The "What's Wrong With Her?" Thread

bezs

G.O.A.T.
Hantuchova got her first win of the season in Pattaya, faces Date-Krumm next. If she does get beat its back to square one again.
 

soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
^^^ Amanmuradova. That girl is at least 6'4" tall. Too bad her mechanics are crude and she's a UE-prone BBB. Then again, Dani is also a BBB so I call it a pick 'em.
 

boredone3456

G.O.A.T.
After her strong finish to last year I was hoping Ivanovic would be on her way to better things this year, but so far she has done nothing to show that that may happen. She was sort of embarassed at the Aussie, almost lost to Craybas (who while sometimes dangerous overall does not have all that great a game), then she loses to Vinci? I mean Vinci is an ok player but I wouldn't have expected Ana to lose to her.

On the bright side Hantuchova seems to have found a little bit of life after a dismal start to her year...to bad shes got Vera next and Pattaya has been her personal stomping ground for a bit now. Although she has dropped less games, and Vera is the favorite...Maybe Dani can pull something off....although I doubt it.
 

bezs

G.O.A.T.
Sharapova has pulled out of Dubai and subsequently Doha as well back only for Indian Wells seems like a pretty bad illness to be taking that long a break.

Hantuchova beats Zvonareva in straight sets :shock:
 
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soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
Hantuchova beats Zvonareva in straight sets :shock:

I saw the end of the 1st set. It just seemed Vera was too defensive. Even when Dani was hitting countless UEs in the net, Vera just seemed content to run around just to hang in the rallies. Not very smart on her part, even if it's against a brainless player like Hantuchova.

Will Dani win her final? Her finals record is pretty bad.

The battle for Paris comes down to Clijsters vs Kvitova. Kvitova, the bra-less ball basher, has been playing real well in 2011. In 2009 I noticed this girl had potential. She's more fit, she's actually mentally tough, and her results are becoming more consistent.
 

Doublebounce

Professional
Im so happy for Hantuchova!!!!!!!!! Dubai draw just came out, looks interesting...

http://www.wtatour.com/SEWTATour-Archive/posting/2011/718/MDS.pdf


Highly contested first round matches include :
Hanutchova vs Chakvedatze
Wickmayer vs Jovanovski
Ivanovic vs Schnyder
Cibulkova vs Groth
Dokic vs Pennetta
Date Krumm vs Bartoli
Peer vs Martinez Sanchez

Does anyone know why Pavlyuchenkova is in the qualies?? shes ranked 14th....

http://www.wtatour.com/SEWTATour-Archive/posting/2011/718/QS.pdf


looking forward to Peng vs Bondarenko matchup also, rematch of their epic 1st roudner at the aussie
 

JayChu

Hall of Fame
Im so happy for Hantuchova!!!!!!!!! Dubai draw just came out, looks interesting...

http://www.wtatour.com/SEWTATour-Archive/posting/2011/718/MDS.pdf


Highly contested first round matches include :
Hanutchova vs Chakvedatze
Wickmayer vs Jovanovski
Ivanovic vs Schnyder
Cibulkova vs Groth
Dokic vs Pennetta
Date Krumm vs Bartoli
Peer vs Martinez Sanchez

Does anyone know why Pavlyuchenkova is in the qualies?? shes ranked 14th....

http://www.wtatour.com/SEWTATour-Archive/posting/2011/718/QS.pdf


looking forward to Peng vs Bondarenko matchup also, rematch of their epic 1st roudner at the aussie

She probably didn't enter before the cut off date and since she didn't get a WC, she has to play qualies instead.
 

bezs

G.O.A.T.
Based on the bookmakers Hantuchova is heavily favoured to beat Errani in the Pattaya final, it has the makings of Hantuchova imploding in the final.
 

soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
Woz got #1 without making a slam final in the past year. Zvonareva made it to #2 with only 1 International title in her hands. Schiavone won the French last year despite only have 2 career titles going into it. Li made the AO finals despite being 0 for 10 in premier+ level SF until Sydney. WTA is kind of mind-boggling.
 
Woz got #1 without making a slam final in the past year. Zvonareva made it to #2 with only 1 International title in her hands. Schiavone won the French last year despite only have 2 career titles going into it. Li made the AO finals despite being 0 for 10 in premier+ level SF until Sydney. WTA is kind of mind-boggling.

Injuries to Serena and a limited schedule by Kim had a lot to do with that. Not the players fault but the ranking system.
 

JayChu

Hall of Fame
Injuries to Serena and a limited schedule by Kim had a lot to do with that. Not the players fault but the ranking system.

Unfortunately, quantity is rewarded over quality

If the WTA did adopt to the ATP rankings, where would Wozniacki be in terms of the rankings?
 
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Charles Bricker recently wrote a piece for Ubi Tennis explaining that Caroline Wozniacki could overtake Serena Williams as the No. 1 female tennis player if she won the US Open. Given that the Dane had never before won a Grand Slam title and had only recently in Montreal won her first ever top-tier event, hardly anyone would have considered her a better player than Williams. After all, Williams owned 13 singles majors, held the Australian Open and Wimbledon crowns and had never before lost to Wozniacki.

Wozniacki ended up falling in the semifinals, thankfully preventing that scenario from eventuating. But the rankings quickly came under fire again at the conclusion of the tournament, when Kim Clijsters fell two places to No. 5 after winning the event. This made way for Venus Williams to ascend to No. 3, and Vera Zvonareva – whom Clijsters had thrashed in the final in less than an hour – to move ahead of the Belgian into the No. 4 spot.

It was not the only time the system had come under fire. The media widely ridiculed the rankings when Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina were able to hold the top spot for extended periods without winning a major title. Earlier in the decade, Clijsters and Amelie Mauresmo were also considered unworthy No. 1’s because they rose to the top spot without a Grand Slam trophy to their names.

THE CURRENT SITUATION

But is it really all about the majors and nothing else? Of course not. Regular tour events form the majority of the tennis calendar, and players need to play these events and perform well to form a well-rounded tennis resume. But they should be attempting to peak at the majors, and the ones who perform best in these crown-jewel events should be recognised with a higher ranking. The trouble is, the women’s rankings don’t reward these players or performances correctly. It’s a system based on quantity over quality, giving props to players who travel the world chasing points and racking up quarterfinal and semifinal appearances, ahead of those who prove they can regularly win the biggest events against the best players.

The credibility of the women’s ranking system began plummeting after 2003 when the tour stopped awarding quality points. This system saw players receive more or less points depending on the ranking of the players they defeated. For example, a player who defeated the World’s No. 1 and 2 players to win a title would get more points than a player who won an equivalent tournament but whose best-ranked opponents were No. 19 and No. 20. Up until 1997, the WTA Tour also used to divide a player’s ranking points total by the number of events she had played, effectively preventing players from accumulating thousands of points simply by playing a lot.

A player like Wozniacki has benefitted enormously from the current system. She has a whopping 24 events currently counting in her ranking, considerably more than most other Top 20 players. She’s also won most of her matches against lowly-ranked opposition. During 2010, she has defeated just two Top 10 players, and astonishingly has not even faced a player ranked in the Top 5. In fact, until her defeat of Maria Sharapova in the fourth round in New York, her collective win-loss record against Sharapova, Clijsters, Serena and Venus Williams and Justine Henin—currently the five most successful active players on tour—was a staggering 0-10.

Not only is the WTA ranking system structured poorly, it’s also extremely confusing. Players must include Grand Slam results, and must also include their results from the four Premier Mandatory events and at least two results from Premier Five events. But that only applies to Top 10 players. Top 10 players and “marquee players”—whoever they are—are also required to include results from Premier $700 Commitment Tournaments that they commit to but then do not play. Top players also have limits on the number of International-level events they can enter and count in the ranking. Confused yet?

FIXING THE SYSTEM

Although we’re probably beyond the point of hoping that quality points and an averaging system will be reintroduced to the rankings, the WTA system could definitely do with a little tweaking and streamlining to better represent player performance and make it easier for fans to follow. A wise step would be to rank the women according to the ATP World Tour system.

Men’s rankings throughout the ages have not always been so well respected. The old “Best 14 system”, which counted the players’ best 14 results from various events in the past 12 months regardless of the level of tournament, allowed Chilean Marcelo Rios to reach No. 1 in March 1998 having never won a major title. In May 1999, Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov ascended to the top spot after six consecutive first-round losses. But since the ATP Tour debuted its current system in the early 2000s (it has been altered in minor ways since then but remains essentially the same), there have been few arguments. The current Top 4—Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Murray—are indeed the best four players on the planet in the past year.

Using the ATP system as a guide for ranking female players, two things improve. One is points distribution. Male and female Grand Slam winners each receive 2000 points. But the WTA Tour awards finalists 1400 points, while the ATP Tour gives the equivalent player only 1200. Female semifinalists are awarded 900 points, but male semifinalists receive 720. And down the line it goes. The same applies for Masters events—the points are halved, but the same difference in point ratio and structure exists. Dinara Safina was able to reach No. 1 after reaching two Grand Slam finals in 2009. Under the men’s system she would have had 400 points less in her total, and may not have hit top spot without actually clinching a major title.

The second improvement is the type of tournaments counted in the rankings. To yield a points total under the ATP system, players must include their results from Grand Slams, the year-end Tour Championships, the nine Masters 1000 tournaments (except Monte Carlo) and a small handful of their best results from lesser 500 and 250 events. The significant majority of events being included are majors and Masters—the most prestigious events. Chasing points at smaller events becomes a less effective strategy, and players are rewarded for good performances on the biggest stages.

THE RESULTS

I ranked the Top 16 female players according to this system. Players ranking points were accumulated over the past 12 months through their results at the four Grand Slams, Tour Championships in Doha and the top nine Premier events—a combination of the “Mandatory” and “Five” events—in Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Madrid, Cincinnati, Canada, Tokyo and Beijing. This equated to the group of nine “Masters” events on the men’s tour. The rankings also included their best five results at other events—the smaller Premier level events were given ATP 500 status, and International events were treated as ATP 250s.

Although there was surprisingly little change to the order of the top 16, there were enough differences to justify railing against the current system:

Serena Williams remained atop the rankings, but increased her lead over Wozniacki to 1500 points (compared with the 1,000 that separates them now). There would be far less chance for Wozniacki to overtake Williams until at least after next year’s Australian Open. And that’s only if Williams doesn’t play. Under the WTA system, the Dane could reach No. 1 by year’s end.

Clijsters moved from No. 5 to No. 3, ahead of both Venus Williams and Zvonareva. She sits just 200 points behind Wozniacki, and unlike the Dane, has no points to defend between now and year’s end. Being ranked No. 2 or 3 paints a more realistic picture of Clijsters’ stellar season.

Francesca Schiavone swapped places with Sam Stosur, ranking No. 7 ahead of the Aussie’s No. 8. Most people would agree that Stosur has had the better year, but this is a great example of how the ATP system rewards winning major titles. And that’s what has separated Schiavone from Stosur in 2010.

Maria Sharapova rose three places to No. 12, her superior performances in several Masters-level events helping her leapfrog several players.

As you said, this article addressed the problem but it should have answered your questions. Where would Woz have been ranked if she were on the ATP computer.
 

JayChu

Hall of Fame
Thanks for the article You Can't Be Serious!

I'm seriously hoping that the rankings system be fixed soon so they can bring creditability to it again
 

Love Game

Talk Tennis Guru
Injuries to Serena and a limited schedule by Kim had a lot to do with that. Not the players fault but the ranking system.

dont understand the complaint

a system that promotes elitism by allowing the better players to avoid tournaments with lower payoffs (or whatever excuses they use) isnt good for the promotion of the sport

players who rack up points by going where the elite don't want to bother to tread deserve the points they earn by doing so, because they are the ones bringing the game to those places on the globe and encouraging the girls who live in those places to take up the game ... those are the places and the girls who would otherwise be ignored by the elite not deigning to travel to their venues.

The point incentive for those interested enough in "giving back" to the sport by inspiring others with their presence should not be diminished. IMO
 

bezs

G.O.A.T.
Impressive win from Kvitova having to play grueling matches along the way as well, that's two titles this season already.
 

hugobosstachini

Professional
Great match from Petra and this could definitively be her year... lots of girls from the top might have something to fear but I just hope she confirms that by making the SF/F of either Doha, IW or Miami or the 3 - even better by winning her first mandatory in IW or Miami. She definitevely has the attitude to shine in one of these.
 

jones101

Hall of Fame
Petra played great and really pressured Kim. Her serve and return in particular looked great.

I though she had potential when I saw her beat Safina in the USO 09 and in Wimbledon last year, not many people can push Serena back, and keep her on the backfoot, especially on grass.

What do people think of her chances of winning a slam, even this year?
 

soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
Petra played great and really pressured Kim. Her serve and return in particular looked great.

I though she had potential when I saw her beat Safina in the USO 09 and in Wimbledon last year, not many people can push Serena back, and keep her on the backfoot, especially on grass.

What do people think of her chances of winning a slam, even this year?

Kvitova's being hyped up by some for Wimby. She made the SF there last year where she obliterated Woz in the 4th rd 6-2 6-0. I admit I hated her for beating Safina at the USO 2009 (Kvitova saved 3 MP in route to victory), but that was basically her coming out match and I've since looked at her more favorably.

She's hitting more consistently and while she can lose her temper, she doesn't seem to lose focus. She actually believes she can win against anybody and that her matches are on her racquet. Great win for her and I hope to see more from her.
 
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GhostDog

Hall of Fame
Kvitova is the real deal. She smacks the hell out of the ball, and can no longer be called a brainless ball basher. She outwit, and out hit Cjisters today.

She's way more impressive than Woz, and it won't belong before she's in the top 10.
 

Raiden

Hall of Fame
Kvitova's being hyped up by some for Wimby. She made the SF there last year where she obliterated Woz in the 4th rd 6-2 6-0.
I was as much impressed by her easy beating of Azarenka as that Woz match at that Wimbledon because Vika is a better returner than Caro

Anyway, I think Petra really likes a fast surfaces like this one in Paris. You could see that not only in the rather easy straight set wins but even earlier when she was struggling against Yanina and Barbora she was still performing better than what she did at the Australian Open. She went more on her backhand side and played more closer the the net.
 

jones101

Hall of Fame
Kvitova's being hyped up by some for Wimby. She made the SF there last year where she obliterated Woz in the 4th rd 6-2 6-0. I admit I hated her for beating Safina at the USO 2009 (Kvitova saved 3 MP in route to victory), but that was basically her coming out match and I've since looked at her more favorably.

She's hitting more consistently and while she can lose her temper, she doesn't seem to lose focus. She actually believes she can win against anybody and that her matches are on her racquet. Great win for her and I hope to see more from her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ--xWFXNNI

If she playes like that she will beat anybody, how do you defend against that type of uber agressive tennis, if it going in?

I will be keeping a close eye on her, her potential, esp if she continues to work on her mobility, is endless.

(and she has decent net/volley skills too :) )
 

soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
Kvitova is the real deal. She smacks the hell out of the ball, and can no longer be called a brainless ball basher. She outwit, and out hit Cjisters today.

She's way more impressive than Woz, and it won't belong before she's in the top 10.

She'll be #14 on Monday if I am correct. So just a matter of time indeed.
 

soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
What will Daniela's ranking be?

Hmmm.. I don't think she'll move up much as Pattaya is a MM event with 280pts. I think it will be #27, but I didn't see if she was defending pts from there last year. I'm sure a Dani fan from the "Guys Only" thread will post that up soon.
 

soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
Scheepers SPANKED Kirilenko 6-2 6-2. Makiri begging me bigtime for upgraded membership.

Pavlyuchenkova is a choker. Up 6-4 4-2.... and then doesn't win another game vs Kleybanova.
 
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Doublebounce

Professional
Dani only at #29. and Kirilenko is just killing me here, she could fall out of the top 30 before roland garros easily.

In other news, Kimiko choked out the first set tiebreak to bartoli oli and down a break 4-3
 

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
Kvitova seems to be ready for the big leagues. Doesn't seem to get tight. Doesn't have a lot of tools in the box, but who needs lots of tools when you can beat *everybody* with pace?

I can't see any of the top women as stronger contenders at Wimby and US Open.
 

Raiden

Hall of Fame
^ She wears glasses and her name is in you sig? :)

Or Monica Seles but she was only theoretically left handed (in reality she was two handed on both sides
.
 
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soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
No, it was Schnyder. Not really that long ago, relatively speaking. (2005)

Though technically speaking, the answer could be Sharapova since she's a natural lefty. ;)

I don't know which is more rare: the number of lefties in the top 100 or the number of players with one-handed backhands in the top 100. I think the lefties come out slightly ahead.

Kvitova, Benesova, Safarova, Bammer, Schnyder off the top of my head for the lefties.
Schiavone, Suarez Navarro, Garbin off the top of my head for the 1HBH crowd. Maybe throw in Stosur since she slices her BH the majority of times anyway.

Actually, Jankovic and Bartoli are natural lefties playing righty. Isn't that also true for Stosur? Sharapova is naturally ambidextrous. Date-Krumm is a natural lefty too.
 
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soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
Vesnina is useless on the court lately. Dushevina should consider retiring since I doubt she'll win another event again.

Kvitova lost to Morita in a tight contest, but I might give her a pass as her match was just 2 days after she played in Paris. Dani went back to being Dani, so no sympathy from me there. Go Anna!
 

bezs

G.O.A.T.
Oh Ana, i think the poor girl really needs a hug right now. :(

Way too many double faults and her ball toss is still wonky.
 

soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
^^^ I saw the end of the 2nd set. When Schnyder won the tie-break, I had a feeling Schnyder would win. Ivanovic was b!tching about not getting to challenge a shot Schnyder hit.... that was good anyway!
 

boredone3456

G.O.A.T.
Ana is proving a complete bust so far, she looked like she was ready to move back up and be a contender and since 2011 hit she has looked like well....I think you might be able to guess the word I am thinking. Its always aggravated me, she has actually a lot of good things and potential in her game but she seems to have no clue how to handle any kind of pressure being on her what-so-ever. That and I think she needs lessons on how to play from behind because turning momentum around is not her strong suit.
 

bezs

G.O.A.T.
She may be a headcase but that was gutsy from Chakvetadze wanting to continue and see if she was able to play on after collapsing on court.
 
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