Who Are ATP Level Pushers?
Hi Tomaz,
In your Tennis Strategy ebook in the section on pushers (special bonus report of your ebook) you mention that there are pushers on the ATP, too.
Who are they?
Thanks very much for your time, and for the effort you put into writing the Tennis Strategy Encyclopedia!
Michael Chang and Arantxa Sanchez were the ultimate pushers at the start of their careers.
They would bring the ball back million times until the opponent got frustrated and started to attempt winners from impossible situations.
Later they both adapted their game and became more aggressive.
Modern pushers are Guillermo Canas, Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal. Of course, they don’t play all the time a passive game and we are also talking about ATP level tennis.
Their “pushing” shots are very difficult to handle for me or you, but for another ATP player, the shot is not aggressive and poses no threat to them.
The last match when I saw Rafa push was against Tsonga when he lost at the Australian Open. Tsonga had time to set up for the shot and play INSIDE the court more than half of the match!
Nadal’s shot was just not aggressive enough - he was pushing and hoping for errors.
Typical pushers on a club level of course cannot hit better (in most cases) and just push the ball back.
But the mentality is similar: both club and ATP level pushers wait for the mistake of their opponent and avoid taking any risks.
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