Tommy Paul received some advice from Martina Navratilova after reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon.
The American equalled his best result at the All-England Club with a comprehensive victory over Alexander Bublik.
He needed just 86 minutes to dispatch the Kazak player 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and book a spot in the last 16 at the grass court Grand Slam.
Though currently in the best form of his career on the slick and low bouncing surface, he gratefully listened to a tip given to him by the nine-time Wimbledon singles champion.
What advice did Martina Navratilova give to Tommy Paul?
Navratilova played in an era where the common way to play tennis was to serve and come into the net for a volley in an attempt to swiftly finish the point.
Though baseline and all-court play has been the main way to play tennis over the last 20 years, the serve and volley tactic is still very useful on grass.
This is why the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion urged Paul to come forward more during matches, despite his recent success on grass when he won the Queen’s title.
“We have been working on coming in for a while now. My coach would tell me that I still need to come in a lot more,” Paul told Tennis Channel.
“Surprisingly enough I feel like I haven’t come in on the grass as much as I had been on the hard earlier in the year or at the end of last year, so I’m sure Brad will be telling me to come in more.”
Navratilova then responded: “I think if you think you are not getting in enough, then for sure you are not coming in enough.
“You look at the numbers when you come in, you have a much better chance of winning the point at the net. You are coming in on killer shots and have great volleys. I would agree with your coach, get there more!”
Tommy Paul’s net play statistics were encouraging against Alexander Bublik at Wimbledon
It is easy so see why Navratilova urged Paul to finish more points at the net given is success in his third round at Wimbledon.
Against Bublik, Paul approached the net 28 times and won the point on 22 occasions, giving him a percentage of 79%.
This was one of the key factors behind the 12 seed’s most dominant win at Wimbledon so far.
His statistics were exactly the same in his first round match against Pedro Martinez. However, despite playing five sets against Otto Virtanen, Paul came to the net just 37 times.
Coming to the net more is something US compatriot Ben Shelton is also working on, as he attempts to reach the fourth round at SW19 for the first time in his career.
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