[goldenlox]

Originally Posted by JadeFox

I'm not a religious person but I think a prayer circle would be a good idea right now.

22 is still young. If her career falls apart like Jankovic/Ivanovic, then Caroline was never that mentally tough anyway. You have to handle adversity. I dont even know if Caroline had adversity or just bad coaching.
But whatever happened, its still early in her career, and she has to figure out how to compete better. Now she's lost 3 of her last 4 matches (none against YEC players), going back to a onesided loss to Petrova to end 2012. She has to figure out how to improve, and compete better. She used to be great at competing. She was #1 just one year ago.

[Protoss]

Originally Posted by DownInAHole

I think that something she said in the second video may help to explain the current state of her game. At about 9:20 she was asked what she was working on most during the offseason and she basically said that she was working mostly on her fitness. Specifically she said "in the end of the day everyone knows how to play tennis everyone knows every shot so that's not the biggest key for me." I find that extremely discouraging. Clearly her game has some areas that need to be fixed but it doesn't sound like she spent much time doing that. Of course it is important for her to be fit but shouldn't she also be working on her serve, return, forehand, volleys, drop shots, slices et cetera? After both 2010 and 2011 I was disappointed with the lack of growth and improvement in her game and it looks like this could be more of the same.

Yah, those are pretty dissapointing comments from Caro.

Caro's fitness isn't gonna win her matches against the top 20 on the occasion that she plays them as most of them are in good physical shape.

If everyone knows every shot, then can why can't Caro hit a decent/solid forehand on a regular basis, for example?

Is she really blind or in denial of her technical weaknesses? Surely she's noticed her forehand not working the majority of the time or her serve giving her few free points. I don't understand this reluctance to spend time working on technique. She puts in time on her fitness so it doesn't seem like it's an issue of being unwilling to work hard.

[bruce goose]

Originally Posted by Protoss

Yah, those are pretty dissapointing comments from Caro.

Caro's fitness isn't gonna win her matches against the top 20 on the occasion that she plays them as most of them are in good physical shape.

If everyone knows every shot, then can why can't Caro hit a decent/solid forehand on a regular basis, for example?

Is she really blind or in denial of her technical weaknesses? Surely she's noticed her forehand not working the majority of the time or her serve giving her few free points. I don't understand this reluctance to spend time working on technique. She puts in time on her fitness so it doesn't seem like it's an issue of being unwilling to work hard.

This is just guesswork,but maybe Caroline likes fitness training much more because she has more control over the results.Getting into good shape is largely a matter of effort and dedication;if you put in the time,you'll likely see improvement.On the other hand,Caro's struggled to find an effective FH for years--perhaps she feels it's futile

[marineblue]

To me her comments imply that she'll be heading the old direction and focus on developing her defense. We'll see a lot of loong rallies this season.

[goldenlox]

This match isnt her whole year. Its just a tough round 1 draw.
But whether she starts playing well enough to be a contender at majors, thats the issue they have to address.
Much easier to lose early and watch golf all week than focus and compete and win these matches. She has to make the mental effort needed to outlast Lisicki. She needs that mental toughness every match, or she will be watching a lot of golf after early round losses

[JadeFox]

Originally Posted by goldenlox

22 is still young. If her career falls apart like Jankovic/Ivanovic, then Caroline was never that mentally tough anyway. You have to handle adversity. I dont even know if Caroline had adversity or just bad coaching.
But whatever happened, its still early in her career, and she has to figure out how to compete better. Now she's lost 3 of her last 4 matches (none against YEC players), going back to a onesided loss to Petrova to end 2012. She has to figure out how to improve, and compete better. She used to be great at competing. She was #1 just one year ago.

I was more focused on this opening round match rather than her entire career but yes she still has time.

The Australian Summer season has never been that great for her. Probably because she lacks matches under her belt.

[bruce goose]

Originally Posted by marineblue

To me her comments imply that she'll be heading the old direction and focus on developing her defense. We'll see a lot of loong rallies this season.

Honestly,it wouldn't bother me if Caro reverted to her old style and found success with it again.She'd still hit that invisible wall in Slam QFs and SFs until she improved her serve and learned how to put people away by attacking on certain key BPs and GPs,but at least her confidence and poise would likely return with the success

[Protoss]

Originally Posted by marineblue

To me her comments imply that she'll be heading the old direction and focus on developing her defense. We'll see a lot of loong rallies this season.

Lack of depth on her shots would be a problem even if she returns to an exclusively defensive style. That and hitting up the middle a lot would give her opponents too many easy opportunities to hit winners.

[rucolo]

Aus Open R1 Caroline vs Sabine Lisicki Finally they meet again. Excited

Definitely the match of R1. Tough for the loser, nice for the winner. Good luck, Caro

[marineblue]

Originally Posted by bruce goose

Honestly,it wouldn't bother me if Caro reverted to her old style and found success with it again.She'd still hit that invisible wall in Slam QFs and SFs until she improved her serve and learned how to put people away by attacking on certain key BPs and GPs,but at least her confidence and poise would likely return with the success

I think that had she not experimented with her style she could have won a slam at this point. She lost in the past but she did also score some great victories so it seemed to me she was on a right path to get there. In 2012 she took a step back so now she needs to find her game again and string enough wins together to feel confident again.

[goldenlox]

If she doesnt win this match, its 1 match win in 3 tournaments.
The good thing is that she can take a break & start over.
If she beats Lisicki, maybe she can get to Vika. I want to see what that match looks like compared to 2010 Tokyo

[goldenlox]

I'm glad its 1st match on. I was thinking they might put it at midnight on RLA. This gets it over with. So if she loses, she can go straight to Abu Dhabi.

Australian Open ‏@AustralianOpen
Tuesday Hisense Arena schedule: Wozniacki v Lisicki, Serena Williams v Gallovits-Hall, Tsonga v Llodra, Del Potro v Manarino.

[Protoss]

Originally Posted by goldenlox

I'm glad its 1st match on. I was thinking they might put it at midnight on RLA. This gets it over with. So if she loses, she can go straight to Abu Dhabi.

Australian Open ‏@AustralianOpen
Tuesday Hisense Arena schedule: Wozniacki v Lisicki, Serena Williams v Gallovits-Hall, Tsonga v Llodra, Del Potro v Manarino.

I can't believe you think it's perfectly fine for Caro to go running off to see Rory right after losing in the 1st round of a grand slam for the third time in a row.

[goldenlox]

Originally Posted by Protoss

I can't believe you think it's perfectly fine for Caro to go running off to see Rory right after losing in the 1st round of a grand slam for the third time in a row.

I've said all along I dont think she has the burning desire to be a champion now.
I could see that a year ago when she lost #1 at the AO. I thought she would want to get #1 back at Doha & Dubai. Instead she spent the week with Rory then lost her 1st match vs Safarova. Then she had a chance to get revenge vs Goerges and lost that. Then went to where she had won her biggest title the year before, IW, and was blown off the court by Ivanovic.

She doesnt care enough this past year, so let her go have some fun, and maybe eventually she will want to try to get back to the top 3 or 4.
But losing up a set to Pervak is a sign she wasnt ready for this year. Its her career, if she wants to go have fun, there's nothing anyone else can do, but hope she oneday gets the mental determination back to fight for her career.
Now, let her go have fun. She's not a title contender here anyway. Its just a question of what round she loses. Vika, Serena back to back is a tough draw.
I'd like to see her as a contender at the US Open, but she needs the burning desire to fight for every point, which is extremely difficult, and she once was like that. Maybe she will rediscover that fire before its all over.

[bruce goose]

Originally Posted by marineblue

I think that had she not experimented with her style she could have won a slam at this point. She lost in the past but she did also score some great victories so it seemed to me she was on a right path to get there. In 2012 she took a step back so now she needs to find her game again and string enough wins together to feel confident again.

We'll never know cuz it's a subjective argument;I think that she could've gotten relatively close but wouldn't have gone all the way unless she drew a near-ideal combo like Stosur in the semis and Errani in the final.For fans of those players,I'm not trying to put them down;however,you can't deny that those two would be far more likely to implode in a big-pressure match than one of the more established elite players would.If someone like Henin,Serena or Davenport made a Slam semi,you'd pretty much have to be in top-notch Kick Ass Mode to knock them out.You couldn't strategize to win by hoping that they'd make lots of UEs.

Even if Caroline goes back and succeeds with her old defensive style,she'll still need a respectable serve to keep opponents honest...and she'll also have to figure out how to attack on key points once in a while,when necessary.Waiting for an UE on MP--when you're looking to close someone out--isn't exactly the best way to approach,IMO...even for Caroline