Great win,Daniela! So happy for you

and thanks danka for your present to my birthday


Happy Birthday George

Nick Bollettieri's Wimbledon Dossier: Zheng will struggle to match last year's feat

Wednesday, 24 June 2009

Today's big match: Jie Zheng vs Daniela Hantuchova

I can already hear some of you looking at this match-up and spitting out your cornflakes as you exclaim, "Holy mackerel!" and ask why this little second- rounder is my match of the day. Well, it's not in here just because I happen to know Daniela Hantuchova very well, and it's not because I'm intrigued by the emerging players from the Far East and notably China. I think this one is a genuine match, evenly balanced, hard to call. But there's more to it than that.

I want to use it as a litmus tester to illustrate the state of the women's game, and by that I mean the strength in depth of genuine contenders who can hope to get deep into the second week. Jie Zheng did that last year in reaching the semis here.
Related articles

First, let's look at their respective qualities. Zheng has a low centre of gravity and excellent balance when she hits. She stands close to the baseline, she doesn't back up much, she moves east and west superbly. There's not a whole lot of variety there but she pounds those groundies home. She's got a good first serve, although her second serve is tentative and probably the weakest part of her game.

She doesn't come to the net often, but she's got decent movement and will thrown in the occasional drop shot. Her strength lies in consistency.

Daniela by contrast has beautiful strokes, graceful and deep, and she has a magnificent two-handed backhand. She slices and dices. She's a superb volleyer, which comes out particularly when she's playing top-notch doubles. (You'll know she's a former Wimbledon doubles champion).

Daniela visited me a couple of months ago and we had a chat. She needs constant assurance, and encouragement. She's a winner but she does need to be reminded of it.

What's the relevance of all this to the wider women's game? Well you've got Daniela who is capable of going deep into a Slam if her confidence is high.

And Zheng is capable of doing the same. But if you ask me whether either of them will or even can win Wimbledon this year, that would have to be a no, unless we see a series of shock exits, especially those of Venus and Serena Williams. Between them, the Williams sisters have seven Wimbledon singles titles, and the reason is they are the greatest female athletes in history. And they're still around.

And the margin of superiority separating them from the rank and file to which Daniela and Zheng belong remains big. I can't really pick from Daniela or Zheng, although I have a clear emotional favourite.

And Zheng is capable of doing the same. But if you ask me whether either of them will or even can win Wimbledon this year, that would have to be a no, unless we see a series of shock exits, especially those of Venus and Serena Williams. Between them, the Williams sisters have seven Wimbledon singles titles, and the reason is they are the greatest female athletes in history. And they're still around.Eh... how is this related to anything in the article

To be honest, that whole article seemed to be pointless from start to finish, but hey ho, she won and thats the main thing.

Scott

And speaking of worthless tennis columnists, I see that Peter Bodo took a few potshots at Daniela in his latest column. It's hilarious how little he knows about Daniela or her game-he seems to believe Daniela doesn't know how to hit a volley! I expect that any day now, we'll see Dani show off that "great feel", perhaps by hitting a volley?

And speaking of worthless tennis columnists, I see that Peter Bodo took a few potshots at Daniela in his latest column. It's hilarious how little he knows about Daniela or her game-he seems to believe Daniela doesn't know how to hit a volley! I expect that any day now, we'll see Dani show off that "great feel", perhaps by hitting a volley?

I wonder if Mr Bodo caught a glimpse of Daniela's stab volley at duece 5-6* in the second set, or any of Daniela's matches in her entire life for that matter lol

Scott

Bodo is awful and I've breached that area a couple of times over at general messages at tennis forum. That reminded of when Chris Fowler (who knows nothing about tennis and less about college football) was calling a Daniela match with Mary Jo Fernandez. Fowler made the asinine point that Daniela is very uncomfortable around the net or that she never goes there (she may not go there enough, but that's absurd). Fernandez came back by pointing out that Daniela is an accomplished doubles player and won the Grand Slam in mixed doubles. Fowler, being a sucker, then asked if she played well at the net then and if Fernandez has ever seen Daniela play at the net (of course the fact that she is a good doubles player is proof that she can play at the net). Fernandez sheepishly had to say yes making her colleague look like a buffoon.

On another note, great win today and good luck in round three.