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Career Grand Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 17. January 2013 06:26 
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|11. January 2025| 07:48
Are you serious Alex? Her serves in the 130's when the courts this year are playing as fast as they have in years? I suspect that her shoulder must be bothering her.

She also hasn't entered the mixed-and I don't think it's for lack of available partners. :cry:


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Career Grand Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 17. January 2013 07:02 
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|11. January 2025| 01:48
Are you serious Alex? Her serves in the 130's when the courts this year are playing as fast as they have in years? I suspect that her shoulder must be bothering her.

The serving speed board was clearly visible on camera. That would be my concern as well, along with that darned foot.



Let's Go, Daniela!


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Golden Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 17. January 2013 12:12 
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|11. January 2025| 07:48
The serve hasn't been strong enough in years..she never get's over 165kmh these days...and anything over 160kmh is rare..it needs to be at least 170 on a consistent basis, she'd get so many more free points..I don't understand why a coaches past and present haven't worked on that..i don't believe for one second that Daniela hasn't got the ability or strength to serve bigger..unless she can't because of her shoulder..?


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Golden Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 17. January 2013 19:30 
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|11. January 2025| 06:48
I got the match. Pretty depressing for the most part. Goerges and Stosur were far too powerful, dictated most of the rallies and their serving was much more powerful. Most of the games went to deuce or 30, but it always seemed like Stosur and Goerges were going to win these games as the match was always on their racquets. Both teams had 16 unforced errors but Stosur and Goerges had 34 winners to Daniela and Medina Garrigues's 13. For the most part Daniela really wasn't much better than ok and Medina Garrigues didn't do much at all. Goerges and Stosur both played very well and they can go deep in this tournament.

Like eddy and Alex said, Daniela's serve was weak and she was just starting the points off with it. It lacked any sort of power or penetration. At least the ball toss on the serve is consistent. Daniela's had back and shoulder problems since 2009 but she generally had at least a decent serve till she started working with Pistolesi and he fucked it up. Replacing Liptak with Pistolesi was the biggest mistake of Daniela's career. Nicolas really has his work cut out trying to sort Daniela out but the injuries that she's picked up this month absolutely haven't helped her. Daniela started the year 4-0 in singles and doubles, including her first top 10 win for a year and a half, but then she was injured in Brisbane and hasn't won a match since.



Daniela Hantuchova is right about everything.


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Career Grand Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 17. January 2013 22:10 
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|11. January 2025| 01:48
I'm not sure if it's just coaching, guys. Daniela knows. Chungwit has posted about a half-dozen interviews in the last few months where she laments how the game is all about power and how she'd rather see more on-court thinking and finesse come back to prominence, but has had to adjust her game. Lots of her training, I would think, is and has been for years with that in mind. When she was rolling in the first half of '11, she was hitting it pretty good, and every account of her win over Wozniacki in Paris said she just flat overpowered her. One of you guys just noted a couple of weeks ago how bulked up her shoulders seem to be. She knows. Her coach knows.
I preface these comments with the deep hope that I am dead wrong. (Wouldn't be an earth-shattering event.) We're all long time sports fans. We have all seen hundreds of athletes who played many years and were great or pretty good, but as their bodies started to break down and/or they lost a step or more, couldn't let go of the game they loved, were the last to recognize it just wasn't there anymore, and hung on too long. Could Daniela have had 2 bad days this week? Maybe. What I saw yesterday was a Daniela in decline. We all remember how bad it was for her between 2008 and Pattaya City '11 with her old foot problem. If this one is both still really bothering her plus will take 3 years to get over like last time, she'll be 33, and there may not be a renaissance like the first half of '11. And if the shoulder is still a major issue (we know she said after defending Pattaya last year that she wanted to trade for a new arm)....again, I hope I'm way off here. But the growing number of 1st round losses to Ms. Flotsam and Mrs. Jetsam and the chronic serving woes (I didn't even get into a pair of back-to-back double faults where 5 or 6 of the serves, including, I believe, all 4 second serves, weakly plopped into the net) are too reminiscent of all the athletes I've seen losing it and still hanging on. Dani loves the game and the lifestyle so much that I see her doing just that, and she may already be well into the midst of the decline. I will gladly eat this comment (ketchup and cream cheese on top, if you will) if I'm wrong. And that's got little to do with me wanting to see her play in person one more time. It's as simple as this, guys: As bad as things went last night, in the end I still enjoyed watching her play. The Daniela Dance before points, the little fist pumps, the lyrical backhand, the occasional flashes of brilliance....it will be so sad when the day comes that we won't be able to see any of it ever again.



Let's Go, Daniela!


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Career Grand Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 19. January 2013 16:33 
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|11. January 2025| 07:48
How bizarre. 3 days after the draw is made,Daniela is drafted into the mixed doubles draw with Fognini to replace Klizan/Wickmayer. :lol:


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Career Grand Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 19. January 2013 18:03 
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How bizarre. 3 days after the draw is made, Daniela is drafted into the mixed doubles draw with Fognini to replace Klizan/Wickmayer.
. :lol:

I guess it's a good thing she didn't skip town! ;)
Daniela plays on Show Court 2 in the 2nd scheduled match after a women's doubles match. The opponents are Natalie Grandin and a guy from the USA with the classically American name of Rajeev Ram. In some odd sort of way, maybe this will be a kick-starter for Dani.



Let's Go, Daniela!


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Golden Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 19. January 2013 19:27 
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|11. January 2025| 07:48
How random..wishing them a title win.. :lol:


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Golden Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 19. January 2013 19:30 
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It's a wee bit of a surprise that Daniela's in the mixed doubles but I guess that she must feel healthy enough to play. It will be nice if she can enjoy herself, get some wins and get back into a bit of form.
Daniela lost in the first round of Roland Garros in 2004 and was down to no. 55, but she went on a run to the semis of the mixed doubles with an Australian and a couple of weeks later she went all the way to the Eastbourne final and Daniela was back. Something similar here would be fantastic.



Daniela Hantuchova is right about everything.


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Golden Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 20. January 2013 03:58 
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|11. January 2025| 06:48
Mixed Doubles livestream:



Daniela Hantuchova is right about everything.


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Tier IV Title Holder
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 20. January 2013 04:54 
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|11. January 2025| 01:48
So nice to see Dani win again! And, outside of a really ludicrous touch call, she seemed to really be enjoying herself.


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Career Grand Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 20. January 2013 05:00 
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Fognini with the yellow visor! :haha:


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Golden Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 20. January 2013 05:08 
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A pretty good display by Daniela. She hit a couple of aces and she played pretty solidly. Fognini was good and he blasted the ball at Ram's legs loads of times, so Daniela started doing that.

I've never seen Jennifer Zheng umpire a match where she doesn't make some utterly inexplicable decision. At 4-2 0-40 in the second set the ball was hit at Daniela at the net, she moved her racquet out the way so that Fognini could hit at from the baseline when the umpire said it was a touch. The ball missed her racquet by at least 5 cms, it wasn't even close and Daniela's body was between the umpire and the ball but she said Daniela touched it. That is shocking incompetence at best. Totally disgraceful but it made no difference to the result in the end although Ram & Grandin got the score back to 40 all before Daniela and Fognini broke.

Ram & Grandin took some putting away but Daniela & Fognini won it on their 5 match point. They were the much better side and thoroughly deserved the win. It looks a good team and Daniela looked a lot happier playing with him than Medina Garrigues.



Daniela Hantuchova is right about everything.


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Career Grand Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 20. January 2013 05:09 
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I'm getting this unexpected treat on DirecTV. Daniela's 1st service game was OK. 140's and 150's and she holds at 30. Looks much better than the other day, seems relaxed. This is the 1st time I have ever seen her play mixed. Her Grand Slam was achieved before I really began following her. I can see why she got the Slam. Her play at net is excellent so far.
Dani serves out the set at love! 6-2.
3rd service game...sweet! 150's and a 160, tossed in an ace, held at 30. Up 3-1 in the 2nd.
This is not so painful to watch! Daniela's net play continues to be brilliant. 4-2. 5-2 (would have broken at love but for an horrendous ruling that Dani ticked the ball while lunging for it...the replay showed it was not even close and Fabio's subsequent winner should have counted, ended up needing a deciding point.)Serving for the match...dialed up another ace, a 160 and a 161, but failed to convert 2 match points. 5-3. It can never be that easy
3 match points...lost 1st 2...Fabio-less! Dani finishes it with a winner! 6-2, 6-3 in 56 minutes. Cue up Chuck Mangione! Feels So Good! How refreshing and relieving to see Daniela play so well and enjoy herself. :beer:

This looks out of sequence, somehow my 1st try at posting this didn't go through. Chungwit, was this the umpire that read Zvonereva's lips and penalized her in the '11 semi at Pattaya?



Let's Go, Daniela!


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Golden Slam
 Post subject: Re: Australian Open, Melbourne
PostPosted: 20. January 2013 05:22 
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|11. January 2025| 06:48
This looks out of sequence, somehow my 1st try at posting this didn't go through. Chungwit, was this the umpire that read Zvonereva's lips and penalized her in the '11 semi at Pattaya?

The same. I remember when Daniela beat Szavay at Brisbane 10, Zheng also made a shocking call against Daniela. Szavay hit a ball crosscourt that was called out, Daniela was there to hit it but stopped when it go called out but Zheng overruled the call and said it was a clean winner. Daniela said that she was right there to hit it so how could it be a clean winner and then the umpire said "My decision" and kept saying "my decision" regardless of what Daniela said. It really fired Daniela up and she trashed Szavay but the point should have been replayed. Daniela spent about about a minute waiting at the other side waiting for the point to be replayed before she moved over. I'd have thought that Zheng would have gotten better by now but she's as bad as ever.



Daniela Hantuchova is right about everything.


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