The Topspin Serve: Photo Lesson originally appeared on About.com Tennis on Friday, February 10th, 2012 at 22:33:49.

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Soft Tennis originally appeared on About.com Tennis on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 at 23:03:02.

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Who is the highest-ranked ATP player this week whose ranking has changed since last week?

Both last week and this week, how many players in the WTA top thirty are not from Europe?

Rankings Mini-Quiz: Week of 02-06-12 originally appeared on About.com Tennis on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 at 22:42:51.

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Advanced Doubles Tactics Illustrated originally appeared on About.com Tennis on Friday, February 3rd, 2012 at 22:08:43.

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The Australian Open really shook up the rankings at the top for the women, but not so much for the men. For roughly the first half of the 2012 ATP Tour calendar at least, the top five especially should remain as they are. Point differences are small enough at the top of the women's rankings though, that even the smaller events on the WTA Tour calendar could cause significant turbulence.

Who is the only WTA player in the top five whose ranking did not change between the last rankings (two weeks ago) and this week?

Which ATP player stepped into the top ten between the last rankings (two weeks ago) and this week?

Rankings Mini-Quiz: Week of 01-30-12 originally appeared on About.com Tennis on Monday, January 30th, 2012 at 23:33:07.

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Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 on Sunday to win the 2012 Australian Open in the longest final, 5 hours 53 minutes, in Grand Slam history.  Novak had played 4 hours 50 minutes on Friday night to defeat Andy Murray, and the accumulated exhaustion showed in the fifth set against Nadal, as his legs were clearly weakened.  Rafa's legs never gave out; he stayed in the last two sets by continuing to run down one angle after another that took him well wide of the doubles sidelines.  Novak had to hit unbelievable shots to get the ball out of Rafa's reach.

Tiredness doesn't always show where you'd expect it, though.  Although Rafa's running continued undiminished throughout, his accuracy fell off.  Up a break, at 4-2 and 30-15 in the fifth set, Rafa had a backhand sitter that would normally be an easy winner, and he missed it wide.  Novak broke to get back on serve, and in the remaining games, Rafa sprinkled in just enough uncharacteristic misses, added to plenty of winners from Novak, to cost him the match.  Novak missed a couple more shots than usual in the fifth set too, but for the most part, his accuracy held up. As his legs weren't faring as well, he went for bigger shots to end points sooner.  Novak's inability to run at full throttle forced him into the only strategy that was likely to succeed; had his legs felt fresher, he might have been a bit less aggressive and lost.

Djokovic Wins Epic Final originally appeared on About.com Tennis on Sunday, January 29th, 2012 at 15:28:16.

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Victoria Azarenka Takes Australian Open and #1 Ranking originally appeared on About.com Tennis on Saturday, January 28th, 2012 at 14:40:19.

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Andy Murray may be disappointed to have lost to Novak Djokovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-1, 7-5 in Friday's Australian Open semifinal, but he has to be quite happy with his performance, as he played much better than ever before against a top player in a major event.  Andy has always been extremely quick on defense, but he was rarely as aggressive as he needed to be.  Against Novak, he hit much harder than in his past, especially on the forehand, and created incredible angles that made Novak use all of his also extraordinary quickness.

Roger Federer has fewer reasons to be happy about his performance in the other semifinal, but he does have at least one.  Rafael Nadal increased his edge over Roger in majors, taking him out 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-4, but as it had in the final at Roland Garros last year, Roger's backhand held up against Rafa's immense topspin much better than in earlier encounters.  It was Roger's forehand that let him down. Under pressure, he tends to aim it too low and hit it into the net;  that's what cost him the US Open semifinal last year against Djokovic.  Roger may be aiming low so that he can hit with more pace and put the ball out of reach of the amazingly speedy Rafa (or Novak), but he'd do better to use more topspin so that he can hit with the same pace, but with safer clearance--as do Rafa and Novak.  Given how much Roger has improved his backhand in the last year, he should be able to improve the topspin on his forehand too.

Photo Stroke Studies

Men's Semifinalists: Murray Much Improved, Federer Mixed originally appeared on About.com Tennis on Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 23:38:38.

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Victoria Azarenka's exceptional power and solid athleticism have long promised to get her to a major final, and with crucial help from her improved mental toughness, they fulfilled that promise on Thursday, as she defeated defending champion Kim Clijsters 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.   On Saturday, she will meet Maria Sharapova, whose ticket to the final was a tough 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Petra Kvitova.

Victoria's set scores against Kim reveal one of the keys to her chances against Maria. She'll almost certainly hit at least one wild patch like her second set against Kim; if it's brief and singular, she'll have a good chance; otherwise, the steelier Maria will take advantage too well.  Maria can be streaky, but she rarely goes off as badly or as long as the other huge power hitters on the WTA Tour, three of whom were the other semi-finalists.  Maria shouldn't make as many unforced errors as Victoria, but she also can't defend as well, so Victoria may have more winners.  A key for both women will be the first serve percentage; a key for Victoria especially will be controlling her nerves.

Photo Studies

Victoria Azarenka's Strokes

Maria Sharapova's Strokes

Preview of Maria vs. Victoria originally appeared on About.com Tennis on Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 01:58:00.

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Roger Federer played his third outstanding match in row as he defeated Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in Tuesday's quarterfinal.  After his incredibly error-free performance against Ivo Karlovic last Friday, then the comprehensive array of shots he displayed on Sunday that left Bernard Tomic shaking his head in wonder, Roger's comfortable handling of Juan Martin's unrivaled power was no less impressive.  Roger hasn't lost a match since the US Open last year, in part because his backhand is better than ever before, and he has continued to cultivate his biggest weapons, his forehand and serve.  On the backhand, Roger is driving topspins down the line with better power and accuracy, hitting more on the rise, and using a short, low, skidding slice to force opponents to reach low and forward uncomfortably enough to yield an easy ball he can put away.  One the forehand, Roger has improved the angle on his inside-out stroke and the reliability of the often difficult inside-in.  Roger continues to refine the exceptional accuracy of his serve; his isn't the most powerful serve, but it's one of the most effective because he places it so well and so cleverly.

Rafael Nadal had a tougher time in his quarterfinal, coming one point from dropping the first two sets to Tomas Berdych before prevailing 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-3.  Berdych hits almost as hard as Del Potro, but with more versatility, and he made Rafa come up with some amazing shots, especially passing shots hit with power and pinpoint accuracy from a stretched position that would limit most players to barely chipping the ball back.  Rafa has looked sharp in this Australian Open, apparently not hindered by the knee pain that gave him a scare as the tournament was starting.  Against Berdych, Rafa was clearly in his flatter, deeper groundstroke mode, instead of the higher, heavier topspins that were his early signature and that continue to make him the dominant player on clay.  With Rafa, flatter is a highly relative term, as his average topspin is still greater than almost anyone's.

In Roger's favor in Thursday's semifinal will be his improved backhand, the stroke Rafa attacks most often by far, and the cooler temperatures that will help keep the ball lower, where Roger likes it more and Rafa likes it less.  In Rafa's favor will be the better depth he's been getting on his groundstrokes and his favorable record with Roger head-to-head.  It will be especially interesting to see whether Rafa focuses on his usual  strategy against Roger, topspinning the ball high to Roger's backhand, despite the cooler conditions and lower bounces.

Photo Stroke Studies:

Preview of Roger vs. Rafa originally appeared on About.com Tennis on Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 at 02:59:04.

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