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Serena's 2013 Clay Court Strategy

37K views 367 replies 122 participants last post by  Ntosake 
#1 ·
If I were Serena I would skip Charleston and Madrid, but play Stuttgart, A Clay MM Tournament and Rome to get used to the red clay. Or maybe not play any clay court warm ups and come in to Paris with no pressure or expectations.

What do you all think would be the best strategy for Serena's 2013 Clay Court Season? Should she play the same schedule as she did this year or try something different?
 
#2 ·
Same as this year. Charleston always puts her in good form and gives her a few weeks off afterwards to gear up for the European swing. Her game was in great form this year, it was just that her body was fatigued from R2 onwards in Rome and then she was a mental wreck at the French.

And hopefully next year she won't be screwed by scheduling in the Madrid/Rome double. She got a late start for her Madrid R1 because Vesnina was in the final of Budapest and that forced her to play for 6 days in a row. Then the following week she wasn't even given a bye in Rome (top 8 seeds got byes --- she was seeded #9 and didn't get a performance bye for making the semis of Madrid) and was expected to play another 6 matches in 6 days after having only gotten 1 day of rest. Next year it'll hopefully be a little less work for her to complete both events.
 
#6 ·
Well skipping Madrid technically isn't an option, but it's not like Serena follows the scheduling rules if she doesn't want to.

But I completely agree that her main focus for the French warmup next year should be Rome. Even Stuttgart is an anomaly of clay.
 
#8 ·
My prediction: She'll play the same schedule as this year. I know Charleston was a last minute decision after bombing out in the fourth round of the AO, and maybe she won't play if she goes all the way in Miami, but I think she had a great time there last year.

She should play Charleston, imo. She loves it there and the support she gets is unparalleled almost anywhere. Plus, she is defending champion so to skip it would seem silly. After that she has about a month off to get ready for the European swing.

Then she'll play Madrid and Rome.

I mean, she's played for 15(?) years now :lol: She's never really changed her schedule too much. What else would she play? Stuttgart? I find that unlikely.
 
#12 ·
I think she should play Charleston, only because she loves it there and the fans love her there.
Play Madrid, Rome. She does not need to overly stress her preparation. Compete well in all events of course, but go into Roland Garros with an almost lackadaisical air. Thats the only way she will ever win RG again. :eek:
 
#16 ·
This starts on the practice court. Her serve isn't as effective on the red dirt and her strokes sit up more on it. For numerous years she's just beaten herself up about it instead of doing something about it. That's OK for the lead up tournaments, but once it get's to RG and you combine this with her crowd issues, it's just disaster. The only thing stopping her is herself.

Her clay game is good enough to win RG as it is, she just needs to man up. However, trying to improve on the surface is the major thing she needs to do and something that IMO she's never tried to do.
 
#18 ·
I don't think it's her game, her game is good at clay, if you actually watch her last few loses it's was all close. It's her temperament that get's her in trouble not her game. Her self-belief just isn't there. She should have been beaten Kuznetsova, Stosur and Razzano but because she gets annoyed at herself quicker in RG, if she just calms down she would have won. Her latest match she gave that love lead in the third because she wasn't in the match at all.
 
#22 ·
Her schedule doesn't need to change. She just needs to chill out on court and not somehow get so uptight. Easier said than done I guess but she was as tight as a drum against Razzano and the year she lost against Kuznetsova she'd have won that match if she'd spent more time playing the ball rather than getting fraught and obsessed waiting for bad bounces.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I think playing in Charleston is a mistake, I've enjoyed her playing there but it clearly does nothing for her FO chances, in fact the two occasions she has won there her form in Paris has been awful. I think it fails as a warm up. Haven't won RG in 10 years? Maybe it's time to change something up.

She needs to play and win Rome. It predicts her FO success. 2002 - win. 2003 - SF choke. 2004 - loss to Capriati. 2007 - not good enough in QF. 2010 - QF/SF choke. 2012 - w/o in both tournaments. Plus people have been saying for years that Rome's red clay has the greatest similarity to RG's clay.

So should be something like: win Miami - have a little break - begin training on clay - Stuttgart - Madrid - Rome - RG
 
#27 ·
Just be prepared and willing to hit lots of balls. This isn't grass...Serena seems to sometimes lose patience and forget that this is clay.
 
#34 ·
Only one strategy: Stop mentally defeating herself.

I think this whole "be calm," "stay calm," "you play better when you're calm" thing that she has been doing post French Open is all in preparation for the 2013 French Open, to be honest.
 
#41 ·
Yeah, none of it is that crap about her game not being suited to clay, or get movement or footwork. That's :bs: I think it's all mental at this stage. Her last 3 losses at the FO she had significant leads including a match point against Stosur. Not to mention tough 3 set losses to Capriati and not even mention the emphasis one to Henin. That match might have really rattled her confidence because of the circumstances, she was chasing history, and the crowd reaction and getting involved. But, it's not at the FO, she's lost tons of 3 set matches on clay even while having match points.
 
#45 ·
You can forget about Serena competing for titles on european clay. Even on this stage of her career Williams is better on her worst surface than a plenty of players, but to contend for Rome and FO she will need a bit of help from the best. Really, in such conditions now everything doesn`t depend on Serena as it is on clay (well, never was though, but it`s obvious that with every year Serena becomes more dependent from her serve).

I`m pretty sure that even if Williams takes AO she won`t change her casual shedule and, mainly, attitude to win 4 GS in a row again. She has already done it. No, SW will focus on other 3 GS, Miami and 3-4 other competitions if health allows.
 
#48 ·
Train a lot with Patrick at his Paris academy in the spring, talk about clay strategy and get the right mental attitude with him. That's all she needs at this point in order to hope to win RG again. Just playing a MM red clay tourney and Rome would be a good idea. I don't think she should play indoors Stuttgart and high altitude Madrid. Different conditions than RG.
 
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