Fed's games priority is not the get­ broken, be­ satisfy with one break and if the opponent­ loses his­ confidence then you see a 6-0. This is how­ he has been­ able to dominate for so long
1. It makes opponents­­ make mistakes, or question how hard they really have­ to­ push, just to win one point. This can change an­­ opponents complete mindset over a match. It is why­­ people, even Nadal and Federer hate playing Murray
No­ thats not why... they hate playing him cause hes better­ than the 4th ranked player and below. Everyone runs for­ balls...
"The die hard runners are to suffer most­­ upsets as the count on the other making­ mistakes.."
Lol silly. Proof please.
"With­ what the Murrays like do, it will be­ very hard to win­ GS"
stop being silly. This is so bad, please get­ some proof..

"Fed's games priority is not the get­ broken,­ be satisfy with one break and if the opponent­ loses­ his confidence then you see a 6-0. This is how­ he has­ been able to dominate for so long"
No thats not­ how. Hes been able to dominate for so long by being­ better than the others.

Teapsky: If you follow biathlon, Andresen & Larsen­ would prove your point. Sabotage themselves because too­ gung-ho, but won't change to a sport they could­ consistently win. No doubt at all that training could­ improve a Monfils's serve, backhand, etc. but doubt­ it would ever change the basic style. . .and would we­ enjoy watching tennis so much if it could?
Grateful to­ all of ye for such a knowledgeable and thoughtful­ discussion!

Ahh what a shame for daddy long legs Gail i like to­ watch him.Its all that diving around the court he does­ not good for the body.

Some good points made here for a change. As far­ Monfils's concerned, it would be very difficult to­ "change" him. Diving, giving everything he­ has to save a point is the way he loves playing tennis,­ the only way he enjoys it and makes him forget all the­ sacrifices you have to make as a professional­ tennisplayer. I am a big fan of Monfils, I was in the­ crowd during his match against Melzer and it was so­ great to watch him play. So good to see players showing­ emotions and motivation and giving us some spectacular­ moments. Everyone has its own preferences. And not only­ in tennis. Some people like disciplined football teams­ and others prefer to watch some crazy brazilian­ artists, even if their tricks are useless.

To­ conclude, I'd say that a emotionless Monfils would­ be sad to watch.

what a shame, I always enjoy watching him on the court,­ he's so talented, but also very entertaining to­ watch. I say again - what a shame!!!

shame really for this so talented guy to have such­ problems !

I'm a Monfils fan, but he frustrates me to no end.­ He must stop diving all over the place and save himself­ needlessly pain. Was looking forward to seeing him at­ Wimbledon.

Draw is happening as we type ;)
Safina has a potential­ showdown with Nicole Vaidisova in the second­ round

10:25

Ladies draw has started and Venus­ Williams is in the same side of the draw as Dinara­ Safina.

10:20

exciting....
we will have it full later­ today ;)

Cheers
Roger Federer will play Yen Hsun Lu in­ the first round.

10:15

Andy Murray will play Robert­ Kendrick of the USA.

10:07

Rafael Nadal's first­ match of Wimbledon will be against Arnaud Clement of­ France. He could play Lleyton Hewitt in the second­ round.

10:05

Rafael Nadal has been drawn in the same­ half of the draw as Andy Murray, while Novak Djokovic­ and Roger Federer are the other half of the draw.

good point herve... If your oppo keeps hittin those­ lines it doesn't really matter what you do! :) So­ excited for the draw. Does anyone know when it is out?

You said it all guys!
Congratulations! you can all­ change your jobs and go out there and train some tennis­ players ;-)
What about resuscitating Martin Verkerk and­ teaching him how to turn physical strength into a real­ threat to opponets?
Good luck to all the 128 + 128 men­ and women starting next week for just 1+1 winners!

Hi James!
totally agree with you! but there is a price­ to pay for everything... for ur strategy etc. (injuries­ or tiredness the next day is the price they pay for­ their game)... Like I everyone says Hi risk, hi­ return... The die hard runners are to suffer most­ upsets as the count on the other making mistakes... If­ you get to play a guy on his element or day, blasting­ forehand hitting lines you have no chance. Fed never­ allow Gonzo or Soderling or Verdasco to play their­ shots because he want to score and not let them make­ mistakes... With what the Murrays like do, it will be­ very hard to win GS... because in a best of 5 GS, u can­ always run meet a guy on his day... I personnaly like­ agressive Tennis and variation of shots... This is­ obviously why I am one of many Fed's fans. Working­ physical and mental strength will make of Joker the­ biggest treat to everyone out there! He defends very­ well but go for it, like to dictate rallies too. Not­ bad to watch...
Cheers buddy

Good, he is paying the price for being stupid and­ diving for balls when it just doesn't need to. ­ I'm tired of this boy getting the chance to shine­ and he just messes it up, let him feel it because his­ coach has said many time that he should stop this­ diving c r a p. He is such an amazing talent and will­ end his career as an almost because he spend 90% of his­ time impressing the crowd and not just getting the job­ done

Running down every ball helps players like murray,­ montfils, hewitt et al to maintain a psychological edge­ on their opponents in two ways.

1. It makes opponents­ make mistakes, or question how hard they really have to­ push, just to win one point. This can change an­ opponents complete mindset over a match. It is why­ people, even Nadal and Federer hate playing Murray

2.­ It helps the player to maintain a belief that every­ point is the same. You shouldn't treat 0-40 any­ different to 15-15. If you did that then when match­ point came around it might have more impact on your­ ability to deal with nerves. Also, that same­ consistency is unnerving for an opponent.

So there you­ have it... Bosh.

good night

good points herve sorry if i came across a bit­ disgruntled. something in the air tonight. all the best

Hey Ralph, good point u made there! I would not make to­ many sense to stretch this so much! As I understand­ what you mean, I would like to reinforce what Connemera­ is saying again... My point is simply that some style­ of play would lead more to injuries than some other.­ Whether adopting a style is due to being more or less­ gifted does not change the point.
By saying playing­ intelligent I want to say that depending on the style­ of play, 6-0 set of a Nadal, or Murray or many others­ might be sometimes longer than a 7-5 set of a­ Federer... I am not sure that he is not training as­ hard as others... he is still one of the fastest out­ there, ... another example will be: A player who­ chooses to work @#$% his back hand and another who­ chooses to run over and hitting a forehand istead­ (Grosjean, Gonzo, Tsonga, Monfils are good­ examples...)... As they are all talented, the winner­ will be the one who is working @#$% what the nature­ didn't give him.
Fed, or Petes' serves­ were/are difficult to read.... hard work, having to use­ the same throw for all serve... it is work work and­ work.... Nadal as a right handed was trained to play­ with left... (giving him almost two forehands)... That­ is work n u see how it pays off... To reduce long rally­ that might get u tired loosing points against great­ runners, work aggressive play... Work work work and­ discipline. This is all I am trying to say.

These are all interesting points (and a great relief­ from the bickering in so many of these threads). Good­ point about the level of training necessary, but­ training should make one more resistant to injury,­ whereas a certain style of play increases likelihood of­ it. To what extent is general style of play­ innate--can someone like Monfils or Tsonga be taught­ not be quite so daredevil in the heat of a match? It­ seems as if it might be a trade-off between playing­ naturally and risking a career shortened by injuries.

by the way all are extremely talented its just that­ some are more GIFTED than others which is why many­ empathise with the fighter who shows hard work can get­ u all the way to the top.

herve are u actually aware that as in life as in tennis­ we are all different, for physical reasons, stature­ reasons, ability to recuperate i.e. size of lungs and­ the list goes on add to that personality, levels of­ testosterone and u get my drift, my point is how can u­ compare all players to one norm. its not like that,­ some are more talented some have to work harder, fed­ (talent) hewitt (work) hewitt to keep fit when he was­ very young and assaulting the higher echelons of tennis­ would run out into the australian desert and run till­ he dropped, he would then rest and run back, do u think­ a fed ever did that, no because he has the talent to­ avoid such brutal training. tennis players have to work­ out their strengths and weapons and try and perfect­ them so that they beat their opponents so one has to­ chase while the other has to concentrate on holding his­ serve, but i tell u it would be a boring world if they­ all did the same. cheers