Roland Garros Archives - Brain Game Tennis

2024 US Open Serve Analysis. Which Is Better? Foot Back Or Foot Up?

Tuesday, 01 October 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, Is it better to keep your foot back or bring it up in your service motion? On the surface, both seem to work just fine. It really depends on what feels right for you and what you were taught when you were younger. It feels like players get to load more and explode upward

Published in Ben Shelton, Coco Gauff, Frances Tiafoe, Grigor Dimitrov, Matteo Berrettini, Naomi Osaka, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Roland Garros, Serving, Taylor Fritz, US Open

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Rafa’s Recipe For Clay Court Carnage

Thursday, 16 May 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

2022 ROLAND GARROS FINAL ANALYSIS What happened when Rafael Nadal hit three – and only three – balls in the court against Casper Ruud? Calculated clay-court carnage. Nadal defeated Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in the Roland Garros final on Sunday on the back of dominating points where he hit exactly three balls in the court

Published in Rafael Nadal, Rally Length, Roland Garros

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Let’s Take Rafa’s Pulse In Rome

Sunday, 12 May 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day From Rome, I was courtside for Rafa’s 6-1, 6-3 loss yesterday against Hubert Hurkacz. As all eyes look forward to Paris and Roland Garros, let’s discuss what he did well at the Foro Italico and what needs to improve by the time he clocks in for work again on Court Philippe Chatrier. THE OPENING

Published in Rafael Nadal, Rally Length, Roland Garros, Rome, The First 4 Shots

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Roland Garros Prediction: Djokovic In 5 Sets vs. Alcaraz

Wednesday, 07 June 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day From Paris. 🇫🇷 It’s blockbuster time. 💥 Novak Djokovic versus Carlitos Alcaraz in the men’s semi-final on Friday. It should be the final, but that’s not how the draw shook out. Who is going to win? I think Novak. I think it will be five sets, and I anticipate it being a spectacular match

Published in Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Roland Garros

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The baseline is a statistical nightmare

Tuesday, 06 June 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Roland Garros. 🇫🇷🎾 The baseline is a statistical nightmare. Or as the French like to say, “La ligne de base est un cauchemar statistique.” You just have to take a look at Roland Garros right now to understand how tough it is to win points consistently from the back of the court. The

Published in Roland Garros

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Novak Djokovic Analysis To Roland Garros Quarter Finals

Monday, 05 June 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day From Paris. 🇫🇷🎾 Novak Djokovic has not dropped a set on his way to the 2023 Roland Garros quarter-finals. Twelve sets played. Twelve sets won, even though four have been extended to tie-breaks. Next up for Djokovic is big-serving Karen Khachanov, who also has the power and strength to match him off the ground.

Published in Novak Djokovic, Roland Garros

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Iga Świątek Hits You First

Sunday, 04 June 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Paris. 🇫🇷🎾 How dominant is Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros through the first week this year? Iga Swiatek has served 22 service games. She has won 18 of them. 👏🏼👏🏼 She has also returned 22 service games. She has won 18 of them. 😳🤪 It’s an absurd match metric that has powered the

Published in 0-4 Shots, Iga Swiatek, Roland Garros

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2023 Roland Garros: Forehand Winners & Errors

Saturday, 03 June 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Roland Garros, The top half of the men’s draw has eight players through to the 4th Round, which means one of these eight will be in the final. Here’s the draw. (1) Carlos Alcararaz vs. (17) Lorenzo Musetti (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Sebastian Ofner (3) Novak Djokovic vs. Juan Pablo Varillas (11) Karen

Published in Backhands, Forehands, Roland Garros

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Taking Novak Djokovic’s Pulse In Paris

Wednesday, 31 May 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

Novak Djokovic is building his game on the fly to again be crowned the King of Paris. Djokovic had an average clay court campaign by his own lofty standards coming into Roland Garros, going 5-3 in Monte Carlo, Banja Luka, and Rome. The three losses were to Lorenzo Musetti, Dusan Lajovic, and Holger Rune. Not

Published in 0-4 Shots, Novak Djokovic, Return Of Serve, Roland Garros, Serve And Volley, The First 4 Shots

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Roland Garros Forehands. Better Than We Thought.

Tuesday, 30 May 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Roland Garros. 🎾🇫🇷 The forehand is the 🗡️. The backhand is the 🛡️. Once you have this key relationship ingrained in your head, you are ready to win more matches. Forehands are better than backhands, especially the run-around variety that your opponent hits to your backhand, and you make the clever decision to

Published in Backhands, Forehands, Roland Garros

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2023 Roland Garros: New Serve Data

Monday, 29 May 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Roland Garros! 🇫🇷🎾 I always enjoy looking at emerging data sets early in a Grand Slam to get a feel for what’s to come. I found this one intriguing today. The focus is when a serve is returned back in play. So we subtract aces and return errors; all we have left is

Published in Return Of Serve, Roland Garros, Serving

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Rafael Nadal: Roland Garros Serve/Return Analysis

Thursday, 02 June 2022 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, Rafael Nadal is through to the semi-finals of Roland Garros, chasing an unprecedented 14th title in Paris. Here’s the road he has taken so far: Rd 1 def. Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 Rd 2 def. Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 Rd 3 def. Botic Van De Zandschulp 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 Rd 4 def.

Published in Rafael Nadal, Roland Garros

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2022 Roland Garros Preview: 25 Match Metrics For Nadal & Djokovic

Monday, 30 May 2022 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Paris, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will play for the 59th time in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros on Wednesday. Overall, Djokovic leads the head-to-head 30-28. Djokovic won their last meeting, which was at Roland Garros in 2021. All of that will be water under the bridge when they do battle in the

Published in Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Rally Length, Roland Garros

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Emma Raducanu Has A Forehand Problem.

Wednesday, 25 May 2022 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Paris, Aliaksandra Sasnovich took it to Emma Raducanu today at Roland Garros, winning 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 on Court Suzanne Lenglen. I watched the match, anticipating a victory by Emma. Didn’t happen. Here’s why… Emma has a forehand problem. Not a good problem to have when you are battling for Grand Slam glory. Emma

Published in Emma Raducanu, Roland Garros

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It’s Déjà Vu in Paris: Nadal & Swiatek Roll

Tuesday, 24 May 2022 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Paris, The road to Roland Garros glory has always gone straight through the baseline. Players must be dominant from the back of the court if they want to take home fresh French silverware. Through the first two days at Roland Garros this year, there is a strong sense of Déjà vu resonating through

Published in Iga Swiatek, Match IQ, Roland Garros

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June 3, 2015: Djokovic rocks Nadal at Roland Garros

Wednesday, 02 June 2021 by Craig O'Shannessy

Right out of the gate, it was drop shot mania on Court Philipp Chatrier. Novak Djokovic stunned Rafael Nadal 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros with raw power through the court and subtlety and panache dragging Nadal to the front of the court. It was quintessential French theatre to begin the match, with

Published in Roland Garros

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The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.

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