Weaknesses within WTA/ATP top 10

[kpatterman]

In this thread I want to break down each of the top 10 players and briefly comment on what their weaknesses are (i.e. what could they improve upon to make their games even better?)...

1) Justine Henin--> First serve %
2) Svetlana Kuznetsova--> Erratic strokes
3) Jelena Jankovic--> Serve speed
4) Ana Ivanovic--> One-dimensional game
5) Maria Sharapova--> Agility, second serve
6) Serena Williams--> Consistency, fitness
7) Anna Chakvetadze--> Mental toughness
8) Venus Williams--> Consistency, forehand/second serve technique
9) Daniela Hantuchova--> Court coverage
10) Elena Dementieva--> Serve

1) Roger Federer--> High backhands
2) Rafael Nadal--> Tentativeness
3) Novak Djokovic--> Mental toughness
4) Nikolay Davydenko--> One-dimensional game
5) Andy Roddick--> Volleys, backhand, fluidity
6) Fernando Gonzalez--> Consistency
7) David Ferrer--> Serve speed and placement
8) James Blake--> Backhand, consistency, touch
9) Tommy Robredo--> Power
10) Tommy Haas--> Mental toughness, consistency

Your thoughts?

 

[CanadianChic]

I disagree that Nadal is tentative. It seems to me he chases every single ball that comes anywhere close to him - way more than most players on the tour.

 

[kpatterman]

I disagree that Nadal is tentative. It seems to me he chases every single ball that comes anywhere close to him - way more than most players on the tour.

I don't mean tentative in that he doesn't chase balls down--that's one of his ultimate strengths. I mean he's tentative when he plays on the faster surfaces and still reverts back to his heavy top-spin clay court game. His opponents are given an opportunity to get their footwork set and tee off on some of his balls. Their balls are travelling much faster through the court and taking time away from Nadal to plant his feet and construct the point.

 

[CanadianChic]

I don't mean tentative in that he doesn't chase balls down--that's one of his ultimate strengths. I mean he's tentative when he plays on the faster surfaces and still reverts back to his heavy top-spin clay court game. His opponents are given an opportunity to get their footwork set and tee off on some of his balls. Their balls are travelling much faster through the court and taking time away from Nadal to plant his feet and construct the point.

I agree and my bad for obviously misunderstanding your meaning. Thanks for clearing that up in such a polite manner - it's appreciated. I agree with your thoughts on these players in general but would like to see Nadal work on his serve - he is one of my fav's to those who think I am trying to bash him.

 

[lonestar]

I agree with your points, but I would like to add:

Roger Federer --> 1st serve %
Rafael Nadal --> Serve
Diokovic --> Drop Shot
Davydenko --> Serve

 

[boredone3456]

I agree with all of your points, but I would add mental game to Sharapova's. I only say this because once she messed up a game, or a few points, she becomes unhinged, like she looses her confidence and has to struggle to get it back. also I think her dad is a huge part of the problem..I mean he abandoned her at the US open 3rd round match.

 

[Alexandros]

1) Justine Henin--> First serve %

Agree

2) Svetlana Kuznetsova--> Erratic strokes

Her strokes are perfectly fine technically. It's her mental frailty which causes her to tense up and thus affects her stroke production.

3) Jelena Jankovic--> Serve speed

Yeah she could do with some more power on her serve.

4) Ana Ivanovic--> One-dimensional game

That's not a weakness since it wins her matches and she doesn't typically lose matches because she has a one dimensional game. She loses matches mainly on mentality, most especially against the top players she has yet to truly believe she belongs and can compete with them.


5) Maria Sharapova--> Agility, second serve

Her second serve is fine. Her weakness is her fairly poor defensive abilities.

6) Serena Williams--> Consistency, fitness

"Consistency" in the conventional sense has never really applied to Serena or Venus. They will make a lot of errors but their aggressive play typically balances it out with lots of winners and forced errors from the opponent. Fitness is far and away her weakness now.

7) Anna Chakvetadze--> Mental toughness

Yep.

Venus Williams--> Consistency, forehand/second serve technique

Second serve is definitely a weakness. People overexaggerate her supposed weakness to her forehand. It's more vulnerable than her backhand yes, but it is not a weakness.

9) Daniela Hantuchova--> Court coverage

Hantuchova covers the court fine, her problem is all mental.

10) Elena Dementieva--> Serve

Hell yeah.

1) Roger Federer--> High backhands

Agree.

2) Rafael Nadal--> Tentativeness

Yeah, he needs to be more aggressive on hard courts and more sure of his abilities.

3) Novak Djokovic--> Mental toughness

No Djoke is actually pretty strong mentally, save for his meltdown against Federer in the US Open. But that's excusable. I'd say Djokovic's weakness is that he doesn't have a true 'kill shot'. His serve, backhand and forehand are all well above average but none of them is a true money shot that he can rely on to pull himself out of tough situations. It's good for his consistency that if part of his game breaks down he doesn't rely on it so heavily it would impair him as much as say, if Roddick started missing serves but at the same time Djokovic does tend to play longer points/matches than other aggressive baseliners.

4) Nikolay Davydenko--> One-dimensional game

That's not a weakness, he doesn't lose matches because of a lack of variety, it's almost invariably a mental thing.

5) Andy Roddick--> Volleys, backhand, fluidity

The backhand is fine, the volleys aren't too bad and Roddick isn't too shabby a mover for such a big guy. I think his great weakness is his court tactics. Like against Gasquet in Wimbledon, he got passed again and again and again by backhands up the line yet he kept going back there with **** poor approach shots. His volleys may not be textbook strokes but if he's approaching when he has his opponent on the severe defense you don't need a great volley to knock it away.

6) Fernando Gonzalez--> Consistency

Yep.

7) David Ferrer--> Serve speed and placement

Yeah, he's content to roll it in a lot of the time.

8)James Blake--> Backhand, consistency, touch

Tactics. Needs to know when to pull the trigger.

9) Tommy Robredo--> Power

I'd agree.

10) Tommy Haas--> Mental toughness, consistency

Yeah mentality for sure. His strokes are fairly consistent though.

 

[AznHylite]

1) Justine Henin--> First serve %

Agree

2) Svetlana Kuznetsova--> Erratic strokes

Her strokes are perfectly fine technically. It's her mental frailty which causes her to tense up and thus affects her stroke production.

3) Jelena Jankovic--> Serve speed

Yeah she could do with some more power on her serve.

4) Ana Ivanovic--> One-dimensional game

That's not a weakness since it wins her matches and she doesn't typically lose matches because she has a one dimensional game. She loses matches mainly on mentality, most especially against the top players she has yet to truly believe she belongs and can compete with them.


5) Maria Sharapova--> Agility, second serve

Her second serve is fine. Her weakness is her fairly poor defensive abilities.

6) Serena Williams--> Consistency, fitness

"Consistency" in the conventional sense has never really applied to Serena or Venus. They will make a lot of errors but their aggressive play typically balances it out with lots of winners and forced errors from the opponent. Fitness is far and away her weakness now.

7) Anna Chakvetadze--> Mental toughness

Yep.

Venus Williams--> Consistency, forehand/second serve technique

Second serve is definitely a weakness. People overexaggerate her supposed weakness to her forehand. It's more vulnerable than her backhand yes, but it is not a weakness.

9) Daniela Hantuchova--> Court coverage

Hantuchova covers the court fine, her problem is all mental.

10) Elena Dementieva--> Serve

Hell yeah.

1) Roger Federer--> High backhands

Agree.

2) Rafael Nadal--> Tentativeness

Yeah, he needs to be more aggressive on hard courts and more sure of his abilities.

3) Novak Djokovic--> Mental toughness

No Djoke is actually pretty strong mentally, save for his meltdown against Federer in the US Open. But that's excusable. I'd say Djokovic's weakness is that he doesn't have a true 'kill shot'. His serve, backhand and forehand are all well above average but none of them is a true money shot that he can rely on to pull himself out of tough situations. It's good for his consistency that if part of his game breaks down he doesn't rely on it so heavily it would impair him as much as say, if Roddick started missing serves but at the same time Djokovic does tend to play longer points/matches than other aggressive baseliners.

4) Nikolay Davydenko--> One-dimensional game

That's not a weakness, he doesn't lose matches because of a lack of variety, it's almost invariably a mental thing.

5) Andy Roddick--> Volleys, backhand, fluidity

The backhand is fine, the volleys aren't too bad and Roddick isn't too shabby a mover for such a big guy. I think his great weakness is his court tactics. Like against Gasquet in Wimbledon, he got passed again and again and again by backhands up the line yet he kept going back there with **** poor approach shots. His volleys may not be textbook strokes but if he's approaching when he has his opponent on the severe defense you don't need a great volley to knock it away.

6) Fernando Gonzalez--> Consistency

Yep.

7) David Ferrer--> Serve speed and placement

Yeah, he's content to roll it in a lot of the time.

8)James Blake--> Backhand, consistency, touch

Tactics. Needs to know when to pull the trigger.

9) Tommy Robredo--> Power

I'd agree.

10) Tommy Haas--> Mental toughness, consistency

Yeah mentality for sure. His strokes are fairly consistent though.

I agree with this 100%.

 

[yellowoctopus]

3) Novak Djokovic--> Mental toughness

No Djoke is actually pretty strong mentally, save for his meltdown against Federer in the US Open. But that's excusable. I'd say Djokovic's weakness is that he doesn't have a true 'kill shot'. His serve, backhand and forehand are all well above average but none of them is a true money shot that he can rely on to pull himself out of tough situations. ...

I always thought his 'kill shot' is the forehand. Perhaps being strong from both sides (FH and BH) might cause his forehand to be overlooked.

On the other hand, the frequent drop shots of his, well, is still more of gamble shot than an arsenal.

 

[callitout]

Djokovic's serve is great...highly underrated. His backhand and return game are great. His forehand is average for ATP top 10. Mentally he is strong...he's just not as goood a player as Fed yet. At 20, he has established himself as the second best player outside of clay in the world because of his mental toughness. So its really missing the boat to call mental toughness a problem for him.
He had some breathing issues when he came on the tour had sinus surgery and now is a tough out.

 

[Sliceboy2]

5) Andy Roddick--> Volleys, backhand, fluidity

This is really true, I feel that Roddick is almost always overhits his every stroke intead of working his fluidity to set up his shots and move in for the volley. He admires his power shots so much.

8) James Blake--> Backhand, consistency, touch

Good observation...
I often see Blake contented playing way back in the baseline and just ripping groundstrokes, he could add some nice touch to his game to mix it up.

 

[Topaz]

I disagree with Djoko not being mentally tough.

 

[cknobman]

1) 5) Andy Roddick--> Volleys, backhand, fluidity

The backhand is fine, the volleys aren't too bad and Roddick isn't too shabby a mover for such a big guy. I think his great weakness is his court tactics. Like against Gasquet in Wimbledon, he got passed again and again and again by backhands up the line yet he kept going back there with **** poor approach shots. His volleys may not be textbook strokes but if he's approaching when he has his opponent on the severe defense you don't need a great volley to knock it away.

I would have to say his forehand has become a weakness (although we all know it shouldnt be). Except for a few rare moments each year Andy has steadily become comfortable spinning the ball in. He has gotten in the habit of putting so much dang spin on the ball that his forehand usually lacks any real power nowadays. But we all know that when he flattens the ball out he has one of the best and hardest forehands in the game. He did this somewhat in his match against Fed at the USO.

 

[jamesblakefan#1]

James Blake's weakness=confidence.

He has to believe and know that he can be one of the best in the world.

 

[superman1]

I would have to say his forehand has become a weakness (although we all know it shouldnt be). Except for a few rare moments each year Andy has steadily become comfortable spinning the ball in. He has gotten in the habit of putting so much dang spin on the ball that his forehand usually lacks any real power nowadays. But we all know that when he flattens the ball out he has one of the best and hardest forehands in the game. He did this somewhat in his match against Fed at the USO.

It's certainly not a weakness, but it's not the great weapon that it used to be. Part of this is because he stands closer to the baseline now, so he doesn't have as much time to wind-up. That's the problem with having such a loopy forehand. So I would say that it's his average movement (compared to smaller guys) and court positioning that makes his forehand less effective.

 

[saram]

Didn't Ferrer bust 150mph on a serve at the French? I know his serve is not always the fastest on tour, but I would not say it is a weakness. I would say Ferrer's weakness would lay within his forehand: when it is on--it is lethal. When it's off, he sprays shots into the bottom of the net as he opens his stance too early when the timing is not on.

Just a thought, but you did sum everything up quite well. May add a few things here and there, but overall--you had great things listed for each player.

 

[Vision84]

Agree that Roddick's problems is his strategy. He doesn't adapt effectively to different players such as Gasquet at Wimbledon or when he lost to Murray at Wimbledon the year before. He always approaches to the backhand and seems to like hitting the inside out forehand way to much that it leaves him vulnerable. He doesn't construct points effectively.

 

[dima]

How someone can say Sharapova's second serve is fine is beyond me.

 

[soyizgood]

Blake is clueless at the net. More than once I've seen him trying to 2-hand against a drop shot or do a 2-hand half-volley right into the net.

 

[soyizgood]

Guys and their weaknesses:

Federer - facing Nadal on clay

Nadal - playing anywhere outside of clay/slow hardcourts

Djokovic - pedestrian backhand, terrible at the net

Davydenko - lacks the toughness to beat the best, too methodical, also owned by Fed (0-9)

Roddick - pedestrian backhand, lacks court speed, comes to the net at the wrong time, owned by Fed (1-14)

Gonzalez - inconsistent, owned by Fed (0-10)

Ferrer - haven't seen him play, so ???

Blake - worships Fed (0-5?) and Roddick, too much of a ball basher, looks confused at the net, lacks any drive to go further in the slams

Robredo - like Blake, never gets past the QF of a slam

Haas - Nice strokes, but just can't keep up with the younger guns

 

[Benjamin007]

I just want to cut it short as belows:

1. Jelena Jankovic--> Totally on serve
2. Ana Ivanovic--> Mental toughness, looked back on FO final against Justine, she so easily gave up
3. Maria Sharapova--> Her serve, volley and be more aggresive
4. Serena Williams--> Her attiude on court
5. Elena Dementieva--> Backhand, court coverage

1. Rafael Nadal--> Tentativeness and be more aggresive
2. Novak Djokovic--> Concentration else he need to bounce 30 times to serve
3. Nikolay Davydenko--> One-dimensional game
5) Andy Roddick--> Volleys, backhand,
6) Fernando Gonzalez--> Consistency

 

[downdaline]

I would have to say his forehand has become a weakness (although we all know it shouldnt be). Except for a few rare moments each year Andy has steadily become comfortable spinning the ball in. He has gotten in the habit of putting so much dang spin on the ball that his forehand usually lacks any real power nowadays. But we all know that when he flattens the ball out he has one of the best and hardest forehands in the game. He did this somewhat in his match against Fed at the USO.

totally agree abt the overly spun forehand here. It really showed in the Aus Open against fed.