Weeks 27 & 28 - The Championships, Wimbledon (grass) - men's DOUBLES

9vicman · Pro player

RE: Weeks 27 & 28 - The Championships, Wimbledon (grass) - men's DOUBLES

Madadman · Masters Series Champion

Love the answer Henry has given in the press conference to how they won it. Likening it to a bank robbery as they were behind in the tie breaks. Blew away the doors and got away with the trophy!!

-- Edited by Madadman on Saturday 13th of July 2024 10:17:39 PM

Madadman · Masters Series Champion

9vicman wrote:
Madadman wrote:
What an excellent match that was. Couldnt be happier for Henry and Harri. Funny how things turn out as Im sure they were both the ones dumped by their previous long term partners. Looking forward to reading Harris blog on this one!
Did Lloyd dump Harri?

Thats the way I understood it. Found the blog post he mentioned it in although I guess might not come over as intended as using translation.

https://www.harriheliovaara.fi/2023/11/14/vuoden-2024-peliparin-metsastyksesta/

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Madadman wrote:
Love the answer Henry has given in the press conference to how they won it. Likening it to a bank robbery as they were behind in the tie breaks. Blew away the doors and got away with the trophy!!

-- Edited by Madadman on Saturday 13th of July 2024 10:17:39 PM

Heres the press conference

https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/index.html

interesting Harri went at worked at McKinsey for a while and then in a PE firm; Henry obviously a bright guy also.

Blue_Belle · Club Coach

I don't think it matters who dumped who because it obviously wasn't working anymore as a partnership - they would never have won the title with their previous partners

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

9vicman wrote:
Was a privilege to watch the first amd third sets live. The first set was dull but clinical serve and volley tennis. The third set was anything but. The seventh game was crucial, Harri holding serve from 15-40. Harri amd Henry didn't have a break point all match, but won the last point which is what counts.

An incredible match and and incredible performance, which is life changing for both, and hopefully will lead to even greater results.

Lucky you !

I watched from the second set TB onwards

Not much of the 'amazing' sort of tennis you sometimes get in top doubles

But SO tense, SO close - with Henry/Harri only barely hanging in there at times - Louis Cayre was getting quite animated (for him) - and loved some of Henry's singles-styles thumping forehands biggrin

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/tennis/britain-has-an-unlikely-winner-at-wimbledon-in-men-s-doubles/ar-BB1pVvSo

Great article (sorry if already posted)

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

I think it was on the BBC commentary by Todd Woodbridge, but someone commented that stats show that only 55 percent of doubles points are now serve volley and less so on first serve. Players are staying back more often than not and the Aussies certainly did yesterday; Henry stayed back a lot on first serve, Harri sometimes as well.

The logic was that players serve bigger and thus the ball is coming too quickly to be able to get close to the net so staying back makes sense and moving in on 3rd or 5th ball if they can. Plus the net player has more chance to get across on the return partic as many pairs play the information these days.

Id known there was a genuine drift to staying back but the 55 percent quoted surprised me- Im presuming that was a genuine stat as it was very precise!

9vicman · Pro player

Blue_Belle wrote:
I don't think it matters who dumped who because it obviously wasn't working anymore as a partnership - they would never have won the title with their previous partners

Yes agree it doesn't matter who dumped who, but couldn't remember what had happened. Yes, Lloyd and Harri had got stale.

What it is interesting is that the LTA denied Harri access to Louis Cayer and wild cards to Henry and Harri in the grass court season because GB are playing Finland in the Davis Cup.

The fact that Harri was injured at the French, the fact they have won 5 of 9 tournaments together. So many superlatives. They click and it's great to see.

9vicman · Pro player

JonH comes home wrote:
I think it was on the BBC commentary by Todd Woodbridge, but someone commented that stats show that only 55 percent of doubles points are now serve volley and less so on first serve. Players are staying back more often than not and the Aussies certainly did yesterday; Henry stayed back a lot on first serve, Harri sometimes as well.

The logic was that players serve bigger and thus the ball is coming too quickly to be able to get close to the net so staying back makes sense and moving in on 3rd or 5th ball if they can. Plus the net player has more chance to get across on the return partic as many pairs play the information these days.

Id known there was a genuine drift to staying back but the 55 percent quoted surprised me- Im presuming that was a genuine stat as it was very precise!

Thanks JonH. Is that 55 per cent at Wimbledon? That still seems pretty high in this day and age. Interesting too that it's higher on second serve.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

9vicman wrote:
Blue_Belle wrote:
I don't think it matters who dumped who because it obviously wasn't working anymore as a partnership - they would never have won the title with their previous partners
Yes agree it doesn't matter who dumped who, but couldn't remember what had happened. Yes, Lloyd and Harri had got stale.
What it is interesting is that the LTA denied Harri access to Louis Cayer and wild cards to Henry and Harri in the grass court season because GB are playing Finland in the Davis Cup.
The fact that Harri was injured at the French, the fact they have won 5 of 9 tournaments together. So many superlatives. They click and it's great to see.

At the press conference above, Henry was asked about Davis Cup and aspirations to play that. He said he would love to but went on to comment about politics surrounding DC selection ( my interpretation of why he said). Does he mean Leon having favourites that he picks or the LTA requiring certain players to be picked? Or just that Henry is an outsider currently as a relative newbie?

anyone else pick up on that?

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

9vicman wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:
I think it was on the BBC commentary by Todd Woodbridge, but someone commented that stats show that only 55 percent of doubles points are now serve volley and less so on first serve. Players are staying back more often than not and the Aussies certainly did yesterday; Henry stayed back a lot on first serve, Harri sometimes as well.

The logic was that players serve bigger and thus the ball is coming too quickly to be able to get close to the net so staying back makes sense and moving in on 3rd or 5th ball if they can. Plus the net player has more chance to get across on the return partic as many pairs play the information these days.

Id known there was a genuine drift to staying back but the 55 percent quoted surprised me- Im presuming that was a genuine stat as it was very precise!
Thanks JonH. Is that 55 per cent at Wimbledon? That still seems pretty high in this day and age. Interesting too that it's higher on second serve.

I think in fact it may have been 55 percent stay back overall and more on first serve, but either way roughly half. Obviously cant verify Todds comment - think it was him - not sure if anyone else heard it?

Tanaqui · Club Coach

JonH comes home wrote:
9vicman wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:
I think it was on the BBC commentary by Todd Woodbridge, but someone commented that stats show that only 55 percent of doubles points are now serve volley and less so on first serve. Players are staying back more often than not and the Aussies certainly did yesterday; Henry stayed back a lot on first serve, Harri sometimes as well.

The logic was that players serve bigger and thus the ball is coming too quickly to be able to get close to the net so staying back makes sense and moving in on 3rd or 5th ball if they can. Plus the net player has more chance to get across on the return partic as many pairs play the information these days.

Id known there was a genuine drift to staying back but the 55 percent quoted surprised me- Im presuming that was a genuine stat as it was very precise!
Thanks JonH. Is that 55 per cent at Wimbledon? That still seems pretty high in this day and age. Interesting too that it's higher on second serve.
I think in fact it may have been 55 percent stay back overall and more on first serve, but either way roughly half. Obviously cant verify Todds comment - think it was him - not sure if anyone else heard it?

I heard the discussion (and also think it was Todd), although I can't remember the stat. He also said that the Wimbledon courts now have much more regular bounce, so there's much less risk of staying back and playing groundstrokes than there used to be when you got far more funky, weird bounces towards the baselines.

(I think there were several comments on how slow/high the ball was bouncing on Centre Court at the start of the championships, so it was playing more like a clay court and harder to get penetration on shots, especially compared to Court 1. So that backs up what Todd was saying.)

-- Edited by Tanaqui on Sunday 14th of July 2024 08:40:06 AM

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Tanaqui wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:
9vicman wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:
I think it was on the BBC commentary by Todd Woodbridge, but someone commented that stats show that only 55 percent of doubles points are now serve volley and less so on first serve. Players are staying back more often than not and the Aussies certainly did yesterday; Henry stayed back a lot on first serve, Harri sometimes as well.

The logic was that players serve bigger and thus the ball is coming too quickly to be able to get close to the net so staying back makes sense and moving in on 3rd or 5th ball if they can. Plus the net player has more chance to get across on the return partic as many pairs play the information these days.

Id known there was a genuine drift to staying back but the 55 percent quoted surprised me- Im presuming that was a genuine stat as it was very precise!
Thanks JonH. Is that 55 per cent at Wimbledon? That still seems pretty high in this day and age. Interesting too that it's higher on second serve.
I think in fact it may have been 55 percent stay back overall and more on first serve, but either way roughly half. Obviously cant verify Todds comment - think it was him - not sure if anyone else heard it?
I heard the discussion (and also think it was Todd), although I can't remember the stat. He also said that the Wimbledon courts now have much more regular bounce, so there's much less risk of staying back and playing groundstrokes than there used to be when you got far more funky, weird bounces towards the baselines.
(I think there were several comments on how slow/high the ball was bouncing on Centre Court at the start of the championships, so it was playing more like a clay court and harder to get penetration on shots, especially compared to Court 1. So that backs up what Todd was saying.)

-- Edited by Tanaqui on Sunday 14th of July 2024 08:40:06 AM

That is correct, I recall that discussion. They were comparing it with their day ( they being Peter Fleming and John Lloyd as well as Todd).

Tanaqui · Club Coach

JonH comes home wrote:
9vicman wrote:
Blue_Belle wrote:
I don't think it matters who dumped who because it obviously wasn't working anymore as a partnership - they would never have won the title with their previous partners
Yes agree it doesn't matter who dumped who, but couldn't remember what had happened. Yes, Lloyd and Harri had got stale.
What it is interesting is that the LTA denied Harri access to Louis Cayer and wild cards to Henry and Harri in the grass court season because GB are playing Finland in the Davis Cup.
The fact that Harri was injured at the French, the fact they have won 5 of 9 tournaments together. So many superlatives. They click and it's great to see.
At the press conference above, Henry was asked about Davis Cup and aspirations to play that. He said he would love to but went on to comment about politics surrounding DC selection ( my interpretation of why he said). Does he mean Leon having favourites that he picks or the LTA requiring certain players to be picked? Or just that Henry is an outsider currently as a relative newbie?
anyone else pick up on that?

Yes, I noticed that! Henry looked like he might be about to say something else more specific and then amended it to "political" (and well done for being circumspect when those guys were obviously exhausted and still trying to come to terms with what they'd done, so answering anything was hard!)

I assume he meant it was more about Leon having established teams and players and that Henry is a newcomer (has he even been a hitting partner at Davis Cup? probably not) and part of Leon's team management is to not upset established players he may need later by booting them out for the latest sensation. Leon also needs to figure out who he pairs Henry with if he picks him.

It may also the issue of picking someone whose regular partner is on the opposing team - could be an advantage or disadvatage that they know each other's game, plus the whole thing around Louis Cayer not being allowed to coach Henry right now.

I didn't get the impression he meant "politicking" as in the LTA having players whose faces "fit" because they have the right connections/background and others don't and imposing that on Leon (beyond the Louis Cayer coaching situation, which I can see Henry being a bit sore about).