msf22b
Maestro
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Messages
- 6,316
- Reaction Score
- 17,278
The Woman's draw in the Aussie open has provided a slew of upsets with the top three players in the world being summarily dispatched.
More interesting to me is the subsequent failures of each of the upsette's
(my word) to subsequently advance (In simple English: they all got crushed in their next match).
This board knows all to well my reputation as a worrier. Is there a possible parallel here?
Obviously, a great deal has to do with coaching and preparation. A perfect time for a let-down (if one was going to ocurr) was the championship game following the monster Notre Dame win in the semi's of last season's NCAA.
But our team took the floor in the Louisville game hell-bent on annihilation and comfortably aced that task.
Still: the stories of this year's tourny down are worth considering:
Ana Ivanovic won the French in 2006 and has spent the last 5 years trying to find the form that that win suggested.
Yes, she is a little bit of a head case and almost too attractive for her own good; I'm sure, along the way there were some Anna Korinikova thoughts (not first-class, but unbelievably attractive, for those who forget or are too young). But this Ana is a first-class ball striker, got herself in the best shape of her life, finally found a home-grown coach with whom she could relate and destroyed Serena on a day when the world's #1 was not completely fit, but would still have beaten almost anyone except a player with Ana's huge attacking game and confidence (earlier, she had beaten Venus in a warm-up tourney).
Two days later and Ana had reverted to her more traditionall self: self-doubt, far less aggression and lots of short balls, young Jeannie Bouchard played solidly and boom, Ana was toast.
Last night, Jeannie heself was whipped by Li Na, but I think that outside of the very beginning of the match, in which the the young Canadian couldn't seem to get anything going, she competed strongly and just lost to a slightly more ready player. Not a precise parallel to the above, in my view.
But on the other side of the draw, exactly the same phenomenon was exhibited.
The world's #2, Victoria Azarenka, with a very powerful game was finessed into oblivion by the 25-year old Aggie Radwanska. I've never heard Cliff Drysdale scream during a call of a match as much at the brilliance and anticipation of Aggie at the net. Vika described herself as a bystander, watching extraordinary shot-making taking place across the net.
But a day later Aggie was Ana: short balls, no aggression, seemingly emotionally drained from the previous day's effort. the ability too compete effectively, sadly compromised.
Is there a message in all this that applies to woman's BB?
Perhaps, but not likely for this team, this coach, this program.
More interesting to me is the subsequent failures of each of the upsette's
(my word) to subsequently advance (In simple English: they all got crushed in their next match).
This board knows all to well my reputation as a worrier. Is there a possible parallel here?
Obviously, a great deal has to do with coaching and preparation. A perfect time for a let-down (if one was going to ocurr) was the championship game following the monster Notre Dame win in the semi's of last season's NCAA.
But our team took the floor in the Louisville game hell-bent on annihilation and comfortably aced that task.
Still: the stories of this year's tourny down are worth considering:
Ana Ivanovic won the French in 2006 and has spent the last 5 years trying to find the form that that win suggested.
Yes, she is a little bit of a head case and almost too attractive for her own good; I'm sure, along the way there were some Anna Korinikova thoughts (not first-class, but unbelievably attractive, for those who forget or are too young). But this Ana is a first-class ball striker, got herself in the best shape of her life, finally found a home-grown coach with whom she could relate and destroyed Serena on a day when the world's #1 was not completely fit, but would still have beaten almost anyone except a player with Ana's huge attacking game and confidence (earlier, she had beaten Venus in a warm-up tourney).
Two days later and Ana had reverted to her more traditionall self: self-doubt, far less aggression and lots of short balls, young Jeannie Bouchard played solidly and boom, Ana was toast.
Last night, Jeannie heself was whipped by Li Na, but I think that outside of the very beginning of the match, in which the the young Canadian couldn't seem to get anything going, she competed strongly and just lost to a slightly more ready player. Not a precise parallel to the above, in my view.
But on the other side of the draw, exactly the same phenomenon was exhibited.
The world's #2, Victoria Azarenka, with a very powerful game was finessed into oblivion by the 25-year old Aggie Radwanska. I've never heard Cliff Drysdale scream during a call of a match as much at the brilliance and anticipation of Aggie at the net. Vika described herself as a bystander, watching extraordinary shot-making taking place across the net.
But a day later Aggie was Ana: short balls, no aggression, seemingly emotionally drained from the previous day's effort. the ability too compete effectively, sadly compromised.
Is there a message in all this that applies to woman's BB?
Perhaps, but not likely for this team, this coach, this program.
