In this interview, we chat with six-time Grand Slam champion, Bruno Soares. Bruno has been one of the most respected doubles players on the tour for many years and is full of insight.
He talks about winning Grand Slams with Jamie Murray and Mate Pavic. He does a great job of analyzing the game from a coach’s perspective.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- What Bruno does to prepare before a big match (including his favorite meal).
- How he game plans for specific opponents and practices during tournaments.
- The way he splits his time between fitness and tennis in between tournaments (a very methodical approach).
- Specific strategies he uses to beat his opponents, including the way he returns vs the serve & volley.
We also discuss how Bruno got into tennis, his plans for the summer swing, and how he thinks exposure can make doubles more popular.
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Interview Notes from this Podcast
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- Follow Bruno on Instagram and Twitter
- Bruno currently plays doubles with Jamie Murray (brother of Andy). They won the Australian Open and US Open in 2016.
- Habits, Routines, & Practice
- During tournaments
- He tends to practice less as the tournament goes on.
- He likes to focus on his physical well-being and spend about 70% of practice on specifics for the upcoming match.
- If he was playing a team like Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic that he knows well, he would rely on past experiences and their present play equally.
- He credits watching film for his ability to adapt.
- He loves to eat sushi and relax the night before a match.
- Between Tournaments
- He likes to do a lot of physio, fitness, and progressively more tennis as he gets closer to a tournament.
- Practice consists of 100% specific, individual things he needs to work on during this time. He would get warm with the things he has to do often (serve & volley, reactions, etc…).
- During tournaments
- Strengths & Weaknesses
- According to Bruno, Jamie’s strengths are net play and reading the game well. His weakness is returning, although he has learned to add variety and improve a lot in this area.
- Bruno believes his own strengths to be his ability to adapt his game to attack any opponent’s weakness and be consistent. His weakness is that he doesn’t have a great shot that he can rely on.
- Doubles Strategy
- Overall
- He likes to prepare for the opponent’s weaknesses rather than his strengths.
- He likes playing with a left-handed partner because it gives the opponents more to think about and it’s easier to protect his weaknesses.
- Serving
- Bruno likes to get to the net often but will always prioritize positioning. He’s not as athletic as someone like Joe Salisbury, so he has to be more creative.
- Communication, about where and how you’re serving and moving, is important. When he played with Alex Peya their strength was creating different looks.
- Returns
- When facing someone who stays back he likes to be more aggressive so they don’t have an easy shot.
- When facing someone who comes in, he likes to be consistent and give them a difficult volley.
- Tiebreakers
- Bruno likes to be more aggressive but also just plays whatever has been most successful that day. Jamie prefers to play high-percentage tennis and avoid unnecessary risks.
- Overall
- Bruno felt like he never matched up well against Michael Llodra during his career.
- Bruno’s Favorites
- Tournament: US Open
- Movie: The Usual Suspects
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