The Absence of the Slice in the WTA

In the past, the slice backhand used to be a shot that nearly every player had in their arsenal. Steffi Graf used to slice 99% of her backhands. However, nowadays, there are very few players who the use slice unless they are at full stretch trying to retrieve a ball. This article will explain the slice and try to figure out why the slice is going the way of the Dodo in the women's game.

Spain Triumphs in Final Week of Clay

Today, two Spanish veterans triumphed in the final two clay tournaments of the year. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez won Bad Gastein and Anabel Medina Garrigues won Palermo. I really don't care about either of them, so lets talk about what else happened in this past week.

Bad Tennis in Bad Gastein

I think I'm cursed. Whoever I give my resounding vote of confidence to always forgets how to play tennis. Last week, I said that no one would be able to stop Wozniacki from picking up yet another tournament, but she retired after winning a match. Now, in Bad Gastein, Goerges proved that my predictions hold little water.

Earlier today, Julia Goerges, the defending champion, top seed and clear favorite for the title, lost in three sets to Laura Pous-Tio, a player ranked 75 spots below her, 6-1 2-6 6-1. Pous-Tio still has not won a single match at a grand slam and had only ended the year in the top 100 twice. (2006 and 2005)

Although one could say that Goerges simply tanked the match so that she could get some rest before the US Open series, said person would have trouble explaining what had happened to the rest of the top players at Bad Gastein. At Bad Gastein, the top eight ranked players were given seeds. Out of those eight seeds, only one seed, the relatively unknown 61st ranked eighth seeded Ksenia Pervak, advanced past the first round. Although the sixth seed, Simona Halep has yet to play, those results are pretty embarrassing.

So who's my new pick for the title? Normally, I'd give my pick to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez as she's a fabulous clay court player who cracked the top 20 when she won Rome in 2010, but because all the favorites are dropping like flies, I'll give my pick to Dia Evtimova who I didn't even know existed until I scanned the Bad Gastein Draw.

In Palermo, however, things look to be going better for the seeds with all eight of them advancing. One notable victory happened yesterday when 2010 Wimbledon Semifinalist and 2011 Wimbledon Quarterfinalist Tsvetana Pironkova beat Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 6-2 7-5. What was so notable about this win? It was one of Pironkova's only wins outside of Wimbledon this year. Maybe she has finally learned how to play tennis outside SW19. One can only hope that she can turn the rest of the year around and live up to her potential so that she won't be forever remembered as the girl who beat Venus Williams three times.

Wimbledon Semifinal Picks- Part II

[4] Victoria Azarenka vs [8] Petra Kvitova

Victoria Azarenka can now tell her haters to shut up. Many of them were complaining that she didn't deserve to be number four in the world without reaching a grand slam semifinal. Now she's done just that, and she has a great opportunity to get even farther. She's the highest ranked player left in the draw. She showed some excellent tennis against Paszek in the quarterfinals. She was creaming the ball and kept her error count low. She hits solidly off both sides and isn't a terrible mover compared to Kvitova. She isn't amazing at net, but then again, who is these days? She has an okay first serve, but her second serve is attackable. Her mental game is what seems suspect. Although she has improved significantly in that regard, she has never been to a grand slam semifinal, so no one knows how she'll handle the moment.

With her victory over Pironkova, Petra Kvitova has proven that she is no one slam wonder. She has one of the best forehands in women's tennis, and her backhand is quite strong as well. Although her serve won't be setting any speed records, it is a force to be reckoned with. She has a great flat serve, and her slice serve gets her a lot of aces too. In her quarterfinal match against Pironkova, Kvitova served nine aces, only one less ace than the ten aces that Azarenka has served during the whole tournament. Her return of serve is excellent as well, and she will be looking to attack the Azarenka second serve.

In order for Azarenka to win this match, she has to come in with multiple game plans. She knows that she won't be able to out-muscle Kvitova, so she will need to add variety to her game and try to make Kvitova move. If she resorts to hitting the ball as hard she can, she fall to Kvitova in a Wickmayer-esque fashion. However, if she can make Kvitova uncomfortable, her reward will be numerous errors from Kvitova and a spot in the finals.

Kvitova has a different route to the finals. She can overpower Azarenka and punish her second serve. She can hit penetrating shots and work the net. However, she needs to keep herself from choking. If she can do that, she will get to her first major final.

Although this is a tough decision, I think that Kvitova will tough it out in either two or three very close sets.

[8] Petra Kvitova vs [32] Tsvetana Pironkova

Petra Kvitova def Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3 6-7(5) 6-2

The Kvitova-Pironkova match should have been on center court. It was a battle between Wimbledon 2010's two losing semifinalists. However, the AELTC decided to put this match on Court 1 so that Maria Sharapova could defeat Dominika Cibulkova with a double breadstick.

The match started out like I thought it would. Kvitova raced ahead breaking Pironkova's serve and holding her own. She got to a 5-1 lead before Pironkova staged a mini comeback broke Kvitova's serve before Kvitova closed out the set 6-3.
Then it all started to go wrong for Kvitova. She lost the next set 6-7 getting broken along the way. However, she regrouped and won the third set 6-2.

Pironkova didn't really do anything wrong in the match. She was able to stretch Kvitova to three sets using her varied play. Pironkova got a lot of balls back, and her slice stayed low and got her a lot of errors from Kvitova's racket. So she can tell herself that she still had an amazing Wimbledon reaching her second consecutive quarterfinal and going out in style.
Kvitova can take some positives from the match as well. Although she didn't win the second set, she was able to improve her game slightly before the third set. However, she does need to work on a plan B. When things weren't going her way in the second set, she continued to make silly error after silly error. She also needs to work on her net play some more as she gave away some silly points at net. Other than that, she can go into her next match knowing that she plays Azarenka. Azarenka doesn't have the weapons to overpower Kvitova like Serena did in 2010, and she doesn't have the variety to annoy Kvitova like Pironkova did. Hopefully Kvitova doesn't choke since she has a great chance to get to the finals of a major and win it.

Wimbledon Quarterfinal Predictions- Part I

[24] Dominika Cibulkova vs [5] Maria Sharapova
Cibulkova came back from a terrible first set against Wozniacki today to win in three- 1-6 7-6 (5) 7-5. She hits the ball quite hard. But so does Maria Sharapova who demolished Peng Shuai in straight sets 6-4 6-2 to advance to her first Wimbledon quarterfinal in five years. Although Cibulkova has gotten the better in their two most recent matches, the two have never played on grass where Sharapova is the superior player. Sharapova will advance in three well contested sets.

Sabine Lisicki vs [9] Marion Bartoli
This match is a tossup. I don't know who will win. Both hit the ball hard and have effective serves. I'll give it to Lisicki in three on the grounds that she can serve her way out of trouble more effectively than Bartoli can. However, if Pierce Brosnan shows up, Lisicki will lose in two sets.

Tamira Paszek vs [4] Victoria Azarenka
I should be honest. Until she defeated Francesca Schiavone in the third round, I had forgotten who Tamira Paszek was. I still haven't seen her play very much. But from what I have seen, I've noticed that she has improved her fitness and has solid strokes. Victoria Azarenka has blossomed this year winning two titles and rising to a career high rank of four. Known for her shrieking and her tendency to retire during matches, Azarenka will want to continue her success in 2011 by reaching her first major semifinal. She knows that this is as good an opportunity as any seeing as she faces an unseeded player who had never reached a quarterfinal of a major before.

[8] Petra Kvitova vs [32] Tsvetana Pironkova
Today, Tsvetana Pironkova proved two things to the world. She can play on grass, and she can beat Venus Williams. Her forehand has improved from last year, and her slice forehand stayed low and drew errors from Venus. Her backhand is quite solid, and her first serve was fast and well placed.
However, Kvitova played an amazing match as well demolishing the 19th seed Yanina Wickmayer 6-0 6-2. One stat about this match that really stood out was the percent of points that Kvitova won on her first serve- 94%. It's no wonder she didn't face a single break point during the match.
Kvitova can definitely overpower Pironkova. Kvitova serves better and hits harder off both wings. She is also no slouch at net. Because of her hard groundstrokes, she can often come into net to finish off points. However, if Pironkova can take Kvitova out of her groove by mixing things up with slices and moonballs, she might be able to pull off the upset. However the match lies on Kvitova's racket.
Now that Serena and Venus are out, Petra Kvitova must be regarded as one of the favorites to win the title. She will definitely be favored to win this match and get to the semifinals of Wimbledon for the second time in a row. I'll give Pironkova eight games max.

The Men's quarterfinal predictions will be coming soon.

Wimbledon Day 7 Previews Part I- WTA

I wasn't able to watch Wimbledon today as I had a busy day, but since there are no match analyses, I'll do extra predictions.

Venus Williams [23] vs Tsvetana Pironkova [32]
Last year, in a shocking upset, the unseeded Pironkova beat the second seeded Venus in the Quarterfinals 6-2 6-3. She has a good serve and a good backhand. This year, her forehand seems a little stronger, but it still isn't a weapon by any means. She isn't terrible at net either.

The reason why she beat Venus last year was because Venus was a wreck. Venus had 7 more unforced errors than winners. She didn't capitalize on her amazing first serve; she won less than 60 percent of points where she got her first serve in. She also won only 53 percent of the points where she went up to net. However, this is a new year. Even though she hasn't played much, she showed great mental strength in her defeat of Date-Krumm and showed that she hasn't lost her game when she routed Martinez-Sanchez. I still think that she will get her revenge in two hard fought sets. However, I wouldn't be upset if I were wrong.

Marion Bartoli [9] vs Serena Williams [9]
Personally, I think that this match should also be on Center Court. It has much more potential than the Nadal Del-Potro match. Obviously Serena Williams is the favorite going into this match. However, she is struggling with her fitness. Although it wasn't as apparent in her match today with Kirilenko, she has been huffing and puffing her way through the first week. One person who gave Serena a lot of trouble was Rezai, an inconsistent but hard hitting player. Rezai, when she was on, was able to move Serena around the court. However, Rezai wasn't able to keep up the pressure and take advantage of Serena's lack of fitness.

However, Bartoli can definitely push Serena to the limit. She takes the ball early and hits it hard and flat off both sides. Because she hits with two hands off both sides, she can get great angles on her shots. Her game works well on grass; her 2007 run to the Wimbledon Final is evidence of that. I think that she can definitely take a set off of Serena. But I think that eventually, in spite of her fitness issues, Serena will come out on top.

Wimbledon Day 5 Previews

Feliciano Lopez vs Andy Roddick [8]
Roddick will really need his serve to be on. He has been relying on it to get through matches. (But then again, why should we be surprised?) His backhand is still kind of crappy since he doesn't always make the best decisions with it. (Namely slicing when he's on the offensive)
Lopez is a lefty which means that his serve will be going to the Roddick backhand. He is also good at net. Like Roddick, he prefers his forehand to his backhand. He often slices his backhand, and even when he doesn't, it isn't that great.
Although I'd say that both have a chance at winning, Roddick will come out the victor in three or four sets.

Victoria Azarenka [4] vs Daniela Hantuchova [25]
The much awaited match between Azarenka and Hantuchova-both retired last week at Eastbourne, but I think that they both retired for preventative reasons and to get more rest.
It's definitely a winnable match for both women. They are both pretty good ballstrikers. I'm not really sure who will win though. It all depends on who shows up. If Hantuchova comes to Center Court tomorrow, then Azarenka will go on to the fourth round. However, if Danielle Anotoxfa comes to play, then I'd say Vika is doomed.

Tsevetana Pironkova [32] vs Vera Zvonareva [2]
This is a rematch of last year's semifinal where Zvonareva took the match 3-6 6-3 6-2. Both have good serves in terms of placement, and both have good backhands. However, Pironkova's forehand is quite weak. She hasn't been doing well this year, but she does tend to bring it all at Wimbledon. I'm going to go with Zvonareva on this one though.

Wimbledon Womens Predictions for the tournament

Although Wimbledon is already well underway, I'm going to post my predictions for the WTA.

Quarterfinalists:
Wozniacki-Although she isn't the greatest player on grass (or at all, but that's for another post all together) she has a good draw with her two biggest threats coming in the fourth round with Cibulkova and Goerges, two women who hit the ball quite hard and have both beaten her this year.

Sharapova-Since the only threat that she has in her draw is Peng, she should get to the quarterfinals with ease.

Li-Although she has a tough second round match with Lisicki, she is still an amazing ball striker. However, Roland Garros champions tend not to fare well at Wimbledon a few weeks later.

Serena-Even though she's been out for eleven months, she is still Serena. She has a tough customer in Bartoli in the fourth round, but if she can shake the rust in her game, she should be fine.

Petkovic-I gotta be honest. I had Makarova getting to the quarters in this relatively weak eighth of the draw on the grounds that she won Eastbourne in 2010 and has a good game for grass. But she lost to McHale in the first round, so I'm going with Andrea Petkovic who has been in the quarterfinals of both majors this year.

Azarenka-Azarenka has a good shot at reaching the quarterfinals in a major if she can stay healthy. The one person who can stop her is Daniella Hantuchova, otherwise known as Danielle Anotoxfa. She got to the finals of Birmingham defeating Ana Ivanovic and Venus Williams before losing to Sabine Lisicki. If she doesn't choke, she can definitely beat Azarenka in the third round.

Kvitova-Kvitova is a great player who hits the ball very hard and very deep. She got to the semifinals of Wimbledon last year before falling to Serena. There isn't really anyone who can beat her in this eighth than herself.

Zvonareva-This final eighth of the draw is probably one of the strongest with Venus Williams, Vera Zvonareva and Tsvetana Pironkova. Interesting matches will be a rematch of last year's Wimbledon semifinal coming in the third round and a match between the winner of that one and Venus Williams. I'd say that Zvonareva has the edge to get to the quarters on the grounds of Venus's lack of match play.

Semifinalists:

Sharapova-If she can minimize her double faults and her unforced errors, she'll be a force to be reckoned with. She has defeated Wozniacki in the past, and on grass, she'll have an even bigger advantage.

Serena-This was a really tough one to predict, but I think that Serena will have shaken off her rust by the quarterfinals and will prove to be too tough a challenge for Li. However, I think that the winner of this match has a great shot at winning the whole thing.

Azarenka-If she can get past her third round match against Hantuchova, she has a great shot at reaching her maiden semifinal.

Kvitova-She is such a great ballstriker that whoever she faces will have quite a lot of trouble dealing with her.

Finalists:

Serena-It's Serena... on grass... She has such mental toughness and can even overpower Sharapova. She beat her last year at Wimbledon as well.

Kvitova-She can beat anyone in the third quarter of the draw with ease.

Winner:

Serena-Although Kvitova can definitely challenge Serena in almost every aspect of her game, Serena is a 13 time grand slam champion and knows how deal with that pressure. However, as seen in last year's semifinal, Kvitova can put pressure on Serena, and if she can deal with the pressure, she might be the next winner of the Venus Rosewater Dish.