Most Improved of All Time -- Meet Belinda Bencic -- Every Tennis Player's Dirty Secret

Hey gang — I was really struggling to write something decent yesterday. The creative juices just weren’t there 😔 So I copped out and cmd+v’ed this piece from last year, right after Nadal retired. Pls forgive me + hope you enjoy!

Opinion

Most Improved of All Time

The 2007 Men’s Wimbledon Final was my introduction to Rafael Nadal. I was 9. I thought he was sick. Big biceps. Cutoff shirt. Surfer hair. And the capri-length shorts? A-U-R-A. Tennis had never seen someone with this build and style before.

That match against Roger was one of the early thrillers that Nadal would go on to repeatedly grace us with over the next two decades. Safe to say, I was an instant fan.

After the 2007 Wimbledon, I watched the Spaniard a lot. What I remember about that time was that he had a lot of doubters. Commentators picked on him, saying he’d never succeed outside of the clay. I can still hear John McEnroe saying Rafa:

• Won’t be good on hard courts because he hits the ball too short and with too much spin

• Won’t last long on tour because his body won’t tolerate his grinding game style

• Doesn’t have a powerful serve

• Doesn’t know how to volley

• Picks at his undies too much

As annoying as Johnny Mac is, much of what he said was true. Nadal got overpowered on hard courts, had a weak 104ish MPH first serve, and rarely came forward. That was over 15 years ago.

Fast forward to last week, and Nadal announced that he’s retiring at Davis Cup in November. Cry.

While it’s sad that one of the greatest of all time is leaving the sport, it gives us the chance to sit in admiration of him. One aspect of his legacy that will always stick with me is this: Nadal is perhaps the most improved player of all time, and proved all the haters wrong 10 times over.

The Spaniard endlessly developed new technique, skills, and transformed his body to improve. He served 130+ MPH throughout the 2010 US Open, which he went on to win. He learned to flatten out both of his groundstrokes. He learned to play closer to the baseline and take time away from his opponents. And he became an excellent finisher at the net. Rafa went from a defensive, one-surface wonder to an all-court winning machine.

To put Nadal’s improvement into perspective, he ended his career with 2 Wimbledon, 2 Australian, and 4 US Open titles. That’s as many slams as hall-of-famers Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors, but on his second and third best surfaces. Unbeliebable. Add in the ridiculous 14 Roland Garros titles, and what you’re left with is one of the gods of the sport.

Davis Cup will undoubtedly be heart breaking. Tennis will lose one of its greatest ambassadors of the sport, and to me, a hero in showing that you can always get better. Long live the bull.

Vamos Rafa

Trivia

Jannik Sinner regained the world No. 1 ranking this weekend by winning the Paris Rolex Masters. What year had the most changes to the #1 ranking on the ATP tour?

A. 1983

B. 1999

C. 2009

D. 2023

Find out at the bottom!

Memes

Meet the Player

Belinda Bencic

From: Switzerland 🇨🇭 

Best Slam Result: Semis

Career High Ranking: 4

Fun Fact: Climbed from 913 in the world to 11 this year after becoming a mother 😮

Game Analysis: The Swiss plays suffocating tennis from the baseline, pounding groundstrokes with an always-offense mentality. Her backhand is money, and she’s got underrated foot speed.

Career Prediction: Bencic had her best slam result this year, reaching the semis of Wimbledon. She’s playing incredible tennis post partem, and definitely has the game to win a slam. She’s one to watch in 2026!

Ask

First off, thank you to everyone who sent the newsletter to someone this past week! I’m regaining hair follicles!

Second — I’m looking for 5 people to be guinea pigs in a new tennis-coaching venture I’m working on. The only requirement is that you must be an active tennis player. The commitment is roughly 1 hour of your time.

What’s in it for you? You’ll get free coaching from me!

Reply to this email or shoot me a text at (425) 463-9820 if you’re interested!

Around the Net

Some of the best tennis content I found on the internet this week…

😬 Every tennis player’s dirty secret? They’ve done this on a big point. I won’t believe for a second that you haven’t.

🎥 What do you call slow-mo footage of Bublik smashing a racket paired with Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2? A cinematic masterpiece.

👂️ “It’s okay to lose, but you still want it badly. So I think that combination got me the win tonight.” Federer on his mentality against Nadal in the epic 2017 Australian Open final.

Answer

A. 1983

Now this was a competitive year. There were a total of 10 changes to who was ranked #1, fought between John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl.