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*Vika Azarenka Cheering Thread* - Vikalume 5.

338K views 5K replies 115 participants last post by  Pova 
#1 ·
Go Vika!!:bounce:
 
#740 ·
I definitely think Vika just needs more matches, especially tight matches. You can't train or practice for tight matches and tight games, you just have to play them and adapt to the situation. I feel that all her mental toughness has collapsed due to her absence for the last few months not to mention the struggling she had between last year's US Open and Indian Wells. She has to rebuild her match confidence with winning matches and having to problem solve more and hopefully she'll be able to do that this summer on the hardcourts.
 
#744 ·
This is a bit what I think too. For me this is already a lost season, meaning she's not going to be a contender to win the USO or is going to make it to the YEC, but she still can have a good HC season, that is, maybe get some top 10 win and go deep into some draw. If she does that it will be fine by me, everything else would be a bonus really, even if today there were parts of the match were she managed to play at a very high level, but the consistency, BP conversion, ability to win big points and timing are still poor. She needs more and more matches to get gradually into sync.

Victoria looks fitter, but imo is still not enough. She has to drop at least 3 kg to be perfectly fine.
 
#746 ·
I would say saying she played well is stretching it.

There was a period of the match from about 2-4 in the first to the end of the 2nd set where I thought she was looking close to her best. But you can see where she isn't. For one the 2nd set really should have been won by a wider margin, Vika was completely dominating the match, it should have been 6-1 (Vika had break point in all of Jovanovski's service games in the 2nd set). Then immediately at the start of the 3rd she lost momentum. It was bad match play, that allowed it to be a slugfest. Then she should have broken at both 4-4 and 5-5. Then gets broken from 40-0.

All things being said it was probably like a 5-6/10 on a scale. When it was good, it looked good. But the start was really bad. To lose control of the match at the start of the 3rd was bad.

I am not as negative as some. In that I think Vika is on the verge of returning to her best. She looks the fittest she has in some time. The signs when she plays well were good today. It's just stringing it together. The time off has most affected her match play imo, because I actually think she played better tennis in a lot of matches she was winning say at last years US Open. But back then her match play was top notch, right now it's pretty bad.
 
#751 ·
Vika :sobbing: :hug: Bojana played really well, showed some guts and managed to hold her nerves. It was so close, it could really have gone either way. Bojana saved so many BPs... I agree that Vika is on the right track, definitely. :) Plus, she seems to be willing to put on all the hard work required and push herself hard, so her time will come again soon. :)
 
#752 ·
It would gave been nice to get through this tough encounter and win. With her being stopped early in every tournament will have a lot opponents eyeing their win over her. Plus she will never get through the mental hurdle by end if the match. Nerves. Needs to get through tight moments at end of the match to turn things around.
 
#753 · (Edited)
The layoff has affected her always shaky forehand more and her mental strength. Also still rusty.....missiong that Swinging volley at 4-4, the easiest of them all was jus cringe worthy!! She will have to work hard and get ready for the hard courts. She is a champion and she is already berating herself for this loss which will force her to work hard!! Its a foot injury so these results are expected. Also I think she needs to get into atleast 3 Hardcourt warm ups before USO. Lets wait and be patient:angel:

And on a side note, pls avoid GM for a week or so, ur BP will stay stable:D This year is going to be like 2011 where she lost close matches to become the best in 2012. Am looking forward to her matches this year but not with huge expectations!
 
#754 ·
FUCK. I knew that BoJo would be tough, and since I didn't actually get to watch the match I can't say I'm that disappointed, since I didn't really have high expectations anyway and it's just so nice to have her back. From the highlights I've seen so far she seemed to be playing okay, but lacking match toughness :confused:. Honestly, it's okay. This really isn't a lost opportunity, and pretty much everyone I've heard from so far seems happy to have her back. I believe in her that she has the fight to make it back to the top.

Hopefully she can pull a miraculous return to form like Masha did after Indian Wells this year, but a temporary drop from the top ten seems inevitable at this point :help:.
 
#755 ·
I'm not concerned about her ranking for now, it's just in the past when returning from injury she's never found it that hard to get up and start winning again, whether it's due to the nature of the injury/time spent off court I have no idea, but it's a bit concerning nonetheless.

I'm still really unsure how she lost that match, the serve is close to the best I've seen it for a long while and there's little issue with movement, she had no trouble hitting winners regularly, could it really have been just been the UEs/rust on the mental strength that cost her?
 
#757 ·
She never really had such a long injury break though. For all intents and purposes she was out for 4 months. I can't think of anyone who was out for that long and come back at their normal level.

I think a combination of things cost her. Firstly it costs you when you come out as bad as she did. This is the kind of match you can hammer down from the start and say you are not winning today, then the opponent completely goes away. She gave Jovanovski hope from the start. Then going into the 3rd I just felt like there was no way she was going to lose. And again she ended up 4-1 down. She played well to get back in, but really she had so many chances to break at 4-4 and 5-5.

There are lots of good things to take away. She served as well as she has in ages. Her level is there somewhere, she looks really good in patches, and she doesn't seem to be taking the losses too hard, at least publicly. There is a finite time this can last though, and she really needs to be turning these matches into wins real fast. She can come into the grass court season with no expectations, her expectations are going to rise in the US hard court season though.

This is why I said in a dream world right now she'd go to some international, win it, and be ready. There are no options though, so Montreal it is. I think her playing really well is around the corner, we will see if it's in time for the US Open.
 
#756 ·
She might have been able to win a few more matches, but never guessed she would be a contender her. Onwards and upwards. I just don't like the tendency to lose close 3 setters. She was almost always winning them before, but hopefully that will be back with better match form.
 
#758 ·
The last time she couldn't convert a break point to save her life was the carlsbad final, and after that she won 11 straight matches. And her level yesterday was way above that match.

There was some tension at the important moments, the volley at 4-4 0-15 as others have said but she did have subsequent break points including some second serves. But mainly winning close 3 setters, converting bps etc is just variance. I'm sure she'll have some matches where she saves 9/10 break points and her opponent is scratching her head wondering how it wasn't closer.

It's frustrating because she was a contender here, not a favourite to win but definitely to make the semifinal. At the same time much of her play yesterday was a pleasure to watch.

I had a look at the US Open odds this morning because I thought there might be value there, but she's a clear second favourite to win it, behind serena but way ahead of the rest.
 
#763 ·
I knew the minute she mentioned him in her presser after round one, GM would jump on that. As much as I despise Gulbis, him and Vika have been friends since their junior days. A few years back, she'd go and support him during his matches and everyone in GM thought they were seeing each other. Men and women can just be friends especially seeing as if nothing has happened between them in say ten years, it isn't going to happen now. :lol:
 
#762 ·
Here's a good story about Vika's match yesterday:
http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-comme...ia-azarenka-fired-second-round-loss-wimbledon

"It's consistency," she said. "It's not enough. It's a little bit too many mistakes, like not closing the opportunities, not being sharp enough. There are a lot of things that still have to be tuned and have to be practiced. It basically goes down to back to work."

And patience, she admitted, is not one of her best attributes.

"I'm just really pissed off right now for not taking those opportunities," she said, unable to take her mind off converting only three of 16 break points. "I think that's OK to be that way because I really need to go through that and learn from it and just take it from here."

Both Azarenka and Sumyk said she is now pain free and training fully. And despite the break points missed, there were also plenty of glimpses of Azarenka's greatness against an opponent firing 105 mph serves and crisp returns. Despite her self-flagellation, Azarenka had 46 winners to Jovanovski's 27, and came to the net 27 times, winning 21 points, a staggering number nowadays.

"Her fighting spirit is always there and it was there today, no doubt about it," Sumyk said.

Azarenka won her first-round match on her fifth match point against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, a '99 Wimbledon semifinalist, and rallied Wednesday to win the second set against Jovanovski, then broke back twice to stay in the third.
 
#765 ·
Even though I did not have high expectations for Wimbledon I'm still a bit bummed that she lost that early. I hoped she would be able to get some more matches under her belt to get some more rhythm going into the US hard court season.
But as long as she is healthy I am optimistic going forwards.



Bubka seemed like a nice dude :shrug:
 
#767 ·
I forgot Bubka jumped out of that window. :hysteric:

Vika definitely has a thing for extremely strong personalities in guys as either friends or boyfriends.
 
#768 ·
Whoever she is with, i hope she has high motivation for her career and hate to lose matches. Not 100% sure that has been the case for some time, or it is just because of injuries. (hard to tell)

I think it seems to be a step in the right direction now, even if it was a bad loss.
 
#769 ·
I think after the 2012 form wore off she got a little bit too content at number two. She was great against Reehanna and that motivated her, but she also knew that she simply wasn't as good so she seemed fine with just sticking around in second place, then the US Open final hit her pretty hard. I think this injury will bring back her motivation though, but there is not better time for her to prove that than the hard court season.

Now that NaNa is out, this fucking bottom half of the draw is giving me "if only" nightmares :hysteric:.
 
#779 ·
Just as long as she finally wins the USO, I don't care how her results are for the rest of the year. It's that one slam she really needs, and if her serve stays good then she's almost a lock.



The more the disappointment of that loss lessens the more I realise she was playing mostly well it's just that she was the recipient of such awful luck.

Kvitova's the only one left capable of saving the bottom half from that nightmare all opportunistic vultures SF :lol:
Not even sure I want Kvitova to win either, nobody will hear the end of it.
 
#771 ·
God Lord. Radwanska vs. Wozniacki semifinal :mad::mad: and Jovanovski losing to Smitkova. With her 2012 form she could have walked into the AO and Wimbledon finals. If Wozniacki wins that thing by beating a challenger field I´ll have to change my username, cause I´ll never hear the end of it, cause she beat Peer, Boardy, Konjuh, BZS and whatever mugs they can find for the last three rounds. Damn you Vika. :lol:
 
#775 ·
I don't see who could possibly beat Reehanna, but I also just don't quite see it for her. I'd be thrilled to see Sunshine come out of the blue to get a major or P3tra to win again and Masha is my first choice atm. Even Lisicky would be nice. If Lady Aga vultures it though :facepalm:


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