i think Azarenka has played enough matches this season for us to make some good predictions. do you think she will get back inside the top 10, this year or ever?
i was leaning towards "no, she'll never get back inside the top 10" at the beginning of the year and i still stand by it after today. she is unfit, players have figured her out completely, her game has weakened, she is as emotionally unstable as ever, etc. she took a big blow today after choking, don't think she will recover for a while.
i see her being maybe top 25-20, winning a couple Internationals or small time Premiers like Doha, but that's it. no grand slams again or big premier mandatory tournaments. good riddance imo, her screaming and general bad behavior was a big turnoff to audiences globally.
I think Radwanska and Azarenka can both get in there. Navarro and Petkovic are buzzing around it, and Bouchard was #5. Stephens was 11.
I think Kerber will get back there too. Its more about grinding and staying healthy and getting some soft draws along the way.
If I was making the strongest top 10 list
Serena
Wozniacki
Sharapova
Halep
Kvitova
then about 20 players can be 6-10 and it wouldn't be a shock
I think Radwanska and Azarenka can both get in there. Navarro and Petkovic are buzzing around it, and Bouchard was #5. Stephens was 11. I think Kerber will get back there too. Its more about grinding and staying healthy and getting some soft draws along the way.
If I was making the strongest top 10 list
Serena
Wozniacki
Sharapova
Halep
Kvitova
then about 20 players can be 6-10 and it wouldn't be a shock
She again showed today that she has the capacity to consistently stick with Reehanna, both mentally and physically. She just doesn't have the match practice this year or front running abilities to actually close it out, which she only ever really had in 2013.
i think Azarenka has played enough matches this season for us to make some good predictions. do you think she will get back inside the top 10, this year or ever?
i was leaning towards "no, she'll never get back inside the top 10" at the beginning of the year and i still stand by it after today. she is unfit, players have figured her out completely, her game has weakened, she is as emotionally unstable as ever, etc. she took a big blow today after choking, don't think she will recover for a while.
i see her being maybe top 25-20, winning a couple Internationals or small time Premiers like Doha, but that's it. no grand slams again or big premier mandatory tournaments. good riddance imo, her screaming and general bad behavior was a big turnoff to audiences globally.
I think she can, it's only a matter of time, but first and foremost, she has to really work on her game and her fitness. There are still many improvements to be made. She's not going to get back to the Top 10 overnight. I think if she can put together some big results this summer, then yes it's possible she can finish 2015 inside the Top 10 again. Otherwise, for now, I see her just outside the top 10 by year's end.
"Stays"? She's very unfit, and I don't think it's about whether she has a BMI of normal vs. overweight, rather if it's getting closer to 30 as we speak. It's never pretty with cellulite on the arms, but especially not for one who's supposed to be in the top of a sport.
I would've said a shoo-in had she lost that final set to Serena 6-3 - good sign and motivation to move forward. Now its about seeing how she bounces back.
If she 'serves like that' she won't be back in the top 10. Three straight double faults at 40-30 match point serving for the match to lose serve after 40-0 triple match point lead.
Of course Vika will be back in the top 10. She has already proven that she's one of the top 3-4 players in the world when fit. I don't like her much but that she's a class player is beyond debate.
To be fair I can easily see her in a couple of long GS runs, she has proven she can beat anybody and currently looks on the only player who could beat Serena.
If it hadn't been Serena she wouldn't have served those 3 DFs in a row, and it's not the first time she's had an epic meltdown against her.
I think in terms of her old game she's past her peak, mainly because she's lost a step that prevents her counterpunching to be as effective as before, but unlike some slamless perennial flops getting evicted from the top 10, she is capable of shifting some gears in her game and adapt. She's hitting harder, her FH has a heavier spin and she has added more variation to her game.
I thought she was never going to smell a slam title again, now I am not so sure. She still could have some options. Apart from Serena and Martha the tour is so weak, and even at her current level she can already beat pretty much everyone, but she needs to find a new balance to her game, improve her consistency level and escape from the current 2-3 good matches/ one flop pattern. Easier said than done, but from now on and if she's seriously committed to getting back, not like VIP, but the real thing, the Pome/Flavia/Lucie-type of losses will be inexcusable.
If it hadn't been Serena she wouldn't have served those 3 DFs in a row, and it's not the first time she's had an epic meltdown against her.
I think in terms of her old game she's past her peak, mainly because she's lost a step that prevents her counterpunching to be as effective as before, but unlike some slamless perennial flops getting evicted from the top 10, she is capable of shifting some gears in her game and adapt. She's hitting harder, her FH has a heavier spin and she has added more variation to her game.
I thought she was never going to smell a slam title again, now I am not so sure. She still could have some options. Apart from Serena and Martha the tour is so weak, and even at her current level she can already beat pretty much everyone, but she needs to find a new balance to her game, improve her consistency level and escape from the current 2-3 good matches/ one flop pattern. Easier said than done, but from now on and if she's seriously committed to getting back, not like VIP, but the real thing, the Pome/Flavia/Lucie-type of losses will be inexcusable.
I'm really surprised this is taking her so long. She only has 1 top10 worthy result all year-- the F of Doha, and maybe you could argue R16 at AO. It's nice that she can still paste Woz though.
But you can't make moves when you lose consistently in Rd32 and Rd16. She's 23 in the Race and 29 in the Rankings. Even if she'd beaten Serena she would be 21 and 29 respectively, and that's with what would have been a massive win. That should show you how far she is from moving up. Yes, there are a lot of weak/questionable players in the 6-20 range, but she would need to consistently beat them or go further than them to move up. Her scheduling has also been problematic.
She certainly has the talent. I think she's taking everything slowly, which will probably prove intelligent. I don't think I see her back in the top 10 by year end though. We are almost halfway through the season, and her draws are still going to be very tough.
#1 In May the race doesn't really mean a lot, because a lot is down to number of events played. Vika has played less events than every single player above her bar Serena. She's clearly not going to go chasing ranking points, so won't have a full season of points until the end of the season.
#2 She gets zero protection from the draw thus her draws are harder than anyone. Look how many points the likes of Bouchard and Radwanska have got this season from effectively beating no-one of note.
Whether she makes the top 10 will come down to whether she gets any big scores. But really it's the big scores that matter more than making the top 10, making top 10 will be a consequence. Most important is you're healthy, then playing well, then results will come, and that's more what your season will be measured by rather than your final rank.
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