[mdterp01]

It was nice to see Serena put effort into some of the other WTA tournaments last year. I loved her summer run leading up to the US Open and liked the effort she put on the clay this year. However, the assumption now is that in winning Wimbledon she will relax and be there to take other majors. With that said, do you think she focuses as much on the other WTA tournaments the way she has the past year or does she just play a couple events between majors (minus Wimbledon because she never played a warmup going into that anyway; except for last year)?

 

[SM]

Yeah.

 

[kiwifan]

I certainly hope so!!!

Sweeping the US Open preview tournaments and losing in the finals made the whole thing somehow not count not only for Slam fans but for all the clowns who used to complain about Serena not playing the warm ups...

...she gains nothing for doing anything on the court that doesn't lead to increasing her chances of winning more Slams.

Tennis History is measured in 4 columns: AO - FO - W - USO

 

[mdterp01]

I certainly hope so!!!

Sweeping the US Open preview tournaments and losing in the finals made the whole thing somehow not count not only for Slam fans but for all the clowns who used to complain about Serena not playing the warm ups...

...she gains nothing for doing anything on the court that doesn't lead to increasing her chances of winning more Slams.

Tennis History is measured in 4 columns: AO - FO - W - USO

THIS!!!

 

[LightWarrior]

Why is she playing Stanford again ?

 

[Alarmed]

She has always valued majors above everything and that has never changed. She worked hard and won two tournaments last summer because her goal was to be seeded for the US Open, a major. She wanted to be #6 before the French Open so she had to put some work into Charleston and Madrid.

 

[GAGAlady]

It was nice to see Serena put effort into some of the other WTA tournaments last year. I loved her summer run leading up to the US Open and liked the effort she put on the clay this year. However, the assumption now is that in winning Wimbledon she will relax and be there to take other majors. With that said, do you think she focuses as much on the other WTA tournaments the way she has the past year or does she just play a couple events between majors (minus Wimbledon because she never played a warmup going into that anyway; except for last year)?

What exactly are you reffering to? Whos assuming what? Did Serena herself say shes going to Focus on slams? No, i dont think she did.

Her record in non slam events and her attendance is showing she cares enough to play both types of events. Obviously Slams mean more, but that doesnt mean she isnt playing other tournies.

BTW you just mentioned she only play " a few tournaments" be fore each slam....as far as I know thats all she ever does do anyways. She play 3 no more than 3 and that not that many...

 

[CloudAtlas]

She got to a Slam final 2 months into her come-back after destroying everyone until the final and was still taking non-Slam events she entered seriously. In fact the one time she tanked a non-Slam event this year she ended up losing in the 1st round of the Slam she was preparing for.

I think Serena will be wise with her scheduling for sure and we'll definitely see 'injuries' appearing post USO in the Asian swing, but I don't think she can afford to go back to the Slam only mentality she had 2 years ago. Like Clijsters, I think she needs to maintain some sort of regularity in scheduling as it's difficult for their bodies to adapt to playing at that level after the breaks and leaves them more injury-prone.

 

[Electrique]

I don't think so.

 

[mdterp01]

What exactly are you reffering to? Whos assuming what? Did Serena herself say shes going to Focus on slams? No, i dont think she did.

Her record in non slam events and her attendance is showing she cares enough to play both types of events. Obviously Slams mean more, but that doesnt mean she isnt playing other tournies.

BTW you just mentioned she only play " a few tournaments" be fore each slam....as far as I know thats all she ever does do anyways. She play 3 no more than 3 and that not that many...

I didn't realize this was a major investigation 20 questions. I was simply asking now that she does have that Wimbledon win under her belt and is over 30, will she go back to pretty much playing a warm up tournament or two before the majors to lengthen her longevity?

 

[mdterp01]

She got to a Slam final 2 months into her come-back after destroying everyone until the final and was still taking non-Slam events she entered seriously. In fact the one time she tanked a non-Slam event this year she ended up losing in the 1st round of the Slam she was preparing for.

I think Serena will be wise with her scheduling for sure and we'll definitely see 'injuries' appearing post USO in the Asian swing, but I don't think she can afford to go back to the Slam only mentality she had 2 years ago. Like Clijsters, I think she needs to maintain some sort of regularity in scheduling as it's difficult for their bodies to adapt to playing at that level after the breaks and leaves them more injury-prone.

Good point re: playing to keep in conditioning shape and to not get injury prone. But can't that be done with simple practice without having to enter a lot of tournaments?

 

[Stonerpova]

I think that now that she's older she needs to take non-majors more seriously in order to maintain match fitness throughout the season. Some level of balance will be necessary IMO or she'll get upset early at majors more often.

 

[Israel]

She is playing in Stanford this week. Also she bothered to get to her match and play against #400 and something (if I remember correctly).
So I think she has changed the way she looks at her career - she seems to like the smaller tournaments too now. I remember her saying "she won Rome and Madrid" about Safina but then this year she complimented Radwanska by saying that she was more consistent then her winning Miami and being at the top.

 

[Chrissie-fan]

I certainly hope so!!!

Sweeping the US Open preview tournaments and losing in the finals made the whole thing somehow not count not only for Slam fans but for all the clowns who used to complain about Serena not playing the warm ups...

...she gains nothing for doing anything on the court that doesn't lead to increasing her chances of winning more Slams.

Tennis History is measured in 4 columns: AO - FO - W - USO

You gain something by winning no matter what. Otherwise we would just have a two month season for the slams. In future GOAT debates it won't be hold against Serena that some of the other contenders won a couple more slams. Those making a case against her (or for the others) are much more likely to focus on the fact that those others won 50 or 100 plus more regular tour events.

 

[dencod16]

I think she cares more of smaller events now than before. She had a different outlook of her career since her life-threatening injury.

 

[NashaMasha]

Tennis History is measured in 4 columns: AO - FO - W - USO

she also wants Olympic Gold, YEC and №1.........