Game plan for big points
This past weekend in Washington D.C. there was a great finals match between Andy Roddick and Del Potro. Del Po won in a third set tie breaker stunning the heavily favored Andy Roddick. For those of you who did or did not see the breaker, there was a good lesson to be learned.
In all my years of playing junior and college tennis, the true players are made when the match gets tight. This is what separates the men from the boys. All my life I have heard you can not get tight, but play loose in these situations and just hit the ball. If you slow your strokes down or start to push and abandon the game plan that got you to the tie breaker, you are going to loose.
Time and time again on big points I see juniors go into a shell and get tentative and scared. They stop going for their shots and try to out rally their opponent. This does not work. The mindset needed for this to be successful is “If I don’t hit the ball and stay aggressive I am going to lose. Hit the ball and if you do go down, go down swinging.”
Ok so back to the match. Del Potro did not hit a single serve above 135mph the whole match. The very first serve of the breaker was a blistering 137 mph. From here I believe he hit four more aces including an ace on the only second serve attempt of the breaker. He was swinging freely. If and when the serve came back he was hitting out on his groundies and looking to attack and get in.
To make a long story short, when situations get tight attack attack attack. Stay aggressive and hit your shots. If you can do this you are giving yourself the best chance possible to win the match.
Del Potro
