Foot Fault!

Calling all the lines of professional tennis

Serena’s Back

Last night’s match against Anastasia Rodionova was Serena Williams’ first professional match on US soil since that fateful US Open semifinal, so what did she do? She double bageled her poor opponent (Rodionova deserves no sympathy) before, once again, sticking one and then two fingers in the air, sending another warning to the current top two. She’s back.

Following on from Maria’s complimentary comments about her last week, according to the Tennis ticker, Serena threw some compliments of her own towards her girlfriend rival.

“I really like playing Maria and I really admire her and never giving up and developing the confidence that she has… Always just walking around and having so much aplomb, it’s good. I always admired that, it’s really cool.”

That’s cute. Very cute. But somehow, I have a feeling that if both win their nest match, all of these pleasantries will fly straight out the window and will be replaced by razor sharp claws. And rightly so.

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8 Responses to Serena’s Back

  1. Kimmy July 27, 2011 at 1:33 pm

    No!!! NO NO NO!!! *cries*

    1. How did I miss it?!?!?! stupid medication

    2. There is no Martha/Sarin…that’s evil…you are sick!! LOL

  2. TWD July 27, 2011 at 1:50 pm

    Um, but there isn’t really a rivalry, lol.

    Sharapova hasn’t beaten Serena in almost 7 years, and hasn’t come close to having a match point against her since the 05 Australian Open.

    Serena’s rivals are Venus and Kim, not Maria.

  3. footfaulter July 27, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    I know. But they’re both two of the big favourites for the next few slams, so they’re rivals there. I think they could play quite few times this summer and fall, and I certainly don’t think Serena will win them all.

  4. TWD July 27, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    There are many players in between Serena and Mara as favorites.

    Maria simply is not better right now than Petra, Na, Kim, Vika, Caroline and Venus on fast surfaces. She just isn’t. And she needs favorable draws to help her.

    • footfaulter July 27, 2011 at 6:54 pm

      Petra and Kim? Yes, probably. But not the rest.

      Sharapova is still improving steadily. The slower clay helped her bring her timing back into her strokes and even with her weak WImbledon draw, she was clearly looking far more comfortable with both her groundstrokes and her movement than she has since the comeback. If she continues on the road she’s going then she’ll be a big threat at the US Open than.

      The two grinders have only proven over the past two years that on the biggest stage, there’s just always a player more capable of hitting them off the court, and those players usually bring their best at slams. And as for Venus, well, god only knows…

  5. TWD July 27, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    Vika has won the last 5 sets against her, and Na Li has won the last 6 sets. Venus is always a bad matchup for her when Venus plays well.

    Azarenka lost to Kvitova in 3 sets. No one, except maybe an in form Serena, hits bigger than Petra consistently. Sharapova doesn’t bother her anymore. In fact, Azarenka and Kvitova WERE the best two players left in the final 4 at Wimbledon, and the final match showed that.

    And with Wozniacki, you have to move decently on hardcourts to go along with playing offensive tennis, and Sharapova doesn’t do the former, especially with Wozniacki’s improved serve.

    Sharapova isn’t better than 7 players right now if both plays their best, and especially with how she was in trouble against Robson and in serious trouble against Garcia in the French, I just don’t know how you can say that she’s right there with Serena, when the evidence shows she isn’t at all.

    • footfaulter July 27, 2011 at 10:42 pm

      You talk of Sharapova having a weak draw, but Azarenka’s run to the semis was far easier. She’s one of, I believe, only four women EVER! to reach a GS SF without facing a single top 20 player. And that’s what it took for her to reach the semis. Her match vs Kvitova did go to 3, but Azarenka was completely helpless. She hit a grand total of 1 winner in that set she won, which for an aggressive player is even more appalling. Very misleading.

      Sharapova has had massive problems with her whole game since the comeback, but her groundstrokes are now up at a high level again. The whole idea that her movement is not good enough to win on hard is a non-issue considering she has already won 2 hardcourt slams with her movement. The final piece of the jigsaw and the only part of her game holding her back now is her serve in the deep end of slams. It’s all mental, and if she can get over that final hurdle, she will be a massive contender for the US Open.

      But we’ll see. The great thing about women’s tennis going into the US Open and US Open series is that anyone who thinks they know exactly what will happen is a complete liar. There are so many different possible scenarios with so many names in the mix, both old and new. It really is just a case of watching and waiting.

  6. Marine July 28, 2011 at 12:41 pm

    Well, Sharapova is not my favourite for GS. Yes, she got to the final of Wimbledon but the difficult opponent were knocked out by someone else.

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