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Excellent!!Dinesh wrote: ↑Sat Mar 04, 2023 4:22 pm [F] Anirudh Chandrasekar (IND)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) 6-1 4-6 10-3 Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Kaito Uesugi (JPN)
Congrats to AniJay for their first Challenger title. Anirudh is now the 8th ranked Indian in the doubles list, sitting at a career-high of #144, while VSP at a new CH- of #168.
oops Vparam , thanks for reminding about it, I tried to delete the duplicate post but couldn't, would a kind moderator help to remove the duplicate post.Couldnt have said this better myself. I watched Purcell in Bangalore, it was a throwback to those years of watching Laver, Newcombe, and Rosewall play. Except with the new rackets and fitness regimens, he could turn on the heat when and only when needed. The way he handled Sumit was classic - he let Sumit do his thing and analyzed him completely while doing so. Sets 2 and 3 were executed to perfection, cut down on unforced errors, the transition from defense to offense on critical points, and finish off with a volley or overhead- if only our guys can go back and watch their matches against Purcell they can learn something from it.Rajiv wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 10:35 am So Mel Purcel wins Poona completes an outstanding 3 weeks of portentous Tennis to make it a hat trick of wins to grab all the 3 Challengers on offer.
It was not a brutal domination of 3 weeks of Tennis but it was a methodical classic coaching book approach which was to come back from behind and not to choke and throw in the towel like our players usually do once the lead slips out of and negativity and tension takes over and don't know how to hold on when there nose is in the front.
But in case of Purcell in the 3 weeks that he played over 7 to 8 matches were 3 setters one of which was against Sumit and after a loss of S1 didn't let the thoughts of defeat cloud him but instead raised his games went for his shots hitting the lines and with wide serving irrespective of whether he would win or loose.
And that ideology and fundamentals come from the Australian school of Tennis greatly developed by the fabled Harry Hopman, which basically concentrated about focusing on the process and situation and not to focus on the end result which invariably leads to choking and ultimate defeat.
So a player basically can control the process but not the end result and instilled this mantra to his wards which was to focus on the process one which the Jr Krishnan, Ramesh learned so well during his obligatory annual trips to Florida at the Hopman school while playing on the circuit.
So Purcell's 3 weeks of extraordinary run surely will be noticed on the circuit and how handsomely it has rewarded him taking him from 200 to a top 100 now and not to mention over 60k he earned playing singles and doubles.
How I wish if only we would have something like this to cheer , but sadly we can only watch and celebrate about other nations players doing the correct things, And for us who cares all of this kind of approach and development, as we have our Doubles bandits to sing paeans about.
By the time set 2 came around, Purcell already knew what he had to do to beat Sumit, Prajnesh or Hamad. He just watched them beat themselves. He knew exactly how they would pass him at net, so he knew when to approach and cut off the volley or overhead. His handling of Hamad was classic - I enjoyed every minute of this match in Bangalore.knarayen wrote: ↑Sun Mar 05, 2023 2:25 pm Couldnt have said this better myself. I watched Purcell in Bangalore, it was a throwback to those years of watching Laver, Newcombe, and Rosewall play. Except with the new rackets and fitness regimens, he could turn on the heat when and only when needed. The way he handled Sumit was classic - he let Sumit do his thing and analyzed him completely while doing so. Sets 2 and 3 were executed to perfection, cut down on unforced errors, the transition from defense to offense on critical points, and finish off with a volley or overhead- if only our guys can go back and watch their matches against Purcell they can learn something from it.
This is what I wanted Prajnesh and Sumit to learn from - if they don't know this by now then they are never going to learn it.
Prof
At 24, he is showing remarkable maturity in his game. He uses his big guns (serve, consistency, accuracy, super quick mobility, attacking groundstrokes) in a very strategic way. He could be the next Australian great if he succeeds in staying injury free. But he needs to improve his return of serve a lot to progress into the top 50. In the absence of an Indian player, I can root for this guy!!arjun2761 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 6:57 pm Interesting choice by Purcell to prioritize singles over doubles. Makes sense as he is just 24 and can always pivot back to doubles later.
He is clearly top 20 or better in doubles (with a Wimbledon title) but perhaps feels that he can crack the top 50 in singles which is why he's going down that route.
Hamad Medjedovic is knocking the doors of ATP Top-100 now!knarayen wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 11:11 pm I watched the Prajnesh match in its entirety but couldn’t watch the prajwal or Sumit matches live as I had to be home to look after my dad. I was trying to get Prajnesh to step back a few feet on the Hamad serve - that guy was serving accurate unreturnable bullets in the first set and his coach Bala was just sitting there saying nothing. The first set was gone in a blink of an eye. But Prajnesh started returning a lot better in the second set, but there was no transition from defence to offence on Hamads second serve, so the guy was not under pressure at all. I’m sure Hamad practices with Djokovich, the greatest returner of all time, and his serve has been honed as a result. I spoke to Prajnesh afterwards, and let him know my thoughts - that he really needs to focus and improve that aspect of the game - his defence to offence transition, if he wants to crack the top 100. Here is a guy who has everything - good accurate groundies, wonderful serve, very good foot speed, good volleys and overhead at net, good height and fitness, yet no good coach who can advise on the next level. There were too many people surrounding him so I couldn’t even introduce myself. He must be wondering - who the hell is this guy? I could only deliver a parting shot - you are not old, you still have time, don’t give up singles.
