Quote Originally Posted by omega View Post
Anyone who unnecessarily prolongs a rally is a pusher....This includes Federer also...
Time & again I have seem those 20+ shot rallies having multiple oppurtunities to finish it early being just pushed further & further until one pulls up the trigger for an UE..

There is a big difference between Agassi & Nadal/Murray....Novak is atleast an aggressive baseliner like Agassi...
But how exactly is it unnecessary? You can't say that objectively without considering other factors. Do you really want players to make a suicidal approach like Llodra and lose the point just because it would entertain SOME sections of the crowd? They are out there to win at the end of the day. And with the depth and pace of even normal rally balls these days, there is an extreme risk of getting passed unless you choose the right moment. And it has a lot more to do with racquets than courts. This is US Open 2000 final..before the 'slowdown'. Safin just kept passing Sampras all day...this was the new tennis. It was already born before Federer or Nadal came along. People just didn't notice it because they couldn't respect players like Hewitt or Safin for some reason.



So that is all that Federer, Nadal or Djokovic do. They just wait for the right opportunity to come in...same like Connors or Lendl or Agassi. It's just much harder with modern equipment, whereas, conversely, it's easier to fire off winners from the baseline. I have already said Murray is a pusher and he was coached by the premier pusher of the 80s, Brad Gilbert. But Lendl has already brought a lot of difference to his game. He is much more attacking now and that's probably why he has started winning slams at long last. I presume you haven't watched the Murray-Llodra match of this US Open. Murray took the initiative to attack even before Llodra could get in..it was a great match, though very one sided.