US Open 2012

by **djarvik** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:47

She started the year 26-0 winning Australian open on the way and getting #1 spot. Then was a slight hiccup. I think she now came to terms with being top player and understands that in order to stay on top, she needs to broaden her arsenal a bit. Which I believe she is doing now.

by **djarvik** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:48

Here is her first match. Sorry could not find highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYUUgzbUuag

Look at her court position :shock:

she is right ON that baseline on a very fast court. Impressive.

by **djarvik** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:46

Gulbis and Haas is about to start.

by **Corbon** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:13

Just started. 1-1!

Gulbis has the ugliest forehand in the game.

by **Corbon** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:17

djarvik wrote:She started the year 26-0 winning Australian open on the way and getting #1 spot. Then was a slight hiccup. I think she now came to terms with being top player and understands that in order to stay on top, she needs to broaden her arsenal a bit. Which I believe she is doing now.

What she desperately needs is a bigger serve. For a 5'11 tall player and hard baseline hitter a 105-110 mph 1st serve around is abysmal and she doesn't have a high % either. Also she needs to get better against the other hard hitting top 5 players. She's got the lower ranks and higher pushers covered.

by **djarvik** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:30

Gulbis's forehand, very subjective. I find it a very good looking stoke. So are many others.

Azarenka - doesn't need a better serve then now in WTA. Simply no need with the current serves that are on WTA tour. Hard hitting players were never the problem for her either, although consistency doesn't hurt anyone, the two loses that should not be on her resume this year are against Cibulkova, not a very hard hitter. Other loses are "good loses" against quality of players...nothing wrong with that

by **Corbon** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:47

Well she got pretty hammered a couple of times by Serena and Sharapova. A good serve is always nice to get you out of trouble when your groundstrokes are off but then no one serves like Serena and Sharapova's serve is fairly heavy but inconsistent. If Vika wants to go for a Wilander serve, she still needs a higher %, like 80 or better on first serve.

Haas first set 6-3. I am watching an in form Boris Becker, great placement on serve, one handed backhand and solid volleying.

Watching Gulbis reminds me of a discussion I had on another board the other day, who's the hardest active hitter on the tour, with combined wings and serve speed? With Safin retired and Soderling still recovering I made a case for Delpo for two handed backhanders and Almagro for one handers.

by **djarvik** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:08

She got hammered by Sharapova and Serena because they are simply better then she is. The only way for her to win Sharapove is hope she has a bad serving day. Against Serena - hoping she has everything bad day. Improving her serve a bit won't help. These two woman don't lose a lot to Big servers, their return is too strong. You need to up your serve TREMENDOUSLY for it to make a difference in a match against these two.

Gulbis IS a good candidate for the hardest hitting on tour. Combined serve and forehand puts him there. BH is a bit slower. But the lack of wins, hell, balls going into court - kinda takes him out of the running for this. :lol:

by **Corbon** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:17

15 mph more can make quite a difference on serve but placement is of course key. And her placement on serve isn't good either.

About Gulbis, he is hitting his 2nd serves at a constant 120 mph but when he tries to do something out of his game like hitting a half volley drop shot that ultimately lands behind him or trying to hit a good return, the ball goes somewhere. It's like watching Shaq trying to score a 3 pointer.

by **Corbon** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:20

Haas 2-0 in set

Did Gulbis pay the clowns who were shouting "Here we go, Gulbis, here we go!"

by **djarvik** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:25

Corbon wrote:15 mph more can make quite a difference on serve but placement is of course key. And her placement on serve isn't good either.

You serious? Do you know what it takes for a formed Pro player to add 15MPH on average for his and especially "her" serve? :lol:

by **Corbon** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:28

For a 6'0 player with her ground strokes a 115-120 mph should be in vicinity. Right now she's serving around 105. But I know that she won't be changing hers.

*cough like Nadal at the 2010 USO cough*

by **djarvik** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:32

Corbon wrote:For a 6'0 player with her ground strokes a 115-120 mph should be in vicinity. Right now she's serving around 105. But I know that she won't be changing hers.

WHAT?!?!?!

"At the 2011 US OPEN James Blake recorded the fastest ever forehand at 125mph"

by **Corbon** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:34

SERVE!

Just going through the Wimbledon stats, her average first serve speed was around 95-100.

BTW that Blake shot was an all or nothing return. But then Murrays has closed a rally with a 124 mph forehand so I dunno.

by **Amazing Matheja** » Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:35

Corbon wrote:...who's the hardest active hitter on the tour, with combined wings and serve speed? With Safin retired and Soderling still recovering I made a case for Delpo for two handed backhanders and Almagro for one handers.

I feel Roger could be a good one, no ? At least with his Fh... Isn't he trying to shorten the rallies by hitting stronger sooner ?

US Open 2012

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