so here the highlights from her unfortunate match with Tamira...since i wasn't able to watch much of it i didn't really comment on her performance, but watching this and knowing how far Tamira went again (and her title from two weeks ago), this wasn't a bad performance at all!
i haven't seen her hitting such a clean CC FH in more than a year or so and the BH seemed to be back! let us not forget that this was grass and i think that even the best Caro would have suffered with that Tamira...ok world n°1-Caro may have edged out mentally maybe, but i'm sure her mental strenght will be back the same moment she starts winning matches again and my first thought after those highlights was: on hardcourt playing like that she would kick asses.
let's see
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so here the highlights from her unfortunate match with Tamira...since i wasn't able to watch much of it i didn't really comment on her performance, but watching this and knowing how far Tamira went again (and her title from two weeks ago), this wasn't a bad performance at all!
i haven't seen her hitting such a clean CC FH in more than a year or so and the BH seemed to be back! let us not forget that this was grass and i think that even the best Caro would have suffered with that Tamira...ok world n°1-Caro may have edged out mentally maybe, but i'm sure her mental strenght will be back the same moment she starts winning matches again and my first thought after those highlights was: on hardcourt playing like that she would kick asses.
let's see
Yes, there was a great deal of promise in the match. And if Caro had had just a little more luck (or dared go BHDTL on her last shot on the first MP) it would have been a really good win. But her weaknesses are clear, too.
Her FH is weak. Especially when Caro goes CC you can see how little power there is on her FH shot. And when the opponent is under pressure, she usually just needs to block the ball back with decent depth (like halfway between service line and baseline) to Caro's FH in order to neutralize the point.
She rarely gets the upper hand straight from her serve. The power is acceptable but she doesn't mix it up enough and she's too easy to read.
She rarely dares to go for a winner on ROS, even when the serve is weak. 90% of the time she hits CC or down the middle instead of chancing a DTL shot.
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Yes, there was a great deal of promise in the match. And if Caro had had just a little more luck (or dared go BHDTL on her last shot on the first MP) it would have been a really good win. But her weaknesses are clear, too.
Her FH is weak. Especially when Caro goes CC you can see how little power there is on her FH shot. And when the opponent is under pressure, she usually just needs to block the ball back with decent depth (like halfway between service line and baseline) to Caro's FH in order to neutralize the point.
She rarely gets the upper hand straight from her serve. The power is acceptable but she doesn't mix it up enough and she's too easy to read.
She rarely dares to go for a winner on ROS, even when the serve is weak. 90% of the time she hits CC or down the middle instead of chancing a DTL shot.
There's plenty of problems including that was the norm, she plays some good tennis this whole slump.
There was nothing unusual about this loss. She played well in spurts, had chances to win. She was also broken 7 times. Way too much. Against good players, you have no chance when you cant hold serve
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Yes, there was a great deal of promise in the match. And if Caro had had just a little more luck (or dared go BHDTL on her last shot on the first MP) it would have been a really good win. But her weaknesses are clear, too.
Her FH is weak. Especially when Caro goes CC you can see how little power there is on her FH shot. And when the opponent is under pressure, she usually just needs to block the ball back with decent depth (like halfway between service line and baseline) to Caro's FH in order to neutralize the point.
She rarely gets the upper hand straight from her serve. The power is acceptable but she doesn't mix it up enough and she's too easy to read.
She rarely dares to go for a winner on ROS, even when the serve is weak. 90% of the time she hits CC or down the middle instead of chancing a DTL shot.
Shouldn't the much lower string tension have put more oomph on the forehand?
Johansson seems focused on getting more pace on her serve and not placement or disguise.
I think that her returning is a sign that her mindset hasn't changed all the way over to more aggressive play.
I think Caro plays too many players these days who play at a fairly good level for a steady (low winner, low unforced error count) approach to be that successful.
It's also an approach that's somewhat limited success-wise on grass and clay.
I think Caro's had her most success against top 20 or better level when she's tried to be more proactive. For example, Caro came the lowest to beating Kim when she nearly matched her in winners for the match.
I think Caro plays too many players these days who play at a fairly good level for a steady (low winner, low unforced error count) approach to be that successful.
It's also an approach that's somewhat limited success-wise on grass and clay.
I think Caro's had her most success against top 20 or better level when she's tried to be more proactive. For example, Caro came the lowest to beating Kim when she nearly matched her in winners for the match.
If you go back a full year to her loss to Cibulkova, it seems as soon as she plays a top 30 level player in early rounds, she's in trouble.
These plays beat Caro since Cibulkova: Vinci, Mchale, Kanepi, Pennetta, Zvonareva, Safarova, Georges, Kerber, Ivanovic. Thats besides losses to Serena, Maria, Kim, Kvitova, Radwanska.
Thats a long list of different players, and its usually early round losses.
Kanepi, Mchale & Kerber have 2 wins against her in the past year
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Shouldn't the much lower string tension have put more oomph on the forehand?
Johansson seems focused on getting more pace on her serve and not placement or disguise.
I think that her returning is a sign that her mindset hasn't changed all the way over to more aggressive play.
Changes don't happen overnight and it should also take some time to get completely used to a markedly different string tension. By the time US Open comes around, hopefully the changes are starting to kick in and combined with her best surface we might see some good things happening.
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Yeah, this whole process is long term now. The important thing is she has to learn how to close, how to win.
She knew how to do that with her old style.
Now she's very fragile in crucial moments and has a lot of trouble going deep into tournaments
Only won 5 matches in her last 6 tournaments. 5 losses in her last 7 matches.
The mental part is whats fallen off. She still plays around the same level of tennis, until she's close to winning, or 1 set-all, then the unforced errors kill her
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Yeah, this whole process is long term now. The important thing is she has to learn how to close, how to win.
She knew how to do that with her old style.
Now she's very fragile in crucial moments and has a lot of trouble going deep into tournaments
Only won 5 matches in her last 6 tournaments. 5 losses in her last 7 matches.
The mental part is whats fallen off. She still plays around the same level of tennis, until she's close to winning, or 1 set-all, then the unforced errors kill her
Totally agree. The main thing right now that I do like is her coach Thomas Johannson. I really hope this lasts. He really seems to understand Caro. One thing I liked is when he reduced the tension in her racket was the way he got Caro to say which she thought was best. So he wasn't saying do this or that - he was getting input from her what she liked best.
But yeah - the mental part when she's close to winning. She said she was unlucky on those MPs with her opponent painting the lines. But it's not all about just choking. That's what players do when they are MPs down. They've nothing to lose. You have top expect it. You lose a MP like that with the player going for broke and the Caro late 2010 - early 2011 would usually just plug away and keep getting another MP and manage the storm and eventually win. And she certainly did not help her opponent and give away UEs. It's hard to close out - but if you keep failing to convert match after match - it can't be put down to bad luck any more than the way she used to close out can be put down to luck and her opponent's play.
Totally agree. The main thing right now that I do like is her coach Thomas Johannson. I really hope this lasts. He really seems to understand Caro. One thing I liked is when he reduced the tension in her racket was the way he got Caro to say which she thought was best. So he wasn't saying do this or that - he was getting input from her what she liked best.
But yeah - the mental part when she's close to winning. She said she was unlucky on those MPs with her opponent painting the lines. But it's not all about just choking. That's what players do when they are MPs down. They've nothing to lose. You have top expect it. You lose a MP like that with the player going for broke and the Caro late 2010 - early 2011 would usually just plug away and keep getting another MP and manage the storm and eventually win. And she certainly did not help her opponent and give away UEs. It's hard to close out - but if you keep failing to convert match after match - it can't be put down to bad luck any more than the way she used to close out can be put down to luck and her opponent's play.
I agree 100%. Vika served for the match twice against Paszek, didnt play well those games. Still hung in there & closed. Caro has to regain that ability to keep fighting until she wins. But now she's not steady, and the unforced errors are too much, because she doesnt have the weapons to make up for giving so many points away.
So we see the same thing over & over, but against a wide variety of players. She plays well but loses. Tennis is mostly mental, so she's dug a hole this past year and has to find a way to climb out(mentally)
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So when does Caro get back to training after her "early vacation"?
Coach is still on vacation. He's not used to the everyday grind of a coach.
Thomas Johansson @TompaSthlmOpen
Really excited to go to Stockholm and sit in the Wimbledon studio together with one of the best coaches in Sweden, Fredrik Rosengren.
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Danish Delight - Caroline Wozniacki thread - vol 5
Caroline Wozniacki 
