Singles Point Breakdown with Alex Neumann
After a month down in Florida playing in several big tournaments, we spoke with Alex again on some specifics about singles play and his match against Tyson McGuffin in the semi-finals. We discuss general strategy, shot selection with and against the wind, time out management, different playstyles, and what is next for him as he prepares for the APP St Louis Open the first weekend of May.
Before the interview, I sent Alex some initial questions I’ve received from our followers. If you have any other questions you’d like to ask, post them in the comments section!
Did you come into this game with a specific plan against Tyson, or more of a plan for yourself?
Alex: More a game plan for myself. Unless I know a specific player very well, the default strategy is "hit big serves, big returns, attack their backhands, and learn as you go." Because this was my first ever high stakes match on center court, I knew it would be even more important to keep myself focused and keep things simple. The rest of my strategy I developed as the math went one.
Tyson is notorious for going around his backhand and going inside out. What are the pros and cons to this approach?
Alex: With such a wicked forehand, he opens up a lot of dangerous 3rd shot angles by prioritizing his forehand. He can drive inside out, drop inside out, or rip down the line. Plus, once he starts hurting you with his forehand, it puts a lot of pressure on you to keep your return away from his forehand, which leads to more errors.
At the same time, against someone with a stronger forehand you know you're pretty safe if you can get it to their backhand. If you're able to hit a big return deep to the backhand corner, or take a volley during the point low to their backhand, you don't have to worry as much about the type of shot you hit and it allows you to reset the point. Further, running around your forehand puts you out of position on the court, so you can take advantage of that by returning to the forehand side every so often or taking a volley crosscourt to the open forehand corner.
You, along with many other singles players have been implementing a two handed backhand. Can you talk about your mental thought process on when you use a two hander vs one hander?
Alex: It's much less a mindset than a technique preference in my opinion. Most players have a harder time developing a powerful, topspin backhand with one hand that they can hit consistently. Unless I'm hitting a slice or I'm in a quick volley exchange at the net, I always feel more comfortable using two hands on the backhand to drive the ball. It's still not as strong as my forehand drive, but I'm able to hit hard and low consistently and also open up both down the line or crosscourt angles. It's also super helpful on the return if I'm trying to hit a big serve back without slicing it.
Let’s talk about cat and mouse - what does it mean and how do you combine this playstyle with the more familiar style of passing shots like in tennis?
Alex: "Cat and mouse" just means singles points where both players typically make it to the net and use smart drops and angles around the kitchen to try outsmarting each other. A lot of players (including myself) play with a more traditional tennis-style where you drive most 3rd shots and crash the net when you can, basically trying to drive the ball past your opponent. With cat and mouse, you take advantage of your opponent not being able to put the ball away if you place it in the kitchen, and use the larger space of a singles court to move your opponent around until you create open space to put the ball away.
Generally, I'm able to win or at least neutralize a lot of points by playing a tennis-style game without incorporating too much cat and mouse. Cat and mouse tires you out more, and personally I'm more comfortable hitting passing shots than perfect drops. That said, cat and mouse is really helpful to incorporate as a more aggressive player to catch your opponent off guard. If I've hit 3 passing shots in a row, sometimes I'll throw in a drop to mix things up. I also play a version of this when I follow up my drive by crashing the net, hoping to take the ball out of the air early and find the open space.
Did you mentally change your approach between game one and game two, or did you just start feeling better as you starting rattling off a few points.
Alex: To be honest, I didn't change my approach at all. I didn't think I played particularly badly in the first game, I just came out a tiny bit nervou and missed a few easy shots. I didn't even realize I was down 0-4 in the second game. I was just completely locked in and focused on taking one point of the time. You obviously start feeling a little better as you rattle off a few points in the row. Also, the wind had a big impact for both players during the whole match. The wind was at my back during the second game, which made my serve harder to return and generated shorter returns.
Follow Alex on @Alexneum_pb for some important upcoming updates and announcements!
