Jerzy Janowicz - a star in the making?

Hello Oh minions and minionettes,



The universe's leading intergalactic milkybar tennis historian, yours truely, aka emancipator, brings whisperings of glad tidings.

I have news.. and he is called JJ.

Ok, so I decided to watch the Murray-JJ match, cause I'd heard some mutterings about this Polish child on the transgalactic grapevine, and wanted to assess for myself the actuality of these rumours.

And.. I was thoroughly impressed.

Some background: Apparently JJ was ranked outside the top 200 at the start of the year. With the Murray massacre he has now moved into the top 50 he had a good little run at W where he beat the frivolous Gulbis. He is 6ft 8

But taking a closer look at his game, admittedly I've only ever seen one match of his , this is what I noticed:

1) Big serve: Regularly in the high 130's. Big deal; big man big serve - so what's new?
2) Big FH: Ditto, but hits it pretty flat and hard, similar to the Tower of Tandil
3) And now it starts to get interesting: Good hands: Yes that's right folks, I said good hands. At times he had Murray on the end of a string with well disguised and executed drop shots, nice BH slice and decent volleying skills.
4) Good movement: and I don't mean that in a good-for-a-giant-way. He does actually move well and fast, with good court coverage. He had no problem rallying with Murray. Reminds me very much of Berdych, who is by far the best mover of the 6.4 + guys.
5) Good return. That's right minions. Read it and weep; he can return. Haaalleluuuuuujah woohoo. Ok he may not be in the Screech league but he can return well, particularly of the FH, where he hit some screaming winners of Murray's first and second serve.

And he's just 21!!!

So I think this guy has a lot of upside; no doubting his talent, but of course he needs to bring the consistency (the perennial challenge). I actually rate him now as a more viable prospect than Raonic, but we shall see how far he progresses.



emancipator - intergalactic scout - may the serve be with you.

Emanci... was Rosol also not a star in the making?

Rosol has no motivation since Nadal has left. Wait till Rafa comes back, and Rosol will go all guns blazing again.

Oh child Laverfan, I think it's a bit different.

Rosol was 27 and ranked 100.

This guy is 21 and now in the top 50.

Be afraid oh sceptical one, be very afraid.

He is cooooomiiiiing



emancipator

Wow..where has this guy come from!
This is the sort of breakthrough's we're talking about for "youngsters".
I agree for a guy of 6'8' he moves remarkably well, and is solid all round.
That said I still think Murray let him off the hook when serving for the match at 5-4 in the 2nd.
Lets see how he gets on in 2013...

Maybe Janowicz is the prototype of the future player:

Big server combined with all round game.

He needs money though to go on with his career. Winning Paris would be good for his bank account. I'm routing for him.

Well if he can actually return serve at that size then he is a lock to be a good player as long as he can move well and avoid injuries. That is the big thing missing from most of he tall guys. Berdy and Delpo return well at that size and that is why they have had more consistent success.

Emancipator, very funny with the screech comments, i think you have some intergalactic space dust clogging up your lenses.

Be interesting to see if he has to play Daveeeeeed the Ferret .. David has a great fondness for tall players with big serves..Like Raonic Berdych and Delpo

lydian wrote:Wow..where has this guy come from!
This is the sort of breakthrough's we're talking about for "youngsters".
I agree for a guy of 6'8' he moves remarkably well, and is solid all round.
That said I still think Murray let him off the hook when serving for the match at 5-4 in the 2nd.
Lets see how he gets on in 2013...

Exactly Lydian,

This is what got me interested.

He's literally come out of nowhere and posted some decent results. He was ice cool in serving out the match against the Muzza which bodes well for the future. I hope he continues to progress.

Agree emancipator, his serving was brutal. Unusually for 6'8 guy he moves really well with no obvious weaknesses for the size. He's surely going to boost his career earnings this weekend! Is this a new Safin/Berdych?

lydian wrote:Agree emancipator, his serving was brutal. Unusually for 6'8 guy he moves really well with no obvious weaknesses for the size. He's surely going to boost his career earnings this weekend! Is this a new Safin/Berdych?

Lydian what have I been saying about the coming of the tall guys that can really move. This is what the modern tennis champ will end up looking like.

Just watched the Tipsy match and again I was impressed by his fight and all round game.

This guy is definitely more talented than Raonic and I like his attacking mentality. Unlike Raonic he doesn't stand 20 feet behind the baseline but actually hugs it and can take the ball early. Some of his half volleys off the baseline were Federesque. He also has a much better BH than Raonic.

I think he's probably frazzled now after beating four top twenty players in a row. Simon will likely grind him into submission. Nevertheless I think he's projected to be top 40 after this win.

Poor form from Tipsy to retire just five points from defeat.



emancipator

JJ beats Simon in str8 sets and hit 39 winners in the process

Now that's what I'm talking about.

Good to see attacking beating pushing.

Lets hope there's a real new player here.

Fair comment socal.

Wow, just wow with this guy. He's fearless too, has that hunger in the eyes. Reminds me of a cross between Sampras and Safin. Has great touch for a big guy as well.

What is so surprising though is his movement. He's not like Isner or Karlovic. I think what is different with Jerzy is the way his height is built...with Isner/Karlovic you look at them and they look tall, ie. you can tell by their long limbs, they look ungainly and it's no surprise they don't move too well. With Janowicz he doesn't look his height...ie. he's in proportion. He's just a BIG guy.

That post-match interview shows he's an emotional guy too. Ok, he needs to show this great form in 2013 but at 21 it looks like we may just have the breakthrough young star we were waiting for..albeit in a package none of us were expecting!

What's impressed me the most, is the way he's carried his form on through the event and could easily win this Masters

He's already ahead of Raonic and the other pretenders, in terms of getting to a Masters final

Of course the likes of Murray will take him a bit more seriously next time (have you ever seen such a dozy last hour from the Scot - given the vast choice we all his limp performances ) and there it's always harder to maintain such form as a marked man - but he could be the real deal

I'm more excited about him than any of the others

Some consistency would be much better even if he does not make deep runs.

Slower upward progress, not a meteoric rise, is what lays the foundation for a more impressive longer career. There may be exceptions.

The inconsistency of FH or BH as is on show here in the second set of Paris is what I am alluding to.

He does have the building blocks for an all court game.

He is definitely more impressive than Raonic..far more variety to his game.
Certainly promising. However I hope he doesn´t develop what I see to be a few of Murray´s old habits.. throwing his dummy out of the pram when things dont go exactly right for him.. He´s 21yrs old and has some growing up to do.

Goffin also has some impressive wins. Very glad to see some of these young guys coming through.

Credit to him though.. he handled the whole award ceremony with style.

JJ is really impressive , I had no clue when Lyd spoke him as an upcoming star in some other thread [inspite of me being a watch dog of youngsters ].

Whats most impressive is his fighting qualities, its expected he would go down to Ferrer, he needs a lot more experience on how to beat Ferrer, but otherwise this kid has done awesomely good.

He has a beastly serve, good return, great touch, very skillful yet fearsome forehand and a very consistent backhand. If he is molded under watchful eyes yes he could be the next big star.

He needs to work on his fitness me thinks.. but I would suggest that now that will come automatically

I remember watching him against Murray in the Davis Cup in Liverpool, and thought from then on i'll keep an eye on him. He seemed to be struggling and didn't really hear about him again until he beat Gulbis at Wimbledon and it was nice to see. This week is another level, a giant who can move and return? Its something else! Makes you realise what Raonic lacks when you watch Jerzy