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*Vika Azarenka Cheering Thread* - Vikalume 4.

327K views 5K replies 133 participants last post by  Pova 
#1 ·
Go Vika!!:bounce:
 
#4,057 ·
I don't think it's that worrying going into Istanbul, these tournaments very rarely affect what happens at Istanbul.

The main problem is the same one she's had all summer, massive service issues. Now they may be an issue vs the better opposition in Istanbul. There has been rumours all summer that she's struggling with some kind of back injury, and with the way she is currently serving you do have to wonder.

I don't know if 2 and a half weeks will be long enough to resolve that problem, but I do think she will come in in much better shape for Istanbul.
 
#4,055 ·
So Tokyo and Beijing became very short tournaments this year. There were some good moments like 7 games winning streak in today's match, but also some strange turns like 3 dfs twice in service games and the end of the third set was very frustrating.

Let's hope that Vika will be fit, well-rested and highly motivated in Istanbul. Haters are going to have a field day in GM section.
 
#4,056 ·
To be honest she hasn't been playing really well since doha. But her heart carried her through the period leading and during slams. I think now she only plays for slams. Others don't matter that much. But her form is terrible, you can't mask it when you have double digit dfs....
 
#4,064 ·
Whatever.
If she's smart she'll try to play something before the YEC, where more often than not she plays like shit.
I'd like to blame it entirely on her being sick but let's be real: she hasn't played solidly since the French if you want to be generous, Doha if you want to be exact. Her serve has progressively gotten worse, more nervy than anything.

This is like the Middle East Spring 2011 all over again.
 
#4,066 ·
I do think that she hasn't been consistent after Doha and "plays like shit", thought during tournaments she had some good matches, like she used to...she still can win with playing pretty badly, but that shouldn't become/be a habit, just when it's needed. I think that no matter how bad she played this match she could have won (personally I don't think Andrea played well, it seemed to me like she didn't have to do much...just something like keep that ball in play and Vika will do the job) and should've won...just something wasn't working, I don't know what it was, but I do think that what she had the week before played some part (or at least I hope so...she said sth like that, I have just read) She has had/ been having a tough year, with all the injury and illness and everything and probably this is one of the reasons she isn't consistent and plays like shit, to quote you.
 
#4,069 ·
She played with plenty of hunger in the first two sets. She was miles better in the rallies in those sets, just gave the first set with missing easy finishing shots on big points, and THAT df game. other than the final game of the match it seemed like Petkovic was in trouble in every service game but ended up winning most of them. But apparently Vika's a mental giant.

Third set her game disappeared completely, I don't know if she noticed Andrea was just pushing, but she could have held back as if she was playing radwanska and ground it out. Final game she gave up which was disappointing, yes.
 
#4,071 ·
She was in control of most of the rallies, but ended up losing a few (more, actually). Apparently, Andrea was fine with doing a mediocre job and let Vika do the rest: DF, UE, wrong decisions and the examples can continue....It's a little frustrating because I still believe that she could've won, but....she has an annoying "talent" of complicating her life.
 
#4,072 ·
Honestly I'm not that concerned about this loss :shrug:. Yes, she absolutely threw away the third set, but this tournament really isn't that important and if she's smart she'll learn a lot from this loss. The serve was just weird, like Sharapova-like. Even though she kept missing, she kept going for flat, hard second serves :confused:. I think when she's more focused though, like the US Open final, she can help this problem somewhat, but even then double faults can sneak in (like that game in the second set of the US Open final) so she really should add some spin to the second serve.

This year is too bad she's not playing Linz :(. Some easier matches on indoor courts are just what she needs right now, but Moscow is too soon before so we'll just have to hope for the best in Istanbul.
 
#4,074 ·
I also seriously think it's a blessing in disguise in many ways that she lost because a week of playing in Beijing smog can't be good for anyone.
 
#4,075 ·
<Meanwhile, Azarenka wasn't happy with her performance at all - she talked about it in her presser.
"It was an awful match and a very bad performance from me, so there's not much to say about it," the World No.2 commented. "It happens once, twice a year to every player, and it happened to me today."
Azarenka also lost her first match at last week's Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, to Venus Williams.
"If I did it all again, I probably should have taken a longer break and prepared myself better. I don't feel like I was ready to play - to be 100%, the preparation wasn't enough, I cannot deny that. It's my mistake for not paying enough attention after the US Open how I managed my time and managed my health.
"But you cannot put yourself down too much. In the end the important thing is how you come out of it. I'm going to go back, reevaluate and practice more. I just needed more preparation, and that's what I'm going to get now before the last tournament. I'll just look at the positives. I have three weeks now.">

Okay, so she's aware...
 
#4,077 ·
Yeah the key is to just really look at and learn what went wrong here.

As for her serve, messing with it may create problems but at this point she needs to do something that I think it's worth it. I really think she should work with another coach (like an expert) on that specifically though during the off season. Sumyk is clearly the best for her mentally, but technically she needs help there.

Finally, we have to remember that ALL players go through slumps. Reehanna had several years where people thought she was finished. Ma$ha had her serving yips. The only one I can think of that hasn't is Federer. Even though it's not quite as good as last year, 2013 has still been a very solid year for Vika and we should appreciate that instead of panicking that the Asian swing was a bust.
 
#4,076 ·
Well her back was part of the injury from Wimbledon and there were rumors after her loss in San Diego that she wasn't completely healed. :shrug:

I just think that her team need to stop messing her service motion, everytime they do it completely ruins her natural rhythm.
 
#4,082 ·
You do know why they are probaly working with her serve. She is stiff when she serves, doesn't put her whole body into it. She has very little forward motion on her serves. I can see why she would have back pains. At the USO, every time they televised her match, one of the commentators, either Nav, Cahill, Evert commented on her poor service motion.
 
#4,083 ·
Can't say I'm all that surprised by this loss and I'm not really concerned either. I'm sure she was aware that she was not going far in this tournament given her form and lack of preparation. The good thing is she can leave Asia early now and will be well rested for the YEC (plus she doesn't have to keep playing in that horrible smog). The downside could be that she'll lack matchplay at the YEC which, despite possibly being fully fit, could cause her trouble. Let's just wait and see. The thing with her serve is that when she's playing well and is fully focused she actually has a decent serve, as we all know. So maybe she needs a sports psychologist rather than someone working on the technique during the off-season. :p

Also nice to see how maturely she analyzes her bad matches and losses these days.

PS: Just a random question - when was the last time Redfoo and Vika have been seen together? At some point before the US Open?
 
#4,084 ·
PS: Just a random question - when was the last time Redfoo and Vika have been seen together? At some point before the US Open?
He was at Carlsbad. I can't remember if he was at Cincinnati or not. He's in Australia for Australian X Factor, probably not easy for him to keep jetting half way around the world. I don't think he will be in Istanbul either as it clashes with Australian X Factor final.
 
#4,085 ·
From what Vika says it sounds like she wants the time off to work on her game, not more match play.

I don't imagine she's actually had much time to work on her game all year. All the traditional training block weeks (after Miami and after Wimbledon) were both cut short due to injury. There is a not a lot of work you can do on a tournament week. Now she should have a solid 2 weeks to do some work before Istanbul, it sounds like that is what she wants.
 
#4,087 ·
I guess i shall be glad i missed that one.

Not sure what is wrong, but i'm sure her team have better chance than me to figure out how to correct it. Perhaps we can't expect good quality play until next season now.

This whole year has been up and down, i wonder if some injury problems started already at the build up training late last year. But still she had some really great results.

Hopefully she is improving already to YEC, i will try and forget this tournament now.
 
#4,089 ·
I still think technically she could use some matches, particularly easy ones, as she hasn't had all that many this year. And she'll have the off-season to train.

But, it's understandable that she's mentally exhausted. The summer involved coming back in San Diego, which was a mess, and then Cincinnati, which involved winning ugly (mentally taxing) and then a HUGE effort in the final. The US Open was basically the same as Cincy except an even more taxing final with a tough result. That can't be easy at all, so hopefully some rest will help her be fresh at the YEC.
 
#4,092 ·
Here are some Vika's post-match comments: http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/3476172/title/petkovic-stuns-azarenka-in-beijing

Meanwhile, Azarenka wasn't happy with her performance at all - she talked about it in her presser.
"It was an awful match and a very bad performance from me, so there's not much to say about it," the World No.2 commented. "It happens once, twice a year to every player, and it happened to me today."

Azarenka also lost her first match at last week's Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, to Venus Williams.
"If I did it all again, I probably should have taken a longer break and prepared myself better. I don't feel like I was ready to play - to be 100%, the preparation wasn't enough, I cannot deny that. It's my mistake for not paying enough attention after the US Open how I managed my time and managed my health.

"But you cannot put yourself down too much. In the end the important thing is how you come out of it. I'm going to go back, re-evaluate and practice more. I just needed more preparation, and that's what I'm going to get now before the last tournament. I'll just look at the positives. I have three weeks now."
 
#4,093 ·
I definitely see why the service motion is tinkered with but it's such a double edged sword. You change the motion to compensate for an injury but at the cost of her rhythm. Either way she's going to double fault a lot or produce weak serves.
It's a lot like Sharapova's shoulder. She changed her motion a number of times to compensate for her shoulder only to be double faulting all over the place and then when she goes back to her original motion she gets back to the top of the game, completes the career grand slam but at the cost of the injury coming back.

Either way, Vika isn't going to win matches with the serve she's got, so her and Sam need to either get this kinks worked out of this motion and/or treat whatever the cause of the weak serves are.
 
#4,095 ·
She wasn't really ready for this tour I guess. Bad status during every practice. She'd made 7 double faults in a row
and battered her Juice and gonna cry. Never smile, it's rare. So she surely cleared that she cannot go far this time. Plus the smog reason... So afterwards she played without patience.

Serena is in weary condition but Li Na is on fire. Personally I'd rather she lose to Petko. :tape: But it really hurts to happen in R1.

It's gratifying to see her rational analyze about the lose. She always clear-headed, so I believe she will be fine soon, if there's no sickness & injury boring.

For the serving thing I agree with all the comments above. It's hard to be improved per se, and she went through a mess season.

She stiff motion may for avoiding injury. If it's stable enough the situation should not be that bad, but now she loses de rhythm totally. Finding it back is the primary mission for her team during the off-season.

I don't want her to lose her first match of YEC, since 3 straight losses was her most up to date...
 
#4,096 ·
Well if she was hitting septuple-faults in practice as she did in the match then she probably would have had this problem throughout the tournament.

I usually agree with her assessments of her matches but not here. Her non-serve game was pretty good for two sets, better than the first few rounds in new york anyway. If she high % her first serve to protect the second she wins in straights. Also if she's thinking "this is just one of those days" during the match that's not a good attitude, she didn't give that impression though until late in the match.

I'm sorry that you only got to see her play one match this time Doris (Hyacinth)
 
#4,098 ·
Yea she did not even prepare for an "ugly" win, but well, she may not wanna stay for some reasons.

Although the attitude was not good, I still "hope" what she said is real. In that case this kind of shitty match will not be repeated in the rest time of this year, and she will manage to improve her fucking service... :eek:

It really hurt to see her off inside the stadium. I spent 5 hours in plane and 2 more hours in train to get to Beijing and booked the hotel for 9 days (from Sep.28th to Oct.6th) lol. However, I got a perfect ending last year. This is what life should be. :lol:
 
#4,097 ·
It depends how motivated she will be. Last year YEC meant year end number 1. This year, no matter what happens she will be number 2. Might not give her full heart to fight i say depending if she gets refreshed a bit more. Here, I say, maybe better redfoo will be there to cheer her up.
 
#4,100 ·
Well last year she was pretty tired. In a way she might be over this year, but she should definitely be more refreshed for the YEC. Also she did fine last year and made the final in 2011, but she hasn't really ever played that well there. She was a set away in 2011 but the opposition was basically at an all time low, and the Cake loss showed she didn't care all that much about the tournament.
 
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