From: U58476@uicvm.uic.edu
Newsgroups: rec.sport.tennis
Subject: Re: Monica's Prime??
Date: 16 Dec 92 19:46:56 GMT
 <1992Dec15.203757.11550@cs.wisc.edu>
 <1992Dec15.215754.29037@cbnewsh.cb.att.com>
 <1992Dec16.022801.25078@cs.wisc.edu>
Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago

In article <1992Dec16.022801.25078@cs.wisc.edu>, solodov@monterey1.cs.wisc.edu
(Mikhail V. Solodov) says:
>
>In article <1992Dec15.215754.29037@cbnewsh.cb.att.com> shun@cbnewsh.cb.att.com
>(shun.cheung) writes:
>>In article <1992Dec15.203757.11550@cs.wisc.edu> solodov@monterey1.cs.wisc.edu
>(Mikhail V. Solodov) writes:
>>
>>There are a number of ways to beat Seles. Capriati beats her by
>>matching power with power. Of course, Capriati simply doesn't have
>>the consistency and accuracy to achieve that more than just once in
>>a while. If you watch the Seles vs. Novotna match at the VS Championship,
>>the low-bounce slice on fast surfaces especially to Seles' forehand side
>>gives her lots of trouble. Seles needs the high bounce to play her
>>two-handed ground strokes effectively. That was also the main reason
>>why Seles lost so badly to Graf at Wimbledon. Of course, not too many
>>players can exploit these weaknesses on any consistent bases at this
>>point, but it is a matter of time that Seles' problem will appear.
>>Remember just a few years ago Graf appeared to be so invincible and
>>mentally tough?
>>--
>>-- Shun Cheung,    electronic: shun.cheung@att.com    voice: (908) 615-5135
>
>   well, I agree to some extent. However :
>Capriati beats Seles occasionally rather than consistently, so
>this doesn't seem to be the way to go.
>   Nobody likes to face low-bounce slice. but I believe it to be
>basically a defensive shot and hope that it won't help the player
>who tend to use it to often. Yes, it's really effective on grass.
>but since very few events are played on grass, this won't bother
>Seles as far as her #1 ranking is concerned.

One thing perhaps you have forgotten is that Steffi Graf beats Seles
USUALLY unlike Capriati's "occassional."  Steffi is 6-3 against Monica, &
has beaten her 3 of the 4 times they have played in the past two years, when
Steffi has supposedly (even by her own admission) been "not as mentally tough"
as she used to be...& this year's French Open final could have gone either
way, as Monica herself was quick to admit.   I don't agree that low-bouncing
slices are basically defensive shots: Monica looks pretty defensive when she
is faced with having to scoop up Steffi's slices.  It's not just a matter of
grass: Steffi's slice has been effective & has enabled her to beat Monica on
all four surfaces, while Monica has beaten Steffi only on clay, where obviously
Steffi's shots will bounce higher up into Monica's "comfort zone."   And about
the #1 ranking, according to the computer, if Steffi wins the Australian Open
& the Pan Pacific, she will be #1 inlate February even if Monica wins the VS
of Chicago.  IMHO, the chances for her doing that are only so-so, but it shows
that unless Steffi bungles it big time (eg loses earlier in Melbourne, Paris,
& Wimbledon), Monica is not as secure at #1 as people think.  And even if Graf
never gets it back, someone else will come along: no one is invincible.

>   Even when Graf dominated the game she had too many weak spots ,
>in my opinion , anyway. Her backhand  and her passing shots (from
>both sides) deserve to be ranked #50 or so. Of course, she has
>outstanding forehand, but when the player runs around to play forehand
>all the time ,it (again, in my opinion) just ruins the harmony of tennis.
>This should backfire, and I am glad it did.

In my opinion, Monica has more weak spots than Steffi has.  Monica's problems
were glaringly obvious during the Wimbledon final: the drop shots, the
angled shots that pull her wide, the slices to her forehand, the shots that
force her to hit one-handed, all the limitations of two-handed hitting.  Monica
grew up hitting two-handed, & although she's been trying one-handed shots more
often, they don't have much punch to them.  With the young players coming up
hitting harder & harder these days, Monica may be forced more & more to hit
one-handed, & this could eventually backfire.  Right now, even though the
players may know what to do against Monica, not many can do it often enough, if
at all, to beat her (except for Graf & sometimes Navratilova).  But that was
also the case with Graf in '87-'90: the weaknesses (eg backhand passing shots)
were always there, but few at that time could exploit them.
Natasha
Newsgroups: rec.sport.tennis