Wimbledon Archives - Brain Game Tennis

2023 Wimbledon Final – Alcaraz First Serve Lesson

Sunday, 23 July 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

Alcaraz: Wimbledon Final 1st Serve Lesson Carlos Alcaraz stunned Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final a week ago in a thrilling five-set final. Next Thursday’s webinar will focus on learning the patterns of play and momentum swings of the final and how you can directly improve your game by studying the best two players in

Published in Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Serving, Wimbledon

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2023 Wimbledon: Where Djokovic Serves On Break Points

Sunday, 16 July 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

Gday from Wimbledon. Novak Djokovic takes on Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final later this afternoon in a blockbuster match-up for the ages. Djokovic is playing for history. If he wins, he ties Roger Federer with eight Wimbledon titles. He would have also won the Australian Open, Roland Garros, and now Wimbledon. Only the US

Published in Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon

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2023 Wimbledon: Men’s Semi-Finalists Rally Length

Thursday, 13 July 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon. 🎾🌱 On Friday, we have two outstanding matches in the men’s semi-finals at The Championships. Carlos Alcaraz v Daniil Medvedev Jannik Sinner v Novak Djokovic Below is an analysis of rally length for all four players to the semi-finals. It is not meant to be a head-to-head comparison. Instead, it is about

Published in 0-4 Shots, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon

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Swiatek Is Gone. 57 Forehand Errors Is Why.

Tuesday, 11 July 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

Fifty-seven forehand errors. Elina Svitolina defeated world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2 in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon today with a stunning display of baseline supremacy. What was Svitolina’s strategy? To run a battering ram at Swiatek’s forehand and smash it from a strength into a weakness, committing a substantial 57 forehand errors in

Published in Elina Svitolina, Iga Świątek, Wimbledon

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Andy Murray Needs To Chill

Saturday, 08 July 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

One minute, Andy Murray was surging, and Wimbledon glory was once again at his fingertips. The next minute, he imploded, and it didn’t matter that he was only six points from defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas. He was too angry to see straight. The eruption came at the worst possible time. Tsitsipas defeated Murray 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 4-6,

Published in Andy Murray, Mental / Emotional, Wimbledon

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Wimbledon Serve Speed Is Trending In The Wrong Direction

Thursday, 06 July 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon, 🌱🎾 Sports are supposed to be linear. As the years pass by, athletes get stronger, run faster, and hit the ball harder… you get the picture. Something has happened to serve speed at Wimbledon. It is getting slower instead of faster. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam that provides historical serve speed

Published in Serving, Wimbledon

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2022 Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic Tournament Stats

Monday, 11 July 2022 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day! Novak Djokovic has done it again! The Super Serb won his seventh Wimbledon yesterday, which includes the last four in a row. Stunning numbers any way you want to slice them! The following breakdown combines all seven matches in one data set. Those 2022 matches were: Rd 1 def. Soonwoo Kwon 6-3, 3-6,

Published in Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic, Rally Length, Serve And Volley, The First 4 Shots, Wimbledon

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Nick Kyrgios’ Serve. Unreadable. Unhittable. Unstoppable.

Saturday, 09 July 2022 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, Is Nick Kyrgios a legitimate chance to upset the Novak Djokovic apple cart 🍎🛒 in the Wimbledon men’s singles final on Sunday? Anything is possible, but the Super Serb is looking to win his fourth Wimbledon in a row and seventh overall. Djokovic has experience to burn. This will be his 32nd Grand Slam

Published in Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon

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10 Keys To Novak’s 2021 Wimbledon Success

Monday, 12 July 2021 by Craig O'Shannessy

Imagine winning Wimbledon… one, two, three, four, five… six times!!! Novak just powered through the 2021 Wimbledon draw for the loss of just two sets. Dominant. Controlling. Commanding. Superior. Supreme. Here are 10 keys to his tournament victory. 1: Serve & Volley = 88% Won (36/44) Novak served and volleyed nine times in the

Published in Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon

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My Favorite Day In Tennis… Ever!

Friday, 22 January 2021 by Craig O'Shannessy

2015 Wimbledon: Dustin Brown def. Rafael Nadal 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 I first started playing tennis when I was around 12 years old in my hometown of Albury, Australia. I was instantly hooked. I played a bucket load of junior tennis. I then traveled to the U.S. to play collegiate tennis and became an All-American

Published in Wimbledon, Wimbledon Channel

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Simona Halep: The Power Of Positivity

Friday, 14 August 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, Simona Halep played the match of her life to defeat Serena Williams 6-2, 6-2 in the 2019 Wimbledon Women’s Final. Right from the first minute, you could sense that Simona was “on” and Serena was not. I broke down the final on the Wimbledon Channel right after the match. That video is below. Here

Published in Wimbledon, Wimbledon Channel

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C-B-A = The worst baseline pattern of all

Monday, 27 July 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, The singles baseline is 27 feet (8.23m) across. That’s substantial. It is a lot of territory to cover when your opponent is looking to attack you. That’s a lot of running to do if you hit the ball to the wrong part of the court and open up angles to be attacked. In The

Published in Wimbledon, Wimbledon Channel

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Why You Build Through The Ad Court

Friday, 17 July 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, The majority of points are built through the Ad court directed towards a right-hander’s backhand. You play to the backhand much more than the forehand at the beginning of a point because you are less likely to get hurt off that wing. In the 25 Golden Rules of Singles Strategy, I talk about the

Published in Wimbledon, Wimbledon Channel

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Forehand Return Winners: Your Guide

Thursday, 02 July 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, Return winners are a line item in our sport – meaning someone sits on the side of the court and counts them at Grand Slams. At Wimbledon in 2019, the men hit 445, and the women hit 381. So the men won that battle by 64 winners. At the 2020 Australian Open, the men

Published in Petra Kvitova, Wimbledon, Wimbledon Channel

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Your New Best Friend. The 3-1 Pattern

Wednesday, 01 July 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, When you hear tennis players or coaches or commentators talk about “patterns of play”, it all sounds very official and organized and clever. But can you actually name a pattern of play? Now you definitely can! 😁 The video below is my Wimbledon Channel analysis of a pattern of play called the “3-1”. Yes

Published in Wimbledon, Wimbledon Channel

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Bigger 2nd Serve: Coco Gauff or Novak Djokovic?

Monday, 27 April 2020 by Craig O'Shannessy

2019 Wimbledon Rewind: Coco Gauff Coco Gauff defeated Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of Wimbledon last year. Talk about causing a buzz on Centre Court! I reviewed the match on the Wimbledon Channel, including Coco’s serve and forehand technique, and a little background on the first time I saw Coco play at

Published in Wimbledon

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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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