Judging by some of these posts, it looks like the rest of you have been Daniela fans for longer than I have. I've only been a fan for about two years now, I can't tell if her game has improved or not during this short time.

(8) Amélie Mauresmo (FRA) d. (2) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 6:2 0:6 6:1
what an odd looking score

I agree Martin about the serve and return. i like the looking down thing she does before she serves. But the errors have got to go, can't she take a leaf out of Cornet's book..?

i just wish daniela would make players earn the points they win, players like kirilenko, cornet, wozniacki know that they just need to keep the ball in play as much as possible, as they know that Daniela will eventually go through a bad patch. they've all said it in their interviews afterwards. i agree though the footwork seems to be getting better but as ever with daniela its a slow process.

I believe Daniela's serve and return are even better than in 2007, that's why I can overlook much, even several defeats.Bold statement there,I remember Daniela serving very well in 2007:14 aces against Harkleroad at the AO,consistently at 170-180 kph in Indian Wells(a major reason she won the title),serving Ivanovic off the court at Rosmalen and having a great indoor season behind a reliable first serve.

Daniela's return game has always seemed aggressive to me. What is different is that her anticipation is so much better at the moment,allowing her to hit clean return winners,which is always pleasing to see.

Bold statement there,I remember Daniela serving very well in 2007:14 aces against Harkleroad at the AO,consistently at 170-180 kph in Indian Wells(a major reason she won the title),serving Ivanovic off the court at Rosmalen and having a great indoor season behind a reliable first serve.

Daniela's return game has always seemed aggressive to me. What is different is that her anticipation is so much better at the moment,allowing her to hit clean return winners,which is always pleaing to see.You are right there were moments of good serving in 2007 like at Indian Wells or Rome. But for majority of the season Daniela was either playing the %, taking off some pace of her serve in order to get it in more often (which didn't work quite well if it was the case, because placement wasn't much better nor did she get enough cheap points), or was simply unable to generate the same speed for a longer part of the season. From what I read Ivanovic's biggest problems were Daniela's low bouncing flat shots, I didn't saw the match myself to confirm that though. As for the indoor season, that's where her serve regressed the most I would say, but she made up for it with precise footwork (for her standards), consistent groundgame and fighting attitude. 2nd serve was ultimate crap during the whole year.
well personally, I find it boring to watch those three players and a bunch of other players as well. And you could say that all Daniela has to do it move Cornet/Wozniacki etc from side to side and shoot with pace and she will eventually hit a winner. There is nothing dangerous coming from the other end. It is two different styles of tennis.I thought you were a fan of Wozniacki. I personally can always admire her curves in case her game is starting to bore me.
For the record, I think Kirilenko plays quite aggressively and tries to win points by herself, but lacks firepower against the big guns, so it sometimes seems like she resorts to grinding and pushing. She possesses nice volleys too.

As for the indoor season, that's where her serve regressed the most I would say,Huh?Either you've got extremely high standards martin or you're not remembering these tournaments properly. Granted I didn't see any of Stuttgart( I was on holiday) and she might have served utter rubbish there,but at Luxembourg she made Bartoli look like a complete numpty with her serve(10 aces,no double faults) and served excellently at Linz-made Dulko's life a misery with her kick serve,got out of jail against Bondarenko with her serve when her groundstrokes went haywire,served very solidly in the last two sets against Vaidisova(saved a MP with an excellent first serve) and served well against Schnyder in the final,winning the crucial game in the second set with an ace out wide.2nd serve was ultimate crap during the whole year.Can't disagree with you there. And her serving against Serena at Wimbledon and at the US Open against Vakulenko was shameful. I do my best to block those matches from my memory!