Jack Romeo
Professional
we all know about the lack of preparation, the unfocused mentality, the suboptimal physical conditioning and the general decline in confidence. but i'd like to point out some technical flaws that have creeped in to the williamses' games lately, especially serena's.
venus techniques especially on the serve and forehand have always been prone to breaking down even during her glory days of 2000-2001. but now, even her backhand seems unreliable. wasn't it 2 consecutive backhand errors that ultimately cost her that first round match against pironkova?
the sisters, serena in particular, are just not serving and returning like before. it is said that the serve and the return are 80% of the game. no wonder she is so far from her dominating form from 2002-2003. serena always had, and still has, a nice smooth service motion. in fact, both williams sisters still serve the hardest first serves on tour. but both have failed to back up those big first serves with reliable second serves. and if the saying that "you're only as good as your second serve" is true, then it's no wonder why the sisters are so far from where they should be.
i recall that when serena was dominating the tour, her second serve was considered the best on tour. she hit it around 90-105mph and with heavy spin (both kick and slice) and was always brave enough to go for the lines. but now, she lacks racket head speed and many of her second serves are sitting ducks for her opponents to attack. the stats from the hantuchova match are typical of serena's matches of late: she averaged only 85mph on her second serve and won only 31% of those points when she had to hit a second serve.
lastly, both sisters have been far less effective with their returns recently. they used to possess some of the most punishing returns. they'd plant themselves inside the baseline - a'la monica seles - and step in to whack the ball to the lines. they still try to do that but they've been missing a lot now. from the hantuchova match again: serena won only 33% of recieving points (compared to 45% for daniela).
2 of the more successful power players of recent times have been lindsay davenport and mary pierce. both have awesome serves and returns. while both are in peak shape, i still submit that the williams sisters, at their current physical state, can still at least match the footspeed of either pierce or davenport, due to their overabundance of natural athleticism. that is, even if serena is packing a few extra pounds or venus hampered by some new injury, they'd still be at least as good movers as lindsay or mary. so if only the sisters could work on their declining serves (especially second serves) and returns, they should still be top 5 players, and serious threats to win any tournament they enter.
venus techniques especially on the serve and forehand have always been prone to breaking down even during her glory days of 2000-2001. but now, even her backhand seems unreliable. wasn't it 2 consecutive backhand errors that ultimately cost her that first round match against pironkova?
the sisters, serena in particular, are just not serving and returning like before. it is said that the serve and the return are 80% of the game. no wonder she is so far from her dominating form from 2002-2003. serena always had, and still has, a nice smooth service motion. in fact, both williams sisters still serve the hardest first serves on tour. but both have failed to back up those big first serves with reliable second serves. and if the saying that "you're only as good as your second serve" is true, then it's no wonder why the sisters are so far from where they should be.
i recall that when serena was dominating the tour, her second serve was considered the best on tour. she hit it around 90-105mph and with heavy spin (both kick and slice) and was always brave enough to go for the lines. but now, she lacks racket head speed and many of her second serves are sitting ducks for her opponents to attack. the stats from the hantuchova match are typical of serena's matches of late: she averaged only 85mph on her second serve and won only 31% of those points when she had to hit a second serve.
lastly, both sisters have been far less effective with their returns recently. they used to possess some of the most punishing returns. they'd plant themselves inside the baseline - a'la monica seles - and step in to whack the ball to the lines. they still try to do that but they've been missing a lot now. from the hantuchova match again: serena won only 33% of recieving points (compared to 45% for daniela).
2 of the more successful power players of recent times have been lindsay davenport and mary pierce. both have awesome serves and returns. while both are in peak shape, i still submit that the williams sisters, at their current physical state, can still at least match the footspeed of either pierce or davenport, due to their overabundance of natural athleticism. that is, even if serena is packing a few extra pounds or venus hampered by some new injury, they'd still be at least as good movers as lindsay or mary. so if only the sisters could work on their declining serves (especially second serves) and returns, they should still be top 5 players, and serious threats to win any tournament they enter.
