Steve, congratulations on your accurate predictions on the ATP semifinalists, finalists and the winner.

first jawb

first jawb

Steve, nice post, becoming more of a fan daily.

Do you think given the current vacuum in the game, a player like Zvonareva could be the one to step up and run the show for a while? She's still relatively young, got plenty of game and seems to have reined in her emotions. Could she be the one we've been waiting for over the last year?

Steve:

One thing that caught my attention was the constant net aproaching by Ivanovic finishing many points with superb volleys, not just putaways but taking them from her feet or just moving with lots of agrssion up there.

Still, lots of UE from the back, but i think she shows that she may go a bit more all around than most of the girls.

"the four WTA semifinalists—and almost everyone else in the draw, for that matter—pounded the ball from the baseline, wielded two-handed backhands, and approached the net only when they were blown there accidentally (the three missing stars, Venus, Serena, and Maria, fit all those categories as well)."

Steve, do you really believe that five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams only approaches the net when "blown there accidentally"?

Oh Steve, loved that last sentence. I'm very happy that you took the time to decipher the women's personalities. It's really that, that makes the tour stand out, and I think a lot of WTA fans feel the same way. They're practically all, very young, and their maturation has an effect on their success, so it's really fascinating to see it unfold.

But, did you forget about Agnieska? She is very different than her contemporaries, and yes, she does tend to forget her natural game plan and hug the baseline. She has a very smart game, and her sister as well, I heard. Jelena also relies on consistency rather than power.

And while Venus uses primarily her power, she's I believe a great net player, the best right now, plus I've heard Navratilova and Billie Jean King say that she belongs up there with the best ever.

"I wish they didn't all express themselves the same way when they stepped on the court."

I wish all the articles about the WTA did not have the same theme. What monotonous boredom!

Ivanovic came to the net and Zvonareva passed her. Maybe that is why it happens. I don't see Rafa come to the net any more than your average WTA player.

Tennis fan,

The point is that Rafa doesn't come to the net that much (though I do think he is more willing to use it as a tactic than the WTA players) but there are others like Murray who do. The top four have different game plans, styles of play even though all their games start at the baseline. And when you go down the top 10 - you have the baseliners like Roddick, the counterpunchers like Simon and the flashy players like Tsonga and Verdasco. Each one is completely different. Right now all the WTA players though seem to be carbon copies of each other when they come on court. The closest to variety is Venus.

Steve,
Good article today and matter of fact, all week on the WTA. Thank you very much.

Now, as the tour moves to Key Biscayne, will Vera be able to pull off a rare American feat(last done by Kim Clijsters in 2005) BKA Transcontinential Slam(hope I got that right). Will Ana be able to take what she accomplished at Indian Wells and apply them there or will Serena be able to break the tie with Steffi and win her 6th title? Also, will Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic bounce back off their one and done at Indian Wells. Finally, will Venus Williams be able to win her 3rd consecutive tournament in a row after winning Dubai and Acapulco in consecutive weeks. Good times are about to heat up.

Ivanovic today was what Federer was yesterday - beautiful to watch, fiery but error prone. Zvonareva today was what Murray was againt Federer - just putting the ball back in the court, boring to watch but consistent - just a counterpuncher. Alas, counterpunchers won the games!

Btw, such approach of Murray didn't cut it against Nadal today - did he have a single winner today at all?

Well, that list of varied and indelible -- Steffi Graf, Evonne Goolagong, and Martina Navratilova -- does span several decades of tennis. Serena's likely to be added to that list, and twenty years from now someone will be saying she also didn't play, sound, or act anything like the others.

Look: we're just going to have to detect and enjoy individual paersonality within this crop of baseliners with two-handed backhands. We were able to do so with the top players of the 1970s -- when most all were serve-and-volleyers with one-handed backhands. It isn't all that hard to do, actually. And I like that you were able to admit some very descriptive differences between Ivanovic (innocent determination) and Zvonareva (hunched resourcefulness).

I saw the second set only. I thought it was a ghastly spectacle, mostly on account of the windy conditions. Did anyone notice that Ana's lone ace came after her second serve being so short and against the wind that it actually bounced TWICE before Vera could get to it!!! Vera even ended up tripping herself up trying to retrieve the shot. First time I ever saw such a thing at this level.

wow, why so mean?

CTJam,
Yes, that was the ugliest ace I ever saw and Vera's attempt to get to the ball. Wind was the winner in this match.

You were lucky to see the finals as Foxsports in our area of Michigan didn't even carry it! The Tennis Channel wouldn't have been any better as it is not available in southwestern Michigan except on Direct TV (cable channels say it is too expensive to offer).

Women's tennis is in a holding period, waiting for the new iconic player (and style) to appear. As long as everyone plays the exact same way, only the mentally toughest (ie Serena, Venus, Sharapova) will be the most successful.

Long live Henin...

Has anyone noticed that March30th, Safina is going to take over Sareena in the ranking. However, she can not become #1 or cna she become #1 for recrods?

"the four WTA semifinalists—and almost everyone else in the draw, for that matter—pounded the ball from the baseline, wielded two-handed backhands, and approached the net only when they were blown there accidentally (the three missing stars, Venus, Serena, and Maria, fit all those categories as well)."

Steve, do u really think that Serena and Venus only approaches the net accidentally? have you really seen them play? Serena and Venus are the powerhouse of WTA today and no one can match them especially when sharapova is missing who can go toe to toe with them...

Sigh.

And here I thought this was going to be an in-depth write up on Vera's journey from headcase to WTA rock. Maybe a mention of her work with Sam Sumich. Perhaps a thematic reference to her graduate studies in international relations?

But no. Just more WTA bashing.

Bummer.

@ C Note. Peter Bodo offered something more subtle in a recent ESPN entry ("Time is ripe for mentally mature Zvonareva.")

Not to slight your own entry, Steve, but I did really like how Pete distinguished Zvonareva's style from Safina's, for example, and made connections to Svetlana and Justine. I think it's the way forward in analyzing and appreciating the current women's game.

Very disappointed in this article. What I saw on Sunday were 2 women who tried to play a match not only against each other but against the natural forces of nature. One triumphed and the other did not. They both tried different tactics, including trying to keep the points short in order that the wind would not be much of a factor. Vera prevailed in what I thought was a very well played match and congrats to her. Ana was I think 10/15 points won on net approaches yesterday. While she may have missed some of her approach shots as well as her volleys, she had a game plan as a result of the weather and even though she did not get the win, more power to her.
While I am not a fan of men's tennis, I stuck around and watched the men's match and all I have to say is while Vera had a game plan, clearly Andy Murray, the so-called greatest thinking tennis player in history could only muster up 3 games in what can only be described as "kick ass and take no names" manner. He had absolutely no idea what to do save and except for crushing the ball to Nadal's backhand and when that did not work he started mouthing off on the umpire about a let that should have been called. Clearly, Andy Murray needs to go the school of VeraZ - how to keep your emotions in check whilst playing a tennis match.

Many sports (and sporting positions, i.e. goaltending) are now much more of a science than an art. There is a way to play, that you don't have to subscribe to, but if you play someone who does and does it well, you'll very probably lose. How many flamboyant stars can beat the disciplined stars on more than just the rare occasion? Re:the WTA, all I can say is that I miss Justine...she combined all of the attributes that makes the game so appealing and did it at the highest level...flare AND brains.

Link to this article on the TENNIS.com homepage:
"WTA bashing baseliner of the week"

Excuse me?

Agree with CNote, Karen & Tennis Fan,
this article was a big diappointment.

lame article. it's like you all don't even care about the wta. atleast try and pretend to care about vera's great accomplishment. she played excellent tennis. i don't care if it was windy, she played wonderful tennis despite this. get your act together steve. you don't have many fans at the moment.

WOW Steve way to write a nice essay on rafa but write this tiny poor blip on vera. way to be prejudiced. i hope you weren't payed to write this garbage!

This article is a peice of horse shit. Seriously Steve. Were you payed to write this crap? Atleast PRETEND to care about the WTA and the many talented women apart of it. You leave me annoyed and confused.

Steve, you can't write worth a damn. Incase you were wondering many of us like to hear about the atp and the WTA. did you ever think of this? come of us like to follow both men and WOMEN. i don't understand why you would write something like this. it's boring, disrespectful and pathetic. i seriously hope you weren't payed to write something like this. does anyone read what you write after your finished? you may want to get someone to do this. just my opinion. please READ your comments and you'll see that i'm not the only one offended and upset.

Frankly I don't give a crap how the women act on/off court. We have established that all women have different personalities. WOOPEE. My five year old son knows this. Now can you please write something reguarding the match. You don't have a problem talking relentlessly about Rafa, which I understand to a certain extent because he is amazing...but try talking about the women a bit more. And please sound like you care.

Well this article was forced. I'll write you a better article for free. I don't have a problem with taking a couple of minutes to do so. I think many of us could do a lot better than you.

Your personality is what's lacking, Steve. Not the ladies of the WTA.

I can see that many posters were ayed by this ppiece, and I can see why.

But the comment that I appreciated the most was from azinna who pointed out that the popular serve and volley, OHBH style of another era could be described as just as boringly as the play of the current hard-hitting baseliners.

In fact,if you were so inclined, you could take almost any style of tennis and write about it as if it were deadly boring and repetitious: serve, run to net, volley or get passed; serve, run to net, volley or get passed etc etc. LOL

You can do better, Steve!

Steve,
Taking another look at the article and I can see why fellow posters were not happy. First half of the article was pretty good telling us how the players had to deal with the windy conditions but I was hoping that the second half was going to be about Vera finally winning her first major Premier title and how she overcame some obstacles and/or talking about her good play since 2008 United States Open.

I think this article over generalizes way too much where the women's game is concerned. Andy Murray is the only guy with a style different from Fed/Nadal/Djokovic and co. in the top of the men's game who has been able to distinguish himself, yet he still has not won a slam.

Sure the WTA has its issues, but it has more to do with mentality and less to do with game.

Players like Venus, Serena, Ana, Maria...who have won slams recently are extremely powerful baseliners and that is being diminished as some easy task. Moreso, these players have been able to win, by not "just bashing the ball" as a comment above dismissively states.

Venus is great at net, and most times, does incorporate it into her game. So does Serena.

Furthermore, Serena is a player who is extremely smart when it comes to varying pace and angles. Have you watched any of their matches.

Did you see the dismantling that Maria did to JH in AO 08? More than the democraticized play, as you call it.

Sure, there are those who ball bash, etc...but there is Momo. There was JH. Players will come and go, and there may be another type, like an A. Radwanska who will come into her own with a unique, "Andy Murray-like" style of play.

I agree with most of the sentiment here.

I think more thought went into Vera's game plan than Andy's, and certainly more thought than was put into this article.

I'm calling all journalists of this sport to jump off the bandwagon and post a good analysis of the WTA, siting the good and bad.

Certainly the players who have won slams the past year and a half have displayed more tactic than "accidentally" being blown to the net.

True enough, that there are more baseliners, but since we insist on comparing the men to the women, the ATP has its share of baseliners FOR SURE.

Murray has a good game, but he has yet to win a slam, yet he is being praised...fine.

The women do not play his style simply because it is ineffective, unless you're a JH type. Those kinds of players do not come about easily.

I was hoping that you wouldn't place Venus or Serena in tow with the rest of the WTA.

1. If it aint broke, don't fix it. Whatever you call their style of play, they have been extremely successful. I see no need for them to change anything.

2. They are not just base-liners, and particularly Serena has shown an improved tennis IQ with varying pace, using angles, etc. Venus is second to no one when it comes to net play...but No, she isn't a serve and volleyer.

3. Sharapova's dismantling of JH in AO 08 is particularly a stand out performance of power player using more than power but touch to get the job done. And it, along with JH's losses to Safina and Serena later that year, are reasons why her style of play can only be sustained so long.

4. Passing shots

5. It was this style of play that ushered in a new dawn of women's tennis, increasing its popularity and making it exciting to the casual viewer.

6.Why are players like Mauresmo and A. Radwanska overlooked? One of which is just outside the top ten

I agree with most of the sentiment here.

I think more thought went into Vera's game plan than Andy's, and certainly more thought than was put into this article.

I'm calling all journalists of this sport to jump off the bandwagon and post a good analysis of the WTA, siting the good and bad.

Certainly the players who have won slams the past year and a half have displayed more tactic than "accidentally" being blown to the net.

True enough, that there are more baseliners, but since we insist on comparing the men to the women, the ATP has its share of baseliners FOR SURE.

Murray has a good game, but he has yet to win a slam, yet he is being praised...fine.

The women do not play his style simply because it is ineffective, unless you're a JH type. Those kinds of players do not come about easily.

I was hoping that you wouldn't place Venus or Serena in tow with the rest of the WTA.

1. If it aint broke, don't fix it. Whatever you call their style of play, they have been extremely successful. I see no need for them to change anything.

2. They are not just base-liners, and particularly Serena has shown an improved tennis IQ with varying pace, using angles, etc. Venus is second to no one when it comes to net play...but No, she isn't a serve and volleyer.

3. Sharapova's dismantling of JH in AO 08 is particularly a stand out performance of power player using more than power but touch to get the job done. And it, along with JH's losses to Safina and Serena later that year, are reasons why her style of play can only be sustained so long.

4. Passing shots

5. It was this style of play that ushered in a new dawn of women's tennis, increasing its popularity and making it exciting to the casual viewer.

6.Why are players like Mauresmo and A. Radwanska overlooked? One of which is just outside the top ten

sorry for the double posts...
i thought neither went through.
i make the same points in all 3

Maybe the WTA would be taken more seriously if one couldn't get into the top ten with second serves that are an embarrasment. See Dementiava, Ivanovic, etc.

I've been lucky enough to see players like Virginia Wade, BJKing, Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffe Graf, A-S Vicario, Conchita Martinez, Maria Bueno, Martina Hingis.

So, after these predecessors, WTA tennis has devolved to where Dementieva can make the top ten with serving that has often been embarassing (altho it has been better of late).

When the WTA puts out a considerably better product, I might take the above criticisms of Mr. Tignor more seriously.