I got a few takes on this one. The mental state clearly determines 100% how much of your current skill level it's gonna be available for you in the match. Having said this, 4.0s tend to have a more solid "bad day" tennis level. I see him as a 3.5. I may be mistaken but at some point in the match regardless of who you are playing against, better footwork, the intensity, deeper forehands is gonna show a little bit on a bad day too. I never saw him even getting close to that at any point in the match. I wanna also say that sometimes you just have a horrible day and no matter what your true level is, It will never show because of the mental state you are in. I thought he was gonna play looser on the 3rd and display some 4.0 flashes but it also seems MEP never let him get out of the horrific depths of hell. Props to MEP for having improved his game a long as well. Hes much more agressive. A true menace compared to 3 years ago. I hope this aint too lonng to read. Huge fan. From a 4.0. to another, I feel ya brother.
@@28mcavanaughhe’s self rated 4.0 if that means anything. 3.5 at most imo. Think MEP may have let him get that one game honestly. Sean did play slightly better the 3rd set but enough
Ratings are also regional. I’m a 3.5 from Raleigh. When we go to States and play 3.5s from more rural areas, they’re basically 3.0s, whereas the 3.5s from Charlotte are basically 4.0s. It’s almost always a Raleigh or Charlotte team that wins it all, at every level, men and women. Bigger population +more competition=higher level players.
I also find it rare to see a 4.0 coming in half way (or even all the way!), hitting, then running back behind the baseline. They do exist, but those guys usually have crazy baseline weapons.
I am proud of Sean of being a good man and not quitting, Scotty is funny and Ian is just as funny and they are both so fair and bring honesty and integrity to the game of tennis. Great match from both players! Thanks for not quitting Sean and Thank you Ben for being a good sport and showing respect to your opponent. The Trolls heads are exploding right now! Haha
For Ben, I always saw him as the quintessential counter-puncher, wearing down many players between 'one more ball' and the different look and cadence of his play. This time, he has really improved attacking more and has very good put-away shots, so constructing points to win over stating in points to win. Color me impressed. For Sean, as I said last video, good on ya man for being part of the smallest percentage of folks who will play online, and some good lessons learned I think. Cheers man. Will be interesting to see other line-ups with Ben though to see how he can apply the same improvements against more pace and placement.
After watching this match a few times, I noticed that Sean hit very few shots to Ben’s backhand side, and didn’t adjust his game, which he could have hit slices and moon balls to Ben’s backhand, because Ben’s forehand is crazy good with slices that cause the ball to spin in the opposite direction of a right hander. I have been in situations like this before, but as I gotten older, I will become a hacker to win points, I will hit drops and slices, and moon balls, I have learned not to be player who stays with a losing strategy. Ben is an extremely intelligent tennis player and you have to strategize according to his left handed style, at one point you should start hitting left handed slices back to Ben. This is a great video to learn from and I really appreciate Sean’s sportsmanship and his respect for his opponent, the same can be said about Ben. Thank you fellas for playing and teaching us all how to be a good sportsman and respect our opponents and their abilities. Great job on the video my dude’s!
I hate to say it, but zero need for a 3rd set here... Unless they were trying to get MEP a little more tired before his next matches. A 4.5 vs a 3.5 isn't much of a battle worth continuing after a double bagel start
Poor Sean. He plays one dimensional solid tennis which usually is enough for most 3.5 and a good portion of 4.0s. MEP is a battle hardened unorthodox 4.5 player. If he wants to have a chance at beating MEP he either develops some serious fire power or he develops a more variable game through a hell of a lot matches… Both things are incredibly hard to do so all the credit goes to Ben!
Fair play for giving it a go and even playing in front of the camera as I'm sure that can really get into your head. Sometimes I find that there are days when you are just not feeling it, and once it goes on for so long in the match you kind of know you're never going to establish it. Tennis can have great highs and terribly frustrating lows! 🙂
Good on Sean for taking a game, and props to him not only for hanging in there, but for putting himself out there on this channel. Takes guts! I'd offer two thoughts for Sean. First is to stabilize the backhand. Especially playing a lefty who primarily slices and dices, you've got to have that working or you're going to get pushed around. Second is to solidify the volley & overhead (which MEP has done for sure). Sean did great coming in at 13:03, but didn't put away the volley. The ball at 8:11 probably should have been a smash. Easier said than done, of course, but I think Sean is not far from being able to do both. If he can, I think a rematch would be much closer. Thanks Sean, MEP, and Real Tennis for the match!
Always amazed at how little Ben has to move, he’s not hustling around wasting energy. Just saunters around with wicked lefty slice killing the souls of his opponents.
Ben has definitely improved. Better serve, net game, backhand, deeper topspin forehands. It’ll be interesting to see who he plays from the ET crew now. Ian and Scott had way too much game for the old Ben. I’d love to see a rematch with Scott (if Ian has been training for this, he’s kept it a secret from us).
I agree, I had a 2003 Chevy s10. I didn't follow the trans service as per manual. I did change the trans oil multiple times with no issues. Every time I would change it, I could feel the trans shift little smoother. I sold that truck with 360,000 miles and the trans was the original never rebuilt. I also drove it very easy and never tow anything.
Wow. That's all I'll say not to ruin it for the rest of the peeps checkin out this one of a kind show. The green surgeon's shirts are very appropriate since Ben truly dissects your game, but the irony about that is that you're of course dead already when that happens!! Cheers and Thank you RT!!! M ps, BTW, Diadem balls are amazing. In fact they're so amazing that my whole area is sold out and I had to go back to my Wilson Trinities (trying the new Pros this time). We need more balls here Diadem! Out of the Premiers and the pressureless ones too. Jeez.
I mentioned how excited I'd be to play MEP last time, but Sean would be an interesting opponent too. Sean may've probably also had a really bad day, but I'd probably be picked apart by MEP in a similar way to Sean, and I wonder how I'd match up against him. Really excited for more of this MEP series; thanks everyone for putting this all together Also that backhand at 10:36 was kind of pretty.
Who actually say that Ben has bad technique? It looks weird, but his forehand is a McEnroe style flat forehand. The Serve has a low toss, but it is no waiter's serve like the vast majority of recreational players has. There is no lift off the ground on his serve, but otherwise that serve is fundamentally ok. For the backhand look at 5:23 he hits two fundamentally correct bhs in a row, a lot of recreational players do no hit their bhs this well. The volleys may not look pretty, but he tends to put them away. His athleticism is usually above the level of his opponents (at least in the matches we see here). This is score is to be expected.
This is a tough matchup. Ben is a 4.5 who doesn’t lose in Atlanta and Sean is a 4.0 in WI. By the looks of it, he seems like he might be closer to a 3.5 in our California leagues. I am surprised Sean didn’t go after Ben’s backhand. It is by far his weaker side.
@@imaginedreamingofficial3432to be fair Winston is closer to 5 than anything else and it’s one of the strongest state in term of tennis . Funny enough last Winston tournament I think he lost against a guy that plays like Mep but obviously way better . My poiny is Winston closer to 5 and u right he would most likely beat mep but I’d be curious to see the score
MEP is controlling the points. I mean he's effective enough playing defense, but when he is able to dictate points by closing into the net, this guy literally has no chance of even being competitive.
I can believe the walk-offs. Watching Ben for years now has created a different sort of perspective, but there really is nothing more frustrating than losing to someone who doesn't hit "normal" shots, especially in the modern era when even 3.0 players and 8-year-olds hit with topspin. Unless you play with a lot of "pushers", most rec players are not going to be prepared to generate their own pace 50% or more of the time.
No idea if Ben has a weaker BH, but we don't know from this match as he never had to play any. Even Sean's approach shots went to an easy FH.. Not sure if that's normal for him, but didn't see much effort here to solve the puzzle. MEP is way too solid anyway, but still.. worth a try. Swing and a miss with the match-up. Thanks to Sean for being a good sport and putting it out there.
i think the court helps ben quite a lot. it's fast and slippery so his squash shots are even more skiddy than usual. tough to stay in front of a ball like that.
I agree, Ben looks better here than i have ever seen him play. More pace on serve and groundstrokes. The best way to beat him is to have a big serve and hit high looping topspin since ben slaps/slices alot, he would hit many balls in the net. Biggest issue i see is his opponents serves are pretty weak, on top of getting frustrated. Big Flat serves and big kick serves would do the trick.
Hey RT: This is a situation where you should have gone onto the court and given Sean real-time coaching and/or take this as an opportunity to train him for a rematch. RR
I guess Sean can reflect power nicely? To beat MEP he needs to generate power. Possibly needs to work on footwork and unit turn to upgrade his shots? Sean shouldn't be too upset about this, the difference in score is big but the difference in ability really isn't.
Ben is absolutely not MEP anymore in the sense that he simply outlasts his opponents. All of his strokes have much more pace to them and he simply dictates play. Sean was unable to create angles and depth and Ben made him pay. What is still MEP is the fact that Ben will make you play poorly as he exposes your weaknesses. We've all lost to better players that left us feeling we played to our abilities, Ben skillfully does the opposite. Curious to see how he fares against someone like Scott
why did Scott keep the green shirt on at the end? Is there some secret anti-MEP message on his undershirt? sean could have gotten 2 games if Scott had dropped the green.
Not really sure why people associate level with your strokes. Name of the game is tennis, not tennis swing or tennis technique or tennis baseline rally even. The element of competition is what makes this game what it is.
I think people walk of the court because he turns the game into a squash game and they don't like squash, they suck at it and don't have the skills to make it a tennis game again.
Would be interesting to see Ian play MEP again (even thought I think Ian would still kill him because he takes the net and knows what to do to beat a player like MEP) MEP vs Scott. not happening... Scott would destroy him...
The first time you had MEP you played inside which heavily favored you all since indoors has slightly more pace and fatigues players slower. It's a little sad to see you not playing in Ben's preferred conditions again.
Im not offending. Just a pov. Ben has all the weapons except the power and speed (i.e. timing, placement, shot selection, stamina, consistency and tactics). How u think u can beat him? Which weapon can u master better than him? Do u even think that hitting harder could be enough? Probably u got double bagled (third set counts in a slam only) because of the nerves, the court, the cameras, the bad day, but today the level gap is too much to handle
I play doubles with old people too. I actually switch to a junior racket (prostaff 26) so I can reduce the ball speed while swinging even harder. There is a saying that we should play a real match like we play a practice match and vice versa. It's very applicable here. Already stressed out by playing at an unfamiliar place, against an unfamiliar opponent, ... if you don't hit hard normally, but try to do now, you just overload yourself with another variable.
No need to explain yourself man, you gave it your best. MEP was just the better player that day, the best you can do is improve your game while still having fun.
Is Carhart making scrubs or what??? lol. I'm not trying to shit on everything about this video, but low-effort encapsulates it pretty well. So many 10-100k creators you could be inviting to play, but we get rec league on sat morning and acting like it is good tennis. This channel is lost.
I don't have a problem with any tennis channel featuring older players, but this is bad, bad. There are athletic, mobile 45 year olds out there. These two look like they need their joints oiled between points.
I got a few takes on this one. The mental state clearly determines 100% how much of your current skill level it's gonna be available for you in the match. Having said this, 4.0s tend to have a more solid "bad day" tennis level. I see him as a 3.5. I may be mistaken but at some point in the match regardless of who you are playing against, better footwork, the intensity, deeper forehands is gonna show a little bit on a bad day too. I never saw him even getting close to that at any point in the match. I wanna also say that sometimes you just have a horrible day and no matter what your true level is, It will never show because of the mental state you are in. I thought he was gonna play looser on the 3rd and display some 4.0 flashes but it also seems MEP never let him get out of the horrific depths of hell. Props to MEP for having improved his game a long as well. Hes much more agressive. A true menace compared to 3 years ago. I hope this aint too lonng to read. Huge fan. From a 4.0. to another, I feel ya brother.
Agreed! Most 4.0s I play can hit an occasional winner. Zero from Sean
@@28mcavanaughhe’s self rated 4.0 if that means anything. 3.5 at most imo. Think MEP may have let him get that one game honestly. Sean did play slightly better the 3rd set but enough
Ratings are also regional. I’m a 3.5 from Raleigh. When we go to States and play 3.5s from more rural areas, they’re basically 3.0s, whereas the 3.5s from Charlotte are basically 4.0s. It’s almost always a Raleigh or Charlotte team that wins it all, at every level, men and women. Bigger population +more competition=higher level players.
That’s true!! I’m from Columbus, GA and we always lose to Atlanta teams
I also find it rare to see a 4.0 coming in half way (or even all the way!), hitting, then running back behind the baseline. They do exist, but those guys usually have crazy baseline weapons.
Ben's gotten better!!
His serves are stronger and ground strokes deeper than a couple years ago.
I am proud of Sean of being a good man and not quitting, Scotty is funny and Ian is just as funny and they are both so fair and bring honesty and integrity to the game of tennis. Great match from both players! Thanks for not quitting Sean and Thank you Ben for being a good sport and showing respect to your opponent. The Trolls heads are exploding right now! Haha
For Ben, I always saw him as the quintessential counter-puncher, wearing down many players between 'one more ball' and the different look and cadence of his play. This time, he has really improved attacking more and has very good put-away shots, so constructing points to win over stating in points to win. Color me impressed.
For Sean, as I said last video, good on ya man for being part of the smallest percentage of folks who will play online, and some good lessons learned I think. Cheers man.
Will be interesting to see other line-ups with Ben though to see how he can apply the same improvements against more pace and placement.
After watching this match a few times, I noticed that Sean hit very few shots to Ben’s backhand side, and didn’t adjust his game, which he could have hit slices and moon balls to Ben’s backhand, because Ben’s forehand is crazy good with slices that cause the ball to spin in the opposite direction of a right hander. I have been in situations like this before, but as I gotten older, I will become a hacker to win points, I will hit drops and slices, and moon balls, I have learned not to be player who stays with a losing strategy. Ben is an extremely intelligent tennis player and you have to strategize according to his left handed style, at one point you should start hitting left handed slices back to Ben. This is a great video to learn from and I really appreciate Sean’s sportsmanship and his respect for his opponent, the same can be said about Ben. Thank you fellas for playing and teaching us all how to be a good sportsman and respect our opponents and their abilities. Great job on the video my dude’s!
I hate to say it, but zero need for a 3rd set here... Unless they were trying to get MEP a little more tired before his next matches. A 4.5 vs a 3.5 isn't much of a battle worth continuing after a double bagel start
I think it was nice for Sean to have a chance to take one game.
Poor Sean. He plays one dimensional solid tennis which usually is enough for most 3.5 and a good portion of 4.0s. MEP is a battle hardened unorthodox 4.5 player. If he wants to have a chance at beating MEP he either develops some serious fire power or he develops a more variable game through a hell of a lot matches… Both things are incredibly hard to do so all the credit goes to Ben!
Fair play for giving it a go and even playing in front of the camera as I'm sure that can really get into your head. Sometimes I find that there are days when you are just not feeling it, and once it goes on for so long in the match you kind of know you're never going to establish it. Tennis can have great highs and terribly frustrating lows! 🙂
Good on Sean for taking a game, and props to him not only for hanging in there, but for putting himself out there on this channel. Takes guts! I'd offer two thoughts for Sean. First is to stabilize the backhand. Especially playing a lefty who primarily slices and dices, you've got to have that working or you're going to get pushed around. Second is to solidify the volley & overhead (which MEP has done for sure). Sean did great coming in at 13:03, but didn't put away the volley. The ball at 8:11 probably should have been a smash. Easier said than done, of course, but I think Sean is not far from being able to do both. If he can, I think a rematch would be much closer. Thanks Sean, MEP, and Real Tennis for the match!
pretty clear there was some charity in that 6th game
Part 3 already? Thanks!
Always amazed at how little Ben has to move, he’s not hustling around wasting energy. Just saunters around with wicked lefty slice killing the souls of his opponents.
Ben has definitely improved. Better serve, net game, backhand, deeper topspin forehands. It’ll be interesting to see who he plays from the ET crew now. Ian and Scott had way too much game for the old Ben. I’d love to see a rematch with Scott (if Ian has been training for this, he’s kept it a secret from us).
I agree, I had a 2003 Chevy s10. I didn't follow the trans service as per manual. I did change the trans oil multiple times with no issues. Every time I would change it, I could feel the trans shift little smoother. I sold that truck with 360,000 miles and the trans was the original never rebuilt. I also drove it very easy and never tow anything.
Wow. That's all I'll say not to ruin it for the rest of the peeps checkin out this one of a kind show.
The green surgeon's shirts are very appropriate since Ben truly dissects your game, but the irony about that is that you're of course dead already when that happens!!
Cheers and Thank you RT!!!
M
ps, BTW, Diadem balls are amazing. In fact they're so amazing that my whole area is sold out and I had to go back to my Wilson Trinities (trying the new Pros this time). We need more balls here Diadem! Out of the Premiers and the pressureless ones too. Jeez.
I mentioned how excited I'd be to play MEP last time, but Sean would be an interesting opponent too. Sean may've probably also had a really bad day, but I'd probably be picked apart by MEP in a similar way to Sean, and I wonder how I'd match up against him.
Really excited for more of this MEP series; thanks everyone for putting this all together
Also that backhand at 10:36 was kind of pretty.
love your videos seirea! MEP is like the endgame version of JJ so would have been an interesting video for sure
Who actually say that Ben has bad technique? It looks weird, but his forehand is a McEnroe style flat forehand. The Serve has a low toss, but it is no waiter's serve like the vast majority of recreational players has. There is no lift off the ground on his serve, but otherwise that serve is fundamentally ok. For the backhand look at 5:23 he hits two fundamentally correct bhs in a row, a lot of recreational players do no hit their bhs this well. The volleys may not look pretty, but he tends to put them away. His athleticism is usually above the level of his opponents (at least in the matches we see here). This is score is to be expected.
Props to Sean for sticking it out.
Has Sean ever heard of hitting into the open court instead of directly into MEPs forehand?
Mark if you're watching this. If ur going to play Ben. I believe it will most certainly be interesting. Great job Ben, God bless you team real tennis
This is a tough matchup. Ben is a 4.5 who doesn’t lose in Atlanta and Sean is a 4.0 in WI. By the looks of it, he seems like he might be closer to a 3.5 in our California leagues. I am surprised Sean didn’t go after Ben’s backhand. It is by far his weaker side.
Winston DU is a CA 4.5, i think he beats MEP easily in straight sets. Winston looks like a true 4.5, while MEP looks like a strong 3.5.
@@imaginedreamingofficial3432to be fair Winston is closer to 5 than anything else and it’s one of the strongest state in term of tennis . Funny enough last Winston tournament I think he lost against a guy that plays like Mep but obviously way better . My poiny is Winston closer to 5 and u right he would most likely beat mep but I’d be curious to see the score
MEP is controlling the points. I mean he's effective enough playing defense, but when he is able to dictate points by closing into the net, this guy literally has no chance of even being competitive.
I can believe the walk-offs. Watching Ben for years now has created a different sort of perspective, but there really is nothing more frustrating than losing to someone who doesn't hit "normal" shots, especially in the modern era when even 3.0 players and 8-year-olds hit with topspin. Unless you play with a lot of "pushers", most rec players are not going to be prepared to generate their own pace 50% or more of the time.
8:40 wtf Ben, you have topspin 2BH now?!! It's time for a re-match with Ian and Scott. I bet MEP wins more games this time.
No idea if Ben has a weaker BH, but we don't know from this match as he never had to play any. Even Sean's approach shots went to an easy FH.. Not sure if that's normal for him, but didn't see much effort here to solve the puzzle. MEP is way too solid anyway, but still.. worth a try.
Swing and a miss with the match-up. Thanks to Sean for being a good sport and putting it out there.
i think the court helps ben quite a lot. it's fast and slippery so his squash shots are even more skiddy than usual. tough to stay in front of a ball like that.
To Sean: The score DOES NOT reflect the quality of the match. You move really well around the court, the ball just kept on coming back. Keep grinding!
I agree, Ben looks better here than i have ever seen him play. More pace on serve and groundstrokes. The best way to beat him is to have a big serve and hit high looping topspin since ben slaps/slices alot, he would hit many balls in the net. Biggest issue i see is his opponents serves are pretty weak, on top of getting frustrated. Big Flat serves and big kick serves would do the trick.
you guys look like nurses in those carhartt tees lol
Hey RT:
This is a situation where you should have gone onto the court and given Sean real-time coaching and/or take this as an opportunity to train him for a rematch.
RR
Sean moved very well, just that he needed time to get used to MEP "unique" shots.
The ground strokes need to be more committed to cause more damages.
I guess Sean can reflect power nicely? To beat MEP he needs to generate power. Possibly needs to work on footwork and unit turn to upgrade his shots? Sean shouldn't be too upset about this, the difference in score is big but the difference in ability really isn't.
Ben is absolutely not MEP anymore in the sense that he simply outlasts his opponents. All of his strokes have much more pace to them and he simply dictates play. Sean was unable to create angles and depth and Ben made him pay.
What is still MEP is the fact that Ben will make you play poorly as he exposes your weaknesses. We've all lost to better players that left us feeling we played to our abilities, Ben skillfully does the opposite. Curious to see how he fares against someone like Scott
why did Scott keep the green shirt on at the end? Is there some secret anti-MEP message on his undershirt? sean could have gotten 2 games if Scott had dropped the green.
Hmmm….. next match; possibly Topher????
Not really sure why people associate level with your strokes. Name of the game is tennis, not tennis swing or tennis technique or tennis baseline rally even. The element of competition is what makes this game what it is.
I would say that Dean had the worst approaches and volleys I ever saw, but I never saw him approach or volley.
I think people walk of the court because he turns the game into a squash game and they don't like squash, they suck at it and don't have the skills to make it a tennis game again.
18 -1 is crazy.....
Would be interesting to see Ian play MEP again (even thought I think Ian would still kill him because he takes the net and knows what to do to beat a player like MEP) MEP vs Scott. not happening... Scott would destroy him...
Dang! Someone should have called 911!! You guys watched that guy get murdered ok I got next!
C'mon Sean, get a couple games, aim for the throat!
The first time you had MEP you played inside which heavily favored you all since indoors has slightly more pace and fatigues players slower. It's a little sad to see you not playing in Ben's preferred conditions again.
It wasn't for lack of effort though- it rained almost the entire time I was there.
@@MEPTennis Fair, it just definitely feels like it suits your game playing outside
Just brutal…
i've decided to self-rate myself 20.5
All I do is play doubles with older people so never hit the ball hard. I can hit harder than this trust me but for some reason I'm not idk. 😮
Im not offending. Just a pov.
Ben has all the weapons except the power and speed (i.e. timing, placement, shot selection, stamina, consistency and tactics).
How u think u can beat him?
Which weapon can u master better than him?
Do u even think that hitting harder could be enough?
Probably u got double bagled (third set counts in a slam only) because of the nerves, the court, the cameras, the bad day, but today the level gap is too much to handle
I play doubles with old people too. I actually switch to a junior racket (prostaff 26) so I can reduce the ball speed while swinging even harder. There is a saying that we should play a real match like we play a practice match and vice versa. It's very applicable here. Already stressed out by playing at an unfamiliar place, against an unfamiliar opponent, ... if you don't hit hard normally, but try to do now, you just overload yourself with another variable.
No need to explain yourself man, you gave it your best. MEP was just the better player that day, the best you can do is improve your game while still having fun.
@3:00 great get good wheels - he hit it right to his backhand... this is the last comment I'll make on this channel bc I won't be watching anymore.
grandpa tennis part 3
Is Carhart making scrubs or what??? lol. I'm not trying to shit on everything about this video, but low-effort encapsulates it pretty well. So many 10-100k creators you could be inviting to play, but we get rec league on sat morning and acting like it is good tennis. This channel is lost.
I don't have a problem with any tennis channel featuring older players, but this is bad, bad. There are athletic, mobile 45 year olds out there. These two look like they need their joints oiled between points.