Djokovic/Federer 2019 Wimbledon Final and the Myth of the First 4 Shots
As Emilio Sanchez told me recently, “Points can be short on average, but when the match get close—during the important moments—the points often go longer.”
The Djokovic/Federer 2019 Wimbledon classic demonstrates what Emilio knows from first hand experience as a pro player: In critical moments, rallies go longer.
Sometimes the rallies go a lot longer. Time and again, Djokovic and Federer had rallies of 10+, 20+, and even 30+ rallies during important junctures of the match.
It’s important to train the first 4 shots, but please don’t neglect the long rally lengths, patience, stamina, and shot tolerance building.
In Spain, the best modern academies and coaches now practice in all rally length ranges, but they still spend a significant amount of time developing the elements of consistency, control, defense, and grinding—minimizing errors.
Roger Federer won nearly every category of statistic in the final except one—unforced errors.
As the Spanish coaching legend Pato Alvarez likes to say, “Tennis is, at its essence, a game of errors.”
In this historic match at least, Pato’s proverb was proved right.