Newsgroup: it.sport.tennis
Titolo: R a timan hope

Lentay Davenport siano piu' forti di Monica e Steffi?
Solo per la prima di quelle che hai nominato, SI'. E così per sostenere
quanto dico, ti mando questo articoletto scritto da (o ripreso da) Chris
Evert, una che mi pare se ne intenda... Temo che sia in inglese ed è pure
formattato male ma è comunque una lettura interessante.
Per la cronaca, io sono ANCORA un tifoso di Monica Seles... Mentre ho sempre
detestato cordialmente la Graf, ma questa è un'altra faccenda. E cosa vuol
dire che la Graf ha pagato indirettamente (per la coltellata)? Ha avuto n
anni di regno libero, questa è la verità. Intendiamoci, ha fatto lo Slam,
quindi tanto di cappello. Ma non so se ce l' avrebbe fatta lo stesso.
PS Quanti tornei del Grande Slam aveva vinto la Graf a 18 anni?
Ciao e leggete sotto!
Andrea Ungaro
semp...@tin.it
ICQ# 28117234
http://hingis.freeweb.org
Hingis has the advantage over Graf!!!!
NBC Sports analyst Chris Evert discusses the action from the French Open.
Get more from Evert at MSNBC Sports. Saturday's women's final will pit
five-time champion Steffi Graf against Martina Hingis, who's looking for
the only Grand Slam title still missing from her trophy case. It'll also be
a bit of a grudge match. Graf feels that Hingis has never given her the
respect she deserves, while Martina feels Steffi has been standoffish and
not very complimentary to her in the press statements. But on the court,
here's how I think they match up.
     PAST RECORD
   Steffi holds a 6-2 advantage in career matches, but this isn't a real
relevant                 statistic, as they've only played twice over the
last two years (in Philadelphia                and Tokyo on carpet), and
split those two matches. But Hingis did tell me she was hoping she'd be
facing Steffi in the final, because Monica Seles is so strong from both
sides of the court that she doesn't give an opponent a safe zone where they
can hit the ball and catch their breath a little.
                   Advantage: Even
       SERVE
I'd have to give Steffi the edge here in power, for both her first and
second serve. I think the wind could affect it, especially her second
serve, but I think she'll find a way to offset its effects. Martina's serve
is decent, and will get more powerful as she gets older and bigger. Right
now, she makes up for it with very good placement. She's also sneaky-fast
like a good baseball pitcher. She might take a little off a few serves,
then really pop one in.
                   Advantage: Graf
    RETURN OF SERVE
   Both players have a great return of serve. They're even here, although
Steffi                has a little problem sometimes returning off her
backhand, and Hingis will target                  that. Hingis has a weaker
second serve, but she might have a better chance to win
the point right away. If she keeps it to Steffi's backhand, Steffi might
just chip it                   back, which is obviously not an aggressive
shot, and Hingis can rush the net and volley exceptionally well.
                   Advantage: Hingis
  VOLLEYS AND TOUCHES
  Hingis has better hands and is a much better volleyer at the net. I think
that                   comes from all her doubles play, where she's won
seven Grand Slam doubles titles with five different partners. That's given
here an incredible instinct on where to place herself on the court. I give
her a big advantage on drop shots, and touch shots. She's got an especially
good underpsin on her drop shots. Steffi's volleys are not bad; they're
just not as good as Martina's, and she doesn't use that part of her game.
                   Advantage: Hingis
  FOREHAND
Give Steffi the edge; she's got the best forehand in the game. And it's
               interesting to note that she'll run around her backhand to
keep the ball on her                   forehand. This is a good tactic if
she's going to hit a winner, but if it doesn't work, a player like Hingis
with a superior backhand will nail it down the line into the part of the
court that Steffi's left open.
                   Advantage: Graf
   BACKHAND
I give Martina the edge here. Hingis has two especially effective
variations                   against Hingis: the down-the-line backhand,
which Gabriela Sabatini and Lindsay Davenport have used to beat Steffi in
the past, and the crosscourt backhand.
                   Advantage: Hingis
  MOBILITY
   Graf is faster, but Hingis anticipates better. And Graf has to be faster
in order                   to cover the three quarters of the court she
leaves open because of her above-mentioned tactic of running around her
backhand. Hingis can't match Steffi stride-for-stride in speed, but she
takes her first step sooner and anticipates where the returns will land.
                   Advantage: Even
FITNESS
Steffi has always been known to be such a fit player, but she's come down
a step from her best days, while Martina, who wasn't among the fittest
players when she started, has improved to the point where I'd call this
category even. Fitness will become a crucial factor if one player controls
the point and forces the other to run around the court. I'd still give
Steffi a slight edge in overall fitness, but because she's had to play more
three-set matches here, Martina will be fresher coming into Saturday's
final.
                   Advantage: Even
INTANGIBLES
I would give Steffi the edge for intensity and focus, but she's also
gotten nervous in some of her matches here, as when she failed to close out
games quickly. Hingis has started better, but she needs to close off her
leads. She can't take them for granted against Steffi -- she has got to
come out and try to finish her quickly.                   Hingis has the
edge in confidence, but she really wants to win this tournament
      for the first time, and now that she's very close to her objective,
she's going to                   feel the pressure more. She complained a
bit today that the crowd complained whenever she asked for line calls in
her match against Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, but she should know that the
ball leaves a pretty definable mark on the clay, and you can't work the
              officials that way, as you might on other surfaces. Steffi
also wants one more French Open title, and she knows how rare a chance this
is so late in her career to still have a shot at one. She's held the top
ranking for so long in her career that she's more interested in Grand Slam
titles.
                   Advantage: Hingis
                   AND THE WINNER IS. . . .
Prediction: Martina is one of the most complete players on the tour
today;she's a natural in almost every aspect of the game. I would compare
her to Wayne Gretzky in the way she sees possibilities and anticipates play
in a way other players in her sport can't match. I would give her the edge.
I don't even think the match will go three sets -- look for Hingis to win
by a score of 6-3, 7-5.
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P.S. L'articolo della Evert mi e' parso quanto di piu' scialbo e partigiano
abbia letto recentemente......insieme a quello che scrive Tommasi dei
tennisti italiani! ;-)))
Del resto sapevo che la Evert, a differenza di McEnroe, e' considerata in
tutti gli States una pessima commentatrice!
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