The magic of Mannarino: 'Different than the rest of us'

Tennis Australia/Ben Symons

Adrian Mannarino is one of the unique players on the ATP Tour for many reasons.

The French lefty is known for his ultra-flat groundstrokes that stymie even the biggest stars in tennis. While many players’ strokes have become ferocious, even gladiatorial, Mannarino’s game looks closer to an artist flicking paint onto canvas from his hip.

No frills. No lasso follow-through. No sonic boom coming off his strings.

“I think I've always been this type of player,” Mannarino told ATPTour.com. “Yeah, maybe I'm doing a little bit better now with experience. I know a little bit more about my game and what I should do on court, but it's always been that way.”

That style has propelled the 35-year-old to his current career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 22. Entering 2023, Mannarino had won one ATP Tour title. Last season he claimed three.

Caroline Garcia, the Frenchman’s United Cup teammate, said: “We were watching him earlier today and with my partner we said, ‘It looks so effortless’. It looks so easy when you look at him. It's so different than the rest of us out there struggling and it's pretty nice to see.”

^{Mannarino and Garcia at the 2024 United Cup. Photo Credit: Tennis Australia/James Gourley.}
For a casual fan watching Mannarino play, there is nothing specific that makes you think he is one of the top players in the world. He does not hit particularly hard, the ball does not jump off the court and he does not have a scorching serve. But for former World No. 4 Garcia, the ease with which he plays stands out.

“It's just the way he has the timing of the ball and he uses the ball of the opponents and he uses all his body to prepare, change direction,” Garcia said. “[He knows] how to make it faster, use a lot of the angles and he looks so soft, especially on his upper body and obviously his legs have to move very quickly and [he takes] a lot of small steps. But he's just very different.

“It's nice to see. It's also what we like about tennis. It doesn't matter your height, your quality. Everyone can play tennis.”

In France’s first tie of the United Cup, Mannarino faced Alexander Zverev of Germany. Zverev entered the clash with an 8-0 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, but he was plenty wary of the lefty.

“With Mannarino, we had a lot of very, very tough battles, and we had a few which were not tough battles. But I always prepare to go very long in the distance with him, because the battles that we had, they lasted over three hours,” Zverev said. “He's somebody that is very dangerous and very good, especially on these kind of courts where the ball stays low and it goes through the court a lot.”

Zverev won the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, but the two-time Nitto ATP Finals needed to work hard for two hours and 26 minutes to earn his victory.

Mannarino is a combined 0-27 against Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Carlos Alcaraz and Zverev. But none of them would be excited about playing the Frenchman. Daniil Medvedev is considered one of the trickiest opponents on the ATP Tour, yet Mannarino has won four of their seven matches.

Mannarino magic 🪄@AdrianMannarino #UnitedCup pic.twitter.com/r7Ds7of1pF

— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 1, 2024

Edouard Roger-Vasselin, France’s playing captain, acknowledged that Mannarino presents similar challengers to countryman and former Top 10 star Gilles Simon, who retired after the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters. A righty, Simon drove opponents crazy with his flat groundstrokes and relaxed-looking game.

“They have similar play, like very consistent. They move very well. Of course flat strokes. And I think Gilles Simon was thinking much more than Adrian,” Roger-Vasselin said. “Adrian is more like, I wouldn't say a robot, but he knows that he's going to play like this, like this. And it became natural by playing and practising all this. It's automatic now how he plays flat like this… Gilles was always thinking [about] the extra shot, how he will play to win this against the opponent. Adrian moreso does his thing every time the same, but he does it very, very well.”

Roger-Vasselin won five of their six professional meetings, but admitted if they played today it might go differently given how much better Mannarino is now.

“His lefty serve was always tricky,” Roger-Vasselin said. “And then from the back, it was always having low balls. You'll have to be ready to be close to the floor to be able to play his game.”

Off the court, Mannarino is unique, too. The Frenchman does everything in his power to avoid learning his draw. In the interview room, he rarely expands on his answers.

That was a surprise to his teammates. With cameras on the team zones at the United Cup, fans could see Mannarino often making everyone laugh.

“It's different because even me, when I hear him on the interview, it's like, it's not him,” Roger-Vasselin said, cracking a laugh. “So it's two different personalities. In the interview he just goes straight to the point, is not very talkative. But in the team, he loves to make some jokes, black humour as well.

“You have to be ready. If you sit next to him on the bench, you have to be ready to get some some jokes and he's a really, really funny guy.”

Mannarino will hope to make his teammates laugh again on Thursday when he leads France against Norway in the United Cup quarter-finals.