 |
|
 |
|
|
||||||
|
That’s what Nadia Petrova did after her heartbreaking three sets loss to Serena Williams in Australia. She had called Serena out before the match believing that Williams no longer had No. 1 stuff and was proved wrong. But three weeks later the Russian won Paris. She says that she's more at peace with herself now and finally has a group of people around her that she trusts. She has been through the wringer over the past few years with various coaches and trainers and so called supporters, and has called into question her own judgment when selecting aides and friends. That’s a one consequence of being successful – that some folks with questionable motives will try to glom on to you and abandon you when things aren’t going well. That’s been Petrova’s experience, when some so-called well-wishers turned out to be fly-by-nighters who sniped at her when she was in a funk. But once a player takes more control of her life and learns that losing is as much a part of the landscape as winning, it’s easier to become more clear on what one has to do to improve. Petrova certainly has done that over the past two years, winning all of her seven career titles. She’s seen plenty of other players not be able to contend with falling down – crying, getting angry and as a result, ruining their personal lives. Petrova is in a good personal space and is quite pleased with her coaches, Tatiana Matoukhnuke and Lars Wahlgren, whom she says keep her entertained off court, making sure that she gets out, visits new places, learns new things. That’s a big key to avoiding burnout when you are traveling most of the year.
But she still hopes that she’ll be No. 1 some day and win a Slam. With every passing month, it may get harder and she hears the words of folks who thinks she has underachieved. But she really is a late bloomer who received some less than standard coaching as a kid and her strokes are much more firm now. She’s ranked No. 7, but its going to take a heck of an effort for her to climb back into the top five because No. 6 Martina Hingis isn’t going anywhere soon, No. 5 Kim Clijsters will go deep at every tournament she plays even with a light schedule and No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova is looking a little more solid. But Petrova believes her chances at the Slams will come again. Maybe at Roland Garros, where she was one of the favorites going in last year before she got injured. Maybe at Wimbledon, if she can learn to put together her big serve and crisp volleys with a fluid transition game. Or maybe at the US Open, given that’s she's an excellent hard court player. ALWAYS ON THE MOVE Petrova is very much of a global wanderer, searching for truths in the dursty corners of courts from Moscow to Indian Wells. She moved so many times and she’ll move again. When she's not on tour, she’s living in Cyprus, but could be off to Monte Carlo soon. She looked good in hitting through Gisela Dulko on Saturday and even though Ana Ivanovic is looking very good, Petrova is the favorite in her quarter. She has Laura Granville next and then maybe Tatiana Golovin, who knocked her out of the US Open. But if she keeps mixing up her attack and doesn’t get distracted, a semifinal round showdown with Svetlana Kuznetsova or Nicole Vaidisova is a real possibility. More from Petrova: She says that the players will have “big discussion” about the WTA’s Roadmap in Miami and that there are already objections to the tour’s threat of suspensions if player’s miss “A” level tournaments. She’s no great fan of on court coaching (which will be used all year outside of the Slams), but used it once against Dulko and says she will call her coaches down when she feels “stressed.” Petrova also said that the tour, the players and coaches are having problems with working with the kinks in on court coaching because the coaches have to wear the same types of outfits as the players, down to the size of stripes of their shirts. On Friday, it appeared that Robert Lansdorp, who is coaching Vania King, was chased off the court for that very reason. How the rather large Lansdorp is supposed to fit into little Vania’s fashion schemes is beyond me. Finally, Indian Wells is experimenting with no-ad scoring and super-tiebreaks in the women’s doubles. Petrova hasn’t decided whether she likes the super-break yet, but does not like no- ad scoring, saying it changes the mentality of the game. Enough Petrova for you? Go to foxsports.com/tennis and read my pieces onf Rafael Nadal and Martina Hingis. Let’s switch to the humor bin before getting back to more serious on court matters. In Aussie Woman’s Day, here’s part of Bec Cartwright-Hewitt’s piece on baby Mia (paid for by your sponsor, Woman’s Day):” She's so much fun. She's old enough to play games and give you a cuddle, yet not at the age of throwing tantrums.” Guess she's not a chip off the old block (smile). I’m in the midst of finishing off a large Ivanovic piece, but here’s one thing to note for those of you who haven’t watched her play frequently: when she returns second serves, she stands with her feet at a 90 degree angle to the right so she can launch forehands. It’s a pretty risky strategy against star players who can actually come down hard on kick and slice serves wide to her backhand, but King could never tie Ivanovic’s feet up. The Serb said she stands that way to emphasize her greatest weapons and thinks her footwork is good enough to defend her backhand. Notable men’s winners from Saturday: Canas, Moya, Querrey, Nadal, Roddick, Ferrero and Gasquet. Notable losers were Henman, Spadea and Youzhny. Other Notable WTA winners: Bartoli, Stosur. Molik, Peng, Kuznetsova, Safina, Golovin and Vaidisova. Losers: Bremond, Medina and Poutchkova. © TennisReporters.net 2007 |
|
||||||||
Home | Commentary | The
Scoop | Newsletters | Q&A | Forum | Archives | Links | About
TR | Contact TR TennisReporters.net
encourages e-mail comments on our stories.
Any e-mail sent to feedback@tennisreporters.net
|
