As a Gauff and Iga fan I’m obviously not happy with how the match ended. I wanted a better match. But you can tell even for an incredibly mentally strong player like Coco that Iga is already partially living rent free in her head and forcing her to retreat from her natural game, even a player with as many tools for winning as Gauff. That’s a scary level of dominance.
The level and depth of competition in the WTA right now has created a monster in Swiatek.
Are you even watching WTA tennis, or just tuning in for the big matches. In order...
Coco's mental strength is a myth. She literally started crying in the last match over a questionable judgement call from the umpire (at 0-15, so hardly a key moment). And if you watch her other matches, she regularly starts to get in her own head and start making bad mistakes (wild forehands, a ton of double faults, poor shot selection in big spots). People think Coco is mentally strong because her best asset is her defense, and that is something that is easy to maintain even in pressure moments. Chasing after balls is chasing after balls, and you will rarely get "too tight" to do that. As for her tools, that's her main tool. Getting everything back. And her backhand is pretty good. But her "tools for winning" simply boil down to making her opponents choke. And in the WTA...
Are you kidding with the level and depth? Gauff walked into this semi, and then got trashed. Just like in Australia, just like in other big tournaments where she looks good until she plays one of the few decent players on tour. Jasmine Paolini is in a grand slam final. Let that sink in. Zidansek was in the French Semis two years ago, and Linette was in the AO semis that year. I could go on all day...
It's glaringly obvious how much slower the loopy spin shots off of Seles' racket were. It's a function of the racket and strings she had but you already established that we're talking of the contest between then Seles and now Świątek using their respective equipment. Graf with her ohbh would have a hard time slicing much heavier ball coming from Świątek. The reason that type of tennis doesn't exist in today's game is because it's a more powerful game thanks to polyester strings and racket technology. They had more time to move around those days which they don't have now.
Ha, what? Aside from the fact that you wouldn't say that about Nadal's shots, you actually contradicted yourself. They didn't have racquet and string tech back then that was conducive to big spin, and Seles hit two-handed off both wings, which is naturally flatter than a one-handed shot. So if anything Seles was hitting pretty flat, and hitting with precision. She was regularly returning Graff's deep and low slices to deep and difficult spots, and generating all of her own pace as those slices don't give her much to work with. If you actually understood the game you were watching, you would understand these things.
And, again, a physically frail Graf was able to hang with the power and speed of a young Serena, so don't clown around with the suggestion she would struggle with Swiatek.