Question

As a former professional tennis player and current television analyst, you need to prepare a scouting report for an upcoming tournament. Select either two men's or women's singles or men's or women's doubles from the current list on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) or the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) websites. Once two players or doubles teams are determined, write a 750-1,000-word report that analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the players. The report may include either quantitative or qualitative data, or both, based on the following areas:

1. Technique – describe the strengths and weaknesses of groundstrokes, serve, return, volley, and overhead.
2. Tactics – describe the preferred strategies (playing the baseline or at the net) and patterns of play (serves vary, player known to be a hustler, etc.).
3. Mental game – describe the level of focus, temperament, etc. of the players.
4. Fitness – describe the speed and endurance of the players.
5. A summary with tips and best practices for each competitor.

Prepare this assignment according to guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required

Answer 1

The two men's singles players selected are: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

                                

Roger Federer:

Strengths: We could be here a while, the 19-time Grand Slam champion has arguably the most complete game seen in the history of the sport. The Swiss maestro glides gracefully across the court, his movement is underrated. A blistering forehand and a pin-point accurate serve provide the main platform for this trophy laden fortunes. In recent years, it is tactically where Federer has been so astute. Realising at 36-years-old he must adapt, Federer has attacked the net more, channeling his idols Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras. His variety and canny forays to the net keeps opponents guessing. The volleys are crisp and lets Federer play at his pace.

Weaknesses: For years Federer has been targeted on the backhand side. It’s improved drastically, he steps in and unleashes winners without regularly chopping slice in defence. Some of the shots of 2017 came from Federer’s jet-black Wilson racquet on the backhand side, but he can still be pressed into passive slices if opponents ramp up the power.

Tactics:

The following analysis of Federer’s Serve +1 strategy comes from 28 matches he played at the Australian Open up to and including winning the title in 2017. A detailed breakdown shows just how dominant this lethal one-two combination really is.

The Top 10 players in the world average hitting a forehand as the first shot after their first serve 67% of the time. Federer’s thirst for a forehand is greater than that, as he struck a first shot forehand 71% of the time.

Just stop and think about that for a moment. Everyone on the planet knows that Federer’s forehand is better than his backhand. His opponents undoubtedly do. All of them are trying to immediately direct their return to his backhand – but north of seven times out of 10 Federer hits a forehand. Basically unstoppable.

How is that possible? The success factors for the Swiss include strategic serve placement, knowing natural return angles, a decade-plus of anticipation, and silky movement that makes it seem like he is already standing where the return is been directed to – before it’s even hit.

The key to understanding this strategy is to understand the relationship between forehands and backhands. One’s a sword. It’s all about attacking. The other is a shield. Don’t miss. Don’t ever miss.

The forehand is simply a far more potent weapon than the backhand. At the 2018 Australian Open, there were 3761 forehand winners, and 1587 backhand winners hit in the men’s draw. That’s a very dominant 70% to 30% ratio in favor of forehands. At every level of the game, the forehand is the sword and dictates far more than the backhand from the back of the court.

Federer’s analytics at the 2018 Australian Open were right in line with that. He hit 69% (86) forehand winners, and 31% (38) backhand winners.

In short, the more forehands the better, and the earlier in the point even better still, before opponents can extend the point to a neutral battleground. As you can clearly see, the Serve +1 forehand strategy is a supercharged tactic – that can absolutely be used by players at all levels of our sport – even you.

Mental game: Roger Federer's mental toughness has been central to his ongoing success. In his career to date, he's won 82% of his matches, two thirds of his Grand Slam finals, and 65% of his tie breaks. These kind of stats can't be achieved without immense mental strength.

Fitness: Federer's average first-serve speed is 117 mph.

Rafael Nadal:

Strengths: A trademark lassoed forehand enables Nadal to whip another level of revolutions on the ball. The kick up high keeps opponents constantly on the back foot and he disguises its direction with aplomb. Nadal is also renowned for his unwavering mentally, an ability to wipe the slate clean and compete for every ball as if he’s match point down.

Weaknesses: It seems bizarre to pick any chinks in the Nadal armour. However, if we’re being really picky, his serve is still attackable. Yes, the world No.1 wins roughly 72 per cent of points on serve, but if anyone is brave enough to step in and launch a rocket return then success can be earned.

Tactics:

I believe that Rafael Nadal generally plays a smart tactical game. His game plan is built around using his forehand as much as possible. In the past he has used his first serve mainly to set himself up to hit as many forehands as possible on the next shot. Nowadays he also goes for his serve more but the general game plan stays the same.

He hurts a lot of his opponents by drawing them outside of the court with his cross-court forehands to their backhands. One-handed players have a very hard time against this tactic because his balls jump up so high.

I think that Rafael Nadal sometimes gets himself in trouble on faster hard-courts by playing with too much topspin.

The few matches that he looses are usually the ones where an opponent really takes it to him and attacks his balls with flat powerful shots. When this happens Nadal continues to hit his loopy topspin shots a lot of the time instead of trying to be a bit more aggressive himself and flatten out his forehand a little bit.

Mental game:

Physical and mental toughness usually go hand in hand in Tennis. Rafael Nadal certainly has both. He intimidates his opponents with his willpower and his fighting spirit. On the court he appears like a gladiator.

No matter what the score, Nadal seems to play every point like it is a matter of life or death. I am not sure if there ever was a player with more mental toughness than Rafael Nadal!

Fitness:

Not much to be said here except for that Nadal is a phenomenal athlete. Many of his peers have described him as superhuman. His speed, agility and explosiveness are probably the best we have ever seen in the game of Tennis.

Additionally, he never seems to get tired. The only thing that has been holding him back is a few injuries that his physical style of play might have caused.