The #2 seeded team (Butorac & Rojer) in doubles came to our club (San Jose Swim & Racquet Club) in honor of the effort Steve Chiu gave in selling tickets and promoting this event from our club.  Eric and Jules and were awesome ambassadors of the game.

Eric Butorac & “Jules” Rojer were extremely personable with the juniors. They hit with them, played against them in games and told how they got to the pros.  They encouraged them to practice so every ball they hit had a purpose and to get better each day.

Eric from Gustavos College in Minnesota and Jules from the tiny island of Curasol.  Both now 29 were OK singles players but together make a great doubles team.  They reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and were seeded #2 at the SAP Open.

The highlight of the SAP – Milos Raonic, the 20 year old Canadian.  He moves well for 6’6”, serves 140 – outwide and moves the serve around (130-149 mph) with a kick that forced Verdasco to return most second serves from above his head in the finals.

His movement is balanced and his weapon of choice – the forehand left Verdasco shaking his head in amazement often.  He would be in a rally with Verdasco controlling the tempo into Raonic’s 2-handed backhand for 5-6 shots.  Suddenly Raonic would take over the rally and put Verdasco on the run from corner to corner.

The kicker – the kid likes to come to the net, out of a rally.  He has great volley hands and moves well at the net.

Down 2 mini breaks in the 1st set tie breaker – he breaks Verdasco and goes on to win the 1st set.  We all thought – this is it, he choked in the breaker but he played well.  Well, it wasn’t over – very composed.

The second set – close all the way.  However, Raonic get a service break and goes up 40-15 match point.  Verdasco saves a point but Raonic serves big, high and fast in the ad court to win the match.  A crazy fan did yell on match point as Verdasco was about to hit the return that made it sound like a linesman had called the serve out.  It did affect Verdascos return but never the less – game, set and match to Milos.

Milos was well spoken in the awards presentation and acknowledged he had not shown such composure in his last tournament and lost in the second round.  At which point his coach threatened to not accompany him to this event.  He is 20 years old – there will be lots of ups and downs as he finds himself.

Look for this kid to be a factor in the game.  He walks with a Sampras slumped shoulder look between points but like Sampras, his posture changes when the point starts.

Weapons: Serve, forehand and attacking ability to go to the net.

To work on: Backhand (not a weapon but keeps him in the game to set up his forehand) and movement to that side of his body.
Experience & emotional consistency.

Ken DeHart
SJSRC Director of Tennis
PTR & USPTA Master Professional
408-892-3806 cell
www.kendeharttennis.com

Photo Credits: globalite

• Andy Roddick loses to 6'6 Croatian in 5 sets but stands just as tall. [/caption] Andy's match was a sports psych's dream.  Andy played a deliberate style early in the match but the 20 year old opponent is very smooth and athletic with a dream backhand.  It appeared early on that Andy was not serving his best.  He had been well around the......
• GPTA Keynote Speaker I was invited to speak at the Georgia Professional Tennis Association's winter meeting at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Atlanta, Georgia. The club is the home of the famous golfer, Bobby Jones. They have a trophy room with all his trophies, pictures and memorabilia. There is even a statue of......
• Congratulations to San Jose Junior Tennis /caption] For the 5th straight year, the juniors at San Jose Swim & Racquet Club in San Jose, California have dominated the summer South Bay League play. With outstanding performances by the boy's 12's, 15's and 18's, SJSRC has captured the best records in league play. There are also divisions......
• 11 Ways to Improve Your Tennis Game at San Jose Swim & Racquet Club - Year 'Round... [/caption] The following are 11 ways to improve your tennis game at the San Jose Swim & Racquet Club: Private hour and half hour lessons. These lessons can include technical work and hitting with the pro during that time to see if the technical and strategy changes work. Semi private......
• SJSRC Annual Wooden Racquet Tennis Social /caption]Each year, around the 4th of July and Wimbledon, SJSRC Director of Tennis Ken DeHart goes into his storage and pulls out a selection of wooden tennis racquets from his collection of over 2,000 old tennis racquets, gathers up some interesting books on the history of tennis, orders some white......

• Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington D.C. This week in tennis featured the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington D.C. This men’s tournament was joined by the two women’s tournaments of the Mercury Insurance Open (San Diego, California) and the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open (Copenhagen, Denmark). The Men’s Legg Mason Tennis Classic featured plenty of big names,......
• Rafael Nadal to Pull Out of Masters Cup Giving reasons of fatigue due to his knee injury as the reason for the surprising action, the world's number one tennis star Rafael Nadal has decided to withdraw himself from the Tennis Masters Cup. The athlete stated that the decision is a very difficult one for him to make, not......
• French Open Continues with Exciting Developments The French Open has seen some great gameplay so far between some of the top seeded players. One of the biggest shocks came not from anything that happened on the court. Novak Djokovic was scheduled to play against Fabio Fognini. The match never happened because Fognini suffered an injury that......
• Tennis Preview: The West Virginia Open Final preparations are currently being made for the West Virginia Open, the 48th of its kind, which is slated to begin on July 22 and last until July 26, and will be held at the Oglebay Tennis Center. This event is building a great amount of following, especially when you......
• Federer Wins His 15th Grand Slam! When the dust settled from the epic battle between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick, Federer managed to capture a fifteenth Grand Slam title after a classic five-set Wimbledon match. The final scoring was 5 - 7, 7 - 6 (6), 7 - 6 (5), 3 - 6: 16 - 14......

Reasons for the serving team to use this formation:

1. The serving team is both good volleyers.
2. The serving team has good overheads and likes to intimidate the other team.
3. The serving team likes pace or speed and wants the games to be fast with lots of quick action.
4. The serving team has poor ground strokes and does not want to get into long baseline exchanges.

Reasons for the receiving team to use this formation:

1. The receiving team has good chip returns and wants to get into the net before the other team.
2. The receiving team’s returns very strong and puts the serving team on defense – this neutralized the serving team’s advantage.
3. The receiving team does not have consistent ground strokes and has a low level of tolerance for long rallies.
4. The receiving team thinks that is how all good teams play.

How to play teams that play one up one back:

1. Get to your first serve in, it is more difficult to approach off of.
2. Direct your shots between them. Make them decide who will play the ball down the middle. Trying to hit angles is difficult because they close in and leave you little room to angle your shots.
3. If you get pinned back in a one up one back position – Lob the player closest to the net. If the lob is deep and bounces, come in and control the net against them.
4. Take the pace off your shots when they capture the net. Use softer shots with more spins so they cannot use your pace to kill your partner or hit aggressive shots between you.
5. Lob the serving team right away and force them to switch and run down the lob. You move in and now control the net.

What not to do:

1. Avoid getting sucked into their style of play if is not your style.
2. Take the pace off the ball to slow it down and give you more time to spin the next ball or lob them.
3. Never play one up one back formation against this team – they will pick off your partner in most cases.
4. Don’t try to hit hard passing shots, the balls will stay too high and give them speed to volley against.
5. Don’t miss first serves – you can’t get to the net on weak second serves and they love to attack weak 2nd serves.

Photo Credits: 1

• “I” Serving Formation – Both Back [/caption] **This UDF works well at club level play, USTA league play, junior and high school matches as well as college matches.. This (UDF) Unusual Doubles Formation puts the server in the center of the court to serve like a singles player.  Their partner is standing directly behind them.  The......
• 5 Winning Keys to Lobbing, pt 2 Welcome to part two of 5 Winning Keys to Lobbing. Below are tips three and four. 3. 5 Tips on where to Lob 1. Always aim lobs  over the opponents backhand side (notice if they are left handed) 2. Few players have the strength or timing to power a backhand......
• Modified “I” and “I” Formations These players like variety and want to get into your head. They like to volley and want to distract you. This formation can be use by the serving team on every point as well as by the receiving team. Don’t be afraid – pick a target and go for it.......
• Ball Machines – Using them for Singles Practice Ball machines are great for practicing your singles shots – if positioned correctly. 5 things NOT to do when using a ball machine: Do not place the ball machine only on the baseline in the center of the court Do not have the ball machine oscillate only from deuce court......
• "Underspin" the "Otherspin" Develop a Competitive Game with more Weapons In today's game "topspin" gets all the press.  Everyone focuses how big the shots are, how much the pros use it and so most all the juniors and club players want to be like the pros. When you listen to the talk about......

• Tennis Glossary pt2 Net Cord - This is the cable that is responsible for supporting the net. Net Cord Judge - This is an official that is responsible for calling a let on service. This judge will sit up in front of the chair of the umpire on one end of the net,......
• Stanley Cup Playoff With a Stanley Cup Playoff that is looking more and more like a repeat of last year, what is happening to the interest and the viewership of the Stanley Cup playoff games? According to some experts, the casual fan may see the teams and the results so far as being......
• Tennis Glossary Lawn Tennis - This is the original name used to describe modern tennis, based primarily on the fact that it is played on the grass, which was intended to distinguish it from tennis played on a court. Left Court - Left court and advantage court are the same thing. Let......
• Tennis Glossary Finale Umpire - The umpire is the top official of a tennis match. Seated in an elevated position on the side of the court next to the net, the umpire is tasked with announcing the score whenever a point is made, and holds the final say over any and all questions......
• More Tennis Tips pt 1 This is another installment of tennis tips that will improve all aspects of your game. Armed with the right tennis playing tips, you really can improve all aspects of game play from serves to returns and back again. 1 - When Hitting Forehand, Lay Wrist Back Where the ball......