Tennis fans know the term “shuttle” very well. They say that a player hung / hung / wrote / baked a “flyer” if he managed to win the set with a score of 6: 0. There is also a slightly less well-known term: “breadsticks” or, in this case the same thing, “fries”. As you may have guessed, this is a 6:1 game victory. For some time there was an unofficial “Golden Steering Wheel” award, but recently this business has somehow died out. We will try to correct the situation and take into account not only the “flyers”, but also the “sticks”.
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Daniil Medvedev – 16 “flyers”/“sticks”
And let’s start with the best tennis player in Russia. In the 2023 season, Medvedev took sixth place according to the indicator of interest to us. The first tournament for the Russian was Adelaide-1, and already in the second round he beat Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6: 0, 6: 3. And at the Australian Open, Daniil “delighted” the American Marcos Girón, beating him in the first round with a crushing score of 6:0, 6:1, 6:2.
Medvedev was in amazing shape in February. On his way to the title in Rotterdam, he defeated Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-finals 6:1, 6:2. This was followed by several more “sticks” performed by Medvedev. In the Madrid Masters played on clay, something that Daniil does not like, the Russian defeated his compatriot Alexander Shevchenko 4:6, 6:1, 7:5.
Medvedev made a very important “match” at Wimbledon: in the fifth set of the quarterfinals with Christopher Eubanks! The Russian, who first had to try this product, won that match 6:4, 1:6, 4:6, 7:6 (7:4), 6:1. However, Daniil really broke out at the US Open. And if the defeat of Attila Balazs (6-1, 6-1, 6-0) is not surprising, then the victory over Alex de Minaur in the round of 16 (2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6: 2 ) and especially about Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals (7:6 (7:3), 6:1, 3:6, 6:3) in any case deserve a special mention.
Medvedev made his last “match” in Beijing, beating Hugo Humbert in the quarterfinals 6:4, 3:6, 6:1.
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Lorenzo Musetti and Alexander Zverev: 20 “flyers”/“sticks” each
The 21-year-old Italian and two-time final champion was also very good in this component. Let’s highlight the most interesting points. Musetti, already in the United Cup, which became his first tournament of the season, began to crush his opponents. He then won two victories in a row over the little-known Daniel Michalski and Stefanos Sakellaridis, beating them by the same score 6: 1, 6: 1. And at the Monte Carlo Masters, Lorenzo completely made a mockery of his compatriot Luca Nardi, beating him 6:0, 6:0. Another victim of the Italian was the Russian Alexander Shevchenko. In the second round at Roland Garros, Musetti defeated him 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.
As for Zverev, he earned his biggest win of the season in the third round of the Madrid Masters, beating Hugo Grenier 6-1, 6-0. At Roland Garros, the German of Russian origin reached the semifinals and in the first four rounds his rivals invariably received the “wand.” Lloyd Harris, Alex Molchan, Francis Tiafoe, Grigor Dimitrov – this is the list of Alexander’s victims in that tournament. Also worth noting is Zverev’s victory over Thiago Monteiro, 6-1, 6-0, in the second round in Bastad. Well, let’s not forget the two “suits” baked for Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of the US Open: 6:7 (2:7), 7:6 (10:8), 6:1, 6:1. And in Chengdu, under pressure from Alexander, the Russian Pavel Kotov fell, who defeated him in the second round 7:6 (7:5), 4:6, 6:1.
Novak Djokovic – 21 “shuttles”/”clubs”
The 24-time Grand Slam champion probably had no chance of not making this list, despite being 36 years old. Djokovic ranked third in “shuttles”/“clubs” in 2023. At the Australian Open, the Serbian tennis player lost only one set and achieved six victories by 6:0 or 6:1. In the quarterfinals, Novak defeated Russian Andrei Rublev 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
Djokovic did not have a worse performance at Roland Garros. In the semifinals he beat Carlos Alcaraz 6: 3, 5: 7, 6: 1, 6: 1. An important clarification: Alcaraz played the second half of the game injured. So, it is possible that these “sticks” would not have existed if the Spaniard had been able to play with all his strength.
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And at Wimbledon, Djokovic baked three “suits” at once. And if he beat Stan Wawrinka in the third round (6:3, 6:1, 7:6 (7:5)) and Rublev in the quarterfinals (4:6, 6:1, 6:4, 6:3) Then I lost in the final to Alcaraz 6:1, 6:7 (6:8), 1:6, 6:3, 4:6. But he bounced back at the US Open. On the way to the title, the Serbian baked a “bagel” and five “sticks”.
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Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur – 25 “steels”/“sticks” each
Sinner, who had a great season, was ahead of everyone, although he shared first place with De Minaur. In the third round of the Australian Open, the Italian lost the first two sets to Marton Fucsovics, but then lost 4:6, 4:6, 6:1, 6:2, 6:0. But in the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters, the “stick” did not help him. In that match against Holger Rune, Yannick lost 6:1, 5:7, 5:7. It is curious that Sinner’s victim was twice De Minaur, who shared with him the first place on our list. In the final of the Toronto Masters, the Italian defeated the Australian 6:4, 6:1, and in the Davis Cup final 6:3, 6:0.
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Also among Sinner’s achievements this season we highlight the victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals of Beijing (7-6 (7-4), 6-1) and the success in the match against Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals of the final tournament (6 -1). :3, 6:7 (4:7), 6:1).
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De Minaur began the season by beating Rafael Nadal himself in the second match of the United Cup 3:6, 6:1, 7:5. He also performed well at the “500” in Acapulco, where he baked five bagels/sticks at a time, including for Tommy Paul in the final (3:6, 6:4, 6:1). And Alexander Shevchenko in the second round of Barcelona only won one match against the Australian: 6-0, 6-1 in favor of Alex.
What about women?
The best representatives of the fair sex on this list (more about them below) left men behind. Russian Daria Kasatkina (16) shared eighth and ninth place with Madison Keys, and her compatriot Lyudmila Samsonova (15) completed the top ten. Kasatkina made a “stick” to Verónica Kudermetova in the fourth round of the “thousand” in Madrid, but she still lost 5: 7, 6: 1, 6: 7 (2: 7). And Daria scored her biggest win of the season at Roland Garros, beating Python Stearns in the third round 6-0, 6-1.
Samsonova defeated her opponent in the first match of the season, defeating Zhang Shuai 5:7, 6:3, 6:0 in the first round of Adelaide-1. In the 500 meters final in Abu Dhabi, the Russian won the first set 6-1 against Belinda Bencic, but she was defeated 6-1, 6-7 (8:10), 4-6. Lyudmila had excellent matches in the third round of the thousandth tournament in Madrid (she defeated Elena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-0) and in the first round of Roland Garros (she defeated Katie Volynets 6-0, 6-1). Finally, in the semifinals in Montreal, Samsonova defeated Elena Rybakina (1-6, 6-1, 6-2), but then ran into Jessica Pegula (1-6, 0-6).
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Pegula, by the way, took second place in the women’s competition, ahead of all the men. She has 26 “stems”/“sticks”. The American defeated both Cori Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka (both by 23). But all of the aforementioned athletes were far behind Iga Swiatek. The four-time TBS champion, the world’s first racket, baked 54 “bagels”/“sticks” during the season! He won 23 sets by 6:0, 31-6:1. At the same time, the Pole won two matches 6-0, 6-0: against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round of the “thousand” in Rome and against Wang Xinyu in the third round at Roland Garros.
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We also note that Iga played the decisive matches of the “thousandth” in Doha. In the semifinals she left no chance to Veronica Kudermetova (6-0, 6-1), and in the final she defeated Jessica Pegula (6-3, 6-0). In the thousandth event in Dubai, Swiatek stopped Samsonova, beating her in the third round 6:1, 6:0. In the semifinals of the thousandth tournament in Madrid, the Polish tennis player once again defeated Kudermetova Sr. (6-1, 6-1). And in the Cancun final she hung five “flyers” / “sticks” at once, including two in the final with Jessica Pegula (6-1, 6-0).
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