Sharapova def. Doi in three: The 6-foot-2 Russian towers over the 5-foot-3 Japanese but might lose a set with the rust of her limited pre-tournament preparation.
I know Doi hits a relatively good ball, but I don't see this happening
Not to quote you twice, I totally agree about unis not being reasonable in respecting our stanning needs Anyway, Masha will win it in two, I ain't worried. With the loss of 6-8 games It's Doi for Chris't sake, a player I don't know anything about, and I've watched my fair share of tennis :lol:
i think a lot of commentators are just unsure considering masha has played one match so far this season, whereas other top player have at least a handful under their belts whether they win or lose them. anyway she'll be find, DAVAI
Well to tell you the truth Maria seemed a bit sluggish on court. She served very well and her movement was flawless but the variety wasn't there. AO 2008 anyone? Her variety from the beginning there was immense. She needs to bring that against scrubs asap.
I would actually love to see her come to the net more often and play classical volleys, I think they are pretty good, but for some reason, she only uses them when necessary. I think it would make her life on court a lot easier, if she could finish the points off in that way, instead of always pounding the ball from the baseline :shrug:
In her first rounds at AO 2008 she came to the net so often . Especially in her match against Dementieva, she also hit several successful drop shots there. She needs to do that. She tried on in her match this year but she needs to try more.
well she has been training at the net a lot more often in the off-season i noticed, plus you just do your job in the first round of a slam, i'm sure she'll pick it up as she progresses
I actually thought she was coming to the net quite well in her R1 match. Although she backed off and let it drop a lot of the time (that epic missed put away in the first game ). I'll put it down to lack of confidence in her first match but it's clear that it's something Maria and Thomas have worked on/intend to do.
What the crap is this scheduling. Literally the worst possible time. I think this will have to be the first time since 2011 that I haven't watched one of her slam matches live. :lol:
What the crap is this scheduling. Literally the worst possible time. I think this will have to be the first time since 2011 that I haven't watched one of her slam matches live. :lol:
In her 1st round match, I felt like Maria was going more for her shots, like before surgery and I do not know how to explain but I just loved the way she hit her backhand in this first round, it was different from other years. Also, serve motion has changed a bit, but again, I could not explain how... Can anyone help me ?
I actually agree with this. I thought her service motion, backhand and particularly the forehand looked much more dynamic and fluid than they had in 2012 - especially the latter part of 2012. She looked like she was swinging through the ball more rather than going up on it and she definitely looked more comfortable taking things off the bounce. But then again, Puchkova's shots were soft enough that doing that just wasn't a challenge for her like it is when she plays the top girls.