Bill Simons
Wimbledon
Everyone knows it. Tennis is a mental game. It takes smarts.
But who’s asked who’s the smartest of the smart? We did.
We asked top players, from Carlos and Iga to Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton plus John McEnroe and two other Hall of Fame commentators, “What players you’ve played or spoken with have the greatest feel for and the greatest knowledge of the game?” Here’s what they said.
JOHN McENROE: The prime commentator of our era told Inside Tennis, “Of all the players I have talked to, Taylor Fritz was the player who was the most analytical, most aware of his opponents’ tendencies, and had the best idea of what he wanted to do.”
TAYLOR FRITZ – IT SOUNDS LIKE GIBBERISH: He’s the game’s great nerd, a thinker who at times might even overthink it all. Here’s what he said.
“I love talking about tennis and all the analytical things. It’s almost like too much…I feel like if I’m not talking to another actual pro player, they might think I’m just talking gibberish. I do enjoy it…[but] getting too, too much into it is probably an issue.
“When I’m playing my best, I’m thinking very clearly and I’m taking mental notes of what’s happening on every point. I’m charting it in my head, where they’re serving on what points. When I am playing well, I’m doing an amazing job of tracking everything and picking up on little things and cues and working through the match: figuring out what things are working, what things are not, what shot I might be losing a point off of.
“When I’m not playing well, I’m typically nervous and my head’s not working correctly. But when it comes to a game plan for a match, I’m trying to keep it pretty basic and broad.
“People who are incredibly smart about the game? One is Nick Kyrgios. He’s incredibly smart and knowledgeable about tennis. Frances [Tiafoe], as well. He’s also incredibly knowledgeable. We can talk about anything that’s strategy related. Those guys have very good analytical skills.
“[I can tell what people know] when I talk strategy or if I’m going over a scouting report…When I’m listening to someone talk about those things, I can pretty quickly pick up if they know what they’re talking about.
“Just in conversations with both of those guys, I feel like they have very good knowledge and understanding of the game, the strategy, the understanding of how people play, people’s tendencies. You probably wouldn’t expect those two to be extremely knowledgeable about tennis, but they really, really are.”
CARLOS ALCARAZ – THE NATURAL: Carlos replied, “That’s a good question. That’s a good question.
“Right now I think Novak Djokovic is the guy who’s the smartest – the smartest on court. The player who has the most knowledge – I think it’s Novak without a doubt. With his experience, with everything he has lived on a tennis court – and he’s watched a lot of matches in his career. I think he has the most knowledge.
“I’ve talked with Novak many, many times. I’ve watched his matches. I’ve practiced with him. I’ve watched his practices.
“But we’ve never talked about tennis. I prefer to talk with him about other things, about life, not about tennis…Just trying to learn some things about his game, the way he practices, the way he plays sometimes in matches.
“But I just love watching him play. I love the times that I practiced with him, just to see how he moves, how he plays, how he practices. I love that.”
When Inside Tennis asked Carlos what goes through his mind during a long, tight match, he replied, “Tennis is really a mental sport. How you talk to yourself is really, really important through the whole match. So I just try to be as positive as I can. Sometimes it’s really difficult. A lot of narratives and thoughts come to your mind.
“[So I’m] trying to fill my mind with positive thoughts all the time. Just repeating to myself that I can do it, let’s go for it, all the things that are really helpful to play your best and not being afraid to play aggressively or to play my A plan.
“That’s my conversation with myself – that it’s really, really important to fill your mind with positive thoughts.”
BEN SHELTON – SIMPLIFY THE GAME, DUMB IT DOWN: You may dismiss big Ben as a big-bashing power player. But if you talk to him on the evolution of his backhand, you’ll change your mind in a flash.
He responded to us, saying, “Tough question. Everyone is sharp in their own way. Like, Taylor Fritz has a great tennis mind. He knows what he has to do to win. He’s very objective. He knows why he lost as soon as he walks off. You can see him talking through it during the match with his box. He’s not getting coached as much during the match. He’s making adjustments and telling his box what’s going on. He has a great tennis mind.
“I also think Frances Tiafoe has a great tennis mind. Frances, when he’s in full flight – the decisions that he’s making on the fly – his processing is so quick. How he sees the game is really impressive. He may fool you by laughing and joking around all the time, but he has a really sharp tennis mind.
“Maybe that sounds biased because those are two Americans. If I had to [choose] one other guy it would be Roger. I’ve talked to Roger a few times. What kind of stuck out is how simple he put it, how simple he thought about things. He’s watching tennis all the time, no matter the level.
“His commitment and love for the game – I see that all the time. Then the way that he was able to simplify the game, dumb it down, and not make it more complicated than it has to be – that was really impressive.”
IGA SWIATEK: Is any WTA player more intense, more twitchy, more mental and more in her head? We complimented her on her mental toughness, and then she replied to our question: “Well, I always feel the Czech girls have a great feeling of what’s going to happen or expect things earlier. Sometimes they read the directions super well. Thanks for saying that about the mentality. If I lose twice, people are saying the opposite!
“I know for sure that it’s an important part of the game. Every top player is working in that area right now. But I don’t judge who has better mentality or worse mentality because everybody is different and everybody needs a different vibe on the court.”
ARYNA SABALENKA – COPYING THE BEST: “I’m trying to think…I’ve talked a lot to Novak. He definitely has a lot of knowledge. It’s really helped me several times…One conversation went to managing energy. Another one was about the mental part of the game. Then we had another conversation about mentally approaching those big finals.
“Mostly we talk about the mental part. Also one time he really helped me with the return. Now he’s always making fun of me copying his return. I’m like, ‘Man, it’s working. I’m copying the best,’ Actually maybe I have to talk to him a bit more about tennis stuff.
“As for someone I played against? I think actually Ash Barty. She was always very smart and understood the game quite well. She was the smartest one.”
MIRRA ANDREEVA – THE FAITH OF ROGER: World No. 7 is just 18. What does she really know about the sport? A lot.
“Obviously I have to say Roger. Every time I watched him I felt like he just knows what to do in every situation on the court and at every score. He was handling the pressure moments. Whether he was facing break points or down in the score, his faith didn’t change – never.
“This is super hard to play against, because when you see that you’re winning, everything is going your way, but to your opponent, it’s like nothing’s happened. He’s just continuing playing the same way, and even raising his level. I’d feel this could be, like, a really, really hard opponent to face.”
“Of the current players, I would obviously think of Aryna, Coco, Iga, almost all of the top women players, they have the same mentality and the same kind of way of presenting themselves on court. That’s why it’s tough to beat them.
“Every time I play a top 10 or top 20 player, it’s harder because their mindset is different. They may have more confidence…They have one mindset: to fight. It doesn’t matter if it’s a practice or a match…That makes them one of the best in the world. ‘Every point I play I’m going to fight. You’re not going to get the point, you’re going to have to really win it.”’
KAREN KHACHANOV – FEELING THE MOMENTS: “I’m not going to talk about the Big Three. There is only Novak left. So I’d definitely say Carlos. He has all kinds of shots. And once he knows how to use it, it’s just incredible, because he has an arsenal…[and] a great knowledge of the game because he knows when to slice, when to drop shot. He feels those moments.
“I would also say Jannik Sinner. He’s more like a machine. He practices to hit the ball in the right spots, and he does it with a high intensity and high speed.
“At the same time, I would say [Lorenzo] Musetti. He’s a very, very uncomfortable player to play, because he has those kinds of shots. He knows how to change the trajectories of the game.
“On grass, it’s not as much of a spin, but at the same time it’s a short slice. He uses [his] opponent’s speed to counterattack. He really knows where to stay in the court. So I would say those three.”
HALL OF FAME WRITER RICHARD EVANS – A UNIVERSE OF HIS OWN: “I was a disciple of the Czech Jaroslav Drobny, who was the 1951 French champion. He was my professor. I learned everything I know from him.
“But more recently, Pancho Segura, who coached Jimmy Connors, was on another level. He could tell you if a player should have gone cross court at 30-all. Jack Kramer was incredible too, but Pancho was in a universe of his own.”
HALL OF FAME WRITER STEVE FLINK – A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN: “I think here at Wimbledon, we’re looking at him – Novak Djokovic. If you put all the components together – playing under pressure, adjusting his game to match the challenge, an incomparable match player – it’s him.
“After he retired, Roger Federer said Novak beats players in so many ways. He’d do it with so many different game plans – clutch competitiveness, his capacity as a match player.
“I’m surprising myself, but I wouldn’t put anyone in his league. Roger was very smart and very underrated, and Rafa had a formula, but when you think of the entirety of it all, neither met Novak.”
ROGER DOES WIMBLEDON – THE RETIREMENT REPORT: Before watching Novak Djokovic from the Royal Box as the Serb came from behind to win over Alex de Minaur, Hall of Famer Roger Federer spoke to Vijay Amritraj. The Indian Hall of Famer asked him how he was doing in retirement.
The Swiss icon replied, “Well rested…less stress in my life for sure. My kids are getting older, the diapers are a thing of the past, the nights are more solid and when we travel it’s because we want to travel. With a tour you’ve got to keep going and going and going. I think also, honestly, towards the end of my career, the stress with my knee as well, the injuries…It felt like there was always a cloud…a bit of a fog around you, you’re not 100%…Two and half years into my retirement, I feel great.”
