[Nikkiri]

Originally Posted by kirivanovic

Will the granny keep saying come on after every point till the end?

Now Kiri is doing it annoyed by it obviously.

[kirivanovic]

Actually, i think it's someone in the crowd as Maria doesn't care

[Nikkiri]

Whatever. Least grass season doesn't last very long. She plays so stupid on grass.. it's so embarrassing.

[Protoss]

Originally Posted by kirivanovic

Will the granny keep saying come on after every point till the end?

I'm curious whether General Messages will criticize her for it.

[Protoss]

Originally Posted by Kiristea.

Whatever. Least grass season doesn't last very long. She plays so stupid on grass.. it's so embarrassing.

Probably just doesn't like it/wants to get it over with.

[kirivanovic]

I'm not sure that a lot of people are brave enough to watch that.

[Nikkiri]

Originally Posted by Protoss

I'm curious whether General Messages will criticize her for it.

Of course not. She's a legend etc etc. GM full of hypocrites.

[Nikkiri]

On a DF of course. How very fitting.

[Protoss]

Sigh. Maria broken for 2-6 2nd set from 40-15 to 40-40 to Ad Date-Krumm (2nd serve) to 40-40 on a double fault. Whatever. The match was 1 hour 44 minutes long.

Maria led 4-1 in the 1st set tiebreak and was up a break at 2-1 2nd set with 4 game points for 3-1.

[kirivanovic]

It was horrible but i'm not mad at her, she just hates grass and without a real coach, it's hard to know what to do. She wanted to try to go to the net as often as she could but it wasn't the solution as she was the better player from the baseline. I just hope that it will not make her lose her confidence after a good Roland Garros.

[HowardH]

Kiri . Looked uncomfortable on the grass and was troubled by Kimiko's flat shots.

[Nikkiri]

Grass def suits Kimiko more than Maria who really doesn't give a shit about learning to play on it. Plus she was really unlucky to lose the 1st set. I am not really worried as it's only stupid grass.

[Remix13]

Awful Awful Awful Match

Crappy serve & volley, 1 million double faults, to many break balls missed

What's wrong with Maria ? She did want to lose ?

Oh Maria

If she could have played her normal game with normal strokes (and not crappy slices, she thinks she's Federer ?), I'm sure it would have benn a quite easy win for her.

Well see you in Wimbledon in a better mental shape I hope...

[Protoss]

Originally Posted by Kiristea.

Grass def suits Kimiko more than Maria who really doesn't give a shit about learning to play on it. Plus she was really unlucky to lose the 1st set. I am not really worried as it's only stupid grass.

Do you think she'll be a bit more motivated in doubles at Wimbledon?

What's her 1st tournament after Wimbledon?

[HowardH]

Originally Posted by Remix13

Awful Awful Awful Match

Crappy serve & volley, 1 million double faults, to many break balls missed

What's wrong with Maria ? She did want to lose ?

Oh Maria

If she could have played her normal game with normal strokes (and not crappy slices, she thinks she's Federer ?), I'm sure it would have benn a quite easy win for her.

Well see you in Wimbledon in a better mental shape I hope...

I actually think that's a big part of it. There have been many great grass court players in the past- Sampras, Federer- and Maria unconsciously tries to emulate them. Unfortunately for her, these players have certain skill sets that Maria lacks, which make their games work on the grass. For instance, Sampras had a huge and precise serve- both first and second- and could also pick up volleys and halfvolleys with ease from his shoelaces. Other great net players were very good at covering the net- Rafter and Becker- or had phenomenally accurate volleys- Edberg. This group of players- and Federer- slice their bhs very well.

Unfortunately Maria doesn't have a very big serve. So that makes it much harder to start with. She is actually not too bad with volleys, unfortunately covering the net in singles requires a special skill set which includes anticipation and a very quick first step, as well as the hands to improvise volleys in awkward position. Think Jana Novotna. Or, in modern tennis, I guess MJMS is the closest. Also, like most two handed players, Maria is much better with the topspin than the slice. When Maria started slicing her fh as well as the bh I knew she was losing today.

The other thing is that Kimiko can do a lot of these things well. She is comfortable volleying, slicing, serve and volleying. So Maria was drawn into playing her game.

Maria needs someone to tell her that she needs to play her own game, even on grass, with only small adjustments.

However, let's not take anything away from Kimiko. She clearly understands how to play on grass, and her game is suitable for fast surfaces anyway.