Eye of the Coach #94: “Sabalenka hits faster than Sinner and Alcaraz? I’m not surprised.”
It’s a statistic that hasn’t gone unnoticed. During the US Open, Aryna Sabalenka found herself at the top of an unexpected ranking. The Belarusian, who won the tournament, was the player with the fastest forehand speed of the fortnight, on average, ahead of… Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
Renowned for her devastating ball power, Sabalenka devoured all her opponents in New York this year. Can you imagine her hitting the ball faster than the best male players? Patrick Mouratoglou is not surprised.
‘I’ve seen the statistics that say Aryna Sabalenka’s forehand and backhand speed is faster than that of the best male players. I may surprise you but this Sabalenka statistic doesn’t surprise me,” he says.
“That’s down to her power. She has incredible natural power and she hits the ball at full power. But also her style of play, which is extremely aggressive, consisting of taking the ball early and at full power with less spin than the men,” explained the Frenchman.
Mouratoglou also explains that this statistic is linked to the quality of movement, with players moving faster than women.
“When you’re a female tennis player, it’s logical that you play faster and hit the ball harder with less spin because your opponent will be in trouble. Not all of them, like Coco Gauff for example, but most of them. So it makes sense to take more risks, to attack on every return, to play closer to the net and faster with less spin.”
KEY MOMENTS
0’01: Sabalenka’s forehand speed is no surprise
0’18: This can be explained by the combination of her power and aggressive style of play.
0’36: Unlike female players, male players put more spin on the ball
0’50: Women hit with less spin, so they are often faster.
0’59: Men move faster than women
1’12: It makes sense to take more risk in women’s tennis.
1’40: Sabalenka plays high-risk tennis, so she hits hard.
Renowned for her devastating ball power, Sabalenka devoured all her opponents in New York this year. Can you imagine her hitting the ball faster than the best male players? Patrick Mouratoglou is not surprised.
‘I’ve seen the statistics that say Aryna Sabalenka’s forehand and backhand speed is faster than that of the best male players. I may surprise you but this Sabalenka statistic doesn’t surprise me,” he says.
“That’s down to her power. She has incredible natural power and she hits the ball at full power. But also her style of play, which is extremely aggressive, consisting of taking the ball early and at full power with less spin than the men,” explained the Frenchman.
Mouratoglou also explains that this statistic is linked to the quality of movement, with players moving faster than women.
“When you’re a female tennis player, it’s logical that you play faster and hit the ball harder with less spin because your opponent will be in trouble. Not all of them, like Coco Gauff for example, but most of them. So it makes sense to take more risks, to attack on every return, to play closer to the net and faster with less spin.”
KEY MOMENTS
0’01: Sabalenka’s forehand speed is no surprise
0’18: This can be explained by the combination of her power and aggressive style of play.
0’36: Unlike female players, male players put more spin on the ball
0’50: Women hit with less spin, so they are often faster.
0’59: Men move faster than women
1’12: It makes sense to take more risk in women’s tennis.
1’40: Sabalenka plays high-risk tennis, so she hits hard.
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SportsTranscript
00:00I saw the statistics saying that the speed of the forehand and the backhand of Arina Zabalenka
00:04is faster than the top guys. I might surprise you,
00:07but to me these statistics from Arina Zabalenka is not a surprise.
00:13This statistic from Arina Zabalenka is the combination of first her power,
00:19she has an incredible natural power and she hits the ball with full power,
00:23but also her game style, which is extremely aggressive,
00:27taking the balls early and hitting the ball full power with not so much spin compared to men.
00:31That's one of the differences between men's tennis and women's tennis,
00:34men apply much more spin to the ball, they play much higher,
00:37so the ball is less fast, but it's more difficult to control,
00:40and they play with more security because of the height over the net and the spin,
00:45and they have much natural power, so they can afford it.
00:48So as women's ball is not turning as much, it flies faster,
00:52and also the fact that it's not as high over the net makes the ball land faster also.
00:57The big difference is men move faster than women,
01:00so when you're a woman and you play tennis, it makes sense for you to play fast,
01:04to hit the ball hard with less spin, because your opponent is in trouble,
01:08not all of them, not Coco for example, but most of them will be in trouble.
01:11So it makes complete sense to take more risk,
01:14to attack every return, to play closer to the net and faster with less spin.
01:19On the men's game if you do that, men move well enough to even use the speed
01:23that you create against yourself, and then you will take too much risk.
01:27On the women's side, you take the risk, but you have the reward.
01:30That's why men play a little bit slower, not because they hit the ball slower,
01:35the speed they create with their racket head,
01:37they use it to make the ball turn more than women.
01:40This statistic says how hard Sabalenka hits the ball, because it's a fact.
01:44And she's playing with full power all the time,
01:47and she's playing a high-risk tennis, definitely.
01:50But she's confident enough to do it, and it's very successful.
01:53But it's also because she applies much less spin than men,
01:56so it's the combination of the two that makes her statistics so impressive.