Mixed doubles took an exciting center stage in the preliminary week of the US Open. Mixed is the most interesting game of doubles because the relative strengths and weaknesses of the players are potentially magnified by their gender. The old adage to "play the woman" still holds, but with a caveat for club players.
Commentators often cite “having a strong mental game” as a quality which separates the very successful from the somewhat successful players in professional tennis. I would agree. And I would extend this to include competitive USTA players at or above the 3.5 level. The difficulty is that it is impossible to see inside a player’s mind. …
A Simulated Inner Game “Game Plan” Tim Gallwey’s Inner Game of Tennis is in the midst of resurgence as the rights have been sold to a group interested in reviving his ideas. This is a highly worthwhile project. The Inner Game is perhaps best known for its bounce-hit mechanism for focusing and quieting the mind. The concept is that the …
After the first set, I jokingly told my two friends: “This match is over. No matter how close it gets, our team will not win.” This ended up being true even though the Chestnut pair came back from 3-6 in a 2nd set tiebreak to send the match into a Super. What was it that allowed me to make my prediction in what was essentially a neck and neck …