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Maria in Linz

4K views 89 replies 23 participants last post by  sannyak 
#1 ·
Hopefully Maria can finish the year on a high in Linz this week ;)

(8) Alize Cornet vs Jie Zheng
Maria Kirilenko vs Qualifier
Qualifier vs Samantha Stosur
BYE vs (2) Vera Zvonareva

Good luck Maria :yeah:
 
#59 ·
#62 ·
According to the stats, Maria's 1st serve became pretty ineffective in the 2nd set as she won only 50% of points on it while Cornet's 1st serve became very effective with her winning 81% of points on her 1st serve in the 2nd set.
 
#72 ·
Unless Maria was injured, this is a very poor showing by her. Losing to Cornet on an indoor hard court is a bad sign.

Why can't Maria play well for more than 1 set?

Maria won only 39% of points on her 1st serve in the 3rd set while Cornet won 93% of points on her 1st serve in the 3rd set. In contrast, Maria won 64% of points on her 1st serve in the 1st serve which is the same % Cornet won in the 1st set.
 
#77 ·
I certainly hope she isn't injured. :help: But this year we've seen many results like tonight - Maria wins the first set, but goes on to lose in three...

Just browsing through her 2008 results and three-set losses, I quickly counted 9 losses where Maria won the first set, and only 3 losses where she won the second set. Also, when she won a three-set match, she seemed to win the first set more often than losing it.

Which means she often starts out well and does progressively worse.

There could be many explanations for this pattern, like Maria gets tired, she loses her concentration, her opponents are slow starters, or, it could just be a statistical fluke.

But sometimes I get the feeling that maybe Maria's game is a little bit too predictable? With every point, her opponents tune in on her game and can better predict her shots. In short, perhaps she makes her opponents play better and better? I for one don't like the brainless ball-bashing of many players, but there is one good thing to say about burying the ball deep in the net every other point: at least you don't let your opponents improve their game.

Not having seen many of her matches, I can't really say, this is just pure speculation on my part. But maybe some of you that have seen her more and understand a bit more of this than I do, could elaborate a bit on this: what do you think is the main cause of Maria's declining tendency in so many matches? If you even bothered to read this far, that is. :p

If there is something to it, since Maria does not have the do-or-die ball-bashing winner shots at her disposal, she must at least use variation more, so her oppononets don't figure out her game so quickly. Maybe Maria should hire a professional poker player as a second coach? :p

Anyway, I am not really satisfied if this is just dismissed as Maria's "mental weakness". Seems a bit too simple for me. To be honest, it tells me nothing, really.

Just wondering :)
 
#80 ·
Well, more so has to do with concentration. She starts making more errors and plays less smart. She's been using her variety a lot more this year, playing a different type of ball each time. Her forehand has improved this indoor season from her hardcourt as she's not just spinning it in.

Maria is just inconsistent. And sadly, it can be dismissed as mental or she's not physically well. She has been unlucky with a few minor injuries this year.

:lol: Cornet also does not have a big weapon and same with most of the players Maria has lost to in 3 sets.
 
#85 ·
I can't imagine the injury is really serious.
Looked like it happend in Zurich against Hantuchova. She had tape on it for 2 days, but it was off already in the doubles match.

Still this scoreline is too weird. Got BP's in every game untill 6-1 40-0. And not a BP faced. After no BP created and winning only 3 games. If you're really injured you just retire in the match.

Skipp the challenger for the rest of the season and go for an even better AO.
 
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