Monday Match Analysis

On this week's Monday Match Analysis, Gill Gross recaps his experience going to Las Vegas for the first ever Netflix Slam with Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. We'll start by going over the match itself and why just the two taking the court was a victory. Then we'll get into the roadtrip to Vegas, the city itself, hotels, gambling and all the sort. As we transition to Sunday, Gill talks about his experience inside the arena. Lastly, we'll cover the long-term viability of this event as an annual exhibition. 00:00 Intro 01:40 Match Analysis 17:55 Vegas & Day Before 26:18 Match Experience 30:25 Netflix Slam Future

Gill Gross answers your comments, including: is Frances Tiafoe correct that tennis is the hardest sport in the world, can Daniil Medvedev repeat last year's Sunshine Double success, why do Czech Republic and Russia produce so many stars, should there be a January Masters 1000, has Medvedev's career already been a success, what can Gilles Simon add to Medvedev's team, how can lower ranked players earn a better living in tennis, are sparse crowds in Middle East tournaments a problem, why have Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka's nerve management gotten worse with age, why has Lorenzo Musetti struggled recently, should Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu be taking wildcards and who is most likely to win the Sunshine Double?

On this week's Monday Match Analysis, Gill Gross breaks down Jordan Thompson's Los Cabos win over Casper Ruud to win his first career title and Karen Khachanov's takedown of 18-year old Jakub Mensik. First we'll open with some quick takes on Sebastian Baez winning his first 500 in Rio. We'll try to unpack Thompson's late career improvements before going to the film to analyze the tactic that he used to beat Ruud on so many big points. We'll also address the positive elements to Ruud's baseline game, including his backhand. Then we'll get into Khachanov's performance against Mensik, plus deep dive into the crucial 1st set tiebreak. Finally, Gill explains why Mensik is his new favorite prospect on tour. 00:00 Intro 00:45 Baez Wins Rio 03:25 Thompson Overview 07:24 Thompson-Ruud Analysis 25:55 Khachanov d. Mensik 34:50 Mensik Monologue

On this week's Mailbag, Gill Gross is joined by Abigail Johnson to answer your comments. First, we'll discuss the breakout weeks for teenagers Jakub Mensik and Joao Fonseca. We'll react to Holger Rune reuniting with Patrick Mouratoglou as head coach. Then it's to the comment section: how can Jannik Sinner be defeated, why is Andy Murray slumping, are tennis players becoming robotic, can serve and volley make a comeback, why is Lorenzo Musetti struggling, should something be done about Andrey Rublev's self-harm habit, Botic Van de Zandschulp's code violation, singles players ruining doubles draws and Emma Raducanu discourse. 00:00 Intro 04:40 NewGen 23:45 Rune & Mouratoglou 26:55 Jannik Sinner 37:50 Andy Murray 46:20 Robotic Tennis 51:15 Serve & Volley 55:40 Lorenzo Musetti 59:20 Rublev Self-Harm 1:07:40 Botic Code Violation 1:09:50 Doubles Withdrawals 1:14:30 Emma Raducanu

On this week's Monday Match Analysis, Gill Gross reacts to next week's historic ATP Rankings revelation. Stefanos Tsitsipas's drop to #11 means there will be no one-handed backhands in the top-10. Is this just a moment in history, or is it the start of a non-reversing trend? Then, we'll cover Jannik Sinner's straight set win over Alex De Minaur in Rotterdam, which preserves the Italian's undefeated 2024 record. Finally we'll go to Rotterdam, where Facundo Diaz Acosta became a first-time champion and Carlos Alcaraz took a loss to Nicolas Jarry, extending his title drought. 00:00 Intro 00:55 One-Handed BHs 07:25 Sinner d. De Minaur 16:19 Facundo Diaz Acosta 17:55 Jarry d. Alcaraz

On this week's Mailbag, Gill is joined by Coach Jonathan Stokke, a former Duke player and host of the Baseline Intelligence Podcast. We answer your comments including: is there a place for the one-handed backhand in the modern game, can a player who hits two forehands like Teodor Davidov have success in the pros, why are you losing matches even though you hit the ball better than your opponent, should players be taught to slide on hardcourt, what are the pros and cons of training with a ball machine, is Daniil Medvedev's technique as unorthodox as everyone says, where does a player get power from, how do elite pros still have weak parts of their game, should more players hit slice for their 2nd serve? 00:00 Intro 03:00 One-Handed BHs 8:30 Two Forehands 12:40 Winning Matches 19:55 Sliding on Hard 23:43 Ball Machine Training 29:07 Medvedev's Technique 35:08 The Source of Power 41:20 Elite Player Weaknesses 46:25 Slice 2nd Serves

On this week’s Monday Match Analysis, Gill Gross dives into the championship Sunday action in Marseille, where Ugo Humbert beat Grigor Dimitrov, and Dallas, where Tommy Paul took out Marcos Giron. We’ll talk about what it means that Humbert is top-10 in ELO and how he bothered Dimitrov tactically. We’ll discuss Paul’s elite court coverage and how he’s trying to close the gap to the top-10. Finally, we’ll cover a surprising title run for Cordoba qualifier Luciano Darderi. 00:00 Intro 00:45 Humbert Marseille 18:00 Paul Dallas 29:33 Darderi Cordoba

On this week's Mailbag, Gill gets you caught up on his time off, including an experience at PGA Golf's Waste Management Open, before answering your comments: what to make of Holger Rune splitting with coaches Boris Becker and Sevrin Luthi, how tennis should handle Saudi Arabian involvement as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune agree to an exhibition in Riyadh, takeaways from Alexander Bublik's Montpellier title, explaining variance in hard court speed, Jessica Pegula's breakup with Coach David Witt, the ATP Reality Show, Andy Roddick's "served" podcast and much more.   00:00 Intro 00:58 Gill’s Vacation 05:40 Rune Coaching 20:17 Saudi Exhibition 37:48 Bublik Montpellier 42:33 Court Speed Explainer 43:50 Top 10 Hardcourt Prefs 45:37 Pegula Splits w Witt 47:50 Sinner Rest of Year 49:28 Talent Maximizing 54:00 ATP Reality Show 57:15 Roddick on Alcaraz 59:50 Cerundolo Struggles 1:00:44 Roddick Pod 1:02:58 Active Tennis Viewing

This is the post-Australian Open Mega Mailbag. Gill Gross answers your comments, including: What is the status of Carlos Alcaraz and his title draught, how do the elite backhands in the Australian Open semifinals stack up, is men’s tennis more consistent than women’s due to best-of-five, is Novak Djokovic’s loss to Jannik Sinner a sign of lack of motivation, is this current top-four ready to dominate, what can Sinner improve from here, is Daniil Medvedev the best one-slam player ever, how can tennis media get better and thoughts on Andy Roddick’s new podcast, an update on Three, my take on Patrick Mouratoglou’s Djokovic take, is Rafael Nadal’s stock up or down after January, revisiting my top-10 prediction, Alcaraz overreaction and expectations, plus much more!   00:00 Intro 01:53 Alcaraz Status 06:10 Elite Backhands 10:15 Men vs. Women Dominance 14:03 Djokovic Motivation 19:49 Tennis Outfits 20:30 Top 4 Dominance 22:20 Sinner Next Steps 25:48 Bopanna and Hsieh 28:02 More Comebacks 29:15 Best 1 Slam Player 31:41 Medvedev Style Change 36:11 Tennis Media 41:07 Three Podcast 42:31 Cazaux vs. Prizmic 45:28 Djokovic-Sinner H2H 46:39 WTA Consistency 48:57 Mouratoglou on Novak 55:01 Nadal Stock 58:25 Sinner Drive Volley 1:00:55 Sinner Surprises 1:04:47 Top-10 Prediction 1:08:14 Alcaraz Overreactions 1:13:20 Alcaraz Expectations 1:11:55 Hot Takes 1:16:44 Nadal Scheduling 1:18:15 Cam Norrie Subscribe to The Draw, your one-stop-shop for the best tennis content on the internet every week: https://thedrawtennis.beehiiv.com/

On this special edition of Monday Match Analysis, hall-of-famer Steve Flink joins Gill Gross to go over the 2024 Australian Open. Here on part two, we'll discuss semifinalists Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, quarterfinalist Carlos Alcaraz and more. Subscribe to our new newsletter, The Draw: https://thedrawtennis.beehiiv.com/ 00:00 Intro 00:10 Novak Djokovic 13:23 Alexander Zverev 23:00 Carlos Alcaraz 29:00 Rune & Dimitrov 37:00 Cam Norrie