Just watched the entire match. Even slowed down and rewind some of the points to learn something from it.
I had been playing for a few years and currently higher intermediate in my local club. My gf just started. We play a match together once or twice a week. I am watching this game to learn how to play better with a weaker partner. Basically how to counter a fridge.
1. I was expecting jofre to take over the middle court and he did. Yau did well by just trying to cover the right side of his court and totally giving up the middle. This part he did well. I don't think he once tried to use his back hand to cover the mid court.
2. Yau's serve is ok for his level but definitely not for platinum. His first volley at the net is about as good as my gf - float high above the net and bounce too high on the ground. And he didn't even turn his shoulder.
3. The two opponents really try very hard to put jofre in the fridge but they just cannot help trying to score an easy winner against a top professional. Every time yau hit an easy ball across, they just cannot help but try to score the easy winner against jofre. And that's where they usually lost. Their fridge is not very good. Not disciplined enough. Can't blame them. I would have done the same.
4. Not sure if you guys overheard the conversation between jofre and yau during the rest between points. He kept telling him to just focus on putting the ball across the net in the middle. Don't try to score. Don't try for the corners. Sometimes he listened and that's where he allowed jofre to do his job.
5. I am amazed by the service skills of jofre. I watch pro games on YouTube all the time and the service side of the game is never interesting. They all look "normal". Nobody ever make a mistake. However, here we can see how good he is. 40-0 just by serving 3 balls. The Albanians couldn't even return his serve without hitting it to the glass or cage. And his serves are not fast. Just very accurate.
I guess that's what yau is paying for - The experience to play at this level. If he got the money to throw at this hobby, that's his privilege. But I agree that it is not serving this sport well. There should be a regulation that the level gap between partners should not be too wide for platinum level games. For bronze and silver, just let the players have fun and make some money.
Otherwise, pray hard that I don't win the lottery. You might see me playing with chingoto in the next platinum match. 💪😜
