[Terpsichore]

Over Easter, I watched a couple of Justine's Slam Finals (2005 and 2007 Roland Garros) and was struck by how little credit she received for both. If you recall, the media focused almost entirely on how badly her opponents supposedly played and suggested that she was almost handed the titles by just being on court. The thing is - and I don't think I'm biased (despite being a fan of Justine) - I really felt Mary Pierce played well and Anna Ivanovic wasn't anywhere near as bad as she was made out to be. It was just that Justine was incredible in 2005 and pretty damn good in 2007. Basically, she took it up to them in such a way that they were always under pressure and so - on the rare occasions they had easy shots - they didn't have the rhythm or confidence to make them.

And this lack of recognition of Justine's Slam wins was typical of her career. In every case but one she smoked her opponent off the court but the media never seemed to grasp this fact. Anyway, I'll just give my tentative ratings of all her 11 Slam Finals. I say "tentative" because on some I'm just relying on memory....

2001 Wimbledon Final: 5/10
2003 French Open Final: 8/10
2003 US Open Final: 8/10
2004 Australian Open Final: 7/10
2005 French Open Final: 9/10
2006 Australian Open Final: 1/10
2006 French Open Final: 6/10
2006 Wimbledon Final: 5.5/10
2006 US Open Final: 7/10
2007 French Open Final: 8/10
2007 US Open Final: 7.5/10

And yes, I think she played better in her losing 2006 US Open Final than she did in her winning 2006 French Open Final! But in general the matches were in her hands. If she played near her best (7.5 and above) the titles were hers.......

 

[cecilija]

BUMP

Well, I never thought I'd bump this, so it is a victory in itself :hearts:

But, there is a pattern here... Ever since that AO final in 2006 she hasn't been able to produce her best tennis in the finals with the exception of RG 2007 and USO to some extent. I think she developed some mental block.

I give her 5.5 for this final, the amount of errors was just perplexing and the opponent was nothing special either. I still don't understand how she managed to lose the first set.

 

[Arnian]

I don't know why you rated her play in the Us Open final of 06 so high, because she didn't play her greatest tennis that night.

 

[Arnian]

I just noticed watching these highlights Terp that Justine was serving with some variety here, if you notice in the high lights she actually hits a lot of serves out wide. She played really well in this match.

 

[Terpsichore]

BUMP

Well, I never thought I'd bump this, so it is a victory in itself :hearts:

But, there is a pattern here... Ever since that AO final in 2006 she hasn't been able to produce her best tennis in the finals with the exception of RG 2007 and USO to some extent. I think she developed some mental block.

I give her 5.5 for this final, the amount of errors was just perplexing and the opponent was nothing special either. I still don't understand how she managed to lose the first set.

Well, finally I get a response! I'd have to give her a composite score for the latest: 6.5 for the first set, 8.5 for the second, and 5 for the third so that's around 6.5 overall.

 

[Terpsichore]

I don't know why you rated her play in the Us Open final of 06 so high, because she didn't play her greatest tennis that night.

Give Maria credit. She was fantastic that night and Justine nearly matched her. She only had two letdowns on serve but it cost her the match.

 

[Terpsichore]

I just noticed watching these highlights Terp that Justine was serving with some variety here, if you notice in the high lights she actually hits a lot of serves out wide. She played really well in this match.

Fabulous stuff! Thanks for posting it. I remember thinking how well Kim played that day and yet Justine was superior. This hasn't prevented the myth that Kim never played well against Justine in the Slam Finals from arising. What's strange is that in every other Slam Final Kim is admitted to have played well: against Cap in the 2001 FO, Pierce in the 2005 USO, and against Wozniaki in the 2009 USO Final. THe reason Kim didn't play her best in the 2003 FO and USO Finals is because Justine was smoking and kept her completely off-balance. Kim hates to be flustered and on those two occasions Justine was a great flusterer.

And you're right about her serve. But still not enough body-serves, eh? Why doesn't she use them?

 

[Maiden]

What I also notice and I find she doesn't do nearly as often, is slice the return shot. Sometimes it pays off more than blasting it away looking for a direct winner.

 

[Arnian]

Fabulous stuff! Thanks for posting it. I remember thinking how well Kim played that day and yet Justine was superior. This hasn't prevented the myth that Kim never played well against Justine in the Slam Finals from arising. What's strange is that in every other Slam Final Kim is admitted to have played well: against Cap in the 2001 FO, Pierce in the 2005 USO, and against Wozniaki in the 2009 USO Final. THe reason Kim didn't play her best in the 2003 FO and USO Finals is because Justine was smoking and kept her completely off-balance. Kim hates to be flustered and on those two occasions Justine was a great flusterer.

And you're right about her serve. But still not enough body-serves, eh? Why doesn't she use them?

Honestly, the effectiveness of a body serve against a good mover such as Kim seems questionable to me. It works against Serena, because she is so big and her footwork is often mediocre but against Kim I'm not so sure.

I do agree though, that she needs to start using the body serve more. There's decent room for error with that serve and it's effective.

 

[vejh]

Ju sliced alot of returns to Serena in 2007. I
t works really well. But it is all a mindset really.

 

[thrust]

Over Easter, I watched a couple of Justine's Slam Finals (2005 and 2007 Roland Garros) and was struck by how little credit she received for both. If you recall, the media focused almost entirely on how badly her opponents supposedly played and suggested that she was almost handed the titles by just being on court. The thing is - and I don't think I'm biased (despite being a fan of Justine) - I really felt Mary Pierce played well and Anna Ivanovic wasn't anywhere near as bad as she was made out to be. It was just that Justine was incredible in 2005 and pretty damn good in 2007. Basically, she took it up to them in such a way that they were always under pressure and so - on the rare occasions they had easy shots - they didn't have the rhythm or confidence to make them.

And this lack of recognition of Justine's Slam wins was typical of her career. In every case but one she smoked her opponent off the court but the media never seemed to grasp this fact. Anyway, I'll just give my tentative ratings of all her 11 Slam Finals. I say "tentative" because on some I'm just relying on memory....

2001 Wimbledon Final: 5/10
2003 French Open Final: 8/10
2003 US Open Final: 8/10
2004 Australian Open Final: 7/10
2005 French Open Final: 9/10
2006 Australian Open Final: 1/10
2006 French Open Final: 6/10
2006 Wimbledon Final: 5.5/10
2006 US Open Final: 7/10
2007 French Open Final: 8/10
2007 US Open Final: 7.5/10

And yes, I think she played better in her losing 2006 US Open Final than she did in her winning 2006 French Open Final! But in general the matches were in her hands. If she played near her best (7.5 and above) the titles were hers.......

I would give her 07 USO final a 9. After beating the Williams Sisters, she was on fire! Sveta actually played very well, but she did not have a chance as Jusine was not going to lose to anyone that night. Sveta also played very well in th 06 FO final, giving Justine a tough match. Justine gets a 7.5 from me.

 

[Arnian]

Hard to believe that she only made 2 finals over 04-05.

I firmly believe that if she hadn't gotten sick in 04, she would have had an incredible year.

 

[Terpsichore]

Hard to believe that she only made 2 finals over 04-05.

I firmly believe that if she hadn't gotten sick in 04, she would have had an incredible year.

Well, she did win the Olympics. Rating:7.5

 

[Arnian]

Well, she did win the Olympics. Rating:7.5

This is true, but I meant GS's. I always forget about the Olympics lol