Why does Rafael Nadal stand so far back to return serve, especially on clay?

It’s an extreme strategy that other players seldom employ to the same degree, but it works wonders for the Spaniard. An Infosys Insights deep dive into Rafael Nadal’s dominant return game on clay courts reveals that his ultra-deep court position to return serve creates several small benefits that all add up to one big advantage.

The data set comes from a random sampling of 20 of Nadal’s clay court matches in the past two seasons, where he went 18-2. The two losses both came against Dominic Thiem, at the 2018 Mutua Madrid Open and the 2017 Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

Advantage One: More Returns In
When Nadal stands way back, the serve naturally slows down more at contact than it does for a returner who stands closer to the baseline. Nadal also gets to make contact with the ball at a lower height, which is much more in the strike zone around his waist than up higher around his shoulders. All that adds up to more returns back in the court.

The return of serve stroke typically has a shorter, blocking motion compared to a regular groundstroke. But because Nadal stands so far back and creates more time, he is able to take full cuts at the return and deal with it much more as a full-blooded swing than a blocking stroke.

20-Match Analysis
First-Serve Returns Made
Nadal = 84.1%
Opponents = 79.4%

Second-Serve Returns Made
Nadal = 90%
Opponents = 85.2%

More returns in means fewer free points for the server.

Advantage Two: More Points Won
Once Nadal makes his return from deep near the back of the court, he immediately looks to move forward to a more regular baseline position to develop the point. Very few players have the strength to return the ball deep to the server when standing so far back in the court to return, which is one of the reasons why more players don’t do it.

Nadal not only puts more returns in play, he wins the ensuing rallies considerably more often than his opponents, who are returning from a more traditional position.

20-Match Analysis
First-Serve Returns Won
Nadal = 44.7%
Opponents = 31.1%

Second-Serve Returns Won
Nadal = 52.4%
Opponents = 33.2%

The obvious two questions:

Would Nadal enjoy such healthy win percentages over his opponents if he stood in a more traditional return position? Probably not.

Should opponents stand far back like Nadal to return serve as well? Again, not advisable.

Nadal has made a career out of hitting an extreme forehand with extreme technique that works for him. The same can be said of his ultra-deep return location.

The beauty of our sport is that there are many different ways to be successful, and what works incredibly well for one player may not be a good fit for another.

The human highlight reel is at it again. Dustin Brown is making his mark on the ATP Challenger Tour event in Sophia Antipolis, France, claiming Hot Shot honours en route to the semis.

Facing Italy’s Matteo Donati in Friday’s Mouratoglou Open quarter-finals, Brown found himself just two points from the finish line at 5-2 0/30 in the second set. And the 34-year-old wasted little time in securing the victory, striking a sublime mid-rally backspin shot that leapt back over the net to his side of the court.

It was yet another moment of moment from the German, who was standing well behind the baseline when he abruptly halted the rally and earned his first match point. Two points later, he had punched his ticket into the last four.

Brown is into his first semi-final of the year and is projected to return to the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings, following an injury-plagued (back) 2018 campaign.

The Grand Prix Hassan II is the lone ATP Tour event held in Africa. Here’s all you need to know about Houston tennis tournament: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, who won and more.

First Edition In Marrakech: 2016

Tournament Dates: 8-14 April 2019

Tournament Director: Hicham Arazi

Draw Ceremony: Saturday, 6 April at 3pm

Are You In? Subscribe To Get Tournament Updates In Your Inbox

Schedule
* Qualifying: Sunday at 11am

* Main draw: Monday-Friday at 11am, Saturday at 12pm

* Doubles final: Saturday, TBC

* Singles final: Sunday, 14 April at 2pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV

Venue: Royal Tennis Club de Marrakech

Prize Money: € 524,340 (Total Financial Commitment: € 586,140)

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Pablo Andujar (3)

Most Titles, Doubles: Horia Tecau (3)

Oldest Champion: Pablo Andujar, 32, in 2018

Youngest Champion: Borna Coric, 20, in 2017

Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 355 Pablo Andujar in 2018

Most Match Wins: Younes El Aynaoui (27)

2018 Finals
Singles: [PR] Pablo Andujar (ESP) d [2] Kyle Edmund (GBR) 62 62 Read & Watch

Doubles: [1] Nikola Mektic (CRO) / Alexander Peya (AUT) d Benoit Paire (FRA) / Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 75 36 10-7 Read More

Did You Know… The Grand Prix Hassan II was inaugurated as an ATP Challenger event in 1984 and as an ATP Tour tournament in 1990.

The Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship has long had the best players in the world competing for its titles. Past winners include the likes of Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick. It is the only ATP World Tour event in the U.S. contested on clay.

Here’s all you need to know about Houston tennis tournament: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, who won and more.

First Edition In Houston: 2001

Tournament Dates: 8-14 April 2019

Tournament Director: Bronwyn Greer

Draw Ceremony: Friday, 5 April at 4pm

Are You In? Subscribe To Get Tournament Updates In Your Inbox

Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Saturday at 10am and Sunday at 11am

* Main draw: Monday at 3pm & 6pm, Tuesday to Friday at 12pm & 6pm, Saturday at 1pm

* Doubles final: Immediately following 1pm matches on Saturday

* Singles final: Sunday, 14 April at 2pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV

Tennis Channel Schedule
Monday, April 8: 3pm – 10pm

Tuesday, April 9: 2 pm – 10 pm

Wednesday, April 10: 12 pm – 8 pm

Thursday, April 11: 12 pm – 4 pm; 6 pm – 10 pm

Friday, April 12: 12 pm – 8 pm

Saturday, April 13: 1 pm – 6:30 pm

Sunday, April 14: 2 pm – 4 pm

Venue: River Oaks Country Club

Main Court Seating: 3,000

Prize Money: US $ 583,585 (Total Financial Commitment: US $ 652,245)

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Jimmy Connors (4)

Most Titles, Doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan (6)

Oldest Champion: Andre Agassi, 32, in 2003

Youngest Champion: Andre Agassi, 18, in 1988

Lowest-Ranked Champion (since 1979): No. 352 Fernando Gonzalez in 2000

Most Match Wins: Jimmy Connors (36)

2018 Finals
Singles: [6] Steve Johnson (USA) d [8] Tennys Sandgren (USA) 76(2) 26 64 Read & Watch

Doubles: Max Mirnyi (BLR) / Philipp Oswald (AUT) d Andre Begemann (GER) / Antonio Sancic (CRO) 67(2) 64 11-9 Read More

Social
Hashtag: #USClay

Facebook: @mensclaycourt

Twitter: @mensclaycourt

Instagram: @mensclaycourt

Did You Know… The U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship began in 1910 in Omaha with the idea of encouraging the establishment of more clay courts in the West.

John Isner was flying high into the Miami Open presented by Itau final, reaching the championship match in South Florida without dropping a set. But the 2018 champion quickly lost the first set against Roger Federer, and began feeling pain in his left foot a couple of games into the second. The American finished the match, but he was clearly in pain, returning home to find out he has a stress fracture in his left foot that doctors say will keep him sidelined for three to six weeks.

The good thing for Isner is that while he is home, he gets to spend plenty of time with his six-month-old daughter Hunter Grace.

“It helps so much. She takes up a lot of my time even though I can’t really do that much. I have to be off my feet,” Isner told ATPTour.com. “I just actually fed her sitting on the couch and had a lot of fun doing that. But it certainly takes my mind off the injury. Sitting here right now I have nothing to complain about whatsoever. I’m keeping a very positive mindset on all of this because life is pretty good.”

The good news for Isner is that he is hoping to return for the Mutua Madrid Open, an ATP Masters 1000 tournament that begins on 3 May. The American will hope to maintain the confidence he has built by winning 15 of his past 20 matches. Isner’s 15-7 start in 2019 is his best start ahead of the clay-court season since 2012 when he went 15-6.

“I consider myself very fortunate. I could have hurt myself in my second match and had to have probably lost that match or pulled out of the tournament. There was just one match to go and of course I was thrilled to be in the final. I wanted to put on a little bit of a better show out there but I was also up against the greatest player of all-time,” Isner said. “Being in the final of a Masters, I could definitely draw confidence from that for sure. When I come back, if it’s Madrid, I won’t have hit many balls before my first match. But I could look back knowing the last tournament I played I made the final and it was a very big tournament.”

The World No. 10 doesn’t know exactly when the injury occurred. But it was extremely painful, and while he battled to the best of his ability, he knew there was not much he could do against Federer.

“It was just any time I put weight on my left foot. Serving puts a lot of weight on my left foot, that’s my predominant leg when I’m serving. Any other movement that required any sort of push off my left leg was pretty excruciating,” Isner said. “It was a tough, tough feeling because there’s nothing you could do. There’s no hiding it out there. You can’t play through that pain, either. You’re stuck out there. It’s a pretty miserable feeling.”

Isner is doing his best to stay off his feet at home in Dallas, Texas. The only time he’s really leaving the house is when he has to go get treatment on his foot.

“For the most part the more I stay off my foot the better. The less pressure that’s on my foot, the quicker it’s going to heal,” Isner said. “It’s tough for me because it seems counterproductive. Even when I’ve been hurt in the past I’ve always been able to actively recover. But this is a tough one to actively recover.”

The 2018 Nitto ATP Finals qualifier says that the toughest part of the situation is how immobile he has to stay. Even if his foot is 100 per cent ready, but he is not in satisfactory ‘tennis shape’, he’s not going to rush back to compete in Madrid. He plans on taking his time so that he is completely over the injury before playing again.

“I’ve been pretty used to being healthy the past bunch of years. I take a lot of pride in keeping myself healthy even though it’s not an easy task whatsoever,” Isner said. “Being on the shelf right now, as far as times of the season go, it’s not a horrible time. It’s just foreign to me because I’m so used to training when I’m home and working out and being very, very active. Because my foot is hurt, it’s very hard to do all of that.”

Isner was looking forward to competing at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship next week in Houston, as he could drive from his home to the event. But he’s likely to not be able to even practise next week, so he had to make the tough decision to withdraw.

“I’m absolutely bummed to be missing Houston considering it’s a tournament I can drive to and a tournament I’ve never missed in my whole career. I played it 12 years in a row,” Isner said. “This year I’m going to miss it and that’s pretty tough to swallow because I really enjoy playing there.”

For now, Isner is doing his best to remain positive, rest up, and set his sights on Madrid and beyond.

“It’s all about how I feel. It’s all about how my foot feels, if I could put all my weight on my leg and as of now I can’t do that at all,” Isner said. “I’ve always been a fast healer when things have popped up here and there. I do believe that I’m going to get over this in a very quick fashion. It won’t be tomorrow or the next day or probably next week. So I just have to give it time.”

Which actor would you want to portray you in a movie about your life? Is there a movie character whom you would want to be?

Those are the questions that some of the best tennis players recently answered in an ATP Tour exclusive.

What do you think, @chrishemsworth? ?

Think you could play @denis_shapo on the big screen? ?? pic.twitter.com/bGwsNRxaGK

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) April 4, 2019

Tomas Berdych – James Bond
Alex de Minaur – Hugh Jackman
David Goffin – Leonardo DiCaprio
Karen Khachanov – Liam Hemsworth
Gael Monfils – Denzel Washington
Kei Nishikori – Batman
Milos Raonic – John Malkovich (no resemblance, but big fan of his acting)
Diego Schwartzman – Gerard Butler
Denis Shapovalov – Chris Hemsworth
Frances Tiafoe – Kevin Hart

Khachanov looks especially similar to Liam Hemsworth, who was in The Hunger Games series. The similarity was even covered by Buzzfeed and People.

pic.twitter.com/PF1OaZ0XQN

— Karen Khachanov (@karenkhachanov) February 15, 2019

Yeah I am the 4th brother?? https://t.co/I5pG9vjixY

— Karen Khachanov (@karenkhachanov) September 5, 2018

The stars of the ATP Tour can be identified by their strokes, their unique celebrations and their pre-point routines. But if you close your eyes and listen closely, you may be able to identify them by something else: their grunts.

ATPTour.com challenged Alexander Zverev, Jeremy Chardy, Kyle Edmund, Steve Johnson and Andrey Rublev to the ‘Guess The Grunt Challenge’, to see who would be able to figure out which grunts belong to which player.

One of the stars scored a perfect score while others were left bargaining for partial credit. Find out who was successful by watching the video above or in the tweet below.

On a scale of Jeremy Chardy to Alexander Zverev, how good are you at guessing the player by their grunt? ?? pic.twitter.com/tffdViyZru

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) April 3, 2019

Fresh faces from around the world have made their way inside the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings so far this season as a different champion has been crowned almost every week. The 2019 ATP Tour season has hosted 20 events so far, and 19 different players have hoisted trophies.

ATPTour.com takes a look at which players inside the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings have made the biggest climbs through the first three months.

Felix Auger-Aliassime +75 (No. 33)
Felix Auger-Aliassime has long been discussed as a future star on the ATP Tour. And in the first quarter of the season, the #NextGenATP Canadian has justified those expectations.

The 18-year-old had not yet broken into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings when the 18 February standings were published. But since then, Auger-Aliassime has been on a tear, climbing to his current career-high of No. 33.

Auger-Aliassime advanced to his first ATP Tour final in Rio de Janeiro, earning 300 points. And after respectable performances in Sao Paulo and Indian Wells, the teen made his biggest breakthrough yet in Miami, becoming the youngest semi-finalist in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament’s history. That effort earned him 360 points, helping him become the first player born in the 2000s to crack the Top 50.

Laslo Djere +61 (No. 32)
Laslo Djere’s prospects of a big run in Rio de Janeiro looked bleak when he drew top seed and clay-court savant Dominic Thiem in the first round. The Serbian owned only a 1-4 tour-level record on the season entering the week, and he was No. 90 in the ATP Rankings.

But Djere went on a dream run to lift his maiden ATP Tour title, gaining 500 points for his efforts. That sent him up 53 spots the next week to 37th, a massive ascent for a player who had never previously exceeded No. 83.

Djere has made it as high as No. 31 in the month since, which helped him gain main draw entry into all three upcoming clay-court ATP Masters 1000 events — in Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome — based on his ATP Ranking. Djere’s victory also went viral thanks to a speech he gave during the trophy ceremony in which he dedicated the triumph to his late parents.

“I don’t know many tennis players who went through these things. I want to be that guy who inspires others and shows that you can still be successful,” Djere said.

Daniel Evans +103 (No. 89)
Daniel Evans began the 2019 season just inside the Top 200, at World No. 192. The Brit lost in the first round of an ATP Challenger Tour event to start his year, but he has not looked back since.

The 28-year-old won at least four matches (not all tour-level) in four consecutive tournaments, including a run to his first ATP Tour final in Delray Beach. He was close to making that stretch even more impressive, missing out on three championship points in the Delray Beach final, which would have earned him another 100 points.

Nevertheless, Evans earned 325 points during that period, helping him return to the Top 100 for the first time since September 2017. Evans will now try to chase his career-high of No. 41, which he achieved in March 2017.

Juan Ignacio Londero +54 (No. 64)
Juan Ignacio Londero arrived at the Cordoba Open ranked 112th and without a tour-level win to his name. But the Argentine went on one of the most memorable runs of the young season, capturing his first ATP Tour title with a come-from-behind three-set win against compatriot Guido Pella, whom he had never beaten.

Belgian Steve Darcis and Spain’s Santiago Ventura also did not own a tour-level win when they went on to earn an ATP Tour title (2007 Amersfoort and 2004 Casablanca, respectively). With his victory, Londero added 250 points to his total, helping him break into the Top 100 for the first time.

Radu Albot +52 (No. 46)
Radu Albot is the only Moldovan who currently has an ATP Ranking. And in 2019, the 29-year-old has continued lowering it, breaking into the Top 50 for the first time by reaching the third round in Indian Wells.

After a first-round loss in Pune, Albot has shown consistent form, winning at least one tour-level match at each tournament he has played since. The Moldovan’s crowning moment of the first quarter came in Delray Beach, where he fended off three championship points to beat Evans and lift his first ATP Tour trophy. Albot also showed his ability to compete against the best players in the game, as he was the only player to take a set from Federer at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Notable Climbers
Hugo Dellien +46 (No. 76) – Santiago Challenger W, Rio & Sao Paulo QF
Reilly Opelka +43 (No. 56) – New York W
Cameron Norrie +35 (No. 55) – Auckland F, Acapulco SF
Hubert Hurkacz +34 (No. 52) – Indian Wells & Dubai QF
Stan Wawrinka +30 (No. 36) – Rotterdam F, Doha & Acapulco QF

We like to think of tennis as a linear sport, where players continue to improve and records keep falling.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis identifies that is not always the case, as some masterful players from yesteryear posted career-best numbers that still have not been broken. Below are five players who put up amazing metrics in previous decades that have stood the test of time.

1. Mats Wilander: Hard-Court Break Points Converted Leader (45.58%)
Wilander played from 1981 to 1996, and spent 20 weeks ranked No. 1 in late 1988 and early 1989. He collected 33 titles, including three Grand Slams in 1988. Wilander was most comfortable on clay, where he won 20 of his 32 titles, including the first eight of his career.

But Wilander was also a very successful player on hard courts, winning nine titles, including the Australian Open and the US Open in 1988. Wilander remains to this day the career leader in break points converted on hard courts, at 45.58 per cent (201/441) from 61 matches.

2. Stefan Edberg: Hard-Court First-Serve Return Points Won (33.64%)
Edberg competed right around the same time as Wilander, turning pro in 1983 and finishing up in the same year in 1996. Edberg won more titles than Wilander, with 42, and spent 72 weeks at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings.

We tend to think of Edberg’s prowess more on the serving side with his flashy serve-and-volley tactics, but his career return numbers were better than his serving stats. He is ranked 18th best with return games won, and just 38th best with service games won.

Edberg still remains the career hard-court leader with first-serve return points won at 33.64% (3667/10,901) from 219 matches.

3. Alberto Berasategui: Second-Serve Return Points Won (56.31%)
The 5’8” Spaniard played from 1991 to 2001, winning 14 titles (all on clay) and reaching a career-high of No. 7 in 1994. He is our sport’s career leader with second-serve return points won at 56.31 per cent (7670/13621) from 477 matches, although Berasategui played 77 per cent (368/477) of his matches on clay courts, where is often easier to return serve.

His standout season was in 1994, when he won seven titles and lost in the final of Roland Garros 6-3, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 to Sergi Bruguera.

4. Andre Agassi: Hard-Court Second Serve Return Points Won (56.08%)
Agassi’s career spanned from 1986 to 2006, and he spent 101 weeks at No. 1 along the way. Agassi won 60 titles, and had one of the most ferocious second-serve returns in the history of our sport.

If the second serve “sat there” to be hit, Agassi routinely stepped in and crushed it. He remains the career leader on hard courts with second-serve return points won at 56.08 per cent (11,141/19,868) from 584 matches.

5. Goran Ivanisevic: Grass-Court First-Serve Points Won (89.68%)
Ivanisevic played 85 matches on grass in his career, capturing the Manchester title in 1991 and Wimbledon in 2001, the last tour event he won.

Ivanisevic played from 1988 to 2004, reaching a career-high of No. 2 in 1994. His left-handed serve was a nightmare for opponents, especially on grass, and he remains the career leader in first-serve points won on grass at 89.68 per cent (4938/5677).

These five players dominated in their era with their own unique talents, and players in today’s game have not yet been able to catch them.