[madmax]

Originally Posted by T496

Lisicki's injured though isn't she? Plus Maria can more than handle her off the ground, not to mention she is supposed to be the best returner in the WTA... I don't see Lisicki making 4th round though. I really think Maria can handle Sveta, probably in three, but not even super-close. Kind of like her Goerges match last year

this...her and Sveta matches are usually quite tough, seeing as how Sexlana's game resembles Serena's quite a bit, but eventually Maria's superior firepower and consistency prevails. Actually I'm not even sure if she will be tested hard till the quarters, but let's see her playing first, shall we...

[T496]

I'd put Clijsters down for final with Li instead of Azarenka though. I'm just looking forward to seeing Maria compete again! I kinda like that the draws not easy, she'll need to be focused from the start and to utilise all of her signature mental fortitude and battling skills!

[vamosmasha]

Nobody worries about her first match??

[lefty24]

Originally Posted by Jechijo

Well, now I can't wait for the whole thing to start! Maria back on court!

Originally Posted by T496

I'd put Clijsters down for final with Li instead of Azarenka though. I'm just looking forward to seeing Maria compete again! I kinda like that the draws not easy, she'll need to be focused from the start and to utilise all of her signature mental fortitude and battling skills!

I like that it's not so easy from the beginning too.
Since she had no prior matches before the AO, a cakewalk to Sveta and her harder matches would not have prepared her.
I'm so nervous now but I can't wait! I feel like its been forever since we've seen her play.

[Fighterpova]

A typical development

1. "Oooooh! Tough draw, she's gonna bomb out early"
2. "Well, maybe she'll be focused and magically find her old form again "
3. "The draw has opened up, she will easily win this "
4. "Her serve let her down again "

[Trih]

This draw has to be a premonition... I'm still not sure if I have the guts to tell the story, but it almost shocked me.

[s teddy]

Originally Posted by Trih

This draw has to be a premonition... I'm still not sure if I have the guts to tell the story, but it almost shocked me.

Tell us!

[madmax]

by the way, Maria met Dulko twice on hard and lost a grand total of 3 games in both meetings

[dsanders06]

Originally Posted by vozas

Why is everyone so scared of Sexlana all of a sudden? Maria has a huge mental edge and a firm grasp on all the other Russian girls' wigs.

Movement will be key though. Sveta can put the ball on any part of the court with the most tricky angles with that FH. It's gonna be tough but that's when Maria plays the best.

So Maria will probably get something like:

Rd1: Dulko
Rd2: Minnella
Rd3: Kerber
Rd4: Kuznetsova
QF: Serena
SF: Kvitova
F: Li/Azarenka

Really tough one, but tbqh I would've put any potential 2011FO or 2011Wimbledon in a different shelf from her three slams cause the draws were so ridiculous. I love the challenge, and so does she.

Thing is, I don't think Kuznetsova is as much of a headcase as she's made out to be. She's horribly erratic to be sure, but when she's in the right frame of mind, she has a pretty steady nerve... exhibit A being RG 2009, where she came back from a break down in the decider against Serena, and in the final was so relaxed that she started playing keepy-uppy with the tennis ball halfway through

Maria's best tennis beats Kuz's on this surface, but it's far from certain Maria will be showing up with anything like her best tennis

I do agree with the last sentence of your post though - winning a Slam with a draw this tough would be far more satisfying than winning one of the ones last year. But I daren't dream yet

[Steven.]

She has a good draw until the QF imo. After that, things hypothetically get tougher but she can beat anyone in the draw.

[Lachy]

Good draw. Slightly worried about first round But it will depend on which 'Maria' shows up to play I look to Kanepi to trouble Serena, if she maintains her Brisbane form, definite possibility.

[Stonerpova]

Originally Posted by I ♥ Maria

Tough draw, it will be very difficult against Dulko, probably a 3 set battle, but hopefully she'll get the revenge

Originally Posted by I ♥ Maria

A typical development

1. "Oooooh! Tough draw, she's gonna bomb out early"
2. "Well, maybe she'll be focused and magically find her old form again "
3. "The draw has opened up, she will easily win this "
4. "Her serve let her down again "

You have absolutely no faith in Maria

As for her draw

Positives:
-Dulko isn't the player she once was (neither is Maria, but I'm ignoring that fact)
-Kerber almost lost to Cirstea this week
-Lisicki has cooled off a lot since Wimbledon and has had injuries issues lately
-Kuznetsova is Kuznetsova
-Serena's apparently injured too

I'm soo excited for this regardless of how she does. She's gotta be so amped.

[Trih]

Originally Posted by s teddy

Tell us!

Ok, let's see if I can explain this..
Basically it's because even if I always loved and supported Maria since 2004, I somehow.. lost that contact along the road for some time. Not only with Maria but with tennis at all.

For example I remember when in 2006, at US Open, I couldn't watch the final because of my job (it was too late in the night) and then I found out the result on the internet and even if I couldn't see the match I was so happy. I remember this moment so well, along with Wimbledon 2004 of course.

After that I remember keeping watching matches and tournaments again in 2007 but then I somehow lost the contact, and I slowly stopped watching tennis along 2008... I totally forgot about it, now if I think back about those months I actually don't remember why or how I did it!

Well, then the story goes to june 2009, just before Wimbledon. I was talking about it to my uncle, who knew I liked tennis and supported Maria, so he was surprised when I told him I had no idea she had that shoulder injury and she had just came back from months without playing. It was like waking up after a sleep and couldn't remember much about what happened before.
I remember perfectly that day watching her match against Dulko in 2nd round, it was her first match I watched since a LOT of time, and I remember how bad it was and how much it hurted me to see her lose. I've never stopped watching tennis again after that..

So in the end I want to believe that this is a sign.
That if she goes on in AO this time we may all see once again that Maria we didn't see in the last 4 years.

Ok, I confessed. Probably I'm just crazy and delusional and I just need to rest, but I don't care, I just hope for the best.
On monday I'll start devastating my sleep hours with some tennis.

[Fighterpova]

Originally Posted by GameSetAndMatch

You have absolutely no faith in Maria

As for her draw

Positives:
-Dulko isn't the player she once was (neither is Maria, but I'm ignoring that fact)
-Kerber almost lost to Cirstea this week
-Lisicki has cooled off a lot since Wimbledon and has had injuries issues lately
-Kuznetsova is Kuznetsova
-Serena's apparently injured too

I'm soo excited for this regardless of how she does. She's gotta be so amped.

I wrote: "Tough draw, it will be very difficult against Dulko, probably a 3 set battle, but hopefully she'll get the revenge"

[Asherahpova]

Originally Posted by Trih

Ok, let's see if I can explain this..
Basically it's because even if I always loved and supported Maria since 2004, I somehow.. lost that contact along the road for some time. Not only with Maria but with tennis at all.

For example I remember when in 2006, at US Open, I couldn't watch the final because of my job (it was too late in the night) and then I found out the result on the internet and even if I couldn't see the match I was so happy. I remember this moment so well, along with Wimbledon 2004 of course.

After that I remember keeping watching matches and tournaments again in 2007 but then I somehow lost the contact, and I slowly stopped watching tennis along 2008... I totally forgot about it, now if I think back about those months I actually don't remember why or how I did it!

Well, then the story goes to june 2009, just before Wimbledon. I was talking about it to my uncle, who knew I liked tennis and supported Maria, so he was surprised when I told him I had no idea she had that shoulder injury and she had just came back from months without playing. It was like waking up after a sleep and couldn't remember much about what happened before.
I remember perfectly that day watching her match against Dulko in 2nd round, it was her first match I watched since a LOT of time, and I remember how bad it was and how much it hurted me to see her lose. I've never stopped watching tennis again after that..

So in the end I want to believe that this is a sign.
That if she goes on in AO this time we may all see once again that Maria we didn't see in the last 4 years.

Ok, I confessed. Probably I'm just crazy and delusional and I just need to rest, but I don't care, I just hope for the best.
On monday I'll start devastating my sleep hours with some tennis.

I didn't watch any tennis at all when she was away... dark time. But yes, let's do this shit.