Thursday, 17 November 2022 / Published in Andrey Rublev, ATP Finals, ATP Tour, Novak Djokovic

Learn From Rublev’s Meltdown At ATP Finals

G’day from Torino,

I was courtside yesterday for Novak Djokovic’s victory over Andrey Rublev in the group stage of the ATP Finals. Everything was going along just fine until Rublev served at 4-5. His negative emotions erupted out of nowhere like a volcano.

The video below starts with Rublev hitting an ace to get to 30-30. He then serves another ace for a 40-30 lead. An energy-sapping 18-shot rally follows, which Rublev loses. Then we have this sequence of events…

His body language appears fine after losing the long point.
The long point took a physical toll on both of them. You can see Djokovic breathing hard as well.
Rublev walks to the line to serve but needs more recovery time.
He walks away from the baseline for some extra breaths.
He then suddenly realizes he may be running out of time. Which he was!
He looks at the shot clock and sees it only four seconds left.
He looks at his box, walks to the line, and quickly serves. Naturally, it is a rushed fault.
He was late to serve and was also late with his point of contact on his Serve +1 backhand. Very wide error. In fact, his worst shot of the match.
Racquet goes straight into the court in frustration. Mentally, the match ended right there.

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Watch the short video below to see this sequence of events.

Rublev Serving 4-5, 30-30 1st Set

Rublev slammed the ball into the court after losing the set and was mentally gone. In the second set, Rublev won 1/10 of his second serve points and only won 15/45 (33%) of points. He was too angry to play winning tennis. He lost his cool and had no chance to win the second set.

How To Better Handle The Situation

Rublev’s eruption happened out of nowhere. I was sitting in the third row just behind the baseline, closely studying both players from the start of the match. There was no previous outburst from Rublev. He was there to win after a gutsy Rd 1, three-set victory over Daniil Medvedev. This was one of the biggest matches of his career, and he was right with Djokovic until the 4-5 game.

So what set him off?

Failure to correctly mange time. That’s where the fire was lit. After the 18-shot rally, he lost track of time walking around, trying to bring his heart rate back down. When he finally looked up, he only had four seconds to go before the umpire would have called a time violation. It was a self-inflicted problem.

Rublev chose to rush his first serve instead of taking the time violation. That was a big mistake. He should have taken a few more deep breaths and got called for the time violation. At such an important moment in the match, there is nothing at all to be gained from rushing. And it’s only a warning. He would not have received any kind of penalty.

In a nutshell, Rublev rushed himself. The first serve will almost always be a fault in that situation. And then the Serve +1 backhand error came, which was a really late error that missed wide of the doubles alley. His head was still in the last point. A really bad error at the most critical time of the match.

If Rublev takes the time violation, he can then get himself settled and have a much better chance of making a first serve and winning the point.

Lesson: Don’t. Rush. Yourself.

Rublev unraveled quickly and was mentally and emotionally gone for the rest of the match. When he was broken at the end of the first set, he also slammed a ball into the court as hard as he could. Interestingly, at the same time, Djokovic walked to the side of the court with a smile. A complete contrast of emotions.

Time became Rublev’s enemy.

The second set sped by in 27 minutes. Rublev didn’t have enough time to let the negativity go. The finish line was rushing hard at him while he was mentally and emotionally beating himself up.

Let’s all learn from Andrey’s meltdown. Here’s how to avoid it.

When things get tough in the match, slow things down more than normal.
Slow, deep breathing always helps to calm nerves and relieve anxiety.
Step back from the moment and look around you. See the big picture. Appreciate being on a tennis court.
Focus on the strategy needed for the next point. Stay in the moment and let the last point go.

Let’s learn from Andrey’s difficult moment on the court to reduce the negativity in our own game.

Best,

Craig

Getting Tight = the best-selling mental/emotional course.
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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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Learn From Rublev’s Meltdown At ATP Finals

G’day from Torino,

Getting Tight = the best-selling mental/emotional course. Click here to learn more!

Getting Tight = the best-selling mental/emotional course. Click here to learn more!

Getting Tight = the best-selling mental/emotional course.
Click here to learn more!

Getting Tight = the best-selling mental/emotional course.
Click here to learn more!