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Danish Delight - Caroline Wozniacki thread - vol 6

419K views 5K replies 83 participants last post by  James 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
The last volume has passed 5000 posts, time to start a new one.

 
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#2,757 ·
I think the WTA saw Caroline as a future superstar. You couldnt find anyone more consistent. But her career arc shows why they cant go overboard on anyone.
Caroline now is in career crisis. Career chaos. She chokes away winnable early round matches, looks confused with no confidence. Looks like just another player in the draw.
Its too bad the WTA couldnt get her some good coaching. She's desperately in need of that
 
#2,760 ·
Have there been any news yets on if she gotta a wildcard into Brussell
 
#2,764 ·
I dont understand 'taking time off'. She's not playing a lot of matches. She's one and done every tournament. And she just took a vacation during The Masters week. Do you want her to follow the golf tour all year? How does that help her tennis?
I think she needs to play, and with focus & effort, and win some matches, or at least go down fighting for every point
 
#2,767 ·
But she's still travelling to these tournaments, practicing on the courts (what and how effectively are a question), and doing press. And if she's a bit mentally fried/burned out, then playing a match could seem like another burden/requirement.

I think a month or so long break could help clear her mind. :shrug: It would be nice if Caro had someone who could talk some sense into her like Vika did. Vika was thinking about quitting tennis in early 2011 until she talked to her grandma.

No, following the golf tour isn't what I want Caro to do. Also, I think Rory should no longer be present when Caro is playing a tournament. She may play better in his abscence or at least have one less distraction.
 
#2,765 ·
Noone really knows what's best for her. It's all guesswork. Her grass-season 2010 wasn't very good. Lost first round at Eastbourne, was schooled by #62 at Wimbledon winning only 2 games. Practiced for a month and came back for the best time of her career winning Copenhagen, Montreal, New Haven, Tokyo, Beijing (plus a USO SF and a YEC final). And carried her form into 2011.

A month with no tournaments turned out to be very good for her on that occasion, but maybe something else is needed this time. There's no secret formula. Any changes - subtle or big - can turn out to be good for her. Or the opposite! We don't know. Perhaps the best is to continue on her current path. But that's going to take some time and a lot of patience.

I don't think it would have been worse for her career-wise if she hadn't played the last four tournaments. But that's pure speculation. She seems tired. Fed up. Doesn't enjoy it. Was once nicknamed Sunshine; now the sun is giving her troubles.
 
#2,769 ·
She might enjoy being off the tour. Especially if she thinks her best days are over.
Safina was #1, in 3 slam finals, won a Silver medal in singles in Beijing. I never hear her name anymore.
Jankovic and Ivanovic are playing, but they are symbols of frustration, of what could have been, but something went wrong. Thats where Caro is now. Whether she retires or plays, if her days near the top are over, she's also going to be a symbol of young talent that was wasted, or wasnt developed properly.

So its up to her, but there's no way around it, a young superstar who falls into the pack (either stays on tour midpack or retires) is considered a 'what might have been'. But not considered a great success.

Thats one reason I thought changing her game was crazy. They were messing around with something rare, a young superstar. No reason to make changes that could lead to where she is now. And a wild forehand could definately lead to this. Forehand is always what her opponents attacked
 
#2,775 ·
I'm probably more optimistic (and naive?) than most of you, because, thankfully, tennis as a sport is quite forgiving. A tournament title will always outweigh all the losses that preceded that tournament. Caro has lost 4 matches in a row, a streak that could very well be extended to 5 if she enters Brussels, but all is forgotten if she has a great Roland Garros. Likewise, a bad RG will still be outweighed by a good Wimbledon. And so on.

She was in an IW final two months ago. Something like that could happen again. If not the next month, then in the US hardcourt season.
 
#2,776 ·
The great players keep getting back to the top.
We are going to find out a lot about Caroline these next several years. Obviously she's struggling now. If she wants success enough to really fight for it, we know from IW, from Miami 2012, that she can still can a force on the tour
 
#2,777 ·
I truly just would like too see her improve as a player, Just the way Radwanska has done, There an alot area in Caro game where she can get better at SO that the most important thing I like too see her do If that happen I think she can find herself back in the mix with some best player
 
#2,779 ·
Realized my lack of clarity about 1 minute after signing off:eek:;I'm aware that Caro-WTA isn't the standard employee/employer agreement,more like Independent contractor/Client....with the contractor/tennis players expected to perform certain services,mainly play tennis and do promos.

Even so,the premise is the same: The client,or de facto boss,has EVERY RIGHT to DEMAND quality service from the contractor as part of the terms of the work agreement.Furthermore,if a formerly productive contractor,especially a top-notch one,suddenly began displaying piss-poor performance and unprofessional behavior,most clients would certainly ask,'Hey,what gives?:confused:'...and if the contractor responded to that fair question with a bitchy attitude,well...the rest is common sense

....Which goes back to my argument that slacker-players are lucky to 'find work' AT ALL,and the WTA is just plain stupid for rewarding shitty work by its contractors,thus encouraging them to continue in it.....when the WTA could just as easily replace an unproductive contractor with a hard-working one
 
#2,781 ·
I hoping we hear some new soon about her playing Brussels Open she need some clay wins before playing RG
 
#2,782 ·
Caro should watch Jankovic. Jelena dropped way off the top. But she won a small title, got thru 2 soft draws and made Miami SF then Charleston final. Now beat Li in Rome.
Caro can eventually comeback also. But she has to fight and get thru soft draws. Right now she is losing to everyone in any draw
 
#2,783 ·
Jankovic may come back to #7 or #8 in the rankings but that's still a long way from where she once was. :shrug:
 
#2,785 ·
^ True I would hate too see Caro fall down in the ranking badly, I hoping she can improve on her game and start working hard, I hoping Caro can get back in the mix and start winning again soon & make deep run in the slam, to me she can be rank around 5-6 at her best but she gotta make the improvement on her game
 
#2,786 ·
I dont see how Caro can ever be good with an inconsistent forehand.
Opponents will attack it all match, and if she doesnt keep her forehands deep and in play, I expect this will continue.
But if it takes her years and years to start to be consistent again, at least she can look at what Jankovic is doing, years after losing #1, she's finally getting some consistency back
 
#2,788 ·
#2,791 ·
It's so pointless, isn't it ... Laughable really.

She is not going to find form, even if she wins a match or (shock horror) two matches in Brussels.

She needs to take time AWAY from tennis and get her sh1t together. As in figuring out, if she wants to have a tennis career.

We have seen very clearly over the last 2 years that it is not possible to combine a career as a golfing WAG with one of a serious tennis player.

Anyhoo, I want to get in first with my prediction : Round 1 loss.
 
#2,792 ·
Ya really need too keep an open mind yeah she could loss another 1 round but ya need too think positives
 
#2,795 ·
In all seriousness I agree with you. I think it's a pretty pointless exercise. Unless she wins the title, it's likely she will take a hit to her already fragile confidence. I think she needs time to work on her game off court, not just turning up taking bad loss after bad loss week after week.
 
#2,806 ·
I think she needs time to work on her game off court, not just turning up taking bad loss after bad loss week after week.
Another 'smart' decision from Team Woz! :eek:

Agree! What's the point of playing more tennis when you look fed up of playing tennis! :rolleyes:
Even if she wins 1-2 matches I don't see how it will help her at RG!
I personally think these really are the two key things.

Danish journalists are usually useless, but in recent days there have been some good, serious articles. I think one or two of them have been shown in the articles thread. Also Troels Christensen from EB (another long term Caro follower and not the tabloid journo kind) has weighed in with near identical opinion.

There is something very wrong. She looks more unhappy on court than I can ever remember having seen her before. Signing up to another tournament will not solve the problems.

Also imho, she needs time away from the WTA tour.
Sort out what she wants to do with her life.
Sort out if she wants to be a tennis player. If not, retire.
 
#2,811 ·
The way I see it is long term it's not something she can just play out, I don't think her game is there for that. I don't see the point of just playing week in week out, taking another hit to the confidence, I don't see how it is going to improve without actually working off the court on things. She may win a couple of matches in Brussels, but what does she really gain from that, short of winning the title, she'll take another hit to her confidence. In the back of Caro's mind she probably thinks she should be beating every single player in the Brussels draw, and history suggests she won't gain much belief from beating a couple of players ranked 50 or so.

I think taking a wildcard into Brussels says something about Caro's motivation or mindset. I'm just not sure what.

The three main possibilities I see are: she does give a crap about her tennis and is trying to get things working, she wants and and gets a nice appearance fee, or she couldn't say no to the organizers when they asked her to play.
It's hard to know really. She could be trying to set recent wrongs right, she may be desperate for matches, but she doesn't give the impression she even wants to be out there right now. You'd hope it's neither of the last two, but sadly I can't rule them out.

Caro could sign up for doubles and probably play a doubles match before her 1st singles match. :shrug:
You know as well as I do that is just not going to happen :).
 
#2,822 ·
It's hard to know really. She could be trying to set recent wrongs right, she may be desperate for matches, but she doesn't give the impression she even wants to be out there right now. You'd hope it's neither of the last two, but sadly I can't rule them out.
Yeah,the deeper emotions aren't quantifiable,nor are they explainable in the simplest terms.

My best guess is that Caro doesn't enjoy tennis as much anymore and is less driven to succeed......yet,at the same time,she has been a goal-oriented person for years and can't completely turn that off.On top of that,she probably has at least some small sense of obligation,down at her very core,to give herself a chance to fulfill that potential that she showed in 2010 and 2011...and to write a fitting final chapter to the sport that has been such a huge part of her life for about a decade now............Those are just guesses,but have been deduced from how Caroline has frequently expressed herself in recent years
 
#2,796 ·
I not mad she playing Brussel due too the fact she need too get some clay win it bad going into RG not winning a match on Red clay but I do agree with ya that she need to improve on her game, I think this off season she really need too spend more time improving on her game, I feel this offseason she spent more time working on her fitness then anything
 
#2,807 ·
I think taking a wildcard into Brussels says something about Caro's motivation or mindset. I'm just not sure what.

The three main possibilities I see are: she does give a crap about her tennis and is trying to get things working, she wants and and gets a nice appearance fee, or she couldn't say no to the organizers when they asked her to play.
 
#2,809 ·
She played fine in Dubai & IW.
I thought she might get back to the top 4 by the YEC after IW.
She's certainly not committed to winning every match the way she used to be.
She has to decide what she's going to do on her forehand side. This combination of unforced errors and short balls is destroying her career
 
#2,812 ·
Look Like Caro going be seeded 10 at RG, I think the ninth & Tenth seed play the same seeded player in the third & fourth round, do anyone know who what the seeded player she could face in the third round
 
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