Why did Serena always struggle against Christina McHale?

[puppybutts]

Serena always came out on top, winning the H2H 4-0. But they are all 3 setters and one close 2 setter:

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I read an article a long time ago about how Serena has an easier time beating top 10 players over lower ranked players she's not familiar with...but even after a few matches, they always had tight scores. It reminds me of Serena's H2H with Li Na...Serena dominates the H2H score, but every match they had was super tight. That's more understandable though since Li had some of the best groundstrokes but often couldn't sustain prolonged consistency.

 

[Moose Malloy]

Interesting find.

 

[gadge]

I haven’t seen a lot of their matches but Serena kinda struggles against players who don’t give a lot of pace and can serve well. Li na was a really good base line player who moved extremely well but lacked mental toughness and also a good returner.

Struggle is a big word but I can’t think of another word.