2018 Wimbledon - WTA general discussion

Who will win the 2018 Wimbledon tournament?


  • Total voters
    34
  • Poll closed .

skyline

Legend
It’s funny how the match can be decided by so little/in an instant. Goerges was playing quite well in the beginning, then missed on the first BP she faced (shot and placement were the right call, she just failed to execute).

And that miss effectively decided the set. She visibly unraveled from there.
 

ScentOfDefeat

G.O.A.T.
The beauty of playing in a slam SF against Serena Williams is that you really don’t have much to lose. You’re not the favourite, you’re against an all time great, most people write you off completely so you just go out there and do your thing. You have no real pressure on you, you’re not expected to make the final.

You’ve already exceeded all odds by making a slam SF, enjoy the moment. No pressure on you. Just ask Vinci.

And yet many of her fans here don't believe she's ever the favourite.
Tomorrow we'll have the same story: "oh my god, Kerber is so going to win this".
If Serena doesn't jump to 5-0 immediately it'll be "wow, Kerber is really pushing Serena, I knew this would be a nightmare for her".
The simple fact is Serena is the only player who can hold her serve regularly.
That's all that matters, especially on grass.
 

DRII

G.O.A.T.
so Venus and Serena aren't playing dubs, right???

on ESPN right now, the window behind the desk, you can see some women's doubles match with some player that looks just like a Venus :eek:o_O
 

ScentOfDefeat

G.O.A.T.
The beauty of playing in a slam SF against Serena Williams is that you really don’t have much to lose. You’re not the favourite, you’re against an all time great, most people write you off completely so you just go out there and do your thing. You have no real pressure on you, you’re not expected to make the final.

You’ve already exceeded all odds by making a slam SF, enjoy the moment. No pressure on you. Just ask Vinci.

And yet many of her fans here don't believe she's ever the favourite.
Tomorrow we'll have the same story: "oh my god, Kerber is so going to win this".
If Serena doesn't jump to 5-0 immediately it'll be "wow, Kerber is really pushing Serena, I knew this would be a nightmare for her".
The simple fact is Serena is the only player who can hold her serve regularly.
That's all that matters, especially on grass.
The pressure is on the other player because people fall for this idea that, because she's 30-something and had a baby, she's suddenly vulnerable.
She's not vulnerable and will prove it again.
She won a Slam while pregnant and will win the second Slam after returning from pregnancy.
But of course, no domination.
 

DRII

G.O.A.T.
That's Michelle Venus
Michael Venus is a dude. LOL!

its Cori Gauff!

she looks just like a young Venus, hopefully she ends up playing like Venus!

2uqH5Ub

z1qarZ
https://goo.gl/images/z1qarZ
 

ACE of Hearts

Bionic Poster
Gotta love some of the saltiness lol. To me the wta is crap without Serena. Look at all these seeds that have been eliminated. Muguruza as much as she has had success she still hasn’t done much on these harcourt GSs. A QFs appearance.
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
And yet many of her fans here don't believe she's ever the favourite.
Tomorrow we'll have the same story: "oh my god, Kerber is so going to win this".
If Serena doesn't jump to 5-0 immediately it'll be "wow, Kerber is really pushing Serena, I knew this would be a nightmare for her".
The simple fact is Serena is the only player who can hold her serve regularly.
That's all that matters, especially on grass.
The pressure is on the other player because people fall for this idea that, because she's 30-something and had a baby, she's suddenly vulnerable.
She's not vulnerable and will prove it again.
She won a Slam while pregnant and will win the second Slam after returning from pregnancy.
But of course, no domination.

Try...just try to learn what "domination" means in relation to professional tennis. It is used not for random victories, but winning majors, and once again, your lies and TMF-like hatred of Serena / the WTA is slapped aside by--

  • Schiavone - FO - 2010
  • Clijsters - USO 2010 & AO 2011
  • Li Na - FO 2011 & AO 2014
  • Kvitova - Wimbledon 2011 & 2014
  • Stosur - USO 2011
  • Sharapova - FO 2012 & FO 2014
  • Azarenka - AO 2012 & 2013
  • Bartoli - Wimbledon 2013
  • Pennetta - USO 2015
  • Kerber - AO 2016 & USO 2016
  • Muguruza - FO 2016 & Wimbledon 2017
  • Ostapenko - FO 2017
  • Stephens - USO 2017
  • Wozniacki - AO 2018
  • Halep - FO 2018
22 majors won by players not named Serena since 2010. Seven won more than one. Serena is not by any true measure "dominating" anything, and even a victory in the final still concludes with the same wave of players winning majors, and not falling over as in your Hooded Hate fantasies.
 

FakeEmpire

Professional
I've to be honest: if Serena manages to win a Slam after giving birth, she has all my respect. Winning during an early pregnancy doesn't impress much (I sound like Shania Twain, sorry), but winning after going through a delivery... I still remember when I had to see one during college. One colleague of mine had to leave the room, pale as bleach, and I arrived home, phoned my mum and just told her "I'll never, ever have a child. That was worse than ALL the scenes of Alien."

But, seriously, the body is never quite the same after it, especially regarding core strength, which makes all of this even more impressive.
 
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ScentOfDefeat

G.O.A.T.
Try...just try to learn what "domination" means in relation to professional tennis. It is used not for random victories, but winning majors, and once again, your lies and TMF-like hatred of Serena / the WTA is slapped aside by--

  • Schiavone - FO - 2010
  • Clijsters - USO 2010 & AO 2011
  • Li Na - FO 2011 & AO 2014
  • Kvitova - Wimbledon 2011 & 2014
  • Stosur - USO 2011
  • Sharapova - FO 2012 & FO 2014
  • Azarenka - AO 2012 & 2013
  • Bartoli - Wimbledon 2013
  • Pennetta - USO 2015
  • Kerber - AO 2016 & USO 2016
  • Muguruza - FO 2016 & Wimbledon 2017
  • Ostapenko - FO 2017
  • Stephens - USO 2017
  • Wozniacki - AO 2018
  • Halep - FO 2018
22 majors won by players not named Serena since 2010. Seven won more than one. Serena is not by any true measure "dominating" anything, and even a victory in the final still concludes with the same wave of players winning majors, and not falling over as in your Hooded Hate fantasies.

Of course.
I know that for you dominating means winning every Slam.
No one has ever dominated according to you.
When she wins the US Open in September she won't be dominating because "she only plays Slams" and therefore "isn't dominating the tour".
You're a riot.
 

Mainad

Bionic Poster
Must say I thought Ostapenko would have been a tougher opponent for Kerber in their semi (actually fancied her for the final) but she didn't seem to play anything like she did against Cibulkova. Inconsistency or was she just up against a better class of opponent?

In any event, we now face a re-run of the 2016 final between Serena and Angie. Wonder if Angie will make it a bit tougher for Serena this time round, maybe so tough she could prevail?
 

tennis4me

Hall of Fame
What amuses me is seeing how slooow Serena walks between points, how awkward she barely bends when picking up a ball from the ground with her racquet and how seemingly unfit she looks, and yet ... you know the rest.

Sometimes I get friends who don't know anything much about tennis see Serena on TV while I was watching her; they usually have the same surprised expression to hear about Serena's domination in women's tennis.

Serena usually elevated her game when she gets mad about a call or get provoked by her opponents fist pumps. Let's see how this new Mom does in the Final.

She probably has the best serve in WTA now. Heck she serves better than Nishikori.
 

ScentOfDefeat

G.O.A.T.
Gotta love some of the saltiness lol. To me the wta is crap without Serena. Look at all these seeds that have been eliminated. Muguruza as much as she has had success she still hasn’t done much on these harcourt GSs. A QFs appearance.

But Serena still needs the "crap" (your word, not mine) WTA to amass all the titles you enjoy watching her win.
So I guess it's a love/hate relationship.
 

ACE of Hearts

Bionic Poster
But Serena still needs the "crap" (your word, not mine) WTA to amass all the titles you enjoy watching her win.
So I guess it's a love/hate relationship.

Well i wanna see some consistency from some of th se other players. Muguruza has been hyped to the max and i would say she has been ok could be better if she had any consistency. Her hardcourt game stinks. Can she get to a semis or finals for once?
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
Of course.
I know that for you dominating means winning every Slam.
No one has ever dominated according to you.
When she wins the US Open in September she won't be dominating because "she only plays Slams" and therefore "isn't dominating the tour".
You're a riot.

No player worth their career considers "dominating" to mean victories over other players and not the majors, unless you are the deservedly criticized Safina and Jankovic. You are in serious need of a tennis history lesson, as its is clear you will post any crap that flies out of your rear, no matter how nonsensical and removed from reality it is.
 

skyline

Legend
Gotta love some of the saltiness lol. To me the wta is crap without Serena. Look at all these seeds that have been eliminated. Muguruza as much as she has had success she still hasn’t done much on these harcourt GSs. A QFs appearance.

I think WTA is fine without Serena but certainly better with her. I don't understand wanting a Serena-less tour. Why would you want one top players less in the mix?
 

Vanhool

Hall of Fame
What amuses me is seeing how slooow Serena walks between points, how awkward she barely bends when picking up a ball from the ground with her racquet and how seemingly unfit she looks, and yet ... you know the rest.

Sometimes I get friends who don't know anything much about tennis see Serena on TV while I was watching her; they usually have the same surprised expression to hear about Serena's domination in women's tennis.

Serena usually elevated her game when she gets mad about a call or get provoked by her opponents fist pumps. Let's see how this new Mom does in the Final.

She probably has the best serve in WTA now. Heck she serves better than Nishikori.
Lol you can’t anticipate Serena’s quality of play based on the way she acts before a match or between points! I used to get so freaked out watching her bobble the ball when bouncing it before serves and looking all uncoordinated during the warmup, but it literally means nothing. It’s not lack of fitness, it’s just that she doesn’t expend energy on things that don’t matter.

I love her zombie-like walk from one side of the baseline to the other between points. Makes me laugh every match. When she’s winning, the opponent must feel like they are playing against a death machine. When she’s losing and does it, it’s like she doesn’t give a crap and knows she’s going to win anyway. What makes me nervous is when she’s down and starts yelling come on a lot because she is under pressure. Usually she can pump herself up and win, but not always....
 

skyline

Legend
And yet many of her fans here don't believe she's ever the favourite.

OK, you're really exaggerating.

I think most people, including most fans, believed she would win the first few rounds based on her favorable draw. I saw her going to the semis from the beginning; that wasn't too much to ask for given the way draw opened up. I wasn't gonna predict beyond that because it's pretty damn hard to look 6 matches ahead. Who even knew who her semi opponent will be?

Once it was Goerges, again, I think most of us expected her to win. (Some said it'd be Venus, and I argued it won't be, and if it is that Serena will win because Venus has been in awful form.)

So she was basically seen as the favorite in each of her 6 matches by basically most of us here (I won't say all, as I haven't read every single post in the thread), and now she's coming up on the one match some of us aren't persuaded she'll win and you're going around saying "many fans don't believe she's ever the favorite."

Seriously, why all this hyperbole? You think you're going to send some loser vibes her way if you present her as someone who's bound to win everything everywhere all the time?
 

FakeEmpire

Professional
Must say I thought Ostapenko would have been a tougher opponent for Kerber in their semi (actually fancied her for the final) but she didn't seem to play anything like she did against Cibulkova. Inconsistency or was she just up against a better class of opponent?

In any event, we now face a re-run of the 2016 final between Serena and Angie. Wonder if Angie will make it a bit tougher for Serena this time round, maybe so tough she could prevail?

I'd say both. Kerber's defensive skills are well known and can rattle anyone, but she was also serving pretty, not allowing Alona to use one of her best weapons: her return of serve.

I'll be rooting for Kerber, just because she has never won it before. She certainly has the game to give Serena a good run for her money.
 

skyline

Legend
Well i wanna see some consistency from some of th se other players. Muguruza has been hyped to the max and i would say she has been ok could be better if she had any consistency. Her hardcourt game stinks. Can she get to a semis or finals for once?

TBF Muguruza was playing a good slam at last USO until she ran into a very in-the-mood Kvitova.

Stephens really had a lot of luck there......Petra removed Muguruza, Venus removed Petra and then......Stephens flew in and took advantage.

Not to take anything away from Sloane of course as I do think since she's backed it up at least somewhat (Miami title plus another Slam final which she played quite well overall).
 

skyline

Legend
congrats serena, excited for the final. going to ignore any of the ignorant comments regarding serena. this has been a good tournament for her. shame I wont be getting my serena/fed duo win though.

Yeah I'm also a big Fed fan. I was so sure he'll win this year. Still shocked.
 

Dolgopolov85

G.O.A.T.
Must say I thought Ostapenko would have been a tougher opponent for Kerber in their semi (actually fancied her for the final) but she didn't seem to play anything like she did against Cibulkova. Inconsistency or was she just up against a better class of opponent?

In any event, we now face a re-run of the 2016 final between Serena and Angie. Wonder if Angie will make it a bit tougher for Serena this time round, maybe so tough she could prevail?

Ostapenko's match wasn't very different from Masha's against Kerber at AO. Kerber keeps getting balls back and those who lack shot tolerance or the ability to come up with great angles and pull her wide will struggle against her. I mean, she hung with and beat Serena at AO 2016. So when she's on her game, she's deadly.

However, grass is going to help Serena pile up free points on her serve so this match up still favours Serena on grass. Serena is not yet back to 2016 level but neither is Kerber so it evens out. Let's see. I had thought on these lines before the 2016 final but Serena was slightly off and Kerber really came to play.
 

skyline

Legend
Ostapenko's match wasn't very different from Masha's against Kerber at AO. Kerber keeps getting balls back and those who lack shot tolerance or the ability to come up with great angles and pull her wide will struggle against her. I mean, she hung with and beat Serena at AO 2016. So when she's on her game, she's deadly.

However, grass is going to help Serena pile up free points on her serve so this match up still favours Serena on grass. Serena is not yet back to 2016 level but neither is Kerber so it evens out. Let's see. I had thought on these lines before the 2016 final but Serena was slightly off and Kerber really came to play.

You had this thought for AO final too? I'm surprised. I thought Serena's run to the finals was insanely impressive and I had little doubt she'd beat Kerber. It shocked me to see her nervy and then actually lose when the day came.
 

tennis_pro

Bionic Poster
Can't believe Serena can reach the final of a Slam in this form. If she showed up so unfit in the ATP she'd be humiliated by whoever drew her in the first round.
 

Dolgopolov85

G.O.A.T.
She probably has the best serve in WTA now. Heck she serves better than Nishikori.

Probably? Now? From at least the early noughties, she has had the best serve. Venus may have outserved her in a few matches on and off and Lisicki can go faster if I recall but on a day in day out basis, Serena has the best serve. It's the WTA equivalent of the Sampras serve. And yes, as somebody else posted, her form is flawless on the serve and has been so for so long that I can no longer remember when it wasn't.
 

Dolgopolov85

G.O.A.T.
You had this thought for AO final too? I'm surprised. I thought Serena's run to the finals was insanely impressive and I had little doubt she'd beat Kerber. It shocked me to see her nervy and then actually lose when the day came.

No, no, sorry I wasn't clear but I meant I thought in 2016 AO too Serena would win so many free points on the serve that she would pound Kerber into submission. Boy was I in for a shock! Yeah, she was just uncharacteristic that day. Usually a great big match player but that day as you said she was nervy.
 

skyline

Legend
Probably? Now? From at least the early noughties, she has had the best serve. Venus may have outserved her in a few matches on and off and Lisicki can go faster if I recall but on a day in day out basis, Serena has the best serve. It's the WTA equivalent of the Sampras serve. And yes, as somebody else posted, her form is flawless on the serve and has been so for so long that I can no longer remember when it wasn't.

Yeah, I said that. Her serving form is perfect and I think that motion/technique is basically in her blood by now.
 

icedevil0289

G.O.A.T.
Probably? Now? From at least the early noughties, she has had the best serve. Venus may have outserved her in a few matches on and off and Lisicki can go faster if I recall but on a day in day out basis, Serena has the best serve. It's the WTA equivalent of the Sampras serve. And yes, as somebody else posted, her form is flawless on the serve and has been so for so long that I can no longer remember when it wasn't.

its interesting because back when I knew very little about tennis but still knew of the Williams sisters, I remember hearing more about venus's serve than Serena's. was venus more known for her serve when they were coming up?
 

Russeljones

Talk Tennis Guru
its interesting because back when I knew very little about tennis but still knew of the Williams sisters, I remember hearing more about venus's serve than Serena's. was venus more known for her serve when they were coming up?
Probably because back then Venus held the record for fastest women's serve.
 

skyline

Legend
No, no, sorry I wasn't clear but I meant I thought in 2016 AO too Serena would win so many free points on the serve that she would pound Kerber into submission. Boy was I in for a shock! Yeah, she was just uncharacteristic that day. Usually a great big match player but that day as you said she was nervy.

Ooooh, I see. Yeah, I misread you. I thought you meant she reached finals despite not being in best of forms, which surprised me because I recall her run to that final and it was really very dominant.

Sometimes (like now or at FO2016) she reaches finals despite her form wobbling but at the 2016 AO she was playing out of her skin and I thought the final would be the mightiest display of all. I couldn't believe it when her nerves got the best of her, never would've seen that coming.
 

Dolgopolov85

G.O.A.T.
its interesting because back when I knew very little about tennis but still knew of the Williams sisters, I remember hearing more about venus's serve than Serena's. was venus more known for her serve when they were coming up?

Might be what @Russeljones said. Just like Scud or Rusedki's serves were much talked about on the men's side in the 90s. But were they better than Sampras? Not really. The media focuses too much on speed. I thought for consistency Serena was a touch better than Venus peak on peak and in her later years has definitely held onto more of her serve ability than Venus. Venus even loses her toss sometimes these days but Serena doesn't seem to have lost anything on the serve.
 

Dolgopolov85

G.O.A.T.
Ooooh, I see. Yeah, I misread you. I thought you meant she reached finals despite not being in best of forms, which surprised me because I recall her run to that final and it was really very dominant.

Sometimes (like now or at FO2016) she reaches finals despite her form wobbling but at the 2016 AO she was playing out of her skin and I thought the final would be the mightiest display of all. I couldn't believe it when her nerves got the best of her, never would've seen that coming.

Exactly. She looked great in the run up to the final. Hardly the kind of form in which I would have expected an upset. Maybe the danger with that is you peak too early sometimes. Like Fed in Wimbledon 2015. He pulled out his A plus game for Murray and the slight drop off against a tougher opponent in the final sealed defeat.
 

icedevil0289

G.O.A.T.
Might be what @Russeljones said. Just like Scud or Rusedki's serves were much talked about on the men's side in the 90s. But were they better than Sampras? Not really. The media focuses too much on speed. I thought for consistency Serena was a touch better than Venus peak on peak and in her later years has definitely held onto more of her serve ability than Venus. Venus even loses her toss sometimes these days but Serena doesn't seem to have lost anything on the serve.
Makes sense.
 

Ruark

Professional
Serena is so tough on grass, even if you match her groundstroke for groundstroke (which most players can't) she has that serve.
Yeah, that's the thing with Serena. With her muscularity, she can, and has, aced her way through a match with one 120+ mph serve after another. Not to detract from her shotmaking; even with average serving ability, she would still be a top-four player, maybe even #1, but as it is, you might as well give her 10 or 15 points before the match even starts. To beat her, you have to beat her by a big enough margin to allow for her cannonball. Not an easy task!!
If I were Kerber, I'd try to wear her out, running her back and forth, and take off that edge as much as I could. Lerner will have to go into Kill Mode, and go for the jugular on every point, without letting up.
 

Vanhool

Hall of Fame
Might be what @Russeljones said. Just like Scud or Rusedki's serves were much talked about on the men's side in the 90s. But were they better than Sampras? Not really. The media focuses too much on speed. I thought for consistency Serena was a touch better than Venus peak on peak and in her later years has definitely held onto more of her serve ability than Venus. Venus even loses her toss sometimes these days but Serena doesn't seem to have lost anything on the serve.
This is what had me worried when she came back from C-section. Her serve wasn’t happening, and I was worried that having her core muscles sliced up had messed her up. Or that the prepregnacy issues she was having with her shoulder and elbow had gotten worse. Or that she had lost her timing somehow. I’m very relieved to see this is looking better. It’s not everything, but it gives her a lot better chance!
 

Vanhool

Hall of Fame
Yeah, that's the thing with Serena. With her muscularity, she can, and has, aced her way through a match with one 120+ mph serve after another. Not to detract from her shotmaking; even with average serving ability, she would still be a top-four player, maybe even #1, but as it is, you might as well give her 10 or 15 points before the match even starts. To beat her, you have to beat her by a big enough margin to allow for her cannonball. Not an easy task!!
If I were Kerber, I'd try to wear her out, running her back and forth, and take off that edge as much as I could. Lerner will have to go into Kill Mode, and go for the jugular on every point, without letting up.
Agree, except I think her serve is more due to technique than muscle. She literally copied Sampras. My question is always: why doesn’t everybody?
 

Bill W

Rookie
Hoping desperately that Kerber wins this - she deserves it. She just needs to run Serena side to side until her wheels fall off.

Besides, the spike in Serena worship will be absolutely unbearable if she wins another major.
 

tennis4me

Hall of Fame
Lol you can’t anticipate Serena’s quality of play based on the way she acts before a match or between points! I used to get so freaked out watching her bobble the ball when bouncing it before serves and looking all uncoordinated during the warmup, but it literally means nothing. It’s not lack of fitness, it’s just that she doesn’t expend energy on things that don’t matter.

I love her zombie-like walk from one side of the baseline to the other between points. Makes me laugh every match. When she’s winning, the opponent must feel like they are playing against a death machine. When she’s losing and does it, it’s like she doesn’t give a crap and knows she’s going to win anyway. What makes me nervous is when she’s down and starts yelling come on a lot because she is under pressure. Usually she can pump herself up and win, but not always....
It still amuses me even though I know that's not an indication of how she plays. As a matter of fact, I walk very slow between points myself and run like Flash for dropshots.:D
 
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