This is why Serena Williams is the biggest star on the tour. Her fans love her and the haters can't keep her off of their minds. Need proof? Look at Serena's result threads vs other results threads. I added up the total replies of 8 other matches and all of them combined still do not have more post than the Serena vs Garcia thread. Even Mary Carillo had to admit the photographers enjoy taking pictures of Serena more than any other player and she got that from the horses mouth. Serena Williams gives the Wta Tour so much Life.
The victim of what??? What the hell does that even mean? You sicko haters run up in here with your prepared daily talking points (that never change, by the way) making 0 sense, like Fox "News'" on-air staff.
Aw so close on the upset! Nice try Caroline! I am really liking what she has been showing in her last couple of tournaments. So hopefully she can have even bigger breakthroughs soon.
Even though Caroline and Serena had struggles with their serves, I felt overall it was a good match. Congrats to Serena and I hope her the best of luck in her future matches!
Garcia did well. I expect steady good progress from her over the next 2-3 years. as I've said before, imo she will turn out to be better than Mladenovic, Robson or Keys.
I wasn't impressed with the gamesmanship I saw against Shvedova. She was literally screaming like she was being viciously attacked during at least one point. That is the sort of thing that I don't like to see, regardless of which player does it.
In some ways this is good for Serena to be tested like this but it just shows exactly what she needs to work on and in brings back her fighting spirit which helps her win. She has not played in a while so of course she will be rusty but what Serena needs to start doing is focusing on her serve and volley game. Start dictating the court more often, she plays too much defense which hurts her sometimes. At her age she needs to start constructing points more wisely, what Serena was lacking yesterday was plan B situtation. If she does not watch it she will turn into Sharapova. She overfocuses to much on her power of serve and if she can't hold her serve she technically screws up and gets emotionally moody. Any Serena fan will tell you that Serena's greatest enemy is her mood and emotions. Her attitude on the court the past two matches have been awful and has been her enemy. Some of the players might know and see this and they will use it against her sooner or later. She should of learned her lesson after her Sloane Stephens loss,she needs to get the emotional cobwebs out her head if she wants to play her best tennis. Serena's best tennis last year was when she was able to think wisely and not get emotional for example during the Olympics when she defeated Maria.
From the way Serena looks endurance is what she needs to build up for if she wants to have a good clay court season.
Topsy-turvy match, I didn't expect Garcia to suddenly up the ante and take the second set like that. A lot of fight from her this match, good to see. Serena is so tough as usual to pull through at the end though, champion. I see so many complaining about her grunts/come on's, as if she just started doing that today? :lol: I mean I didn't see the match so I don't know but the backlash is too much.
On the other hand, some people need to stop painting it like Serena's some super special target for hatred. She's been the overwhelmingly dominant player the past couple years and she has a fiery on-court persona. Of course she's going to have vocal haters, she's not the first. Wozniacki in 2010/2011/2012 was getting brutal hate and criticism all the time. Errani was mercilessly picked upon last year while getting very little support.
IMO on MTF Nadal gets more hate than Serena gets here, but for similar reasons. Dominant player, clutch fighter, on-court ferocity and will to win. Plus on-court habits/antics that get magnified 100-fold by haters as a result of them being so good.
Just stop trying to make it "Serena against the World", when in reality it's "TF hates everyone, especially if you're good though". :lol:
Interestingly enough... Seles was silent in 1989. She defended the noise-making by saying something like "I've been on the tour for years and no one complained about it before" -- which suggests, to me at least, that she had always done it.
Poor Navratilova had to play loud Seles at Wimbledon and Graf got quiet Seles at least twice.
True! I think French players are trying to prove something to Patrick for his "French players are not ambitious enough," comments he made in 2013 :shrug:
They may also have been motivated by the 2011 Razzano win
Last but not least, Serena always seems to play terrible against players ranked outside of top 20 :lol:
Serena did not look good today. She has not hit her 2013 form yet. She will need to be much better if she hopes for a typical Serena year (2 Slam wins). She caught a break not having to face Sam in the next round.
Hoe y'all gonna call Serena out for grunting and saying come-ons when your faves are doing exactly the same - but louder and for a much more prolonged time. At least Serena isn't still grunting when the opponent is trying to hit the ball.
Garcia closer to looking like an actual tennis player, and not just someone who can serve big and hit rocket FHs (but never when it really matters). Still some WTF? shot selection and poor footwork, and her complete lack of court sense/positional instincts are quite unlike anything I've ever seen from a pro, with the possible exception of VIP. But she has clearly improved her ability to stay in rallies, hit the ball with purpose and string at least 2-3 shots together to take over and/or win a point. Also seems to have bulked up her lower body a bit - looks less like a toothpick while retaining her overall naturally svelte build.
Reenus - OTT histrionics, no footwork, ground game a mess. Even serve working only intermittently.