Oh please stop it! The man lives in Paris, so what if he's at a "tennis tournament" in Paris. He's a tennis coach and has a tennis academy, it's natural for him to be interested in tennis.
I just saw the match on Tennis Channel.
Pavlyuchenkova was in Maria's face throughout this match, taking a page from Serena, another Patrick famous pupil, Serena.
If Pavlyuchenkova builds on this and continues her progress, she would the 2nd player Patrick can showcase.
Maria was definetely rattled by Pavlyuchenkova steadiness and agression.
I feel sorry for Pova. She's losing it. I like seeing her in the top 3 (below Serena of course). Imho her place in the current rankings should be #3 behind Vika. Hopefully she will bounce back for WTA's sake
She hasn't won a GS in almost 2 years, compared to the current top 3. Maria does not belong up there. And it's going to be a while before she can get back into the top 3. She has a lot of points to defend from now until the FO. She could slide further down the rankings instead of moving up.
Hingis just didn't have what it takes to be a global star. Yep, the results were there but not the marketing. It's the same with Azarenka now. No matter how good and dominant you are, sometimes it just isn't good enough. Maria had the background with Chernobyl, leaving her mother in Russia, living in USA since seven and all that stuff. Hingis was just a girl-next-door type that never caught up with the roll. Shit happens.
It reminds me of that Kerrigan/Harding saga. Years on and it's still the biggest story in figure skating aside from the Battle of Carmens. But how many people (and non-figure skating fans) actually remember who won the damn gold medal? Go and figure. If only Hingis' run lasted more than three years we'd be talking different now but it's not gonna happen. And as Sharapova brand gets bigger with every year you can only guess why some athletes reach above the sporting community into another level. Nadal has routined Federer for years now but will never get above him in some areas. Same goes for Sharapova vs Hingis leaving all the hate talk aside. That's just the way life goes.
Hingis just didn't have what it takes to be a global star. Yep, the results were there but not the marketing. It's the same with Azarenka now. No matter how good and dominant you are, sometimes it just isn't good enough. Maria had the background with Chernobyl, leaving her mother in Russia, living in USA since seven and all that stuff. Hingis was just a girl-next-door type that never caught up with the roll. Shit happens.
It reminds me of that Kerrigan/Harding saga. Years on and it's still the biggest story in figure skating aside from the Battle of Carmens. But how many people (and non-figure skating fans) actually remember who won the damn gold medal? Go and figure. If only Hingis' run lasted more than three years we'd be talking different now but it's not gonna happen. And as Sharapova brand gets bigger with every year you can only guess why some athletes reach above the sporting community into another level. Nadal has routined Federer for years now but will never get above him in some areas. Same goes for Sharapova vs Hingis leaving all the hate talk aside. That's just the way life goes.