2017 French Open

[yankeefan7]

"That aside, it amazes that only Djokovic has figured out that 95% of Nadal's backhands go cross court and that he struggles to take that shot down the line under pressure."

Most people's backhands go cross court the majority of the time, it is very natural. The only time most people take their backhand down the line is when the are going for a winner. That being said, you would think coaches would notice this from scouting players and inform the player.  I remember watching Agassi for years always hit his second serve to opponent's backhand, never saw him go down the "T". I was amazed how guys would not pick up on that and run around it and smack the return with their forehand.

[javero]

"Most people's backhands go cross court the majority of the time, it is very natural. The only time most people take their backhand down the line is when the are going for a winner."

I won't dispute that but 30 years ago two-handed backhanders were still a rarity and every elite pro had a biting slice backhand down the line to change the direction of the ball and to force a right handed opponent across the net hit a forehand volley under pressure.  Martina Navratilova has frequently characterized Chris Evert's down the line backhand pass as a line drive that gave her fits.  Martina hooked her big lefty serve and curled her big forehand cross court to Chris' backhand so Chris naturally had to develop an effective countermeasure.  Despite being a lefty like Nadal, Jimmy Connors could send blistering two-handed backhands down the line blindfolded.    

I'm probably waxing nostalgic, but I do miss when there was much variety in shot selection/placement and when the top pros at least knew how to nail a conventional volley.  Stan's a beast along the baseline against most players except Nadal, but he has dead hands at net akin to Djokovic & Sharapova. To those of us of certain age, the swing volley is, well...ugly.

Today's pros rarely venture to the net to cut off angles and to apply immediate pressure.  Anybody at their level can blast a winner into open court.  However, I'm not fully convinced that most can thread the needle on the pass like past champions.  During the Ostapenko-Halep battle, I kept thinking that no one as erratic as Ostapenko could possibly have an accurate passing shot.  Jelena consistently angled her backhand cross-court to pull Simona out of position, then blasted the ball right through the mile-wide opening.  At times, I found myself shouting at Halep to move in and give Ostapenko a different look at the court.

We'll have to strike up a new thread for the Big W in a few weeks. This one has been a blast.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone!

[yankeefan7]

"I'm probably waxing nostalgic, but I do miss when there was much variety in shot selection/placement and when the top pros at least knew how to nail a conventional volley. "

I miss the old days of actually having serve any volley players like McEnroe, Becker, Edberg and Rafter for example. Agassi really changed things when he won Wimbledon from the baseline in 1992.

[yankeefan7]

BTW - It is nice having a poster who likes and knows tennis very well on this board. Looking forward to your comments on Wimbledon.