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Sharapova ousts Ostapenko; the picks, US Open, day 7

September 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Jelena Ostapenko
FROM THE US OPEN – Maria Sharapova went on the court and she knew that she had to focus all the time, or she would lose. She didn’t, and she was very smart, beating Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2.

It appeared this could be a close contest. In fact, it should have been, because in Madrid in May, Sharapova outlasted her 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-5. Both of them are huge hitters, from the forehand and the backhand, down the line, deep, and right on the lines. They are incredibly powerful, but this year, both of them have produced a lot of errors. On Saturday, Ostapenko had a ton of errors, and that is why she lost. She lost her concentration, and she sunk.
  
Believe it or not, Sharapova has won the night sessions at the US Open, 22-0, and counting. She has only won the title just once, in 2006, defeating Justin Henin. Since then, she has had a few chances, but she didn’t convert.

 
Can the 31-year-old do it again? Perhaps, but this year, I would be pretty surprised if she grabbed it. She has been hurt a lot this year and, while there are days when she looks very good, but there are also events when her serves are surprisingly weak, with many double faults. But she was fairly clean on Saturday night. She can nail her forehand and backhand, but she still can be erratic, and a little bit slow. 
Sharapova always practices; she loves the sport; she wants to add to her game. Maybe she will, but her right shoulder is sore. It has been for years, and she cannot use a lot of spin when she is serving. But once the rallies begin, she can rake it.

Ostapenko swings away, blasting her strokes, crosscourt, extremely hard, and down the line. The Latvian has won one at a Slam, at the 2017 Roland Garros, but now the 21-year-old makes so too errors and she insults herself. Eventually, though she can calm down and she can return to the top 5 very soon. 

Sharapova was pleased after she won and now she will face Carla Suárez Navarro<, who topped Caroline Garcia 7-6 in the third. The Spainard has lots of topspin with her heavy, one-handed backhand. However, Sharapova can hit threw her, and knock her onto the wall. Sharapova will win in two sets. 

More picks
American Madison Keys rose up when she had to, and she jumped over Aleksandra Krunic in three sets. Last year, she reached the final. Keys has not played extremely well this season, but now, she is forceful. She will face Domi Cibulkova, who overcame Angie Kerber. That’s a toss-up, but I think that Keys will take a breath in the third and win it.  

On Sunday there are two tight matches: Ash Barty versus Karolina Pliskova, and Sloane Stephens against Elise Mertens. Pliskova is totally unpredictable, but she can hit a little hard against the Aussie. However, Barty can grind her, but Pliskova will out together a number of huge first serves and win in two sets.  

Mertens is very steady, but Stephens rarely misses the ball, that is why she won the US Open last year. She will pound Mertens into the ground.

Here are two fine contests: Kevin Anderson vs. Dominic Thiem, and John Isner versus Milos Raonic. The tall Anderson is mentally stronger now, all the time. Thiem is battling, trying and push himself forward, but I am not sure that he can return frequently. Anderson will win in four sets.

Do you want a fifth setter? Well, here it is, with Raonic versus Isner. Neither of them return well, but they can serve hard and smoke their forehands. Isner will pull it off, 7-6(7) in the fifth.   

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Women’s semis: Kerber vs Ostapenko, Serena vs Goerges

July 11, 2018 by Leave a Comment


FROM WIMBLEDON — Many players are very nervous on court, but others aren’t nervous at all. When you have won a Grand Slam, that nervousness can go away.

That is why Angelique Kerber and Jelena Ostapenko will face off on Thursday. German Kerber won the ’16 US Open and ’17 Australian Open, while Latvia’s Ostapenko won ’17 Roland Garros. This season, they have been OK, for the most part. But, in the last 11 days, they were so good and so driven. Kerber has been around a long time, while Ostapenko is very young. Kerber is super steady as she is very fast, while Ostapenko crushes her forehand and backhand. 

However, after you win a major, the so-called pressure is on in the next year. You are the champion, so do it again. Ostapenko admitted that last month that she was emotionally messed up. But not now.

“I’m not like at the French Open because I had all that pressure, now it’s gone. Finally it’s gone,” Ostapenko said. “Now it’s another tournament, another great opportunity for me. I’m just not afraid to miss. I’m just going for the shots. In general, I think my level is much better the last Grand Slam.”

Kerber has reached a number of semifinals this year, but she has yet to win tournament since she won Sydney at the start of the year. In Australia she reached the semis, and she was very close, but Simona Halep pushed her back 9-7 in the third set. Since then, Kerber has been gaining momentum. When she goes deep in an event, she will back off and lose. Perhaps on Thursday, Kerber will be substantially more aggressive and return well. She has to. Her young opponent will make Kerber step it up.

“It’s a big challenge, especially with Ostapenko where I never played against her. She won also a Grand Slam,” Kerber said. “The match starts from zero. The pressure is not always on my side. There are no favorites anymore. We are in the semis. I’m not looking left or right. I’m not looking about the others. I’m really taking care about my game.”

This is a toss-up, but in the third set, Ostapenko will hit the corners and capture it. 

Serena Williams is once again back into the Wimbledon semifinals. She is the favorite, but she still is not playing 100 percent, yet. She needed to best Camila Giorgi 6-4 in the third. Her serves were tremendously good in the last hour, but still, her forehand is a little off. Regardless, she is still so smart, her backhand is lethal, and her returns is very deep. As long as the rallies go quickly, she will be find her game.
     
Julia Goerges will go up against Serena. Goerges is relentless, and even when she gets down, she goes forward, and she finds ways to win. It has taken the 29-year-old many years to reach the pinnacle of her career. Now, she is in the semis at Wimbledon, so the folks will say, “Who is Julia?”

Well here it is, things changed: “It was almost three years ago when I decided to make a change in my team. I went completely a new way. I took a new physio, a new coach [Michael Geserer]. I changed my residence,” Georges said. “I went from the north to the south of Germany really to start everything from zero.

“I thought there is much more potential in my game and in myself to reach my goals I want to achieve, to become the best player I can be with my abilities I’m having. This work we are putting in every day, you can’t expect it happening in three months, and it’s just there. It needs a lot of time and a lot of work. I think it’s everything worth it for the season I’m playing now, that I’m sitting here right now. I’m able to play on the semifinal against Serena Williams. That’s something what a player is dreaming of.” 
 
She is correct. Last year, she won two titles, and this season, the German has beaten some very good players including Caro Wozniacki, Daria Kasatkina, Karolina Pliskova and Ash Barty. She is strong. But here is what is crucial: At Roland Garros, she lost to Serena 6-3 6-4 in the third round on clay. So how is she going to attack on grass? That is risky business. Even if she does, Serena will win in straight sets.

The men
It was a heck of a day on Wednesday, very long with a couple of wonderful contests.

The famous Roger Federer went down in a spectacular fashion, losing to South African Kevin Anderson 2-6 6-7(5) 7-5 6-4 13-11. Federer had a number of chances, but Anderson stepped up to the plate, hit some huge forehands and his slamming serve. He came though, perhaps his best match, ever. Federer was a little bit shaken up.

“I was very happy that I got off to the right start, was able to take control somewhat,” Federer said. “I just don’t know exactly how I couldn’t create more opportunities once the third set came around. I had my chances, so it’s disappointing. No doubt about it. He was consistent. He was solid. He got what he needed when he had to. Credit to him for hanging around really that long.”
 
The other multiple champion, Rafa Nadal, survived in nearly five hours, beating Juan Martin del Potro 7-5 6-7(7) 4-6 6-4 6-4. The fifth set was a true classic, with both men returning well, going side to side, hitting hard or soft, changing everything. But in the end, Nadal was slightly more consistent, and brilliant, which is why he will have a decent shot to knock down Novak Djokovic in the semis. But first, Nadal was thrilled.  

“I am very happy the way that I survived a lot of important points in that fifth set. I think I did a lot of things well,” Nadal said. “I went to the net. In general terms, have been a positive match. Only negative thing is I played almost five hours, and I had the chance maybe to play less winning that second set. For the rest of the things, great news, semifinals of Wimbledon again. Great feelings.”

Serbian Djokovic was extremely good, as he was very focused and his backhand was spot on. In the last hour, he whipped Kei Nishikori 6-3 3-6 6-2 6-2. Nishikori had some good moments, but then he totally lost his game, committing errors after errors.  

“I feel if I have to compare the game that I’ve played, the level of tennis that I’ve had those years and today, I think it’s pretty close,” Djokovic said.

American John Isner finally reached his first Grand Slam semis ever, beating Milos Raonic 6-7(5) 7-6(7) 6-4 6-3. In the second set in the tiebreak, it looked Raonic was going to grab it and go up 2-0, but Isner kept strong and snared it. After that, he was on cruse control. 

“Pure elation right now. With how I’m feeling physically and mentally, I’m in a very good spot,” Isner said. “I think I can keep doing damage here. This is amazing. It’s by far the best Grand Slam I’ve ever played in my career, and I’ve been playing for 11 years. I’m super happy.”

They winners are all happy. Not so much for the those eliminated in a glorious day of tennis.

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The cool vets: American Querrey to face Frenchman Monfils

July 5, 2018 by Leave a Comment

FROM WIMBLEDON — Sam Querrey is lurking. The big hitter will have to face the other good — or at times, great — Gael Monfils. The American has a gigantic serve and forehand, and now, he is pretty decent at the net. That is why he is currently No. 11. He is a happy, go-lucky person.

The same goes with the Frenchman, who doesn’t lover grass. When he is mentally sound, he can throw in his massive first serve, whale on his forehand, and he is so, so fast, running up and back. There will be some short points. Whomever can read the other’s strengths and weaknesses will win, in five tough sets. It will be Querrey.

Serena Williams is rising, slowly but surely. On Friday, she will go up against Kristina Mladenovic, which could be a fun match. The Parisian hasn’t played very well during the last year. She loves to crack the ball, and she can rush the net a lot, but she is erratic, and she is not too quick. But she is really looking forward to challenging Williams.

“Well, I expect a very difficult match. Even if [Serena] on her way back, I definitely think she’s a favorite of our match. If she plays her best, she’s, for me, the best in our sport. And, first of all, it’s great to see her back even after giving birth. It’s great for tennis. It’s a very big privilege to play her, especially at this stage. We kind of both earned two matches to get to the third round, so will be a very nice challenge. I’m not getting too excited. I just would like to be able to produce my game and what I have been working on for some weeks now.”

I would think that Serena will win in straight sets, but maybe Mladenovic will shock her. She has to attack quickly and often.

Thursday Picks

Alexandra Zverev vs Taylor Fritz
No. 4 Zverev is incredibly powerful, with his first serve, with his forehand and backhand, down the line or crosscourt. Over the past two years, he has improved by becoming much more consistent. The San Diego native Fritz is also young and is pretty bright. He is also powerful, and he likes to go for it. Neither of them totally understand how to play at Wimbledon yet, but Zverev will win in four sets.

Jelena Ostapenko vs Kirsten Flipkens
The Belgian Flipkens has been around forever. She has gone deep at Wimby, as she loves to mix it up, to spin it, to whack it. The former 2017 RG champ Ostapenko is still learning, as she is very young and while she can blast the balls everywhere, still, she makes a lot of mistakes. Flipkens will fool her, and take her out in three sets.

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Tick-tock: In Paris, patience is important on clay

May 27, 2018 by Leave a Comment

It was a wonderful day in Paris. It was sunny, it was warm, and the fans were smiling. But, on court, in the first Sunday, there were some important losers.

Venus Williams went down, so did Jo Konta, and somewhat shockingly, Jelena Ostapenko , the 2017 RG champion. She said: ‘It was terrible day at the office for me. In general I played maybe like 20% of what I can play. Made like 50 unforced errors and so many double faults. Like I couldn’t serve. Everything together just brought me a really bad result.”

Oh, yes, she did.

There is a tremendous amount of pressure. But, not for everyone, because certain mediocre people don’t think they have a chance to win it all, and that is too bad.

Venus Williams can still play fantastic at times. In two weeks, she will be 38 years old. She is still a top 10 player, and she will play until 40 years old, at least, assuming she is healthy. But that is a long time. Against Wang Qiang, Venus changed her tactics repeatedly, but she couldn’t keep it inside the baseline, spraying 35 unforced errors. On clay, she just can’t figure it out. She may never do that. But really, Wang played aggressive and very thoughtfully. She is an excellent doubles player, but maybe now Wang will feel better in the singles? We will find out, immediately. 

In the first half of 2017, Konta was bashing the ball and she cracked the top 10 after winning Miami. But since then, she has slipped, and she is pretty confused. She has to shake it off. 

The good thing on Sunday among the women was Sloane Stephens, who blasted her foe, Arantxa Rus. Alize Cornet came back and knocked off Sara Errani in three sets, and the No. 4 Elina Svitolina really has a chance to grab the title. If she contains herself.  

Among the men, a few of the top guys won pretty eroundasily, with Grigor Dimitrov, Alexandra Zverev and Dominic Thiem sailing into the second round. Dimitrov won the 2017 ATP Finals, and he was rising quickly, but this year, he has been so-so. He actually really likes playing on clay, and he said that every year, he has improved, sliding around, slicing it, topping it. But can he won RG for the first time? Or even reach the semis? He has to step up, and he has to be very calm at the Slams, because he has yet to win a major. Even any tournament this season. Tick-tock.  

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Report card: top five women in Rome

May 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Here are the women with the best results last week in Rome.

Elena Svitolina A+
In Rome, in 2017, Svitolina finally rose, winning the tournament. Two weeks later in Paris, she backed off, was nervous and she lost early. But she never stopped trying. In 2018, last week, she played brilliantly. She is so quick, so powerful, and she is very smart. She won the event fairly easily, crushing Simona Halep in the final. Now, once again, she has a legitimate chance to win a Grand Slam at Roland Garros. But there will be pressure, serious pressure …

Simona Halep A
Props to beating Maria Sharapova in the semis. She could have folded but she did not, she ripped her shots and she jumped on it. Unfortunately, in the final, Halep was exhausted. Her legs were very heavy, and she couldn’t run fast enough against Svitolina. Still, the No. 1 Halep was more than respectable, so for the “millionth” time, she has a shot to win her first Grand Slam. If she remains focused …  

Maria Sharapova B+
Even though Sharapova lost in the semis against Halep, she played substantially better last week. Finally. She took a breath, she hustled, she was patient when she could. Yes, she can be erratic and still, a little off. She won Roland Garros twice. So, when she arrives in Paris, she may not win, but she will push, hard. There, her confidence will return. 

Anett Kontaveit B+
Out of almost nowhere, Kontaveit reached the semis, upsetting CoCo Vandeweghe, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Venus Williams, and Caro Wozniacki before losing to Svitolina. On clay, Kontaveit looks pretty darn good. So, at RG in Paris, she could be a real factor.

Jelena Ostapenko B
Believe it or not, the 2017 Roland Garros champion is getting better. She has had a tough year, but she did reach the final in Miami on hardcourts. In Rome last week, she did beat Jo Konta, and then, went down against Sharapova 7-5 in the third. Ostapenko was very close to that win. While the 20-year-old person can blast the ball from both wings, she has to be a little more comfortable with staying in longer rallies. She did win Paris last year, smoking the ball, so maybe she can do it again.

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Ostapenko vs. Stephens: Are they the future No. 1s?

March 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment


We have all watched Stephens over the past eight years, at the Slams, playing bad at times, and playing great. Last year, we watched Sloane during the summer, after she came back due to her foot surgery. She didn’t play for nine months. It took her a couple months or so to be more comfortable, and then, she knew she was ready to leap. 

She won the 2017 US Open, showing strength, super speed and lethal shots. During the rest of the year, she failed quickly, because her body was tired and she needed to take a long rest. 

She did not, and in the beginning of 2018, she was shaky. But once again, her legs are strong, she began to be a little more aggressive, and she rarely missed. So now, she is right there again, cool, calm and collected.

Even though Ostapenko is ranked No. 5, the elder Stephens is the favorite over the 20-year-old Ostapenko. Without question, the American has matured. Now, she can be funny and real. 

Ostapenko is very young, and she will grow, but even so, she is an excellent player already. She is just a huge hitter, with her forehand and backhand. She hits so many winners, which is terrific, but when she is off, she also has numerous errors. Over the past 10 days, though, she was on it, not only running fast, but being more consistent and a little more patient. She is learning. Last year, she won Roland Garros on pure power. The fans were pretty surprised that the Latvian was so confident and she loved to slide on the clay. Just like Stephens, Ostapenko skidded in the first couple months. But here in Florida, she was patient and thoughtful.

Both of them can crack their backhands and forehands, crosscourt and down the line. There serves are so-so, but they can jump on the second serves and whack-em. 

They are certainly showing that they are here now, and both of then want to reach No. 1 this year. When? Hard to say, but Ostapenko is already in the top 5 and Stephens is in inching to the top 10. So, in a few more months, if they maintain their composure, they could be right there.

Who will win? They have to go into the third sets. Ostapenko will swing away, but Stephens will bring it back, and back, and back. Sloane will pick up a Premier Mandatory trophy. 

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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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Venus out-hits Ostapenko, to face Konta in semis

July 12, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Wimbledon, Day 9 – Who would have thought that Venus Williams would keep her cool and dominate with her forehand? We all know that Venus has won five Grand Slams at Wimbledon, but she hasn’t won since 2008, which is a long time.

However, Venus never gives up, and I mean never, ever gives up, because in the past 20 years, even when she wasn’t playing well at all, she continues to try. It is so, so true. Others bail, but not Venus, who figures that once in a while, when her form returns, and she can crack it deep, touch the lines, crush a first serve, then she can beat anyone, which she did on Tuesday.

Williams defeated the Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in two sets. Ostapenko is super young, and she still needs to learn the nuances of grass. Eventually, she will win Wimbledon someday. But not yet.

Venus has to face Britain’s Jo Konta, who overcame Simona Halep in three fantastic sets. There is a good amount of pressure from Konta, but when she is playing, she doesn’t listen to the fans yelling when she is hitting the ball; she locks in and she focuses. That is why she has reached the semis, the first time for her in ages.

Can she beat Venus? Possibly, as she is much younger than the 36-year-old Williams, and we all know that the British fans will be jumping up and down for Konta. They will be celebrating Konta reaching Wimbledon’s second week — for the first time ever. The fans are learning who she is. Is Konta fast, super aggressive, happy, smart, erratic, super nervous, in trouble? We will find out on Thursday.

We have been watching Garbine Muguruza pretty closely over the past eight weeks. Yes, for a year, her brain was all over the place. But eventually, at Roland Garros, she rose, she didn’t get angry. Now, she is more patient and has begun to she believe in herself again. She bested two-time Grand Slam winners Angie Kerber and Svetlana Kuznetsova, and now, she is in the semis.

Muguruza is favored to reach the final, but you never know. Not with her. She can rip her forehand and backhand, but there are days when she doesn’t like her racket and could snap it. If the Spaniard is calm, she will win. She is that good.

She will play Magdalena Rybarikova, who upended the American Coco Vandeweghe in straight sets. Rybarikova has never reached the semis before, but the veteran plugged on. Against Vandeweghe, she hit it deep and she mixed it up all over the place. It took her eight years to reach the semis at the Slams, and finally, she understood that she needs to be patient, and also, swing away when the opportunity rises. She better do all these things, or Muguruza will crush her.

For the second time in two Slams, Halep had one match to win to ascend to No. 1. But, with the loss to Konta, following the slip in Roland Garros’ final to Ostepenko, Karolina Pliskova will be ranked No. 1 next week. She will be the 23rd top player in WTA history.

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Who really loves tennis? Wimbledon favorites on day 2

July 4, 2017 by Leave a Comment

FROM WIMBLEDON, Day 2:

THE MEN
The great Roger Federer will go against the up-and-down Alexandr Dolgopolov on Tuesday. Dolgopolov has an incredible variety, but he is rarely patient and he does not serve hard and move it around in the box. Still, maybe one time, Dolgopolov can play fantastic and on Centre Court he could be very happy and really go for it.
Federer knows everything he has to do, and in the first round, he will quiet the monster.

Kei Nishikori won over Marco Cecchinato and the Japanese says he can win it all at Wimbledon. On grass? Wow, he thinks that for two weeks, he will not get hurt — again? That would be very unusual. Let’s see.

There are times that Stan Wawrinka can play out of his mind, and there are others days he checks out. He was on fire at RG, but on Monday on grass, he lost against the young Russian Daniil Medvedev.

Good for Medvedev, but as Wawrinka has said, he cannot play well every week. Clearly, that happened on the first day.

Here is a stunner: Aljaz Bedene beat Ivo Karlovic 6-7(5) 7-6(6) 6-7(7) 7-6(7) 8-6. Karlovic can serve harder than anyone, but when they start rolling, he is too slow.     

Rafa Nadal smoked John Millman, and without a doubt, he is one of the favorites. He has won Wimby before and, as long as he stays healthy, he can knock out anyone.
                          
How about Marin Cilic who destroyed Philipp Kohlschreiber? Maybe he can reach the semis at a Slams.

Good wins by Kevin Anderson, Donald Young, Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson, and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who advanced when Nick Kyrgios retired. A surgery coming for Kyrgios? This year, he has not dealt with the doctors.

THE WOMEN
The Roland Garros champ Jelena Ostapenko won on Monday, and we would think that the big basher will continue to feel that she is better than anyone. That is possible. After all, she did shock the world in Paris.

Speaking of Petra Kvitova, she is also on fire, winning Eastbourne and on Monday, she won easily. However, she is a little bit hurt already and while she bangs the ball, if she goes very deep, she can panic. Over the past decade, she did.

Good wins by Vika Azarenka, Ana Konjuh, Johanna Konta, Dominika Cibulkova and the Americans: Madison Keys, Jennifer Brady and Madison Brengle.
 
How about Genie Bouchard, who in 2014, she reached the final and she was looking very, very good. But now, she cannot get going. She lost against Carla Suarez-Navarro in the third set without a wimper. At this point, you cannot say that she can get back into the top 5. She is so confused.
 
The same thing goes with Laura Robson, who lost against Beatriz Haddad. Is the Britain Robson really loves tennis? I am just not sure.

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The champion: Nadal wins Paris again, crushed Wawrinka

June 11, 2017 by Leave a Comment

ROLAND GARROS, DAY 15 – 

THE MEN
During the past three years, Rafa Nadal was struggling. His body was messed up, he lost a lot of confidence, and frequently, he pushed the ball around.

But, this year, he began to feel substantially better. He started to believe that when he had the opportunity, he could belt the ball.

And he did, crushing Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3 6-1 to win Roland Garros for the 10th time.

How good was he during the past 15 days in Paris? How about amazing, as he only lost 35 games in seven matches. 

“It’s the most important event in my career without a doubt so to win again here is something I cannot describe,” said Nadal.
 
This season, his backhand has improved tremendously. It used to be land in the middle of the court, but now it is substantially deeper, with more action. We all know that his forehand if so heavy, so strong and lands with so much depth.

But his backhand was, well, it was very decent over the past 13 years. However, it wasn’t hard enough and many times, it was too short. Just fading away.
 
In 2015, Nadal’s body was breaking down. He couldn’t run as fast as he used to on the clay. 

He lost in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and, at RG, going down against Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the quarters.

In 2016, at RG, Nadal retired in the third round. Obviously, he was pretty hurt. At the US Open, he was knocking out in the fourth round in five sets against Lucas Pouille. In the fall, he barely played. 

But this year, he was finally healthy. His doctors helped him a tremendous amount. It took a few months, but in April, he was ready to rock ’n’ roll.

He crushed everyone, including Wawrinka. After the first set, the Swiss had no idea what to do. He couldn’t out-hit Nadal’s forehand, backhand, his serve, his movement, basically everything. The three-time Grand Slame champ Wawrinka was desponded.

“When you play against him, he’s amazing fighter. On clay he’s just tough to play,” Wawrinka said. “There is always one ball coming back. There is always spin on the ball. There is always a different bounce that’s what the other player make on that surface. He creates a doubt that you cannot have if you want to beat him. And on clay especially, because the way he’s moving, it’s even more difficult.”

Nadal was extremely happy. He is now ranked No. 2 again, and in the next few months, he could snare the top spot. 

The great positive is that Nadal isn’t tired and he can actually go to England and seriously compete at Queens and Wimbledon.
 
But right now, he is only thinking about RG. He was thrilled.

“It’s about the work of every day. Yeah, happened 10 times here already,” Nadal said. “Have been magical all the things that happened in this tournament for me. So very happy. Today was a very important day for me. Have been some tough moments last times, injuries, so it’s great to have big success like this again. Happy because I have been working a lot to be where I am today.”

THE WOMEN
Very few people knew who was Jelena Ostapenko when she came into Roland Garros on the first day. But, at the end, the entire world saw she can crush the ball.

Latvian Ostapenko was never very nervous, and even when she was down in the second set, she had to keep pushing, harder and harder, and camping out inside the line. She was down 3-0 in the second, and she was very close, but she couldn’t keep the ball inside the courts. Within seconds, Ostapenko changed the dynamic, and Simona Halep couldn’t do a darn thing.

Ostapenko won the tournament 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, grabbing the title. Now she is ranked No. 12. It is possible the 20-year-old can sneak into the top 5 — or higher?

The key to her progression is she is so driven. 

“I was losing 6-4, 3-0, and then in my mind I was just, I’m just going to enjoy the match, andI will try to fight until the last point. And then I stayed aggressive and the match turned my way,” she said. 

Ostapenko is so incredible powerful that, while she can miss it here and there, she will continue to go for it, on her forehand, backhand, first serve, at the net — almost anything. Of course, she has been poor at times, but this year overall, she has become very consistent. It’s not all about crushing the ball, but winning.

Ostapenko had hit 54 winners on Saturday against Halep. Talk about aggression.

“I hit quite a lot of winners from that ad court down the line, so I was trying to put it in, of course,” she said.

Of course.

The sad thing is that the 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams is out for the rest of 2071 because she is pregnant. The five-time champ Maria Sharapova just pulled out at Wimbledon because she wrecked her back and she won’t be to play until late July, or longer.

The No. 1 Angie Kerber isn’t playing well at all this year, and the No. 3 Pliskova is inconsistent to tell. 

So maybe by the end of the year, Ostapenko can become No. 1. Who would have thunk that?

 

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