Prelude: A few years ago I played chess with my brother, I lost the match when his sole surviving pawn and king marched down the board to doom my lonely king. On multiple occasions, I was one move from winning if he overlooked a trap. After the match, I noted, “That was a close match.”…
Tag: Tennis
Tennis Coaching: Mike Agassi’s Plan & Making the Tennis Ball Behave
Mike Agassi wanted Andre to hit 1000000 tennis balls annually to train a future world #1. Andre Agassi spent 101 weeks ranked #1. Being able to control the ball and put it where your opponent does not want it has always been a good strategy for success in tennis. Today’s elite tennis training rightly focuses…
Wimbledon 2024: Photos of Carlos Alcaraz Part 2
Photos Courtesy of William Lewis (Kentucky’s 2024 Mr. Tennis and Future Member of Sewanee’s Men’s Tennis Team)
Wimbledon 2024: Photos of Carlos Alcaraz Part 1
Photos Courtesy of William Lewis (2024 Kentucky Mr. Tennis)
Wimbledon 2024: Paolini vs. Krejcikova Prediction
7 Jasmine Paolini vs. 31 Barbora Krejcikova The BIG Question How much does Wimbledon 2024 grass play like grass from 2002 and earlier? If the grass is generally low bouncing, I think the match is largely on Barbora Krejcikova’s racquet despite having a worse seed than Jasmine Paolini. If the grass is amenable to grinding…
Roland Garros 2024: All Hail Queen Iga IV and King Carlos I
History Made by Both Champions Iga Swiatek won her 5th major title, capped off a great clay court season*, demonstrated why she is ranked #1, and won her 4th French Open title in 5 years by claiming the title in pretty routine fashion during the final 5 rounds of the tournament. Her 2nd round win…
2024 KHSAA Boys Team State Championship Day 2 – Dealing with Defeat
We entered this season knowing we were among the better high school teams in Kentucky and that the defending champions were the strongest team in the state on paper. We and they love that sports are not played on paper. We lost two spirited dual matches to them in the regular season (including one singles…
2024 KHSAA Kentucky Boys Team State Championship Day 1 in the Books
The Newish Format For the first time in several years, Kentucky has separated its high school singles and doubles state tournaments from the team championship. I’ve been fortunate enough to be an assistant coach at a school that has won its past 4 regional titles. In recent previous seasons, regional and state titles were awarded…
Quick Hits: Kentucky State High School Championships
I made the picturesque* drive from Louisville to Lexington to help coach my school’s entrants in the KHSAA state singles and doubles tournaments hosted by the University of Kentucky. UK has enjoyed a lot of success recently in NCAA tennis losing to the eventual NCAA champions each of the past 3 seasons in the 2022…
Upsets in Tennis are Easier with No-Ad Scoring & Match Tiebreaks
March Madness in the United States is a beloved sporting event crowning the end of the NCAA basketball season. It is marked by upsets. Tennis upsets are harder to come by due to the sheer number of points needed to win a single game let alone a set or match in tennis. For good or…
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 