I was looking through the Jelena Dokic thread and see a lot of posters expressing feelings of nostalgia, and thought this would be a good idea for a thread....
I miss Li Na so much and I feel like I didn't fully appreciate her game and talent until she left :crying: I often think about her and feel like there's been a big void on the tour since she left. She was so adorable in her post-match interviews and her smiles were so contagious.
I also miss Bartoli, I loved her quirkiness and feistiness even though many couldn't stand her.
I can only imagine how sad I'm going to be when Reenus both call it good.
Dementieva
Then also Kim Clijsters, Ai Sugiyama, Karolina Sprem, Amelie Mauresmo, Mary Pierce, Elena Bovina, Lina Krasnorutskaya, Babsi Schett, Adrijana Lekaj sobbing, Iroda Tulyaganova, Shinobu Asagoe, Silvija Talaja, Petra Mandula, Alina Jidkova and Gisela Dulko.
Dokic and Chaky mostly. Also I would like to have seen what Golovin, Vaidisova and the like would have done without injuries or whatever else forcing early retirements. It seems worse to me when the careers were "incomplete".
Definitely with Vaidisova. I think she could've won a couple of slams. She had the serve and the game to do it. The distractions (Stepanek) and the injuries really messed that up. Golovin could've had some success. Not sure if she would've won slams, but she could've been a consistent Top 10 or top 20 player. Tatiana was so much fun to watch when she started getting better. That match vs. Sharapova in Miami years back, really showed her potential.
Truly miss Chakvetadze. Loved how her ground game consistently painted those lines from either side for clean winners. She's only 29 and I continue to hold onto faint hopes that she'll recover from her medical condition and return to the game. I definitely miss her game and her court presence, plus she was easy on my eyes, a cutie. Others missed are her countrywoman, Elena D., Kim C. (her competitiveness), Nikki Vaidisova (for what could have been if she had not retired the lst time) and Flavia.....
It's weird to say this, but I really do miss the eternal bang goddess Elena Dementieva. Besides getting a good laugh trying to watch her serve, she could hit with the best of them! Her game was deadly when it was on. She gave everybody fits, Serena included! She really should've won a slam or two before she called it quits. Would've been interesting if we got to see her play against some of these girls.
I feel you on that one. I'll be feeling it for months, maybe years. When they're done, I definitely won't be as interested in Women's tennis anymore. Vee and Ree made me the tennis fan I am today.
Would love to see Martina Hingisova as a young player with a better serve than her unfortunate typical "90's serve". If she played now, and had a Henin type serve... wow.
II miss Li Na so much and I feel like I didn't fully appreciate her game and talent until she left :crying: I often think about her and feel like there's been a big void on the tour since she left. She was so adorable in her post-match interviews and her smiles were so contagious.
Li was and is always my first favourite. I don't think I got into WTA without her. Late bloomer but she had very clean strokes and could kill your on either wing, but especially the BH side, DTL was my favourite shot to watch her play time and time again.
AO has never been the same since she left. She always slayed during that event, and I think the courts suit her to a T. Actually pretty much all my favourite matches of Li was played there, has beaten Vika, Vee, Masha, Aga, Caro among others there. Even her lost to Serena Williams there in 2010 SF, was a very entertaining tough hard hitting affair. I remember watching that match and thinking, boy Serena is really tough and intimidating, but Li has her own thing going on like you don't want to mess with her. Actually it was that event in 2010 that I really noticed her. Also love that SF she dismissed Sharapova handily 6-2 6-2. I remember posting in the beatdown thread her match against Ekaterina Makarova where she brutally won 6-2 6-0. I think her "consistent" peak is higher than Petra through a whole match. She doesn't need to even hit complete winners alone, placement is just key to her game.
I also miss Dokic for similar reasons, personality.
Little Zheng Jie I miss big time as well. She had so much heart. Loved her matches against both William sisters. Zheng was hitting huge well before Cibulkova came along. Seriously you wouldn't think it...
Definitely Hingis(singles), Fearless teenage Hingis.
I feel very fortunate that she has done so much the past few years on the dubs court, won more slams(7 or 8?), been #1, but have been watching some of her old singles matches lately and she is sorely missed!!
Definitely Hingis(singles), Fearless teenage Hingis.
I feel very fortunate that she has done so much the past few years on the dubs court, won more slams(7 or 8?), been #1, but have been watching some of her old singles matches lately and she is sorely missed!!
Absolutely, when I see her play singles back in the late 90´s early 00´s I get mad about her childish attitudes which eventually had her out of the tour, she could have been so much more had she wanted it