Unexpected finalists Muchova and Ruud
View(s):Swiatek and Djokovic win Paris
Unexpectedly the challenge in the final of the French Open 2023, Grand Slam title to Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek came from Norwegian Caper Ruud in men’s and Czech republic’s Muchova in women.
Muchova surprised the tennis world. Her all court comfort was refreshing assurance how effective and appealing tennis can be. Casper Ruud, on the other hand, always had the capacity to beat big names. Djokovic winning the 23rd Grand Slam title, highest by any man, makes the title collection race run further for future players.
Plan A and Plan B?
At ground level competitions in tennis, players have an alternate game if the opponents prove to be formidable. A design often defensive to outlast opponents. That is a Plan ‘A’ and Plan ‘B’ in tactical thinking. In top end of professional tennis, there is no such thing as Plan ‘B’. If there is one, it will be turbo charge Plan ‘A’.
In the final Djokovic absorbed Ruud’s onslaught of killer groundstrokes and won each of the three sets after Ruud taking a lead in all three. For Ruud that is the best game, a turbo charged Plan ‘A’ and it took him to the French Open final. Ruud used extended rallies to pressurise Djokovic. Ruud’s tactic was to outlast Djokovic, and he nearly succeeded. Each of the three sets took over an hour to conclude.
Ruud played far behind the baseline closer to the linesmen than being closer to the baseline. His forte is high-powered groundstrokes and first serves. He got to the final doing that with brutal precision. Djokovic could not outplay him but did outlast Ruud.
Djokovic’s clay court tactic is to be a ‘stone wall’. His present coach and compatriot is a multiple Grand Slam winner Ivanovich. As a player, he has gone through all situations Djokovic is in now. A done it all man. Serbians develop on European clay courts; they are same as Paris courts.
Fair play
The influence of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in the past decade is still very strong and effective. As for sportsmanship, Federer and Nadal played it cleaner. Djokovich blemished his record with unfair practices. Time violation was the most used by Djokovic. Extended toilet breaks, service delays, provocation of audience to intimidate opponents, exhibition of emotions with war cries were not there before the era of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. In the final of the French Open, he received warnings. Each of the warning carries a fine from the prize money.
Nadal’s game was physical, often looked like a bullfighter in ‘Corrida’ on a Saturday afternoon in a bullring. After doing successful pass of the bull, a bullfighter connects himself with spectators to share their success and emotion with them. Nadal did that after he won a long rally. Spanish spirit in the story of tennis.
Muchova, Swiatek’s unexpected finalist
Appearance of Muchova in the French Open final was unexpected. Ranked 43 in WTA and of recent was somewhat of an absentee in the final rounds of big events. Professional tennis players live with a history of injuries and stress related issues. Muchova is 26-years-old and was sidelined in 2021 and 2022 with health issues.
Muchova’s performance in Paris this year has taken her WTA ranking to 16. She can be a stone cold player, which is very annoying to the opponent. If all is well with her, this could be her reemergence time. Her tennis is good to be in the top five of the world. A formidable all court player, she made very comfortable moves to the net and performed very well in the final.
Swiatek from Poland, the winner of the French Open title again, showed extreme stress in the final. Her final few games of the second set showed all the signs of being uncomfortable with Muchova’s stubborn resistance upon her. I have never seen Swiatek cracking before. Of recent, she too has come up with stress related injuries. There is not enough time between events to recuperate in professional tennis from March to September, summer the Northern Hemisphere.
Swiatek time is far-from-over. She is a formidable exponent of the game with sound all court ability. Her forehand figure eight swing produces very high speed in racquet-head-acceleration. The secret of stroke making for power packed shots. Her sighting technique has evolved to give full-bodied transfer of power. Timing at that speed consistently for a contact is high-end skill in tennis. A sign of all world beaters.
Bank notes – cash
Professional sport is about earning some money. The winner of both genders went home with two point US$ 5million in Paris. The runner-up got US$ 1.5 million dollars. Total prize money for French Open of 2023 was touching 50 million Euros.
–George Paldano, European and Asian competition player; Coach German Tennis Federation; national coach Brunei and Sri Lanka; Davis Cup, Federation Cup coach, coached ATP, WTA and ITF ranked players in Europe and Asia; WhatsApp +94775448880–