Australian Open 2011: Alexandr Dolgopolov’s All-Around Efficiency

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at Internationaled.org

Published: January 24, 2011

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 After watching Robin Soderling’s unceremonious exit (again) from the Australian Open—he lost in the opening round last year—I have finally figured out why these courts do not suit this big man.

The courts here are fast enough that they give his opponent a good chance to make Soderling run around the court, exposing his fragile movement, and they are slow enough to not provide Soderling with a good enough penetration.

Moreover, the relatively low bounce of these courts (compared to the French) do not suit Soderling at all.

Soderling thrives on extremes—the extremely slow conditions at Paris with bounce high enough to allow him to generate his own pace, or the extremely fast conditions of indoors that help him hit the first strike. He does not have a good transition game to thrive on these courts.

The other stalwart of Melbourne, Andre Agassi, didn’t have that either, but he had the great return of serve, and ability to take the ball ridiculously early to make him a legend at these medium-paced courts (in addition to his four titles at Australia, he has also won Miami six times, a record).

Soderling has neither.

His opponent, 22-year-old Alexandr Dolgopolov, utilized his weaknesses efficiently. This was the first time I watched this kid play, and I already like him—especially his last name. I said his name aloud quite a few times during this match, and he gave me enough reason to cheer for him.

In some ways, it is Dolgopolov, rather than Grigor Dimitrov, who reminds me of Roger Federer.

He may not have Federer’s aesthetic one-handed backhand, but he possesses two of the most important strengths of Federer—the efficient playing style (he hardly looked tired during the match even though this was his second consecutive five-setter), and effortless movement around the court.

Plus, he has a variety of ground strokes...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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