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In Stuttgart, Muguruza & Kerber retire

April 27, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Photo: Mal Taam/MALTphoto

There have been good matches in Stuttgart, and there are some big pullouts. Over the past three-and-a-half months, there have been the vast majority top women who have played — and competed. The great Williams sisters have been able to play, as has Simona Halep, Caro Wozniacki, Elina Svitolina, Jelena Ostapenkp, Caroline Garcia, Sloane Stephens and Daria Kasatkina, among others. That is a very good thing because over the past 25 years, many of the players have been hurt way too frequently. But now, they are getting smarter, playing less.

However, yesterday in Stuttgart, three major players pulled out: the two-time champion Garbine Muguruza, another two-time champion Angie Kerber, and the up and coming 18-year-old, Marketa Vondrousova. In the same day? That is somewhat brutal. That just started playing on the clay, which is actually better for your knees. Maybe it is just bad luck, or maybe they should have pulled out before they came to Stuttgart. Last weekend, many players played in the Fed Cup. Someone won, some lost, but either way, the Fed Cup is one of the most entertaining events of the year. So, after Sunday, and some players were very tired, with messed-up bodies. The answer: pull out before the tournament and don’t get on the plane. What is the point when you are going to lose so quickly? Just don’t come. It is not worth it, for everyone.

At least there are two very good players who are still in: Karolina Pliskova and CoCo Vandeweghe. Both of them don’t love clay, but they can both of them literally crush the ball.

There is a good piece on WTA’s website about the former five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova. She lost a tough match against Garcia 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4. Is Sharapova struggling? Yes, a bit, because over the past year, she has been so-so. Frequent injuries could be the cause.

Sharapova is close to becoming more consistent, more patient, more emotionally stable on court. To succeed, she needs to be happy and mentally locked in.

Sharapova decided to let go of her longtime coach, Sven Groeneveld, last month, and now she is reunited with Thomas Hogstedt, another long-time coach. Will they stick? Who knows. In a sense, when you are older, the 30-year-old Sharapova really doesn’t need to have a full-time coach. What you really need is to think hard, all the time, focus, whack it, change it up, be super consistent — just breathe. I can be wrong, but one thing I do know is: It’s all in your own head, and no one else can change it. It is all about you, especially on court.

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Indian Wells coming: Svitolina, Serena, Vika, Caro

March 4, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Notes on A Draw Sheet, March 4, 2018

THE WOMEN
It was good to see Elina Svitolina win the title at Dubai, and as she says, she never gives up. Which is more or less true. But, at the Slams, she can mentally back off. Still, she is only 23 years old, so in the next decade, she can figure out and to go the right places. And nail it. 
In Dubai, she jumped on the resurgent Angie Kerber, and in the final, she beat the good, young player Daria Kasatkina. At Indian Wells, Svitolina will be one of the favorites, but the field is very close, as almost the entire top 10 can beat each other. 
It looks like Serena Williams will walk on the court and play again. It’s very hard to gage how her difficult childbirth and the demands of motherhood are still affecting her. Let’s hop she is ready to compete and win match after match, tournament after tournament. My guess is it will take her a few months to get comfortable. One way or another, it should be a lot of fun …

Vika Azarenka will return at IW, after not playing this year because she is battling with her ex-husband in a custody battle over her young child. Before she stopped playing, Azarenka looked pretty darn good. I would assume that she is very healthy, and she would love to win another major, but the same thing goes here: She needs sometime to understand how she is striking the ball, day after day…

The No. 1 Simona Halep is hurt again, but she always tries to play, pain or nothing at all. She is a true grinder…

The No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki finally won a Grand Slam at the Aussie Open. It took her so long to finally grab it, but now she has and I would think that this year — as she loves to play — she will have a chance to win another major, specifically at the US Open, because she gets frustrated on clay and on grass…

The former two-time champion Petra Kvitova look pretty darn good, winning Doha. She is another one who wants to win so badly she can taste it. She likes fast hard court, but if it is very windy, she can get frustrated. Kvitova does like Indian Wells, the weather, almost everything, so if she is feeling it, she could go very deep, and win it. That would be huge, mentally.
 
THE MEN
Once again, Juan Martin del Potro is on fire, which is terrific, because when he is healthy, he can knock down anyone. How about this: in Acapulco, he beat the vet Mischa Zverev, the grinder David Ferrer, the flashy Dominic Thiem and the young brother, the No. 5 Alexander Zverev. In the final, he knocked out the 2017 Us Open finalist Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4. Very good stuff.

It is all about Delpo’s health. When his arms start to break down, then he leaves and he cannot play. But when it isn’t so bad, he can hit his two-hander, rather than just his one-hander, which he can only slice. That is why, among other things, that he could not beat the best players at the Grand Slams and come up short in the past eight years. He can hang in there in two out of three, but in the Slams, it’s three out of five. Towards the end, in the second week, he gets tired and he cannot find the lines. He looked very good this past week, with his huge serve, his massive forehand, his decent return and improved net game. He is a darn good player.
Even though he lost, the same goes with Anderson. Yes, he isn’t that fast because he is very tall, but he really hustles and whenever he gets a chance, he can jump on it. Both of them will be extremely confident heading into IW next week.

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2018 Aussie Open, The Picks, Day 8

January 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Rafa Nadal vs Mario Cilic
The Spaniard had a pretty tough night against the improving Diego Schwartzman.Nadal won, but it took nearly four hours. He has been there before, and the No. 1 will be there again, but still, it is somewhat early and he has to make sure not to get hurt at all during the AO event. 
For Nadal, the good thing is when he is on court against Cilic, they won’t have too many rallies, The very tall Mario is a terrific player, but he isn’t that fast. Cilic has a big serve, his heavy forehand and he can mix it up, going down low. 
Yes, Cilic can upset Nadal, if he is playing amazing, hour after hour, but in reality, Nadal has won 16 Grand Slams, and Cilic has won just one — at the US Open. Clearly, over the past 13 years, Nadal has been a better player. With his phenomenal forehand and his tough return, Nadal will win in four sets.

Grigor Dimitrov vs Kyle Edmunds
Dimitrov is totally on fire. He took down the Aussie Nick Kygrios on Saturday night, and now, he is locked in. Brit Edmunds has had a fine tournament this week, and he has improved a lot over the past year, but when is he going to figure out what to do with his weapons? Here and there, yes, but Dimitrov has so much variety, when he needs it. The Bulgarian wins in straight sets.

Caro Wozniacki vs Carla Suarez Navarro
This should be a very interesting match. They have never faced off against in the Grand Slams. In 2016 Tokyo, Caro won 6-4 in the third on a hardcourt, and in 2017 Madrid, Carlo won 6-4, 2-6, 6-2  on clay.  
Wozniacki has been better than Suarez over the past 10 years, as she has won 27 titles, while the Spaniard has only won a few. Yes, Wozniacki can fall flat here and there, but in the past 12 months, she has changed it up a little bit and once again, she is very focused.  
Suarez practices all the time, she goes from tournament after tournament. Even though she can sit way behind the court, she mixes it up consistently. Plus, she actually has a one-handed backhand, which is very unusual on the WTA. 
It will go three sets and both of them already know that they will be there for a solid two hours, rally after rally. Neither of them ever gets tired. You never know with Caro: will she be aggressive, or push the ball. Either way, she will win to advance at the semis.

Elina Svitolina vs Elise Mertens
Ukranian Svitolina is coming very close to No. 1. Maybe next week, maybe in a few months, or towards at the end of the year. But first, she has to take down Mertens, a very good player. 
There are times that Svitolina gets angry, inside her head, but she is so driven. She has a terrific first serve, and loads of spin, and she can nail her forehand and her backhand. 
Mertens hustles, too, and everyday, she gets better and better. But can she upset Elena? I cannot see it, yet, but maybe soon. Svitolina wins in straight sets.

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2017 top players: women’s 6-10

December 15, 2017 by Leave a Comment

 


TennisReporters.net will review 2017’s top 30 women and men, our annual feature.

No. 6: Elina Svitolina
Let’s talk about how strong she is! This year, for the first time, the 23-year-old took a very long deep breath and went for it. In Toronto in August, she upset Venus Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep and Caro Wozniacki, all players who have risen to No. 1. She also won Rome and three other titles. Then we all knew that she is an excellent player. Even though she practices all the time, however, she can get frustrated and despondent. She can get nervous at the Grand Slams. But, in 2018, I think she will to continue to mature and without a doubt, be right there deep in the majors.

No. 7: Jelena Ostapenko
The youngest player in the top 10, she is so incredibly powerful and never backs off. She hits as hard as she can, from both her  forehand and her backhand. She is so aggressive, amazing aggressive. That is why she won Roland Garros, never getting nervous and totally locking it in. However, she can over-hit it and isn’t patient enough. She has a ton of winners, and also, some bad errors, too. I would think though, she will get better each year. For sure, if she’s healthy, she will win another Grand Slam in 2018.

No. 8 Carolina Garcia
The Frenchwoman was up and down most of the year. In the fall, she rose up, beating just about everyone. She won Wuhan and Beijing, beating Angie Kerber, Svitolina, Petra Kvitova and Halep. In the WTA Finals, she upended Wozniacki before going down against the veteran Venus Williams. It has taken Garcia more than a few years to get very good, but finally, this strong and fast player moved forward and she decided it was just fine to hit at the lines. And she did. Though unpredictable, she can stay in the top 10, or even go further in 2018.

No. 9: Johanna Konta
The Brit looked fantastic in the first half of the year, winning Sydney and Miami, and then she reached the semis at Wimbledon, beating Garcia and Halep. Then, she began to check out, losing against the great Venus in the Wimbledon semis. After that, she had nothing left. She was tired and she wasn’t thinking anymore. The big upside is that she cracked the top 10 and she beat a number of very good players. The bad thing is that she can lose focus on the court. She will to continue to fight and fight some more. One way or another, she will go deep in 2018. And win a Grand Slam for the first time? Hmmm 

No. 10: CoCo Vandeweghe
The huge-hitting American finally came into her own, as she showed patience, got into great shape, and reduced her anger. Ten years ago, five years ago, even three years ago, she was ready to fade. But now, she is more mature and smarter. She has said that she can win a Grand Slam and become No. 1. OK, let’s see if she can pull it off in 2018. She is close now. 

 

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WTA Finals: Garcia overcomes Wozniacki, to face Venus

October 27, 2017 by Leave a Comment


Pliskova to face Wozniack in other year-end semi

Caroline Garcia was blown out by Caro Wozniacki with a 6-0 bagel in the first set of their WTA Finals round-robin match. Then, after resurrecting with a 6-3, Garcia gained a running start. Going into the third set, she ready and confident. The Frenchwoman knew that she had risen before; now, it was time to fly.   

Garcia did, just before the finish line. Down 3-5 in the third, she rose. Once again, the Frenchwoman didn’t back off. She beat Wozniacki 7-5 in the third, stunning the world, once again. 

So now, Garcia has reached the semis against Venus Williams on Saturday. Can Garcia actually win the event? Based on her blazing hot recent play, she has an excellent chance with her big opportunity. Moving into the semis of this year-end tournament in Singapore is a huge career boost. She was No. 23 just one year ago.

Venus is rising, too
The 37-year-old Williamd pushed and prodded and finally, after three hours, beat the 20-year-old Jelena Ostapeno . Two days ago, Venus appeared to be tired, but somehow, blasted Garbine Mugruzua, the two-time Grand Slam champion in straight sets.

Venus has won the WTA Finals before (2008 vs Vera Zvonareva). When she’s physically well, she has a realistic chance, a big chance, to win it again.

It was good to see Elina Svitolina finally play well, and she knocked off Simona Halep. Both of then have lost two times at Singapore, so they are done this year. Svitolina has to calm down and steady herself more in 2018, week after week. Halep has be upbeat and aggressive next year. She remains a threat at every Slam. 

Wozniacki will face against Katerina Pliskova on Saturday. Pliskova is unpredictable.  It’s a tossup, because Wozniacki likes to keep the ball in play. The final decider: It is all on their forehands.

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WTA Finals, Day 2: Wozniacki & Halep win; the fight is on

October 24, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Simona Halep is in the best spot to be the year-end No. 1. Photo: Jimmy48

Without a doubt, there will be a couple tremendous match-ups in Singapore at the WTA Finals, but on Sunday and Monday, in four matches, it was so-so at best.

Caroline Wozniacki crushed Elina Svitolina 6-2 6-0 in less than an hour. Wozniacki was enjoying a wide variety of tactics and going from very patient to very aggressive. Ukrainian Svitolina was mentally gone, from the first point. 

Simona Halep can slip into states of being very nervous, causing her to lose focus. But not against Caroline Garcia. Halep controlled the match, winning  6-4 6-2 . Halep yanked her from side to side, hitting the lines and moving forward whenever she could. Halep rarely gets tired, running fast and long. When she was into it, she can swing hard with her both of her strokes. 

Garcia has been on fire during the past three weeks and is very happy that she reached the WTA Finals for the first time. But, the letdown is taking effect as she knows that much of the world is watching her for the first time. The Frenchwoman needs to calm down and mix it up, here and there.

Halep wants to keep her newly found No. 1 ranking, which means she has to at least reach the semis.  It is possible that she will face Garbine Muguruza, the No. 2 (who won yesterday) who also badly wants to become the topdog. There will be an incredible battle coming up.

On Tuesday, Venus Williams will face Jelena Ostapenko, and Muguruza is set to battle Karolina Pliskova. Two former No. 1 players will clash. Hopefully, they can smack at each other for three fun hours.

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Singapore: Ambitious Muguruza and Pliskova, both win easily

October 23, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Del Potro is coming up, wins Stockholm

Right fromthe start, it looked like Garbine Muguruza was ready to roll. She wants to end the season being ranked No. 1, as that has been her goal all year long.

On Sunday, she cracked the young player Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-4 at the WTA Finals in Singapore. Muguruza jumped on the ball immediately and was pretty consistent. She is fast, she hits two big strokes – her forehand and backhand – and now, she actually is planning her next shot, rather than getting angry. Ostapenko always goes for her shots, but at times, the Roland Garros champ is very erratic. She will learn in time, but not yet. 

For Muguruza, she knows that she is a the cusp of the title. She will battle this week until she can’t fight any more. As the Spaniard says about being No. 1:  “It is important. I’m not going to lie, of course, but I know I have to play well.”

In a sense, the same goes with Karolina Pliskova, who has struggled since the end of August when she lost too early at the US Open. She was so upset that she and her coach waved goodbye. She has been OK in Asia over the past six weeks, but not great. 

On Sunday, though, she was locked in and totally crushed the 7-time Grand Slam champ Venus Williams 6-2, 6-2. That was a blowout. Even though Pliskova said that it was close at  times, Venus realizes that she isn’t ready to compete right now. “I just have to put the ball in the court, is what it boils down to. I’ve been in this position before so I’ll be back on Tuesday,” Venus said.

We hope so. If Venus does not, the 37-year-old will go home, back to Florida. She is still extremely good, but without a doubt, she is aging. We all do. 

On Monday … No. 1 Simona Halep will play  Caroline Garcia, and then Elina Svitolina will face Caroline Wozniacki. According to Ostapenko, the ball is very slow, so both Halep and Wozniacki will have the edge, grinding it away.

Del Potro sweeps aside Dimitrov
With the guys, props to Juan Martin del Potro, who wins Stockholm by defeating Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-2.  DelPo has a chance to reach the ATP Finals, but that means he is going to have to go seriously deep at the ATP Masters Series in Paris. DelPo wants to do it but, as he says, he has to be very careful. He gets injured too often. However, if he stays healthy, then maybe he can win the ATP Finals for the first time, In 2018, he has a very good chance to win his second major as his backhand is slowly healing.

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Picking the US Open Women’s Draw

August 26, 2017 by Leave a Comment

The First Quarter

No.1 Karolina Pliskova almost won the 2016 US Open, but Angie Kerber took her down, 6-4 in the third set. The Czech has played pretty well recently. She has improved a lot over the past two years. She is a little bit faster, she crushes the ball and she is very good at the net. Here, she is one of the favorites to win her first Grand Slam. But, at times, she can get angry and be off her game.

Pliskova might have to face against Shuai Zhang in the third round, which could be difficult, but she should get through. In the fourth round, then she will have to play ball. Assuming that Kristina Mladenovic gets through, then the Frenchwoman will be set to attack Pliskova. Mladenovic loves to come into the net, and while she isn’t very fast, she can create angles.

In the quarters, there are five players who can challenge the Czech: the good veterans – Svetlana Kuznetsova, CoCo Vandeweghe and Lucie Safarova – and the two very young players, CiCi Bellis and Anett Kontaveit. Pick the teenager Bellis, who is rising super fast, to move through the early rounds. But, by the time she hits the quarters against Pliskova, she will tap out.

The Second Quarter

There are lots of possibilities.

Elina Svitolina has played extremely well this season. She recently won Toronto, smoking her backhand and forehand. She is very determined. However, she has yet to go deep at the majors.

She might have to face Daria Gavilova in the third round, who has reached the final in Connecticut. She is small, but she loves to play and she is super fast. But Svitolina will move on, and then she will go up against Madison Keys, who is finally happy again. The American is ready to go on the court and stay there for hours. Both Keys and Svitolina want it bad, and in the end, Keys will hit harder and she will reach the quarters.

Guess who will play against Keys? How about the RG champion Jelena Ostapenko? The young big swinger hasn’t played great on the hard courts, but she knows what to do: powder the ball and hope it goes in. Without a doubt, if she faces against Angie Kerber, she will win in the fourth round, because the German is mentally gone.

Can Keys beat Ostapenko? Toss-up, as both of them are aggressive all the time. Give it to Keys, in a great marathon.

 

The Third Quarter

Ms. Garbiñe Muguruza is the favorite, hands down. She won Wimbledon, and she just won Cincy. She is on fire, and while she can get mad and pout, her first serve, forehand and backhand are very, very good.

Who can upset Muguruza? Maybe Petra Kvitova, if she is really back. But the two-time Slam champion hasn’t played well at all during the last five weeks and she has a tremendous amount of work to do. Possibly Venus Williams, but the former No. 1 is up and down on hard courts. Caroline Garcia has gotten better, but is not yet a real threat to top players. And then there is Caroline Wozniacki, who has played very, very well this season, but once she reaches the final, she really backs off.

It has to be Muguruza, hands down.

The Fourth Quarter

Well, well, what a great contest coming up in the first round with the five-time major champion Maria Sharapova versus the No. 2 Simona Halep. Sharapova is just coming back, and if she can be healthy, maybe then she can win another major. But until she is 100 percent physically, she will struggle.

But she is better than Halep. The Romanian is 0-3 in matches this year when one win would have given her the top ranking. She has frozen and played very badly, going down very quickly. Just last week, Muguruza destroyed her in the Cincy final, dashing her third shot at No. 1.

Remember in the 2014 final at Roland Garros? Sharapova beat Halep 6-4 in the third. Maria rose up at the end, and Halep pushed the ball. At the USO, both of them will be nervous, but Sharapova – if she isn’t hurt – will continue to attack. Halep will back off. Sharapova will win.

Who will reach the quarters? Look to Jo Konta, Ana Konjuh,or Sloane Stephens. Pick Stephens, who is lights out right now.

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Elina Svitolina wins Toronto, smacks Wozniacki

August 14, 2017 by Leave a Comment

FROM TORONTO, THE ROGERS CUP, SUNDAY, AUGUST 13: Now Elina Svitolina is the top of the charts.

The 22-year-old blasted Carolina Wozniacki 6-4, 6-0 to win Toronto. Admittedly, she was tired, because day after day, she has to run back and forth, side to side, forward and back. She is very strong and determined. She barely slept last night, maybe three to four hours, which is incredible. She was showing the effects of beating three strong players: Venus Williams, Garbine Muguruza and Simona Halep.

During the first set, Svitolina was up and down. Her forehand and backhand were pretty good, but she was a little late. Her serve was decent, but she could not kiss the lines. She was terrific at the net, bending very low and going the other way. At 4-4, Wozniacki looked pretty tired, too, while Svitolina kept pushing. She broke taking won the first set,

In the second set, the Ukrainian was almost perfect. She woke up, her legs returned, she attacked quickly against the Dane. She rarely hit an unforced error, while Wozniacki was super frustrated. She wasn’t going anywhere, and she was totally gone.

The former No. 1 Wozniacki has reached six finals this season — which is fantastic — but lost them all. She doesn’t know why she can read her opponents’ strokes. Overall, she isn’t aggressive enough and she freezes.

Svitolina has won five titles this year and thinks she can win the US Open. She hasn’t been close, but now, she knows that if she really believes that if she can play 100 percent, then she can knock down anyone.

Incredibly, the No. 1 ranking will be up for grabs by five women, according to TV commentators. Besides the Toronto finalists, current No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, former No. 1 Angelique Kerber and the almost-there-but-can’t-convert Simona Halep could all be the top woman by Sept. 11.

She wants to sleep soon, but she is so, so happy.     

“I was very, very tired after the first game of first set. And I knew that I need to give everything because Caroline doesn’t miss much,” she said. “You have to work really hard to get unforced error from her. I just decided I’m going to just play every ball and just leave everything on court. And that’s why, emotionally I was relieved when I won the first set, and then was playing better and better in the second. I really couldn’t believe that it all finished and I’m holding the trophy.”

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Svitolina: ‘The mental part is also a very stable’

August 13, 2017 by Leave a Comment

FROM TORONTO, THE ROGERS CUP, SATURDAY, AUGUST 11: Elina Svitolina is already pretty close to winning a major. But first, she has to really believe in herself. The Ukrainian has been darn good this season, she is already No. 5, winning Rome, Istanbul, Dubai and Taipei City. In Dubai, she took out Caroline Wozniacki in the final. Guess what? They will clash on Sunday, an extremely important event here at the Canadian Open.

In this event, Svitolina has beaten two terrific players here, who had great Wimbledon results: Garbine Muguruza and Venus Williams.  On Saturday, Svitolina crushed Simona Halep 6-1 6-1. She was strong, and Halep was exhausted.

At Roland Garros, Svitolina thought she could go very deep and actually win it. She won the quarterfinal first set against Halep, thought she could nail it during the second set and move ahead, but she stopped, and Halep out-though her, winning 3-6 7-6(6) 6-0. She cried then. But, on Saturday, she locked in, showed her power and was ready to be patient.

“In Paris it was very difficult to have that loss, but I think it also was the experience,” Svitolina said. “So that’s why, from the first point today ‘til the last point, I was very focused and I was just 100 percent on every ball. I just learned. I learned from that experience that you need to play until the last point and, you know, just one point at a time. There will be nerves, but that’s how you need to try to manage them and to put them in the right direction. You know, to don’t push the ball, go for the shots and move your feet quickly. Because every player is different, but you need to know what happens with you when you are very stressed. So I try to learn this from the experience.”

Svitolina is very rugged, has a fast but varied serve. She can mix it up and bash it. Last year, she was pretty decent, but the 22-year-old needed to change a couple things and become substantial better. Her forehand, her backhand and the lob are forceful.  

“I’m more consistent with my game. With the mental part is also a very stable,” she said. “Yeah, it’s just the small things. I’m 22 years old, so I’m always changing. And I see some things differently than, one year ago, two years ago.So just something clicked together and it’s working.”

The same goes for Wozniacki, who has now reached six final tournaments this season. Without a doubt, she has been super consistent, but when she reaches the final, she gets nervous, and then she panics. Is she the favorite here on Sunday? It is hard to say. Svitolina beat her in February, but the 27-year-old Wozniacki has been on the WTA Tour for 10 years. That is a very long time. She knows all the other players, she knows exactly what she has to do, but in the finals, she becomes too conservative.

This time, she cannot, or Svitolina can blast her and destroy her forehand. Caro is so quick, she knocks it back all the time. Her backhand is so consistent, especially crosscourt. His first serve is much better now, and occasionally, she puts away the volleys.

At the press conference, a journalist asked: “It’s your sixth final of the year and you’re still looking for your first win. Does that weigh on your mind at all?”

Caro said, “No, not unless I get asked about it (with a laughter.) So I put myself in great positions and I’m going to try and make the most of it.”

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