It was still a really good return game. That last point he could have had as well, just trying to do too much a lot of the time. It's a really interesting match because Denis is serving really, really well by his standards. This is what we're often wishing for - for him to serve like this in every match. This is, probably, a top ten player we're watching, at 19 years old.
But that being said, now that you see him doing it against a good player in a long match, you get a chance to see the other flaws that are still in his game because they're not being masked by poor and inconsistent serving. Decision making is a big one. He's actually really good at knowing when to come in and has some pretty good anticipation, but he tries for the outright point-ending shot too often where it's not needed. It's not like he has a problem in longer rallies, so allowing them to play out rather than trying to cut them short seems like something to work on.
His volleying is so much better than it was a year ago.
EDIT: There it is again. There is no need to try to hit that backhand at that angle. Why?
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
There's just nothing you can do about that. But Denis's return games have all been really good since he started just blocking more of the balls back in.
EDIT: Yet again on the 0-15 point he tries to paint the line. Why. Just why. You have half the court!
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
130+ down the T, 130+ in the corner, 130+ down the T, 130+ fault about a centimeter from the corner, 120+second serve down the T, go home kid. That was a big time service game from Anderson.
Full value from Denis though. That was one of the more enjoyable matches you'll see where the guy you want to win loses.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
I know you all we're watching the Shapo match but Nadal and Kachanov just played maybe the match of the year. Hats off to both men , days like today are why I'm a tennis fan.
It's too bad Shapo lost but Anderson is a legit top 5 player in the world right now so for it to go the distance can be seen as a positive. Very few teenagers are even in the top 100 never mind where Shapo is, kids got a bright future.
Milos up two sets to love over Stan and we might need to rush some tissues up to the broadcast booth.
Seems like par for the course lately.
It’s been a frustrating day broadcast-wise. During Shapo’s match, the small digs at Canada came off as obnoxious. “That’ money. Canadian money, but still money,” when referring to Shapo’s backhand.
