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Welcome to the second semifinal match of the 2023 KZbin Tournament series! Today we have Hermont vs Karue! Hermont played four years of D1 tennis at Sacramento State and just finished playing Niels this morning. Karue reached an ATP ranking of 371 and played 4 years of college tennis at UCLA. And is now back to #860 in the world.
Leave some nice comments below for Hermont and Karue for playing this set on The Challenge Court!
Link to the tournament draw:
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Karue's Channel:
/ @mytennishq
Ratings:
Hermont - 11.15 UTR
Karue - 13.6 UTR
Instagrams:
/ ipsagelqh
/ mytennishq
/ winstonddu
/ thechallengecourt
Hermont's racket:
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Karue's' racket:
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Tennis Warehouse Gift Card:
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Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
2:51 - Equipment
4:24 - Racket Spin
4:32 - UTR Power Subscription
5:43 - 8-Game Pro Set
14:32 - Outro
18:02 - TW Gift Card!
18:43 - Upcoming match prediction
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#tennis #tennishighlights #ustatennis #tennismatch

[@MyTennisHQ]

Making more money on Winston's channel than playing pro tennis..😂 BTW DON'T MISS THE FINAL

[@samtrautman6416]

exactly why you have to quit your pro dreams

[@samtrautman6416]

BIG FISH SMALL POND bro

[@joshuayang42]

Ahaha we need Winston to host pro tournaments on KZbin 😂🔥

[@dayostical]

Ikr, you doubled your year's earnings with that semifinal victory alone 😄

[@geoffreygreene7625]

@mytennishq awesome analysis of match. Important stuff about significance of serve return. Big fan, awesome content.

[@michaelthorpe1869]

Karue's post game analysis was spot on..

[@wkrp10splayer19]

K's serve and return are awesome. whenever H got the ball in-play, he did a respectable job considering K was forcing H to go big

[@kodutta7]

As Winston was talking I was just saying to myself "Hermont didn't make ANY first serves!!" and of course Karue knew that was the deciding factor.

[@jaykraft9523]

Karue spot on about the serves, but I'll bet this was a bit of an off-day for both of them as rally points go.

[@moussadiallo8567]

To back up Karue's post game analysis here are the stats: Karue 1st Serve IN: 52%, 1st Serve WON: 91%, 2nd Serve WON: 80% ------ Hermont: 1st Serve IN: 41%, 1st Serve WON: 36%, 2nd Serve WON: 18% (Stats obtain from a tennis referee app that i am currently developing, wish me luck)

[@LiamApilado]

Now this is exciting. I'm honestly more excited seeing these matches than some atp matches bc you really get a better sense of connection to the players such as Hermont winning th KZbin tournament and Karue with his videos.

[@micah2237]

100%

[@-Munditimum-]

Hey man, your videos are pretty awesome too! 👊🙂🙌

[@LiamApilado]

@@-Munditimum- 😁

[@hafadaze9046]

Also the view of the court

[@LiamApilado]

@@hafadaze9046 100%

[@ToiletCarnage]

karue looks so loose out there. it really cant be understated how hard it is to take the ball early like both of these guys are doing. their timing is absolutely insane.

[@ThanhNguyen-br1rh]

Both of them usually go for flat shots so yes it is so insane for us amatuers to imagine their timing. I am an advocate for shaped balls and i always encourage new players to go for as more spin as possible. I understand that flat shots have more penetrating effect but the risk is so much higher consistency-wise but these 2 both nailed it. Of course they are pros they make it look easy haha

[@payamirani5298]

I was amazed watching Karue's match versus Giron where Giron was hitting even flatter and harder balls than what we see here. It's a different, higher risk style for sure but it has its place even at the top level.

[@rafarads]

Karue plays so effortless!

[@LunarEclipsism1]

Whenever two flat hitters go up against each other like this it blows my mind, the margin for error seems so small but they are absolutely RIPPING the ball with confidence regardless. So clean and aggressive. Love both of these players and loved seeing both of them play today. There's no analysis I can add to what Karue already said in the post match so I'll just say thanks again for hosting this little tournament and posting all of these great court level videos. And kudos for reminding Karue to not catch balls that are sailing long, haha. Fine in practice but not for a match

[@alexanderm128]

It looks good but no way it will work in top pro game (top 200). Modern top tennis is all about heavy utilizing of spin. .

[@tomsd8656]

This is not a pro match. Let him catch balls that sail. I don't see any ball kids. Who wants to chase after balls all the time.

[@LunarEclipsism1]

@@tomsd8656 winston got the tournament sanctioned and sponsored by UTR, if the players break one of the clear rules of play it will mess with the authentication of the match results

[@connorpen]

@@alexanderm128 cmon that's just not true. Plenty of flat hitters on the tour right now, especially on the backhand. Medvedev, Norrie, Bautista Agut, Paul, De Minaur, etc

[@khojanekhethisa9711]

@@connorpen Mannarino on both wings, MacDonald too, Wawrinka also plays a flat ball mostly.

[@TenisAmador]

These "mini-tournaments" in the channels are FIRE. Now just need to have the "KZbinr Grand Slam, by Tennis Warehouse", get together 8 (or more) non-pro youtubers/regulars and make an actual tournament between all. Winston, Dill, Mark, Scott, MEP, Tennis Troll, etc. Make the top seeds UTR based, or even make an UTR Pro style groups with 1st place/2nd place/3rd place/4th place playoffs in the end and that would be excellent content.

[@jamesmckinnon9473]

Agree 100%. California Condor, Dr Reed, On the Rise Tennis, Trey, Iron Will. Maybe a little east coast vs west coast…

[@bsrussian]

why would you want to watch 4.5s play each other

[@payamirani5298]

Because I do 😊

[@MK-------]

Karue is definitely levelling up. He is fitter, his service is much better, and he hits the ball harder and deeper and takes it more early. Amazing player, makes it look so easy.

[@jasonrowland1594]

An awesome match between 2 great players! I watch tennis every chance I get, and I can honestly say, I much prefer matches like this on KZbin to watching matches on TV. Thank you again Winston for bringing us this great content, and a special thank you to Hermont and Karue for participating in this tournament. As fans of tennis, we are privileged to see these caliber of players in this format.

[@ChowDownDetroit]

Karue’s backhand is so smooth and effortless.

[@IronFudge]

The quality of these matches and the post game analysis are so valuable! Amazing content

[@Jimfly30]

Great channel Winston! Congratulations on the success of your efforts!

[@Tlcunha81]

I am so excited for this match. It is brutal making us wait for this series. 😅 Great content Winston!!! You deserve all the success you are getting.

[@bigrobsydney]

Really enjoyed that, thank you. Looking at the match, what really struck me was the efficiency of Karue, his backhand was solid, and so many shots seemed to be hit from a canon. I really would love to see Karue v Marcos again, with Karue using this racket / string combo, or maybe against Stevie J. If we could get Taylor F, that would be amazing.

[@reubenkearns5417]

Great video Winston. Love that KZbinrs are doing these kind of small scale but high level tournaments.

[@373axle]

Karue gave a perfect, simple analysis at the end. Serves & Returns play a huge role between levels. I mean you can take a guy who can rally with Djokovic once the point gets started but if his serves and returns are not at the ATP level, he's not going to win a game at that level.

[@imranshah1055]

Great match, really enjoyable to watch. The post match summary was useful to get individual perspectives. Thanks guys! You make tennis look so easy. Can't wait for the final! I'm not sure who will win but expect it to have many long points.

[@dirknc]

Good stuff, enjoyed it!

[@CoachAdrian]

Rooting for Hermont to at least get one game 🤞

[@neelabhchoudhary2063]

That was awesome. Can’t wait to see the final

[@Sweeney-Kubach]

Don’t feel bad Krue, I am ranked 8.1 billion in the world! Hopefully this new year I will be ranked 8 billion in the world. I think if I keep watching this channel and practicing I can do it, and get my ranking up to 7.9 billion in the world. Great match my friends. Thanks for posting this match Winston and I will donating to the go fund for the players. I look forward to seeing them on the tour! I just turned 52 a few days ago and I am going to the U.S open this year and hopefully I see our boys playing in the Open. GOD bless everyone here, and Happy New Year to everyone here.

[@lefthandedghost]

Love seeing these matches W, thanks for always the great content

[@TimelyAdventure]

Fascinating analysis and lesson from Karue after the fact, so simple and true and such great advice.

[@julianchiu8893]

Karue's face when he's asked to introduce himself. Subtext: "You know who I am..."

[@aliashir8880]

Nice 🤩 Can not wait for the final match

[@adityasarang5755]

Love the content and thank you for putting this together. Once the rally starts, it's almost 50/50 with a slight edge to Karue. The biggest difference is the serve, return and 3rd shot even though Hermont has a good serve and return. Would love to see some stats like they do on the tour. What I observed was - Karue hits a 1st serve : Karue almost always wins the point. Ace, return error or 3rd shot winner/error - Karue hits a 2nd serve : Karue wins 80%+ points. - Hermont hits a 2nd serve : Karue wins 70%+ points - Hermont hits a 1st serve : Hermont wins 70%+ points No wonder the 2 most important shots in Tennis are Serve and Return

[@maleman67]

So much respect between players.... thumbs up. 👍

[@MontCoRealtor]

Hermont is awesome. I love watching his game. Just a really solid overall player with a great mentality on the court. He seems to maintain his cool at all times. But Damn the finals with Govin vs. Karue is like watching ESPN. You should call lines for that one or get someone trustworthy to call lines. That will be a truly great match to watch and i'll say right now, that will be the best game you ever put on the channel. Congrats for getting such high level talent to play in this special format.

[@WinstonDu]

It’s pretty amazing don’t miss it next week!

[@TennisFan97]

I'm going for Karue to win, his level is crazy, you'd probably have to get at least a very successful Challenger Tour player to beat him!

[@MontCoRealtor]

@@TennisFan97 Karue is playing great but I have to go with Govind. Govind has been playing consistently and competing consistently while Karue had left the tour and focused on teaching rather than competing. But honestly it is basically like a flip of a coin because Karue doesn't seem to have any rust coming back.

[@kglove20]

very intense. Love it

[@recreationaltennisindia]

10:39 Winston "Let the balls drop for tournament's sake ". 😂😂 It was spoken in a humble way.. but if you read it seems a stern request.

[@escgoogle3865]

Listening live I thought Winston said. "can you just let them drop.... respect the tournament." Ohhhh spicy.

[@airborne13579]

Great effort for Hermont. As Karue said, need to increase the 1st serve percentage

[@Ruhan885]

Hermont played well but Karue just kept turning the screws on the guy. He was relentless.

[@AFenderson]

I just switched from ezone 98 to Percept 100D and love it! Right now there's PEEK in the crosses and natural gut in the mains but I'm going to have to try this toroline combo (but with a bit lower tension) ;)

[@seanji24]

Great series. Love Karues game

[@altrfryd5859]

Let's go Hermont! We all love you!!

[@DominicNSX]

In terms of unforced errors, this was a great match! Loved it!

[@jiggs_life_goals]

Great matches and videos! When is the final?

[@WinstonDu]

some time next week it'll be up

[@timvansamang]

Karue hits so clean. Great to watch!

[@srudloff12]

Karue is so dang good and he doesn’t even look like he’s trying. Hermont played well! That was a fun one to watch! Govind vs Karue, I’m going to say Karue, he just has so much experience.

[@sankalpjain2983]

My money is on Govind 😄

[@grantmartin4773]

@@sankalpjain2983yeah i think so too govind at his peak was around 300 atp i believe

[@scrabbleking1965]

Winston (and Karue) your content is successful because it appeals to PLAYERS, not FANS. I watch these videos not to watch tennis, but to hear great players TALK about how they THINK about the game. I want to think like a great player when I am on the court! The difference between these interviews and post match interviews tour pros is that tour pros they are forced to answer ridiculous questions from random reporters that appeal to fans, not actual PLAYERS of the game.. These interviews allow players to talk specifics about their game, thoughts on how they approach the game. "The hardest thing I do on the tennis court is manage my thoughts." Rafa Nadal

[@thanupan]

Wondering if you can add “how often do you restring your racquets” in the equipment portion and if they restring when the strings break, ask how long they last? Love your channel, Winston!

[@chrislin2774]

Great question! You beat me to the punch. I suspect they re-string when the ball starts to fly off the string bed on neutral shots. They don't wait until the string breaks. Poly strings are notorious for losing tension. Some argue faster than nylon based synthetic strings. Hybrids (poly and synthetic) and/or stringing mains tighter than crosses, vice versa, shortens the life of the racquet. Just saying. Take care and play on.

[@amankarwa1305]

loved watching this....they played fast and crisp

[@jackorange1882]

2 super nice guys playing quality tennis.. Great content.

[@Johnnybgood76]

The fundamental differences between one level and the next is almost always serve and return, as Karue correctly pointed out.

[@chubun6631]

The amount of pace on some of the flat backhand shots from these two were pretty scary. What even scarier is that it looks like they didn't swing that hard.

[@corintus]

Hey @Winston, what camera do you use?

[@colinpartch887]

Hermont is an inspiration. Watching an amateur take games off a pro is so satisfying. Makes me want to start grinding again to get my level back.

[@sjp4565]

Hermont is very clearly not your typical amateur, lol.

[@bbbby519]

@@sjp4565true. Especially for a top D1 player

[@colinpartch887]

@@sjp4565 fair point but still way below Karue

[@gabrielfernandez9792]

Great match as expected. Really enjoy Karue`s assesment of the match when he says it all came to serve and return of serve. Hermont is an incredible player. I also love to wath those Karue two handed backhands. I am rooting for Karue, but Govind seems very consistent and has a solid game. I hope Karue comes up with the win. Thanks for the entertainment folks!!!

[@PrecisionPointTennis]

Karue’s out look on what happened is so impressive and important…it’s the same thing I’m dealing with at ITF Futures. In a rally, I usually dominate and dictate and demolish. But the young pros serves are a bit too fast for me still, and my serve not up to their level at all. Thanks for this video

[@tennisjourney]

Karue was on the cusp of hitting another gear but only needed half a gear front run after the first break. Good showing for the 5.0's by Hermont. The masses love this type of matchup on yt

[@smohan123]

Great advice from Karue at the end of

[@TDxTennis]

Nice video!!

[@hannesreinhardt1399]

Solid play all over. Nice dudes, reflective, confident but without "attitude" and both able to honestly and comprehensively talk us through the match. Great serves despite size disadvantage from Hermont. Tennis has gotten so good. Tough to "make it" nowadays. Watching this, it's hard to find real big differences compared to top level tennis. I guess it's about consistency and that special extra - is it something people can learn? I guess a guy like novak is all about squeezing that extra 1% in every aspect, which adds up overall, but which is a real effort and pain in the ass that just a few are willing to do.

[@speedymr]

After watching the first game I said WTH, great playing Hermont. But then Karue took over..Karue is another level..

[@andrehanderson]

Hermon'ts backhand at 8:10 is world-class. Wow.

[@vagabond197979]

I'm watching this for the second time because I'm so pumped for the Karue/Govind match that's dropping tomorrow!

[@warrenapepuffet4612]

I need to learn a thing or two from the the karu serve and forehand

[@TrumpforPresident24]

Any advice on where to begin on UTR. If you have played some tennis way back in the year of 2009 and have not play tennis for 13+ years now and getting back to tennis. But at the time when I was playing im a high Division 1 player. What would you do to get into the UTR world? I know register is the first thing then what's next? I'm just guessing at my level right now would be a 4-6 USTA, just a guess because I just finally got out from a cave, lol.

[@MikeSmith-yy1lv]

Karue working that backhand. Would be curious on serve speeds between the two. It looked like Hermont has the faster serve, but Karue had more placement.

[@yangjianhunt]

To me Karue's 1st serve is way faster than Hermont's. Hermon's 1st serve today seemed to have a lot of spin for some reason.

[@tantennis]

Can’t wait for Karue vs Govin

[@francislirios9730]

When is the Finals going to be posted?

[@artificialego]

Karue was very solid, nice serve and timing to take shots, very educative too.

[@DenisChibiryak]

Karue's backhead is amazing!

[@davidshortt3523]

Props to Hermont for stepping into the ring with a MUCH improved Karue. That couldn't have been an easy at-bat.

[@Kotekz1]

Govind vs Karue in a final. You should charge PPV for this spectacle lmao. We will be there!

[@BassByTheBay]

This was like watching a top-10 player, e.g. Fritz, take on Djokovic (Karue). Fritz could take a few games off of Nole, but Nole would basically have to be injured or sick for Fritz to win a match. IOW, I was rooting for Hermont (who gave a great effort!), but I would've put money on Karue. Given his opponent, Hermont should be proud of his performance.

[@guan8317]

The difference between those two should be much bigger than the difference between djokovic and fritz

[@BassByTheBay]

@@guan8317 Fritz is 0-8 with Nole, and he's only been able to take a set off Nole in one of those matches. I'd say its an apt comparison, but I think you're missing the point - I'm not saying the difference is the same. I'm simply saying that Hermont can win some games off of Karue, but not a match because in this tourney, Karue is like the Nole of the players.

[@knotwilg3596]

In this match up, the difference is technical. Karue's serves are better, his returns are better, and had he applied himself more, his baseline game would have been better - but there was no need for it. In a Fritz-Djokovic match up, the difference is that Djokovic will win the key points and also you need to earn a point about three times against Nole. The S&R element is still there but I think at the pro level, there's much more of a mental game going on, plus tactical adjustments throughout the match and then again Nole's unwavering fitness.

[@seank468]

ok. the match I've been waiting for.😀

[@randymarcum6097]

Karue plays smart and is able to analyze his opposition quickly and adjust his game accordingly.

[@greensky9530]

Hermont’s UTR and USTA ratings are ridiculously low for his skills

[@nking99t]

"Typically for any level the biggest difference is Serve and Return" -- Karue. That's spot on, agree!! Their biggest difference is still Serve and Return. More of Serve though.

[@justinb9526]

What was the strings they were using?

[@MyMostBeautifuCinema]

8:05 That backhand down the line!🔥

[@scrobertson2]

Karue so smooth

[@wizardofrosss]

Govind vs Karue will be insane. Rooting for Govind. Goooo Goooovind!

[@mikesuarez9780]

When is the women's tournament Winston?

[@larrieuxroyale]

Govind gave Ben Shelton a run for his money. I wouldn't be so quick to give the match to Karue.

[@TenisAmador]

Well, Karue beat Eubanks! With that said, Govind was in the Challenger circuit not long ago, while Karue never really got solid in Challengers. It will be an exciting match!

[@jaredmarc]

How tall is Hermont? I love his playing style and overall approach to points. I’m relatively shorter than the average male tennis player and want to have a reference

[@WinstonDu]

around 5'8

[@jaredmarc]

@@WinstonDu perfect! Thank you so much. I’m also 5’8 😁

[@tennnis498]

And Hermont normally has a great serve as well.

[@servingaces]

That is something Karue nails with his analysis. The biggest difference bewteen an advanced rec player and pro player is the serve and the return. Return quality and spot serving is often underlooked in a match analysis

[@cambium0]

I think Hermont attempted to increase the pace on his serves towards the end because Karue was really blasting him that way. Good match/video

[@MJ-zb4lv]

Karue so much swag gah damn

[@Brnx6lerate]

Do Best of 3 sets in The final pleaseee

[@mycomma]

Hermont performed really well last game, especially his amazing return skill, but this time facing karue solid seve is another story....

[@-Munditimum-]

As if I didn't have enough respect for Hermont, and it's even more now. He's totally underrated. I think honestly he was a little too tight. Otherwise, mad respect for you H. Not enough can be said about Karue. Just insane consistency, beautiful execution and great footwork. Last but not least; thanks a mill Winston! Cheers, M

[@knotwilg3596]

Well you can't really criticize a pro for technique but I thought footwork was the main reason behind Karue's unforced errors. He deliberately took the shots early to increase the pressure but I felt he was at times not too focused on positioning well. He's unbelievable at flat striking a backhand from a tight position but maybe that strength sometimes turns into a bit of a weakness.

[@-Munditimum-]

Hey knotwilg, I haven't seen you in the comments for a while. Hope all is well and great to see you. I can see what you're saying. My comment was levied heavily by thinking that most of Winston's audience are not at pro levels watching this. I think we could only know for sure if he took the shots deliberately early for added pressure if we were to ask him and he responded directly or it was just a matter of muscle and brain subconscious memory. I think generally he does this regardless with most players I've seen him play with. Then again, I may be totally wrong.@@knotwilg3596

[@speedymr]

Winston, maybe you should use the swingvision and we can see the pace etc.

[@TenisAmador]

Not reliable.

[@rsmith02]

Karue's analysis was totally right. Watching the match I thought it would be totally different if Hermont made more first serves and didn't have Karue hitting winners off his second.

[@ivanalmeidabaifca]

Boraaaa Karue!!!

[@franciscodiaz5941]

My favorite, two people Collaborating

[@MrCWL]

Karue seems like his backhand follow through is shorter than with the previous racquet.. is that going to lead to less control?

[@dhp5789]

what kind of ball is used for the matches?

[@WinstonDu]

Dunlop ATP

[@kenji875]

The fact that Karue is "only" ranked 860 speaks loudly at just how good the top 10 must be. I can only dream of being as good as Karue and he can dream of being Novak, damn...

[@genkisudo]

yo winston, hurry up and post the final!

[@medwinsusilo7064]

Well said by karue.. high level tennis

[@mikesuarez9780]

Karue is firing on all cylinders but, Hermont is definitely a badass! Can't wait for Govind v. Karue!!

[@TimTheMusicMan]

I didn’t watch the match, just the beginning few points. Did anyone come into the net ? And s/v ? And midcourt catch and drop over the net ? And drop volleys at the net ? If not then they are both baseline players only.

[@michaelthorpe1869]

lol I don't want to get roasted in the comments... both really good players. well done

[@kesun32145]

I’m predicting 8-2 Karue.

[@LegolasD]

Govind’s return, reactions and speed will make it a hard fought match

[@pertjacanape]

Karue plays a high tension. Looked like he was surprised by the shallowness of the ball pocketing once or twice.

[@scottphommachanh9200]

Karue’s return of service is solid.

[@tennnis498]

It sure is. I saw some of his college matches against big servers. I’m sure they didn’t like playing him. His teaching video on returning is probably the best one I’ve ever seen. It has helped me. I like how he shares the mindset of the pro player, whether that’s what you wanted to hear, or not.