Hi Deep, yes I’ve seen Helmuth play before many times over the years at tournaments. I would say you hit the nail on the head when you said most times ayers lose against the rubber and not the player due to their own mistakes. So a key thing is to slow down and aim for more control and consistency and don’t go to win the points too early. If you find it difficult playing against the pimples, again slow down and play with more spin to give a margin for error. But also try to focus the play into the forehand half where he will use the normal rubber.
From the clip the opponent had a lot of success when playing a decent topspin into the body. So when you do get a chance to attack a bit stronger and are in position try to play into the body/crossover where he is quite weak and doesn’t adjust his body.
Lastly against the pips just remember they can’t generate much spin on their own so if he does hit through with them it will come over like a flat dead shot, so you need to spin it slightly to give it that lift over the net. Overall try not to over think, just be patient and try not to rush into unforced errors by trying to win too quickly. Hope the event goes well! 🙂
