[goldenlox]

Originally Posted by terjw

Totally agree with the part in bold. I've been saying it for more though - that they should have someone writing down the details of every point of every match she plays and entering it in a spreadsheet. See from the data - not what people think - exactly what is happening, where she's winning points and matches and where she's losing points and matches.

In fact the two things I wish Caro would do are:

1. Hire someone to record the stats of every point she plays (and put it all in a spreadsheet) - and that is more than the crude W/UE etc.
2. Get a serve coach. Just that one aspect of her game she might actually keep him - well more chance of keeping him than if he were a coach like TJ and Sanchez of her whole game.

Going back to her last match and her serve: In the second set - she got a cheap point with a really good serve from the deuce side and it was served out wide. But that was just one in the whole set. I wish she'd served a few more out wide like that. She can hit good serves there. Of course - if she doesn't get her 1st serve in her 2nd serve is a problem. But her 2nd serve was always attackable and a problem even in her heyday - and she managed it then somehow and still got all those wins and won when it got tight.

I think against Sveta if she could play like she did after 0-1 for the 1st half of the second set - she was really playing well then and took control of many points and hit her winners then. When she then went totally passive in the 2nd half of the set (and she wasn't even using that great backhand she has) just getting the ball back - well ... Of course I certainly don't want UEs to creep into Caro's game but when she played really well at the start of the 2nd set after 0-1 - she'd cleared up those UEs and hit just as few UEs then as when she went totally passive at the end.

I hope they take each shot seriously enough that they have someone doing statistics.
I know they give an image where Caroline runs to the golf course to watch, and Rory sits around during Caroline's practices, but they both have to be taking their careers more seriously than it looks

[Protoss]

Originally Posted by C. W. Fields

Will Caro - Kuznetsova be on Hisense or RLA? Azarenka, Serena, Federer and Murray almost certainly will play on RLA. There's room for 5 matches on RLA so there's a slight chance Caro's match will be the fifth, but I think it's more likely she'll play Hisense fourth time in a row.

I think the only other singles match that might make it onto Rod Laver Arena is Tsonga's match. That would be pretty atypical of the Oz Open to have three men's singles matches there on one day though.

It may depend on whether there's a women's singles match they think is worthy of the night spot on Rod Laver Arena. On day 5 there wasn't a Wta singles match at night, so there was only four singles match on RLA that day.

[Blu€]

I hope she plays first or on Hisense, I'm not a fan of night matches (morning in Europe), especially on a working day!

[Protoss]

I'm wondering what sort of approach Caro will take in her match against Kuznetsova. Will she stick to her usual defensive game or will she take a more aggressive approach like she did in their 2011 Dubai final matchup?

I found their 2011 US Open match dissapointing as Caro had beaten Kuznetsova comfortably in their last two matches and that match was a mess in which she was lucky to get out of it with a win. I prefer their 2009 US Open match to that one as Caro finally got over the hump of getting past the fourth round of a grand slam.

My favorite of their matches is the Dubai final though. It's her best played match against Kuznetsova and one of the better matches of her career.

[rucolo]

Good win over Tsurenko, Caroline !

But horrible stats. 5 Winners, 17 UEs. I see Caro crash out to Kuz again

[Chrissie-fan]

Originally Posted by rucolo

Good win over Tsurenko, Caroline !

But horrible stats. 5 Winners, 17 UEs. I see Caro crash out to Kuz again

Well, at least she got this far. We feared that she would go out in round one against Lisicki, so at least making the last 16 wouldn't be a disaster compared to that. But yeah, if she gets past Kuzzy and makes the QF I think we can call her AO a success considering where she's coming from and where her game is at.

[Blu€]

The thing is Caro would have beaten Sveta in Sydney if she hadn't made a gazillion UE, Sveta is anything but consistent. If she keeps her UE count low she shouldn't have problems unless Sveta is serving GOAT. However, if we look at Caro's stats against Tsurenko... it doesn't look promising.

That said, it's a new day a new match and you never know, let's hope it's one of those days when everything clicks.

[rucolo]

Originally Posted by Chrissie-fan

Well, at least she got this far. We feared that she would go out in round one against Lisicki, so at least making the last 16 wouldn't be a disaster compared to that. But yeah, if she gets past Kuzzy and makes the QF I think we can call her AO a success considering where she's coming from and where her game is at.

I hate Kuznetsova. Lisicki was brainless, Vekic and Tsurenko made too many UEs. Kuznetsova is the real test for Caro. Yes, AO QF would be a success

[TennisFan66]

Originally Posted by Blu€

she shouldn't have problems unless Sveta is serving GOAT.

Sveta's average 1st serve speed : R1, 148 mph. R2, 159 mph. R3, 142 mph.

R1 and R3 speed, to give a base line, is roughly the speed Tsurenko was serving with.

[marineblue]

Originally Posted by rucolo

Good win over Tsurenko, Caroline !

But horrible stats. 5 Winners, 17 UEs. I see Caro crash out to Kuz again

Horrible? This ratio is typical when she wins Caro is not exactly famous for hitting many winners in a match

[goldenlox]

Originally Posted by Chrissie-fan

Well, at least she got this far. We feared that she would go out in round one against Lisicki, so at least making the last 16 wouldn't be a disaster compared to that. But yeah, if she gets past Kuzzy and makes the QF I think we can call her AO a success considering where she's coming from and where her game is at.

I'm not sure where Caro's game is at. This match and if she gets to Vika will tell a lot. At some point she has to be able to go toe to toe with Vika. To rally with her for hours, like they did in Tokyo 2010.
I dont know if she is capable of that this tournament.
This match and if she gets the next one, will be very interesting.
But I agree we shouldnt expect her to suddenly be in top 2011 form. It will probably take months of slowly improving, building confidence and re-establishing herself as a slam contender

[Martn7]

It was nice she won, but she can't afford getting broken so many times in her next match. I hope she will beat Kuznetsova this time, as you said it would be a success if she makes it to the QF

[terjw]

Originally Posted by marineblue

Horrible? This ratio is typical when she wins Caro is not exactly famous for hitting many winners in a match

I said this in the GM results thread. I don't think 5W and 17 UEs is good. That's a difference of minus 12. But if you break down the match - nearly all those UEs were in the 1st set. She got the UEs under control and made 2W to 4UEs after 0-1 in the 2nd set. There were 3 stages in the match:

1. 1st set when she leaked too many UEs and only 3 winners. I didn't actually see it. But the stats aren't good.
2. After 0-1 the first part of the 2nd set - she stopped the UEs and played really well trying and succeeded in taking control of points. She also hit 2 great winners. At this point she didn't look in any danger of losing the way she was playing.
3. Second half of 2nd set where she went completely passive - but at least she kept the UEs out. But I was pretty nervous. She was very vulnerable and she was totally reliant on her opponent making errors.

Now if she could play like she did in first part of 2nd set against Sveta with controlled aggression and not making UEs.... That's how I'd like her to play.

Anyway - really hope she wins against Sveta and puts right that loss at Sydney.

[bruce goose]

Don't get me wrong,fellow fans,cuz I'm all in favor of looking for bright spots but,IMO,a QF wouldn't automatically set Caroline off on the right course if,say,she got obliterated 6-0,6-1 in that match...a scoreline like THAT one might be demoralizing and negate any confidence that she'd built up in prior rounds.

Of course,how far a player advances is normally a decent gauge on where she's at with her game but,for now,the top priority is Caro's getting her form back as opposed to advancing to some particular round......obviously,though,advancing all the way to a Slam title would be welcome no matter HOW well she played

[Protoss]

It's a bit frustrating how much more effective Aga's average low to mid 90s miles per hour 1st serve is compared to Caro's average high 90s to low 100s miles per hour 1st serve.