The Serbs are suffering from some ugly, early season losses already.
At the Brisbane International in Queensland Novak Djokovic got blasted by Ernest Gulbis 4-6, 4-6 in his opening round and Ana Ivanovic got dumped out of the quarterfinals 3-6, 2-6 by a revived Amelie Mauresmo.
And now in Hong Kong, Venus Williams completely crushes top lady baller Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 6-2 in their opening match.
These are pretty awful looking scorelines - I mean, not even a third set sniff? Granted, Ernests is screaming with potential while Amelie + Venus are crafty veterans with Grand Slam resumes, but don't think these ballers won't be sitting somewhere in their draws. Plus, none of these three have shown the skills yet to work their way into match shape (a la the Sisters Sledge) while competing in a major.
Their games are def not in gear yet so I'm chalking these losses up to early season cobwebs. With the Aussie Open a little over a week away, however, I'd say they have their work cut out for them.
But a Serbian Slide is not out of the question.
(image via Getty)
Thursday, January 8, 2009
THE LOW DOWN: Serbs suffer early season ugliness, games not in gear just yet
Labels: Ana Ivanovic, Hong Kong, Jelena Jankovic, Novak Djokovic, Queensland, tennis
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Dammit!! I'm really rooting for JJ to get it together and win a slam this year. I'm going with your cobweb theory.
ReplyDeleteRafa also lost his QF match today. F*CK!!
I'm bummed :*(
I thought Ana lacked preparation or got too much sidelined with Fernando.....
ReplyDeleteI thought Novak was ill-prepared, but was eager to expand his business empire in Belgrade....
And i thought JJ was overtrained and got the heck of it......
But, I guess they are up to a surprise, like an All-Serbian win at the Aussies
well said, they all look like they are still tired from last year!! I am especially disappointed in ana, talk about a slump. oh well like fads come and go, I guess the hype about the serbs can come down some...I really want to see roddick win a slam this year, and I cant wait for sharapova to come back in full force...also gotta root for my williams sisters and king fed......
ReplyDeletejohanne: i'm hoping it's rust because if i'd like them to be in the mix. but last time they all got knocked out relatively early was at wimby last year and look at what we got treated to there...but i do hope to see them in the later rounds. especially JJ...
ReplyDeletephaura: good points all around although i don't think jj overtrained. in fact, as she admitted, this was the first time she's really trained hard. she may need to let the hard work settle into her body and mind but she'll be better off for it in the long run. the others - who knows how much or little they trained though we know somewhat of ana's "doings" on the off-season
jovan: true they could although ana hasn't been playing well for a while. at least the other two have something to show for their hard work at the end of the season - masters cup title for nole, year-end no. 1 for jj. ana? she has anando to thank for her troubles i say.
what's with these serbs? good news is, it's just the start of the year. they still have plenty of time to re-assess their strategies.
ReplyDeletejj: you know, when i was reading about her rigid off-court preparation, i was hoping that it would not blow on her face.
nole: his upset was surprising for me because he usually starts the year strong. on his way to the aussie open final last year, he did not drop his singles matches at the hopman cup and was playing well.
ana: she's like jekyll&hyde on-court. she can win against anyone but also lose against anyone. who knows? maybe it's french open ana who shows up in melbourn...
kelsey
I for one, am glad she lost. I can only hope she goes down by a similar score line early in the Australian Open. Sorry guys, can't be happy happy about them all and Jelena and her antics make me root for anyone playing her.
ReplyDeletei love jelena. she's only striving to stay at the top. she's proven how serious she is about tennis through the intensive training she's gone through these past couple weeks. progress will show soon. the year has just begun. good luck to nole and ana too! :)
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else noticed that Jelena doesn't have the Prince stencil on her O3?
ReplyDeleteIs that a 'confirmation' of sorts to the rumours that she's leaving Prince for Yonex or Wilson?
there have been rumors so it could be a sign that she is moving on. it seems her sponsorships are a bit up in the air right now.
ReplyDeletemaybe she's waiting to make a big splash in melbourne with new clothing + racquet sponsors.
the li ning thing is not in the bag; she may just be wearing it since it's a chinese brand, she's playing in hong kong, she can't go on the court nude, etc.
i'm curious, that's for sure!