Tennis Prose




Jan/15

27

Why Maria Beat Bouchard Last Night

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It’s really clear and obvious why Maria Sharapova destroyed Eugenie Bouchard last night 63 62 in their quarterfinal grudge match. The difference between the two players was not shot-making, tactics, nerves, luck. The difference was DESIRE.

Maria wanted it more, far more, than Bouchard. You may ask, how would I know that Maria wanted to win last night more than Bouchard. Well, I know why because it was obvious and clear for our eyes and ears to see and hear.

Maria’s hunger and desire and burning intensity to win were at a higher level than Bouchard’s last night. Maria was screaming, grunting like a wild animal, as if her precious life was on the line. Every point was like match point for her. With all her sound effects and fist pumps and Come Ons, one could see Maria was at a much higher level of intensity and desperation.

Bouchard cannot match Maria’s intensity. She played the match like a regular, normal match. She can’t play that way against Maria and expect to win. Maria is a different animal. When the takes are high, Maria is a ferocious, vicious, bloodthirsty, relentless predator who will kill anything in her path without an iota of mercy. Bouchard is going to have to learn how to increase her emotional intensity and adrenaline to overcome such a formidable opponent like Maria. Bouchard will need to change, she will have to compromise her current character and become comfortable with grunting and screaming – in her own way – and showing Maria both physically and psychologically, that HER desire is greater than Maria’s…if it is humanly possible for Bouchard to reach this state, maybe it’s not.

Until Bouchard can learn this aspect of the game, she will not beat Maria and she will not win a major title. There is only one player with more desire and hunger to win than Maria, and that is Serena Williams.

I once asked the former Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis which tennis players he thought had the best qualities to be a boxing champion…his answer was simple and memorable…’Whoever wants it more.’

15 comments

  • Andrew Miller · January 27, 2015 at 11:18 am

    Sharpova sounds different when she is losing or challenged. My guess is an opponent needs to execute and cue into it. Henin has great at this, only had a lopsided head to head record against Venus.

    Sharapova also has a huge serve and bouchards isnt quite the serve of Henin etc. A player has to play their game but it has to be the best version of that game. When it comes to Bouchard we havent gotten there yet.

    As an interview sadly i will say this…Bouchard doesnt express anything interesting in her interviews. She sounds a lot like other players who talk about playing their game but doesnt delve real deep on any of this. Maybe that just confirms Scoop’s point – Bouchard is too p.r. and too official and doesnt let the beast out so to speak. This might be a major block to seeing any big trophy any time soon.

  • Hartt · January 27, 2015 at 11:47 am

    The players get so roundly criticized for saying anything out of the ordinary that it’s not surprising they retreat to a safe message. Some time ago, when asked what she would change about tennis, Genie replied that she thought fans should be allowed to make more noise during matches. You would think she advocated killing baby rabbits from the response to that statement.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2015 at 12:25 pm

    Maria is like a rabid animal out there, her level of intensity is way beyond Bouchard. All the sound effects are distracting and they help Maria reach her peak flow. Bouchard has to become a beast, she has to find and let out her inner beast. Otherwise she can’t beat Maria.

  • Andrew Miller · January 27, 2015 at 1:14 pm

    Hartt that is a good point. Tennis has its own social conventions – Agassi violated them and was only valued when he honored them (going from the hot lava days in the 90s to the all whites clothing in the 00s).

    I heard Pamn Shriver talk about how she doesn’t like Kyrgios’ antics (how he carries himself on court), which to me put Kyrgios in the 90s Agassi camp of a player that rebels ever so slightly against tennis’ norms. But Connors, Seles – even Nadal – all went against conventions and ended up in the Hall of Fame (or will be there, like Nadal).

    However, I think it’s a pretty dumb thing to say – the same as taking away a player’s unique way of handling the sport. Nadal has risen in part because he has turned tennis back into an arena sport – he may speak politely but on the court he turns the sport into a world of pain for his opponent. I’d say Kyrgios has some Connors juju out there in tapping into the fans, he’s like a blood brother of Monfils.

    Bouchard is pretty funny when she makes fun of Raonic’s hair – my guess would be they are friends as the top Canadians and both young and on top of the sport. It would be tempting, say, for someone like a Carling Bassett Seguso to come out and say (and she hasn’t) that Bouchard needs to buckle down etc etc – but the most obvious answer is: “just be yourself and train hard”. Obviously she has a personality that has been kept under wraps, which is unfortunate. Look at Na Li or Li Na – we are now lamenting she’s gone because she was so funny and added a lot to the game. Or Ana Ivanovic – she’s great for an interview because she looks at every question as a new experience (seemingly). Roddick made every press conference like an experience – kept the writers on their toes.

    I like Bouchard but I noticed that she is now VERY p.r., and somewhat about her image. Maybe that’s the game to get sponsors and deals (I’m sure she can get some huge ones). But for the real world out there it comes off as flat. I’d hope to some extent she bucks her handlers. At least for the sake of being less bland.

    Unless that’s really who Bouchard is. It could be – it could be that she’s been trained to be a champion and there’s no room for anything other than business – doing well on the court, reaping sponsor money and deals off it – and being ruthless in both arenas. There is a template for that – Chris Evert was all about that.

    Maybe Bouchard is like Evert here. Evert seemed only to let her personality out as an announcer.

  • Andrew Miller · January 27, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    Also, I think Bouchard can beat Sharapova without Sharapova’s shreaking antics. You get a bead on Sharapova’s serve and it becomes a lot harder for Sharapova to win. Tennis-Prose commenters have said for some time that Bouchard is no Seles – she shows signs of knowing how to go for the angles but they aren’t quite a part of her game. Her defensive game is VERY GOOD – she makes a lot of gets – but clearly her anticipation isn’t as good as it could be. Furthermore, I don’t think anyone is talking about Bouchard’s crazy angles off serves or anything like that.

    It’s not there yet. If all we can say is that Bouchard needs some luck to win a grand slam then it’s not saying much at all – because for the past few years players that come up from nowhere MUST beat the tournament favorites to win slams. Cilic had to, Wawrinka had to, Nadal had to topple Federer at Wimbledon then the Australian Open. Del Potro had to. To break through you have to actually beat the king or queen with an exclamation point.

    That hasn’t happened with Bouchard. And with Wozniaki finding her range and Azarenka back in the hunt, winning a slam has just become harder for Bouchard.

    I think it’s still a matter of “when” rather than “if” she will grab a slam (or two, or three!). Maybe she should enter some doubles, sharpen up the volley and get some new ideas about returns. She has an X on her back from her success last year – the top players have prepared for her and will gladly beat her without any improvement on Bouchard’s part. And Bouchard doesn’t seem to have added anything new, so expect this trend to continue until Bouchard gets ready to handle the big players like Sharapova and Kvitova. They are now beating her in less than 80 minutes every time out.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2015 at 2:54 pm

    Bouchard does not have to outscream Maria but she has to find some kind of way to express and exude that she wants to win more than Maria. She has not done that. Maria’s body language and her sound effects and expressions make it clear she wants it more than Bouchard and IMO it overwhelms Bouchard’s mind and her game. She has to find a way to change that dynamic. An example: I practiced hard last summer with my friend Harry Cicma a former Div. One player at Rutgers. We go back and forth, so close, every ball, every game is so hard fought. It comes down to intensity. One of the last times we played, I was winning and I thought to myself my intensity was greater, I wanted it more. Then all of a sudden he roared the loudest and elongated Come on I ever heard him do, like a different guy. And it shook my concentration a bit. Which affected my game. I thought Wow he really does want this, I didn’t expect that. He upped the emotional intensity ante, and that day I couldn’t anymore. Guess what? He won that day, he beat me when he was on the bad side with the sun and glare and win in his face and I had the good side. For whatever reason, I just didn’t want it as bad as he did that day. Maria has the big advantage in emotional intensity and desire over Bouchard. I believe it’s the fine line difference between the two who are very evenly matched, both have powerful baseline games.

  • Mertov · January 27, 2015 at 4:18 pm

    Scoop great read as usual, thanks. There is no doubt that Sharapova’s drive & intensity outclasses Bouchard, and probably 99% of other players..

    I would like to add the tactical side too, and not just for Bouchard but in general for WTA players. They come out under the impression that if they don’t take the “first strike” in rallies, they will get caught in a rally where Sharapova runs them around and eventually puts the ball away, reducing them to playing defense. Thus, striking first and never letting Sharapova get there becomes their way out (even TV experts were talking about that, the usual ex-players).

    Ok… I agree up to this point, yes, you must strike Sharapova first (unless your name is Serena, then you can handle that)..

    But where that tactic ends up not working lies in the idea that “striking first” equals in the minds of most WTA players “whacking the ball deep in the court, preferably to a corner”. The match yesterday against Bouchard was a prime example of her inability to distinguish the two. Throughout the match, Bouchard, once she knew that she needed to change something, began to get more and more aggressive, and hitting earlier, harder, and deeper.

    I’ll get to my point: yes, it’s fine, but you are playing into Sharapova’s hands who likes pace as long as she can set her feet around the baseline zone and strike back from within the boundaries of the singles’ lines. In other words, strike first, but push Sharapova OUTSIDE the courts’ singles-line boundaries. Sharapova is NOT that fast, and you take her outside on the run, and she will go for broke on the full run where her coordination is not as effective as when she is set, and it will be a very low percentage desperation winner shot attempt.

    What not to do on the other hand, is to simply hit the ball hard down-the-line or deep to the corner (but not requiring her to move more than the singles’ line extension) where she can get to it and still strike back.

    Bouchard did this only once yesterday: at the 3-6, 1-2, o-15 point..
    If you can find it (ESPN3 has the matches on replay and takes little time to find that moment), you will get a glimpse of what kind of “first strike” Bouchard should have used all match. Sharapova is pushed around to the backhand sharp corner where she has to hit an “on-the-run backhand from almost the doubles line (and still on the full run which carries her to the outside part of the court). She tries an all-out shot down-the-line backhand that misses in the alley.

    So, yes, the intensity is the main reason why Sharapova probably walked out to the court as the predetermined winner, but she also committed the same mistake that the large majority of other top WTA players commit thinking that they have to “strike first” (again the idea has merit, but needs to be executed differently than simply “hard and deep bang”)

    Best

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2015 at 7:41 pm

    Thanks Mertov, and welcome back, your comments were missed. Bouchard is so close, physically and tactically she is even with Maria, the difference is mental, Maria has more urgency and desperation and raw desire. Many of the points are even, rock em sock em exchanges that look equal but Maria’s hyper intensity seems, to me senses, to help her gain the advantage and win most of those baseline battles. I don’t even think Bouchard has to take the risk and try to pull Maria out wide to her BH, but if she can that would certainly help. I think Bouchard is capable of winning these baseline rallies, if she can intensify her desire and hunger to a higher level, into a different person almost, like a beast. Remember how Serena said that one year she was in Australia – when she was so intense like a wild animal – that she saw film and photos of herself and she didn’t even recognize herself. LOL. Bouchard is going to have to turn into a beast. She is not going to win unless she brings out her beast mode. Maybe Bouchard just can’t raise her intensity any higher. The great ones like Nadal, Hewitt, Serena, Maria can. Or maybe she can pull a Wawrinka like last year’s final and do it quietly, and just hit rockets in the right spots. It’s possible I guess. One thing is for sure Maria vs. Bouchard is a fascinating rivalry. Hopefully they will cross paths many more times to come in the following years.

  • Andrew Miller · January 27, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    I don’t quite see the mental thing as an issue for Bouchard – I think like usual it’s that her game is incomplete.

    Look at Murray. He doesn’t out-hit or out-intensify his opponents – he neutralizes their strengths, waits for his opening and then hits a shot they didn’t see coming – the perfect blend of boring and riveting (even they fall asleep). Yesterday (or this morning) he took Kyrgios out not by out-gunning him, but simply out-playing him. Just like Robredo did.

    Their tactics are the difference. Same with Berdych. Berdych could feel Nadal breathing down his neck and how did he respond? He responded by doing more of what he did the whole match, just playing through it as if Nadal wasn’t doing anything interesting. Who’s more intense than Nadal? No one. Point is, Berdych used his nervous energy in the same way he’d used it the whole match, to pour it back into his strategy.

    Granted, and let’s say this too, Murray and Berdych were plenty physical out there. They’ve put in the time on the track and the weight room. Murray is a huge guy, he looks like he can bench a ton.

    Back in the day Seles trained with a few olympians, I think JJ Kersey and her husband Bob, resulting in a seriously faster and better conditioned Seles who proceeded to knock everyone out. We haven’t yet seen this from Bouchard.

    For now Bouchard is 2nd tier in the race to win a slam.

  • Andrew Miller · January 27, 2015 at 8:43 pm

    In other words I agree with Mertov. Any player that falls into another player’s strategy is already down a set.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2015 at 9:43 pm

    Murray beats most of his opponents with his A game, but he can’t handle Nadal’s intensity. Murray is good enough to beat most, just like Bouchard is too. But to beat Maria Bouchard has to amp up her intensity to shake up Maria’s mind, or hit so perfectly that she can blow her off the court. Intensity is a funny thing. I played a tourney match was down 35 playing flat no emotion tennis. Then a couple of things happened that pissed me off and I quadrupled my intensity, into beast mode. Guess what? From 35 down I won the match 75 60. Never lost a game after raising my intensity because the opponent did two things to intentionally aggravate me. Maria plays Bouchard with almost hatred, to send a message. Bouchard plays Maria like it’s a normal match. It’s not working. She must raise her intensity. Maybe I can coach her how 🙂

  • Illuminatus · January 28, 2015 at 9:12 am

    cant wait to see serena steam-roll maria again in the final….after having dimi taken away from her bosom – she’s gotta have extra fire to crush maria again and again..

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 28, 2015 at 10:46 am

    I think Keys has a good chance to get past Serena, Davenport will have to give her the key words. Huge win to overcome Venus, the dreaded letdown could happen though. Maria should straight set Makarova. Djokovic vs. Stan rematch will be a popcorn match. Raonic still stuck, think he should serve and volley more, work on that.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 28, 2015 at 11:26 pm

    Maria’s desire was far far greater than Makarova tonight. Desire. It comes down to who wants/needs it more. Simple. Basic. But true.

  • Mertov · January 29, 2015 at 1:49 am

    Keys vs. Williams was the female version of Karlovic vs. Isner (well, almost..).
    I have never seen such big serving on display in women’s tennis, not to mention the thunderous hitting from the back of the court. I enjoyed it!

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