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[Rafa=FedKilla]

I'd rather gouge my eyes out then watch Radwanska attempt to hit a forehand.


Navarro has the whole court open, buries forehand into the middle of the net.

 

[Diamond]

Serena is beatable from the back of the court by a strong baseliner. The problem is that she knows it, so she makes sure she dominates with her serve and return so she crushes the "points between 0-4 shots" category so completely there's little rallying involved. Sharapova will need to either serve out of her mind, return out of her mind, or catch Serena on one of those days when the serve just won't click (e.g. Bencic at Toronto). But since she's who she is, Serena will bring her best.

Saw some people wanting more Raonic love, and Rohit Brijnath (I've searched far and wide, and I think he's clearly the best active English language tennis writer) has came through, writing on his win over Wawrinka. Here are some of his earlier articles on Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Aga Radwanska and Kei Nishikori, all still in the AO 2016.

And of course, Roger Federer.

Thanks for the links, good articles.

 

[LuuKyK]

Navarro is such a mental midget. Ugh, what a mess.

Maria has no chance against Serena. In last year's final she was in one of her best hard-court forms and had just won Brisbane and still lost 6-3 7-6. This year she had no warm-up tournament and is much more erratic than last year. The only thing improved from last year is her serve but I am sure that will fade away as soon as she sees Serena on the other side of the net. lol

 

[Niraj]

Glad Aga made it through. Shame it wasn't more competitive.

 

[YoshiStrife]

Agaaaaa! Semi finals!

 

[Kotetsu534]

Nothing to lose for her now. 2nd SF in 3 Slams, 5th in her career, back to 3 in the rankings, held her seed. CSN was nowhere for a set and a bit, but Aga got nervous (those 110kmph 2nd serves!), CSN began to connect with the ball on her backhand and the games drew very long towards the end. Tennis is often about the big points, and CSN brought her worst for them. Could watch her hit her backhand all day, so pleasing to the eye and so deadly with spin, but can also see why coaches pull players away from 1HBH's now in her too - if the timing is slightly off, it's a vulnerability.

 

[Diprosalic]

Serena looks annoyed that she even has to play this match.

 

[Niraj]

Serena looks annoyed that she even has to play this match.

Yeah, she really does look off already. Even when she won the first point she looked annoyed.

 

[tycoonheart]

ESPN 2 still has ncaab women's basketball on

 

[Niraj]

ESPN 2 still has ncaab women's basketball on

On Tennis Channel til 10 est

Or maybe not, they just ended it lol.

 

[YoshiStrife]

Nothing to lose for her now. 2nd SF in 3 Slams, 5th in her career, back to 3 in the rankings, held her seed. CSN was nowhere for a set and a bit, but Aga got nervous (those 110kmph 2nd serves!)

Her 2nd serves kill me every time. It's a huge weakness for her that I just hope she can patch up after this tourney. Serena/Maria will have none of it. Her 1st serve was on point this match. She doesn't often belt down the aces, but the placement is wicked. Massive improvement on her 1st serve % compared to her first match.

She's where I expected her to get to in this tourney. My fear now is if she did pull off the amazing and beat Serena/Maria in the SF, that it would feel like a Final win, and she'd need to reset herself to get into the frame of mind of the actual Final against Azarenka/Kerber/whoever. She's pretty calm and concentrated, though, so I think she'd be okay, especially with the form she's on. Talking a lot of ifs and buts here, but food for thought. So happy and excited for her SF now.

 

[tycoonheart]

On Tennis Channel til 10 est

Or maybe not, they just ended it lol.

ESPN 2 good to go.

 

[szaromir]

It's amazing how much quieter Sharapova is compared to how she was 2 days ago. Turns out all her shrieking is just for show.

 

[chuckddd]

Pam Shriver with that blue knit cowboy hat.

 

[tycoonheart]

It's frustrating watching Sharapova serve.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Sharapova is just swinging away and its working pretty well

 

[Milchmann]

Sharapova's serve already left Australia.

 

[Niraj]

That was surprising.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Sharapova's "Come On" sounds like a morning rooster

 

[tycoonheart]

Lmao Sharapova definitely going for it.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Avg. rally length is like 2 shots

 

[Niraj]

Wow, that was ridiculously lucky lol

 

[MIMIC]

You can almost feel the hatred and the disrespect for one another in this match ^_^

 

[Niraj]

That really has to suck. Sharapova seemed like the better player for much of that set and still lost.

 

[LuuKyK]

That netcord. As if Serena needed luck in this match-up. That sucks.

 

[zero_suit]

That really has to suck. Sharapova seemed like the better player for much of that set and still lost.

Same movie, huh? Still can't beat Serena, and she's old as dirt.

 

[Niraj]

Same movie, huh? Still can't beat Serena, and she's old as dirt.

Seems so. Would be crazy if Sharapova never won another in the head to head, but at this rate...still, numbers-wise you'd think it would happen sooner or later.


Also, Radwanska's second serve is going to get wrecked next round lol

 

[MIMIC]

ESPN stat said that Sharapova's grunt is an "A6" on the octave scale xD

 

[Niraj]

ESPN stat said that Sharapova's grunt is an "A6" on the octave scale xD

lol they've had a bunch of "grunting facts" running on the ticker from time to time. I think it said she was slightly quieter than a chainsaw too.

There were also some crazy numbers for pre and post Serena having her current coach.

edit: Pre Mouratoglou: 13 of 47 in majors, Post: 8 of 13, Pre: 65% vs top ten, Post: 91%

 

[MIMIC]

lol they've had a bunch of "grunting facts" running on the ticker from time to time. I think it said she was slightly quieter than a chainsaw too.

 

[Kotetsu534]

Pre Mouratoglou: 13 of 47 in majors, Post: 8 of 13, Pre: 65% vs top ten, Post: 91%

He does some analysis of men's matches for Eurosport, and it is incredibly detailed and sharp. He broke down Nishikori/Tsonga before the match yesterday and pretty much described exactly what was going to happen if Nishikori was to win with video footage. I'm sure he's a great asset.

 

[zero_suit]

lol they've had a bunch of "grunting facts" running on the ticker from time to time. I think it said she was slightly quieter than a chainsaw too.

There were also some crazy numbers for pre and post Serena having her current coach.

edit: Pre Mouratoglou: 13 of 47 in majors, Post: 8 of 13, Pre: 65% vs top ten, Post: 91%

To be fair, there were much better players back then (although she was still the best overall). His effectiveness is overstated.

 

[MIMIC]

4-0

welp....

 

[SSPssp]

Game over practically. Pretty surprising considering how this started.

 

[zero_suit]

4-0

welp....

Looking like Murray vs Djoker in the fifth set lol.

Azarenka remains the only player who can consistently give her fits.

 

[MIMIC]

I bet before every Sharapova match, Serena's coach is like, "Remember Wimbledon? Remember?"

And that is all that needs to be said. lol

 

[Niraj]

He does some analysis of men's matches for Eurosport, and it is incredibly detailed and sharp. He broke down Nishikori/Tsonga before the match yesterday and pretty much described exactly what was going to happen if Nishikori was to win with video footage. I'm sure he's a great asset.

That's pretty cool.

To be fair, there were much better players back then (although she was still the best overall). His effectiveness is overstated.

Yeah, that's probably true in regards to the competition. Still, 91% is nuts. I think he should be lauded at minimum for how much more focused Serena is now.

 

[zero_suit]

That's pretty cool.



Yeah, that's probably true in regards to the competition. Still, 91% is nuts. I think he should be lauded at minimum for how much more focused Serena is now.

True, that and Serena knows she doesn't have much time left. I don't see her having a career like Martina N.

 

[perfectchaos007]

5 games lol. Go home and practice that serve Sugarpova

 

[mcfrank]

Those candies are actually pretty good.

 

[zero_suit]

5 games lol. Go home and practice that serve Sugarpova

Media hype fails again.

 

[thefro]

How I remember the 2004 matches going is Sharapova had a great serve and Serena was screwing up left and right. Took both those for Sharapova to actually beat Williams 2x that year.

 

[perfectchaos007]

For sake of the GOAT argument, did Graff ever play against a career grand slam winning rival that she beat with as much consistency as Serena does over Sharapova?

 

[Niraj]

Damn, Berdych with the early break

 

[tycoonheart]

Berdych hitting the ball really well.

 

[Niraj]

Alright, hopefully Fed has a better service game this time.

edit: lol wtf was that miss?

 

[Dispatch]

Fed looking good in this tiebreak.

 

[Niraj]

Poor linesman lol

 

[Smellycat]

Great set of tennis! Federer takes it 7-6(4) in 1 hour

Hopefully he can win this in straights, because Berdych is playing great tennis. He did nothing wrong in that set.

 

[tycoonheart]

That nut shot lol