TennisNH

For Daniil, Depth Is A Diamond

06-Aug-2020 14:29:00 | ATP World Tour

It’s easy to be mesmerised by Daniil Medvedev’s unorthodox groundstrokes.

To better wrap your head around what makes the 6’6” Russian so potent from the back of the court, don’t focus on his flailing follow-throughs. Keep your eye on the ball as it travels like a laser beam to the other side of the court, and notice how deep it lands near the baseline.

Daniil dines on depth.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Medvedev’s maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati last summer, identifies that he never lost the depth battle in his six matches. Hitting the ball deep in the court is arguably the best thing you can do to force an error in tennis, as your opponent has to either move back to hit the ball in their strike zone or shorten their swing to successfully time the ball on the rise. Quite often, they do neither, and errors abound.

Deep Groundstrokes (Percentage Shots Deep Of Service Line)