From: solodov@monterey1.cs.wisc.edu (Mikhail V. Solodov)
Subject: Re: Monica's Prime??
Organization: University of Wisconsin, Madison -- Computer Sciences Dept.
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 22:46:52 GMT

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, &
>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.
> .....................
>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

    Just to clarify a few things. Monica is not my favorite player,
it's just that, IMO, she wins by far the comparison with Graf.
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,
what about you ?). Monica's game in general is far from being complete,
but it IS complete in what she is doing on the court - that is her
baseline game is balanced and spectacular.
    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.
Michael.

Newsgroups: rec.sport.tennis