Net Gains
Remember all the discussion, just a couple years ago, about the fact that there were no rallies in men’s tennis, especially on grass? There was talk of one serve per point, playing out let serves, slowing down the balls etc. Now fast forward to the 2006 Wimbledon finals… there were many well-played baseline rallies in both the men’s and women’s finals, but ironically there was more serve and volleying and chipping and charging on second serve returns in the women’s final than in the men’s match. Who’d have thunk it! In three sets, Mauresmo and Henin-Hardenne made a combined 89 trips to the net while Federer and Nadal only came in a combined 51 times in FOUR sets! In his first few years at Wimbledon, Federer actually used to come to net more on the grass, but who can argue with four straight titles!
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