Complaints about service

Several months ago, I wrote that perhaps I should change the name of this blog to "Women Who Can't Serve." The poor serving and double-faulting on the women's tour has has not stopped, and yesterday, the New York Times featured an article about it. Obviously, when otherwise good players--and good servers--like Sabine Lisicki, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, and Dinara Safina--repeatedly double-fault, the problem is psychological. (Sharapova, perhaps, can be cut a bit of slack because she has changed her service motion.)

One of the U.S. television commentators--I forget who--recently asked "Why now?" Why are players on the tour having so many service problems at this time? It's a good question, and one that deserves discussion. Throughout tennis generations, good players have suffered with service problems--one might painfully recall Gabriela Sabatini--but not in such great numbers and in such great proportions.

I read somewhere the other day that the service coach may be the next specialist in tennis. But would having a service coach solve the psychological problem? Elena Dementieva, who is now serving well most of the time, is an example of just how little the technical aspect may be involved in improving the serve of a top player: When she was having so much trouble, everyone who saw her serve in practice said that her serves were excellent. It was when she actually played in a match that she was unable to execute her serve.

The one top player I can think of whose service problems appeared to be more technical than psychological is Jelena Jankovic. Her serve began to improve a bit in the spring of 2008, and now, it is good enough to get her more points than ever. It is not one of the great serves on the tour, but the improvement is significant.

Billie Jean Kings says it's a mystery to her: "Throw the ball up and hit it," is her answer. Sounds easy, but the errant ball toss to which she refers is not really an arm or shoulder problem, except maybe in the case of Sharapova. It is a head problem, just as failure to close a set or a match (I'm thinking of the world number 1 here) is a head problem. I remain strong in my belief that a few sessions with a good hypnotherapist would do wonders for players like Safina and Ivanovic, but alas--their teams have not consulted one.

U.S. Open--what they said

"...I didn't take months, but it still can affect your game after, like you still struggle with the weakness with the shoulder on the serves and a little bit lose confidence, and you need to play a lot of matches to get into it, find your rhythm, so it took a while still."

Aleksandra Wozniak, discussing her shoulder injury

Do you think they have some flaws in their games or they have been unlucky or they're not there yet?
"Who are you talking about?"
Jankovic, Safina, Dementieva.
"You know what? I don't know. I don't know. Who am I to just--I don't know how they're working. I don't know in what state of mind they are. I don't know how they feel physically. I just you know, they the best, and they can the best choose and see who's better to help them and how and what. It's so personal. I'm glad I'm not a journalist to write on this."

Amelie Mauresmo

How does having an injury, or even if both of your knees are troubling you, affect your mental approach?
"It's hard when it's new, because you're not used to the pain. Then after a while, you start to get used to it, as much as you can get used to pain."

Venus Williams

"(Young) girls are not jocular enough with the serves."

Pam Shriver

(And with good reason...)

"I would take her to a children's hospital and let her meet children with cancer who have no hope left, and show her she needs to use this second chance she's been given."

Nick Bolliettieri, on how he would help Anna Chakvetadze

"You're playing Martinez Sanchez next; have you heard of her?"

Mary Joe Fernandez, interviewing Serena Williams

"You may see someone out here who looks like me but who's not a good mover."

Serena Williams, on the possibility of letting her wax figure fill in for her if she gets tired.

What are your thoughts on the meaning of being number 1? For example, even if Serena Williams wins this tournament, Dinara would remain number 1. What are your thoughts on a system that would have Dinara remain number 1 in that situation?
"You know, it's a matter of being consistent at some point. Unfortunately or fortunately for you guys you have something to write about. She's more consistent than Serena throughout a period of one year. What else can I say? Or you change the ranking system. You just put the Grand Slams really, really high, like many, many points, like ten times more than the other tournaments which are still huge tournaments: Miami, Indian Wells. Those are huge tournaments. Then, okay, you put these tournaments in really back, way, way back, and then you say, Okay, Serena is number 1. Well, I mean, what can I do? What can I say? I saw that Dinara made the statement saying, 'Guys, I'm not making the ranking system. I'm sorry.' She almost has to apologize that she's number 1 now. Give her a break."

Amelie Mauresmo

Radwanska, Bartoli and Stosur say goodbye

14th seed Marion Bartoli won her first set against wild card Kim Clijsters today at the U.S. Open, but after that, it was all Clijsters, who upset Bartoli 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.

Given Clijsters' stature, the more surprising upset was the defeat of 15th seed Samantha Stosur by the unseeded Vania King. Stosur has had an excellent hard court season, but King--who had considerably more going for her on her second serve--took the match 7-5, 6-4.

12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, whose injured hand was heavily wrapped, had to contend with a very in-form Maria Kirilenko. Kirilenko made more unforced errors than Radwanska, but she hit more than twice as many winners. This was the best Kirilenko has played in a long time; she served well, volleyed well, hit the ball hard, and impressed at almost every turn, winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

Aleksandra Wozniak upset 17th seed Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-0, and Kirsten Flipkens upset 20th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 6-3.

Bagels are very popular in New York, and 10th seed Flavia Pennetta delivered a pair to Sania Mirza. Vera Zvonareva won an all-Russian match against Anna Chakvetadze, Jill Craybas played a great first set against Elena Vesnina (Vesnina won the match), and Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka cruised through, and Venus Williams--despite her injury--looked sharp in her victory over Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

No one, however, put on a display of tennis to match that of Li Na, who stunned Michelle Larcher De Brito, 6-1, 6-3, with a virtual tennis clinic.

Ivanovic out in first round of U.S. Open

Last year, when Ana Ivanovic was the top seed at the U.S. Open, she was defeated in the second round. This year, the 11th-seeded Ivanovic lost in the first round to Kateryna Bondarenko, in a third set tiebreak. Ivanovic held a match point in the tiebreak, but could not convert it. Bondarenko double-faulted her first match point, but was able to win the next two points, for a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 victory.

Also making an exit was 16th seed Virginie Razzano, who was defeated 6-4, 6-3 by the not-to-be-underestimated Yanina Wickmayer.

These were not the only upsets. 27th seed Alisa Kleybanova, who made such a splash in Toronto, was defeated by another big hitter, Petra Kvitova. And 32nd seed Agnes Szavay went out after a defeat by Shahar Peer.

The rest of the day was pretty much business as usual, though some of that business was dramatic. Top seed Dinara Safina staged another heart-stopper, and Sabine Lisicki double-faulted and fooled around enough to stretch her match against Aravane Rezai to three sets. Lisicki has to either stop getting injured (the better option) or learn how to regain her mental strength sooner if she has an injury layoff. Having one of the best serves on the tour is not that much of an advantage if you double-fault 16 times. I hope that Lisicki can play her way into this tournament because right now, she is all over the place.

Melanie Oudin impressed by easily knocking off Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who also had trouble with her serve. Gisela Dulko enjoyed a hard-fought win over the other young Russian, Ekaterina Makarova. Maria Sharapova (her 2009 U.S. Open night dress is, in my opinion, one of her greatest), easily defeated Tsvetana Pironkova, and Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva all had straight-set wins.

U.S. Open--what they said

Have you spoken to your parents back home?
"No, I haven't. I'm not sure what the time is in Melbourne, but I know that they were going to camp out in front of the telly and watch it. So I bet they had a heart attack or two. I haven't spoken to them yet. I'll let them calm down for a bit."

Olivia Rogowska

"...in the French Open, I won all the matches 6-0, 6-1. Did it help? Not really. So I mean, definitely it happens like this, like you pull the match somehow, like God knows. Like, I mean, God knows how I pulled it out. Not me."

Dinara Safina

"I'm disappointed I lost, and I didn't expect to say that after playing the number 1 player in the world. It's a bit weird."

Olivia Rogowska

Did you have dreams at night when you were sleeping of playing a match in tennis?
"Oh, many times, especially after you're playing so many matches, I'm dreaming, I'm yelling in my dream. 'It's out, it's not out, it's in.' I'm still playing tennis sometimes at night, which you got to understand. We play a lot of tennis. We are competing every time. Some of those things that happen during the day, you're dreaming about at night. But what can you do?"

Jelena Jankovic

How did you feel when you looked over at your coach at times in the match presumably for support, and he had very negative body language?
"Well, I guess I had to think what I'm doing wrong that he's so negative."
Do you respond more to a negative approach or a positive?
"We'll skip this answer."

Dinara Safina

It seems that you're more mature now.
"Thanks! What was I before?"

Maria Sharapova

"He coached me for a couple of years. I beat him when I was 13, so he said it was time to move on."

Olivia Rogowska, speaking of her father

There's been a lot of talk about some of the serving on the women's tour. You're someone who has actually turned the corner and improved your serve. Why do you think it's a difficult stroke to master sometimes?
"Well, it looks like this should be the most easiest shot because you are the only one responsible for that and you have all the time in the world to make it happen."

Elena Dementieva

"I thought I was going to be better being stronger, but it didn't make me better; it made me worse. I play my best tennis when I'm light on my feet, when I'm dynamic, when I can move."

Jelena Jankovic

Do you have any advice from your brother inside your head?
"No. Sometimes it's not easy to understand him."

Dinara Safina

This Thrill Ride may need to be closed for repairs

It's one thing to excite fans by coming back when you're a set and a break down, but--playing in the first round of a major and almost collapsing in the face of wild card--is a bit much. Both top seed Dinara Safina and her opponent, wild card Olivia Rogowska, made a combined total of 113 unforced errors in a match that was sometimes a bit hard to watch. Had Rogowska possessed something of a forehand or a better serve, she might have walked away with an upset. On the other hand, when the end was near, it was Rogowska who collapsed and Safina who rose to the occasion, but--in true Thrill Ride form--only after the she went down 0-3, 15-40.

I like it when, driven by desperation, Thrill Ride puts on her champion's face and saves herself at the last minute. But it is a stressful way to live, and we can only begin to guess what it takes out of her emotionally. To hold the trophy at the U.S. Open, Safina has to win seven straight matches. She can afford few like the one she played today, which lasted last two hours and 35 minutes. The world number 1's first serve win percentage was 60. Safina hit one ace and double-faulted eleven times. She wound up with more than twice as many unforced errors as winners. Her opponent was even more error-prone, but she was also relentless, and--until the end--appeared fearless. Rogowska received wild applause when she left the stadium, and she deserved it.

Of course, there's always the possibility that getting past Rogowska will put Safina more at ease, and permit her to play the kind of quality tennis of which she is capable. But with her history of letting her anxiety get the better of her, we can't count on that. She knows her problem is mental, but identifying a problem is not the same as solving it. It doesn't help that--everywhere she turns--Safina feels she has to defend her right to hold the world's highest ranking. Some people say her chronically scowling coach does not help, but I don't think it's up to us to judge that relationship.

Fans like excitement, but we would probably settle for a bit less of it if it means Thrill Ride can keep rolling in Flushing Meadows.

U.S. Open miscellany

I'm probably in the minority, but I liked Edina Gallovits' somewhat retro tennis outfit. I also really like Venus's latest ELEVEN ensemble, though I'm sure it isn't everyone's cup of tea, either.

I eventually had to turn the sound off while Jeff Tarango and Al Trautwig called the Lisicki-Rezai match. The sexism was hard enough to bear, but the almost total lack of knowledge of the players and the endless yuk-yuk blathering was too much for me. U.S. Open Live--please inflict these two on the men's tour. Or even better--get them off the air.

Speaking of the U.S. Open livestream--the glitches aren't out of the system yet. This morning, the commentary for the Tsonga match was broadcast when Kuznetsova played Goerges.

Thanks to Colette for pointing out that I wasn't getting all of the doubles draw in my browser. Some of the bottom section was cut off. Correction made.

The current issues of both Tennis and USTA magazines feature some good articles on the U.S. Open. The former contains a preview, and the latter focuses on history.