I think perhaps there are two military situations Martina might well study.
The Vietnamese at Dien Bien Phu.
The Israelis at the Golan Heights.
In both cases, the problem was height.
The French occupied a valley ('a hole' their commander called it), named Dien Bien Phu. It was surrounded by steep ravines, and the French were certain that the Vietnamese could not mount heavy artillery on the ravine walls. They walls were virtually vertical, and it was jungle. That being the case, it was a highly defensible position. Sort of like a power player facing Hingis from the baseline. "I can kill you from here, and you can't touch me. And you can't get to net to hurt me."
The Vietnamese literally dragged artillery pieces up the cliff-face by hand, and dug into the cliffs to mount them. And ran the French out of Vietnam, as they had the Chinese before them, and the Americans after them. (The Vietnamese have proven themselves nasty little buggers for 3000 years. You'd think foreigners would get the idea, and stay the fuck out.)
The Isrealis had the opposite problem. They had to crawl up the cliff-face with Syrian artillery shooting at them. YOuhave to understand, the cliffs up to the Golan Heights is not an area with a lot of cover. The Israelis knew they'd take potentially HEAVY losses getting up there. But if they didn't, the Syrians could and would shell Israeli military positions/settlements with impunity.
In the Vietnamese, we have classic net play. If you get to the net, the advantages of you bigger, stronger opponent are neutralized.
The Isrealis show the problem. You're VULNERABLE when you're climbing the cliff, or approaching the net. You have to be willing to absorb casualties. Or, in tennis terms, you're gonna get passed, so decide if winning is worth that.
Martina has the shots to beat power play. Its her volleys. The problem is getting off the baseline.
But if the Vietnamese and the Israelis had stayed onthe baseline, Vietnam would still be a French colony, and Israel quite possibly wouldn't exist at all.
The Vietnamese at Dien Bien Phu.
The Israelis at the Golan Heights.
In both cases, the problem was height.
The French occupied a valley ('a hole' their commander called it), named Dien Bien Phu. It was surrounded by steep ravines, and the French were certain that the Vietnamese could not mount heavy artillery on the ravine walls. They walls were virtually vertical, and it was jungle. That being the case, it was a highly defensible position. Sort of like a power player facing Hingis from the baseline. "I can kill you from here, and you can't touch me. And you can't get to net to hurt me."
The Vietnamese literally dragged artillery pieces up the cliff-face by hand, and dug into the cliffs to mount them. And ran the French out of Vietnam, as they had the Chinese before them, and the Americans after them. (The Vietnamese have proven themselves nasty little buggers for 3000 years. You'd think foreigners would get the idea, and stay the fuck out.)
The Isrealis had the opposite problem. They had to crawl up the cliff-face with Syrian artillery shooting at them. YOuhave to understand, the cliffs up to the Golan Heights is not an area with a lot of cover. The Israelis knew they'd take potentially HEAVY losses getting up there. But if they didn't, the Syrians could and would shell Israeli military positions/settlements with impunity.
In the Vietnamese, we have classic net play. If you get to the net, the advantages of you bigger, stronger opponent are neutralized.
The Isrealis show the problem. You're VULNERABLE when you're climbing the cliff, or approaching the net. You have to be willing to absorb casualties. Or, in tennis terms, you're gonna get passed, so decide if winning is worth that.
Martina has the shots to beat power play. Its her volleys. The problem is getting off the baseline.
But if the Vietnamese and the Israelis had stayed onthe baseline, Vietnam would still be a French colony, and Israel quite possibly wouldn't exist at all.