[pedropt]

Originally Posted by Светльо

Well, this loss will totally break Rafa, unfortunately! If he has just made that backhand at 4-3, 30-15

It was *4-2, 30-15. Even worse

[Cherry.]

I'm beyond happy for Nole, but still not completely over Masha's crushing loss.

[Trih]

Originally Posted by Cherry.

I'm beyond happy for Nole, but still not completely over Masha's crushing loss.

I'm getting over it faster than I did about RG semi and Wimbledon final.
(nothing can compare the week of tears I weeped about US Open, but whatever.)
I hope you'll do like me soon. Nole's game also helped me to get over it. (hell, I was even sorry for Rafa)

[Craig.]

Originally Posted by killerqueen

It might just be my knee-jerk reaction to today's final, but I'm getting a little worried at the moment. Maria's run to the final was a wonderfully unexpected surprise, but truth be told, once she started playing the seeds, her performance's weren't that great. Sheer willpower and determination saw her through Lisicki and Kvitova, and that's something that I'll never doubt, but when push comes to shove, I don't think you can't win major titles on willpower alone.

I think Maria's record in slams in the last year kind of glosses over the fact that she hasn't been that impressive in any of them. I usually scold people who claim that she got favourable draws, but when I'm really honest with myself, the only victory that is particularly impressive in any of her runs was Thursday against Kvitova. Maria's finals and semi at the French look wonderful on paper, but I'm really not sure if they totally represent her standing in the game that well.

Maria is more than capable of beating most B-list players without really having to play well, but it's starting to concern me that she's getting left behind by the likes of Petra and Vika. In my heart of hearts, I know that Petra should have won last week. She just had a mental blockage causing a million errors and Maria just wouldn't give in until in the end she cracked Petra's head.

If it was any other player, I'd be absolutely delighted, but I just want so much more for Maria, and I'm concerned it's not going to happen again for her. Today was a real eye-opener - once Vika got over her nerves, she was completely dominant. At the moment, I think Maria is still the fifth best player on the tour, but I'm concerned that the other four (PK, VA, KC, SW) are all way in front of her.

All of this.

I mean, I really am super proud of her, but I feel like there are a handful of players out there who are simply better than her at the moment, and it'll be tough to avoid them all/play the match of her life against them in a Slam situation, as we've seen at AO, RG and Wimbledon.

[Cherry.]

Originally Posted by Trih

I'm getting over it faster than I did about RG semi and Wimbledon final.
(nothing can compare the week of tears I weeped about US Open, but whatever.)
I hope you'll do like me soon. Nole's game also helped me to get over it. (hell, I was even sorry for Rafa)

Thanks. I'm OK. Just when I think about it, it still hurts a little.
I didn't even have time to be sad about her Wimbledon loss even though I was only a half hour away by tube from her. I was so busy with my study abroad program and when she was playing the final I was watching a theatre performance at West End.
And US Open, what should I say? I was right at Arthur Ashe Stadium witnessing her only 3-setter loss last year.
Anyways I know even though she got thrashed by Vika in the final this is still a very positive start of the year. After all, nobody expected her to go this far.

[18majors]

Originally Posted by Cherry.

Thanks. I'm OK. Just when I think about it, it still hurts a little.
I didn't even have time to be sad about her Wimbledon loss even though I was only a half hour away by tube from her. I was so busy with my study abroad program and when she was playing the final I was watching a theatre performance at West End.
And US Open, what should I say? I was right at Arthur Ashe Stadium witnessing her only 3-setter loss last year.
Anyways I know even though she got thrashed by Vika in the final this is still a very positive start of the year. After all, nobody expected her to go this far.

Maria should be totally confident for 2012, she is the only WTA player to reach 2 finals in the last 4 slams.

[doomsday]

You guys are really overreacting as usual she did beat Kvitova w/o even playing her best tennis in Australia, i really think this is promising. You guys don't seem to realize that she just came back from a long injury and already positioned herself among the very best, right after Vika(YEC finalist) and Petra(winner) she really played an awesome tennis to get to the final, the semis wasn't that good but she found a way to win then in the final she got exposed that's for sure but she can play better than that we all know that. This is just the beginning of the year I'm confident for the rest of it, with Serena and Kim playing only the majors and not even playing that well during it I really think her big threats are Kvitova and Vika. S he needs to play them a lil more to finally figure them out especially Vika on HC.

[Craig.]

Originally Posted by doomsday

You guys are really overreacting as usual she did beat Kvitova w/o even playing her best tennis in Australia, i really think this is promising. You guys don't seem to realize that she just came back from a long injury and already positioned herself among the very best, right after Vika(YEC finalist) and Petra(winner) she really played an awesome tennis to get to the final, the semis wasn't that good but she found a way to win then in the final she got exposed that's for sure but she can play better than that we all know that. This is just the beginning of the year I'm confident for the rest of it, with Serena and Kim playing only the majors and not even playing that well during it I really think her big threats are Kvitova and Vika. S he needs to play them a lil more to finally figure them out especially Vika on HC.

No, I understand that. Believe me, she far exceeded my expectations at this AO and I'm so proud of what she did this tournament. Those matches against Lisicki and Kvitova reminded me why I love her so much. The next step though, is to win a slam, and to do that, I do think she'll need a little luck. I mean, her tennis looks great against scrubs, but when she meets a higher-ranked player, her game turns into crap and I think a lot of that has to do with her opponents (pressuring her serve, having more firepower, etc.). Anyways, we'll see. I did see A LOT of improvements in her game though, namely in her serve and her movement. So that's a positive.

[doomsday]

Originally Posted by Craigster

No, I understand that. Believe me, she far exceeded my expectations at this AO and I'm so proud of what she did this tournament. Those matches against Lisicki and Kvitova reminded me why I love her so much. The next step though, is to win a slam, and to do that, I do think she'll need a little luck. I mean, her tennis looks great against scrubs, but when she meets a higher-ranked player, her game turns into crap and I think a lot of that has to do with her opponents (pressuring her serve, having more firepower, etc.). Anyways, we'll see. I did see A LOT of improvements in her game though, namely in her serve and her movement. So that's a positive.

I have to say I was kinda schoked to see that she won 16 points out of 30 on her first serve over Vika while she was serving around 100 mph on average (and her first serve % was pretty high - 65% of first serves IN) but she was kinda off even when she had the chance to have the first strike she wasn't doing much. On ROS she was really not herself she was barely winning points on vika's second serve usually she breaks her at will. IMO we can't judge a lot by one match it's too bad she played like this in the final but among the 7 ones there were certainly a lot of positive things that's for sure and like you said movement and serve being the firsts ones.
Can't wait to see if her tennis improved in Fed cuP and then in Paris in live, she better show up.

[Craig.]

Oh right, she's playing Paris too Down for title number 25

[18majors]

Originally Posted by doomsday

I have to say I was kinda schoked to see that she won 16 points out of 30 on her first serve over Vika while she was serving around 100 mph on average but she was kinda off even when she had the chance to have the first strike she wasn't doing much. On ROS she was really not herself she was barely winning points on vika's second serve usually she breaks her at will. IMO we can't judge a lot by one match it's too bad she played like this in the final but among the 7 ones there were certainly a lot of positive things that's for sure and like you said movement and serve being the firsts ones.
Can't wait to see if her tennis improved in Fed cuP and then in Paris in live, if she is not losing in the first round of course

Maria might have run out of gas for the final; she was a step slow and not aggressvie in her returns. Kvitova's match Probably took more out her than people realized.

Very happy Maria reached a slam final in her first 2012 tournament.

[lefty24]

Originally Posted by Maja12

They are, I do not have problems accepting that. Can she improve? I hope so. Will she? I don't know... Like I always say, the problem lies in her serve that becomes a bit bad under pressure and footwork. We shall see how is she going to develop, I do not expect anything from the year since I think that a lot of players have improved a lot and it is going to be quite difficult to get "easy" wins. But I do not want to get all doom and gloom. I wanna stay positive! Let's hope for the best. I just want her to stay healthy.



profesorakittens, lefty24, ewww... Hahahaha, you 2 are hilarious.

If you knew what my mom said about them... well lets just say I'm scarred for life.

Originally Posted by Cherry.

Thanks. I'm OK. Just when I think about it, it still hurts a little.
I didn't even have time to be sad about her Wimbledon loss even though I was only a half hour away by tube from her. I was so busy with my study abroad program and when she was playing the final I was watching a theatre performance at West End.
And US Open, what should I say? I was right at Arthur Ashe Stadium witnessing her only 3-setter loss last year.
Anyways I know even though she got thrashed by Vika in the final this is still a very positive start of the year. After all, nobody expected her to go this far.

Glad I'm not the only one who was there. most depressing thing ever.

[doomsday]

Originally Posted by 18majors

Maria might have run out of gas for the final; she was a step slow and not aggressvie in her returns. Kvitova's match Probably took more out her than people realized.

Very happy Maria reached a slam final in her first 2012 tournament.

Yep and the one vs Lisicki too, they were both killing the ball.

[Steve-o]

Be patient guys. Maria isn't back to her best yet and the improvement from this time last year has been huge.

[Cherry.]

Originally Posted by lefty24

Glad I'm not the only one who was there. most depressing thing ever.

Totally.
On top of everything that was my last day at the Open. I was there for 3 days and the first 2 days went perfectly for me. But then the last day, BAM! What an unforgettable memory.
And my friend in Sydney actually went to watch the AO final. She wasn't intend to but we were so ecstatic after Masha's SF win so she decided to go to Melbourne just to see Masha play the final. I bet that was even more unforgettable.