Most Exhausting Player vs The Captain Part 1 [USTA 4.5]

Tennis player in purple shorts (The Captain) is currently rated USTA 4.5 / NTRP 4.5. He is 13-3 in doubles for 2020-2021 USTA 4.5 seasons He is a self-taught (learned tennis without a tennis coach). He also plays and captains a USTA 5.0 league team. In college, purple shirt played club tennis at a SEC university.

Tennis player in green shirt (Most Exhausting Player/MEP) was 13-3 in singles competition in the USTA 4.5 league for 2020-2021. In 2019 MEP was 7-4. He also won the Fall 2020 Ultimate 6.0- league (equivalent to USTA 4.5) for the second time. He went 5-2 in regular season and 5-0 in the playoffs.

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#TennisTroll

[MeikeBabelTennis]

Love the point starting at 2:16. That's how you beat very consistent players. Move opponent around and follow up to net. Gotta be ready to play long points though to construct the point and wait for the right ball to come in with!

[MarkSansait]

Ah, the GOAT is set to harvest another soul to his collection.

[alvaromena]

The captain is an interesting player, smart and experienced, with good shots, with an exhausting fast, flat, short with a classic grip (maybe continenthal) forehand (he should be very tall to achieve that(isn't he?)). Anyway, he started doing weird stuffs past the half of the second set
The most interesting match against MEP so far

[missourimanful]

Good match so far. One thing about MEP, aka green shirt, he never beats himself. His opponent has to beat him, or they will be another victim of his, due to their unforced errors. Look forward to Part 2. Thanks for posting,

[danfrank]

Captain started that first set really well. He was finding lots of open court and making easy shots for himself. The end of that second set was so different. The footwork was lazy (when it wasn't totally cement shoe style) so I just wonder what the difference was.

[andrewlee]

Love the Captain's style. Very unique. Seems like he ran out of gas in second set.

[thomasmedeiros]

You can have the correct strategy/ tactics but they are useless if you can’t consistently hit the shots necessary to implement your plan. I coached for a long time and spent more time teaching and doing drills to teach technique and consistency. The difference between the first and second set also showed the need for fitness. When people play against this MEP style it will usually depend on their fitness and what tools they have in their tennis skill tool box.

[tomsd]

Looks like the captain was tanking the second set for whatever reason.

[joemarshall]

A beautiful first set by the Captain. This is the strategy I had recommended to play MEP: Junk the junker. If someone has a good forehand slice, be ready to counteract it with a forehand slice of your own...it's a very effective shot, and it's really hard to attack a low slice with a topspin forehand....especially a short ball. The Captain did something else very well: He didn't let MEP get away with that moon-ball forehand once he saw it a couple of times. Captain came inside the baseline and took the ball out of the air. That shot is one of MEPs weapons, against people who let it bounce. Captain also hit many beautifully placed and disguised volleys and overheads. He was very consistent at the net. And he attacked MEPs serve quite well. It will be fun to watch part two. Captain has to get rid of double faults and missed returns of serve. He should keep chipping and getting into the net. MEP should come into the net himself, and try to take that away form Captain...It's not MEPs favorite place, but he can't keep letting Captain get there first. I guess the wind makes lobbing tough, if it's swirling....

[beqgmrs]

this match shows how important a forehand slice can be from the captain..mixed in with power and touch!

[tennis]

Captain really stopped giving a 💩 halfway thru the second set and tanked it beautifully. Lord Tomic would be proud.

[Sandy-gets]

After playing with the MEP, you will play like the MEP and forgot all your shorts! It is contagious, LoL!!

[HrHTeam]

Looking at how MEP returns soft serves, would a serve & volley strategy have worked?

[alwaysprepared]

Yeah, it seems the Captain was going down with the ship in the last several games. I don't see any reason he would have thrown those last few games, but I could be wrong.
Otherwise, he was out-MEPing MEP by hitting unpredictable shots and had a good net game (including serve and volleys!) to boot I'll be interested to see if he regains form or not. I'm guessing since Troll decided to not include the final set that maybe it's more competitive than I would have thought?

[AcingTennis]

Either the Captain's fitness or mental game broke in the second set. Hitting shots like he didn't care when in the first set he was hitting with certainty. If it stays like this - could be a swift 6-0 for Ben in the 3rd.

[Derlei]

why is the fence so low? I believe if you go beyond the fence you will find many old treasures of tennis balls from years gone by

[EdgeriPlaysTennis]

The video quality on this one is excellent! Love the lighting on these courts. Can already tell this is gonna be a battle. Captain has great hands at net. Did he get injured midway through the 2nd set? There seemed to be a huge drop in energy.

[TrevorSquires]

I feel like the captain's fitness was really poor. These points don't require a ton of energy, but he seemed really lacking in the last few games. Maybe he had given up the set, but I really think his game plan for beating MEP was there. Odd that he lost his composure so fast. I can't imagine these two sets taking anymore than 2 hours.

[kodax]

People always talk about MEP's unorthodox style but really I think he wins through fitness. Captain had a really good strategy but you can see him getting tired and making errors in the 2nd. Lets see if he can get a second wind. Meanwhile MEP needs to up his game. He has more tape on him than most ATP players. Its just going to get harder for him.

[evanc.]

He lost it because he got exhausted...and not physically. That is the hidden factor by MEP. Players get exhausted that rhythm doesn't really turn on...lol. In a way...the "W" was not the issue. It was the "beauty"...yet again.