The other aspect, thats huge, is that Jankovic & Ivanovic, no matter how hard they try, cant recapture the level they had.
Thats a problem when you have fame & wealth & all the advantages of being a great player.
I remember a coach said you have to play like a pauper, not a princess. Digging deep is a lot harder when you are not as hungry. You have to be very motivated at this level. This is the best in the world, and its very hard work, especially the mental focus needed both in every practice and in every game
Connors said about Nadal: He plays like he's broke.
That's not easy. Aches & pains come with that also
The other aspect, thats huge, is that Jankovic & Ivanovic, no matter how hard they try, cant recapture the level they had.
Thats a problem when you have fame & wealth & all the advantages of being a great player. I remember a coach said you have to play like a pauper, not a princess. Digging deep is a lot harder when you are not as hungry. You have to be very motivated at this level. This is the best in the world, and its very hard work, especially the mental focus needed both in every practice and in every game
Connors said about Nadal: He plays like he's broke.
That's not easy. Aches & pains come with that also
Great quote, very true. I don't know about JJ but Ana has got quite comfortable at the top of the game and many of her long-term fans confirmed that she lost her commitment and drive because of a high-life that she was living. Then she got a smack of reality when her ranking plummeted and suddenly there was an uphill battle to get back to where she was. I think that seeing her example the other players can take a lot of lessons about how important is to have a good attitude. I think Caro is more committed to her career than JJ or Ana but there are many distractions around her which can cause that she loses her focus. We'll see if she finds the right work-life balance which could help her results. Maybe her mini-slump was good in that sense just as a reminder of how fast can things change and how easy it is to go from a consistent player to an inconsistent one.
I hope Caroline feels positive about her last match. Because she can still turn it all around and get back that aura, where her opponents dont want her name in their section of the draw.
The way to do it, is to keep playing better and better. Start winning these matches, and get thru your draw.
Thats what Vika does now. Players seem to wilt after Vika wins a set.
It used to be that way for Caroline. But she has to keep her level high as long as she can, every match.
Thats what she should have been working on, along with her serve. Defense to offense is where she has to improve. There's still plenty of time to improve
AO was only an ok tournament for Caroline. She can`t be happy with a R4 exit
Kuznetsova was close to her best form, very motivated to beat Caroline. The biggest difference in the match was the serve. Kuznetsova`s serve was a weapon, Caroline`s serve a weakness. Kuznetsova always attacked Caro`s weak serve. Horrible 1st set from Caroline. A set to forget. Caroline played very well in 2nd set and in 3rd set until 5-4. Then unfortunately lost the next 3 games and the match. Kuznetsova was simply mentally stronger than Caroline, this used to be the other way around. Overall a rather high quality match. Some amazing backhand winners from Caroline. Also nice stats. Caro had 23 Winners, 22 UEs. Kuznetsova 52 Winners, 41 UEs.
It could have been a good comeback tournament if she beat Sveta & played Vika close. She wasnt that far from it.
Now there's more hardcourt Premiers coming. Its important that she establishes herself again. Which means getting thru these draws until she's playing Vika or Aga or Kerber, someone that level. Then she has to really fight and make those matches a meaningful statement.
But as long as she is losing to noncontenders, playing well for parts of the match doesnt change much
Indeed,playing well for PARTS of matches,instead of entire ones,is usually a clear line of demarcation that separates GOOD players--and Caro currently belongs to that group--from great ones.
Wow, where you get these stats from? Are you compiling a table of all her results?
The stats show that Caro's matches usually go a distance. On one hand it's taxing for her, however as a spectator I quite enjoy watch long dramatic matches.
It seems to me that Caro has done a fairly good job of avoiding those lousy tourney sites that are known for constantly getting pissed on from the heavens...though maybe the bad weather just slipped my memory
Just a question,folks: In the same way that a manager expects a boxer to come apart from his wife or gf a bit in training for a big fight,is it reasonable for us to expect Caroline to NOT share a hotel room with Rory while she's playing a tournament??I'm not passing moral judgment here,merely asking what would be considered professional behavior from a tennis player....Am asking b/c there's at least one well-known player who is currently traveling with her bf,and it's fairly clear that she couldn't care less how worn out she gets the night before a match:lol:
Well, they are not made of stone but I guess some moderation is probably there. I saw an interview with Caro where she was actually asked something in this sense:lol:
I guess that after some time of being single though it's hard to not let go which is probably what happened to the said tennis player.
Nope! They were in Courchevel in the french alps.
Probably staying at the "Cheval Blanc", an extremely expensive luxury ski resort.
Rory tweeted a photo, which someone identified as being as being from Courchevel.
You're right;with Caroline the only competent female player in Denmark,it's an absurd premise that they could qualify for the higher group.I simply got the terms 'world group' and 'zonal group' mixed up
Are any of the Top 10 expected to skip Doha?If so,that could mean a 1st-Round bye for Caroline.It'll still be a fairly tough field,regardless,but I'd rather she had that top-seed group privilege
This is going to be anything but easy. Challenging draw since the very start. On the other hand it will help her to get better, she needs opponents who will push her to improve.
I doubt that Caroline will be affected in any substantive way,but Doha runs their website like you'd expect from an Assclown Circus.If they run their tourney in similar amateurish fashion,then they might get their Premier status revoked by the WTA
Funny to see so many healthy players - players who were not able to help their countries - well shame on them IMHO. Another thing that can make me see red is the way some players fake injuries on court - like Kuznetsova and Vika just to mention the worst - they are stretching the rules beyond their limits - like e.g. Stosur did yesterday - why are they not punished? To me it seems like the rate of faking is rising.
Players really do get injured, so they have to allow matches to stop for player safety.
You've seen Caroline, at a YEC, in a Copenhagen final, go down to the ground.
This is a physical sport. Fans cant assume they know who's healthy and who is injured.
Players have to schedule carefully. I've seen players try to make every Fed Cup tie, they play a lot of extra long tough matches, than players who choose to play Fed Cup when their schedules are open
What tournaments in May is Rory playing? That probably determines Caroline's schedule between her tennis tournaments.
If someone told me in July 2011 (when Caroline was holding 9 titles & #1 by 3000 points), that in August 2012 Caroline would play her full schedule and be holding no titles, be out of the YEC race, I would not have believed it.
So I look forward to seeing what she does from here on
What tournaments in May is Rory playing? That probably determines Caroline's schedule between her tennis tournaments.
If someone told me in July 2011 (when Caroline was holding 9 titles & #1 by 3000 points), that in August 2012 Caroline would play her full schedule and be holding no titles, be out of the YEC race, I would not have believed it.
So I look forward to seeing what she does from here on
I noticed the voting for Caro's R1 match in TF was 22 even, so I hurried to my trusted betting platform to throw some money at Caro near even odds. Hmmmm. 1.05 :lol: not exactly even.
I wonder what the voting in GM woud have been if they were required to actually put up a sum of money that would hurt them if they lost. :lol: Would they be so confident? And its funny that they will argue on end that they are the best judges and the true experts at predictions and that the bookies are fools. Very easy to talk. But the people who set the odds are there to make money as their living and they lose money if they get it wrong.
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