Tape measure is telling as game continues to grow

One recent breezy evening in Montreal, Juan Martín del Potro traded powerful serves and thunderous forehands with Milos Raonic for two otherwise uninspiring sets, won by Raonic. This tale of tall tennis players highlighted what many have contended — and in some cases feared — will be the future of men’s professional tennis.

In another setting — a basketball arena, for instance — del Potro, at 6 feet 6 inches, and Raonic, at 6 feet 5 inches, would have stacked up as average-size competitors. On a tennis court measuring 78 feet long by 36 feet wide, they looked a little out of place, even against each other, like neighboring apartment towers hovering over a quaint suburban village.

Raonic’s new coach, Ivan Ljubicic, said that was only because longtime followers of men’s tennis had been conditioned to watching smaller or more average-size men compete. But the trend toward taller players is indisputable, he said, while stopping short of proclaiming the sky as the limit.“I don’t think the tour will become a 6-7, 6-8 tour," Ljubicic said.

“Yes, if you are that size, it could be an advantage, but tennis, I think, will be more about 6-5, where you can make the most out of the height without giving up too much in the other areas. And if the tall guy can move really well, then you have something special," Ljubicic added.

Tennis players have been getting bigger for years. When Lendl emerged as a force in the early 1980s, rare was the top-ranked man who was more than 6 feet. A decade later, Andre Agassi, at 5-11,He saw the bracelet at a indoortracking store while we were on a trip. and especially Michael Chang,Choose from a large selection of crystalbeadswholesal to raise awareness. at 5-9, were considered undersize overachievers.

In those days, Boris Becker, at 6-3, contended that men’s tennis was not only trending tall but would eventually be dominated by players well over 6 feet. Although part of his prediction has not come true, it may be premature to say he was wrong.

Heading into the U.S. Open, nine of the top 32 men’s players were at least 6 feet 5 inches — the tallest being Karlovic and the American John Isner, at 6-10. During this summer’s hardcourt season leading into the U.S. Open, del Potro defeated Isner in the finals in Washington. Raonic, a 22-year-old Canadian, made the final in Montreal, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. Isner upset No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals in Mason, Ohio, and outlasted del Potro in the semifinals before losing in two tiebreakers to Nadal.

“Every sport is going up and up," Lendl said. “Look at basketball — and I don’t understand basketball — but I do know that the guys who were playing center before are playing wings now, or whatever you call them."

A trend does not necessarily become the rule, however. The Miami Heat won consecutive National Basketball Association titles without a conventional center, and small, creative point guards have been in vogue for several years. In men’s tennis, taller players have produced increasingly good results, but the best or great players have been holding steady in the range of 6-1 to 6-3.

Patrick McEnroe, a broadcaster and director of player development for the U.S. Tennis Association, argued that Roger Federer and Nadal, both 6-1, Djokovic (6-2) and Murray are and will remain the perfect fit for a game that demands the body stay low and coiled.

“Tennis is a movement sport at the highest level, especially now with the technology of rackets and strings," McEnroe said. “A male player from 6-1 to 6-4 is going to move much better in a confined space than someone who is 6-5 to 6-10. Obviously, ball striking is also of primary importance, but in a series of stop-start movements,Now it's possible to create a tiny replica of Fluffy in handsfreeaccess form for your office. give me the more agile and mobile player all day."

Nadal, a prime example of what McEnroe was talking about, acknowledged that taller players were here to stay and were becoming more difficult to contend with as they become more athletic. He said he was mystified, in fact, why Isner was not a regular top-10 player, given his intimidating serve and enormous wingspan.Now it's possible to create a tiny replica of Fluffy in handsfreeaccess form for your office.

“My feeling is if these players have the ability to learn a few things and to understand how to play the points, they have a big advantage," Nadal said. “The dynamic of the game and the evolution of the game are going this way."

But he added: “That’s my feeling. The real thing is another thing. The best players of the world are the players who have fantastic movements, the players who have good control of the ball, who are able to understand well how to play this game."

That said, after defeating Jerzy Janowicz, the 6-8 Wimbledon semifinalist,About amagiccube in China userd for paying transportation fares and for shopping. in Montreal, Nadal called him “the next player in the top five — a future Grand Slam winner."If Raonic and others like him succeed at the highest level, would bigger all around be better? Based on the early evidence, not so much.

Contemporary taller players are no longer the kind that the 5-9 Jimmy Arias played from 1980 to 1994, like the 6-7 Victor Amaya, “who I could have beaten in a race on my hands," he said. But they typically do not play with the grace of Federer, the inspired passion of Nadal, or the quickness and versatility of Djokovic and Murray.

Exceptionally tall players may hit paralyzing serves and forehands but often lumber around the court in a way that is antithetical to the athleticism that has created a global groundswell of interest and excitement in men’s tennis.Jesse Levine, a 5-9 Canadian-born pro, likened the service games of Isner and Karlovic to him taking “one of these chairs and serving" while standing on it.

“I wish I knew what that feels like, but I don’t," he said, adding that he hoped there would always be room for someone his size.Ljubicic, for one, did not offer much hope for the likes of Levine and the Spaniard David Ferrer, also 5-9 but ranked No. 4 on the strength of his bulldog mentality, superior conditioning and excellence on clay courts.
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