GrandSlamFantasyTennis.com Forum
Where Tennis Fans Discuss All Things Grand Slam!
You are not logged in. Please login or register.
Pages 1
You must sign in (above) or create an account to post a reply
I'm looking at the women's draw, and some players have it tough. Henin, one of my top picks, has to get through Sharapova and Serena - both very tough players. So I don't think Henin will make it to the finals this year. The second half of the draw looks easier to me, especially since Venus does not do well on clay. I think Wozniacki has a good shot, and perhaps Dementieva.
The first half of the draw is very difficult in comparison to the second half. Venus has actually been playing quite well on Clay this season (excluding her loss the Jankovic in Madrid). The Highest seeds in her Half are Kuznetsova who has had an all round poor season, and I doubt it will get any better for her at this one event. Wozniacki has been playing well until she injured her ankle. I think fitness will be a real issue for her if she's going to make it deep into the draw, and having not won many matches on Clay, apart from Charleston, confidence will be a factor. And then there's also Dementieva, who has won I think one match on clay this season, and has a tricky second round match against Oudin. Should she make it through, she tends to cave in at the business end of slams. That in perspective, I think Venus should AT LEAST make the quarters. She has a real chance to reach the final. Conversely on the first half of the draw you have some of the best clay-courters this season, Stosur, Henin and Jankovic. Serena, who is always very dangerous. Sharapova can never really be counted out, plus, she seems to have made some reasonable progress, making it to the final of Strasbourg. There are also some tough obstacles like Peer and Bartoli. The tough draw may spur Serena on, so I'm expecting a Serena/Henin or Stosur quarter. If Serena can make it to the quarters, I'm expecting her to make a serious run for the title.
K-Factor - excellent analysis of the women's draw! I was not aware of how well Venus is playing on clay this year. In the past she is spotty at best, so thanks for that info. I really hope that Henin does well this year. She is so graceful on the court, and I think it would be very fun to watch her get at least to the SFs. But can she get past Serena? Probably not.
I',m not sure I can back this up with anything, but I think that Sharapova will get to the finals this year. She is making a great comeback after her injury, and she is a good dark horse pick.
K-Factor - excellent analysis of the women's draw! I was not aware of how well Venus is playing on clay this year. In the past she is spotty at best, so thanks for that info. I really hope that Henin does well this year. She is so graceful on the court, and I think it would be very fun to watch her get at least to the SFs. But can she get past Serena? Probably not.
Thanks Kim, I try my best. Hmm, if Justine and Serena were to meet in the quarters, I'm not really sure who would prevail. Justine is fantastic on clay, but she hasn't been playing with her old dominance, I mean she won stuttgart, but she was beageled in her third set in her match against Rezai in the first round of Madrid. Serena is a formidable competitor on any surface, and I think she's pretty hungry to win the French, she's done it before, and she nearly knocked out Kuznetsova last year. Serena also may want revenge from the "hand incident" and the way Henin beat her like a drum at the French in 2007. Although Serena is prone to early upsets at the French. It all makes for a pretty captivating draw! it should be interesting to watch.
I would probably pick Serena to win that match up, but I would root for Henin.
Oh, and I think Serena will not win. She's amazing, but not consistent enough to pull this one out. I think we will have a surprise this year and one of the high ranked French women will have a victory, like Rezai or Bartoli.
I honestly have no idea who to pick on the women's side. It seems as though almost every player was ranked in the top 20 at some point in their careers, making it extremely difficult. A perfect example is Ana Ivanovic, French Open champ two years ago and former #1 being ranked #41 now. Unreal.
Actually, Serena is not very consistent on the WTA tour, but in the Grand Slams she is VERY consistent. Although I do agree with you, Rezai is certainly in with a chance. Martinez Sanchez was in with a long shot, but she went out in the first round ^^
I certainly agree that a dark horse could come through in the bottom half. Personally, I like Cibulkova, though I didn't have the courage to pick her to make the final for my team picks. Rezai probably really is the other dark horse with a real shot, but most French players get too nervous at Roland Garros when it gets to crunch time. Too much pressure, like Henman at Wimby. Remember Mauresmo's woes? Who could forget?
I would have liked Wozniacki if she had come in fit and healthy. I think she's good to the round of 16 anyway, though, and maybe the quarters. If she's in better physical shape than I think she's in, she will come through to the final.
Venus has improved on clay, but she is still at a disadvantage against real clay courters. I will be very surprised if she does not lose to Cibulkova -- or Rezai, if she manages to get to R16. Dementieva's results at Roland Garros have never come close to matching her results at the Aussie and U.S. Opens. She's principally a hard court player.
Kuznetsova always raises her game for Roland Garros, but she has had an awful year. Still, I picked her to make the final on my team picks, based on history, confidence and the draw. Sveta has consistently gone deep in this tourney and she IS the defending champion. She has confidence, and that should not be underestimated. And she has an incredibly soft draw until Wozniacki.
OK. You heard it here first. Serena will NOT beat Henin at Roland Garros. Forget it. It's Henin's title to lose. She's won the tourney 4 of the last 5 times she's played it. In two weeks, you can make that 5 of the last 6. It may mean a lot to Serena, but it means more to Justine -- who is, after all, one of the great clay court players of all time.
Last edited by DonDenman (May. 25, 2010 1:16am)
My last post to this thread proves I haven't been following women's tennis closely enough.
So far, among the women playing at RG this year, Serena is playing far better than anybody else except maybe Venus, who has improved her clay court game dramatically. I thought Venus would go out to Cibulkova or Rezai, but she handled Cibulkova with relative ease. Rezai will have to play out of her mind to win against Venus. I now think Venus has the best chance of making the final from her half, which I frankly find astonishing.
An all Williams final would no longer surprise me. Serena is in BY FAR the best shape she has been in for years, and so far she has been playing much better than Justine, who I think is her only real obstacle to the final.
These Williams sisters do not look familiar when compared to the ones who have played RG in the past. They are MUCH better. They both are obviously playing with a renewed commitment to the game. Impressive stuff! It will benefit the game. Congratulations to them both.
Congrats to Schiavone. I picked her before I went to work yesterday, but for some reason I switched to stosur at about 2 AM.
I am surprised that Schiavone won it - I thought Stosur would win in straight sets given her amazing play this week. What happened to Stosur? Did she just choke?
Schiavone played probably the best match of her career. Stosur didn't play bad at all.
It didn't look like she choked at all, Charles. It looked like she was simply outplayed, and by a fair margin.
The most amazing thing about the match was that Schiavone outserved Stosur throughout. Stosur didn't play badly at all. She didn't serve badly. The kick serve which had been so effective for her throughout the tourney was no problem at all for little Francesca's one-hand backhand, so Sam didn't use it all that much. Schiavone served unbelievably well, and actually had more aces than Stosur!
Francesca also changed her spin, speed and trajectory with virtually every ball -- preventing Sam from getting any rhythm whatsoever. She played the ball deep to Stosur's forehand frequently, which was a tactic that worked beautifully since Sam likes to hit the forehand inside out from the backhand side. Compare Francesca's game plan to that of Jankovic, who simply tried to outhit Stosur and got murdered in the process. It was a surprising victory, no doubt, but well earned by Schiavone, who looked at the end as though she had enough energy to play another match immediately.
Francesca was extraordinarily charming, humble and funny during her post-match comments and interview. At one point she said to the crowd, "I'm starting to get comfortable out here." Indeed, she was. Perfectly at home. She was absolutely right to kiss the terre battu after her last 3 victories. This year, it loved her back.
Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 7, 2010 1:16am)
SAM STOSUR ALL THE WAY!!!!!
I hope so. She is the clay queen. Nobody seems to know it yet.
Yeah, she has all of the weapons and the innerworkings to be number one. Sam just needs to relax!
as you can tell i'm a huge Sammy Fan!
Sam's kick serve on the add court is a bear for almost all righties. It isn't easy for lefties, either.
The extra jump on the clay is a big deal. It elevates her serve from very good to something special.
Physically, she's strong and well-conditioned. Mentally, she's a little weak. Clay gives her time to gather herself and think. She's strong enough to hit through the court. She returns better (since she's a tad slow by big time women's tennis standards). Hence, a condender on clay.
Not so much on anything else. Grass, maybe. Probably should be. May not happen.
Yep agree with Don, Stosur will definitely be a contender on the clay at Roland Garros this year, who knows the way Schiavone is playing it may well be a repeat between the good friends.
I'd love that, Tono. I'm a big Frankie fan. She's smart, incredibly athletic, utterly unafraid, perfectly conditioned and tough as a boot -- and charming on top of it all!
I predict she'll be involved in a marathon match or two at RG. If so, I like her to come through on guts alone.
Posts [ 21 ]
Pages 1
You must sign in (above) or create an account to post a reply
