williams.  This seemed to be the culmination of her strong 2015 season.  What happened from…