WTT London Star Contender - October 2025

[Metaxa]

Agree he's slow (relative to other elite players) getting set to hit his forehand. There's a stiffness or tension in his fh footwork, hip turn and backswing that prevents him from making the quick smooth transitions and resets of the strongest two wing power loopers. Maybe there are some technical flaws, or maybe it's the result of being backhand oriented for most of his playing life. But I don't think it's because his reaction time is slow. Nobody without elite reaction speed could have made it so far so fast playing close to table. And I do think he was having more success with heavy spin rather than max speed against DQ.

Precisely because he is BH-oriented, his reaction time from BH > FH is just not fast enough. He does not have that problem when he goes from FH > BH, precisely because his reaction time/memory thinks that the next ball will go to his BH. Something I wrote about here years ago for the first time. DQ has already read his flaw well. If his reaction time from TH, from BH > FH were as fast as the other way around, he would be able to adjust his feet and hips in time, but that does not happen. No reaction at all from TH to his FH, only his head turned to watch the parallel balls whizzing by, feet and hips still in BH position.
Btw, he is and remains, of course, a top player of exceptional class, but one of his shortcomings is undoubtedly his slightly too slow reaction time from BH > FH.

 

[John Birkin]

Dustin Gesinghaus (mostly coach of the German U19 team)

Thanks! He was certainly doing a good job.

 

[vvk1]