Tennis Forum banner

Justine needs to stop playing Eastbourne

3K views 72 replies 37 participants last post by  AKfanatic 
#1 ·
Champion in 2006, reached Wimbledon final won the first set 6-2 and fell apart.

Champion in 2007, reached Wimbledon semifinal won the first set 6-1 and fell apart.

Notice, she never plays one or even weeks before Roland Garros?

Isn't this telling you something?
 
#3 ·
It tells me that she needs assurance that she can bring her game from clay to grass within two weeks.
She probably felt she didn't need it at 2005, but we all know what happened then. But she needs to know that in 2 years, she has improved.
 
#5 ·
She's uncertain about her grass court play, so she plays Eastbourne. But I don't think playing Eastbourne causes these problems at Wimbledon, I think her uncertainty about her grass game does.
 
#6 ·
Umm

I don't know

I mean, I'm a big Justine fan, but I'm not sure I agree with this. I think this year she was fine. Marion upped her level, but honestly, I watched the match and from even the beginning of the second set, Justine wasn't playing well. I know Marion was good, but Justine wasn't even making her move, like me and my partner said all the way through it, this is on Justine's racquet, and unfortunately she didn't make it happen. I do think the conditions didn't help. She wasn't doing anything.


If you are a set up in the W final like she was in 2006, I kind of think you will find all the energy in the world for one more set. Amelie upped her game in that too.

Maybe she should enter the doubles tournament in Eastbourne, or go to the easier Rosmalen tournament, is that right?
 
#17 ·
This is exactly what I thought. I don't think playing Eastbourne was really the matter...considering she had very easy matches up until the Serena Quarterfinal, which was well into the second week.

I, too, knew that it was all on Justine's racket, and time and time again in that second and third set, she just didn't take control of anything. Whenever she had somewhat easier balls (not painted on the line from Marion), she just looped her forehand and didn't really do much with it...She played without a strategy, didn't attack the net...it's almost like playing Eastbourne and all the 5 matches before the SF was for nothing. She just wasted it all away. For Justine, playing like this IS choking :eek: and it's what she did last year against Momo too.

So I don't think it's Eastbourne (at least not this year, maybe it was last year) that was the problem. It was more her nerves... guess she isn't as mentally tough as everyone says she is :sad:
 
#8 ·
Since 06:
Played Sydney - Won
Played AO - Lost

Did not play pre-GS week tournament
Played FO - Won

Played Eastbourne - Won
Played Wimb - Lost

Played Pilot Pen - Won
Played USO - Lost

DNP pre-GS clay tournament
Played FO - Lost

Played Eastbourne - Won
Played Wimb - Lost

Notice the pattern.

Same goes for IW/Miami, it stretches to 4 freaking weeks. If she does well in IW, she will suck bad in Miami.

04 Won IW, Missed Miami
05 DNP IW, QF Miami
06 SF IW, 2R Miami :eek:
07 DNP IW, F Miami
 
#10 ·
don't worry. i'm sure she will never played Eastbourne again.
she said in the interview last week that her and Carlos concerned about it. they was gonna wait and see how far she can go in Wimbledon. if she failed to win (which she did), she won't bother playing anymore.
 
#12 ·
Playing Eastborne isnt her problem.... Choking is... she tried to choke against and injured Serena and choked against Bartoli....She needs to see someone about her mental toughness at Wimbledon.....the Career grandslam is too much for her to handle mentally.
 
#14 ·
I brought this issue up last year.
I felt that the best thing for Justine to do would be to request a WC and play doubles at Birmingham just to get a feel for the grass.
 
#21 ·
yeah, just like Kim;)
 
#23 ·
She definitely should stop playing Eastbourne. She definitely was tired, no two ways about it. She already mentioned it in her press conference after the Serena match, and clearly her strokes were weak in general.
 
#28 ·
#29 ·
I don't understand how she could be physically tired, when she had like 2 days off between her QF and her SF. If it was mental exhaustion, then she shouldn't have spent so much mental energy trying to beat Serena, knowing she had 2 more matches to play.

And hasn't she played better at Wimbledon on the years where she played a grasscourt warmup as opposed to the years where she didn't?
 
#35 ·
I don't understand how she could be physically tired, when she had like 2 days off between her QF and her SF. If it was mental exhaustion, then she shouldn't have spent so much mental energy trying to beat Serena, knowing she had 2 more matches to play.

And hasn't she played better at Wimbledon on the years where she played a grasscourt warmup as opposed to the years where she didn't?

Well, should she have let Serena win the match??? I guess that would've helped Justine win the next 2 matches. :lol:


Anyway, Justine was mentally exhausted, not physically and she didnt think Marion would have brought all the game she did to the semifinals of wimbledon in her first trip to center court, thats it. Personally, i dont think playin Eastbourne is a problem, but if she says so, then we can do nothing but believe her.

Still support her 110%....Go Ju!
 
#30 ·
Or could it be that Justine is human and feels pressure like everyone else? You can't say that Marion's win was a fluke because she not only defeated Jelena Jankovic but despite the Wimbledon final result she wen't toe to toe with Venus and never crumbled.

What I find interesting is Justine's grass court game wasn't tested until the qtrs where an injured Serena took her to three sets. She even admitted herself that that match actually took alot out of her. I believe she was shell shocked at the level of Bartoli's play and confidence. These type of opponents are supposed to choke at the grand slam level afterall it was Bartoli's first semi-final appearance on centre court.

Should she play Eastbourne? I'm not sure if it matters or not. As long as their are physically stronger opponents in the Wimby draw Justine will always be at a disadvantage. I think her best chance was against Amelie last year, just didn't understand why she didn't win that one?
 
#34 ·
I think Justine underestimated Marion (despite what she says in her post-match interview) and
was counting on the Frenchwoman choking which never happened. Even during the final, Marion was still
going for her shots only Venus was able to run down some shots that should have been winners.

I also think that Justine forgot to make Marion run side to side after the first set. Marion was also very agressive on the return of serve which spelled trouble for Justine. Marion decided that she wasn't going to do the running in that match and took it to Justine who started going for too much - she was stunned at what was happening at the other side of the court.

In the end, Marion took her chances and Justine did not. But what was most impressive was the confidence that Bartoli has. Her nerves didn't fail her in the final either. She really made Venus earn her 4th Wimbledon title. :hatoff:

If Bartoli maybe had a better serve and movement around the court who knows what could have happened. Anyhow, I really hope the Frenchwoman does something about her fitness because her groundstrokes and the angles she gets can be really lethal as Justine found out. :worship:

And maybe Justine shouldn't play Eastbourne since she's supposedly tired by the time she reaches the second week in Wimbledon. (I think she mentioned that she was tired in the first week too though. :tape: )
 
#36 ·
I don't know why it took her so much mental energy to beat Serena, the third set was quite easy and she was in control for 90% of the match.
 
#38 ·
No Eastbourne for Ju! No more.

She was mentally and emotionally drained. When she gets this way she plays complete and utter rubbish tennis. We've seen it against an injured Jankovic (where she played straight to her.lol), against Serena she didn't even hit to her bh alot. And even before we could see her serve % steadily dropping and her game just slipping in the 2nd week vs the 1st.

Ju may be mentally tough, but she is a frail human. She CANNOT play 3 straight weeks; even two is doubtful. As if the RG/Wimby double isn't hard enough, adding another tourny in between is just ridiculous. Alot of energy was taken from her playing Serena; mental and physical, and that kind of tiredness that she had accumulated from FO straight to that moment.

And this is nothing against Bartoli, this all about what the little Belgian couldn't find in her tank to do. She was roasted.
 
#47 ·
Ju may be mentally tough, but she is a frail human. She CANNOT play 3 straight weeks; even two is doubtful. As if the RG/Wimby double isn't hard enough, adding another tourny in between is just ridiculous.
It's not 3 straight weeks...there's a week between RG and Eastbourne that she had off both last year and this. I really don't think Eastbourne has anything to do with her problems at Wimbledon...it's all mental.
 
#50 ·
Her main problem at Wimbledon is the fact that she is far from the best grass court player around. On clay, people fold to her because of ehr name alone, if her tennis doesn't get the job done that is...rare if ever..Serena, Venus, Masha, Lindsay in her day and even Momo are all better on grass than Henin, as has been reflected in ehr results....a three set loss in final in 2001 to Venus, 2002 straight set semi loss to Vee, 2003 straight set semi loss to serena, 2005 1st round loss to Danilidou in three sets, 2006 three set loss in final to mauresmo, 2007 semi loss to Bartoli. She nearly always has a great tournament, but it's never been enough to win, when othr players can't win somewhere people often dismiss it as the other players being better etc, but when Henin doesn't win it's a MENTAL REASON :tape: :lol: :lol: :lol: :rolleyes: I think it's a smidgeon patronising of people to say that the woman who has won 4 FO and Aussie and USO title, chokes away several years at wimbledon...certain henin fans need to practise what they preach, constantly going on about williams fans not givign credit to the opponent or williams herself not doing so, but some Henin fans never give any credit. When Justine loses at wimbledon it's because she plays better players, simple as. Her playing eastbourne has nothing to do with her success. She's supposedly one of the fittest players on tour so why can't she 'get up' Gosh, people said when serena was injured that she was a drama queen, some fans are drama queens...banging on about how exhausted henin was, well i'll say the same thing i did about serena, NO PAIN NO GAIN. If your opponent is better than you or just more physically fit then they deserve the win. People need to stop lingering on the contender and realise the wake of the champion....Venus has won the 4 titles...was Henin tired then too...was it because Venus played Eastbourne....did or didn't have a stellar French...NO! It's because shes the better player on grass...isn't that what tennis is about. Apparently not...to hear some of you...:confused: :rolleyes: :tape: :help: :lol: :p
 
#53 ·
Her main problem at Wimbledon is the fact that she is far from the best grass court player around. On clay, people fold to her because of ehr name alone, if her tennis doesn't get the job done that is...rare if ever..Serena, Venus, Masha, Lindsay in her day and even Momo are all better on grass than Henin, as has been reflected in ehr results....a three set loss in final in 2001 to Venus, 2002 straight set semi loss to Vee, 2003 straight set semi loss to serena, 2005 1st round loss to Danilidou in three sets, 2006 three set loss in final to mauresmo, 2007 semi loss to Bartoli. She nearly always has a great tournament, but it's never been enough to win, when othr players can't win somewhere people often dismiss it as the other players being better etc, but when Henin doesn't win it's a MENTAL REASON :tape: :lol: :lol: :lol: :rolleyes: I think it's a smidgeon patronising of people to say that the woman who has won 4 FO and Aussie and USO title, chokes away several years at wimbledon...certain henin fans need to practise what they preach, constantly going on about williams fans not givign credit to the opponent or williams herself not doing so, but some Henin fans never give any credit. When Justine loses at wimbledon it's because she plays better players, simple as. Her playing eastbourne has nothing to do with her success. She's supposedly one of the fittest players on tour so why can't she 'get up' Gosh, people said when serena was injured that she was a drama queen, some fans are drama queens...banging on about how exhausted henin was, well i'll say the same thing i did about serena, NO PAIN NO GAIN. If your opponent is better than you or just more physically fit then they deserve the win. People need to stop lingering on the contender and realise the wake of the champion....Venus has won the 4 titles...was Henin tired then too...was it because Venus played Eastbourne....did or didn't have a stellar French...NO! It's because shes the better player on grass...isn't that what tennis is about. Apparently not...to hear some of you...:confused: :rolleyes: :tape: :help: :lol: :p

You seriously think Bartoli is a better player than justine???? YOu're dense in som many levels.

Bartoli is not a better player than Justine on hard, carpet, indoors, clay, grass or any other surface that could ever be played on. The loss was a combination of Justine being emotionally drained and Bartoli being on fire. period.
 
#55 ·
Agreed, SF.

There are simply two better athletes and competitors than Justine on grass, both with the same last name.

:) :worship:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top