[Dghyletta]

Originally Posted by viktory

Her form was awful at AO Whatever the reason was (sideeyeing redfoo) i am afraid she didn't work as hard as her rivals in the offseason

Last year Vika had a very long and hard off season trainings. Thay why she was on fire all AO 2012. After that successfull season she was so tired. I think it could be a disaster to repeat so hard training sessions as last year. Sam is a big professional and he understand what to do. This year she changed a lot of cities (last year she prepared in one city 2 or 3 weeks) and her trainings were light.
Now she got a little rest (btw it is good rest with tittle ) and can work hard that be prepare for RG.

[Igor_Biscan]

There's a danger of over-rating her performance last year (she lost a set to Radwanska ) and under-rating her this year. She was starting to play some really good stuff before the injury problem, and she was clearly unsettled going into the final.

She's not in the perfect physical condition as last year for sure, but as mentioned by Dghyletta it might have been a deliberate decision not to overwork her body

[Vikapower]

Originally Posted by viktory

Her form was awful at AO Whatever the reason was (sideeyeing redfoo) i am afraid she didn't work as hard as her rivals in the offseason

I think you're concluding too much out of the AO IMO. You can't be tip-top in every majors you're going to win and even moreso when you're winning them in back-to-back years.

If you win majors at the rate Sharapova does for example then yes you'll always be on top of your game but with the standards Victoria has, I don't expect her to be making or winning slam finals playing her best ever game all the time.

In Sydney she was playing well, before the injury, just happened that her form dropped afterwards (by accident), this happens.

Originally Posted by ReboundAce

I think this year might be bigger than the year before bacause she has been more mentally challenged already, expect Goat Vika !

Yes I agree, this is the spirit self of Victoria and what makes her so good. After winning this major, I think Victoria has passed another step mentally -- if only she gets a way to pass Serena, then yes, I also believe that her 2013 will be greater than her 2012.

I think she could very perfectly end her first year with 3 majors. She wasn't far last year and willn't be far IMO this year -- RG is the big question mark but I just hope she makes the SF to complete add the ring 'of having made the SF at all four slams consecutively'.

Originally Posted by ozza

My general feeling is that I would like Vika to get some matches vs Serena.

All matches Victoria plays against Serena outside slams are good (the H2h, well doesn't matter) -- they've played way too much in majors where Serena almost always plays her best game. Victoria needs confidence against her and it'll be in tournaments Serena doesn't really care about.

You almost expect Vika to be in the final every event in upcoming hard court events (high expectations I know).

Isn't high expectations IMO. Victoria's standards on HCs are extremely high sop the expectations are just normal IMo -- bar injury, she should be making the SF/F of most HC tournaments out there [...] especially after having won a slam, the AO, as she has with her D-/E game.

[Dghyletta]

Well, we discuss that Vika played not her best but... Last year she had 132 winners on AO, this year 145. Of course we can`t complain because she had other opponents and other stuff. But I think it is an interesting information.

[garwe]

I think she played almost as good this year in AO compared to last year.

Having said that some of her matches in other tournaments were even better. (China, Indian Wells).

[LUVMIRZA]

Originally Posted by garwe

I think she played almost as good this year in AO compared to last year.

Having said that some of her matches in other tournaments were even better. (China, Indian Wells).

that semifinals against Bartoli is the best I've ever seen her play Bartoli would have beaten anybody on that day and she has proved it many times in the past. But after that Miami match which ended her winning streak, Vika takes her seriously these days

Hope she can beat Serena in Doha

[garwe]

Originally Posted by LUVMIRZA

that semifinals against Bartoli is the best I've ever seen her play Bartoli would have beaten anybody on that day and she has proved it many times in the past. But after that Miami match which ended her winning streak, Vika takes her seriously these days

Yes i agree about the Bartoli match.

[ReboundAce]

Originally Posted by garwe

Yes i agree about the Bartoli match.

Watchin it for god knows how many times

[LUVMIRZA]

Originally Posted by ReboundAce

Watchin it for god knows how many times

That whole match is like watching highlights The commentators and the audience were going crazy. And at the end the commentator said, "when push comes to shove, Victoria plays at another level"

[ozza]

From Jon Wertheim's mailbag for Sports Illustrated.

I hope you're done kissing Victoria Azarenka's behind. But something tells me that you're not. After reading a few of your columns, I can't help but think that you're on her payroll as a major butt-kisser. And here I was, along with the majority of fans and commentators (I don't mean Azarenka's fans), thinking that what she did was one of the most terrible lapses of judgment a player has committed in a very, very long time, when you come along and top it by complimenting her on a job well done. You are a piece of work. So, following your line of thinking, you might as well compliment Jeffrey Dahmer for his people skills. I mean, after all, it does take a great amount of skills to lure victims into his apartment such as he did. You, sir, are a disgrace. You should go and get yourself checked. Have a good day.
-- Jerry, West Texas
• Azarenka blowback continues. That was con. Here's pro:
It's more like Azarenka-hate than -gate. I was happy to see the Mailbag's headline, In Defense Of Azarenka. Those exact words have been going through my head for a week. Largely, everyone's reaction to the medical timeout reflects their feelings toward Azarenka before it happened. (To wit: How often are those people outraged by the scads of other poorly timed medical timeouts and bathroom breaks we've seen?) I don't think it's completely naive to think Azarenka was suffering some physical problem; the physical and mental states are hardly independent. If the rules allow, players must prioritize their health because no one else during a match can do it for them. We've now sent the message to players that they aren't allowed to suffer an injury at a critical stage of a match. At least Azarenka isn't.
-- Megan F., Indianapolis

The first guy . What a nut, think he should take his own advice at the end.

[Patrick345]

Originally Posted by ozza

From Jon Wertheim's mailbag for Sports Illustrated.



The first guy . What a nut, think he should take his own advice at the end.

In defense of Azarenka was basically a whole article of piling more shit on her. Does Wertheim think people are stupid?

[Maruuusya]

Unsportsmanlike or Unladylike: Azarenka and the Media
http://anygivensurface.wordpress.com...and-the-media/

[ozza]

Did you write that ?

[Maruuusya]

Originally Posted by ozza

Did you write that ?

no

[nastya]

I make the official declaration: I hate belarusian journalists! "Azarenka enjoys surfing while belarusian team fighting in Fed Cup without leader", "World #1 rides the waves and other tennis players are protecting honor of the country" and blah blah blah