For lovers of the art of grass-court tennis, the form of the game that goes back, literally, to its roots, the line-up for this year’s Queen’s semi-finals was one to relish in so many ways.
Each man had elements to their game that make this all-too-short phase of today’s tennis season such a particularly beautiful version of sport: played on closely-clipped lawns, celebrating sliced backhands that whisper across the net to barely bounce from the court, swinging serves followed by races to the net for a crisp volley put away—or simply a big serve that will never come back.
Here the soft hands of the serve-and-volley player can produce drop-shots that die, angles that race away with the lowest of trajectories, and lobs to counter a net-threatening opponent.
And then there is the footwork, of necessity quick and precise to compensate for the contrast with the sliding clay that came before. The players talk of the impact of from bending low to play the ball on their knees and quads and glutes, and of stresses in the lower back. But the upside is that rallies are shorter, games less gruelling… at least for those with skills tailored to take advantage of the surface.
It is perhaps no accident that all four of Saturday’s semi-finalists also played in the doubles draw—honing their reactions and touch at the net— and all enjoy playing attacking tennis.
The ‘veteran’ match brought together classic old school skills in 35-year-old Radek Stepanek, current US Open doubles champion and a semi-finalist here in 2005, against 32-year-old Feliciano Lopez, a semi-finalist here in 2010, winner in Eastbourne last year, and that near-unique thing, a left-handed, single-handed serve-and-volley player from Spain.
Theirs would be a race to take the net—always supposing their serve permitted it: Lopez topped the tournament list with 54 aces from four matches, Stepanek had posted 33 aces.
The ‘young-guns’ match featured two more one-handed backhands, one from the youngest man in the top 20, 23-year-old Grigor Dimitrov, and the other from the newcomer to tennis’s Grand Slam club, 29-year old Stan Wawrinka—a ‘young gun’ by virtue of breaking new ground at almost every turn in the last two years to reach a career-high ranking of No3.
In both matches, the outcomes were hard to predict, and each talked beforehand of their love for grass, of their opponents, of hopes for Wimbledon and more…
Stan Wawrinka
On adapting to grass: “It’s a faster surface, so you don’t have that much time. You need to be ready to play more aggressive. You need to trust your game. You need to go for it.”
On changing to a one-handed backhand when he was 11: “Since the beginning it was always a natural shot. I had to practise a lot. Every day I’m still trying to improve shots from that side, but it’s been a really important shot in my game.”
On facing Dimitrov, after playing doubles with him at Queen’s: “For me it’s more about focus on my game, to be aggressive, to serve well. I need to push him, try to put him on the defence. But he’s been playing well, especially on the grass. He’s serving well. He’s adapting. His game is perfect for grass.”
Grigor Dimitrov
On Wimbledon: “I’d say my goal is to become a member at Wimbledon the easiest way possible. That is to win seven matches! [But] Who doesn’t want to be a part of history? I won the Wimbledon juniors, so of course it’s a dream for me to win the real thing. Why not?
On playing on grass: “I have always been excited. It’s a feeling I always had. Even if I was at my worst or not feeling good playing, there was always a smile as soon as I step on the court.”
On the physical demands of grass: “I have been doing a lot of running—around 25 miles the whole week of running, so it adds up a little bit definitely on the quads, the glutes, but I think the part that really hurts the most on grass is the lower back, the glutes, and the adductors. Even if you play the shortest two sets, the next day you’re gonna come back and feel a little funky.”
Radek Stepanek
On making the transition to grass: “I did that transition for quite some years, so there is I think nothing much that can surprise me. I know exactly which muscles are going to hurt me after first two days on grass. I’m protecting them before coming here with prevention exercises. Always when you start to play grass season, you’re looking for as many matches as you can to get comfortable, to be friends with the grass.”
On serve-and-volley tennis: “The days when we served and volleyed after first and second serve are gone. As you can see, I’m trying to come to the net as much as I can. I’d rather see more players on the net, playing a little bit the old style game. But the grass is much slower than it was…”
Of motivation at the age of 35: “It’s love of the game. I’m still happy when I’m on the court like I was five years old. The passion is there. I’m feeling healthy. I’m moving pretty well… for my age! You never know when the other moment’s gonna come, and I will try to extend that date as long as I can.”
On facing a lot of aces [he faced 15 in beating Kevin Anderson]:
“You want to hear a good stat? I won a match and I faced 78 aces. Ivo Karlovic, 2009 Davis Cup semifinals in Croatia. 78 aces. Six hours.”
Feliciano Lopez
On playing Stepanek: “He knows how to play here, he has very good hands. Kind of similar to my game—maybe my serve is a little bit harder. But he does a few things that I also like to do, so it’s going to be interesting match.”
On choosing to play serve-and-volley tennis: “ When you’re young, you try to develop your game in the best way possible, no? I knew God gave me this serve when I was really young, so I have to take advantage of it. Since the first time I played here on grass, I knew that this is the way I have to play. I mean, what else I can do? If I have this serve, this is definitely how I have to go on the court and play, be aggressive, try to come in, put pressure on the guys.”