The Russians Are Dropping Like Flies!

well, sorry to Russian fans, but I think Russian players are overrated as a whole. It's like just being Russian make them champions instanstly, and that's not true. There are some very good russian players, but many are not that good.

Lina had bad luck with that injury, besides, she is still too young and unexperienced.

Elena Dementieva is having a bad time, but she will be back.

Anna is coming off an injury, she's been off for too long, and had a horrible first round match.

Petrova is injured.

Elena Likhovtseva is talented, but very weak mentally, that was always the case and she is not gonna change now.

Elena Bovina, I am sorry, but I think she is overrated, I saw her live at the Canadian Open and she didn't impress me in the slightest, she just has a powerful serve and that's it.

I think Elena, Lina and Anna will be in the top 10 at some point but I don't think Bovina or Petrova will.

I can't speak about the youngest players as I have never seen them.

cat,

No, I don't like kicking someone when they are down. I would never go to an Anna K Cheering area and belittle her.

All I am asking is that Anna look at her problems more realistically. This is the great disadvantage of having parents for a coach - they, also, are seemingly blind to Anna's obvious choking problem, so how can they help her solve it?

Anna could go the entire season blaming her woes on last year's injury. That might make her feel better, but it won't answer the purpose of helping her turn things around. She needs to face this choking problem head-on before she will have any hope of fixing it. IMO, the longer it goes on, unacknowledged, the harder it will be to fix.

As for the next batch of young Russians: I look forward to watching them!

My problem is, I grew attached to a few of the current crop, and perhaps had falsely high expectations for them. I am trying to acknowledge my problem head-on and try to fix it , and be grateful for any victories these girls have.

cat -

You are right - the day ended MUCH better than it started! So, I tried to change the name of this thread just now, but it won't change, at least not on the list of Threads.

Anyway, I agree about Lina and Elena B.; some of our expectations may have been unrealistic. Elena B. in particular really has to go back to the drawing board altogether.
I am reserving judgment about Lina until she has a chance to play a full schedule at age 18. Look at Hantuchova, she is getting some good results now. Not everyone is going to come out of the blocks like a Seles or a Hingis. Lina needs a chance; Elena B. needs help.

I am also going to wait a year to decide about Anastasia and Elena D. This may be a great year for one or both of them, and I'm not willing to give up on them yet! I just want to try to lower my expectations for the whole group so as not to be continually disappointed when they are all such nice kids, all doing the best they can.

Cat, in Janie's defense, she was not trying to kick Anna when she was down. Janie is merely trying to make the point that Anna has a lot of work to do before she can think about returning to the top twenty. I have to agree with her that 9 tournaments, 6 exho matches, two doubles finals and 1 doubles quarterfinal, plus her practice with Hingis during the last two weeks should be enough for Anna to have regain her court sense. The fact that she claims differently indicates that something is really wrong with Anna's game and her losses to Henin and Smashanova should be a wakeup call to the Kournikovas that Anna really needs to make some major changes if she wants to have a shot of getting good results this year.

I also think that Anna needs to par down on the off court activites. I know that Anna and her supporters claim that off court activities do not effect Anna's play, but it is illogical to think that Anna's modeling shoots, music video shoots, bit movie roles, endorsement deals and exhibition matches do not effect her on the court. Understand that the more exposure Anna gets for her off court activities, the more pressure there will be on the court for her to match her fame with solid tennis results. I think that is one of the reasons that Anna chokes so much on big points. I think it must also be noted that Anna is trying to be both a celebrity and a solid tennis player and the pressure of trying to have it all may be too much for her.

I hope that Anna will be back, but it won't be this year.

Apoet (as always!!) makes an excellent point - the extra exposure and fame Anna has worked hard to achieve outside of tennis is a double-edged sword which is working against her right now.

Yes, it has brought her riches beyond comprehension. But it is that same broad exposure that brings a magnifying spotlight onto every moment of Anna's oncourt struggles.

Any other player of Anna's level struggling to reach her former heights after an extended time off would be able to do so in the relative obscurity of outer courts and little media attention. Anna's highest ranking was #8 - can you conceive of this level of attention placed on the struggles of, say a Julie Halard-Decugis, a Barbara Schett, or even Justine Henin herself? Not likely!

It is disingenuous to suppose that this worldwide focus on Anna, brought on by her own activities such as magazine covers, ad campaigns, etc etc, does not contribute, at least a little, to her ongoing choking problem.

At any rate, whatever the main cause, it is a crippling problem that will likely prevent Anna from reaching her true potential, until, as I said, it is acknowledged and dealt with.