Waffles, Strawberries, and Forehands
"If you choke this year, we’ll never forgive you"
Good morning. Played tennis twice this weekend. Anyone know a good chiropractor? Now let’s dive in.
— Daniel Park
PSA
Hey gang! You might have noticed the furniture looks a little different in here. That’s because I moved Unforced Error to Substack! Anyways, that’s mostly big news for me. Nothing changes for you — you’ll keep getting your editions each week! But if you don’t have the Substack app, I’d highly recommend downloading it! The reading experience is better + I’ll be posting more content here. As always, thank you for supporting Unforced Error! 🫶🏼
Wimbledon
Waffles, Strawberries, and Forehands
Have you ever caught your friend peeling a cucumber into ribbons at 7:45am on a Sunday in your own kitchen? It’s the strangest moment that starts with wtf and ends with I-love-you-and-I-wouldn’t-want-it-any-other-way.
Also, “peeling cucumber” is not a euphemism. At least not that I know of. Why was it happening in the first place?
Because my wife and I hosted a Wimbledon Finals Watch Party on Sunday! And cucumber is an essential ingredient in a Pimm’s Cup, the official Wimbledon cocktail.
We weren’t just boozing at 8am on a Sunday like degenerate high society Brits. The party was complete with waffles, strawberries and cream, and bacon.
Now onto the tennis
Zverev had lost 9 straight against Sinner heading into Sunday’s final. Despite the awful record, he did have this going for him: he was playing with a huge weight off his shoulders after finally winning a Grand Slam.
Without as much pressure, he executed his game plan better than I’d ever seen before.
That forehand crosscourt was not normal Zverev. He knew that if he had any chance at beating the espresso-fueled Italian robot, he’d have to hit his forehand big.
Again, Zverev was brave and went after his forehand in the big moments — this laser beam won him his first set against Sinner in 10 meetings.
This thought lingered in my mind through most of the second set: holy shit, is this going to be the day that Zverev finally breaks the streak AND wins back-to-back Grand Slam titles?
Unfortunately for Zverev, Sinner bought Alcaraz’s e-book on how to hit drop shots before the tournament.
Backhand side from behind the baseline is crazy difficult. Think of Steph Curry hitting a fadeaway three from the logo.
To be clear, drop shots weren’t the sole reason why Sinner won his fifth Grand Slam. But his ability to hit them now showed why he’s so dominant: because he’s the best at adding layers to his game.
In the last 24 months, he’s made big changes to his serve and developed finesse — which only make his biggest weapon, his groundstrokes, even more effective. Hugh Clarke said it well:
“It made you realize again that there are levels to this game. That while Zverev clearly is the best player in the world behind Sincaraz and Djoker, capable of pushing them in ideal mental states with an A game firing, Sincaraz are always adding and operating with elite B, C, and D games when all the pressure is on their shoulders.”
Indeed, there are levels to this game. There are also levels to waffles. Beautiful levels that fill with whipped cream and syrup.
Trivia
Which country developed the electronic line calling system we know as Hawk-Eye?
A. Austria
B. Japan
C. United Kingdom
D. South Korea
Find out at the bottom!
Memes
My dad at the airport two and a half hours early for his flight.
Around the Net
Some of the best tennis content I found on the internet this week…
🥹 This reaction from Arthur Fery’s coach gives me chills, every time.
😳 “Tim…If you choke this year, we’ll never forgive you” — insane story about the pressure Tim Henman faced during the 2002 Wimbledon.
🤔 Casper Ruud on why he struggles so much on grass
Thank for reading!
Daniel 🤠
Answer
C. United Kingdom
That’s right, Hawk-Eye wasn’t made in Silicon Valley by two middle school dropouts. It was developed by two engineers in England in 2000. The same technology also helps make decisions in soccer (VAR), cricket, and now baseball.