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Petra may have reached her maximum already - I see stamina and age issues behind

6K views 71 replies 47 participants last post by  Sammo 
#1 ·
Petra does not win big matches any more. She is still playing some solid TOP 20 - 35 tennis, but more than often struggles with solid and stable TOP 20 players or even with just-in-zone players, which was not the case before.

She wasnt missing any of the last 5 YECs, nevertheless, this year, she will not be there which now really seems to be quite evident.

Ive got some feeling, her body, stamina and age limits have already been reached and she cant show anything more.

A perfect end of her career might be a medal in Olympics, the last one Fed Cup title and then, a slowly leaving the WTA top might be expected.

Despite that, she has had a perfect career and in terms of consistency, its actually big paradox, that such an inconsistent player is the only one on tour together with Radwanska, who hasnt missed any of last 5 YECs.

CZ can now wait for such a prospect next long years. Generally, a lot of solid women players, but I can see no exceptional one.

Maybe a better physio and coaching work focused on improving her stamina could help (Venus with a similar body type and ilness could be a great example what to do), but am really not much persuaded about it.

Your thoughts?
 
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#2 ·
I think the future of WTA looks clear. New rackets/strings make the game very physical & demanding
There's so much money for anyone successful
I dont think we will see the long spectacular careers we were used to
Players will hit big, make a fortune, and the mental/physical effort to stay near the top will not happen
I can see Petra having some good Wimbledons in the future. Especially if she decides to set her schedule to try to be healthy & peaking then
But a consistent level like 2011 Wimbledon will surprise me
 
#4 ·
Age limits? She is 26. She needs to get rid of her current joke of a team and then she'll see results.
 
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#5 ·
She's not motivated anymore and has no commitment to work harder on her fitness level and honestly her lack of stamina& fitness is what kept her from reaching higher than she did. This woman was multiple Slam material(except clay maybe) but inconsistency and poor fitness held her back. IMO Petra is a pure example of a hugely talented player who underachieved while still managing to have a honorable career she should be proud of.
 
#7 ·
Petra is still soooo young. It's all about her determination and motivation to practice and prepare her body/mind for tough/long matches. If I recall a couple years ago she was winning all 3 set matches even though her physical shape was not that great. And she doesn't play too much throughout the year and her game is not too demanding on her body.

As I said multiple times not everyone can be a machine like Djokovic with his practice routine and determination to succeed. It is what it is, Kvitova had/has a great career anyway but it still sucks because she most likely can achieve much more :shrug:
 
#8 ·
I don't think Petra looked physically poor today - despite relatively tough (hot & humid) conditions she hung in longer rallies through the match.

The problem still seems to be in her head - she doesn't have the clutch play she needs when she has the opportunity, so break points go begging, and she struggles to serve out sets (when she used to be good at holding under pressure).
 
#10 ·
Petra hasn't reached her maximum, she's just incredibly lazy :( She is surrounded by 'yes men,' & once she gets people around her who won't let her have her way, she will improve. No one knows when or if that'll happen, though.
 
#11 ·
Petra is simply technically flawed. She will always be a streaky player. she has always been error prone as player and when she rallies more than 5 shots. She makes errors. I also dont think she the same competitive streak like Maria or Serena. She has 2 slams already and for most players after 2 slams, its normal to not be as hungry. The likes of players we see like Serena, Novak and Roger are freak of nature
 
#12 ·
venus is not a good example. youre setting the bar too high for petra... the determination, focus and mentality venus has are unmatched... if you expect her to rise to that level you will be disappointed
 
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#13 ·
Your thoughts?
Claiming "age issues" when she's 26 and was just beaten by a woman five years older is utterly nonsensical. If she was losing only to younger players it would be a valid consideration. As it is only three of the players ranked above her are younger

Her stamina is IMO slightly better than it ever has been. The issue still seems to be focus. It's as if she can't keep herself mentally honed in on the game. :shrug:
 
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#15 ·
I see no focus there, I really see stamina and maybe age as well behind. Petra certainly doesnt belong to players who are supposed to have a long-term career. But 30 years and end should not be that unrealistic, considering her WTA lowest ever average lenght of 3,9 shots per point (thus almost no injuries accompany all her career).

I think, in later stages of her matches, there can be often seen an evident lack of energy. As seen today - she could almost have lead 4:0 and won the first set easily, but then, she was getting slower and slower with each game coming and the result was obvious then. And thats called stamina, maybe age factor as well.
 
#20 ·
Injuries and even years of accumulation of wear and tear on the body of an athlete aren't what is meant by "age related." Look at Bencic for example.
 
#21 ·
dude, at 26 your hormone levels are not low or anything, your bones are still strong, its just a matter of how much effort you put into your conditioning.

if you say some people at THIRTY can still go while others body wont allow them, that would be ok, but at 26, its just will, hard work and talent
 
#25 ·
I think the best players of the 1989/1990 generation have all been struggling for different reasons, it is not just Petra.
After many years in the top ten, Azarenka, Kvitova, Radwanska and Wozniacki seem to be washed up.
Azarenka has been struggling with injuries, had a little revival earlier this year, got injured again and then pregnant LOL
Kvitova hasn't been physically the same since she got sick with mono, which gave her a really good excuse to avoid hard training blocks. She's paying for the consequences in 2016.
Radwanska was already on her downward spiral early last year, then picked herself up at the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016. She's now on her way down again.
Wozniacki has been dealing with injuries and lack of confidence for a while.

It's also interesting to mention that they all have relatively poor Eastern European origins and are now multi-millionaires. They definitely don't have the same hunger as in their first part of their careers.

I think they will eventually have some great results at some point in their careers again, but they will not be consistently top ten players for long stretches (3-5 years) anymore.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Petra is the textbook example of somebody having all the pure, raw talent in the world, but lacking the heart of a champion. She has nobody to blame but herself, unfortunately. :shrug:

She is exceptionally talented, but she's not a natural born champion. Her work ethic is dubious at best, and she seems entirely unaffected by her shitty results this year. :spit:

The problem most definitely isn't physical, either. The problem is work ethic (or lack, thereof). Venus, at thirty five years of age (and despite having suffered from a debilitating illness), is still making tournament finals and Major semis. Petra has youth on her side and has suffered no truly career-threatening injuries, yet she still she still has no sense of consistency or growth as a tennis player. Twenty six is an age during which most elite athletes, particularly top tennis players, start to come into their own.

Petra needs to remember how brilliant that her game is when on-form, and become motivated. Laziness does not a champion make. :shrug:
 
#28 ·
There's nothing you can do if Petra doesn't want to commit to her tennis. But she does want to make another go at it, she would need to make a lot of changes. She's already playing a good schedule, but in order to maximize her talent and her penchant for peaking in like two tournaments a year, she would probably need to trim her calendar considerably. There's no reason to play the IW-MIA double if she hates American HCs so much.

If she can channel near-decent form for a few tournaments a year, there's no reason why she can't bag a few more big titles and perhaps one more slam.

Australia stretch (Sydney + Melbourne) + Middle East? + Clay (Rome + Madrid + RG) + Grass (Tuneup + Wimbledon) + HC (New Haven + USO) + Indoor Stretch + Whatever FedCup commitments she wants to do.
 
#30 ·
She's incredibly lazy and has a joke of a team. She has all the talent to win several more slams over the next 4/5 years but none of the mentality. I fully believe that she has a champion's game but not the mentality, and this is what is causing her to fall off the radar.

Still I would have been happy for my fav to win two Wimbledons. If only dedicated players like Aga/Woz/Halep/JJ who take their career seriously and maximise what they have, had the pure talent that Petra does :shrug:
 
#31 ·
Not that I disagree, but 26 is simply too early to write anyone off. Case in point: Serena in 2006, around the same age. She'd accomplished more than Petra has but she seemed unmotivated and more interested in her non-tennis pursuits, and her fitness was in the pits. Not sure who was around to remember, but her critics couldn't stop talking about how she was done, she should retire, her body type meant her peak fitness would never come back etc. Of course, we know what happened.

Right now, the state of Petra's career deserves nothing but a huge eyeroll because she's wasting these years just like Serena seemed to be wasting 2005-06. But she has the natural talent that if she ever rededicates herself to the game, she absolutely can be at the top of it.

As for CZE prospects, Marketa Vondrousova seems like a very good bet.
 
#32 ·
i just wonder where petra would be right now if she actually had the willpower and determination by vika for example. she never lacked the talent obviously, and concerning the shotmaking ability she def is right up there as one of the best of the tour...
 
#33 ·
I honestly think Petra doesnt have the drive of a champion. I think she is lazy and I think she is either surrounding herself with yes folk or she really doesnt care. She clearly is a talented woman. Both of her Wimbledon runs were great. But those lapses she takes in each match is glaring. Like she will literally disappear for a set and a half. I can only imagine what being a fan of hers is like
 
#34 ·
Petra and Venus have the same body type in exactly the way Pavlyuchenkova and Serena have the same body type.
 
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