Svetlana Kunznetsova is the best ball striker on the WTA

[DoubleHanded&LovinIt]

She's putting on a ball striking clinic against Dementieva. I thought Dementieva was solid off the ground but wow, Svetlana is just amazing from the ground. Would love to see her and Maria Sharapova strike it from the backcourt.

 

[ferrari_827]

At the Australian open, Svetlana was outhitting Sharapova Sharapova in the first set, and playing better. But Sharapova has that mind, and it's getting tougher.

But Svetlana has a better all-around game than Sharapova, I agree. Sharapova is more a gritty, determined player.

 

[gugafanatic]

Svetlana, can play amazing for a set and then all of a sudden she plays horrible. She is known for lapses in concentration, and suddenly her game falls apart. I agree she has more touch and feel then any WTA player, along with henin

 

[tennissavy]

It sure would be nice if espn would show the dementieva match since it was supposed to be the featured match. We are seeing much too much of santoro. In addition, tonights featured match was supposed to be clijsters and now they are saying they are going to show agassi again. That would be choosing Agassi yet again on tape rather than someone else, live. I would prefer to see clijsters since she has not played in a long time. If they show agassi tonight, I won't watch. Espn is way too geared to certain players and they shaft those of us who like wta matches.

 

[GrassCourtFan]

It sure would be nice if espn would show the dementieva match since it was supposed to be the featured match. We are seeing much too much of santoro. In addition, tonights featured match was supposed to be clijsters and now they are saying they are going to show agassi again. That would be choosing Agassi yet again on tape rather than someone else, live. I would prefer to see clijsters since she has not played in a long time. If they show agassi tonight, I won't watch. Espn is way too geared to certain players and they shaft those of us who like wta matches.

Too much of Santoro???

Nu-uh, we see too much of Roddick and Agassi, NOT too much of Santoro and Moya. Kudos to ESPN for showing it!!

Although Kuznetsova-Dementieva is one of the better WTA matches out there and I was actually liking the first set of it, I'll take Santoro-Moya over that anyday.

 

[tennissavy]

Too much of Santoro???

Nu-uh, we see too much of Roddick and Agassi, NOT too much of Santoro and Moya. Kudos to ESPN for showing it!!

Although Kuznetsova-Dementieva is one of the better WTA matches out there and I was actually liking the first set of it, I'll take Santoro-Moya over that anyday.

They are screwing wta fans again, though. They should stick to their promised tv coverage. They said dementieva would be the featured match on tv last night and on the pacific life open site. They are also planning to omit clijster, also a featured match, to show agassi on tape delay tonight. That's not right, don't you agree?

 

[Camilio Pascual]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Davenport plays a bigger game just as cleanly, been doing it for years, and is #1.

 

[GrassCourtFan]

They are screwing wta fans again, though. They should stick to their promised tv coverage. They said dementieva would be the featured match on tv last night and on the pacific life open site. They are also planning to omit clijster, also a featured match, to show agassi on tape delay tonight. That's not right, don't you agree?

They showed the entire first set of Dementieva. They're now showing the end of the second set.

They showed the end of the Santoro-Moya set, and hopefully will pick it up again for the middle/end of the second.

That seems like perfect coverage to me.

 

[tennissavy]

They showed the entire first set of Dementieva. They're now showing the end of the second set.

They showed the end of the Santoro-Moya set, and hopefully will pick it up again for the middle/end of the second.

That seems like perfect coverage to me.

We missed 7 games of the wta match. I like wta and atp tennis but I have noticed espn giving more coverage to the atp matches. They never, that I can honestly recall, interrupt a FEATURED men's match for wta. It is not right and if they don't show the promised clijsters match tonight in it's entirety, wta fans will be further shunned.

 

[norcal]

They are screwing wta fans again, though. They should stick to their promised tv coverage. They said dementieva would be the featured match on tv last night and on the pacific life open site. They are also planning to omit clijster, also a featured match, to show agassi on tape delay tonight. That's not right, don't you agree?

You would rather watch Clijsters-Uglita Martinez rather than Agassi-Coria? wow.

 

[Kevin Patrick]

tennissavy, I guess you didn't watch any of the '04 Australian & '04 French. Many live men's matches were going on while espn chose to show the Williams sisters & Capriati on tape delay.

 

[GRANITECHIEF]

Svetlana's ball striking clinic didn't turn out so well, going down Safin style (DF on MP) in the third. That's a clinic where i would ask for my money back.

I was going to be very dissappointed if they didn't show Agassi-Coria. I'm stoked to watch Agassi pound Coria. GO ANDRE!!!!!!

 

[driger]

And Not Way Does Svetlana Strike The Ball Better Than Maria. You People Just To Used To Seeing Homely Womens Players Holding The Top Three Spots In Womens Tennis.

 

[Aykhan Mammadov]

She's putting on a ball striking clinic against Dementieva. I thought Dementieva was solid off the ground but wow, Svetlana is just amazing from the ground. Would love to see her and Maria Sharapova strike it from the backcourt.

O-o-o, u didn't see her before? Or she is famous ball-basher. She strikes almost as men. But her things are becoming thicker and thicker everyday and this fact makes her movements worser and worser. She must lose flesh.

 

[iscottius]

She's putting on a ball striking clinic against Dementieva. I thought Dementieva was solid off the ground but wow, Svetlana is just amazing from the ground. Would love to see her and Maria Sharapova strike it from the backcourt.

I believe that dementieva is better off the ground than Svetlana, she overhits and is the female version of Fernando Gonzales, when she is on she is very good, when she is off it is ugly, not the best ball striker on the wta, how did the "clinic" end? double fault on match point.

 

[Serve-And-Volley]

I agree w/ Camillo Pascual that Lindsey Davenport is the best ball striker and that fact is proven since she holds the title of World #1. But giving Kuznetsova her due, she can hit clean winners of her groundies when she is focused, and is a very strong competitor. Her forehand is outstanding.

 

[tennissavy]

tennissavy, I guess you didn't watch any of the '04 Australian & '04 French. Many live men's matches were going on while espn chose to show the Williams sisters & Capriati on tape delay.

NO I don't recall that, not at all. Which men(major contenders) were dismissed for wta matches?

 

[Kevin Patrick]

tennissavy,
you should check the archived discussions, there were many matches. None of Federer's '04 early Australian matches were shown live, but Davenport was on tape. The Williams-Raymond match was shown on tape one night, during that match Espn said Nadal-Hewitt would be shown the next day(due to it being a night match in Australia). When I tuned in the next day, the showed a replay of Williams-Raymond.

The '04 French was even worse. No Coria, no Moya, no Federer until the 2nd week. But every Serena match was shown twice. I believe the Capriati-Serena QF was shown 3 times over 24 hours(on tape while ignoring Moya-Coria QF)
If Serena was playing this week we'd be lucky to see any men's matches. The Williams sisters get far better ratings than any male player except Agassi.
So just watch the coverage of the French & the Key Biscayne event next week. You'll get plenty of women's tennis.

 

[tennissavy]

tennissavy,
you should check the archived discussions, there were many matches. None of Federer's '04 early Australian matches were shown live, but Davenport was on tape. The Williams-Raymond match was shown on tape one night, during that match Espn said Nadal-Hewitt would be shown the next day(due to it being a night match in Australia). When I tuned in the next day, the showed a replay of Williams-Raymond.

The '04 French was even worse. No Coria, no Moya, no Federer until the 2nd week. But every Serena match was shown twice. I believe the Capriati-Serena QF was shown 3 times over 24 hours(on tape while ignoring Moya-Coria QF)
If Serena was playing this week we'd be lucky to see any men's matches. The Williams sisters get far better ratings than any male player except Agassi.
So just watch the coverage of the French & the Key Biscayne event next week. You'll get plenty of women's tennis.

You are so right about the williams sisters, no doubt. They get the coverage time because they are black, we all know that. The only good part about them playing in a tournament is that I am assured of seeing wta matches but so many great wta matches featuring top name players like Clijsters, Henin...are not shown. It sickened me when Lisa Raymond was down a set and 0-5 and came back to win but we saw none of it. Instead we saw an atp match featuring nobody and it was a blow out. I couldn't even tell you who was playing- real no names. In general, the wta matches get put off or never shown unless it is a williams sister. My whole point with this is that espn or any network should stick to it's promised featured matches and they often do not. Good night.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

I believe that dementieva is better off the ground than Svetlana, she overhits and is the female version of Fernando Gonzales, when she is on she is very good, when she is off it is ugly, not the best ball striker on the wta, how did the "clinic" end? double fault on match point.

Dementieva and Kuznetsova have two different styles of hitting and moving.

Kuznetsova excels hitting on the rise and in terms of flatness (flatness, from what I can see on TV, of course, haven't seen her live), has a better timing (yes, even than Sharapova on many occasions), but it's less consistent than Dementieva, which seems to me plays a more topspinned ball, less agressive in terms of timing, and has a lesser serve (esp 2nd serve).

Kuznetsova is clearly made in the Agassi mold of hitting on the rise and surprising the opponent with that. In terms of timing, yes, I would think she's a very good striker of the ball.

In terms of movement, like Agassi, Kuznetsova moves with smaller steps, showing less flexibility than Dementieva, which is lower to the ground and moves around with large loping steps.

 

[Noelle]

Kuznetsova excels hitting on the rise and in terms of flatness (flatness, from what I can see on TV, of course, haven't seen her live)

I heard that she actually puts more topspin on the ball than her Russian colleagues, who tend to hit relatively flat. Probably due to her training in Spain on clay?

(Of course, I heard this from TV commentators, and I should probably take their comments with plenty of salt.)

 

[Marius_Hancu]

ELENA DEMENTIEVA (on Kuznetsova):
http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/en/players/interviews/interviews/05_dementieva10.asp
I think she's the most powerful player on the tour. I mean, she's very strong. She's good enough to play ATP Tour. Sometimes I was just watching the ball, and it was unbelievable what she did with her forehand.
------

 

[DoubleHanded&LovinIt]

O-o-o, u didn't see her before? Or she is famous ball-basher. She strikes almost as men. But her things are becoming thicker and thicker everyday and this fact makes her movements worser and worser. She must lose flesh.

Aykhan, how do you do it?

 

[DoubleHanded&LovinIt]

By the way, Marius, I really like the comparison to Agassi. Her game, like Agassi, is one that has little margin and is built on precision power hitting. Great comment.

 

[HookEmJeff]

Have to disagree. For PURE ball-hitting, ball-killing ability I'd take either Serena or Maria Sharapova. Svetlana is a bit wristy with that forehand, but her skills are undeniable. She definitely pounds it.
But I think as far as hand-eye coordination, efficiency of swing and consistent power off both sides, I would take either Serena or Maria as the best. The only thing I'd say is that Kuznetsova might be a tad superior to each on her forehand. Maybe.
Both are taller than Kuznetsova and get more balls in their waist-level strike zone for that reason.
I would take both their backhands over Kuznetsova's, too. In my opinion, Serena has best backhand on Tour and Sharapova is right there with her on that shot

Jeff

 

[Camilio Pascual]

You are so right about the williams sisters, no doubt. They get the coverage time because they are black, we all know that.

I don't know that and neither do you. How about that they are Americans and in the Top 10? Or have had a habit of getting to the quarters, semis, and finals of televised tournaments? I'm pretty sure that is why they showed her at Oz.
I'll bet James Blake isn't shown 20% as much as the Williams sisters. He's black and American. Hmmmm. Maybe it is because he isn't nearly as highly ranked. Think that might be possible?

 

[crosscourt]

Davenport has great ground strokes, but not as good as Capriati who has the best f/h and b/h on the WTA. Which goes to show that there is more to the game than great groundstrokes, in my view.

 

[tennissavy]

I don't know that and neither do you. How about that they are Americans and in the Top 10? Or have had a habit of getting to the quarters, semis, and finals of televised tournaments? I'm pretty sure that is why they showed her at Oz.
I'll bet James Blake isn't shown 20% as much as the Williams sisters. He's black and American. Hmmmm. Maybe it is because he isn't nearly as highly ranked. Think that might be possible?

They show james blake a lot more than some others ranked ahead of him and he has posters of himself for Nike in my local Macy's and he has accomplished nothing.
Yes the williams sisters get lots of airtime not just because they are black but because they are accomplished players and title contenders but they will sometimes get airtime over some men only because they are black. Look at some other number 1's and title contenders who get little tv coverage(wta). Martina Navritilova said it best a few years ago "...if anything, they are given preferential treatment because they are black..." I was so glad that someone had the confidence to speak up and voice the truth. Congrats, Martina.

Anyway, I hope you all have fun watching the Sharapova/Pierce match tonight. Hopefully we'll see a good quality long match with no choking.
Enjoy! Goodnight.

 

[Andy Zarzuela]

she lacks the consistantcy of some of the other top players. She plays a fierce Williams sister style of baseline bashing, with just better technique (particularly on FH side); although the sisters are slightly better at it for the time being. She reminds me of a more powerful version of Anna Kournikova. Not the looks, but her touch and angles from all over the court. Although, I do think Anna is more graceful outthere than Svetlana. Which is why I wish Anna would at least attempt a comeback!
________
LovelyWendie

 

[iscottius]

ELENA DEMENTIEVA (on Kuznetsova):
http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/en/players/interviews/interviews/05_dementieva10.asp
I think she's the most powerful player on the tour. I mean, she's very strong. She's good enough to play ATP Tour. Sometimes I was just watching the ball, and it was unbelievable what she did with her forehand.
------

She's joking about being good enough to play on the atp right?

 

[mach1]

I just saw the highlights of the match...Geez these girl really smack the ball!