[ad_1]
An hour into his third-round encounter against familiar foe Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic was smelling blood.
Deep into the second set of a match he was dominating, Djokovic had an eye on the clock, to finish his match by the 11pm local time deadline. Not letting his opportunity go to waste, 0-30 up, Djokovic returned a body serve with interest, and then played a delectable, deep backhand slice down-the-line to open up the court. He followed it up with another slice, this time crosscourt, and then hit an approach shot deep to send his scampering opponent chasing a dead end. By the time Wawrinka untied his feet, he was down by two sets.
The Swiss fought valiantly to make a match of it in the third, but Djokovic prevailed 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (5), marking the 10th anniversary since his last defeat at Centre Court with a typical, dominant win.
Djokovic’s best surface may be hard courts, but on the grass courts at SW19, where he is undefeated in a completed match since 2016, he has become an even bigger force of domination. Djokovic’s game may be the most complete on all surfaces, but the lack of a challenger is felt more intensely on grass, with his mostly younger opposition simply not having the range of weapons to excel on the surface – chief of which is the underrated sliced backhand.
Defence & offence
For generations, serve-and-volley and first-strike attacks have ruled on grass. Booming serves and forehands, soft hands at the net, return positioning are minutely analysed when it comes to playing on grass. But, as baseline play has become more common on the surface this century, it is the sliced backhand that has proved to be among the most essential shots.
The neatly trimmed grass keeps the ball bouncing low, and flat groundstrokes and serves can skid through and come at the receiver at high speeds. The slice, then, allows players not only to get the ball back in play, but also blunt the power of the shot and take pace off it, giving one the time to get into a neutral position from a defensive position, and extracting errors from big hitters by making them produce their own pace.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after beating Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka in a men’s singles match on day five of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Friday, July 7, 2023. (AP)
On Friday, Djokovic used the shot very well in defence, counteracting Wawrinka’s easy power. But he also used it to open up positions on court to put away winners, and disrupt his opponent’s rhythm. The shot came into play at each of the big moments – set point in the first set, to set up set point in the second, thrice in the tiebreaker.
Roger Federer’s use of the backhand slice on the green lawns of Wimbledon is perhaps one of the most enduring images of his storied career. Federer loved the slice so much that, in his later years, he began using it more on his forehand side too, not just as a defensive stroke or drop shot, but by opening his stance – a stroke that would be at home on a squash court – and going deep with it to attack or set up a volley at the net.
The slice was the signature of Ash Barty, the now-retired former World No. 1 and 2021 Wimbledon champion, not just because it was good in defence but because of its sheer range. She could knife the ball from any position on court and hit it deep and flat, loopy and spinning, or for a classic drop shot.
Adjustments for precision
Despite the power game becoming the norm on tour, the slice, being an all-court stroke, is not totally out of vogue. Its usage on grass, however, can be tricky for those who are not used to the surface.
The grass season is only five weeks long, and has been for years now. But with the rest of the tennis calendar increasingly bloated, players no longer need to have pedigree on this surface to gain rankings and prize money. With lesser grass courts on the lower-rung ITF and Challenger level, players do not get much experience on the surface in their formative years either.
New-age players employ biomechanics specialists for their serve and forehand, but a stroke like the backhand slice requires equal attention to detail.
Setting up the slice requires one to be in a comfortable position. But many modern-day players are used to sliding into the ball on clay and hard courts, as opposed to the minor adjustment in movement – taking two or three small steps rather than sliding – on the slippery grass, not allowing them to be in the best position to execute the stroke. The amount of backlift when revving up the slice gives control over its depth and spin. But players not used to the lower bounces of grass courts often misread the required backlift, and end up mishitting.
Historically, the backhand slice was never part of Djokovic’s expertise. Even on grass, at times, he prefers to slide into shots instead of taking those extra little steps. But over time, he has adapted to the conditions, and evolved his game into one that can dominate on the surface. If the rest of the chasing pack want to have any chance of stopping him this coming week, they will have to show this steady evolution of their own.
[ad_2]
