|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 18:22:58 GMT -5
Post by janie on Sept 9, 2012 18:22:58 GMT -5
And compared to all other women's Slam finals in recent years, well, that was pretty satisfying to watch.
|
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 18:23:31 GMT -5
Post by Edna Krabappel on Sept 9, 2012 18:23:31 GMT -5
Azza did kinda blow it, though. 5-3*, 30-30, second serve, and she nets a relatively straightforward shot. Serving for the match, did not get into the game at all. Serving to stay in it, making errors when she really ought have not to.
But it was a pretty big effort to even get there, so she shouldn't let it get to her so much.
|
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 18:27:32 GMT -5
Post by Wagasi on Sept 9, 2012 18:27:32 GMT -5
Yeah, if she'd played the 5-4 game with as much intensity as the 5-6 game, she would've had a good shot. That error on the sitter at 30-all in the last game was tragic.
|
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 18:36:12 GMT -5
Post by DBBN on Sept 9, 2012 18:36:12 GMT -5
I really wanted that TB  Anyway, of course the match rested in Serena's hands, but good for Vika for being a worthy opponent for once and having a little bit of say in the rallies. She really chumped up when it mattered, though, and you knew Serena was going to make one last push at crunch time. The most dramatic and exciting Slam final I can recall!! |
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 18:41:02 GMT -5
Post by Wagasi on Sept 9, 2012 18:41:02 GMT -5
When was the last time Serena won a GS final where the opponent served for the match? Ste-Kim in Australia 2003?
|
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 18:41:21 GMT -5
Post by Edna Krabappel on Sept 9, 2012 18:41:21 GMT -5
It was like our saying about a cow that gives you a bucket full of milk, then kicks the bucket and spills everything.
But who thought that Azza could even be that cow!
|
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 18:42:31 GMT -5
Post by Edna Krabappel on Sept 9, 2012 18:42:31 GMT -5
When was the last time Serena won a GS final where the opponent served for the match? Ste-Kim in Australia 2003? That was the SF. I'm not sure she ever was in that situation in a Slam final. |
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 18:44:08 GMT -5
Post by Wagasi on Sept 9, 2012 18:44:08 GMT -5
It was like our saying about a cow that gives you a bucket full of milk, then kicks the bucket and spills everything. But who thought that Azza could even be that cow! That's a brilliant metaphor that I have to use more often in my life. |
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 18:47:10 GMT -5
Post by janie on Sept 9, 2012 18:47:10 GMT -5
It was like our saying about a cow that gives you a bucket full of milk, then kicks the bucket and spills everything. But who thought that Azza could even be that cow! Ha! Yes, that's perfect.  But I think Azza can become a better cow. She knows she let her foot off the pedal in those last few games. She'll be intent not to do that next time, the same way Serena was intent not to let 2011 USO happen again this time. |
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 18:59:08 GMT -5
Post by Grarliner on Sept 9, 2012 18:59:08 GMT -5
If I were a fan of Azza's, I think I would be reduced to a quivering pile of humanity by this result.
But I am not. I'm glad she took Serena that far. At least people finally got a women's GS final that was worth seeing.
For Serena, there is no end in sight unless she decides to call it a career. I have no doubt she will continue to be the best for years to come as long as she wants to.
Maybe someone can remind me - I know her serve was always big. But not like this, right? Ten years ago, I don't remember it being as huge as it is now.
53-4 now on the season. I was thinking that this is her most dominant calendar year since 2002. That year she lost how many matches? Five?
|
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 19:16:07 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Sept 9, 2012 19:16:07 GMT -5
When was the last time Serena won a GS final where the opponent served for the match? Ste-Kim in Australia 2003? That was the SF. I'm not sure she ever was in that situation in a Slam final. No she wasn't. Her many drama matches have always been in earlier rounds. |
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 19:19:44 GMT -5
Post by Wagasi on Sept 9, 2012 19:19:44 GMT -5
In 2002, it was 5 but one was a retirement and all the rest were to very good players. She lost to Patty, Justine, Chanda, and Kim and retired against Shaughnessy. This year she's lost to randoms.
I think Azza did a good job of returning Serena's serve, but she couldn't dictate the subsequent rallies. I don't remember pre-2004 Serena hitting as many aces as she does now but she still had moments of insane serving. Like that infamous second set here against Hingis where she didn't miss any first serves.
|
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 9, 2012 20:32:41 GMT -5
Post by janie on Sept 9, 2012 20:32:41 GMT -5
Now that the dust has settled, I''ve decided that I'm happy Serena won this. She really got robbed the year of the infamous overrule that Capriati gleefully took advantage of. Nice to have it work out eventually, even if it did take 8 years and a few attacks of on-court insanity in between. |
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 10, 2012 1:56:50 GMT -5
Post by lexpretend on Sept 10, 2012 1:56:50 GMT -5
The biggest takeaway for me was how much Azarenka has grown on me. I'm nowhere near supporting her, and I didn't feel even slightly upset at the end like I would have if one of my favourites had lost that match, but I really respect her as a competitor these days.
|
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 10, 2012 3:34:00 GMT -5
Post by Traveling Man on Sept 10, 2012 3:34:00 GMT -5
A shame I slept through this but sat through all of Sharapova-Errani at RG. Damned US Open with it's insane timings. I could only call in sick and take one day off work this week and I chose to save it for the men's final where I actually give a damn. I'm glad Serena won. I want her to win more GS titles than Evertilova and Graf. Hee. But no RG title.  |
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 10, 2012 6:27:05 GMT -5
Post by janie on Sept 10, 2012 6:27:05 GMT -5
Good luck to her winning more Slams than Graf, whose most spectacular stat to me is that she's won each Slam at least four times  -- which is why I don't see why Serena is now labeled the best player ever, except that memories are short. But Serena has one RG already. Same number as Maria the Clay GOAT.  |
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 10, 2012 8:18:24 GMT -5
Post by Denise49IQ on Sept 10, 2012 8:18:24 GMT -5
She will not pass Stefanie.
Great match or not, that was an epic choke in the end from "Azza" from the point where she missed the second serve return at 30-30 up 5-3. She had Serena there. A couple of decent returns and I think she'd have taken it. The most frustrating thing is Serena basically did very little in the end to close things out - sure she cut down her errors but the match wasn't completely on her raquet for that brief period. Azza's returning (serves and bullet groundies) really had Reenasaurus flummoxed for large parts of the final two sets.
|
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 10, 2012 9:57:30 GMT -5
Post by Traveling Man on Sept 10, 2012 9:57:30 GMT -5
Good luck to her winning more Slams than Graf, whose most spectacular stat to me is that she's won each Slam at least four times -- which is why I don't see why Serena is now labeled the best player ever, except that memories are short. I think a lot of it has to do with her most likely never holding that record if the stabbing doesn't happen (Seles stopping her at AO & RG). And ofcourse, she's not American while Serena is. |
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 10, 2012 9:59:45 GMT -5
Post by Brinyi on Sept 10, 2012 9:59:45 GMT -5
I thought that was a good match. The way I saw it was that a lot of Serena's dominance in the first set was borderline lucky. She was hitting a lot of winners that were almost flukey given her footwork and body position. Those shots stopped going in in the second set (this pattern is not uncommon when Serena plays a good opponent), and Azza turned up the pressure, so they had to grind it out in the third set. A definite choke by Azza, sadly for her.
|
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 10, 2012 10:36:39 GMT -5
Post by Old Hag on Sept 10, 2012 10:36:39 GMT -5
The awful opening serve game from Azza set the tone in the first. Old Serena has become like an ATP bug server. She doesn't move well enough to win most rallies against the top players anymore, so she finally got in shape and started serving like Ivo out of nowhere. Thus, she can swing out on return games and hope to get lucky, like she did in the 5-2 game in the 1st. Then, the mental games are in full effect with GRAR UNSTOPPABLE SERENA.
But, Vika is the exception as she's the only returner today good enough to handle Serena's serve somewhat. I thought that's what would happen at Bimbledon, but Serena served too damn good.
But, SEWTA is SEWTA, and Vika made that easy FH error at 5-3 30-30 followed by the obligatory choke at 5-4.
|
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 10, 2012 13:48:14 GMT -5
Post by lexpretend on Sept 10, 2012 13:48:14 GMT -5
Grass and blue clay, which is where Nu-Vika has received her beatdowns by Serena this year, emphasise the serve so much more too. Everyone seemed to overlook the AO matches where Vika really pushed Serena.
|
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 10, 2012 19:11:39 GMT -5
Post by DBBN on Sept 10, 2012 19:11:39 GMT -5
Grass and blue clay, which is where Nu-Vika has received her beatdowns by Serena this year, emphasise the serve so much more too. Servrena and Serverer, so gross. Thankfully the men don't bend over for Olderer on the real surfaces like these skanks do for Oldrena. |
|
|
|
Day 14
Sept 10, 2012 19:17:24 GMT -5
Post by janie on Sept 10, 2012 19:17:24 GMT -5
skanks? Where am I, at TF?  |
|
-- which is why I don't see why Serena is now labeled the best player ever, except that memories are short. But Serena has one RG already. Same number as Maria the Clay GOAT. 
