Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Talent is there but the head isn't. Coaching can't fix everything but he needs help with the mental aspects of the game as his consistency isn't where it needs to be.
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aside from the issues North Americans have on clay in general, I don't even think Shapo's mental strength is the biggest issue. I think the majority of his stroke mechanics are super unreliable and have a really low floor when not firing perfectly.
even in their advanced age Rafa and Novax are the perfect modern tennis players because their footwork and strokes are less likely to fall apart when the pressure is on. fans and media will say that it's just cause they're mentally stronger than everyone else on key points (which they are) but what they're really doing is running tennis like a casino: win 55% of points on average, and over a long enough match (best of 5), house almost always wins.
https://hughclarke.substack.com/p/gr...-in-simplicity
from the above article, a floor/ceiling diagram of the top 4 FO contenders FH and BH...also casino inspired by card rankings:
the floor of Yogurt's groundstrokes (especially that BH) is why he probably won't win a major as long as Nadal and Djoko can still play. and assuming Charlitos can continue to nudge his own shot tolerance up as he ages into his prime, there will be no open window for the nextgen-aged players to collect slams.