And I mean that in the nicest way, really. I really do.
Through the decades of watching the top tennis professionals battle it out on the court I have observed a few things. One of them is that in the men's game, the serve is considered a huge weapon and the return not so much. Exception: Andre Agassi. There are probably more, but he was the best returner I remember seeing on the men's side.... until now. It makes sense, really. Men are put together differently than women. They have strong shoulders and arms. Women, for the most part are not as strong in the upper body. In the women's game the return of serve has been considered a huge weapon for many of the top players. Right off the bat I think of Chris Evert, Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova....you get it. In fact, the only top women's players that I really remember being known for their serves more than their returns were Billy Jean King and Martina Navritilova, both amazing serve and volley players. You may disagree with me, but even as huge as Venus and Serena serve, I think their returns are what blow people off the court. When I picture these two hitting returns one word comes to mind more than anything else: fearless. They can be up match point or down match point, or anywhere in between and you can bet on one thing: they are going to hit all out on that return of serve. And this fearless, aggressive, 'go big or go home,' kind of returning has, forgive the expression, served them quite well.
On the men's side, however, the servers have had a huge advantage, and that is still true for the most part. Look at John Isner. He is 6'9". He not only hits the serve a million miles and hour, his height allows him to go for the angles too. Many of his matches have a lot of tie breaks, because it is really hard to break his serve. Yep, he's the guy who, on the third day, and after playing a total of 11 hours and 5 minutes, and 183 games, finally beat Mahut at Wiimbledon last summer. Nobody could break the other guy's serve. It is a record that will likely never be broken. But I digress..... sort of. Here's what has gone through my mind for a long time: what if the huge servers, like John Isner and Andy Roddick, could return better? I mean, what would it take to turn them from one-sided players into players that can do it all, like the Williams sisters on the women's side?
Enter stage left: NOVAK DJOKOVIC.
If you missed the match between Djokovic and Nadal yesterday afternoon, you will get another chance, and I couldn't recommend it more. It was like watching modern day gladiators, and history unfolding before my eyes. There is so much to say, but I will try to stay focused on my point, which is this: Djokovic's return of serve was phenomenal. McEnroe, Carillo, and Enberg were drooling over it, and Nadal was baffled by it. Over and over again the ball came back hard and deep to the baseline, putting Rafa on his back foot and forcing him to hit short. More than once a voice in our living room would say, 'how does he keep doing that?' And then it hit me: Djokovic returns like a girl! His return of serves are not just hard, they aren't just deep, they are FEARLESS. Do you remember when he was down double match point against Federer in the semis? Roger hit a good serve out wide and what happened? BAM! Djokovic hit the return as hard as he possibly could for a clean winner....and ended up mounting a shocking comeback when it looked like Fed had it in the bag. Amazing.
So when I say that Novak Djokovic returns like a girl, I mean it! Way to go, Novak!
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