In my opinion he does nothing good to her game. She might have won RG last year, under his coaching but all of us know how was that happened, Razzano . He can't able to insert any variety in her game moreover he has taken out FH/BH DTL from her game and infused hit to the centre style shot(In his brilliant mind, most secured and point winning shot, bravo). Your opinions please. I want some one who can infuse some variety in her game, say Hingis,mere ball bashing wont work at all against player like Serena, most times against players Vika, Na when they play good tennis and gradually other strong players like Ana, Sabine, Petra etc
Don't agree in the slightest, I think she has consistently improved year after yeah with Thomas, she just flopped today against Serena, which I think is way more a mental barrier than anything to do with her game :shrug:
Ok what about Olympics Final, just flopped on that day
Improvement would be apparent only if she can achieve something that she cant able to do so previously, say for example atleast winning a set from Serena if not win on a consistent basis.
Today's match was usual demolition job in Set-1 by Serena, second set was a bit more competitive but from the look of match its NID that maria gonna loose in 2 sets
No, she has gotten her game very consistent with him. She can't beat Serena... well, that's 100% of the WTA tour, so she's in good company. People should stop asking Maria to add variety, she won't. She's just like Venus... stubborn and will continue to play her way, no matter the surface.
I am not expecting her to beat Serena, but atleast she should have to make it competitive enough, Vika these days making sure that she is not going down to Serena so easily eventhough she is also a pigeon of hers. No way Vika is more talented than Maria IMO, but she is making her matches against Serena interesting.
If losing to Serena Williams is a reason for firing your coach every wta player could fire her coach. You suggested Martina Hingis, and I don't question Hingis' tennis intellect or her qualities as a coach. But if she would employ Hingis in the hope of learning to play some Hingis-like tennis I think it would be a huge mistake because their respective strenghts and weaknesses are totally different, even opposite from one another. It reminds me a bit of the "Wozniacki should be more aggressive" argument. It doesn't work because it doesn't come natural to her. I don't think that you become a better player by trying to be something you're not, but by trying to improve each part of your game by 1% and then another 1%. I think that Hogstedt is doing an excellent job with Maria in that regard.
I dont think employing somebody like Hingis makes her game Hingis-like, TBH hingis is more talented than Maria, I just want Hingis to come and add some variety to her game like some slices, change of pace, redirecting pace etc. Since she is a master-class player she can identify whats wrong with her game than Thomas my opinion
No way! What?? Thomas was the one who helped her regain confidence, she was very fragile. And right now she is in a good position. Loosing to Serena - Thomas or Holy Thomas, it will be the same, she has been losing against her since 2005 all the time - close matches or a complete beatdowns, the result has been the same. She will have to find herself that extra-little edge, since she can't the outcome will stay forever as it is.
I think it's a stupid question - no offense - Thomas has done wonders with her and it reflects in Masha's ranking - No coach in the world can help Masha with beating Serena - It's not a technical issue but a mental one - What Masha needs to do is to hire a psychologist who can follow her a while on the tour and work with her on a daily basis - make her visualize all sorta matches against Serena and confront her with her fears
Thomas isn't the problem.It's obvious he's helped her a lot to improve as a player and find her form after her come back and that reflects on her results. No one can help Maria with her Serena problems except Maria herself she will only beat her when she's able to surpass that mental block she has.
Also it's really hard for players and it takes a lot of time to build that trust you need with them so it wouldn't be a good idea for Maria to change her coach. Players usually take these kind of decisions if there's something seriously wrong with their careers and a hard loss to Serena isn't that. I think Hoggy is doing a great job with her and they continue to improve her game and every season she's playing better and better tennis.
This. Even though Hodstedt has been so instrumental in resurrecting her career, he can only do some much. Maria has to find it within herself to go the extra mile and challenge Serena.
This thread is ridiculous. Particularly the wait til after RG 2013 option. Is that supposed to suggest that should she fail to defend a slam, which she never did in her so called "Prime" she should sack him then?
Maria's lost to two players this year, one of whom she beat handily the next time they played and has won two titles already. Today's performance was pretty dire but it's clearly on Maria. The one time she implemented some sort of strategy against Serena (which Hogstedt surely came up with) she took a set and went up a break in the second. Maria's game matches up badly with Serena and she's further hurt by Serena being in her head so badly. Thomas brought Maria back to the very top complete with slam finals and a victory (so far) after two years in the wilderness.
So no is the definitive and only logical answer to this question. Maria may never beat Serena again but Serena's an all time great and Maria can handily beat every other player on the tour and has done so.
Of Course not, where the hell did this idea come from? Since Hogstedt joined Maria's team Maria has been as consistent as ever, he practically helped Maria to go back where she was and be even better :shrug:. Without him I think she would have been a decent top 15 player not a top 3 player.
Every time Maria loses against Serena, this topic comes up. It's getting tiring. She is and has been No.2 for a long while now thanks to Hoggy. There is nothing wrong with her game. Her DFs are associated with nervousness and pressure from the fact that she was playing Serena. The only person who can help her beat Serena is herself. Full stop. I am sure Maria is fully aware of that herself now. Did you not hear Hoggy's advice to her on court today? She wasn't there! The real Maria wasn't there! Her mind was elsewhere. She did not focus.
I agree with some of the posters. This thread is pointless and should be scrapped.
I do think though that she should go to a serve specialist, something she's never done since her comeback, she needs a motion and toss that isn't going to break down. There's always going to be nerves creeping in on her serve for the rest of her career, that would reduce the impact of such moments.
I don't think she needs to fire Thomas. It's all by herself, If she doesn't want to change her game, nobody can make her do it.
But i think she need to be more aggressive in her game, Let's learn something from Serena's game, sometimes hit the ball in the middle and wait to a easy ball or a mistake from opponent is not a best idea. Please more aggrassive, and you have more chance in Wimbledon.
And I don't think her serve is bad but lack of confident against Serena. Like commentary said If she doesn
t believe she can beat Serena, She'll never win.
Yep, Maria is really frustrated against Serena. Usually she finds the key against players after 2 or 3 meetings. The longer streak I remember was Clijsters with her 4 wins over her and Henin in 2005-2006 but Serena's streak is just unbelievable.
Maria really feels like no matter what she does, she is doomed.
In my opinion the only thing Hogstedt can do is employ a male player who can play like Serena (obviously you can't find a female) and well, LOOK like Serena. Then have Maria play him over and over, hundreds of times if necessary, until she can play fearlessly. :lol:
But Serena is one of the best players in the history of tennis. Losing to her when she plays like does is certainly no shame. Maria is still a great tennis player.