Federer narrowly avoided an upset by Falla today to come back (5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 [1], 6-0). For the first four sets, Falla was really eating Fed's second serve alive and neutralizing him on the baseline. Falla was clearly playing the best match of his life, taking the ball early and moving forward. The momentum started changed when Fed saved a triple break point in the third set at 4-all. The first break point was saved when Falla sent a forehand long. The next two break point saves were set up by Fed's chip shot: Fed passed Falla with a backhand CC and then Falla put a makeable FH volley into the net. Strategically when Fed started to use the drop shot more, he began to establish control of the match. In the later stages of the match, Fed's movement was crisper than Falla's, and Falla started to make more unforced errors.
Despite Fed's excellent shotmaking, he knew he had to gut it out.
I definitely got very lucky out there today. I've lost many matches this year I should have won. This is one I should have lost.
Obviously if Falla had executed on a few points, the story could have been like this.
No matter what, I think Federer has to recognize that more and more guys are trying to attack his second serve. Sure, improving the serve is always a good thing (and I speak from experience because my best stroke is my serve). But one way to the counteract this pressure is to pressure your opponent's serve back. This is what Andre Agassi was so great at: hitting the serve on the rise, and hitting forceful service returns. Fed's strategy of block returns and chip returns is predicated on trying to reset the point to neutral, not grabbing the point. To this fan's eyes, it has become less and less effective as guys know that's what Fed does and have become better at stepping into those kinds of returns to take control of the point. Fed surely recognizes that he needs to improve on something if he hopes to enjoy the evening of his career, and this is the most glaring weakness in his game.
Last night, while I was hitting with my friend Bruce, I announced to him, "Time to goof off a little". So as we continued to rally, everytime I had a chance to hit reverse forehands to his one handed backhand, I did (complete with a Rafa-like grunt). After a couple of those shots I noticed the fellas on the next court actually watching us. Now it isn't as if I've never done this before. It instinctively became my running forehand, and when the pundits pointed out that this was Rafa's go-to shot, I've started to practice this shot a bit more by using it when I have to pick up the ball off my laces when I warm up doing mini tennis. Most importantly, I sometimes pretend to be Rafa when I do some sessions with my ball machine (and I always end up laughing uncontrollably at the end) and
But I proceed too quickly. What is this new fangled thang, the reverse forehand? Well at its most essential, it's just like a regular forehand, but instead of hitting through the ball, one emphasizes brushing up and across the ball, and follows through on one's dominant side. As I've already said, this Spanish lefty has really bought the stroke to mainstream attention.
The Greatest Forehand Shanker below uses it as his backup to his preferred windshield wiper forehand (usually as his defensive shot).
Why do both of these fellows use it? Because a certain American old fogey loved to hit this shot on the run.
But really it isn't such a new thing, as gifted players have always figured out the obvious: if you brush up and across the ball, you will get more trajectory, more net clearance and more topspin. According to John Yandell, stroke guru extraordinaire, there's footage that goes way back showing luminaries such as Rod Laver, Arthur Ashe and Fred Perry the last Brit to win a slam, hitting this shot (here and here.)
So why do I laugh so hard when I try to practice this shot pretending to be Rafa? For one, it feels silly to be a total wannabee. My reverse forehand is as similar to Rafa's as your household cat is to a lion. Rafa can hit that shot in all sorts of positions and with all sorts of control. Me, I'm happy that I don't arm it, and that it ends up within a 10 degree arc of where I intended inside the court.
For another, it is hilarious to see many try to return the shot. My friend Bruce told me afterwards: it was awfully effective. The ball would clear the net by 20 feet, dive bomb near the baseline, and start to kick up over his head. Bruce told me he had to either step in and take it on the rise, or try to punch it at his shoulder. If he didn't react quick enough, the ball might sail over his head.
Third, one thing I've noticed that when I've had the privilege of playing some honest-to-god advanced players (someone who is USTA rated above a 4.0 without any sweat) is they can get some pretty wide angles with their groundies. By that I mean their balls will cross the sideline near the service box, and you might end up hitting the ball near the fence (or the next court over). If their forehand put you in that position, you can bet they hit a reverse forehand to create that kind of angle.
Next, it's just a reality of tennis that you're going to have to play defensive tennis. You're going to have to hit a forehands (or backhands) on the run. Pros have gravitated to the reverse forehand as their bread and butter shot on the run for very good reasons: it works. As the cliche goes, defense wins championships. Wouldn't it be nice to have play good defensive tennis when you have to?
Finally, it's something I don't see a lot of intermediate-level players do, and it feels great to have a trick in my bag that not many will use. Admittedly, one should learn to hit consistently through the ball first. But if you know how to do that, why not try it out? Pitchers have to throw something besides fastballs.
UPDATE: here's some great instructional videos on how to hit the reverse forehand.
The peak of the professional tennis season climaxes at Wimbledon, which really needs no introduction. If Roland Garros could be called the dirty Slam, this is the Lawn Slam. Name all the old school stuff, Wimbledon has it: strawberries and cream, serve and volley tactics, whites, cathedral-like atmosphere, prestige, royalty (the Queen Lizzy is paying a visit), and even a poet. Then we get to see shots like this.
1st Quarter: Fed won his 15th Slam in an emotional victory over ARod last year, and is looking to tie Pistol Pete's record of winning seven titles at the All England Club. Other seeds in his quarter to watch out for: Play Station who is coming back from a wrist injury, Big Berd who may finally be living up to his talent this year (RG and Miami), Melzer who is coming off a solid clay season and Feli who beat Rafa in Queen's this year with a run to the final there. Out of these folks, Feli and Big Berd have the kind of games that translate well on grass with Big Berd carrying the confidence of a recent win against Fed in Miami. However, this is Wimbledon, and I expect Fed to be able to beat Big Berd in the quarters should he meet him.
Lurker: Feli
Semifinalist: Fed
2nd Quarter: The Djoker has never seemed comfortable on grass. This year, he's coming into the tournament with some serious questions about his game. Is he fit enough to go the distance of a five-setter? Can he close out matches where he's in control? Is his serve a reliable weapon? In the top half of his quarter, the most serious threat to him is Rusty who knows a thing or two about playing on grass with titles at Wimbledon, Queen's and Halle. If he gets past a potential meeting with Hewitt in the 4th round, he faces potential opponents in Cilic, Ljubs, Kohli and ARod, all of whom are dangerous. Cilic has obviously shown a lot of potential with his run at Oz, but he has not (yet) played consistently at a high level to prove he can make a deep run here. Ljubs is at the tail end of his career but as you would expect for any great server, he can never be counted out on the green stuff. Kohli was the only person other than ARod to take a set off of Fed last year. ARod is certainly hungry to win his first Wimbledon and is always in the conversation as a potential winner.
Lurker: Ljubs
Semifinalist: ARod
3rd Quarter: Muzz always has to carry the Brit hopes at Wimbly. He'll probably get to bow to the Royal Box on June 24 when the Her Royal Majesty plans to attend. Regardless, Muzz has to love his draw: Nando and Mosquito would be threats on clay but not on grass. Ali and Samurai have the kind of games that translate well to grass. Ali's chances seem questionable as he's recovering from a hip injury, and he is playing Wimbly for the third time in his career, having missed the tourney in the past due to injuries. Samurai is, of course, coming in with a lot of confidence from winning Queen's. Look for Muzz to repeat his semifinal appearance of last year.
Lurker: Samurai
Semifinalist: Muzz
4th Quarter: Rafa is coming off a phenomenal clay court season and is the pick of many pundits to win the whole thang. But Rafa would be the first to avoid premature speculation in a tourney. The tried and true way to beat Rafa on a fast surface is to take time away from him by hitting big. His potential path to the semis could traverse through a murderer's row of big hitters: Blah, Gulby, Tree/Misha or Sod. However, things might not be so bad for him as Blah and Gulby are dealing with injuries. This year Tree has shown lots of mental toughness with a game that goes beyond a big serve and is surely going to ascend the rankings this summer as he missed most of last year due to mono. Sod will look to show that his loss to Rafa at RG is not a return to the status quo.
Still, many of the reasons for Rafa's great clay court season do translate well to fast courts: he's flattening out his forehand more, looking to shorten points, trying to get to net, and defending his service games extremely well. And he's still the fiercest competitor on the tour today.
Lurker: Tree
Semifinalist: Rafa
I'm going out on a limb to predict that we'll see a repeat of Oz, because I want Fed to punch his teeth out in front of his home crowd.
Semifinals: Fed d. ARod, Muzz d. Rafa
Finals: Fed d. Muzz
Women
1st Quarter: ReeRee is the no-brainer pick of many to defend her title. That said, things aren't easy for her in her quarter as she faces bashers like Shrieka, Nails and Sveta. Aggie has been consistent but simply doesn't have the weapons to be much of a threat on grass. Sveta could be finding her form again after having a terrible spring, making it the quarters in Eastbourne. Nails is bringing in a lot of confidence from beating Shrieka in Birmingham in grass. But at the end of the day ReeRee is just a tougher player to beat at a Slam and especially Wimbledon.
Lurker: Sveta
Semifinalist: ReeRee
2nd Quarter: For a "pusher"/retriever, it's a bit of a surprise that this is Caro's favorite surfaces. She faces a tough opponents: a flat-hitting ball machine in JZ (and who has made the semis), Vika her brainless ball bashing BFF, the hardest hitter per bound in Glitter, and then Sam who hits the heaviest balls in the WTA. But forget tennis, Stella McCartney hasn't really improve the kit for their glamor gal on grass.
Lurker: JZ
Semifinalist: Sam
3rd Quarter: Lady JaJa was unceremoniously dumped last year by someone who supposedly had no weapons: Melanie Oudin who is in her quarter again. Even if she doesn't face the young American, her half of the quarter has potential 4th round opponents in Whoopie and Bepa. She then faces potential quarterfinal opponents in Mum Train who played great this week in Eastbourne, MaKiri who is always a tough fighter, Allez Bitch whom she has a poor record against and Nads who might get it together mentally to go deep in a Slam. Allez Bitch's coach considers her a dark horse to win Wimbly. And he's right. Her serve hasn't been consistent and her revamped game to be more aggressive is still a work in progress.
Lurker: Riske, Allez Bitch
Semifinalist: Mum Train
4th Quarter: It's no secret that Vee feels in her element on grass, having won SW19 five times. And surely she has to love her draw. While Franny is coming off the win of her career in Paris, her heavy use of topspin doesn't translate well from clay to grass. Shvedova is likewise coming off a great run in Paris but I would be surprised if she made a deep run again. Mono has made it to the finals, and has the kind of Seles-like game that can do well on grass, but her serve isn't the kind of weapon needed to win it all on grass. Klebs does hit hard but her herky jerky mechanics would be more of a liability on the slippery stuff. Baby Hippo isn't likely to repeat her semifinal appearance given that she's returning from an almost career-ending back injury. Peer is slated to meet Vee in the 4th round, but the moons would have to align for her to beat Vee (i.e. she has to play of this world and Vee has to play like crap).
Lurkers: None that I can see
Semifinalist: Vee
Well, I expect ReeRee to shout "Victory is mine" at SW19. Sam won't be able to run around her backhand as easily on grass in order to have a good chance of beating ReeRee. Vee has better grass court credentials than Mum Train. In an all-Williams final, it will be close but ReeRee's form is less likely to break down than Vee.
Wimbledon announced its seedings for the championships this year
1 Roger FEDERER (SUI) 2 Rafael NADAL (ESP) 3 Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB) 4 Andy MURRAY (GBR) 5 Andy RODDICK (USA) 6 Robin SODERLING (SWE) 7 Nikolay DAVYDENKO (RUS) 8 Fernando VERDASCO (ESP) 9 David FERRER (ESP) 10 Jo-Wilfried TSONGA (FRA) 11 Marin CILIC (CRO) 12 Tomas BERDYCH (CZE) 13 Mikhail YOUZHNY (RUS) 14 Juan Carlos FERRERO (ESP) 15 Lleyton HEWITT (AUS) 16 Jurgen MELZER (AUT) 17 Ivan LJUBICIC (CRO) 18 Sam QUERREY (USA) 19 Nicolas ALMAGRO (ESP) 20 Stanislas WAWRINKA (SUI) 21 Gael MONFILS (FRA) 22 Radek STEPANEK (CZE) 23 Feliciano LOPEZ (ESP) 24 John ISNER (USA) 25 Ivo KARLOVIC (CRO) 26 Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP) 27 Thomaz BELLUCCI (BRA) 28 Gilles SIMON (FRA) 29 Ernests GULBIS (LAT) 30 Albert MONTANES (ESP) 31 Philipp KOHLSCHREIBER (GER) 32 Tommy ROBREDO (ESP)
The major departures from the current rankings are: Fed over Rafa even though Rafa is the current world #1, ARod over Sod and Playstation and Ferrer over Tsonga. The Rafa-Fed switch can be explained by Fed's record at Wimbledon as the defending champion, and is really not that significant at the end as they both get their own quarter. ARod's relatively high seeding is due to his status as the runner up last year, but he's probably crossing his finger's that he won't be assigned to Fed's quarter.
BTW, there is much weeping and gnashing of teeth over these departures from the ATP rankings. Some think Rafa is getting dissed. Rest assured, Wimbledon didn't cut a back room deal with the Federer camp: they employ this numerical formula (beautifully explained here): 100% of points from your ATP rankings + 75% of points from your best grass court performance in the past 12 months.
1 Serena WILLIAMS (USA) 2 Venus WILLIAMS (USA) 3 Caroline WOZNIACKI (DEN) 4 Jelena JANKOVIC (SRB) 5 Francesca SCHIAVONE (ITA) 6 Samantha STOSUR (AUS) 7 Agnieszka RADWANSKA (POL) 8 Kim CLIJSTERS (BEL) 9 Na LI (CHN) 10 Flavia PENNETTA (ITA) 11 Marion BARTOLI (FRA) 12 Nadia PETROVA (RUS) 13 Shahar PEER (ISR) 14 Victoria AZARENKA (BLR) 15 Yanina WICKMAYER (BEL) 16 Maria SHARAPOVA (RUS) 17 Justine HENIN (BEL) 18 Aravane REZAI (FRA) 19 Svetlana KUZNETSOVA (RUS) 20 Dinara SAFINA (RUS) 21 Vera ZVONAREVA (RUS) 22 Maria Jose MARTINEZ SANCHEZ (ESP) 23 Jie ZHENG (CHN) 24 Daniela HANTUCHOVA (SVK) 25 Lucie SAFAROVA (CZE) 26 Alisa KLEYBANOVA (RUS) 27 Maria KIRILENKO (RUS) 28 Alona BONDARENKO (UKR) 29 Anastasia PAVLYUCHENKOVA (RUS) 30 Yaroslava SHVEDOVA (KAZ) 31 Alexandra DULGHERU (ROU) 32 Sara ERRANI (ITA)
There are no major departures from the current rankings amongst the ladies. Safina gets no benefit from her grass court performance from last year since she's been off the tour due to injury. And, sadly, Demy is out of Wimbledon due to injury. Some might give Masha and Allez Bitch higher seedings but frankly both are on the comeback trail (Masha due to injury and Allez Bitch due to a return from retirement).
In other news, the Greatest Forehand Shanker is working on his inside out forehand.
He'll need that to avoid all those serves this Mallorcan Lefty likes to hit to his backhand.
Shrieka will need to hit a lot of running forehands as there's a whole new generation who've adopted her ball bashing style.
Unfortunately, I already swing fairly heavy sticks: Wilson K 6.1 95s leaded up to 13 ounces and 6 pts head light. Even though the Federer-endorsed BLX 90 might be more flexible and have a smaller head size, I think hitting the practice courts might do me more good.
This cute commercial came out during the Aussie Open, which is around the time Rafa started using the new Babolat RPM Blast co-poly string. I tried it out lately and think it does deliver more spin but at the cost of less power.
The men and ladies are together in Hertogenbosch and Eastbourne for the last week of grass-court tune ups before Wimbledon. To me all the interesting stuff is happening amongst the ladies. All the serious male contenders are taking the week off to practice at Wimbledon.
Eastbourne
Caro is looking to defend her title here using her special brand of golden retriever tennis.
Allez Bitch took a wild card to try out her more aggressive game on Dutch turf. If she can get her serve consistent, she can win here and win the bigger tournament that begins next week just outside of London.
In the battle of the ball bashers, Nails triumphed over Shrieka (7-5 6-1) to take home her third WTA trophy of her career. The Chinese tennis star earns a spot in the top ten again after a solid clay court season. Last year she beat Maria in the semis but lost in the finals to Magdalena Rybarikova.
Last year I made the mistake of being so happy when I beat Maria I forgot I had another match. And now I’m so excited if I had another match I’d probably lose that too.
Reminder to Nails: you are playing a tournament tomorrow in Eastbourne.
The Greatest Shanker of All Time fulfilled the first of his appearance obligations for the rest of his career in Halle and ended his win streak of 15 to Rusty (3-6, 7-6 [4], 6-4)
In the last several years, Fed's record on grass is 76-2 with his only other loss being the epic classic match against Rafa in 2008. But it's no exaggeration that with losses in the Spring to Bags, Big Berd, Gulby, Montanes, Sod and Rusty, Fed's confidence is not where it should be going into Wimbly.
Samurai owes Fish dinner, triumphing at Queen's (7-6 [3] 7-5). He becomes the first ATP pro to win on three surfaces in 2010. He's won tourneys on hard (Memphis) and on clay (Belgrade).
Today David Law regaled the twitterverse with Federer and Nadal dork stories.
Right then. It's ten years ago, Basel, and Roger has just won his first round match. I go into the locker-room, and hear what I can only describe as a kind of amateur opera-singing. Now this is seriously loud-singing, like a tenor giving it everything. Semi in-tune.
Why was he doing that? Because, like Rafa, he was absolutely buzzing with life and the thrill of victory. The more people laughed the louder the louder he sang. As his coach at the time told me, "He has so much excess energy, you have to let him scream sometimes."
It's made news that Nadal (a day after winning RG) hit the practice courts in Queens after doing a photoshoot at EuroDisney and taking the train from France to England. Even though it was raining, the boy couldn't wait to hit the courts.
Ok, so Rafa is in the locker-room. Rain-break. Everyone sitting around watching Wimbledon re-runs. Suddenly the tv shows the rain's stopped. Rafa sees this, jumps up, starts charging around the locker-room getting his stuff together, rounding up his team. Wants to practise. Now!
I just find such boysish (sic?) enthusiasm from a guy who has just won the French Open a fifth time utterly endearing.
It's that time of the year: the, oh, too short grass court season. Yeah, I know Roland Garros literally finished up an hour ago but, hey, that's how this time of the season works: no break from clay to grass. The men are either in Halle or Queen's. The ladies are in Birmingham.
Queen's
Muzz will be looking to defend the oversized hardware he won last year to restore the hopes of his countrymen that he would be the first Brit to win a Slam in 150000 years. Unfortunately, a certain Spaniard who has a pretty good grass court resume is in his way.
Seeds: Rafa, Nole, Muzz, ARod, Le Monf, Cilic, Head Samurai, Feli
Or maybe he's hoping another Brit will overshadow him in South Africa so that he can quietly go about his business.
Halle
Fed begins the defense of his Wimbly trophy in Halle. Playstation returns to the tour here. The Worm is entered but he just got married and is recovering from mono.
A bunch of flat-hitting ball bashers lead the draw: Nails, Shrieka, Whoopie and Gilded. As expected from a bunch of ball bashers, all of them have had great highs and great lows. It's anyone's guess who would win here. Nails has played up (Oz) and down (Indian Wells). Shrieka's struggles have been well publicized (down at Oz, up at Strasbourg). Whoopie is an up-and-comer who looks like she is developing the consistency to live up to her breakout tournament (USO 2009) but has flamed out in other tourneys (Paris and Dubai). Gilded played great in Madrid but flamed out in Miami.
Folks hoped that Sodal would turn into a close tight match. But given Rafa's form on the red stuff this spring, it's no surprise that the King of Clay returned to his throne (6-4 6-2 6-4).
In the opening set, the expected tone was set: Sod was hitting hard. But Rafa's phenomenal defense meant he could chase down a lot of Sod's bullets and use his heavy topspin shots to move Sod around side to side. Unfortunately since Sod often had to hit shots on the run, he couldn't his feet set to unleash his forehands and tended to make an unforced error. Sod went down an early break in 1st set to Rafa after he let a very volleyable passing shot go. On another point, Sod had control off an crosscourt FH, which Rafa got back with a BH lob. Then despite Sod's overhead to Rafa's BH, Rafa was able to get it back at Sod's feet with his FH forcing an awkward half-volley which allowed Rafa to volley it away for a winner. Yeah, I'd do a fist pump too if I made a point like that.
By the third set, it looked like Sod was mentally worn out from trying to hit a couple winners just to win a point (or his legs fried from chasing down Rafa's DTL forehands into an open court).
From the stats, Sod couldn't play a clean enough game to threaten Rafa: the net gain of unforced errors to winner clearly favored Rafa (-4 vs. +9) and confirmed my observations of Rafa's defense: el hombre was just a backboard. The key to me was the return of serve. Sod was having trouble threatening Rafa's serve whereas Rafa was able to get enough opportunities receiving Sod's serve and convert the break points.
Soderling
Nadal
Unforced Errors
43
16
Winners
39
35
1st Serve %
51/91 (56%)
67/86 (78%)
Aces
7
7
DF
4
1
1st Serve % Pts Won
33/51 (65%)
49/67 (73%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won
22/40 (55%)
11/19 (58%)
Break Points Won
0/8 (0%)
4/12 (33%)
Net Approaches
14/20 (70%)
4/8 (50%)
Total Receiving Points Won
22/85 (26%)
35/87 (40%)
Total Service Points Won
52/87 (60%)
63/85 (74%)
Total Points Won
81/177 (46%)
96/177 (54%)
Since the Greatest Shanker of All Time had a crappy spring season (Indian Wells, Miami, Rome and Estoril) and failed to maintain his semifinal Major appearances streak, Rafa deservedly ascends to the World #1 spot.
Franny played freely with nothing to lose and served out of her mind to take the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen back to her home of Milan (6-4 7-6 [2]). Franny played clutch by approaching the net to come up with the goods at key moments. As expected Sam served well except at key moments where it seemed she let up just a moment. She never seemed to relax and was broken in two of her service games facing triple break points. Franny is obviously late in her career (age 29) and this is realistically her only chance to win a major.
Stosur
Schiavone
Unforced Errors
28
19
Winners
25
26
1st Serve %
42/65 (65%)
46/71 (65%)
Aces
3
6
DF
1
1
1st Serve % Pts Won
30/42 (71%)
35/46 (76%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won
13/22 (59%)
15/24 (63%)
Break Points Won
1/2 (50%)
2/7 (29%)
Net Approaches
11/18 (61%)
14/15 (93%)
Total Receiving Points Won
21/71 (30%)
22/65 (34%)
Total Service Points Won
43/65 (66%)
50/71 (70%)
Total Points Won
64/136 (47%)
72/136 (53%)
It was pretty obvious from Sam's concession speech that she was holding back tears. No, I don't think she choked either. Hopefully she can take away positives from this as she obviously has the game to come back and win a Major on another try.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Roland Garros will bring you Sodal.
Sod took five sets to defeat Big Berd as fuzz littered the red clay (6-3 3-6 5-7 6-3 6-3). The statistical difference seems to be that Sod got more of his first serves in, where it was more likely that he would win the point. It was pretty obvious that Berd lost his legs in the fifth set as he could not put in a first serve in his last two service games.
As would be expected from two big hitters, the unforced error count and winner count was high.
Soderling
Berdych
Unforced Errors
63
41
Winners
62
42
1st Serve %
91/145 (63%)
75/150 (50%)
Aces
18
21
DF
8
5
1st Serve % Pts Won
69/91 (76%)
56/75 (75%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won
27/46 (59%)
35/70 (50%)
Break Points Won
6/13 (46%)
4/12 (33%)
Net Approaches
12/17 (71%)
4/10 (40%)
Total Receiving Points Won
59/150 (39%)
49/145 (34%)
Total Service Points Won
96/145 (61%)
91/150 (66%)
Total Points Won
155/295 (52%)
140/295 (48%)
As expected, Nadal cruised over Melzer (6-2 6-3 7-6 [6]).
It's fairly obvious from the stats that Rafa was all over Melzer's serve and that Melzer could not get much of a toehold into Rafa's serve.
Melzer
Nadal
Unforced Errors
32
24
Winners
29
37
1st Serve %
72/99 (73%)
65/85 (76%)
Aces
3
4
DF
2
4
1st Serve % Pts Won
41/72 (57%)
49/65 (75%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won
10/25 (40%)
11/16 (69%)
Break Points Won
2/3 (67%)
5/8 (63%)
Net Approaches
19/35 (54%)
13/19 (68%)
Total Receiving Points Won
25/85 (29%)
48/99 (48%)
Total Service Points Won
51/99 (52%)
60/85 (71%)
Total Points Won
76/184 (42%)
108/184 (58%)
From the way Rafa has been playing, the only question is how long Sod can slow him down from walking away with the La Coupe des Mousquetaires.
The finalists are surprising. Stosur was one to watch out for but had to beat Allez Bitch, ReeRee and Lady JaJa. Franny was not really on the radar screen of most.
Kudos to Franny who outplayed (ever so slightly) a gimpy Demy in the 1st and only set (7-6[3] retire). I thin toward the end of the set she made the adjustment to hit heavier topsin shots so that she played excellent defense as Demy kept trying to break down her one-handed backhand. A real bummer for Lena who has been always been the bridesmaid at a Slam, but never the bride. The injury to her left calf that she sustained in her earlier rounds caught up to her and she might miss Wimbledon.
Schiavone
Dementieva
Unforced Errors
12
24
Winners
12
15
1st Serve %
60%
71%
Aces
1
2
DF
2
4
1st Serve % Pts Won
20/27 (74%)
23/35 (66%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won
7/18 (39%)
5/14 (36%)
Break Points Won
1/4 (25%)
1/1 (100%)
Net Approaches
8/10 (80%)
6/7 (86%)
Total Receiving Points Won
19/45 (42%)
14/43 (33%)
Total Service Points Won
29/43 (67%)
26/45 (58%)
Total Points Won
48/94 (51%)
46/94 (49%)
Noting spectacular from the statistics side, as would be expected from a set that goes to a tiebreaker.
I was not entirely surprised that Sam terminated Lady JaJa (6-1 6-2). Yeah, that kick serve and heavy topspin FH does wonders on clay. WTA, take notice! When your second serve is a weapon, you really have nothing to fear.
Stosur
Jankovic
Unforced Errors
16
22
Winners
18
9
1st Serve %
61%
74%
Aces
7
2
DF
4
1
1st Serve % Pts Won
25/31 (81%)
13/24 (38%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won
8/16 (50%)
7/11 (60%)
Break Points Won
5/10 (50%)
1/5 (20%)
Net Approaches
4/6 (80%)
4/6 (67%)
Total Receiving Points Won
26/46 (57%)
18/51 (35%)
Total Service Points Won
33/51 (65%)
20/46 (43%)
Total Points Won
59/97 (60%)
38/97 (40%)
From the stats it is pretty obvious that Sam was all over JaJa's first serve. It's a pretty good bet that in most of the points, Sam took immediate control.
Sam has been playing very consistent and steady clay-court tennis, and plays better offense than Franny. Tactically, Sam should adjust to attack Franny's FH with an inside-in FH or BH DTL. Franny will need to hope that her high bouncing topspin shots or BH slices can frustrate Sam. But none of that from Henin really frustrated her. From the way Sam has been playing, I think the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen is on her racquet.
In the match of the day, Superhero prevailed over ReeRee by showing heart (6-2 6-7 [2] 8-6). She played a tight game in the second set where she had a chance to serve out the match at 5-4 but let ReeRee back into the match for a third set. ReeRee had a match point in the 3rd set on Sam's serve but Sam saved the MP on an FH DTL approach shot that forced an error from ReeRee. One would have expected Sam would have wilted but she didn't. She came up with the goods even though she wasn't certain she would have a second chance to win the match.
After losing that game, yeah, things kind of stepped up a notch from her. Yeah, I didn't know if I was gonna get another chance. That third set just kind of hung in there, and I was behind the whole time serving second. Just tried to hang in and wait for another opportunity. Then I got one at 6 All, and thankfully I took it.
The first set established the tone of the match with Sam dictating the rallies with her forehand, kick serve and backhand slice. The backhand slice negated a lot of ReeRee's power and clearly bothered her.
Jankovic quietly triumphed over the unseeded Shvedova (7-5 6-4).
It was long five-set battle, but the more mentally tough Melzer came back from the dead to beat the Djoker (3-6 2-6 6-2 7-6 [3] 6-4)
Not entirely a surprise, as the Djoker needed to put this one away quickly or else he would have to depend on his dodgy serve getting him out of the fifth set. Which it didn't.
Melzer will face the Clay Monster who prevailed over his fellow Spaniard Nico.
While it was a tight three-setter (7-6 7-6 6-4), perhaps Nico could have taken a set off of Rafa as he did in Madrid.
