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Raymond for doubles

3K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  the cat 
#1 · (Edited)
News from Jorn

"This is a danish text translated from Russian, Maria will play with Lisa Raymond. They want there doubles partners to be as fresh as possible so plays with a doubles only player..."



Maybe she thinks they can be as good as Errani & Vinci?

Their last outing together was awful. We can only hope they can do better in 2013
 
#4 ·
Maria needs a doubles partner with a lot more power than Raymond.

But she's better at doubles though. :shrug:
 
#5 ·
good luck
 
#7 ·
I heard that Masha is no longer going to be playing doubles at all. She has been having some knee issues and told Raymond in Australia that she doesn't think she can give 100% to both so is giving up doubles entirely.

Sad as she is such a good doubles player but her body is not able to handle the wear and tear of both. That could also explain the disappointing start to their relationship. Masha was not her normal self in Sydney or in Melbourne on the doubles court. She didnt seem to have the confidence when coming in or in her volleys.

Maybe her knee will get healthy again and she will decide to play again in the future?
 
#8 ·
I heard that Masha is no longer going to be playing doubles at all. She has been having some knee issues and told Raymond in Australia that she doesn't think she can give 100% to both so is giving up doubles entirely.

Sad as she is such a good doubles player but her body is not able to handle the wear and tear of both. That could also explain the disappointing start to their relationship. Masha was not her normal self in Sydney or in Melbourne on the doubles court. She didnt seem to have the confidence when coming in or in her volleys.

Maybe her knee will get healthy again and she will decide to play again in the future?
Really? That is surprising. I thought Kiri would cut back some on her doubles this year to concentrate more on singles but you make it sound like she is eliminating doubles altogether. I still hope Kiri plays doubles at the Tier 1 tournaments and grand slams if she has a good partner. I think they player Masha beat in the Pattaya final Sabine Lisicki with her huge serve and great power would be a great doubles partner for Kiri. No doubt doubles has drained Kiri in some singles tournaments and if Kiri was playing doubles in Pattaya and made the semi's in doubles and the finals in singles that doubles effort may have cost her the singles title she won yesterday. I would still love to see Kiri win a doubles slam in her career. It is alot more likely than her winning a singles slam.

On a side note I have to admit it's tough knowing powerpuff hitters Errani and Vinci are a great doubles team and they are very good in singles too. Especially Errani. Masha can do that too. But maybe the doubles and all that extra serving and on court time has taken something out of Kiri physically. With less doubles I hope to see Maria best ever season in singles. That is possible. She can still play doubles in Fed Cup and hopefully in the slams too. When she lost that brutal match to Hlvackova in the 2012 U.S. Open Kiri and Petrova beat the Williams sisters in doubles the next day. That was a great moment in Maria's career even though they didn't win the title. The doubles saved Maria's U.S. Open last year. I really hooe she still plays grand slam doubles if she has the right partner.
 
#11 ·
I do also think this is a good decision!! :)
Maria seems to be at her top in singles, she is still young but already has a lot of experience, the perfect combination! She should make use of that to get out the maximum of her career in singles. This season could be her best ever, maybe she can reach the top ten and maybe a GS semifinal! Playing singles AND doubles all the time would be too much for her..
Kiri has won many tournaments in doubles, an olympic medal and the Year End Championships..only a GS is missing, and I would say she can try that again when she is a bit "older", in 5-6 years or so...
 
#12 ·
I do also think this is a good decision!! :)
Maria seems to be at her top in singles, she is still young but already has a lot of experience, the perfect combination! She should make use of that to get out the maximum of her career in singles. This season could be her best ever, maybe she can reach the top ten and maybe a GS semifinal! Playing singles AND doubles all the time would be too much for her..
Kiri has won many tournaments in doubles, an olympic medal and the Year End Championships..only a GS is missing, and I would say she can try that again when she is a bit "older", in 5-6 years or so...
So true, she already had the satisfaction of reaching important achievement in doubles, now is time to do something great on singles.
However, is there any source of what obama08 reported?
 
#15 ·
Kiri may go back to doubles someday to win that elusive doubles grand slam. But the truth is doubles has drained her singles game on occasion when she has made the QF and beyond. For Kiri to go deep into tournaments things have to be right for her like her health and feeling fresh. She wants to give singles a real run for a year or so and not have the fatigue in her singles game that doubles sometimes caused her. I doubt Kiri would have won Pattaya if she played doubles there too and won a couple rounds in doubles. She barely had enough energy to finish off the singles title against the much bigger and stronger Lisicki.


I still wish Maria would play doubles in the grand slams but for now she has put doubles to the side. It's kind of shocking because she's so good at doubles but it's her decision. I understand her decision because if you look back to the Olympics Kiri was exhausted making the semi's in singles and doubles and she barely had enough energy left to win a bronze medal in doubles after Vika routined her in singles for the bronze medal. Playing big and strong girls like Georges, Sharapova and Azarenka the way Maria did in the London Olympics with no days off took a toll on Kiri and took something out of her singles game. She knows it and she lives with it which is why she made this interesting doubles decision. Kiri and Petrova did well to win the bronze medal in doubles.
 
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