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By Chris Oddo

Jerzy Janowicz, Australian Open (January 17, 2013) -- There is more to being a big man in tennis than just being a big man that plays tennis. There is an art to it, a strong-headedness; to coin the phrase, you need an “edge,” and you need to use that edge to cut into the heart of the competition.

There are plenty of big men on the ATP tour at the moment, and at various points and times, they all play big man tennis, but none of them is perpetually true to the art, nor are any of them ill-willed enough to fully prosper from the mental advantage that their size affords them. Many have the bodies and the power but not the mindset.

John Isner and Milos Raonic have two of the nastiest serves that the game has ever seen. Juan Martin Del Potro is as tall as he is wicked from the baseline. But none of these three wildly talented players have truly embraced the aura of the big man. Each in his own way is more gentle giant that howling hurricane. Sure, they possess elements of might and elements of fire, but when it comes to imposing their will, all three tend to suffer existential angst about how to compete. It’s almost as if they’re embarrassed of their size advantage, so they linger five meters behind the baseline to make a fair contest of it.

That’s where Jerzy Janowicz comes in. He’s a work in progress when it comes to winning at the elite level, but when it comes to embracing the role of the big, bad man on a tennis court -- one of the prerequisites of true big man tennis -- Janowicz knows what needs to be done.

Janowicz is a player that owns the court when he’s on it. His personality is huge -- a chair ump would agree -- and his aura locks into sync with his high-risk, in-your-face game to produce a very intimidating brand of tennis. As good as Juan Martin del Potro, John Isner or Milos Raonic are -- yes, they’re all much further along than Janowicz right now -- none of them is as good as sucking all the energy from the court and from the stands and putting it in his back pocket.

That’s how the relatively unknown Pole, who had been plying his trade on the challenger circuit in 2012 and who didn’t even play the Australian Open last season because he couldn’t afford to fly in for qualifiers, reeled off five Top 20 wins in Bercy last winter. He owned the court with every ounce of his big, bad being, and even though he kept coming up against bigger names and bigger reputations than his own, he didn’t seem to believe the hype on any of them.

On the contrary, Janowicz believed his own hype.

In his mind, Janowicz was bigger and badder than all of his Paris opponents. Andy Murray? Pfft. Marin Cilic? Who, the 6’6” guy who is timid as a mouse? Even in the final against David Ferrer, the 6’8” inch, 200-pounder from Lodz, Poland, showed no timidity about imposing his will on the world-beating Spaniard.

In the end, Janowicz lost to Ferrer, but in the process of that loss he had proved that he was something special. He took the play to Ferrer, he stole the stage and he sucked up the energy of the room. He gambled on his power, throwing it down like chips on a Vegas poker table. It didn’t pay off, but it’s this willingness on the part of Janowicz to bet the house on his size and his power that will guide him as he makes his way up the ATP ladder.

While other so-called big men play conservative tennis, backing up to hit buggy-whip, topspun forehands, and trying to run with the fleet-footed kings of the ATP Tour, Janowicz goes all in with whatever hand he’s dealt. He begins points on his terms and he ends points on his terms. He may respect his opponents on the inside, but on the outside he wears the poker face of angst and energy, looking to exploit the weakness on the other side of the net.

This is no gentle giant we are talking about. This is a player who is mad to win, mad to dominate, and mad to gamble.

What he lacks in pedigree and grace he will make up for by smashing you in the mouth. He’s a real big man this Jerzy Janowicz, one of a dying breed. Dying to live and dying to win.


(Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve)

 

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