What's happened to the depth in Women's Tennis? (Page 2 of 2)

Yeah Stefan Edberg was another Mr Cool in the mould of Bjorn Borg! Great serve and volley player, that kick serve of his was awesome and he had a very solid backhand too....one of my fav's to watch of all time really

Agreed Don, the art of serve and volley has been killed by technology, it's now just serve (if you have a BIG one)
Edberg, Rafter, Sampras, Cash, McEnroe, Becker, Ivanisevic and even Tim Henman were all good to watch huh

You're not the only one...

-Arvis

I have to agree with Tono.  I think it was either you CrossCourt or Arvis (or maybe Lost Scot) who recently posted that you only became interested in tennis in '08.  Well, I am new to the sport, going only on my fifth Wimbledon.  As a matter of fact, Wimbledon alone has provided many exciting moments since I started watchiing.  Three straight memorable finals - though I wasn't able to catch the Roddick-Federer final two years ago.  The U.S. Open has provided me with the Delpo-Federer final; the semifinal between Djokovic and Federer last year; the Serena-Kim match (I believe it was the semi's) where Clijsters had the momentum but Serena did get screwed on a foot call, and proceeded to lose it.  There are many more, such as Nadal's first hard court grand slam where he had to go through ten sets in 48 hours.  There are so many that I've probably forgotten half of them.

Nice way to start -- with the greatest match in tennis history.  I would call that exceedingly coincidental if I thought there were such a thing as coincidence.

Well it is fairly widely accepted that technology has completely changed the game of tennis.

Frames: More sweet spot, more forgiving, and power generating. The 98-100 sq in. head size for example.

Strings: Right up there with the frames. Polyester strings and all the technology they are putting into
these strings has added so much more power, feel, and SPIN to the current game of tennis.

These two things alone are huge reasons why the serve and volley is extinct. From 4-6 feet behind the baseline, you can crank a winner down the line from either wing on the run. You can generate enough topspin to pass them cross court out the sides. You are dual threat from the baseline. So thus the serve and volley died for the
most part. Watching Federer-Sampras wimby match reminds me of just how RECENT things have changed. And
they have changed constantly throughout history. Used to be that you had to just stab and pray that the volleyer
made a mistake.

Nadal is the kind of player who has feasted off the new technology. It is a major reason he is able to play his style of game. That topspin has quite a lot to do with the racquet and strings (and also his athletic ability
not trying to say that he is only good due to technology).

I personally believe that the game used to be more fun to watch. However, if you ever get chances, tune into
doubles matches. At the pro level, they are hugely impressive. Serve and volley is still the only acceptable way to play.

Last edited by the_lost_scot (Jun. 24, 2011 3:05pm)

Sorry, mea culpa my friend.  But I DO believe in coincidence, for the record.

-Arvis