From: shun@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (shun.cheung)
Subject: Re: Monica's Prime??
Organization: AT&T
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 03:38:11 GMT

In article <1992Dec16.224652.11984@cs.wisc.edu> solodov@monterey1.cs.wisc.edu (Mikhail V. Solodov) writes:
>In article <92351.134656U58476@uicvm.uic.edu> <U58476@uicvm.uic.edu> writes:

>>One thing perhaps you have forgotten is that Steffi Graf beats Seles
>>USUALLY unlike Capriati's "occassional."  Steffi is 6-3 against Monica, &

Actually, Capriati has given Seles lots of trouble more than occasionally.
If I remember it correctly, Capriati was 1-2 vs. Seles last year and
1-1 this year. Both of last year's losses were close, especially the
one at the US Open. Given that Capriati is still very erratic, her game
obviously matches up very well against Seles. In other words, one can
beat Seles with power.

>>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,

That is exactly my point. Capriati is just an example. Two other
maturing power players are Anke Huber (#11) and Mary Pierce (#13).
Actually I pick those two to join the top 10 next year although
I am not exactly crazy about the way they play. All of these teenagers
don't have much of a game and are very erratic right now, but they,
along with other newcomers, will provide a lot of challenge to Seles
in a year or so.

>What I don't like in Steffi's game particularly is that constant
>running around the ball to hit the forehand and using slice every
>time she doesn't have the time to run around. Unnatural, against
>all the inner rules of the game, and ... dosn't look pretty ( to me,

Have you ever watched the Martina-Graf Wimbledon finals from 1988
and 1989, or the Sabatini-Graf Wimbledon semi this year? Graf has
demonstrated that she has a very good top-spin backhand as well as
a good (but not great) net game. IMO, Graf's backhand is one of
the most under-rated shots. Her slice is among the best and is very
effective against baseliners, especially those with two-handed backhand
such as Seles, Sanchez, Mary Joe, etc. What's wrong with using
the slice if it works? Graf runs around excessively mainly on slower
surfaces. Courier also has a tendency to run around when he has the
time to do so, and he is #1 in the world. Whether that is "pretty"
or not is very subjective. Seles' two-handed forehand is a lot more
unorthodox and against the inner rules of the game, but it works for her,
at least for now.

>    Another point. The main reason that Graf still has the positive
>record against Seles is that the first usually doesn't get to the
>final when they do play in the same event. Just consider the fact
>that Seles has taken 6 of the 7 Grand Slams she participated in
>in the last 2 years. Plus 2 VS Championships.
>And she is still 3-6 against Graf... This pretty much tells the story.

All that proves is that Seles has better consistency than Graf,
especially in the major events. That is why Seles is #1. However,
head to head, Graf has a clear advantage. Actually, Graf's main
problem comes from the serve and volleyers, or at least those who can
attack from the net. Just count her losses in the past two years,
most of them came from Sabatini (6 times), Novotna (3), Martina (1)
and more recently McNeil (1). Graf has lost only four matches to
baseliners: Sanchez (2), Seles (1), and Capriati (1). Keep in mind
that there are a lot more baseliners in women's tennis. One way to
look at it is that these serve-and-volleyers have cleared the way for
Seles' success. But that is another controversial topic.
-- 
-- Shun Cheung,    electronic: shun.cheung@att.com    voice: (908) 615-5135
Newsgroups: rec.sport.tennis