Well, we pretty much all look at Serena and think , 'What should [Insert favorite player here] do to raise her game so she can beat Serena at least one out of three'? Or something similar. And before that
What should she do to compete with Venus?
What should she do to compete with Martina?
Yada yada yada
I have a slightly different question.
What WILL they change? We've all seen how our faves approach the game. What do you think your fave will ACTUALLY change between now and OZ in response to Serena's dominance in 2003?
I take a couple players as examples, one fave, two not. Remember, its about predicting what they WILL do, not what you think they SHOULD do.
Venus Williams - It pains me to say this, but I think the answer is, 'not much'. Over the past year, Venus has dialed a lot of the aggression out of her game. I believe she views this as 'cutting down on unforced errors'. She paints the lines a lot more. Her UEs ARE down. She'll ended the year with highest Year-End ranking she's ever had. She's won 7 tournaments so far this year. If Serena wasn't on the tour, her tactics would have to be considered an unqualified success.
But Serena IS on the tour.
I think Venus will work on improving her first serve percentage, and maybe try to add a LITTLE pace to her second, but I think she still believes she plays best defending the baseline, and she'll refuse to try to beat Serena from the net.
Jelena Dokic - Sorry. This is another 'not much'. She'll continue to approach the game as 'Lindsay-lite' (Of course, Lindsay herself is pretty light these days.) Jelena's a stone baseline banger when she under pressure. And I'm sure she won't change the game that made her a top five player.
Amelie Mauresmo - Yet another, 'not much', but for positive reasons. She rebuilt her game over the past two years, and is now finding great success with a transformed style of play. I don't see any 2003 changes, just additional success. A real threat for the OZ title. Remember, she's made the final before.
So that's the sort of answers I'm looking for.
Your Fave in 2003. What she REALLY gonna change?
What should she do to compete with Venus?
What should she do to compete with Martina?
Yada yada yada
I have a slightly different question.
What WILL they change? We've all seen how our faves approach the game. What do you think your fave will ACTUALLY change between now and OZ in response to Serena's dominance in 2003?
I take a couple players as examples, one fave, two not. Remember, its about predicting what they WILL do, not what you think they SHOULD do.
Venus Williams - It pains me to say this, but I think the answer is, 'not much'. Over the past year, Venus has dialed a lot of the aggression out of her game. I believe she views this as 'cutting down on unforced errors'. She paints the lines a lot more. Her UEs ARE down. She'll ended the year with highest Year-End ranking she's ever had. She's won 7 tournaments so far this year. If Serena wasn't on the tour, her tactics would have to be considered an unqualified success.
But Serena IS on the tour.
I think Venus will work on improving her first serve percentage, and maybe try to add a LITTLE pace to her second, but I think she still believes she plays best defending the baseline, and she'll refuse to try to beat Serena from the net.
Jelena Dokic - Sorry. This is another 'not much'. She'll continue to approach the game as 'Lindsay-lite' (Of course, Lindsay herself is pretty light these days.) Jelena's a stone baseline banger when she under pressure. And I'm sure she won't change the game that made her a top five player.
Amelie Mauresmo - Yet another, 'not much', but for positive reasons. She rebuilt her game over the past two years, and is now finding great success with a transformed style of play. I don't see any 2003 changes, just additional success. A real threat for the OZ title. Remember, she's made the final before.
So that's the sort of answers I'm looking for.
Your Fave in 2003. What she REALLY gonna change?