Johan Kriek on Maria's Serena conundrum.

[Correspondent Kiu]

I expect Maria to eventually beat Serena....

 

[shawnbm]

I liked the rawness of Kriek's article, as well as how he personalized it. He was a top player for many years and I liked watching him play. What he says about Nadal is true and what Chrissie did was to counter losing the edge against Martina. In 1985-1986, she beat Martina more than she had in years and when it counted. She was more athletic by those years.

It is a process and it is for this reason it is good to see players tinker--like Nadal has done. Federer is doing it now and that is a good sign. NOvak tinkered quite a bit with his service and diet/fitness and it helped him out these last two years no doubt. Murray has too. It has to be a process.

 

[djmm]

I expect Maria to eventually beat Serena....

Yeah, when donkeys fly :laydownlaughing

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

The one thing I can say in Maria's defense is she did seem to have had a few key opportunities this year, but she still failed. Miami 2013 and the French Open 2013 were two key notable tournaments where Maria had opportunities and blew it. I am not saying there won't be a day she beats Serena, but it always seems there is that moment where Serena wins a point or breaks her, and Maria gets so aggravated that it rattles the rest of her game.

 

[kskate2]

I expect Maria to eventually beat Serena....

Yeah, when donkeys fly :laydownlaughing

Be careful DJ. In Shrek a donkey did fly by way of a dragon.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

I expect Maria to eventually beat Serena....

Yeah, when donkeys fly :laydownlaughing

Be careful DJ. In Shrek a donkey did fly by way of a dragon.

I have been to many Pink Floyd concerts and there are always flying pigs!

 

[djmm]

I expect Maria to eventually beat Serena....

Yeah, when donkeys fly :laydownlaughing

Be careful DJ. In Shrek a donkey did fly by way of a dragon.

Their babies were cute. Maria and Grigor expecting any flying babies soon??

LMAO!!!!

 

[special700]

all these former players really want pova to beat Serena...for what,a coaching job or because they just dont want Serena winning a lot.
Serena has beaten a lot of these so called experts over and ova again...grown men have tried to outsmart Serena by giving their charges advice on court.The list of men that have lost to Serena is getting longer and longer...these are the high profile victims..Cahill,Hogstedt,Maria Jose Fernandes,Sanchez,Smuyk,Brad Gilbert and the next victim will be Jimbo...lol

Erm, the post was about "countering dominance" - that was the whole thrust of it. If he'd used a different example then I suspect you'd have seen that as a slight on Serena, because the Serena/Maria matchup is obviously the glaring example of near total dominance.

To give a very basic analogy, if you can't do arithmetic and fail a test on a "2+2" question where you've answered 5... you wouldn't keep answering 5 on subsequent tests. You'd try something else... it might not work, but it's more logical than trying the same thing over and over and failing.

Let's be realistic - where has Maria ever come out with a significantly different gameplan to tackling Serena?

She does not only dominate Maria, I do not know why they are only focusing on her because Serena dominates everyone of those women in the WTA.

 

[special700]

The one thing I can say in Maria's defense is she did seem to have had a few key opportunities this year, but she still failed. Miami 2013 and the French Open 2013 were two key notable tournaments where Maria had opportunities and blew it. I am not saying there won't be a day she beats Serena, but it always seems there is that moment where Serena wins a point or breaks her, and Maria gets so aggravated that it rattles the rest of her game.

Hell she got bagle in the 3rd set in Miami so what opportunities are you speaking of. If she had at least taken the 3rd set to a tie breaker then I could see your point, but she did not. And Serena beat her in two sets in the FO so what you are saying is moot.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I expect Maria to eventually beat Serena....

When Hingis and the AntiPusher gets stranded on a deserted island:heart:

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

The one thing I can say in Maria's defense is she did seem to have had a few key opportunities this year, but she still failed. Miami 2013 and the French Open 2013 were two key notable tournaments where Maria had opportunities and blew it. I am not saying there won't be a day she beats Serena, but it always seems there is that moment where Serena wins a point or breaks her, and Maria gets so aggravated that it rattles the rest of her game.

Hell she got bagle in the 3rd set in Miami so what opportunities are you speaking of. If she had at least taken the 3rd set to a tie breaker then I could see your point, but she did not. And Serena beat her in two sets in the FO so what you are saying is moot.

She had her opportunities in Miami she won the first set and was in a tight battle in the second set with opportunities in that second set in which she could have made it a straight sets victory. Also at the French Open, Maria was up 2-0, 40-0 on her serve in the first set again: opportunities. Obviously, she failed like I mentioned and the final scores indicated. However, aside from Madrid, I would say Maria hasn't been blown off the court by Serena like she was last year and years past.

 

[special700]

The one thing I can say in Maria's defense is she did seem to have had a few key opportunities this year, but she still failed. Miami 2013 and the French Open 2013 were two key notable tournaments where Maria had opportunities and blew it. I am not saying there won't be a day she beats Serena, but it always seems there is that moment where Serena wins a point or breaks her, and Maria gets so aggravated that it rattles the rest of her game.

Hell she got bagle in the 3rd set in Miami so what opportunities are you speaking of. If she had at least taken the 3rd set to a tie breaker then I could see your point, but she did not. And Serena beat her in two sets in the FO so what you are saying is moot.

She had her opportunities in Miami she won the first set and was in a tight battle in the second set with opportunities in that second set in which she could have made it a straight sets victory. Also at the French Open, Maria was up 2-0, 40-0 on her serve in the first set again: opportunities. Obviously, she failed like I mentioned and the final scores indicated. However, aside from Madrid, I would say Maria hasn't been blown off the court by Serena like she was last year and years past.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.....I rest my case. And she was bagled in the 3 set in Miami so your post is no really saying much.

 

[djmm]

Serena went on a ten game winning streak to win Miami. Maria got DUSTED, lol. That's what you call making someone "Eat Your Dust"!! Almost my azze

 

[djmm]

How many people does it take to screw in a lightbulb??

How many people does it take for Maria to finally master Serena?? The overhyped one has the whole world trying to crack the case Mathematicians, engineers, videographers, old American heros, tv commentators, bloggers, etc. Ridiculous!!

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Wow, I might have to rethink boards because this board has been taken over by rude people.

 

[tossip]

Wow, I might have to rethink boards because this board has been taken over by rude people.

:laydownlaughing all the new posters are super..:clap

 

[kskate2]

Oh boy. I must have entered some alternate universe where Tossip thinks other posters are super.

 

[RJD11]

Coaching Against Serena Williams? It’s Not Easy
By CRAIG O'SHANNESSY



What is it like to coach against the four-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams on Centre Court at the championships?

Well, it’s like experiencing a beautiful dream and a horrifying nightmare all at the same time.

That’s exactly what it was like Thursday for me as part of Melinda Czink’s coaching team, with Williams winning 6-1, 6-4 in a second-round match she controlled from the first shot to the last.

I have coached against Novak Djokovic on center court at the Australian Open and against Rafael Nadal on center court at the Toronto Master,s and never have I felt that a match was played more on the opponent’s terms than the player I was coaching.

Williams has the ability to take the racket out of your hands, forcing you to react and counter rather than dictate and control.

Her main weapon is power, and the preferred delivery method is her serve.

Williams won the toss and elected to serve, and the first two points produced aces. She then dropped a 119 m.p.h. bomb down the T that Czink missed long with a forehand return. That’s world class, even on the men’s tour. James Blake, David Nalbandian, David Ferrer and Radek Stepanek also recorded 119 m.p.h. as their fastest serves in the opening round.

Williams hit her third ace of the game at 40-0, and just like that the first game was over and a statement had been made without a word being spoken.

My role with Melinda Czink is specifically strategic, and I work with her coach, Mark Gellard, to form a game plan that maximizes Melinda’s strengths and uncovesr the right way to exploit the opponent’s weaknesses.

It’s all in the matchup, but Williams’s power is a lethal weapon that can counter the best laid plans. It’s hard to break serve when you are not allowed to hit the ball.

Williams hit 28 first serves in the match and won 27 of them. It was incredible how hard she was consistently hitting it, and how well she was hitting her spots.

It was the most dominant serving display I think I have ever seen – certainly on the women’s tour.

Czink’s tiny window of opportunity existed when Williams missed her first serve (16 times) and Czink got a look at the second serve.

But it proved to be only a slight downgrade in weaponry as Williams won 10 of 16 (63 percent) of her second-serve points as well. Czink was trying to step in and attack the second serve, which was definitely something we targeted before the match, but the depth, speed and kick of Serena’s second serve made it very difficult to make any headway in this area as well.

Czink had to make an adjustment in the match to actually step back a little to create more time and space for the return.

Williams would end the match with 10 aces, including one on a second serve at 5-1 in the first set that kicked sharply off the line in a cloud of chalk.

She served only one double fault and did not have to face a break point on serve in the match.

Melinda’s loss was not because she was playing poorly, or not sticking to the game plan – it was because her opponent was not letting her play.

Williams was trying to keep the points as short and powerful as possible while Melinda was trying to develop the point more to create openings to attack. Williams ultimately won this battle as there were only three points out of 96 that got to 10 shots or more.

On the other end of the spectrum, 71 points (73 percent) were decided within the first three shots of the rally. Points came and went in the blink of an eye.

Ultimately Czink could not get into enough points to make Williams uncomfortable and start to erode her confidence. The pressure from Williams serving so well made it easier for her to be more aggressive in her return games and play even bigger once they did develop a rally.

I also worked with Melinda Czink at Wimbledon last year, when she upset world No. 10 Samantha Stosur 6-3, 6-4 in the first round before losing to No. 20 Shuai Peng 6-2, 7-6 in the third round. My work behind the scenes crunching IBM match data and analyzing video creates a clear vision of how we want the match to unfold and areas of the court to attack.

On Thursday Serena Williams’s power took over Centre Court, and the game plan became tough to implement. Some days you just have to say too good. Thursday, on the greatest court in the world, was one of those days.

Walking through the players' lounge here, O'Shannessy, 46, goes unnoticed. He's another tanned, fit-looking coach with a low-riding ballcap and works with two players, Rajeev Ram and Alex Kuznetsov. (Ram went from No. 272 to No. 93; Kuznetsov has risen 100 spots in the last six weeks.) But players should be lining up to avail themselves to his wisdom.

"In other sports, video and analytics are so important," O'Shannessy said. "In tennis there's too much emphasis on how do I feel? Or, what were the conditions? Data is not part of the culture

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/news/20130529/french-open-serena-williams-maria-sharapova-analytics/#ixzz2btIoWWve

 

[RJD11]

How many people does it take to screw in a lightbulb??

How many people does it take for Maria to finally master Serena?? The overhyped one has the whole world trying to crack the case Mathematicians, engineers, videographers, old American heros, tv commentators, bloggers, etc. Ridiculous!!

Waiting for them to get the CIA, FBI, NSA, and even CSI and NCIS

And lets not forget Interpol and Mossad

 

[RJD11]

The one thing I can say in Maria's defense is she did seem to have had a few key opportunities this year, but she still failed. Miami 2013 and the French Open 2013 were two key notable tournaments where Maria had opportunities and blew it. I am not saying there won't be a day she beats Serena, but it always seems there is that moment where Serena wins a point or breaks her, and Maria gets so aggravated that it rattles the rest of her game.

Hell she got bagle in the 3rd set in Miami so what opportunities are you speaking of. If she had at least taken the 3rd set to a tie breaker then I could see your point, but she did not. And Serena beat her in two sets in the FO so what you are saying is moot.

She had her opportunities in Miami she won the first set and was in a tight battle in the second set with opportunities in that second set in which she could have made it a straight sets victory. Also at the French Open, Maria was up 2-0, 40-0 on her serve in the first set again: opportunities. Obviously, she failed like I mentioned and the final scores indicated. However, aside from Madrid, I would say Maria hasn't been blown off the court by Serena like she was last year and years past.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.....I rest my case. And she was bagled in the 3 set in Miami so your post is no really saying much.

This is always the dilemma for Sharapova: Go big and risk giving Serena

the free points, or play conservative and risk getting blown off the court.

OH Wait!! ........ That’s the dilemma for everyone.