[StoneRose]

Originally Posted by SilverSlam

Azarenka dun curr. Seriously, she can have the whole world against her and some little pressed keyboard warrior like yourself won't even bother her.

This. GM is all so often turned into a hatefest for petty reasons. I'm disappointed Maria didn't win last night. Vika-Maria final would have been awesome, they will meet many times over the next few years and this one would have given the winner a lot of momentum, a lot at stake. And with Maria seemingly in great form that final could easily have gone the other way this time.

[domon17th]

I still have no idea what happened...

[doomsday]

Originally Posted by domon17th

I still have no idea what happened...

I don't trust Maria coming up in a major with no match play that's all. It's a shame really cause Serena lost earlier but Maria's injury fucked her schedule and her OZ just like for Serena that being said. It happens, onto the next event now.

[domon17th]

Originally Posted by doomsday

I don't trust Maria coming up in a major with no match play that's all. It's a shame really cause Serena lost earlier but Maria's injury fucked her schedule and her OZ just like for Serena that being said. It happens, onto the next event now.

Not sure if I should be happy that I didn't watch it due to work

From all accounts sound like she put on a Poova shit-show against Li Na. I understand Hoggy's strategy to play the percentages against players like Li, but Maria's game has always been first strike aggressive tennis, at least on HC and grass. Or maybe she was just not there mentally today.

Still, if she's going to lose, Li is probably the most likeable player left

[WarrenK]

Originally Posted by Pops Maellard

I definitely think it was in her head that Serena had exited the tournament ..

Yep. Same thing happened last year, when she was up 3-0(?) on Lisicki in R4 and still lost the first set. Think Cronin tweeted that the Pova camp was "gripping" all day after Serena lost last year. I'm sure the same thing happened this year (I know I was nervous as hell after Serena lost). She seems to get tight when Serena goes out. Most of the time, she can work through it, but certain players can, should and will make her pay. Full credit to Li, she played amazing and really hoping she gets an AO title. She's been great down there these past few years minus the brainfarts to Kim.

Rooting for Li and Fed to take home the titles, but not gonna get up in the middle of the night to see their matches. Only Idiotpova takes precedence over sleep.

[AnnieIWillKnow]

Is that what being pressed is? I'm so disappointed. Sharapova just couldn't get a handle on Li, and now it looks like Azarenka is going to take the title. Azarenka who's been in poor form, and had to cheat her way out of a choke. The sooner she loses the No. 1 ranking, the better for women's tennis.

Plus, with Maria down to 3 in the world she'll probably start getting shut out of finals by either Azarenka or Serena.

[domon17th]

But number 3 is where she rightfully belongs now, at least with the level of play she's showing now

Still think this tournament has been an absolute snoozefest, sure we had some promising youngsters on the rise, but no quality matches that I can really remember from the women.

I'm still scratching my head over Maria's H2H history with Li. Absolute domination pre-surgery, post-surgery always a mess. Probably a lethal combination of Li improving and Maria regressing a bit.

[Cosmic Voices]

Originally Posted by domon17th

But number 3 is where she rightfully belongs now, at least with the level of play she's showing now

Still think this tournament has been an absolute snoozefest, sure we had some promising youngsters on the rise, but no quality matches that I can really remember from the women.

I'm still scratching my head over Maria's H2H history with Li. Absolute domination pre-surgery, post-surgery always a mess. Probably a lethal combination of Li improving and Maria regressing a bit.

didn't she win like all their meetings in 2012?
masha will be back, and she will beat na again

[domon17th]

I tend to always remember RG11 and those 5 or 4 straight losses
And it's also stretching a bit to say Maria played well in those 2012 wins Li was atrocious

[zigga]

I was so disappointed this morning when I saw the result Now I feel a little better but Maria definitely missed a big opportunity to win a slam.
I just saw the replay and Li was playing pretty well but Maria was absolutely horrible. And all those game/break points she didn't convert in 2nd set
Well, can't wait for Doha/Dubai, whatever she plays next

[PimpMePova]

What was so frustrating about the SF match wasn't really that she was playing like how can I say this without sounding too harsh...a person who's just been shot in the head because let's be honest how many times has she brought her fabulous shitfest self to a match. But she always fights for every point and is screaming disrespectful come-ons in the others' faces. This time there was nothing of that even in the beginning it was like she didn't even want to be there. She has to be pumped up and confident because sometimes the only thing that will win her matches is her mental superiority...but the problem is she lately tends to lose that in the important matches

[Mexicola]

It still amazes me that in these past couple of years at the majors, it's Maria's opponents like Serena, Vika, Li, and even Petra at that Wimbledon are the ones that bring their A or B game full of belief and focus, while Maria labors with her C, D, or F performance. All I ask is for once that the opposite happens at a major semi or final against a top 5 or 10 opponent. Against one of Maria's prime nemeses. You'd think the law of averages would favor Maria at some point.

[Break My Rapture]

Originally Posted by Lachy

I've actually composed myself now, particularly about this Azarenka issue. There's no doubt it was pure gamesmanship. But the thing is, she's just ruined her image even more now. She will never be able to have marketing success like Maria and her Sugarpova because people genuinely dislike her. They dislike her because of incidents like today. Her on court demeanor makes it very easy for crowds to cheer for her opponents.

She can win this slam, win the money, have the ranking. But her win will have a lingering shadow of this stunt she pulled. It's not something people will easily forget. Her agent, surely she'd have one, would be pulling his/her hair out right now. She's only got herself to blame.

Why do you take so much solace in the fact that Azarenka isn't liked by crowds? You should focus more on Maria. They didn't even play each other in this tournament.

Anyway I think Jack89 might have made a good point about Maria spending too much energy and focus on the Venus match. It was absolutely unecessary to peak for that match, because Venus wasn't playing up to snuff at all and Maria could've just scraped past her in straights ala Rome 2012. Perhaps the two double bagels and demolition of Venus somewhat deluded herself and us (a lot of people were quick to preach the rebirth of the '08 AO steamroller form) into thinking that she was going to go on a streak of good play long enough to win this tournament (especially with Serena bombing out to Stephens). The calibre of players she's had to face though didn't prepare her at all for Li's good play, the way she played Maria today actually reminded me a bit of how Azarenka plays Maria, just with more firepower and less patience. I must say that the prospect of Rodriguez being on Li's side makes me anxious about their meetings to come.

[Mexicola]

Originally Posted by SilverSlam

What happened to you? You went from being so optimistic last year to a mess this year?

Maria has that effect on me. She has a way of getting my hopes up, only to crush them hard, and I get very emotional. She's been the biggest late tournament tease in the WTA since 2011. I was really optimistic after she had such a consistent 2012, even though she still blew some great opportunities. But I saw real progress, for example, in her rivalry with Vika. She had that awesome win in Stuttgart. I thought she played really well for much of that US Open semifinal. I especially loved the way she came right out and took it to Vika. Unfortunate loss, but not horrible. Yeah, she had the dud in Beijing. But then she clocked Azarenka in Istanbul, and, overall, Maria looked so strong in that last tournament, while everyone else not named Serena were completely wilting.

It was very promising and I thought Maria would build on that in the offseason and come out in 2013 on a mission. But the way this Aussie Open unfolded was so discouraging. It was the same pattern that's been all too familiar. Start strong and then her game starts crumbling as the tourney progresses. Same DFs, same errors, same one-dimensional game. Still getting exploited by the stronger, more athletic players, whether it's Serena, Vika, or Li.

I just get mentally exhausted by the broken record that is Maria and I vent because I want her to win so badly. I want people to respect her as a great tennis champion, whether it's her peers or the media or internet tennis boards. But I don't think she is. I still think she's resented more than respected overall. And each of these kinds of losses adds more fuel to the ridicule and it frustrates me.

[PimpMePova]

^ I feel the same way too this tournament has been so discouraging and disappointing for me. Maria ended on a really high note last year and I had hoped she' d take this in the off season and continue that way but I feel nothing's really changed if anything it's like she's going backwards. I really hope this was just one of those days where nothing was working for her and everything was for Li, and we are just overreacting and being dramatic