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Has Sharapova Broke Kvitova Mentally?

17K views 237 replies 85 participants last post by  VeeJJ 
#1 ·
It all started at the AO 2012 semifinal. Petra came in beaming in confidence and unprepared because she and her team probably thought she could cruise through the tournament without fitness and off season improvements. Then all of a sudden, she got a dose of Maria's mental toughness and she broke down in the last game of the match. Eversince, she has not been the same player losing all confidence. On top of that, she got another beatdown at the French Open by Maria. I don't think she expected to lose to Maria especially how well she handled her at Wimbledon 2011 final in straight sets. It reminded me a little bit of the Serena/Maria situation which also all started at Wimbledon in straight set win fashion. I'm not entirely pointing finger at Maria, but surely she at least have something to do with Kvitova's slump of Ivanovic's proportion, no?
 
#8 ·
way before? when she was spanking Radwanska's and Azarenka's asses in Istanbul?
 
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#6 ·
I think in their individual match-up she may have. Didn't Kvitova say something like 'As long as I'm on the opposite side of the draw to Maria' or something like that last year?

I don't think she's responsible for her slump in any way though. I think it's just down to motivation at this stage and possibly partly due to the people around her.
 
#12 ·
I'm not entirely pointing finger at Maria, but surely she at least have something to do with Kvitova's slump of Ivanovic's proportion, no?
No. Nope. She doesn't. Nada. Zilch.
 
#14 ·
No.

She´s lost because her lack of fitness, and lack of mental toughness she used to have, resulting in a terrible loss of confidence, something her game only works if her confidence is high.. That leads to baseball type of shots instead of tennis.

Sharapova had absolutely nothing to do with it.
 
#16 ·
I think that AO semi was a clear turning point in Petra's level of play, but I don't think Maria has anything to do with it. She brought this upon herself and if she had played anyone in that match, she likely would still be in the position she is in right now.

Also, Kvitova's slump is nowhere near Ana's right now. Ana dropped all the way outside the top 60, whereas Petra has fallen 6 places. She may be heading that way, but let's not make this more than what it is right now.
 
#127 ·
Not only did Maria gift Kvitova a lot of money to buy food, but also a giant plate to eat it from.
I know these comments are made as a joke, but still I hope you are aware that ALL sportsmen eat massive amounts of food. If you wanna make fun you should talk about Petra's phobia for running-shoes and weight-lifting machines.
 
#25 ·
Petra had choked a week before against Li in Sydney when she was a game away from becoming number one, and she had already struggled in some of her previous matches in the AO, so I don´t think her defeat against Pova, who was playing rather well, was such a surprise, except maybe to her overconfident and incompetent team. IMO her defeat against Bartoli in the UO, when she was crushing Marion and then desintegrated after winning the first set, was much more damaging to her confidence. I hope she may be able to rediscover her love for the game; it´s so sad to see Petra playing like she has done this week in Paris, without seeming to care at all if she wins or loses.
 
#26 ·
Petra is still very young. The expectations and pressure on young players who have success early are real.
When is the last time a player broke thru & stayed near the top nonstop?
Since Sharapova broke thru, now over 8 years ago, which young players broke thru?
Kuznetsova, Ivanovic, Jankovic, Safina, Wozniacki, Kvitova, Azarenka last January.
Did I leave someone out? They all had ups & downs until Vika. So far, Vika has handled success the best
 
#45 ·
Good premise.

However, Vika had ups and downs as well. Where you been? Remember, when she told her grandma she wanted to quit at age 21? That was due to unfulfilled expectations.

Vika's was a top player for years, while much was expected of her and she didn't deliver. When did she defeat Serena at that infamous Miami/Sony Ericsson match, again? That was ears ago, right?

The difference between the two was (and some of the others you mentioned): Petra was good enough to make the top 10, win a major and challenge for number one all for the first time during her break out year. Many of the others like Vika, Wozniaki, Radwanska, etc., were in the top 10 for years before they ever won a major, if they ever won one at all (in Caro and Radwanska's case).

So they had years to get acclimated to the pressure or have their ups and downs (like Vika) of a top 10 player. Petra's a little different than Vika or Caro. And she may be going through her adjustment period now. It doesn't help when you have a clueless, unprofessional, un-world class team, which she unfortunately has.
 
#28 ·
Every career has its ups and downs, every player 'slumps' or hits rocky periods, but the attitude around here is RETIRE! whenever a top player has a few bad losses. Kvitova had a top 10 season last year, she's going through a bad run now but there's no reason why she can't get it together, she might suck for the whole year and improve in 2014/15, who knows. Careers are long and never follow one set path, people who've followed tennis for many years should know this.
 
#32 ·
In August 2012 Petra Kvitova had a bright period when she won in Montreal and New Haven. Then in US Open tournament Marion Bartoli defeated her on the 4th round (1-6 6-2 6-0), and Petra somehow "disappeared" for the rest of the year. Even in the Fed Cup finals Lucie Safarova was the key player for the Czechs instead of Petra.

I don´t want to sound pessimistic, but I´ve got bad feeling that the 2011 Petra Kvitova is equal to the 2008 Ana Ivanovic when we talk about the peak years.
 
#37 ·
I must admit that I was very, very disappointed with the three losses to Maria in 2012, especially the AO semi, which Petra should have won, were it not for the fact that Maria won nearly 100% of the BPs she earned, while Petra was 3 of 11 or something horrible like that.

But hey, sophomore slump and she'll be back eventually. God, I hate the shriekers, though. Their time at the top can't end soon enough!
 
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