Vondrousova playing her best tennis since she got hurt against Keys at the USO last year.
Hope she can keep things together physically because she's a great talent and plays an interesting brand of tennis.
lt's easy to forget because her name has been around for a while, but she's the fourth youngest player in the top 20 (basically the same age as Rybakina but like ~10 days younger)
I think people generally underrate the level of tennis she played in 2023 because Wimbledon was her only title and it was totally unexpected.Â
If she had won any of the other slams, I suspect she would've gotten a lot more recognition because it wouldn't have been perceived to be as flukey.
Vondrousova with great showing of defensive tennis and it is good to see Marketa go deep in tournaments. More often with such results (and clay season suits her) and we will have even more exciting tournaments on WTA.
Sabalenka after AO win: 1st round Dubai, 3rd round IW, 2nd round Miami, 3rd round (QF) Stuttgart. Not that it is concerning, but she has to get deep somewhere soon to regain her confidence in her play - too many errors today and recently.
Hope for top-4 semis is dead, but hope for all Grand Slam winners semis is alive.
As a fan of hers it's so frustrating
She's one of 2 top players(from both tours) that feel like automatic double faults right now whenever they have to hit a second serve on break point
The other one is Med and I can't figure out which one is worse lol
actually it is fun. the level difference between her highs and lows are comical. one game she is blasting winners. next game everything goes out. I guess this is how she is going to be her entire career. her technique is really bad for a top player and I am not sure it can be fixed at this stage of her career.
Itâs absolutely true, thatâs a great observation. I just want to add that her game relies heavily on her serve, which was terrible in this match. Moreover, there is no one else on the tour who can spiral downward as quickly as Sabalenka does.
>her technique is really bad for a top player
is it? as far as i can tell she has the best overall serve-return-forehand-backhand package since Serena, and i don't think the biomechanics guy really BSed about anything. seems like this volatility is more about her play style and strategy than her technique
serena's technique is in a different galaxy compared to saba. it is absolutely about technique, she tries to bash the ball rather than hit it. her body is simply not in sync at all with her hand when she hits. just look at the serena's body rotation and saba's when they go for a cross court you will see what I am speaking about. or for current players look at Rybakin's technique which is far better than saba's despite both being power players.
> serena's technique is in a different galaxy compared to saba
what player that has started their career in the past 25 years would you say is between Sabalenka and Serena with respect to the package i was talking about? most dual-winged aggressive baseliners that i can think of didn't have serves that were at all comparable to Sabalenka, Osaka wasn't really close on return, and Rybakina's forehand and return are limiting in this comparison
> or for current players look at Rybakin's technique which is far better than saba's despite both being power players.
i don't know that i see this one. match charting stats and eye test suggest to me that Sabalenka's forehand is much better for rallying neutrally with depth and weight, changing direction and pressuring, and +1ing and shotmaking; their backhands are comparable (probably both a bit below Gauff and Swiatek); and Rybakina's a tier lower for returning serves in any direction while Sabalenka's a tier lower for serving (though she gets more 1st serves in and has a more dangerous 2nd serve in exchange for double faulting more)
so she has bad technique? because that is what you are describing. anyone can hit a ball in their zone, your technique comes into play mostly to deal with balls in difficult zones.
I donât know, maybe itâs just a matter of nomenclature, thereâs âtechnique,â thereâs âshot tolerance,â thereâs âtouch.â To me, Saba doesnât have a particularly good shot tolerance, or touch, or improvisation skills. Her basic shots are fundamentally sound, some are exceptional.
Cocoâs FH is an example of bad technique and sheâll likely never correct it.
I just don't get why Saba can never get the serve woes figured out for good with this being the second year in a row where they were seemingly solved at the AO only to come back
There were other factors of course but unless you're playing the world #500 there's no way you can double fault **5** times on break points and expect to still win
It was basically an automatic break whenever she was facing break point today
I think it is her character. she cannot accept being in a neutral or defensive position in a rally so she always tries to go for a powerful second serve instead of rolling it in.
I think her swing is really beautiful, but also pretty extreme in terms of biomechanics (full shoulder and hip rotation). With a motion like that, whenever something feels even slightly off physically, could be as minor as general muscular discomfort, you suddenly lose a degree of control, then with every consecutive double fault you lose more confidence, tense up a little bit and then itâs all downhill from there.
It looks a bit like Saba is currently back to her pre 2023 era, at least with the double faults count. Which is not surprising given what sheâs been through lately. I think she will bounce back in Madrid tho.
It puts Coco on a highway to the 2nd WTA place. If the draw in Madrid puts them on the opposite sides, she can overtake her even if Saba defends her title
Glad she pulled through. Sabs should have gotten a warning for narrowly missing the umpire. People have been getting away with too much over the past two weeks.
She was doing that for a long time. She rolled the AO field this year but she usually has erratic matches and grits it through even if sheâs throwing double-digit double faults, her US Open match against Keyâs being a good example. Not always though.
Great match for Marketa. This clash of styles is always interesting. Sabalenka with her brutal force based on strong game with winners and Marketa's defensive all-round game with good dropshots always causes troubles for girls playing like Aryna. Although I'm Czech and of course rooting for the Czech girls, I do enjoy a good fight on the court so this was the case. I think Aryna is still somewhat"not in the moment " on the court. Maybe the events with her ex, also with Badosa again injured makes her less focused. Otherwise she's very very dangerous player who you need to always count for the finals. Good luck to her as well, great job Marketa. She also deserved some good deep run after her timeout đ
I think the person you replied to is a Polish Iga fan
They tend to really dislike Saba lol
If you look at his comment history on this sub specifically he's very much the type to spam "ALL RUZZZZIANS ARE EVIL" and that type of thing
You're the one who said "[for all I care Sabalenka could disappear forever"](https://new.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/1astukl/rtennis_discussion_saturday_february_17_2024/kqv75bb/?context=3)
I don't think I'm making up "bias" when comments are here for everyone to see
Is your own comment somehow faked by the Russians too?
another year with no Porsche, that's rough
So rough. It's like she can't afford one, right?
Yeah but you know what's better than a Porsche? A free Porsche.
Its not free if she has to work her ass off to win itđââď¸
Ainât nothingâ in this world for free
You don't understand. It's not about getting a Porsche, it's about *getting* a Porsche.
Sad for her
Vondrousova playing her best tennis since she got hurt against Keys at the USO last year. Hope she can keep things together physically because she's a great talent and plays an interesting brand of tennis. lt's easy to forget because her name has been around for a while, but she's the fourth youngest player in the top 20 (basically the same age as Rybakina but like ~10 days younger)
A rare comment about Vondrousova's rank and skills without mentioning the Wimby win.
she was a finalist at the RG?
And an Olympic silver medallistÂ
that toyko olympics on tne women's side was utter trash though.
I think people generally underrate the level of tennis she played in 2023 because Wimbledon was her only title and it was totally unexpected. If she had won any of the other slams, I suspect she would've gotten a lot more recognition because it wouldn't have been perceived to be as flukey.
Vondrousova with great showing of defensive tennis and it is good to see Marketa go deep in tournaments. More often with such results (and clay season suits her) and we will have even more exciting tournaments on WTA. Sabalenka after AO win: 1st round Dubai, 3rd round IW, 2nd round Miami, 3rd round (QF) Stuttgart. Not that it is concerning, but she has to get deep somewhere soon to regain her confidence in her play - too many errors today and recently. Hope for top-4 semis is dead, but hope for all Grand Slam winners semis is alive.
She also had the loss of someone extremely close to her and who knows what was going on leading up to his death
Vondrousova lost her grandfather and immediately dropped out of a tournament then took a break from the tour. Sabalenka took a day off.
People handle grief differently.
Exactly. So her presence on the court means she's handling it and people should stop making excuses for her performance.
TFW you only have one friend who gifts you wins in every tournament
Good W for Marketa but, man, seeing Saba self-destruct will never be fun
As a fan of hers it's so frustrating She's one of 2 top players(from both tours) that feel like automatic double faults right now whenever they have to hit a second serve on break point The other one is Med and I can't figure out which one is worse lol
I donât think Zverev does it anymore but he used to do it so much
Queenwen felt that way against Emma yesterday. I donât watch her enough to know if thatâs or for the course or not
She played Marta
actually it is fun. the level difference between her highs and lows are comical. one game she is blasting winners. next game everything goes out. I guess this is how she is going to be her entire career. her technique is really bad for a top player and I am not sure it can be fixed at this stage of her career.
Itâs absolutely true, thatâs a great observation. I just want to add that her game relies heavily on her serve, which was terrible in this match. Moreover, there is no one else on the tour who can spiral downward as quickly as Sabalenka does.
Ons?
>her technique is really bad for a top player is it? as far as i can tell she has the best overall serve-return-forehand-backhand package since Serena, and i don't think the biomechanics guy really BSed about anything. seems like this volatility is more about her play style and strategy than her technique
serena's technique is in a different galaxy compared to saba. it is absolutely about technique, she tries to bash the ball rather than hit it. her body is simply not in sync at all with her hand when she hits. just look at the serena's body rotation and saba's when they go for a cross court you will see what I am speaking about. or for current players look at Rybakin's technique which is far better than saba's despite both being power players.
> serena's technique is in a different galaxy compared to saba what player that has started their career in the past 25 years would you say is between Sabalenka and Serena with respect to the package i was talking about? most dual-winged aggressive baseliners that i can think of didn't have serves that were at all comparable to Sabalenka, Osaka wasn't really close on return, and Rybakina's forehand and return are limiting in this comparison > or for current players look at Rybakin's technique which is far better than saba's despite both being power players. i don't know that i see this one. match charting stats and eye test suggest to me that Sabalenka's forehand is much better for rallying neutrally with depth and weight, changing direction and pressuring, and +1ing and shotmaking; their backhands are comparable (probably both a bit below Gauff and Swiatek); and Rybakina's a tier lower for returning serves in any direction while Sabalenka's a tier lower for serving (though she gets more 1st serves in and has a more dangerous 2nd serve in exchange for double faulting more)
Her technique isnât bad lol. Sheâs just tall, doesnât have amazing footwork, and struggles with balls outside of her strike zone.
so she has bad technique? because that is what you are describing. anyone can hit a ball in their zone, your technique comes into play mostly to deal with balls in difficult zones.
I donât know, maybe itâs just a matter of nomenclature, thereâs âtechnique,â thereâs âshot tolerance,â thereâs âtouch.â To me, Saba doesnât have a particularly good shot tolerance, or touch, or improvisation skills. Her basic shots are fundamentally sound, some are exceptional. Cocoâs FH is an example of bad technique and sheâll likely never correct it.
Honestly not surprised. She wouldâve lost to badosa aswell. Not looking too good at the moment imo. Serve really is her strong side.
Marketa is like my season shall start with clay and grass!
I just don't get why Saba can never get the serve woes figured out for good with this being the second year in a row where they were seemingly solved at the AO only to come back There were other factors of course but unless you're playing the world #500 there's no way you can double fault **5** times on break points and expect to still win It was basically an automatic break whenever she was facing break point today
I think it is her character. she cannot accept being in a neutral or defensive position in a rally so she always tries to go for a powerful second serve instead of rolling it in.
I think her swing is really beautiful, but also pretty extreme in terms of biomechanics (full shoulder and hip rotation). With a motion like that, whenever something feels even slightly off physically, could be as minor as general muscular discomfort, you suddenly lose a degree of control, then with every consecutive double fault you lose more confidence, tense up a little bit and then itâs all downhill from there.
It looks a bit like Saba is currently back to her pre 2023 era, at least with the double faults count. Which is not surprising given what sheâs been through lately. I think she will bounce back in Madrid tho.
I think itâll be a slightly slower burn. But French open I see her being back . She always lifts for the slams
It puts Coco on a highway to the 2nd WTA place. If the draw in Madrid puts them on the opposite sides, she can overtake her even if Saba defends her title
Which is incredible considering how Coco has been playing recently
Glad she pulled through. Sabs should have gotten a warning for narrowly missing the umpire. People have been getting away with too much over the past two weeks.
If Saba could be consistent / win matches even when she's not playing her best Tennis - I think she'd be a serious Number 1 threat.
She was doing that for a long time. She rolled the AO field this year but she usually has erratic matches and grits it through even if sheâs throwing double-digit double faults, her US Open match against Keyâs being a good example. Not always though.
LOL if if if does not exist. no. 4 lena is performing better than her and more consistent except for injuries.
I like it
Two tournaments in a row where she beats Badosa in an emotional end to the match and gets knocked out the next round.
Great match for Marketa. This clash of styles is always interesting. Sabalenka with her brutal force based on strong game with winners and Marketa's defensive all-round game with good dropshots always causes troubles for girls playing like Aryna. Although I'm Czech and of course rooting for the Czech girls, I do enjoy a good fight on the court so this was the case. I think Aryna is still somewhat"not in the moment " on the court. Maybe the events with her ex, also with Badosa again injured makes her less focused. Otherwise she's very very dangerous player who you need to always count for the finals. Good luck to her as well, great job Marketa. She also deserved some good deep run after her timeout đ
YEAHHHH!!!
Is clutch Saba finished?
Must be annoying playing against Vondrousova so much slices. But, well done! đĽł
Lol.
Good riddance.
[ŃдаНонО]
I think the person you replied to is a Polish Iga fan They tend to really dislike Saba lol If you look at his comment history on this sub specifically he's very much the type to spam "ALL RUZZZZIANS ARE EVIL" and that type of thing
No idea why youâre getting downvoted lol. As a Polish Iga fan (side note: also a Polish Saba fan) I can 100% confirm most Poles are like that:)
Any more completely unbiased remarks straight from Russia?
You're the one who said "[for all I care Sabalenka could disappear forever"](https://new.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/1astukl/rtennis_discussion_saturday_february_17_2024/kqv75bb/?context=3) I don't think I'm making up "bias" when comments are here for everyone to see Is your own comment somehow faked by the Russians too?
I said it and I stand by it. Not because sheâs Belarussian, but because she is loud, arrogant and politically involved.
So you wish that players you dislike would be wiped out of existence? Stay classy lol
Iâm not a teenage girl to âstay classyâ, thanks. If it helps get you at ease, I meant she could disappear from tennis, not die.