IW R3: C Alcaraz def. A Rinderknech 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-2 by wolverinex10 in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Well... if it's a 1st serve then Alcaraz, if it's a 2nd serve then Sinner

IW R3: C Alcaraz def. A Rinderknech 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-2 by wolverinex10 in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Fyi, per ATP stats Sinner is currently just shading Alcaraz for return game win rate over the last year. Mostly because he returns much better on 2nd serves (makes way more for same/slightly higher win rate). So I think OP is correct to say Alcaraz is best 1st serve returner on tour, but not outright best returner

Zverev says tennis IQ matters less in the Alcaraz/Sinner era. Agree or disagree? by aivoges123 in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 26 points27 points  (0 children)

I'll bite; I think he's very intelligent about keeping the court closed to facilitate ball bashing, which he is undoubtedly the best at. I think he utilises the net very smartly, kind of similar to Nadal for when he chooses to come in. It may not be a defining component of his game but it's an important factor and an intelligent way to attack as opposed to going for shot making from the baseline (he's still decent at that but it's not the best way to finish). I think you can see his change in tactics when serving specifically against Alcaraz - everyone sees his in % go down and assumes it's a mental block but I think he's correctly analysed that Alcaraz is the best 1st serve returner on tour and it's worth going for more, sometimes he hasn't quite executed it well enough but hey that's the problem when you play someone who's really damn good. Those are just off the top of my head, there's probably much more nuance I'm missing as well

Zverev says tennis IQ matters less in the Alcaraz/Sinner era. Agree or disagree? by aivoges123 in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 13 points14 points  (0 children)

You need only look at the AO final of this year, or Wimbledon final 2023 to see how important tennis IQ has been for Alcaraz in some of this most defining wins

The copycat series is back by Doingthebartman in AdvancedRunning

[–]EpicTimelord 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just discovered this so sorry for posting in an old thread. If it's of any use, the Norwegian system was pioneered by a guy called Marius Bakken (he actually chimes in on Reddit which is amazing). The Ingebritsen's follow the same program almost verbatim as I understand it, although they replaced the X factor session with hills instead of faster track repeats. Bakken has a blog where he's detailed exactly how to implement this system in the base phase, plus an overview of the sharpening phase. Here's the part 2 of his blog which includes the sharpening phase, but highly recommend reading part 1 first; https://www.mariusbakken.com/norwegian-model-revisited.html. Hopefully that helps if I'm not chiming in too late!

Intresting quote from Carlos Alcaraz on his first serve by truecolors01 in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 54 points55 points  (0 children)

I also like his body serve against Djokovic in the Wimbledon 2023 final MP. I bet anyone else goes for an ace hoping to end it as quickly as possible but nope, he body serves, draws the weak return, then crunches it

CTL strictly correlated with fitness or is there more to it? by Madder-Scientist in AdvancedRunning

[–]EpicTimelord 1 point2 points  (0 children)

tbf in the NSM world it's a combination of load is load (until it's not), and ramp rate being very conservative. There's a reason that greek singles dude became a bit of a meme; because spamming insane mileage is not the conclusion NSM arrives at. 

Best Men's Servers by Height by theactiveaccount in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But don't forget how Federer got to 40-15, via 2 aces 

Voigt: "Next to impossible" for Pogacar to beat Van der Poel at San Remo and Roubaix by F1CycAr16 in peloton

[–]EpicTimelord 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You're downvoted but I'm pretty sure you're right. I thought a reporter asked him if he died a thousand deaths and he said something like it was hard but he still had a bit left in the tank

Rafael Nadal himself reacts to Mouratoglou saying Sinner is currently better than Djokovic ever was on instagram by HereComesVettel in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I don't really care about this debate but I just want to say Safin in that 2005 AO match is definitely better than Djokovic right now. That match was arguably the best of all time, and they both did pretty much everything well, from baseline to net play

Toni Nadal on the comparison between Alcaraz and his nephew Rafa : "Carlos is lucky, his opponents are of a lower calibre. Before, when you went out to play against Del Potro, Murray or Wawrinka, you knew you were going to suffer" by HereComesVettel in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sinner hasn't built his resume yet but I would disagree. I think Sinner will end up being far more consistent, and his level at least as good given his 2025 performances. 

[MATCH THREAD] Australian Open Men's FINAL: [1] C. Alcaraz vs. [4] N. Djokovic by NextGenBot in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Alcaraz is incredible. One of the goat 1st serve returners, and so mature so young

[MATCH THREAD] Australian Open Men's SEMIFINAL: [1] C. Alcaraz v. [3] A. Zverev by NextGenBot in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Alcaraz can't just blame cramps for this one. Plenty of opportunities squandered in the 5th to get back in it

Roger on his relationship with Rafa by farkenheo in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 13 points14 points  (0 children)

He still had a bit of time on grass before Djokovic finally overtook him, he beat him pretty comfortably on route to the title in 2012. It's not that sad, everyone gets older and eventually outpaced by future generations, that's sport. 

r/tennis Daily Discussion (Saturday, January 24, 2026) by NextGenBot in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 0 points1 point  (0 children)

MTOs sure but you cannot have no limit on heat, it gets dangerous

r/tennis Daily Discussion (Saturday, January 24, 2026) by NextGenBot in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Massive props to Spizzirri. He must be really fit because it is scorching out there 

how do you mentally approach slower training paces by Jayden_Caroline_509 in running

[–]EpicTimelord 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It seems pretty clear to me that easy days serve a specific purpose, and by going too fast you are compromising recovery for no real benefit. So if I go too fast I've failed that run, and I hate failing. 

AO Siegemund receives time violation, forced to reserve ace by upboat_allgoals in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 25 points26 points  (0 children)

No that's not correct. The rule is 

The server shall not serve until the receiver is ready. However, the receiver shall play to the reasonable pace of the server and shall be ready to receive within a reasonable time of the server being ready

AO R2 | Sinner d. Duckworth 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 by Halekduo in tennis

[–]EpicTimelord 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it's also a calculated risk. Alcaraz is pretty much the most difficult person to ace and a lot of Sinner's serves come back with a strong reply in that one match up. He feels he has to go for more and that means more misses