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    [1080P50] - MS - Final - Viktor Axelsen vs Christo Popov - EMTC2023 - DK vs FR - Highlights -
    World Cup 2026

    [1080P50] – MS – Final – Viktor Axelsen vs Christo Popov – EMTC2023 – DK vs FR – Highlights –


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    32 Comments

    4. Andrew Wong on

      In order to play at your best, you have to be confident and have a strong self belief in your skills, so you are able to perform shot variations, if you are out of temper or lose your coolness, then you don't have mental capacity to think or make different shots, in the end your anger controls your play behavior and you might end up in playing same shots which will be well predicted by your opponents. The thumb of rule is stay calm and challenge different opponents so you can play well under pressure to produce different shots with creativity

    5. Simon P on

      Very gutsy games. Not seen Axelsen annoyed like that before.
      Popov played a very good final. The third game was very trying and you could see that but he did well.

    6. Jeffrey Hartwig on

      Solid match by both players. Popov's attempt to play through Axelsen was unfortunately not good strategy. Popov moved him around well in the beginning.
      I look forward to seeing more from Popov.

    9. Olivier Superstar on

      Popov a de l'avenir ! Bientôt, il battra Axelsen, j'en suis certain ! Je pense que face à Axelsen, comme c'est un joueur de grande taille, il faut le fatiguer en faisant beaucoup de volants piqués et croisés sur le devant et milieu de terrain. Plus facile à dire qu'à faire, j'en conviens. Mais il faut vraiment lui faire travailler les jambes et les genoux de Axelsen en abaissant constamment son centre de gravité. Popov par sa rapidité d'action et sa rage d'attaque est une personne capable de mettre en place cette tactique.

    10. Olivier Superstar on

      Popov has a future! Soon he will beat Axelsen, I'm sure! I think that against Axelsen, as he is a tall player, you have to tire him out by doing a lot of toe and cross flying on the front and midfield. Easier said than done, I agree. But you really have to make him work Axelsen's legs and knees by constantly lowering his center of gravity. Popov by his speed of action and his attacking rage is a person capable of implementing this tactic.

    11. Joshua Yu on

      Axelsen is the best on controlling back court and keep killing smashes. But no one can always keep the same strategy working every match. He really need to add some variation on returning clear shot and be able to slow down the pace when the opponent can out pace him. Smash is his strongest threat to all the opponents, then keep it as a threat let them fear but dont let them always predict it coming.

    14. Mathieu Delmas on

      As always, Axelsen is putting such a huge physical challenge, wearing his opponent, forcing him to do diagonals on the court from back to front. So amazing to see how Axelsen covers so much area on the court, many times he doesn't even move his feet or just move one leg… In the rare occasions he has to side-step twice, you know the opponent will pay for this extra effort with a devastating smash. Also he rarely dropshots, but why would he? His height advantage and long arms allow him to smash from back court at such a crazy angle. At mid 3rd set Popov seem to let it go on one or two occasions but who can blame him? The guy has to move twice the distance and end up a bit late on so many shuttles since the beginning of the game, most athletes would physically explode. Another interesting point is how Axelsen doesn't insist on the net play. Some will argue it's because of his center of gravity or something, but I really believe it's just because net shots are not worth the risk for Axelsen, his stature makes him a huge smasher so why bother with net play where he cannot huge his natural advantage? For him, smashs are higher percentage shots than for any other player in the comp'. Un fortunately for others, his long legs and arms allow him to defend super well at the net too, so there's no magical solution apart having a huge finess and making perfect shots all game long.

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