Our prolific guest contributor, coach and tennis analyst, Evan Gaudreau is back with “Felix and Andrey” – a tennis short story about a recent meeting between two pro players.
The story features the two viewpoints of Felix Auger-Aliassime and Andrey Rublev and their recent matches. The format is slightly different to make reading it more entertaining. You have to give it to Evan for being creative around his analysis! If you like this type of content and want to find more information about strategy and how to win tennis matches – let me know in the comments below. I will also feature more of that type of content on my YouTube channel and podcast. / Jonas
Felix sat in the chair, staring out the hotel window. A boat floated far away in the distance, alone in the North Sea.ย Staying in The Hague, Netherlands, reminds him of Monaco. The tiny beach. The people walking by. Theโฆ
โFelix?โ
He turned his head.
โWere you listening?โ
โYes.โ
โMon Dieu. Pay attention.โ
โTabarnak,โ Felix said.
โFelix? You need to understand this for the next time you play Andrey.โ
He took a deep breath.
โYou have to be careful with your combos into the Ad corner. Beware of the position heโs in..โ
โDid you see him slam the ball against the back after I broke in the second setโฆtwice?โ Felix laughed.
Guillaume looked at Frederic with concern.
The bigger picture
Guillaume stood up and walked across the room. Frederic sat down. ย โListen, you are playing well, but you need to focus on the bigger picture. Weโre almost there. But, if you donโt pay attention, itโs going to slip by.โย He put his hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes.ย โDo you hear me?โ
Felix nodded.
โYou served well. We got him down the T on some big ones, but listenโฆโ
Felix was in his head, dreaming.
First Title. Money.
โWe can talk about this later,โ Frederic said. โLetโs enjoy!โ
He raised his glass, and all three threw down a drink in celebration.
โThe French!โ
Meanwhile…
โYou stopped moving your feet in the second set,โ Fernando said aggressively.
โI was moving my feet!โ Andrey yelled.
โYou werenโt! You were turning too quick to the ball because your feet were late, so your body had to turn too quick on those forehand errors.โ
Fernando slammed his fist on the table.
โWe had him. We should have won that much if you moved your feet better.โ
โThe courts were fast.โ
โBullshit!โ He slammed his fist again.
โI donโt care about the damn courts,โ Fernando said. โI care about winning! YOU. NEED. TO. WIN. THOSE. MATCHES!โ
The anger was building inside. Andrey thought about breaking something. But there was nothing to break in the room.
Well, there was but it would have made a huge mess and the last time he punched the wall, his hand had hurt so much afterwards, he thought it was broken.
One week later…
The Le Petit Nice Passedat hotel was nice. But, choosing to stay at Les Bords De Mer seemed perfect.ย On the water. Away from distractions. Quiet.
โWe need to change a few things,โ Guillaume said. โLetโs open up the match with attacking with the wide serves and see where that goesโฆbut be careful when Andreyโs forehand gets hot.โ
โShould we start with the same patterns from Rotterdam?โ Felix suggested.
Frederic walked over.
โFelix. Letโs start with the wides at the beginning and see as the match goes on if adjustments will need to be made. Iโll do a quick series of claps if we need to make adjustments.โ
Felix nodded.
โAlso, during baseline patterns, letโs work in some quick combos. On the Ad side letโs return middle, and work off the center. Mix up where shot #2 goes. You can push him into the backhand corner and then later, hit the center of the court on the return and then tap one to the forehand side.โ
โAnd then over to the backhand?โ
โYes.โ
Frederic looked at Guillaume with satisfaction.
โOnce you establish that pattern, sneak a return or two to the corner on a big point to throw him off.โ
Felix smiled.
โThe Notterdam courts were faster, lets also mix in a couple mid combos to the backhand corner, when youโre up in the game. Andโฆโ
โWatch out for the backhand down the line?โ
โYes.โ
Over at the Intercontinental
Over at the InterContinental Marseille,ย Fernando clapped his hands quickly and began shadow boxing. He began breathing out after every air punch.
โWe got this,โ he said and stopped punching. โLetโs try not to go three sets this time. Letโs win in straights.โ
He threw a few more punches.
You never knew which Fernando showed up. Today seemed like a good day.
He grabbed a tennis ball and threw it at Andrey. Andrey dodged it.
โCome on man. Relax.โ
โI canโt.โ He began jumping up and down.
โDude?โ
โYeah, I know, bring it down a notch.โ
โYeah.โ
โBut I canโt.โ He grabbed another ball and threw it at Andrey, playfully.
Andrey caught it and pulled back his arm.
โThatโs itโฆ.Come on!โ he said as he bounced around like a kangaroo. โYou got nothing, Dude. You canโt hit the old guy cuz the old guy’s too fast for you.โ
Donโt tempt me, Andrey thought.
Fernando started punching the air again as Andrey put the ball on the table.
Andrey Rublev d Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-5, 7-6
โThe wide patterns worked well, Felix. We just need to adjust when to switch the first ball back to the forehand corner.โ
โMaybe I could have followed a few into the net also.โ
โYes. That too.โ
โI was a little worried about his passes,โ Felix said.
โYes, I understand,โ Frederic said patiently. โRemember to keep your mind on the future. This will pay dividends down the road. Remember the ultimate goal is the Majors.โ
Felix nodded.
โWeโre getting better. This is just a bump in the road. The game plans are working and itโs just small adjustment.โ
He held up his index finger and his thumb.
โA little adjustment,โ he said again. โTiny. Small like a pebble. You see, I can barely fit a paper between my fingers, itโs so small.โ
A few seconds went by.
โSome of those longer combos were great also. I know you lost the points, but this was good. You are learning so much. Just think back to last summer and think of today. So much better. You couldnโt even do the combo training last summer,โ he said and smiled.
They both smiled.
โI think I could have mixed in a serve and volley a few times.โ
โMaybe.โ
They both looked away and thought about winning their first Major later this year, but it wasnโt spoken.
Summary
One thought popped into my head while watching the final in Marseille. Yes, game points are important. But what is a game point? 40-0? 40-15? 40-30? Or can it be 30-15?ย Think about it.
Youโre playing a match and your game points are so easy in the first set, yet in the second set they are so panicky because your opponent isnโt giving away as much and you are caught off guard.ย Should you be more focused at 15-all? Or 30-15?
Is that where the โgame pointโ actually is?ย I think so.
Itโs easy to fall asleep in the match.ย And before you know it the match has slipped away and you canโt figure out why.
Have you had a match slip away and not realized why?