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Danish Delight - Caroline Wozniacki thread - vol 5

355K views 5K replies 85 participants last post by  James 
#1 ·
The last volume has passed 5000 posts, time to start a new one. It's not the most positive of times with Caro just losing the #1 ranking and firing her coach, but while there isn't much we can do about that we can at least try to keep a civil tone here, even if we're somewhat frustrated about the way Caro's career is going right now. Ok?



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#4,241 ·
Caro is 0-4 against Kerber & Radwanska ( the 2 steadiest players in the top 10) in 2012. If no YEC for Caro, this is her last chance to beat one of them in 2012
 
#4,242 ·
Caro has now won her last five 3-sets matches, eight of her last nine.
 
#4,244 ·
She has a good group of wins now, including Li.
But in the match she lost, she didnt play well & lost to a steadier player.
Now she gets another chance against a steady player, with Sharapova next.
So she can get a lot done this week that could help turn things around heading to 2013
 
#4,251 ·
Kerber is normally a good deal more aggressive than Caro and she was a lot more aggressive than Caro in their 2 matchups this year.

Caro had a little more than half the number of winners Kerber had in their Copenhagen match this year and had only about 55% of the forced points (winners and forced errors combined) as Kerber had. I was looking at stats for some of Caro's matches against Aga and Zvonareva and Caro's winner total was typically close to theirs and the % of forced points was usually close to or surpassing theirs.

Until Caro gets her offensive game working again I don't think she's gonna have much success against good defenders. :shrug:
 
#4,246 ·
I'm not expecting a win either. But at least she's getting to these matches. This is 3rd top 10 player in her last 5 matches. As long as Caro really wants to win, she'll know she cant hit overheads straight down at her feet... and play smarter.
But for now, to keep getting to these matches is good
 
#4,248 ·
Any info on Caro's match against Hsieh in the Danish press?

This is about as much detail as I could find in english:

The No.10-seeded Wozniacki was given all she could handle from Hsieh, unable to hit through the Taiwanese's spins and angles for most of the match - she actually trailed a set and 3-0 at one point, even facing points for a 4-0 deficit in the second set, but she kept fighting and scraped by, 67(5) 76(3) 60.

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/20121002/goerges-edges-stosur-wozniacki-survives_2256076_2936693
 
#4,252 ·
Aga didnt play well last week in that match, even thou she beat Caro. Then Aga beat Kerber 61 61 then lost to Petrova.
I think Kerber is probably worn down from winning the most matches this year. Now is the time to play her.
But Caro has to play smarter than the loss to Aga
 
#4,253 ·
Just as with Caro's last match,there's an early wake-up for me tomorrow so I won't be able to stay up and watch it....Am hoping to get similar good news when I awake:cool:.VAMOS,CAROLINA!!!
 
#4,254 ·
Here's another match where she's 44 in the 3rd and loses.
Terrible year coming to an end.
Its about 14 months since she's been to any final besides Intls.
Almost 2 years since a Tier I final, over 3 years since her only slam final.
 
#4,257 ·
She had two slam R1 losses..I think that pretty much qualifies as terrible for a player that started the year as #1.

The Serena match was the highlight of her year, Seoul was solid but somewhat to be expected. Other than that, the Olympics were solid. Her win over Li is a good one paper but a little less impressive if you look at how it played out.

Other than that there's not much to say really.
 
#4,260 ·
I think she should keep playing. Moscow, Sofia, even a 100K in the offseason, if the rules allow her to play.
She is broken down mentally, something she did to her self by becoming an inconsistent player who doesnt win, and she needs to play, not hang with Rory.
She needs every match she can get.
Forget majors, she's terrible at them now. She needs wins, even if its at challenger level
 
#4,263 ·
I think she should keep playing. Moscow, Sofia, even a 100K in the offseason, if the rules allow her to play.
She is broken down mentally, something she did to her self by becoming an inconsistent player who doesnt win, and she needs to play, not hang with Rory.
She needs every match she can get.
Forget majors, she's terrible at them now. She needs wins, even if its at challenger level
You actually make a good point.

My initial reaction to today's loss was : I hope she'll now drop that Moscow nonsense and Sofia too ... then again, if that just means she'll revert to being a golfing WAG and hang around on golf courts, playing both Moscow and Sofia, will be an advantage for her tennis ..

I don't know. I personally still feel there's a big question mark hanging over her whole commitment and desire. I hope it doesn't happen right now, but I will not be surprised, if Caro 'suddenly' calls the 'I am retiring' press conference ..

Them babies aren't going to make themselves, you know .. and they also need a mummy to look after them.

Edit: One could also speculate Adidas isn't feel to sure about her either. They haven't extended her contract yet.
 
#4,266 ·
She could easily quit on the year now. How does that help?
She needs a full time coach. Someone who will constantly be trying to explain why she lost and what she has to do in these key situations that she doesnt play well in.
To me, this is all about changes in her game that she cant do. She has to play to her strengths and build slowly on that.
The problem, which is huge, is that the old style of play is gone now. She just cant make pressure shots, like the overhead vs Aga, or this match at 44
Mentally, she's not the player she was. She has to keep winning to get that mental part back, and she needs smart coaching, which she hasnt been getting

I agree with Jimmie48. She's going to need full mental committment to tennis, and even thats no guarantee.
But everything we see is not full committment.
 
#4,272 ·
I don't think ending the year now is helpful. She's got a chance to put in some more work on her game in actual matches and it's better than her following Rory around a golf course. :p

I don't think playing well in the pressure moments is really about the style of game. I'd say it's about confidence, focus, and shot selection.

Every player has a choice in pressure moments whether to play it safe or to go for it. Sometimes the safe approach is the right one and the opponent makes an error. Sometimes you get burned by it as the opponent hits a winner.
 
#4,268 ·
Can we please drop the retirement talk? Thanks. :)
 
#4,269 ·
You guys are underestimating Caro's will and fighting spirit. Caro is a fighter, she doesn't give up, so just because she has had a mediocre year she isn't going to retire anytime soon. She has some 4-5 good years ahead of her. She is the youngest player of her generation!
 
#4,273 ·
I get the impression a lot of you think 2013 is make or break for whether she retires or not.
If thats true, it will be interesting to see how she plays it.

Because of Jankovic and Safina, there's not much pressure on Caro.
If she goes away, she's just another slamless #1 who disappeared
So she certainly has that option. I thought this whole year she's playing like she doesnt care enough. Retiring after next year would be a continuation of the past 12 months, where mentally, she is just not into it
 
#4,296 ·
She was in a slam final, and 1 point from a 2nd with her old style.
She also was winning premiers, a lot of them.
Now she lost 1st round in 2 majors in a row and hasnt been in a premier final for 14 months.
She could have improved her forehand, serve and volley without being so inconsistent and reckless.
But thats history now.

Ultimately, how she does from 2013 on will tell the tale.
Exactly,with the old style she was doing well at all kind of events which shows that was a way forward. There's no guarantee that it would win her a slam and at the same time there's no guarantee it wouldn't. Waiting for opponents errors may be seen as inferior style to some but the results of players who opt for it show that this style also works.
Caro is a good example of that. She won some really tough battles thanks to opponents UEs. She did slip at slams,true,but was definitely closer to the victories than she's now, when she tries to hit winners.

If she kept on playing the old way she'd have a much better 2012 and, who knows, maybe would succeed at slams,too.
But now it's kind of back to square one.
 
#4,302 ·
Exactly,with the old style she was doing well at all kind of events which shows that was a way forward. There's no guarantee that it would win her a slam and at the same time there's no guarantee it wouldn't. Waiting for opponents errors may be seen as inferior style to some but the results of players who opt for it show that this style also works.
Caro is a good example of that. She won some really tough battles thanks to opponents UEs. She did slip at slams,true,but was definitely closer to the victories than she's now, when she tries to hit winners.

If she kept on playing the old way she'd have a much better 2012 and, who knows, maybe would succeed at slams,too.
But now it's kind of back to square one.
Well, I don't think that anyone, not even the biggest supporters of Sanchez or TJ think that she should drastically change what in the past has been a winning formula for her. But everyone always works on certain aspects of their game and tries to improve whatever weakness they have. Radwanska has improved her serve and offensive game over the last year or so, Sharapova moves around the court much better than she used to in the past, Nadal has improved his serve - even Federer now makes use of the dropshot much more than he did in the previous decade. I don't see why Caroline shouldn't try to add to her game as well, just like everyone else does.

The idea that she should improve her forehand in particular sounds logical to me. And as we can see it's clearly a better shot when she steps into it and takes it on. True, it might result in a few more UE, but what's the difference between making an UE yourself and putting a ball halfway up the court that the opponent will just put away? At the very least Caroline should be able to put away halfcourt balls herself with that forehand instead of giving her opponent still a play on the ball. Every other top player can do that, even the ones that are not power hitters.
 
#4,275 ·
Actually, making changes are an excuse, if you lose.
Everybody is working on their games, experimenting with strings & rackets, a lot of players change coaches.

Hiring a part time coach who leaves for vacation after you lose 1st round at a major, and then you head to the golf course. 2 majors in a row. There's no way thats a sign of committment

But I dont know about retirement. Others of you see that. I see more of a Jankovic situation, keep the endorsements
 
#4,277 ·
Caro is now 34-25 (58%) this year after Beijing in sets that are 6-4, 7-5, or 7-6.

Caro was 44-32 (58%) in those sets in 2009 and 38-17 (69%) in 2010.
 
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