[Chrissie-fan]

Originally Posted by jasminefu623

is caro's match with sharapova in brazil going to be broadcast? any news on that?

Roger Federer has his own youtube channel that will broadcast his matches there. I doubt if we're also be able to watch the Caro/Masha match there, but at least it means that there are cameras there, so we'll probably be able to watch it somewhere. Last weekend Sharapova played an exhibition in Italy for which there were streams all over te place, so that's another reason to be optimistic for the Caro vs Sharapova one.

[Chrissie-fan]

Originally Posted by marineblue

Well, the only solution there is that she'd let her ranking drop again to be able to take part.

I think it's Caroline's intention to go up the rankings in 2013 - not down.

[marineblue]

Originally Posted by Chrissie-fan

I think it's Caroline's intention to go up the rankings in 2013 - not down.

Hopefully . I think she had enough downs last season. Do you think she'll be able to crack top 5 at least by the end of the 2013?

[Chrissie-fan]

Originally Posted by marineblue

Hopefully . I think she had enough downs last season. Do you think she'll be able to crack top 5 at least by the end of the 2013?

I hope she'll end up somewhere between five and eight and that she will qualify for the YEC. Top five, hmmm - it's not impossible, but I wouldn't bet my house on it. Top three is unlikely IF Azarenka, Sharapova and Serena continue where they left off in 2012. Below them anything is possible. Will the Kvitova of 2011 turn up again, or will we get the version of 2012? Can Radwanska, Kerber and/or Errani continue to do as well as this year or even better, or will this forever have been their career best year? Rodriguez has said that it's his ambition to make a top three player out of Li Na for the next two years - realistic or not? The answer to all these questions will be a factor when it comes to Caroline as well. But a Caroline at or near her best has an excellent chance of improving on this year's results in most of the tournaments she'll play, including three of the four majors.

[goldenlox]

I dont think top 5 is unreasonable. She has to stay healthy (never a given) and she needs some deep runs in majors & Tier I's.
The top 3 were in almost every big final all of 2012, so getting back into that group will be much tougher. But 5,6 is probably within reach

[bruce goose]

Originally Posted by Chrissie-fan

I think it's Caroline's intention to go up the rankings in 2013 - not down.

In theory,Caro might intend to go neither up NOR down...merely remain precisely at #10 for the entire year....though I'll concede that's not her most likely objective

[Protoss]

So is Caro now in a more hardcore training mode? Colorado seemed largely like a vacation with some fitness training thrown in. She needs a ton of work on her game technically.

Caro had the 2nd worst 1st serve winning % among the year end top 10 at 63%. Li was the next lowest at 64.3%. Everyone else except Errani (59.1% ) was above 65%.

[Saraya00000]

Her twitter yesterday said, she trains really hard now...

[bruce goose]

Originally Posted by Protoss

So is Caro now in a more hardcore training mode? Colorado seemed largely like a vacation with some fitness training thrown in. She needs a ton of work on her game technically.

Caro had the 2nd worst 1st serve winning % among the year end top 10 at 63%. Li was the next lowest at 64.3%. Everyone else except Errani (59.1% ) was above 65%.

You're only giving us part of the picture.The 4% difference is obviously a big drop-off for the Italian,but where does Caro stand,percentage-wise,against the Top 8?Tbh,if most of those gals are between 65 and 65.9%,then Caro's numbers won't seem so abysmal.She should always seek to improve,if possible,but could you give us a better perspective by listing the entire Top 10??

[Protoss]

Originally Posted by bruce goose

You're only giving us part of the picture.The 4% difference is obviously a big drop-off for the Italian,but where does Caro stand,percentage-wise,against the Top 8?Tbh,if most of those gals are between 65 and 65.9%,then Caro's numbers won't seem so abysmal.She should always seek to improve,if possible,but could you give us a better perspective by listing the entire Top 10??

These numbers come from the wta's new website which finally enables anybody to get the stats for a player by going to their profile.

Here's the 1st serve winning % for the year end top 15:

Vika 67.8%
Sharapova 67.9%
Serena 77.8%
Aga 65.1%
Kerber 65.2%
Errani 59.1%
Li 64.3%
Kvitova 68.1%
Stosur 66.5%
Caro 63%

Bartoli 66.3%
Petrova 71.5%
Ivanovic 68.9%
Kiri 65.2%
Cibulkova 64.2%


I'd like to at some point to do a comparison between Caro and the year end top 10/top 15 involving several stats and a chart or table would be an ideal way to present this data but I don't know how to do that.

[bruce goose]

Originally Posted by Protoss

These numbers come from the wta's new website which finally enables anybody to get the stats for a player by going to their profile.

Here's the 1st serve winning % for the year end top 15:

Vika 67.8%
Sharapova 67.9%
Serena 77.8%
Aga 65.1%
Kerber 65.2%
Errani 59.1%
Li 64.3%
Kvitova 68.1%
Stosur 66.5%
Caro 63%

Bartoli 66.3%
Petrova 71.5%
Ivanovic 68.9%
Kiri 65.2%
Cibulkova 64.2%


I'd like to at some point to do a comparison between Caro and the year end top 10/top 15 involving several stats and a chart or table would be an ideal way to present this data but I don't know how to do that.

After viewing your numbers,it's clear that,amongst the Top 10,only the top 5 players are significantly ahead of Caroline...which doesn't look that bad,really.As for Bartoli and the Fraud,their first-serve winning percentages are higher but that's counteracted by the fact that they so often MISS their first serves;i.e.,only Nadia has a really big edge amongst #11-15.....As I posted earlier,though,Caro should strive to better herself,regardless,if she seeks to remain an elite player

[marineblue]

Nadia looks pretty ominous there. I think Caro& the girls ranked in the bottom half of top 10 will need to watch out for her.

[bruce goose]

Originally Posted by marineblue

Nadia looks pretty ominous there. I think Caro& the girls ranked in the bottom half of top 10 will need to watch out for her.

Nadia has long seemed a GENUINELY sweet gal to me(not some phony smiley-type whose image gets boosted by a creative p.r. team).Also,I've suspected--but could be wrong about this--that the Russian sports media hasn't embraced her as much b/c she doesn't fit their tennis glamour queen prototype.She can beat ANYone when she's on her game;however,she has rarely been able to extend her best tennis over long periods.Perhaps if she gets on a hot streak at the right time,she can win a token slam as a crown jewel for her career.....let's just not have that if Caro is across the net in the final

[bruce goose]

We hear a lot of praise for certain tourneys that treat players well during their stays,but I'm sure that,at least on occasion,there have been a few tourneys where the players offered scant kind words afterwards.Most of the gals would endeavor to be polite and discreet,though it's not always difficult to read between the lines.To anyone's recollection,have there been any events where Caroline was clearly non-plussed after the fact?

[Protoss]

Originally Posted by bruce goose

We hear a lot of praise for certain tourneys that treat players well during their stays,but I'm sure that,at least on occasion,there have been a few tourneys where the players offered scant kind words afterwards.Most of the gals would endeavor to be polite and discreet,though it's not always difficult to read between the lines.To anyone's recollection,have there been any events where Caroline was clearly non-plussed after the fact?

Caro didn't seem to enjoy Olympic tennis this year although there may be some dissapointment over her result/play factoring in there. She didn't like how they were so far from the other non-tennis Olympians and thought that playing at the same tournament (Wimbledon) took away its specialness.