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How did Sugiyama change her game to get to the top 10?

838 views 18 replies 15 participants last post by  Fantastic 
#1 ·
I can't figure it out.
 
#5 ·
Celeste said:
She played doubles with Kim. It helped with everything. Now that she's not playing doubles with Kim, her results will fall off and her time in the Top 10 or even Top 20 are over.
that's a bit harsh. according to ai's mum the split was planned long b4 ai cracked the top-10.
 
#6 ·
I don't mean it to be harsh. Playing with Kim for what, a year, let her into the mind of a Top 5, a No. 1, mental, strategy, confidence, it all helped. Anna and Pam for sure got better in singles playing doubles with a top singles player, no different with Ai. It's their time on the court that counts, not when they decided to split. Kim will have "after effect" on Ai for awhile, but she's already down a notch since last year. I don't expect the trend to reverse itself this year.
 
#8 ·
Celeste said:
I don't mean it to be harsh. Playing with Kim for what, a year, let her into the mind of a Top 5, a No. 1, mental, strategy, confidence, it all helped. Anna and Pam for sure got better in singles playing doubles with a top singles player, no different with Ai. It's their time on the court that counts, not when they decided to split. Kim will have "after effect" on Ai for awhile, but she's already down a notch since last year. I don't expect the trend to reverse itself this year.
fair enough but i expect ai 2 pull herself together when she realises that she won those matches.

go ai :bounce:
 
#11 ·
As much as I want her to do well, I don't see her in the top 15 or even 20 at the end of the season. She had a lot of lucky draws last year, especially toward the end of the year. Her win at Scottsdale was indeed amazing, though. Not too many players have won a title beating Lindsay and Kim (and Alex Stevenson, of course). She just has no weapon to threaten the top players. She's consistent off the ground and can play well at the net but most of the time her agility wins matches. When her opponent is on, no matter how much higher Ai is ranked, she's very likely to lose.
 
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#17 ·
spike83 said:
she trained with Kim (Clijsters) that definetely helped her
I think this true, with an increase in confidence came less choking,
and the fitness was always there. I also think seeing Kim and
Justine do so well gave her some inspiration that being under
5 feet 9 inches isn't that bad of a thing after all. You have to
remember that from 1998-2000 all the talk was that the modern
player of the 21st century was to be at the shortest at 5 feet
9 inches and no smaller. Thank God for Ai she wasn't listening to
Chris Evert's tennis commentary! :lol:

She won some amazing matches last year.
What's so wrong with that? She's a nice person, it's
nice to see players like Ai and Farina do well. Maybe for people
who aren't familiar with the great Kimiko Date, Ai's success
may seem just lucky or 3rd rate. I tell ya, Ai did not have it
easy following Kimiko Date all these years. Did you know that
Kimiko's WIMBLEDON semi final against Graf was until the
World Cup 1998/2002 football team which featured Hideyoshi
Nakata was the highest ever rated and most watched sporting
event ever televised in Japan? This is how huge Kimiko Date
was.
 
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#18 ·
She didn't have to, look at the top ten, it doesn't take much, one big win and you're in.
 
#19 ·
Sugiyama became more consistent, fitter and began to employ different strategies into her game.
 
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