[Petkovic]

Originally Posted by Kanda.

IMO Sam is very beatable on HC in this match-up since Slava's game can bother her A LOT. Sam's top spin and kick serve won't be effective against a player like Slava because our champ is tall, has a great return of serve and powerful flat groundstrokes. If anything, Slava doesn't like a player who plays low balls, she deals with top spin much much better. High boucing balls is always good for Slava. Her FH becomes better when the bounce of the ball is high. She can easily puinish any high ball with her FH or BH.

No wonder Slava won the only meeting between them and that happened in 2009 when Slava was out of the top 100 I believe. She is a much better player now.

Errani is a good example of a player who plays with top spin but we all know what would happen if she meets a good Slava on ANY surface. It's simply a bad match up for Errani.

Sam is better than Errani for sure and has a great serve and FH but her ROS is still poor which means Slava can still win her serves game even if her serve is inconsistent. Also Slava is a much better mover than Sam, so Slava should have the upper hand in the long rallys. And we shouldn't forget that Slava can expose Sam's BH wing with ease because our champ has a world class backhand.

However, mentally Sam is way stronger than Slava. That's the only thing we all Slava fans worry about, her mental state. Maybe that's the only thing that makes this match-up harder than it actually is for Slava.

All in all, Slava potentially is a bad match up for Sam. That's what I believe in. I think it's 55-45 in favour of Slava at the moment but if Slava was just decent mentally then it would be more like 65-35 in her favour.

This is just my opinion about this match-up.

Good post And I agree with you, I think Slava has the game to challenge Sam a lot. Looking forward to see this match, assuming they will both win their first two rounds

[nazzac]

TBF, injury cost her in Cincy. And shes lost all form and confidence since the Olympics. Hopefully this is just a temporary slump and we'll see SuperSlava again soon

I think she'll win 2 straight here. Unless Slava is injured, Completely off or has a HUGE mental breakdown then she should win her first and second round matches.

Stosur is definately a winnable match for Slava, but what worries me is Slava's form, confidence, and mentallity. If Slava finds some confidence, and form, then she could and perhaps should win. You summed it up nicely in your post Kanda. I just think that it's unlucky that Slava has drawn Stosur in her Quarter, because there are easier match ups that were possible.

I want a good run from Slava. Quarter finals at least. I want to see Slava keep a top 30 ranking and be seeded for the Australian open, and if she does terrible here and in Moscow then that probs won't happen. I also want Slava to face Robson in the semis because it would be great if Slava smashes her in 2 sets. Just to shut all the Hypson fans up

And Kanda, you seem in a good mood. Haven't seen you this positive about Slava since the US Open

And seen as though you mentioned good match-ups for Slava (players like Errani). What style is a bad match-up for Slava IYO?

[nazzac]

Also, 2 of my favourite players reach tournament finals today and have been doing well recently. Hopefully Slava can do the same

[Setsuna.]

I like the fact that Sam and Slava used to wear the same glasses and outfits.

[Setsuna.]

Originally Posted by nazzac

i don't think she believes in her self. I don't think she's confident in her abilities, and i don't think she knows how good she is. We know how good she can be, but thats not important if she doesn't know.

That's probably her biggest and main issue.

[Setsuna.]

Originally Posted by nazzac

And Kanda, you seem in a good mood. Haven't seen you this positive about Slava since the US Open

And seen as though you mentioned good match-ups for Slava (players like Errani). What style is a bad match-up for Slava IYO?

I was just sooooo upset that day when she lost to Vinci. For me, it was probably a more heartbreaking loss than the Olympics one. I was even more upset when Vinci reached the QF.

The bad match-ups for Slava on the tour are few imo since she is all-round player who can deal with many different styles of play. Out of the top players, Serena for sure is a bad match up for her but to be fair to Slava, Serena is a bad match-up for 90% of players on the tour.

The low balls bother Slava a lot weather it was flat shots or slice. Slava can deal with the low balls sometimes with her BH because it's such a great shot for her but her FH breaks down quickly when she gets low bouncing balls on the FH wing consistently.

In general, the very consistent players with great mental strength and good attacking game are a bit of a bad match-ups for her and that's mainly just beacuse they are mentally tougher than her and more consistent. Apart from the best player Serena and maybe Kvitova, I don't see MAJOR bad match-up for Slava. She can almost beat anyone at her best after all.

Defensive players with not much varity aren't bad match-up for Slava in general even if they were very consistent. Errani is a defensive player and very consistent. She is mentally very strong as well but that doesn't help her when facing Slava.

[Setsuna.]

I don't know how bad her injury but hopefully nothing serious.

[Petkovic]

Originally Posted by Kanda.

I like the fact that Sam and Slava used to wear the same glasses and outfits.

I think they'd make a great doubles team.

[nazzac]

Originally Posted by Kanda.

I was just sooooo upset that day when she lost to Vinci. For me, it was probably a more heartbreaking loss than the Olympics one. I was even more upset when Vinci reached the QF.

The bad match-ups for Slava on the tour are few imo since she is all-round player who can deal with many different styles of play. Out of the top players, Serena for sure is a bad match up for her but to be fair to Slava, Serena is a bad match-up for 90% of players on the tour.

The low balls bother Slava a lot weather it was flat shots or slice. Slava can deal with the low balls sometimes with her BH because it's such a great shot for her but her FH breaks down quickly when she gets low bouncing balls on the FH wing consistently.

In general, the very consistent players with great mental strength and good attacking game are a bit of a bad match-ups for her and that's mainly just beacuse they are mentally tougher than her and more consistent. Apart from the best player Serena and maybe Kvitova, I don't see MAJOR bad match-up for Slava. She can almost beat anyone at her best after all.

Defensive players with not much varity aren't bad match-up for Slava in general even if they were very consistent. Errani is a defensive player and very consistent. She is mentally very strong as well but that doesn't help her when facing Slava.

Serena is a bad match-up for everyone atm and Slava still pushed her to the limit. The one who seems like a bad matchup atm is the lass she played the other day. Zheng or Zhang (i forget which one). Slava has a bad record against her.

Yeah, the Vinci loss was heartbreaking to say the least. The next day, all i could think about was 'How did Slava not win that match'. I don't think it was the fact she lost, it was the manner in which she lost. Served for the match, had M.P's and once the match points were saved, it was like she gave up and let Vinci win. Vinci dominated the last few games. It was made worse because Jo lost earlier that day too I wasn't angry, I was disapointed, and felt that she let down her fans. But i also felt sorry for her for some reason.

But she hasn't made up for it in any way recently. She's been terrible and is still choking a lot. It's especially bad when you only support Slava in womens tennis. At least you guys have other players to cheer for, i have Slava and thats it. So when she's out, i'm not emotionally invested in a tournament anymore. I've gone from expecting something from her, to expecting nothing. And that won't change until she gets her RG/Wimbledon form back (thats if she gets that form back at all)

Slava should drop doubles with Vania and go to mixed with Tsonga

By injury, i presume the issues she had in her last match. Yeah she should be fine if it's that. She did play doubles after. If it's something else, the i don't know.

Thats my 774th post in this thread, and i've only been on here for 2 months

[nazzac]

Slava is also the only player of my favourites i get nervous for. I'm quite confident in Jo, Del Po and Nishikori, but Slava gets me nervous unless she's playing a top top player or something, because she's the kind to screw things up easily

[nazzac]

i'm not certain on what she's eating, but my guess is Sushi.

At least we see her awesome smile

[nazzac]

Slava plays on Tuesday. Thats good, because it doesn't give her a chance to ruin my good weekend

[nazzac]

Slava: So happy to get new best career ranking! 28 baby! But not stopping on this!!!

No your not stopping at 28, your going to be top 20 at least!! Could be already if she didn't choke those matches away

[MalJackson]

any news on her back injury?

[Setsuna.]

Originally Posted by MalJackson

any news on her back injury?

No but I guess it's not serious. That's why she didn't talk about it so far. Her back will be fine hopefully.