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Mallorca R2: (7) Ana Konjuh puts on a masterclass, def. (WC) Victoria Azarenka, 61 63

8K views 75 replies 63 participants last post by  Pierre. 
#1 ·
Ana :worship:

Just brutal, flawless hitting of the ball. Ended with 27W/11UE overall, pretty much tells you everything you need to know about how well Ana played. Basically gave me 2014 Wimbledon final Kvitova teas with the way she was striking the ball, especially the first set -- 18W/5UE in that set :worship:

Could have easily been a 60 61 match but Vika's fighting qualities allowed her to peg back some games; but really she wasn't going to win this match with the tactics she employed here. Against Ana, you should move her around and not play a power game toe to toe with her because I don't think Vika has more power than Ana to outhit her. Instead, she should use her re-directing abilities to redirect the ball in different directions to give Konjuh different looks and move her around more, which would get her off balance and thus not being to hit winners at will. Granted, it may not have worked with the way Ana was playing today, but maybe she could have challenged Ana more because Ana simply just could tee off pretty easily today.

Vika didn't play that badly for what it's worth, ended with a neutral W/UE ratio (I think it was 16/16); and it was a much better showing than against Ozaki; but against a power hitter on grass, Vika's movement was always going to be suspect (even at her peak) and she just couldn't cope with Konjuh's pace of shot today. I think she has a lot of improvement to do; and you can bet that she'll play miles better at Wimbledon than she did at Mallorca.

Oh, and her serve needs A LOT of work; as well as her finishing drive volleys/simple putaways at the net. She made many errors off that today and in the Ozaki match when she had a short ball to putaway after a good serve or groundstroke.
 
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#10 ·
It was both. I mean, it's not hard to hit winners past an opponent who isn't hitting with any pace or conviction.

Ana was great, I guess. Don't see her getting past Sevastova, though. There were a lot of deuce games in this match, and Vika pretty much lost them all :scratch: That serve and FH are currently a nightmare and hard to watch.

But considering everything, it's a decent comeback :shrug:
 
#5 ·
The Konjuh/Rodina match last week was one of the best I saw all year. But I'm surprised Vika couldnt keep it closer
 
#8 ·
If you're gonna barely get past Ozaki in a 3rd set tb, then losing to Konjuh 61 63 on grass isn't surprising.
Ana :inlove: Vika get that match practice. :yeah:
 
#9 ·
Tough luck for Vika drawing someone playing the match or at least set of her life. Konjuh hit 18W/5UEs in the opening set. 27W/11UEs overall. Way too much for Vika to handle this early on.

Would like to know what kind of hypnosis/psychosis Krajan puts on his pupils because they always come for Vika's neck. :lol: I mean Konjuh lost to Vikhlyantseva a week ago.
 
#11 ·
Ana :bounce:

She is a big talent. Has wonderful strokes :hearts:

I like her. But why is she so robotic, shows no emotions ? :help:

Also her body language is horrible. Even when leading with hanging shoulders :eek:

Azarenka :tape:

Her comeback will be more difficult than she thinks
 
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#12 ·
Unbelievable hitting at times from Konjuh, wow. You could see in her eyes how zoned in she was, knowing full well Azarenka's ability.

Guest wasn't actually that bad today, 14 winners to 14 unforced errors - the serve remains an area for improvement but already she was less of a mess than she was against Ozaki. Still, she didn't have anything close to the consistency required to make it close or competitive with this Konjuh.

A win is a win and Azarenka can go into Wimbledon with a couple of matches under her belt, at least. Konjuh stopped Azarenka from moving forward with her brutal baseline strokes and served quite well too. Best match she's played in some time.

I don't personally think she'll make a dent at Wimbledon but by the time the US open rolls around the groundstrokes will be looking a lot sharper, I feel.

Azarenka was never great on grass anyway, and she will always struggle against power hitters on the surface, especially when they're treeing. There were a few backhands that were utterly atrocious from Azarenka but at the same time there were a few occasions where she connected brilliantly and made a powerful winner.
 
#14 ·
It was a somewhat expected result, and even the scoreline isn't very surprising given her level of play in R1. Just lacking so much intensity, which again will comeback with more match play. Her rally ball was exactly what Konjuh feels confortable with, just had to use her great shot making abilites.

The serve is definitely looking very slow and bad.
 
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#16 ·
Not really surprised. Ana has the ability to just spank the shit out the ball (it's bullshit she doesn't do this more often to be honest).

In the long run, this is good for Vika. She needed to see where her level was at in a match situation. Like her comeback from the foot injury a couple of years ago, it takes Vika a while to get her groove back. But as long as she stays healthy, she'll be fine.
 
#17 ·
Watching this match made me question why Vika and her team decided that it was a good idea to come back at this time of year; grass is historically her worst surface and this performance genuinely makes me think she will lose very early at Wimbledon, R1 or R2 - the only player she might definitely beat in R1 is one of the wildcards aka Robson or Broady. Anyone else could potentially be very worrying indeed.

I find it sad to think Vika has not been in a Grand Slam final since 2013 and has not even made a semi since 2013. I question whether she will ever get back to that form she once had; I'm not sure she will.
 
#19 ·
Re: Mallorca R2: (7) Ana Konjuh d. Someone We Once Knew As Vika 6-1, 6-3

Oh dear.

Its a start at least Vika :hug:
 
#20 ·
What a change in the body language from Ana, happy to see her on the court with the right attitude.:cheer:

Afterwards for the match, we all know what she can do on a court .:hearts:

I think the most revealing on this match is that she won all the deuce games, including 2 where she was down 0-30, the other where Vika was up 40-15 and the game to close it out.The way she won to love the game when Vika came back from 4-1 to 4-3, say it all about Ana today.

Stats:

Ana :27W/11 UE
Vika: 14W/14UE

Happy to see Vika on the court, nothing to worry about her, she just needs time.:)
 
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#65 · (Edited)
No big deal Vika :hug: I think she will lose in R1 or R2 in Wimbledon, maybe R3 if she gets Two British scrubs in a row.

She has some matches already under her belt and is in training, that's what counts so early on.

But this is precious victory for Ana :)



Kirilenko serve was not bad, Azarenka would wish to have such even close to her peak :tape:
 
#24 ·
The positives:

Looks in good shape.

Moved reasonably well.

Fought hard vs Ozaki so the hunger is still there.

The negatives:

Serve looks terrible. I don't really get this new motion, the ball toss is way right, which takes away when you can hit it direction wise, anyway it doesn't look great right now whatever the change is.

Groundstrokes look weak, just seemed a lack of pace and weight on her shots in both matches.

Return was way off in terms of missing lots, but she also got away with a lot from what she does best of return deep down the middle in both matches (which was effective, but rarely used).

Her tactics were very poor in this match. There didn't look any specific game plan. Lots of players look a million bucks if you hit to their hitting zone, and Vika's shots consistently were landing near the service line with no great weight on them. There just wasn't enough depth or power to force any errors.
 
#33 ·
Also lol to certain Guest stans who thought that she could come back after a year and easily "dominate this weak era" and "destroy all these mugs" :wavey:
I knew there would at least be one... :spit: Literally no one has said that. A Vika on her normal level will dominate the tour, not an only just returned 20% playing Vika. It will take a lot of tournaments to get there, like we have seen with her returning after injuries in the past.


Btw, not to take anything away from Konjuh, she would be hard to beat today by Vika at any percentage.
 
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