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Underrated volleys? Well, his volleys are one of the worst volleys a top player ever had. In my opinion worse than Chang or Lendl, comparable to Agassi. When I look at his legs scattered as goat at the net when surprised with hard baseline shot, I simply have a smile…
Borg had pretty bad volleys. I don’t know about multiple slams, but AA is much more of a better fit for Nole than BB. Except B.B helped Nole’s serve a lot.
I wonder how Agassi will behave in the player’s box. Will he be a stoic like Becker was in the beginning? Then Becker became more animated – perhaps by orders. Djokovic prefers animated support and has shown his best tennis inspired by it. Or will Agassi opt to sit there like the elder statesman, like Lendl and Connors? Agassi liked to look to his box and see intensity and fist pumps from BG and Gil and Steffi clapping. Fascinating to wonder how Agassi will perform in the box.
Djokovic’s volleys are nowhere near as bad as Lendl’s were. The reason he never won Wimbledon. I’m sure he wanted to but never really seemed to take it that seriously at the time. Funny he was coached by Tony Roche whose volleying was classic.
RG draw interesting – too big to go into here. But Angie out first match again I foresee.
If RG follows Australian then last year’s winners will not successfully defend.
I don’t think Lendl volleys were much worse. He had to serve and volley a lot more than Djokovic at Wimbledon. Djokovic mainly stays back at Wimbledon due to slowing down of the surface. When Lendl got to final in 1987 he had to serve and volley for 80% of his service games, when Djokovic serves and volleys for maximum 5% on grass I think.
You may be right about the surface. I didn’t keep up with W’don for a few years. It was pretty fast in the 70s and 80s.
Follow up – Kvitova is playing at RG. Hope all goes well for her. It’s a tough first tournament after such a severe injury. She looks in good form.
Assume Simona also playing.
From bits and pieces I’ve picked up the Agassi/Djokovic thing seems a bit tentative to me. Surely some kind of committment is required ? Not this – ‘I may be around but I may not’ talk.
As the family seem to be over here maybe Steffi might drop by and have a few words to say to Angelique before the next car crash.
Tiafoe with a brutal draw in his first match – Fognini. I think if there was one player seeded between 20 and 30 I would want to avoid it would be Fognini.
Sock also getting Nadal if he makes it to R16. That’s about as tough as it gets since we know how that matchup goes. I don’t think Vesely is a particularly good matchup for Jack in the first round either since he had trouble with him a couple weeks ago.
There are so many good first round matchups though. These stand out to me:
Lendl admitted later on in his career that he had taken W’don seriously too late. One year, 1983 I think, he didn’t play, claiming he was allergic to grass, and then spent his time on the golf course.
He never did that again.
When Djokovic comes to net on his terms and he has a relatively easy volley to hit or just a putaway, it looks ok, but when he plays against strong returner or does chip and charge, his volleys look pathetic or awkward. I have been watching tennis since 1989 and must admit that even not natural volley players like Thiem, Blake or Corretja played a lot smoothier and more natural volleys than Djokovic. Just take a look at last singles match of Blake vs Karlovic from US Open and his serve and volley looked a lot better at the age of 33 than Novak net attacks when he was at his prime.
All the pressure will be on Fog so this is a good draw actually for Tiafoe. Perfect situation for Tiafoe who will probably be taken lightly by Fognini. Upset is VERY possible. Kyrgios Q and Ferrer should win.
I like Djokovic’s volleys though they do look awkward sometimes – I don’t think I’ve ever seen Djokovic win a doubles match and I’ve seen a few – saw he and Andy lose first round in Miami a few years but that loss was Andy’s fault – Andy was in an AWFUL slump
If Kerber had had any chance of getting past her first match at RG tomorrow she’s been properly jinxed by Mr T at Tennis.com who also believes that Angie is ‘possibly injured’. Well, she’s either injured or she’s not and if she is she shouldn’t be playing. I haven’t heard about any injury since that pulled hamstring in Madrid.
Whatever, she’ll be gone and have plenty of time to cross the Channel and tune up on the grass.
Eastbourne for example is quite pleasant for rest and relaxation, being the ‘sun-trap of the south’. Top players no longer enter Eastbourne which is a shame, I remember some great matches there in the past, Evert/Navratilova etc. Of course it’s Konta’s home town but I doubt she’ll be there.
Birmingham, not otherwise notable, will of course be stuffed with press since it’s Maria’s re-entry in Britain 🙂
I enjoyed today’s match between Mischa Zverev and Stan that took place in Geneva. Mischa won the first set but Stan became more Stanimal as the match went on and started to dictate proceedings. Mischa fought to the last point. He has had a long tournament, having come through the qualies, so he may have been facing mental and/or physical fatigue by this match.
Anyway, we were treated to some serve and volley tennis with even Stan getting into the act.
Kerber is the first top seeded player to lose in the 1st round in the Open era. Although we know her top ranking wasn’t a reflection of her true form it is still a heartbreaking result.
Where does Angie go from here ? She really looks as though she doesn’t want to play any more.
But she’s too young to retire, she’s still got the talent. It just won’t emerge now, on any surface, against anyone.
She needs help to dig herself out of this.
A couple of things about falling into a slump like this, whatever field you’re in – you can learn a lot about yourself and you can also learn who your friends are.
BTW – Angie’s outfit was really nice. White with a green trimming. Not too much green. Such a change from adidas’ 2016 disaster.
Commentators seemed to agree Angie was flat, passive, right from the off and failed to take the fight to her opponent. Where’s her coach and what’s he doing ? Is he just hoping that the ship Angelique will eventually right herself ? Could be wrong.
Totally agree – it’s been clear since Australia – subject of much previous discussion here as well.
She needs her head sorted and maybe some new coaching input. New voices. You can see the anxiety and tension all over her. And in interviews she looks as though she’s been hit by a truck. Perhaps she’s stubborn ? Or overly loyal to a team which isn’t working.
I bet her agent’s phone is currently ringing off the hook with coaching offers.
In 2014 Agassi said that Nadal should be considered the GOAT, later when Rafa was riding the 'roller coaster' he though that Rafa maybe couldn't come back and now he says he was wrong and watching the last AO final he would have liked both players winning.
I suppose that he is now helping Novak to find out how he could defend his title and how to beat the best clay player man of the history? will he get it? sincerely I hope not
Agree on Kvitova. Incredible to see her back, she let out a few primal screams during the match, a few howls that sounded like some huge release, as if some burden was removed from her shoulders. She definitely had the crowd support. Also showed some fine touch out there.
Kerber’s loss is just more of same since the start of 2017. She’s reverted to pre champion Kerber. Makarova is also a motivated player who specializes in upsets. I don’t think Kerber is heading back to the top in terms of her playing. She’s number one by points but not in spirit or by results.
Yes – Puig’s win was the best she’s shown for a long time. Maybe she’s turning around ?
Angie’s press conferences indicate that either she has zero insight into herself and her problems and thus will continue as she is, or she does have some and sensibly isn’t saying. My guess is the first.
I’d say she’s worse than pre-champion Kerber and the revolving year is always there to remind her of what she once achieved and the ‘now’ must seem a bottomless pit. She’ll be out of the top 10 before long.
Novak doesn't need Agassi to tell him how to beat Nadal. He's done it many times and 7 straight before his recent loss. His problem is he hasn't been playing well. That's all.
Nope, just in 2011 when Nadal match by match had the WORST serve but I can't say that he played bad but I also have to say that Novak took that year all the players by surprise including Federer. 2013 the papers changed but later the problem was that Rafa didn't play well, I mean he played horrible due to his injuries and so lack of confidence, that's all
Catherine, it’s on Kerber and her team. They say no year is the same just as no tournament is the same, even from year to year. Kerber had an edge and, dare I say, some swagger last year. She wore the champion’s mettle well, no? As if it suited her. And it did.
But, all past tense. That Kerber nabbed two slams in a dream year, much as Mauresmo did some time back, is beyond words. That she fails to get another sniff at it this year isn’t such a surprise.
That she now competes very poorly IS a surprise. It’s as if she is Monica Puig right after the Olympics, where the drop off in form makes you wonder if they are two different players, Angie Kerber the undisputed I just won my second slam this year and deserved it champion, and Angie Kerber that other girl really isn’t me she just looks like me I am really not the best player in the world I’m not even sure what I ate for breakfast player.
A tale of two or three Angies.
But again to me, small potatoes as far as the sport goes. Pennetta “changed” the sport and Vinci changed it when they faced off for the 2015 us open title. Last year Kerber followed that up and with Muguruza on board they combined for most of the slams, with Serena Williams grabbing her Wimbledon trophy. This year, Konta, maybe Pliskova, maybe others are trying to get whatever they can as the tour unravels and Sharapova, maybe Kvitova, maybe Wozniaki, maybe Venus Williams try to keep things in the hands of the veterans.
It’s topsy turvy on the women’s tour and has been for the better part of the last two years. Kerber’s long term rough patch is part of it.
Yes – Kerber’s ups and downs are part of the games’ rich tapestry I suppose 🙂
Maybe I’m surprised Angie’s not thinking about making changes to her coaching team, enough players are keen on doing that,Djokovic and ‘super coaches’ etc but perhaps she feels the problem doesn’t lie there and could be she’s right.
After all Angie’s a rich woman and could presumably hire more or less whoever she wants if she thought it necessary and she clearly doesn’t, at least not so far.
Kerber and Andy are playing abysmal tennis for two no 1s. Never seen a no 1 player in the world struggle so mightily. Kerber should consider donating the no 1 ranking to no 2 and just try to get back on track that way 🙂
But he can't possibly get the blame if Novak doesn't repeat in Paris. I don't know how much he can be expected to do in a couple of weeks, with a few sage words of advice and motivation. However, should Nole pull it off, Andre will look like a miracle worker, and his coaching rate would go way up.
Scoop, Kerber outperformed Murray last year, even though Murray broke through for another slam with Lendl in his corner. I don’t think their fates has anything to do with one another. In Murray’s case he pulled off the impossible when Djokovic dropped his guard, which ended up being a longer term level drop from Djoker due to his messed up-ed ness and dare I say weakened character and certainly a more watered down resolve and commitment. We could say Querrey ruined Djokovic’s life, but it wouldn’t be true. DJOKOVIC authored that and Boris Becker confirmed that, the practice habits went out the window and Djoker went on a p.r. offensive. Djoker effectively became a joker.
With Kerber on the other hand, world class success followed by an epic sophomore slump. Despite having the same team around her, not being ready. I’d argue that she tried to game 2017 by believing it would be like 2016, and all of the sudden instead of winning one of the warm up tournaments in Australia, which last year was a hint of what was to come, loses earlier. All of the sudden 2017 followed a different path than her 2016. She was a marked woman with the burden of expectations on her and more human than she thought she was. She was Kerber, slam champ, versus Kerber, solid top ten player with a few new tricks up her sleeve and more where that came from.
Players like Nadal, Federer, Murray, even Djokovic, often say that all the winning doesn’t come easy and it also surprises them, but that they do what other players don’t to maximize their chances. Maybe it’s that they have all their flights taken care for them, or have very set routines when they arrive at a tournament. Or that they make minor adjustments like having a main coach and then a travel coach so that someone’s always on top of the subtle shifts taking place in a player’s game or psyche or able to scout out other players to make sure they can set up a good plan for the player.
That’s what the best players in the world have done to establish total dominance. It isn’t just that they’re better but that they increase their advantages consistently over time so that they find ways to maximize their chances and destroy their opponent’s chances. And for the most part this works. The big four up until now have faced real challenges but few consistent challengers until Wawrinka and now Zverev Alex, Kyrgios and maybe a few more guys.
I don’t believe Kerber has done this kind of scouting and I think it shows. She wasn’t ready for Coco or anyone else this year. That shows some very flawed scouting – she should have been prepared and preparing to defend her title. Instead she headed into the tournament with negative momentum and memories, not great prep.
Again I’m not much into seeing Kerber as a game changer on the women’s tour, I hand that designation to Pennetta who pulled off the impossible, with a little help from her buddy Vinci. I think Kerber, Muguruza saw that and Kerber rode that belief and confidence and preparation to Hall of Fame heights – she’s a shoe in! She also breathed life into German tennis, which was on life support before Kerber’s year of unrepeatable glory. All of that is huge. That she struggles now, eh – it’s not surprising. It’s unfortunate, but Kerber, like Pennetta, inspired everyone around her with the belief that they could also compete for a slam. That’s no small thing.
Especially with Wozniaki, Sharapova, and Kvitova all looking to clamp down, and Venus Williams too, it’s no small thing that in all likelihood we’ll have another new face with a title in hand. And that’s because they saw Pennetta and then Kerber do it, which moved Muguruza to new heights. We’ll see more of this in this new level of parity on the women’s tour where everyone is as good as everyone else.
Very lackadasical performance from Tomic against a red-hot Thiem, and Tomic, in the press conference, even admitted that he didn’t want to hit 30-ball rallies.
Bernie has a clever tactical game, but he seemed to think that he would surprise the Tour with that game, and when it didn’t exactly materialize (works on guys out of the Top 50, but over that is another matter entirely), he seems to have voluntarily reduced himself from tennis contender to mere tennis salaryman. That attitude, more than anything else, is very disappointing to see. For all his faults, Kyrgios hasn’t sunk that low in the confidence dept. yet.
This match was, essentially, a “soft tank” from Tomic.
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1 2 3 Next »Dan markowitz · May 25, 2017 at 10:04 pm
Becker to Agassi? Big upgrade.
Scoop Malinowski · May 25, 2017 at 10:47 pm
So Dan are you forcasting multiple more majors for Djokovic?
Krzysztof Szafranski · May 26, 2017 at 2:58 am
Underrated volleys? Well, his volleys are one of the worst volleys a top player ever had. In my opinion worse than Chang or Lendl, comparable to Agassi. When I look at his legs scattered as goat at the net when surprised with hard baseline shot, I simply have a smile…
Dan markowitz · May 26, 2017 at 5:26 am
Borg had pretty bad volleys. I don’t know about multiple slams, but AA is much more of a better fit for Nole than BB. Except B.B helped Nole’s serve a lot.
Scoop Malinowski · May 26, 2017 at 7:36 am
The Djokovic volleys may lack elegance but they are effective. They can get better too.
Scoop Malinowski · May 26, 2017 at 7:41 am
I wonder how Agassi will behave in the player’s box. Will he be a stoic like Becker was in the beginning? Then Becker became more animated – perhaps by orders. Djokovic prefers animated support and has shown his best tennis inspired by it. Or will Agassi opt to sit there like the elder statesman, like Lendl and Connors? Agassi liked to look to his box and see intensity and fist pumps from BG and Gil and Steffi clapping. Fascinating to wonder how Agassi will perform in the box.
Catherine · May 26, 2017 at 7:48 am
Djokovic’s volleys are nowhere near as bad as Lendl’s were. The reason he never won Wimbledon. I’m sure he wanted to but never really seemed to take it that seriously at the time. Funny he was coached by Tony Roche whose volleying was classic.
RG draw interesting – too big to go into here. But Angie out first match again I foresee.
If RG follows Australian then last year’s winners will not successfully defend.
catherine bell · May 26, 2017 at 8:05 am
Lendl’s volleys were much worse than Djokovic’s – reason he never won W’don. And he was coached by Tony Roche whose volleying was classic.
catherine bell · May 26, 2017 at 8:25 am
Scoop/Dan
I’ve posted here twice because of problems with my computer and changes in your site.
Can you please fix it so I can post under my first name as above and I’ve also changed my email address as I think I’ve let you know earlier.
Thanks.
catherine · May 26, 2017 at 8:32 am
Interesting to see Forget backing down a bit on MS. My guess is he would have given her a WC if the decision had been his alone.
Krzysztof · May 26, 2017 at 8:38 am
I don’t think Lendl volleys were much worse. He had to serve and volley a lot more than Djokovic at Wimbledon. Djokovic mainly stays back at Wimbledon due to slowing down of the surface. When Lendl got to final in 1987 he had to serve and volley for 80% of his service games, when Djokovic serves and volleys for maximum 5% on grass I think.
catherine · May 26, 2017 at 10:12 am
You may be right about the surface. I didn’t keep up with W’don for a few years. It was pretty fast in the 70s and 80s.
Follow up – Kvitova is playing at RG. Hope all goes well for her. It’s a tough first tournament after such a severe injury. She looks in good form.
Assume Simona also playing.
catherine · May 26, 2017 at 10:48 am
From bits and pieces I’ve picked up the Agassi/Djokovic thing seems a bit tentative to me. Surely some kind of committment is required ? Not this – ‘I may be around but I may not’ talk.
As the family seem to be over here maybe Steffi might drop by and have a few words to say to Angelique before the next car crash.
Chazz · May 26, 2017 at 11:55 am
Tiafoe with a brutal draw in his first match – Fognini. I think if there was one player seeded between 20 and 30 I would want to avoid it would be Fognini.
Sock also getting Nadal if he makes it to R16. That’s about as tough as it gets since we know how that matchup goes. I don’t think Vesely is a particularly good matchup for Jack in the first round either since he had trouble with him a couple weeks ago.
There are so many good first round matchups though. These stand out to me:
A.Zverev-Verdasco
Kyrgios-Kohlschreiber
QBall-Chung
D.Young-Ferrer
Dan Markowitz · May 26, 2017 at 1:16 pm
Lendl took winning Wimby very seriously. He just couldn’t make it happen. Losing to Cash that one year was probably his best chance.
Sock probably won’t make RG 4th rd. The guy’s been playing miserable of late. I’d put my money on Izzie and Qball having better RG’s.
catherine · May 26, 2017 at 1:27 pm
Lendl admitted later on in his career that he had taken W’don seriously too late. One year, 1983 I think, he didn’t play, claiming he was allergic to grass, and then spent his time on the golf course.
He never did that again.
Krzysztof · May 26, 2017 at 4:26 pm
When Djokovic comes to net on his terms and he has a relatively easy volley to hit or just a putaway, it looks ok, but when he plays against strong returner or does chip and charge, his volleys look pathetic or awkward. I have been watching tennis since 1989 and must admit that even not natural volley players like Thiem, Blake or Corretja played a lot smoothier and more natural volleys than Djokovic. Just take a look at last singles match of Blake vs Karlovic from US Open and his serve and volley looked a lot better at the age of 33 than Novak net attacks when he was at his prime.
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Scoop Malinowski · May 26, 2017 at 8:22 pm
All the pressure will be on Fog so this is a good draw actually for Tiafoe. Perfect situation for Tiafoe who will probably be taken lightly by Fognini. Upset is VERY possible. Kyrgios Q and Ferrer should win.
Scoop Malinowski · May 26, 2017 at 8:28 pm
I like Djokovic’s volleys though they do look awkward sometimes – I don’t think I’ve ever seen Djokovic win a doubles match and I’ve seen a few – saw he and Andy lose first round in Miami a few years but that loss was Andy’s fault – Andy was in an AWFUL slump
catherine · May 27, 2017 at 2:15 am
Fognini will be distracted by new fatherhood and Tiafoe will win.
catherine · May 27, 2017 at 12:49 pm
If Kerber had had any chance of getting past her first match at RG tomorrow she’s been properly jinxed by Mr T at Tennis.com who also believes that Angie is ‘possibly injured’. Well, she’s either injured or she’s not and if she is she shouldn’t be playing. I haven’t heard about any injury since that pulled hamstring in Madrid.
Whatever, she’ll be gone and have plenty of time to cross the Channel and tune up on the grass.
Eastbourne for example is quite pleasant for rest and relaxation, being the ‘sun-trap of the south’. Top players no longer enter Eastbourne which is a shame, I remember some great matches there in the past, Evert/Navratilova etc. Of course it’s Konta’s home town but I doubt she’ll be there.
Birmingham, not otherwise notable, will of course be stuffed with press since it’s Maria’s re-entry in Britain 🙂
Doogie · May 27, 2017 at 2:03 pm
Noone wants to play the French Open fantasy game on their offical site???
catherine · May 27, 2017 at 2:15 pm
Doogie – maybe everyone’s too busy playing tennis 🙂
Hartt · May 27, 2017 at 5:07 pm
I enjoyed today’s match between Mischa Zverev and Stan that took place in Geneva. Mischa won the first set but Stan became more Stanimal as the match went on and started to dictate proceedings. Mischa fought to the last point. He has had a long tournament, having come through the qualies, so he may have been facing mental and/or physical fatigue by this match.
Anyway, we were treated to some serve and volley tennis with even Stan getting into the act.
Scoop Malinowski · May 27, 2017 at 6:56 pm
Doogie; I never do well in those – one or two big upsets early always kill the ride 🙂
catherine · May 28, 2017 at 7:33 am
Great to see Petra through her first match 🙂
catherine · May 28, 2017 at 8:22 am
And Angie’s nightmare continues: 2-6 2-6
catherine · May 28, 2017 at 8:41 am
Kerber is the first top seeded player to lose in the 1st round in the Open era. Although we know her top ranking wasn’t a reflection of her true form it is still a heartbreaking result.
Where does Angie go from here ? She really looks as though she doesn’t want to play any more.
But she’s too young to retire, she’s still got the talent. It just won’t emerge now, on any surface, against anyone.
She needs help to dig herself out of this.
catherine · May 28, 2017 at 9:06 am
A couple of things about falling into a slump like this, whatever field you’re in – you can learn a lot about yourself and you can also learn who your friends are.
BTW – Angie’s outfit was really nice. White with a green trimming. Not too much green. Such a change from adidas’ 2016 disaster.
Commentators seemed to agree Angie was flat, passive, right from the off and failed to take the fight to her opponent. Where’s her coach and what’s he doing ? Is he just hoping that the ship Angelique will eventually right herself ? Could be wrong.
Chazz · May 28, 2017 at 9:21 am
Kerber needs a sports psychologist. She isn’t even competitive at this point. This is way more drastic than the slump Murray is in.
catherine · May 28, 2017 at 10:26 am
Totally agree – it’s been clear since Australia – subject of much previous discussion here as well.
She needs her head sorted and maybe some new coaching input. New voices. You can see the anxiety and tension all over her. And in interviews she looks as though she’s been hit by a truck. Perhaps she’s stubborn ? Or overly loyal to a team which isn’t working.
I bet her agent’s phone is currently ringing off the hook with coaching offers.
Carol · May 28, 2017 at 10:44 am
In 2014 Agassi said that Nadal should be considered the GOAT, later when Rafa was riding the 'roller coaster' he though that Rafa maybe couldn't come back and now he says he was wrong and watching the last AO final he would have liked both players winning.
I suppose that he is now helping Novak to find out how he could defend his title and how to beat the best clay player man of the history? will he get it? sincerely I hope not
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news…er-than-roger-federer/?utm_term=.24ed34e135d6
Andrew Miller · May 28, 2017 at 11:10 am
Agree on Kvitova. Incredible to see her back, she let out a few primal screams during the match, a few howls that sounded like some huge release, as if some burden was removed from her shoulders. She definitely had the crowd support. Also showed some fine touch out there.
Kerber’s loss is just more of same since the start of 2017. She’s reverted to pre champion Kerber. Makarova is also a motivated player who specializes in upsets. I don’t think Kerber is heading back to the top in terms of her playing. She’s number one by points but not in spirit or by results.
Puig’s win versus Vinci is a quality win.
catherine · May 28, 2017 at 11:47 am
Yes – Puig’s win was the best she’s shown for a long time. Maybe she’s turning around ?
Angie’s press conferences indicate that either she has zero insight into herself and her problems and thus will continue as she is, or she does have some and sensibly isn’t saying. My guess is the first.
I’d say she’s worse than pre-champion Kerber and the revolving year is always there to remind her of what she once achieved and the ‘now’ must seem a bottomless pit. She’ll be out of the top 10 before long.
catherine · May 28, 2017 at 11:56 am
Quote from Kerber post match: ‘I really don’t know what I will do now.’
Help please – where’s her coach ?
Front242 · May 28, 2017 at 12:05 pm
Novak doesn't need Agassi to tell him how to beat Nadal. He's done it many times and 7 straight before his recent loss. His problem is he hasn't been playing well. That's all.
Carol · May 28, 2017 at 12:33 pm
Nope, just in 2011 when Nadal match by match had the WORST serve but I can't say that he played bad but I also have to say that Novak took that year all the players by surprise including Federer. 2013 the papers changed but later the problem was that Rafa didn't play well, I mean he played horrible due to his injuries and so lack of confidence, that's all
DarthFed · May 28, 2017 at 12:37 pm
Much like other commentators/experts I think his tune has changed or if not it likely will in a year or two.
Carol · May 28, 2017 at 12:44 pm
We'll see
DarthFed · May 28, 2017 at 1:16 pm
^ Yes, we shall 🙂 The points he makes in the article have some major revisionist history anyways.
Andrew Miller · May 28, 2017 at 3:37 pm
Catherine, it’s on Kerber and her team. They say no year is the same just as no tournament is the same, even from year to year. Kerber had an edge and, dare I say, some swagger last year. She wore the champion’s mettle well, no? As if it suited her. And it did.
But, all past tense. That Kerber nabbed two slams in a dream year, much as Mauresmo did some time back, is beyond words. That she fails to get another sniff at it this year isn’t such a surprise.
That she now competes very poorly IS a surprise. It’s as if she is Monica Puig right after the Olympics, where the drop off in form makes you wonder if they are two different players, Angie Kerber the undisputed I just won my second slam this year and deserved it champion, and Angie Kerber that other girl really isn’t me she just looks like me I am really not the best player in the world I’m not even sure what I ate for breakfast player.
A tale of two or three Angies.
But again to me, small potatoes as far as the sport goes. Pennetta “changed” the sport and Vinci changed it when they faced off for the 2015 us open title. Last year Kerber followed that up and with Muguruza on board they combined for most of the slams, with Serena Williams grabbing her Wimbledon trophy. This year, Konta, maybe Pliskova, maybe others are trying to get whatever they can as the tour unravels and Sharapova, maybe Kvitova, maybe Wozniaki, maybe Venus Williams try to keep things in the hands of the veterans.
It’s topsy turvy on the women’s tour and has been for the better part of the last two years. Kerber’s long term rough patch is part of it.
catherine · May 28, 2017 at 4:01 pm
Yes – Kerber’s ups and downs are part of the games’ rich tapestry I suppose 🙂
Maybe I’m surprised Angie’s not thinking about making changes to her coaching team, enough players are keen on doing that,Djokovic and ‘super coaches’ etc but perhaps she feels the problem doesn’t lie there and could be she’s right.
After all Angie’s a rich woman and could presumably hire more or less whoever she wants if she thought it necessary and she clearly doesn’t, at least not so far.
Scoop Malinowski · May 28, 2017 at 4:52 pm
It's a tough job for Andre because anything less than defending the title is a failure. Andre putting himself on the firing line from the get go.
Scoop Malinowski · May 28, 2017 at 4:54 pm
Kerber and Andy are playing abysmal tennis for two no 1s. Never seen a no 1 player in the world struggle so mightily. Kerber should consider donating the no 1 ranking to no 2 and just try to get back on track that way 🙂
Moxie · May 28, 2017 at 6:42 pm
But he can't possibly get the blame if Novak doesn't repeat in Paris. I don't know how much he can be expected to do in a couple of weeks, with a few sage words of advice and motivation. However, should Nole pull it off, Andre will look like a miracle worker, and his coaching rate would go way up.
Carol · May 28, 2017 at 7:09 pm
According to Agassi he will be with Novak just for one or two matches…….odd
Andrew Miller · May 28, 2017 at 7:15 pm
Scoop, Kerber outperformed Murray last year, even though Murray broke through for another slam with Lendl in his corner. I don’t think their fates has anything to do with one another. In Murray’s case he pulled off the impossible when Djokovic dropped his guard, which ended up being a longer term level drop from Djoker due to his messed up-ed ness and dare I say weakened character and certainly a more watered down resolve and commitment. We could say Querrey ruined Djokovic’s life, but it wouldn’t be true. DJOKOVIC authored that and Boris Becker confirmed that, the practice habits went out the window and Djoker went on a p.r. offensive. Djoker effectively became a joker.
With Kerber on the other hand, world class success followed by an epic sophomore slump. Despite having the same team around her, not being ready. I’d argue that she tried to game 2017 by believing it would be like 2016, and all of the sudden instead of winning one of the warm up tournaments in Australia, which last year was a hint of what was to come, loses earlier. All of the sudden 2017 followed a different path than her 2016. She was a marked woman with the burden of expectations on her and more human than she thought she was. She was Kerber, slam champ, versus Kerber, solid top ten player with a few new tricks up her sleeve and more where that came from.
Players like Nadal, Federer, Murray, even Djokovic, often say that all the winning doesn’t come easy and it also surprises them, but that they do what other players don’t to maximize their chances. Maybe it’s that they have all their flights taken care for them, or have very set routines when they arrive at a tournament. Or that they make minor adjustments like having a main coach and then a travel coach so that someone’s always on top of the subtle shifts taking place in a player’s game or psyche or able to scout out other players to make sure they can set up a good plan for the player.
That’s what the best players in the world have done to establish total dominance. It isn’t just that they’re better but that they increase their advantages consistently over time so that they find ways to maximize their chances and destroy their opponent’s chances. And for the most part this works. The big four up until now have faced real challenges but few consistent challengers until Wawrinka and now Zverev Alex, Kyrgios and maybe a few more guys.
I don’t believe Kerber has done this kind of scouting and I think it shows. She wasn’t ready for Coco or anyone else this year. That shows some very flawed scouting – she should have been prepared and preparing to defend her title. Instead she headed into the tournament with negative momentum and memories, not great prep.
Again I’m not much into seeing Kerber as a game changer on the women’s tour, I hand that designation to Pennetta who pulled off the impossible, with a little help from her buddy Vinci. I think Kerber, Muguruza saw that and Kerber rode that belief and confidence and preparation to Hall of Fame heights – she’s a shoe in! She also breathed life into German tennis, which was on life support before Kerber’s year of unrepeatable glory. All of that is huge. That she struggles now, eh – it’s not surprising. It’s unfortunate, but Kerber, like Pennetta, inspired everyone around her with the belief that they could also compete for a slam. That’s no small thing.
Especially with Wozniaki, Sharapova, and Kvitova all looking to clamp down, and Venus Williams too, it’s no small thing that in all likelihood we’ll have another new face with a title in hand. And that’s because they saw Pennetta and then Kerber do it, which moved Muguruza to new heights. We’ll see more of this in this new level of parity on the women’s tour where everyone is as good as everyone else.
Thomas Tung · May 28, 2017 at 9:46 pm
Very lackadasical performance from Tomic against a red-hot Thiem, and Tomic, in the press conference, even admitted that he didn’t want to hit 30-ball rallies.
Bernie has a clever tactical game, but he seemed to think that he would surprise the Tour with that game, and when it didn’t exactly materialize (works on guys out of the Top 50, but over that is another matter entirely), he seems to have voluntarily reduced himself from tennis contender to mere tennis salaryman. That attitude, more than anything else, is very disappointing to see. For all his faults, Kyrgios hasn’t sunk that low in the confidence dept. yet.
This match was, essentially, a “soft tank” from Tomic.
Andrew Miller · May 29, 2017 at 12:39 am
Tomic. It’s a tough first rounder, but he used to relish this kind of match.