AO Main Draw Ladies 2021

[Ace2Ace]

Serena at 39 is basically playing a clone of herself in Naomi at 23. They both play exactly the same.......one-dimensional baseline tennis with a serve (note the rally stats in the below link) with both continuing to be dreadful at the net.

Who needs net play when one can kill everyone from the back?
Net play is a bonus for Osaka. Doesn't need all that running. Going there once every blue moon is fine. Leave it to Muchova and Hsieh.

[rex]

She's always credited her opponents. I say cut her some slack, she's earned that. She was clearly overcome with raw emotions and could not quell them at that moment to give some credit, though she was right in her assessment of her lost chances. The 'farewell' suggestion put her over the top, as it would've anyone else in her shoes.

She had zero FH winners in the 1st set, zero. When has that ever happened?

Plus, Naomi said she hugged her afterwards and said complimentary things.

Serena has not always credited her opponents for she badly disrespected Safina that Venus had to clean up. As a veteran of this Tour with over 20 years of experience she should know by now how to handle herself in defeat, plus she wasn't very complimentary towards Sabalenka after their match.....'if she wanted to play power tennis bring it on'......'even games that I lost I was so close to winning, but I needed to play the big points better, for I knew I could for I hadn't "reached my peak". What peak? Serena's peak has come and gone. There are no +50 winners in her game anymore, plus Serena was not right in assessing her lost chances in the Naomi match for she created practically none of them. Naomi had 8 dfs in this match, which allowed Serena to have 0-30, 15-40 opportunities, coupled with bad returns for errors, that allowed Serena to sniff some of Naomi's service games, only to have Naomi recover with her serve and regain control of her service games to win game point. All Serena did was moan about her errors in her presser, which she incorrectly thinks cost her this match, as if she was in control of same. She never was....

Serena having low stats in matches that she loses post-pregnancy is understandable "given her age", which is why these ego-driven responses as if she's in her prime makes her look foolish, tho' her rabid fans continue to think she's the prime Serena, coupled with Evert's ridiculous commentary as if Serena is still in her prime and can "dictate" as if she is. She only had 12 winners in losing to Naomi here, 17 in getting walloped by Simona at Wimby. This is the reality once a player is past their peak. That's why the "peak" reference in the Sabalenka presser is "laughable". Her peak has come and gone, her dictating days clearly evident in the Vika semi in NY last year, now Naomi is showing one the decline.

If she is emotional about the farewell suggestion, I can understand that for the end is indeed near, tho' at the USO last year she did not give an indication that this year is her final year. If she and Venus have agreed to retire together with Venus wanting to play as long as Date, then she'll hang around, but she's not winning any Slams unless the draw falls apart or dictating players in her half of the draw lose.

Last point......Naomi "is forever" complimentary towards Serena and shows deference to her when asked. Her respect and admiration for Serena is unimpeachable. So, her gesture to her and compliments is not surprising.

[Ace2Ace]

She can get her peak back if she changes coach. She needs to stop dumping easy balls in the net. She is not bending her knees. She's just swinging. Coach Oracene can fix that
If she can't retool, the current game is not going to cut it.

[rex]

Who needs net play when one can kill everyone from the back?
Net play is a bonus for Osaka. Doesn't need all that running. Going there once every blue moon is fine. Leave it to Muchova and Hsieh.

Net play is not a bonus for Osaka. It is something she needs to work on and should have worked on by age 23, for when her ground game is off from the baseline there is no Plan B, no approach shots to finish at the net, no point construction like Venus or Bencic, who owns her. It's baseline tennis or bust. In the match with Garbine, she butchered 2 critical net approaches that darn near cost her the match. They were easy put aways that a player like Su-wei would have "calmly" tapped over the net for game point, instead Naomi tried to "smash" the easy put away, blew it, which led to a break in serve and giving the edge decisively to Garbine who only had to hold her serve for 2 games to win. Naomi was fortunate to win for Garbine was the better player in the match.

[Grossefavourite]

Serena has not always credited her opponents for she badly disrespected Safina that Venus had to clean up. As a veteran of this Tour with over 20 years of experience she should know by now how to handle herself in defeat, plus she wasn't very complimentary towards Sabalenka after their match.....'if she wanted to play power tennis bring it on'......'even games that I lost I was so close to winning, but I needed to play the big points better, for I knew I could for I hadn't "reached my peak". What peak? Serena's peak has come and gone. There are no +50 winners in her game anymore, plus Serena was not right in assessing her lost chances in the Naomi match for she created practically none of them. Naomi had 8 dfs in this match, which allowed Serena to have 0-30, 15-40 opportunities, coupled with bad returns for errors, that allowed Serena to sniff some of Naomi's service games, only to have Naomi recover with her serve and regain control of her service games to win game point. All Serena did was moan about her errors in her presser, which she incorrectly thinks cost her this match, as if she was in control of same. She never was....

Serena having low stats in matches that she loses post-pregnancy is understandable "given her age", which is why these ego-driven responses as if she's in her prime makes her look foolish, tho' her rabid fans continue to think she's the prime Serena, coupled with Evert's ridiculous commentary as if Serena is still in her prime and can "dictate" as if she is. She only had 12 winners in losing to Naomi here, 17 in getting walloped by Simona at Wimby. This is the reality once a player is past their peak. That's why the "peak" reference in the Sabalenka presser is "laughable". Her peak has come and gone, her dictating days clearly evident in the Vika semi in NY last year, now Naomi is showing one the decline.

If she is emotional about the farewell suggestion, I can understand that for the end is indeed near, tho' at the USO last year she did not give an indication that this year is her final year. If she and Venus have agreed to retire together with Venus wanting to play as long as Date, then she'll hang around, but she's not winning any Slams unless the draw falls apart or dictating players in her half of the draw lose.

Last point......Naomi "is forever" complimentary towards Serena and shows deference to her when asked. Her respect and admiration for Serena is unimpeachable. So, her gesture to her and compliments is not surprising.

Safina might not be the best example and I accept that 'always' might've been a smidge exaggerated. However, her own brother Marat said, even as No. 1, she's incapable of beating the WS unless they dropped their level. I recall her pinching a three setter on clay from Serena, so if Marat was correct, then Serena must've dropped her level and Safina was due no credit as a result. Why should Serena lie when her own brother is right there telling a different story?

I also do recall Venus trouncing her though she was No.1, and when a reporter tried to use that match as proof the WTA was in shambles, she did rise up to defend both the tour and Safina. I credit Safina for working hard to grind to the top, but I didn't see her as a top player. The reporter was right, the WTA was in shambles with way too many slamless No.1's.

[Grossefavourite]

Hsieh said the next time she plays Naomi, the result will be different. Had she not made those errors, she said the match might've turned out differently.

[Pyotr]

Talk about gross exaggerations.

IMHO, this is 100% mental for Serena. Also, this is the perfect position for her to be in.
She's becoming more doubted and written off. Thus, the focus for her mind can shift
from trying to tie Court's record to proving all the naysayers wrong. To this day, my
favorite Slam win for Serena was and is 2007 Australian Open.

Once her perspective is shifted, her game will follow.

Also, I think this is where once again she can learn from Venus. Venus plays for herself.
Venus has an autoimmune disease that people often dismiss or forget about that impedes
her game and yet she carries on. She has nothing to prove to anyone nor does she seem to care.
Do what you love and do it for you. If this pandemic has taught me anything it is to disregard things
and even people that do not matter. Life is too short to live in service of pleasing others.

[Ace2Ace]

net game and drop shots were never part of Serena's game. When she hits a drop shot, I scream nooooooooo How many "easy" volleys did Serena dump in the net? Too many to count. She is no Jelena Dokic or young Cathy McNally.
Would be nice to have but ... Naomi will do fine without it.
Muchova is more a complete player than her in that regard. But I doubt she'll be able to beat Osaka. lol lol
Boom boom on serve and return. Ova.

[Grossefavourite]

Talk about gross exaggerations.

IMHO, this is 100% mental for Serena. Also, this is the perfect position for her to be in.
She's becoming more doubted and written off. Thus, the focus for her mind can shift
from trying to tie Court's record to proving all the naysayers wrong. To this day, my
favorite Slam win for Serena was and is 2007 Australian Open.

Once her perspective is shifted, her game will follow.

Also, I think this is where once again she can learn from Venus. Venus plays for herself.
Venus has an autoimmune disease that people often dismiss or forget about that impedes
her game and yet she carries on. She has nothing to prove to anyone nor does she seem to care.
Do what you love and do it for you. If this pandemic has taught me anything it is to disregard things
and even people that do not matter. Life is too short to live in service of pleasing others.

I hate to see this, but Serena is suffering mentally in GS finals, clearly evident from the USO18 final. Nothing in her history explains losing 4 straight GS finals. She saw yesterday, as did most, as the final and the straight sets loss followed. Her biggest weapon is her mind, and that's failing her at the moment.

[Ace2Ace]

What? She saw the Semi-Final as the Final???
Then, her coach got a lot of work to do.