Jolly's WTA thread for girls who go against the grain.

IowaGuy

IowaGuy

Hall of Fame
Hamnavoe said:
I like watching Monica Niculescu with her slice forehand
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Agreed, one of the most unorthodox women's strokes I have seen, but fun to watch and surprisingly effective against most of the WTA tour!

Monica+Niculescu+2011+Australian+Open+Day+fsDxS1Ik97fl.jpg
 
jm1980

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
IowaGuy said:
Agreed, one of the most unorthodox women's strokes I have seen, but fun to watch and surprisingly effective against most of the WTA tour!

Monica+Niculescu+2011+Australian+Open+Day+fsDxS1Ik97fl.jpg
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She's floated between 50 and 100 for most of her career, and has a career 4-33 record against the Top 10

Her game is basically park tennis taken to the highest possible level. Good enough to frustrate a lot of opponents, but hopeless against top opposition
 
IowaGuy

IowaGuy

Hall of Fame
jm1980 said:
She's floated between 50 and 100 for most of her career, and has a career 4-33 record against the Top 10

Her game is basically park tennis taken to the highest possible level. Good enough to frustrate a lot of opponents, but hopeless against top opposition
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Yup, good enough for all but the top WTA players!

Her "park tennis" has resulted in a cool $5.3 million in career prize money :)
 
Sysyphus

Sysyphus

Talk Tennis Guru
I like Ash Barty a whole lot. Brings the good old 'sliced backhand and approach the net' paradigm to the women's game. Nice, aggressive all-court game with good variety.

Also enjoy Kasatkina. Great variety, one of the few ladies who bring the heavy topspin forehand, mostly modern (aka ATP) forehand technique. Kick serves.

And while I wouldn't call har an atypical WTA player in every respect, I think that Anisimova is an up-and-comer who brings some interesting things to the table. Her forehand is mostly modern in form, and she's also one of few gals who can bring out the camouflaged dropper. Two of them can be seen in this game, and the one on match point is especially silky:

 
F

fuzz nation

G.O.A.T.
My love affair with Aggie Radwanska's game kicked off forever ago when I saw here playing a doubles match at the US Open - she was partnered with Michaela Krajicek (sp?). Aggie must have been a teenager and brand new to the tour - and even more tiny than she is now!! - but her quick hands and talent to exploit the court geometry to her advantage were stunning.
 
sredna42

sredna42

Hall of Fame
hope kasatkina does well, she has a great all court game with great feel and touch, she just needs to go see Nadal's doctor for some of those herbal remedies, so she can get stronger to stop getting blown off the court by the power hitters
 
D

Deleted member 742196

Guest
Tennis_Hands said:
That is like me saying that I would switch from APD to Pro Staff.

Never been into the first, despite of its undeniable qualities, and plays nothing like the second.

:cool:
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LOLOLOLOLOLOL

I know exactly what you mean. Parting ways with my PS85 was a very long journey, but it would not have happened without an Angell. Perhaps Hsieh is my angel.

We all have to find ways of saying goodbye, it’s never simple.
 
NuBas

NuBas

Legend
Simon_the_furry said:
Totally. It's crazy that Hsieh can produce the shots she does.
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I watched a bit of her match against Danielle Collins and it was court level view from stream I was watching and it looks like she lets the balls get close to her body then she strikes. She holds her racquet close to her body like you would a baby.

I wonder if she just focuses on the ball or throws her racquet at the ball. Her technique is definitely interesting.
 
NuBas

NuBas

Legend
Watching Tamara Zidansek playing R2 against Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open 2019. Never heard of this 21 year old girl before but her forehand is a thing of beauty. Really resembles "ATP" forehand.

Really like her technique.
 
Bhagi Katbamna

Bhagi Katbamna

Legend
Hydrocella said:
Roberta Vinci anyone?

Remember this?

That slice was amazing on that day (sorry @Aussie Darcy ) - brave thing to come in on Serena’s serve as many times.

One of my favourite tennis matches in recent years.
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Pretty courageous and mental strength from Vinci there. I remember seeing it live and after the first set I thought she was going to lose the second set in the next 15 to 20 minutes by 6-1 or 6-2.
 
D

Deleted member 742196

Guest
Bhagi Katbamna said:
Pretty courageous and mental strength from Vinci there. I remember seeing it live and after the first set I thought she was going to lose the second set in the next 15 to 20 minutes by 6-1 or 6-2.
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Oh wow. What a match to have been a part of! It would have been electric. Serena matches at the USO have a certain vibe to them.
 
FiReFTW

FiReFTW

Legend
Wait there are WTA players who do something else apart from bashing flat balls from the baseline? Oh.. now that I think about it, there are a few rare ones here and there.
 
TagUrIt

TagUrIt

Hall of Fame
FiReFTW said:
Wait there are WTA players who do something else apart from bashing flat balls from the baseline? Oh.. now that I think about it, there are a few rare ones here and there.
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To be fair don’t both WTA and ATP bash the ball from the baselines? Isn’t that what pro tennis players do? Their rallies are longer because they have the skill set to strike the ball hard and wait for the chance to put the winner away. Both and seem to have surgical players that know how and when to slice and drop shot. That’s tennis in general to me.
 
FiReFTW

FiReFTW

Legend
TagUrIt said:
To be fair don’t both WTA and ATP bash the ball from the baselines? Isn’t that what pro tennis players do?
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No.

Its COMPLETELY different.

95% of WTA women BASH flat balls from baseline and try to outhit the other girl, thats mostly all they do 95% of the time.

ATP players however that only bash from baseline are rare.
ATP players vary shots, hit aggressive drives from baseline, hit heavy spins from baseline, hit angles to open the court from baseline, slice more, dropshot more, some also come to net alot or serve and volley at times (tho not the majority do alot of that).

But in short men vary the spins and height and pace of shots alot more and also hit angles often from baseline, if we talk only about baseline, and also slice more.

Most WTA players basically just BASH flat balls from corner ti corner and try to outhit the opponent or hit a winner.
 
ChaelAZ

ChaelAZ

G.O.A.T.
Overall, I will add in that I have enjoyed the WTA more than the ATP the last 4 years'ish, with a lot more movement and players taking opportunities over established players. Been icne to see ebbs and flows of rankings and play.
 
IowaGuy

IowaGuy

Hall of Fame
Check out the point at 1:15. Whereas one might expect that Hsieh would be the one doing the running against a big hitter, often she is the one running the opponent around with her excellent placement!

 
Pistol10

Pistol10

Professional
IowaGuy said:
Check out the point at 1:15. Whereas one might expect that Hsieh would be the one doing the running against a big hitter, often she is the one running the opponent around with her excellent placement!

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Old school mentality (y). Opening the court instead of endless heavy topspin party!... Why many keep sending the ball to their opponents "EXACTLY" as they wish, perfectly replaced on their forehand, I don't know!

Now imagine if she was a big girl, with that skills... No.1?!
 
SystemicAnomaly

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Justine Henin had one of the best, if not the very, 1-handed WTA backhand. Amelie Mauresmo's wasn't too shabby either. Carla Suarez Navarro has one of the best of the current/recent WTA 1-handers. Caro Garcia appears to agree (vid below).

Karolina Pliskova says Simona Halep has 1 of the best of the current WTA BHs.
But Simona says the Caro Wozniacki has the best. C Woz agrees. LOLOL.

 
IowaGuy

IowaGuy

Hall of Fame
Sysyphus said:
I like Ash Barty a whole lot. Brings the good old 'sliced backhand and approach the net' paradigm to the women's game. Nice, aggressive all-court game with good variety.
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Barty is currently having a great run at the Miami Open!

I like how she really mixes up her game with net play, drop shots/lobs, slices, chip returns, and a nice FH. She reminds me of a female version of Hewitt.

All that in a 5'5" package!

4acc81f25a85c26a2eccea9228aeae2d604d4fbb
 
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