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Danish Delight - Caroline Wozniacki thread - vol 6

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#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
The last volume has passed 5000 posts, time to start a new one.

 
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#44 ·
I cant think of a worse loss, being up a set to Pervak and losing, other than Begu in the US Open.
The only worse result would be an injury.
At least its only the first match, but it makes her mental toughness, and ability to hold serve & close, look like its still as much as issue as all last year
 
#45 ·
Her tie break record has been appalling for a while. She's just gifting them with UE on return and middle court shots. That's not how you play a tie break. I dread it when she has to play a tie break these days.
 
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#46 ·
just some random thoughts, from some of the other matches i watch, lots of players nowadays just playing the "old caro style", they are doing well, since some of them are more powerful then caro, some of them can change the pace and direction easier than caro.

start to think, if caro didn't listen to the experts, didn't change her style, what will her result be now?
 
#47 ·
I don't think anybody in the top 20 plays as defensively as Caro does though.
 
#50 ·
I loved Piotr's coaching comments, they were spot in. It must be frustrating when she does everything right in practise, then ditches it during matches. At some point, it will click. She spent most of the second set in Caroland at the Brisbane marking behind the baseline again. It seemed like she was just not mentally clear when she went into the match.
 
#52 ·
I rather dislike the tone/style of his coaching.

Coaching relationships sometimes go stale with a team or player no longer really hearing what the coach is saying. Do you think Caro is at or near that point?
 
#53 ·
Something was wrong going back to when she lost her 1st matches to Vinci & McHale at Rogers Cup & Cincy in summer of 2010.
This is a year and a half later. She is not the player she was. Doesnt mentally compete the same way.

I also think a full time coach, like Sanchez is helping Petrova, would give her better strategies, but if her level drops off when its crunch time, there's nothing a coach can do.
Its the same for Jankovic, who was an excellent player. You have to be able to start each set holding serve, and finish each set playing at a high level.
And Caroline is not doing much of that for a long time now

Hopefully she can figure it out, but right now, everyone wants Caro in their section of the draw
 
#54 ·
If I understand him correctly even Piotr doesn't want her to play so defensive. He's urging her to play closer to the baseline and don't hit through the middle so much. That comes pretty close to what Sanchez and TJ also wanted I think. But most of us also say that. Question is whether Piotr is a good enough coach to make Caroline confident enough to actually do it (?). And I've heard Sam Smith say several times in her commentary that the problems Caro is having with her forehand can be EASILY solved. Again, does Piotr have the technical know-how to do that? I don't know. But even though I can't answer those questions, I feel the same way as Protoss about his style of coaching, at least when she calls him on court. You don't encourage your player by telling her that she's a clown or that she basically sucks. That doesn't sound like much of a pep talk to me.
 
#65 ·
If I understand him correctly even Piotr doesn't want her to play so defensive. He's urging her to play closer to the baseline and don't hit through the middle so much.
It is a GM-myth that Piotr wants Caro to junk ball every ball back down the middle of the park. This has never been his strategy.
 
#55 ·
The reasons for Caroline`s decline

1) Talk about #1 without Grand Slam finally got to her (FO 2011)

Caroline was strong for so long, but at FO 2011 the talk was too much even for her. She bombed out to Hantuchova. Caroline is a strong, positive person, but not a robot. With each press conference the talk about not deserving #1 put more and more pressure on her to win a Grand Slam.

2) Rory

Rory is now her Top priority, not tennis anymore. Tennis is only #2. Skipping training to be with him is completely unprofessional. I can`t see the fire she used to have on court anymore. The will to win is not 100 % anymore. Caroline is not 100 % focused on court anymore. She lost her consistency, her fire, her mental strength. Because her #1 is Rory.
 
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#58 ·
I agree with your first point. I have no idea if she skips training though. I mean, she could hardly look any fitter than she does and her stamina is second to none. So I'm sure that she works very hard on the physical part of the game. Problem may be that she doesn't work enough on her technique, which may explain why she continues to struggle with her forehand. I'm obviously just guessing, but if she has been working on that we sure don't see any positive results - or not often enough anyway. As I've said before, towards the end of last year the forehand down the line was a pretty effective shot for her in some of her matches. I didn't see any of that in the Pervak match anymore though.

....But it's early days. Let's hope for better in Sydney. It's all we can do. :sad:
 
#56 ·
I saw the highlight of the match and all I can say is that if Caro keep on playing like that, she won't be able play tennis in her late; physically she'll be dead. During this match most of the time she was behind the baseline, chasing the ball; the worst thing about the way she played is that most of her ball were short and in the middle of the court even though that Pervak isn't really a powerful player.

I don't know if it's because of Rory or because she needs a new coach but if she doesn't find a solution soon, her ranking may badly suffer.
 
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#57 ·
I saw the highlight of the match and all I can say is that if Caro keep on playing like that, she won't be able play tennis in her late; physically she'll be dead. During this match most of the time she was behind the baseline, chasing the ball; the worst thing about the way she played is that most of her ball were short and in the middle of the court even though that Pervak isn't really a powerful player.

I don't know if it's because of Rory or because she needs a new coach but if she doesn't find a solution soon, her ranking may badly suffer.
Definitely. Just to hold on to a top 10 ranking (let alone to go up again) she'll have to improve her level because she'll face (if she even makes it that far) the top players sooner in a tournament than for most of last year.

Good point about the toll it might take on her body in the long run to just be a retreiver of balls. She should play closer to the baseline. She's not a power hitter by any means, but she doesn't have to be. Playing closer to the baseline in itself takes time away from her opponents. From what we hear she actually does that in training, but for whatever reason she doesn't have the confidence to do it in an actual match.
 
#63 ·
I don't think that criticism of slamless no.1 got to her too much. Sure, she was annoyed but then at the same time she realised this was a special achievement. I suspect that it could get to her team more than to her, actually. Last season Piotr kind of went along with what the experts and commentators said: hiring a new coach, developing a more offensive game, focus on slams etc.
It was Caro who in the end said to him that she wants things to be as before.

I agree with the above that the media talk from somebody like Cronin should not matter to athletes of this class. The media are always looking for a big story which will help them to draw people into a conversation. And bashing of a slamless no.1 fits the purpose.
 
#64 ·
I don't think that criticism of slamless no.1 got to her too much. Sure, she was annoyed but then at the same time she realised this was a special achievement. I suspect that it could get to her team more than to her, actually. Last season Piotr kind of went along with what the experts and commentators said: hiring a new coach, developing a more offensive game, focus on slams etc.
It was Caro who in the end said to him that she wants things to be as before.

I agree with the above that the media talk from somebody like Cronin should not matter to athletes of this class. The media are always looking for a big story which will help them to draw people into a conversation. And bashing of a slamless no.1 fits the purpose.
A champion athlete cant let stuff like that bother you. There's pressure at every level, to move up, to do things you havent done. To keep winning and winning.
The pressure this year is on Serena, Vika, Maria. Those are the 3 who are expected to win a major.
Caroline hasnt played like a #1 for over a year. Even if that was a reason, its long over.
No one is bombarding her with questions about winning majors. She only won 2 matches the last 3 majors

Being criticised for being a slamless #1 is not an excuse to have your career unravel. Kim & Amelie both got to #1 1st. You keep playing well and the majors come. If you fall off like Jankovic, the majors dont come
 
#67 ·
Its possible Piotr is part of the problem.
We should let this year unfold. But if Caro continues like 2012, you have to wonder if it hurt her career, not hiring a true coach to fine tune her strategies & mechanics.
 
#80 ·
(1)A.Radwanska v BYE
(wc)Dellacqua v Q
Paszek v Jankovic
Vinci v (8)Petrova

(4)Li v McHale
Q v Hantuchova
Safarova v Q
Zheng v (6)Stosur

(5)Kvitova v Cibulkova
Lepchenko v Makarova
(wc)Rogowska v Kirilenko
Q v (3)Errani

(7)Wozniacki v U.Radwanska :)
Goerges v Q
Wickmayer v Q
(2)Kerber v BYE
 
#81 ·
URad, Goerges, Kerber, Kvitova...
Here's a chance to show Brisbane isnt a sign she was wasting her offseason.
If she can get thru this draw, it will say something.
 
#89 ·
:lol: at the draw. If she loses to Goerges after she was dismissed by Larsson this week... I might cry :tears::rolls: Anyway, let's see if she can actually beat Ula :help:
 
#93 ·
I want her to play Goerges. She lost 3 in a row to her.
But judging by the loss to Pervak, this 1st match is tough enough to not look past.
 
#98 ·
If Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne turn out to be a disaster, Caro & her dad have to start re-assessing what they're dong. Its been a full year and a half since she was #1 by 3000 points, holding 9 titles.

Maybe having her dad as coach hurts her game. She doesnt seem motivated at the level she used to be.
She might need a coach who will force her to hit every shot well, and wont accept bad match play. Force her to go run and practice after a loss
 
#99 ·
It's a logical presumption that Caroline needs someone else besides her dad to resurrect her game,but is she CAPABLE of trusting someone else with her career??Trust is such a huge factor between player and coach in the WTA--I'd guess much more of a factor than it is with ATPers--and it can affect nearly every aspect of a player's performance
 
#100 ·
Good point,and I'm afraid the answer would be no. She has already tried two different coaches and neither suited her needs. I think that it's going to remain on Piotr's shoulders at least for this season. But that might be for the better,though. It was him who helped her to win two titles last year and score a win against a top 10 player in ages.
I think that he is a big help for her, the problem is that he cannot go on the court for her when she is not going by his instructions. And judging by the last loss, she probably isn't.
 
#106 ·
What's appalling sometimes is the simplistic mindset that exists at TF;people either unfairly bash Piotr as if he had totally failed to raise his daughter correctly...and then there are those who go to the other extreme in suggesting that it would be some sort of traumatic sacrilege if Caro ever got a typical coach and let her coach/father return to being just dad...neither is an intelligent summation.On the one hand,despite the Slam shortcomings,Piotr did fairly well for someone w/o a coaching pedigree,both as a coach AND a father,in helping Caro achieve what she has done in life.In re the other side of the extreme,Mary Pierce had some great success after parting ways with a warped,controlling father who was far worse than Piotr could ever be on his worst day and,IMO,she wasn't as mentally strong as Caro....that is to say,if SHE was able,than Caroline most likely is,too
 
#101 ·
She really should beat Ula, but after her loss to Pervak it seems that she can lose to almost anyone right now. Let's hope it was just because it was her first match of the year and she was rusty, and she will play better in Sydney. I'm not too worried about the possibility of a match versus Goerges since she has to beat Ula first
 
#104 ·
He said that when he was Caro's coach he wanted her to hit more sliced shots and volley more often. Piotr wasn't prepared to leave Caro alone with Sanchez in the circuit and he thinks that is why it didn't work. He thinks that if he had continued being Caro's coach she would still be in the top 5 and she could have won a Grand Slam. He also said that he has a good relationship with Piotr and they were together in Sofia
 
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