The "What's Wrong With Her?" Thread

[soyizgood]

Does Mauresmo deserve being on the list or should I just give her a pass? Golovin has been uninspiring even before her injury.

[eeytennis]

Originally Posted by soyizgood

Does Mauresmo deserve being on the list or should I just give her a pass? Golovin has been uninspiring even before her injury.

Yes, she won two Grand Slams and just totally fell off the map...she was more accomplished than any of these girls however so maybe we can attribute her fall to just not being able to keep up with the hard hitters?

All of the other girls that you listed have mental issues. They ALL lack in the confidence to be able to consistently produce good results. People knock Serena so much for her "arrogance" but hey she has confidence which is why she stands far above these other women

[soyizgood]

Originally Posted by eeytennis

Yes, she won two Grand Slams and just totally fell off the map...she was more accomplished than any of these girls however so maybe we can attribute her fall to just not being able to keep up with the hard hitters?

All of the other girls that you listed have mental issues. They ALL lack in the confidence to be able to consistently produce good results. People knock Serena so much for her "arrogance" but hey she has confidence which is why she stands far above these other women

Mauresmo didn't really play the same after her appendectomy. So injury could be a legit reason. But yeah, her last push was in 2006 beating mentally unstable Henin twice in slam finals.

[lambielspins]

Kuznetsova- why are you such a headcase. So much talent, such a waste.

Sharapova- why dont you get some proper trainers and doctors who can help keep your shoulder and body together. I dont even like you but the WTA needs you desperately right now. While you are too injured competitively though work on your volleys and net game feverishly since if you run into the Williams on a hot day you will need something new from the last times you played them like that. Also work on some slices, topspins, other options, so those few days your main game style isnt going to win for you that day you dont look as clueless as a blond bimbo standing out wondering what to do next.

Serena- I would tell you to get in better shape but given what is around you now why bother, atleast not until someone or preferably more than one actually steps up. Anyway scary to think what you would do to the mess of a WTA if you really did get in top shape, so come to think of it forget my suggestion for the time being.

Venus- stand up to your sister like a women and champion the way you do to everyone else, like you did at Wimbledon, and like you did not do at the U.S Open. Actually play serious tennis at more than 4 tournaments a year. Your legacy will depend seriously at both, otherwise you will go down as mostly a one tournament (Wimbledon) wonder with only a few odd highlights sprinkled in everywhere else.

Safina- like Kuznetsova you seriously need a sports pyschologist. Stay as far away from your brother as possible, while you are very talented, unlike him you are not so insanely talented to win majors if you keep mimicking the headcase he is. The one thing you should hang around your brother for is to get him to teach you how to serve properly.

Dementieva- revive a friendship with Safina so she will let you get some serving tips from her big brother as well. Hire a hypnotist to make you really believe the semis or finals of a slam when you get there is not that but the final of some smaller WTA touranment and you will be fine. You should also join Maria and work on your volleys, slices and variation shots together.

Ivanovic- like Maria you need to learn what a 2nd and 3rd game plan is. Learn to volley, learn some finesse shots, learn some different spins, learn to construct point. Also remember alot of the attention for glamor you get now will go away if your tennis success does. The off court stuff is nice but keep your priorities straight.

Jankovic- you could tag along with both Dinara and Elena and get some serving lessons. Maybe hire Steffi Graf for some forehand lessons. Ask Navratilova for some volleying tips if you see her sometime. Work hard on improving your game right now as you are about to turn 24 and you are still slamless. Unless some upgrades in your weaponary are made your window isnt going to stay open much longer, even in the current weak womens field.

[soyizgood]

^^^Kuzzy frustrates me the most. Out of all the Russians, I consider her the most talented of them all.

Effective first and second serves, punishing forehand, solid backhand, fearless (except in finals), efficient at the net, agile and covers the court very well. The biggest weakness in her game is that she is too content to outhit her opponent from the baseline. That and she hits too hard when she gets tense. She hits a lot of spin, but she goes for too much spin and too much power at the same time. Needlessly gives away points with unforced errors.

She's only 23, so she has time to get her brain together. But she is the epitome of a brainless ball basher even though she has the tools to play an all-around game.

As for Venus, she did kick Serena bigtime at the YEC, with a breadstick and bagel to boot. She basically gifted Serena 5 of her slams which is a darn shame as Venus could very well be a 12x slam champ now. I'm no fan of the Williams', but I'd prefer Venus over Serena 9/10 times.

[boredone3456]

Originally Posted by eeytennis

Yes, she won two Grand Slams and just totally fell off the map...she was more accomplished than any of these girls however so maybe we can attribute her fall to just not being able to keep up with the hard hitters?

All of the other girls that you listed have mental issues. They ALL lack in the confidence to be able to consistently produce good results. People knock Serena so much for her "arrogance" but hey she has confidence which is why she stands far above these other women

Mauresmo has always been a bit of a headcase, though not to the degree of Kuznetsova by any means. She has always struggled to perform a bit under pressure an example of which is the fact that at the french open she always seems to exit early against players she should have no problem beating on a given day, the pressure to perform on her home field always has gotten to her.

Mauresmo also has had a tendency towards complacency in a match. She will play lights out tennis for a set and then can go off into some kind of alternate universe and not get back and get pummeled. Or she will start off bad, play a good set then get worse. Now like I said, its not as noticeable when you have a player like Kuznetsova who really melts down under pressure and even more so on the biggest stages.

To me, Mauresmo's slams don't act as much of a defense, since the Australian was sort of handed to her as Clijsters and Henin retired in the Semi's Finals and Finals Respectively...I mean if Schnyder had beaten Mauresmo and hung with Clijsters...she would have "won" the Australian Open. Mauresmo did outright outplay Henin at Wimbledon, but in both of her slam title defenses the pressure of being defending champ seemed to get to her as she folded in both to players she really had no business losing to (Safarova at the Aussie and Vaidisova at Wimbledon).

Mauresmo is a player who I really thought could take the tour by storm when she broke through in 99 to make the Australian open final, only to crack because of some stupid comments Hingis made about her before the match. But she has always been mentally shaky and inconsistant and that has really held her back, I mean she should have won at least 1 slam in 2004. Now since her appendectomy she has gotten even more inconsistant. Which can attributed to the surgury and not being able to get her groove back. But overall yeah she has been a bit of a headcase.

[soyizgood]

Does Schnyder deserve mention? She almost lost to Mladenovic at the AO and I didn't see anything great from her at this event.

[soyizgood]

Seems like we can universally agree that Kuznetsova is a headcase, but she's certainly not alone.

[Lionheart392]

Originally Posted by soyizgood

Does Schnyder deserve mention? She almost lost to Mladenovic at the AO and I didn't see anything great from her at this event.

Hmmm... I don't think she should be on the list. I actually think Schnyder's achieved all she's capable of achieving, she just doesn't have the potential to do anything else.

[soyizgood]

Originally Posted by Lionheart392

Hmmm... I don't think she should be on the list. I actually think Schnyder's achieved all she's capable of achieving, she just doesn't have the potential to do anything else.

Hmmm... As recent as last year there were posters here saying Schnyder had the game, but not the mindset. Based on what little I have seen of her, she is more of a counter-puncher and gets blown away when she faces ball-bashers that are in "the zone".

[moonbat]

Originally Posted by Klippy

Dementieva has a weird grunt when she hits the ball.

Yes. She sounds like George Lopez.

[Court Valkyrie]

To every woman/girl on tour: Please stop wilting when you play Serena!!!

Sharapova: God am I happy I haven't had to hear or see her in a LONG time. Please stay hurt sweety and do the world a favor.

[boredone3456]

Kuznetsova...once she learns to deal with the pressure of finals, could become a real force. she truly has a lot of tools at her disposal, she just need to learn some meditation techniques or something to keep her in the zone when she is in a key match or critical moment of a key match. I don't think it would hurt her to get in a little bit better shape as that would help her movement on the court. She has some really good weapons, she just needs to sort her head out and improve her fitness a bit.

Safina..sort of the same without the getting in better shape. Just learn some relaxation tips and to raise your game in big momemts. Safina is however, new to the upper echelon so nerves are to be expected, now that she is so close to number 1 I just think she needs to figure out a way to channel her nerves into something else, to motivate herself in big matches, as her three biggest endeavers (Olympics, RG, AO) were all finished in mighty big flops. She plays well when the chips are down, she needs to transfer that and use that all the time.

Sharapova needs to develop the rest of her game, she has a mighty serve, powerful groundstrokes and a pretty solid forehand, she could probably learn to slice and spin the ball, and she needs to stop swtiching to hit a lefty forehand whenever her backhand is under pressure because that shot always comes off awkward when she tries it and 85% of the time she loses the point shortly after trying it. Also...she is someone who, if she wanted to, could be ademon at net if she could get comfortable up there.

As for the others, some are nearing the end of their careers (Mauresmo, Petrova, Dementieva, Schnyder) and thus really don't have the time to fix everything. some have quite a few things to fix ( Bartoli, Hantuchova, Vaidisova, Chakvetadze) that it is hard to say where to start. But if they really worked at it, any of them could move off the list and eliminate the things we have criticized them about.

[Bretto]

Originally Posted by soyizgood

Here we can discuss WTA players that for whatever reason just can't seem to get it together. This could be due to a minor or major slump, inconsistent results, mental fragility, not living up to the hype, a combination of things, etc.

Feel free to agree/disagree as well as suggest others to be included

List:
Safina (just doesn't win on the big stage....Olympic/FO/AO finals)
Kuznetsova (can't win ANY finals even with Henin gone)
Ivanovic (FO '08 looking like a fluke win, can't stand her "ajde!" and fist-pumps)
Chakvetadze (has an real excuse for 2008, but not getting it together)
Hantuchova (an under-achieving enigma)
Kirilenko (wins and loses when she's expected to)
Vaidisova (falling apart at 19 and not really giving a care)
Safarova (haven't seen much of her... maybe that's the problem)
Mirza (just use an extreme semi-western forehand then....acts like a diva without the wins to back it up)
Mauresmo (playing past her prime, fell off the map after 2006, getting blown away by the younger girls)
Golovin (never saw anything special about her game)

Added per feedback:
Dementieva (though she has two titles to start the year... but yeah her serve is a wildcard)
Petrova (Kuzzy's long lost sister?)
Sharapova (enough with that crazy reverse forehand... not going there on her grunts and moans, weak right shoulder)
Szavay (it's not like I noticed)
Jankovic (plays hard but not smart, truly thinks she's a diva, serve and forehand are pedestrian at best, volleys are just BAD)
Bartoli (grinds to the end but lacks the wheels and resolve to go far, out of shape, still has daddy holding her back)

Zvonareva - she's either on fire or in tears, no consistency

[soyizgood]

Originally Posted by Bretto

Zvonareva - she's either on fire or in tears, no consistency

I'm trying to be an optimist towards her. She really made some major strides recovering from her injury. Besides, who expected her to win a bronze (took Sharapova's Olympic slot due to injury), make the YEC finals (took out Ivanovic, Kuznetsova, JJ, and Dementieva), and AO semi-finals (lost in 1st rd in 2008 )? I want to believe she's more relaxed and composed. She's got the weapons to win a major. Whether she wins one or not remains to be seen. Since she didn't go far at any majors in 2008, she has the potential to gain a ton of points.

I'll add her to the list, per your request. Though I don't necessarily agree she belongs there, not yet.

[soyizgood]

Somehow I forgot to add Shahar Peer.

[vince evert]

Women's tennis sucks right now. It was obvious to me during the Australian open, that Serena's winning when she was playing maybe 65-70 percent of her best tennis, that the competition is not up to standard. Also they should do something about changing either womens tennis to 3/5 sets or men's tennis to two out of three sets in order to match the equal prizemoney.

[soyizgood]

^^^ Too much complacency in tennis. At the top, it pays fairly good money, so there's no real incentive to drive their way to the very top. This goes for both the men's and women's tours.

If the Williams' didn't get bored and/or injured, the WTA would be "The Venus and Serena Show" and I don't think there'd be any woman motivated to deter them other than maybe Sharapova and to a lesser extent Jankovic. Opponents have gotten used to losing to Serena so much they just don't build up that motivation factor necessary to exact revenge. That and they know they get $$$ regardless of the outcome, even more if they're cute.

[soyizgood]

Hantuchova lost to Cornet again. This time Daniela won the first set 6-1 and still went down in defeat.

JJ beat Li Na for the first time in 5 meetings on hardcourt

Zvonareva, Dementieva, Mirza and Peer won their last matches.

[theduh]

Originally Posted by Bretto

Zvonareva - she's either on fire or in tears, no consistency

No! That's the consistency you're looking for, either on fire or tears (but tears mostly).