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Old 07-16-2024, 08:49 AM   #1466
Inglewood Jack
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Interesting topic. The Wawrinka model, I'm not actually sure that's a true player prototype at all. Even though he managed to do it 3 times, I actually put Stanimal in same category as peak Delpo or Cilic. Completely utterly unplayable during the slams they won, but if that was truly what their games looked like on the daily, they would all have been world #1s with double digit slams.

The Sampras model is intriguing, because Pistol himself said that his game with modern racquet technology would have been something else entirely. I just can't help but feel that the super S&V prototype has been bred out of the game for the same reasons the OHBH is all but extinct at the top of the rankings. Maybe there just hasn't been a generational talent that's tried to be this type of player due to modern coaching, but I don't think you can get away anymore without a dominating baseline game no matter how good you are at the net. Surfaces, equipment, balls, and fitness/movement have taken care of that. I see this running forehand recovery comparison from Hugh Clarke and can't help but think today's pace would be too much for Pete


https://hughclarke.substack.com/p/th...big-3-part-iii

So my anti-Alcaraz model then will have a huge, reliable serve, impenetrable baseline game with excellent redirection skills from both wings to take away time from the big Carlos forehand wind-up. That would be Sinner, and then I'd add better match endurance, and more variety for spin/slice to better utilize the forecourt. Besides fitness/injuries my main criticism of Sinner is predictability. Just like with Iga, even if you know what he's going to do, he executes so well that it doesn't matter most of the time. But Carlos is a chameleon and is getting better at adapting from match to match and now even game to game. So you have to counter that by being a bit of a chameleon yourself.
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