Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetadri06
I don't agree with Li being like Clisjters, i mean Li can counterpunch at times but her natural game is to go for the winner immediately. why do you think she has such shit shows? When she is off her balls go into the stands. Clijsters will work the point alot more before delivering a blow.
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This isn't true though. Watch her best matches against Sharapova, Kvitova, Venus and Serena -- time and time again, she is content to start off the point by just hitting pedestrian shots down the middle of the court and allow her opponent to get the first strike, Na chases those first few blows down and redirects them into the extremities of the court. Again, I'm not saying she's a
pusher, she's at the more offensive-minded end of the counter-punchers spectrum, but there's a reason she matches up so well with those players I mentioned who hate playing counterpunchers. And it goes for Li's bad match-ups too -- if she was this monstrous flat-hitter that people here think she is, she would match up well with Stosur like players of that ilk do, yet in reality she hates playing her because she doesn't get the first strike in against her, and it's well-documented that you can't counterpunch against heavy topspin (as Zvonareva finds out when she plays Stosur).
And, further, even when Li is at her
most aggressive, her brand of aggression is more about using the width of the court, creating space, and stroking the ball into the open court once she's got her opponent out of position. She's NEVER been about blasting the ball at a trillion miles an hour on the first shot of the rally, a la Kvitova.
Quote:
Originally Posted by @danieln1
But when Li is on "ErrorNa" mode, what is she counterpunching?
I think she´s going too much for her shots when this happens, and she becomes a brainless ballbasher by the instant.
Example: the 6-0 set she lost against Hingis in Melbourne 07, Miami 12 QF and many more
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Li's error-sprees are usually more about her mentally checking out of the match completely and her footwork completely dissolving, rather than her going for low-% shots. She can miss even the most regulation shots that she's just trying to get into court on her worst days, especially off her technically-poor forehand side.