Yes, I do remember the bellyaching from when no one in particular was dominant in the women's game, and I find it ludicrous that the complaint then was the same as now: that somehow the women's game is lower quality. Well, guess what, haters, you can't have it both ways. The sport itself doesn't really vary much in terms of quality. What you see when no one is dominant is parity, usually driven by unique style matchups and the rigors of a long season. When one person is dominant, that is neither a rise nor a drop in quality, it's just sometimes someone figures out all her opponents for a period of time. But the bottom line is that the quality is a lot better than people give it credit for!
Miss seeing you on the court but your energy comes through loud and clear in your writing. I loved your take on the French Open and Iga. I love watching her play. Can’t believe that extreme western grip. I thought Jasmine made a great showing and the set scores didn’t really reflect how close most games were. I love women’s tennis these days and find it much more interesting than men’s. So many great stories and characters.
This is fantastic! I'm a very recent convert to tennis and particularly the WTA. I'm eager to learn more and follow some of the characters I've been watching since the Rabat and Strasbourg Opens.
Au contraire, mon ami, this was EXACTLY the tennis nerd wrap-up we needed!! Your analysis of the Coco-Iga matchup you can probably do in your sleep, but for the less tactically astute watcher (me), it is hugely appreciated. Merci beaucoup to you and au revoir to RG for another year. I miss the clay already...
That's a stellar piece of writing, Petko. Great insight into the game from a player's perspective, but also eloquent with quality word choice and sentence construction. And I loved the last bit on what some shallow, hatemongering types do and say to players. It's pathetic and not indicative of true fans. Those are casuals who pick players to follow based on superficial appearance, crushes, or just arbitrary whim. They plague all sports. Wish they'd just get help or just fix their broken selves rather than throw their bits of misery at other ppl.
About complaints that "Iga is too good and therefore 'boring'". I am certain, there would not be a word of the same criticism if Iga Świątek was "a person of color", because that would be politically incorrect. Somehow Serena, despite her incredible eternal domination, never had to endure the "too good" accusations.
I thought Zverev's forehand changed in last set and a half. Decelerating, with shorter balls and less pace. This looked obvious to me, or was I dreaming?
Just to say, again, you provide such clear, detailed, and thorough analysis. And while congratulations to you for picking the winners, had you not done that, whomever you would have selected would have been based on thorough and again really smart analysis. Guaranteed.
OK, this raises a question. The Swiatek/Gauff analysis is fantastic, but also the kind of stuff you don't really hear on the network telecasts. How often are there things you see in the booth that are so high-level and complicated you don't want to talk about them when calling a match, because most of the audience won't be able to follow? My general assumption is that the people like you know 10,000x more about what's going on at a technical or tactical than a casual fan like me, but you aren't saying everything you know. Are there times where you wish you could go into more detail but can't?
Agree with your analysis of why Gauff has not been beating Swiatek. But, I'd like your coaching plan on how TO beat her. I think it takes 2 things, both of which require high skill and the proper timing of the shot. 1. mix in drop shots with high MPH cross court rallies, and 2. mix in down the line change of direction with high MPH cross court rallies. Both shots would rush Iga and make her weird groundstrokes a deficit. Osaka can do this, once back in form, as could Barty (who beat Iga regularly). I don't think Iga is the best of her generation, as Seles, Graff, and Serena once were (yes, I know Seles and Graff were of the same generation, but you get the point). She just doesn't have a competitor or two who can take advantage of her weaknesses, but she will.
Yes, they only played as pros twice, 2 and 3 years ago, so hard to say regarding the improved Iga. But, my coaching suggestions for beating Iga would be the same for Barty today, and that's drop shots during deep groundstroke rallies, and down the line, a la Seles, during those rallies. Both shots would put Iga on the defensive and take away the time she needs for her loopy strokes. Of today's current WTA players, I think that in-form Osaka is better and an in-form Andreescu if she's ever healthy. Sabalenka has the strokes but her mental discipline is to uneven. Gauff is the best athlete on tour but she needs 18 months to get a better 2nd serve, and she needs to perfect the down the line on both sides. If she can improve those two things, she'll be #1.
Thank you Andrea, you transmit all the passion and emotions that charge up a Slam's 2nd week!
As I'm more of a data person, here is something I'd like to share about Gauff vs Swiatek.
While what was imprinted in our brains from Gauff's aggressive play in set 1 were her errors and the relatively lopsided score, her brave strategy actually took her to a near tie in rallies played for the first time in the 4 clay matches we compared.
These are the numbers of rallies won (Gauff/Swiatek)
- RG24 set 1: 18/19 (+1 Swiatek)
- Rome24: 41/55 (+14 Swiatek)
- RG23: 27/39 (+12 Swiatek)
- RG22: 26/46 (+20 Swiatek)
Unfortunately for Gauff, she missed 11 returns while Swiatek missed 1. That was all the difference in set 1 and neutralized Gauff's best rallying efforts
Great summary...and right on about the misogyny directed at Iga. She's great for the game and generous/kind to the other players and their teams.
Yes, I do remember the bellyaching from when no one in particular was dominant in the women's game, and I find it ludicrous that the complaint then was the same as now: that somehow the women's game is lower quality. Well, guess what, haters, you can't have it both ways. The sport itself doesn't really vary much in terms of quality. What you see when no one is dominant is parity, usually driven by unique style matchups and the rigors of a long season. When one person is dominant, that is neither a rise nor a drop in quality, it's just sometimes someone figures out all her opponents for a period of time. But the bottom line is that the quality is a lot better than people give it credit for!
Miss seeing you on the court but your energy comes through loud and clear in your writing. I loved your take on the French Open and Iga. I love watching her play. Can’t believe that extreme western grip. I thought Jasmine made a great showing and the set scores didn’t really reflect how close most games were. I love women’s tennis these days and find it much more interesting than men’s. So many great stories and characters.
This is fantastic! I'm a very recent convert to tennis and particularly the WTA. I'm eager to learn more and follow some of the characters I've been watching since the Rabat and Strasbourg Opens.
Au contraire, mon ami, this was EXACTLY the tennis nerd wrap-up we needed!! Your analysis of the Coco-Iga matchup you can probably do in your sleep, but for the less tactically astute watcher (me), it is hugely appreciated. Merci beaucoup to you and au revoir to RG for another year. I miss the clay already...
That's a stellar piece of writing, Petko. Great insight into the game from a player's perspective, but also eloquent with quality word choice and sentence construction. And I loved the last bit on what some shallow, hatemongering types do and say to players. It's pathetic and not indicative of true fans. Those are casuals who pick players to follow based on superficial appearance, crushes, or just arbitrary whim. They plague all sports. Wish they'd just get help or just fix their broken selves rather than throw their bits of misery at other ppl.
Great article Andrea 👋
About complaints that "Iga is too good and therefore 'boring'". I am certain, there would not be a word of the same criticism if Iga Świątek was "a person of color", because that would be politically incorrect. Somehow Serena, despite her incredible eternal domination, never had to endure the "too good" accusations.
I thought Zverev's forehand changed in last set and a half. Decelerating, with shorter balls and less pace. This looked obvious to me, or was I dreaming?
There is no doubt the achievement iga has made is underestimated.
Thanks for seeing all the stuff that we can't see. And, oh, some of us assuredly do need it. :)
Just to say, again, you provide such clear, detailed, and thorough analysis. And while congratulations to you for picking the winners, had you not done that, whomever you would have selected would have been based on thorough and again really smart analysis. Guaranteed.
Very interesting your insights, makes the games so much more interesting to read about.
Always a great, thoughtful analysis Andrea
OK, this raises a question. The Swiatek/Gauff analysis is fantastic, but also the kind of stuff you don't really hear on the network telecasts. How often are there things you see in the booth that are so high-level and complicated you don't want to talk about them when calling a match, because most of the audience won't be able to follow? My general assumption is that the people like you know 10,000x more about what's going on at a technical or tactical than a casual fan like me, but you aren't saying everything you know. Are there times where you wish you could go into more detail but can't?
Agree with your analysis of why Gauff has not been beating Swiatek. But, I'd like your coaching plan on how TO beat her. I think it takes 2 things, both of which require high skill and the proper timing of the shot. 1. mix in drop shots with high MPH cross court rallies, and 2. mix in down the line change of direction with high MPH cross court rallies. Both shots would rush Iga and make her weird groundstrokes a deficit. Osaka can do this, once back in form, as could Barty (who beat Iga regularly). I don't think Iga is the best of her generation, as Seles, Graff, and Serena once were (yes, I know Seles and Graff were of the same generation, but you get the point). She just doesn't have a competitor or two who can take advantage of her weaknesses, but she will.
Interesting. Who do you think is the best of Iga's generation?
Also, Barty vs Iga is 2:0, they barely played each other.
Yes, they only played as pros twice, 2 and 3 years ago, so hard to say regarding the improved Iga. But, my coaching suggestions for beating Iga would be the same for Barty today, and that's drop shots during deep groundstroke rallies, and down the line, a la Seles, during those rallies. Both shots would put Iga on the defensive and take away the time she needs for her loopy strokes. Of today's current WTA players, I think that in-form Osaka is better and an in-form Andreescu if she's ever healthy. Sabalenka has the strokes but her mental discipline is to uneven. Gauff is the best athlete on tour but she needs 18 months to get a better 2nd serve, and she needs to perfect the down the line on both sides. If she can improve those two things, she'll be #1.
Thank you Andrea, you transmit all the passion and emotions that charge up a Slam's 2nd week!
As I'm more of a data person, here is something I'd like to share about Gauff vs Swiatek.
While what was imprinted in our brains from Gauff's aggressive play in set 1 were her errors and the relatively lopsided score, her brave strategy actually took her to a near tie in rallies played for the first time in the 4 clay matches we compared.
These are the numbers of rallies won (Gauff/Swiatek)
- RG24 set 1: 18/19 (+1 Swiatek)
- Rome24: 41/55 (+14 Swiatek)
- RG23: 27/39 (+12 Swiatek)
- RG22: 26/46 (+20 Swiatek)
Unfortunately for Gauff, she missed 11 returns while Swiatek missed 1. That was all the difference in set 1 and neutralized Gauff's best rallying efforts
For more on that match, I invite you to read our analysis https://tennisinsidenumbers.substack.com/p/swiatek-vs-gauff-roland-garros-semi
Thanks!