An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
Tis the season for recommending thoughtful gifts for tennis players. Today we will consider the three books that every tennis player should own. These books should also be read. Most books can be read and then cast aside after initial consumption. The books in the own category are those timeless classics get revisited and consulted over time. These are the books that make the best gifts.
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Last Wednesday we reviewed a new rule associated with toilet breaks that the ATP tour is implementing in 2022. It is a clear and direct response to the media coverage and backlash surrounding the toilet habits of Stefanos Tsitispas. Buried at the end of the ATP announcement of the rule, was an innocuous little sentence that the penalty for extended bathroom breaks are Time Violations.
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I finally got around to trying out SwingVision and was very impressed with the results. In fact, I immediately applied to be a brand ambassador for the product. I am absolutely kicking myself for not trying it out much sooner. As a strong proponent of video analysis, any technology that reduces the workload required for meaningful review is transformational.
The WTA takes bold and decisive action on the Peng Shuai crisis propelling Steve Simon to sports leadership prominence. Meanwhile the ATP decided to “monitor the situation” which is only marginally better than the IOC’s “quiet diplomacy” of complicity.
There is an error in how the new USTA Digital Platform calculates order of finish in Round Robin pools. I stumbled across it when building the comparison data set used in yesterday’s post. I deferred talking about it until today because it is an issue that merits dedicated attention.
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In “When a USTA Level 4 Tournament… Isn’t” three weeks ago, I repeatedly emphasized the phrase: “The draw format of a tournament should not materially alter the rankings point allocation for the players.” The reason for belaboring that foundational truth is that it is key to understanding the ongoing player frustration over the USTA tournament rankings points allocations. In the intervening time, I continue to wonder if the policy makers have fully accepted or internalized that feedback. Perhaps an example will help.
In the spirit of the holiday season, my mind inevitably turns to all the gifts I have bestowed on my opponents this year on the court. Nobody likes to give away free points, but almost all of us do from time to time. Usually those donated points are mundane affairs, double faults, missed sitters, and poor shot selection based on nothing other than absence of concentration. All of those dot my personal competitive landscape. However, across the myriad of points I have donated over the years, one stand out above all others. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Tennis books make excellent gifts. There were a lot of books on tennis published in 2021, and you might be wondering which of these would make the best gifts. Alternatively, perhaps you are considering treating yourself this holiday season. There is nothing better than curling up in front of the fire on a bad weather day reading a book about tennis.
Last week the ATP Tour announced some new rules that will be put into effect for the 2022 season. While the Rulebook that reflects those updates has yet to be published, the organization issued a detailed press release outlining the changes.With all the attention and controversy on the bladder capacity of Stefanos Tsitsipas, it comes as no surprise that hard limits on toilet breaks have arrived.
Twas the night before bump ups, new ratings pronounced;
Not a player was resting… Here’s my account;