[dybbuk]

Originally Posted by Kaeli

Maria vs Niculescu :: Dubai 1st Round

part1: http://www.megaupload.com/fr/?d=J4HEP520
part2: http://www.megaupload.com/fr/?d=6YYGAYX3

Thanks for this. Very fun to watch.

[Petkorazzi]

Watched the 1st part, downloading 2nd

Unfortunately she is talanted, though cannot go far with this movement and serve

[Natash.]

I agree with you. The serve does need some work but I think she may have improved on it since we last saw her.

[PerfectForm]

That serve is horrid!! Interesting groundstrokes though. More parts to come Nouf?

[Natash.]

Unfortunately, that's all I can find of her. I think that's all the parts though.

[PerfectForm]

I recently saw a video of Gabriela Niculescu on youtube. I believe she's Monica's older sister. Seems to play a regular game as compared to Monica, anyone knows how good her sister actually was?

[ciprianned]

MONICA NICULESCU

[rated_next]

Gabriela was never as good as Monica and is now in the States playing college tennis.

[PerfectForm]

Originally Posted by rated_next

Gabriela was never as good as Monica and is now in the States playing college tennis.

yea. The youtube video I saw showed her practising tons of groundstrokes but she didn't do those slices that Monica does. Anyway, from the video, it seems that Gabriela's serve is slightly better than Monica. Not sure if I can find the link, but I'd post it up if I do

[Shvedbarilescu]

Just regarding Monica's serve, when I last saw Monica play it was at Roehampton in the qualifying to Wimbledon. At that time Monica was actually making some very decent serves but yes she was also making some quite poor serves too. It was missing quite a bit and sometimes lacked pace. But it wasn't all bad. She hit a few aces as well.

The thing is looking at Monica's results over the past few weeks, not just the fact she is winning almost every match she is playing but even more the manner in which she is dismissing her opponents with such ease, I can't help but think all this talk about her having a weak serve could very well be something that has been sorted out over the last few months. I really don't think we would be seeing the scores she is producing if she was serving at the level shown in that otherwise highly entertaining video with Monica playing Masha. If she is still serving at that level then all I can say is the rest of her game must be scarily good right now. Either way, she appears to be on the fastlane to the top 100 and it doesn't look like she is stopping for traffic lights either.

[ciprianned]

Monica advanced to final in Mount Gambier , after she beat in semifinal : Niculescu vs. CHUANG, Chia-Jung (TPE) 6-0 6-2
In final she play with LEE, Ye-Ra (KOR) 8 !
GOOD LUCK MONICA !!!

[Shvedbarilescu]

Monica has won yet another ITF. In the final she lost only four games, winning 6-3 6-1 over yet another discombobulated opponent.

I named this thread "The Amazing and Remarkable Monica Niculescu", and Monica continues to justify the praise within that title. There are so many stats one could provide right now that reflect just how well she is playing but next year we will all get to see for ourselves as she continues to rise up the rankings and starts to compete against the world's best players on our TV's and at our favorite local tennis tournaments.

Next year is going to rock.

[Petkorazzi]

I think 75K Dubai where Monica just made the MD Cutoff will show how she is playing and how she can compete with stronger players, not 25K players

[kittyking]

I've been an on and off fan of Monica since 2004

Shes very highly regarded by my favourite player Marina Erakovic, they played alot of doubles together and you they would often hang out at parties together.

[kittyking]

Originally Posted by Gigi.

I think 75K Dubai where Monica just made the MD Cutoff will show how she is playing and how she can compete with stronger players, not 25K players

Marina will be there too, hopefully they will play doubles together again