tennis two-handed backhand

We are in the first week of the Australian Open, round of 16. Who do you hope to win? Personally, I hope American Isner can at least reach the finals, but of course, the big four would await him – Federer, Murray, Djokovic and Nadal. On the ladies side, it would be cool to see Canadian Bouchard win it, but it will probably be Sharapova or Serena Williams.

My sketch depicts a two-handed backhand that is set just before the ball bounces directly in front of the player. When the ball is hit deep to the baseline of your opponent’s side, he or she has a split second to decide whether to hit it or let it go in hopes that the ball will go out of bounds. When you watch a game, you will see this as a tactic the pros use. Hitting deep also keeps your adversary from approaching the net and taking control of the point.

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sketch: before the toss

Drawing of a side-view stance during the Australian Open, day 3.

sketch: tennis ready stance

Drawing of a player in preparation to receive a ball in the game of tennis.

sketch: tennis serve

The Australian Open is on now which means hours of watching Tennis Channel and ESPN2.  The Open will run two weeks.  This is a sketch of the Croation, Cilic, serving.  I always wanted to capture the motion of a serve.  Cilic is a very tall slender player at 6 foot 6 inches.  He is so tall that it looks like I’m exaggerating his extension.