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Womens Tennis in General

225K views 5K replies 57 participants last post by  marineblue 
#1 ·
A thread that I hope will be a nice alternative to the vile General Morons board that I don't recognize as a legitimate tennis forum but just as a meeting place for the mentally deranged. Although this is primarily set up for the regular posters on Caroline's player forum it's ok for the non-Caro fan who may stumble in here to participate as well. Just as long as they refrain from player bashing (especially Caro bashing), name-calling and trolling. Otherwise there's no point to this and it's better to stick to General Morons.
 
#3 ·
My predictions are very safe and boring.

Caroline in two close sets, maybe one of them going to a tiebreak.

Serena in two relatively easy sets.

Flavia in two close sets.

As far as Vera and Sam I am going against the head to head (which Stosur leads 7-2 with Vera's two wins coming way back in 2004) and picking Vera to win. She looked fantastic against Lisicki and I can not fathom why she has such a poor record against Sam.
 
#4 ·
The outcome of the Serena/Pavlyuchenkova and Kerber/Pennetta matches is pretty much a foregone conclusion I think. I hope Caroline can get past Petkovic, but I admit that I'm nervous about that one. Vera/Stosur is on paper the match that is the most open. I hope that Vera can pull it off. She's obviously ranking-wise a bigger threat for our girl than Sam, but she's been so good for so long without ever really getting the recognition for it that I'll be rooting for her in that one.
 
#5 ·
Before I check the odds market, here are my favorites and my assessment of the odds:

Caroline 1.75
Serena 1.08
Flavia 1.65
Vera 1.90

I will be back in a little while with a follow-up from the market.
 
#6 ·
And the market has:

Caroline 1.48
Serena 1.09
Flavia 1.43
Vera 1.76

With those odds and my assessment, I should be hedging by betting Caroline, Flavia, and Vera to lose. But I am not going to bet at all; I am going to watch Caroline's match and bite my nails as usual. For today, I will be rooting for Sam.
 
#11 ·
I was thinking last night (when Caro was behind) how I was going to have little to cheer for in this year's Open once she lost. Personally not a fan of any of the remaining, other than Zvonerava somewhat.

My predictions:

Caro
Serena
Flavia
Vera

If I were betting, I would bet on Vera (at current odds). She's playing really well just now, and showed she has the potential to handle a Serena-type game in the Lisicki match.

If it makes it to that, I think Caro has a chance against Serena (at least more than the odds give her). Somebody started a thread in GM on this (and got summarily dismissed) but I think the only way you beat Serena right now is to get her moving without giving her much to hit (easier said than done), like Vika in the second set against her. The commentators talk about her fitness, but I'm not seeing that -- I think she could end up looking like Svetlana in a long 3-set match.
 
#14 ·
If it makes it to that, I think Caro has a chance against Serena (at least more than the odds give her). Somebody started a thread in GM on this (and got summarily dismissed) but I think the only way you beat Serena right now is to get her moving without giving her much to hit (easier said than done), like Vika in the second set against her. The commentators talk about her fitness, but I'm not seeing that -- I think she could end up looking like Svetlana in a long 3-set match.
Making a long three-set match out of it is the hard part of course. I'm not sure what Caroline should do. Trying to move Serena around without giving her much to hit is an option for Vika because she hits with more pace than Caroline. I don't know. I remember Capriati doing well against Serena by hitting to the middle of the court and not giving her any angles. Serena used to make more UE than usual in those matches.
 
#15 ·
I like the idea of this thread very much! Like Chrissie I too venture into Generally Mental today. Same ol', same 'ol. No purpose what-so-ever of going there. All attempt at a level headed discussion is quickly trolled out by the usual suspects.

QF
Fingers and toes crossed for Caroline!
Impossible to see anything but a Serena win.
Kerber isnt all that bad, but the routine of Penetta to carry her through.
Stosur Vs Vera. This is a toss up for me. Stosur, I believe, has won their last 7 encounters! Vera has the better hard court game.Windy advantage for Vera, but isnt handling Sam's 'spin* as well as wind *Flips a coin*
 
#16 ·
Caroline
Serena (blech)
Flavia
50/50 chance between Stosur and Vera. Stosur goes into her mental lapses, as we all know, so it matters how she will perform mentally. Vera can be the same way but she has been very consistent this tournament; flying under the radar has helped her. I am leaning more towards Vera.
 
#22 ·
What I miss bloody much and not a little bit is a player that don't use ball bashing or power tennis to beat their opponent but using their brains and thinking tennis is like a chess game like Martina Hingis did in her prime : I'm so nostalgic about those times : and without power and without ball bashing you can win slams : Martina showed it ! Why all those girls have to follow the bad steps of the WS ? FFS ! The WS have destroyed the beauty of the women's tennis game by bringing that physical and brutal tennis ! That's why I admired Martina so much and still am her n°1 Belgian fan : well at least at the French part side :p
 
#24 ·
My apologies if this was already discussed to death here in another Caro forum thread but...
I'm curious as to how you guys felt about that Hingis interview where she was asked about her and Caroline being similar. I've always had such an appreciation for Hingis's game but I must admit, Martina's comments left me disappointed in her. I feel as though I may have taken it to heart a bit much though so I wanted to see what your perspective on it was since there seems to be alot of Hingis/Caroline fans here.
 
#32 ·
I was disappointed, but not shocked. But I wouldn't be surprised if the guy doing the asking had an agenda and tried to guide her towards such an answer. And I think Martina also considers herself to be one of a kind and doesn't really like for other players (no matter who) to be compared to her.
 
#35 ·
Sure, Martina could have been a bit more diplomatic but diplomacy is boring.:lol:

I don't think anything she said about her game vs. Caroline's game is untrue. Martina had a much wider variety of shots in her arsenal. The one clear advantage that Caroline has over her is the serve but even there I think Caroline could be better. She is fairly tall and big, there's no reason that her second serves need to be so weak.

I would love it if Caroline was motivated to add more shots to her game. She's never going to be the type of player to hit her opponents off of the court and nail tons of winners but she can win points/matches with her brains. There are key shots that she lacks and I hope that she adds them to her game in the off season. For example, it would be great if she added a reliable dropshot, especially on clay, and, while she has shown improvement, I do think that her volleys/net play can get much better.
 
#37 ·
I don't think anything she said about her game vs. Caroline's game is untrue. Martina had a much wider variety of shots in her arsenal.
Yes, but Martina knows that Caroline is a big fan of her AND that she's already under constant attack from the media. Considering those two things I would have hoped for a more sympathetic reply. But I admire Martina's game so much that I'm willing to forgive absolutely everything she may say or do.
 
#38 ·
Thanks for the answers.
One thing that I need to remember as a poster in GM is too not let those idiots sway me into over the top reactions. I wrote some heart felt responses in that thread against Martina but then realized that I was caught up more in combatting all of the trolls(for lack of a better word) who were taking Martina's comments and using them to once again attack Caroline with comments like "this is the first time I've ever liked Martina" and "Martina is my hero for these words" etc, etc. I was totally fighting more against them than I was Martina despite the fact that I still think Hingis could have vocalized her opinions differently.
It's so nice that "Chrissie-fan" has started a general thread like this here to discuss things without all of the psychos getting in the way:lol:
 
#47 ·
The sad thing is that if there is any play today poor Kerber and Pennetta will be banned to court 17. A slam 1/4 final is a highlight in their careers for those girls and they will have to play on a small-ish court to empty stands while everyone is following the action on the three main courts.
 
#48 ·
Yah, it's a sucky situation.

Caro and Yanina Wickmayer had to play their US Open semifinal with a very small crowd on Armstrong back in 2009. Caro has gotten other chances to play grand slam semifinals with full crowds but Wickmayer hasn't.
 
#51 ·
 
#54 ·
Grrr, can someone please explain to me why Vera is incapable of defeating Stosur? Yes, I know, Vera did beat her twice in 2004 but what is it about Sam's game that she has trouble with?
 
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