Hector A. Ruiz

MBA, Project Manager, Tennis Player, Musician, and Author of "How to Destroy a Country"

Tag: Alexander Zverev

US Open and Djokovic’s Calendar Year Grand Slam

The fourth and last major of the year begins in two weeks, and all eyes are on Novak Djokovic as he aims to become the first player to win all four majors during a calendar year since Steffi Graff achived it in 1988 and Rod Laver on the men’s side in 1969. Will hesucceed?

Novak is the best player on the tour period. When he is playing at one hundred percent of his powers, nobody can stop him. Only Nadal has a slight chance of beating him in Roland Garros -but that’s a different story-. So what can happen at Flushing Meadows?

There are three players who can reach the US Open Finals this year: Medvedev, Zverev and Djokovic. Depending on how the bracket turns out, one of them will be knocked out in the semifinals or earlier (they all can’t be on the same side of the bracket). Out of the two new comers, it all comes down to who between Medvedev and Zverev can beat the Djoker. Medvedev has the raw power to hit winners and displace Djokovic, and the attitute of playing with nothing to lose as we have successfully seen employed in the past by Murray and Wawrinka against Djokovic. Zverev, may not have what it takes.

However back in Melbourne we all witnessed how Novak was able to outsmart Medvedev and dismantled his game in a straight-sets victory. The difference is that if they play in New York, Novak will have a lot more pressure, which is something he has proved he is able to deal with.

Long story short, it’s a very close call, but overall I believe the finals will be Medvedev vs. Djokovic, and I am honestly giving a 50-5o chance to both.

US Open and Roland Garros

I have to start by saying that I have 0 ATP points and have never played against a top 50 player in my life. But, I do know that if I would have played in the fifth set of a Grand Slam Final, I would have never hit an 85 mph first serve and even less a 68 mph second serve.

A couple of weeks ago Thiem and Zverev were protagonists of arguably one of the most boring Grand Slam finals of all time, to a point where it seemed neither of them wanted to actually win the title. Three weeks later, Nadal and Djokovic reached the finals by completely destroying almost everyone in their way -including scary and next generation players-, with Nadal giving an almost flawless performance in his match against Djokovic.

As a coach, it’s quite obvious that both Thiem and Zverev have every single shot in the book to be multiple Slam winners. What they don’t have is the attitude, the mind and the understanding that despite being physically fit and capable of hitting any shot, it is strategy and a proper mental state what wins titles. My advise to both: fire their coaches and hire a coach to work on those aspects.

HR

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