The Most Frustrating Players in Women’s Tennis
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Oct 15, 2008 | Print |
Van Sias at Tennis Talk, Anyone has been doing a series on the most frustrating professional tennis players. If you have not read his post about the WTA Tour, be sure to check it out and leave him a comment.
I thought I would borrow Van’s idea and create a list of my own. I’m not going to attempt to rank them in any apparent order, because on any given day I’m equally frustrated with them all.
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Kuznetsova is one of the biggest underachievers on the Tour. The skills are clearly there—no one would ever deny that the former US Open champion does not have the game to succeed. But, how does a former No. 2 in the world lose ten of her last eleven finals?
Patty Schnyder
Journeywoman, thy name is Patty Schnyder. The lefty is a fixture on the Tour circuit and is likely to remain that way until she finally gets tired of slipping in and out of the Top 15. On her best day, Schnyder can beat nearly any player on the Tour, but on her worst, anyone can knock her out of the draw.
Marion Bartoli
Bartoli insists that reaching the Wimbledon final in 2007 was not a fluke, but since then she has not produced anything that can defend her against that claim. Like Schnyder, she can beat nearly anyone on a good day, but the trouble is those days are coming fewer and farther between.
Jelena Jankovic
I included Jankovic on this list not because of her results, which have been remarkable over the past month, but because of her schedule. She is playing in her twenty-first tournament of 2008 this week in Zurich. As I still have fresh memories of Kim Clijsters, I have to wonder how long Jankovic can continue to push herself this hard.
Amelie Mauresmo
Mauresmo, one of the greatest headcase achievers of all-time, is currently a shell of her former self. Granted, the headcase part is still there, but the achieving edge left with her appendix last season. Mauresmo managed to win just three games against Victoria Azarenka on Monday, a dismal defeat for a two-time Grand Slam champion.
Sania Mirza
Living up to the expectations of a billion fans can either help or harm you. In Mirza’s case, it is the latter. The former superstar from India is now only three spots away from slipping outside the Top 100.
Lindsay Davenport
To comeback or not to comeback, that is the question. Okay, I’ll drop the Shakespeare references, but not even the Bard could figure out Lindsay Davenport’s intentions. Her original plans called for a return to tennis through the US Open when she would reevaluate her schedule.
It has been five weeks since Flushing Meadows, and the only thing we know is that she will definitely not defend her title at the ASB Classic in January. She mysteriously appeared on Luxembourg’s entrance list, only to be removed.
Nicole Vaidisova
Although some people blame Radek Stepanek, Vaidisova’s problems surfaced long before the two became an item. Vaidisova’s power can rival Maria Sharapova’s hardhitting game, but her mental instability often gets in the way of her performance. Vaidisova, a former No. 7 player, has struggled to a 19-19 record for the season.
Notable mentions: Anna Chakvetadze, Nadia Petrova, Shahar Peer
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Vicki | Oct 15, 2008 | Reply
Aaress I couldn’t agree with you more on you mention of Lindsay at the moment. I never thought she would play Luxembourg. But hurry up and make announcement about your playing future. I think everything is pointing towards retirement but as Nike say “Just do it”.
jhet | Oct 17, 2008 | Reply
it’s true she is inconsistent in some games, i really can’t imagine the number 17 in rank can beat the number 1 in rank? how come it really happen? And it’s really frustrating for us as a viewer of her games !!!
vlado | Oct 18, 2008 | Reply
talking about the most frustrating players without mentioning Ana Ivanovic??? She can win GS and then she can lost to Julie Coin? Injury yeah right! No1 player in the world to lose to No2000 or something like that. She must be the most frustrating on the wta tour. And today against Venus, 5 great shots, 5 weak once and so on and on … so frustrating!
JimM | Oct 19, 2008 | Reply
Hi Aaress
You forgot too include Lil Masha (Kirilenko) in your excellent piece. My baldness is not merely due too old age, more due to being a Makiri and Marion fan!
PS I put links to On the Baseline on my Makiri and Anastasia sites. I hope thats ok
Andrew Broad | Oct 19, 2008 | Reply
At the moment, the most frustrating players for me are Daniela Hantuchová, Nicole Vaidišová, Anna Chakvetadze and Lucie Šafá?ová. They’re all members of my Eternal Fanship and immensely talented, but all in a horrible slump in recent months.
And then there’s Jelena Doki?, who has been in a horrible slump since 2004. She won a couple of ITF tournaments this year, but still hasn’t made it back as a regular on the WTA Tour.
Andrew Broad | Oct 19, 2008 | Reply
Oops - I didn’t realise that this site couldn’t handle Unicode!
Nick | Oct 19, 2008 | Reply
Great post Aaress! I think the other plays brought up in the comments section are pretty valid, too. And what about Tamira Paszek? This girl was supposed to be the Next Big Thing 18 months ago, but she’s struggled immensely.
Alice | Oct 19, 2008 | Reply
Hi Aaress
Sorry, I saw this very interesting post several days ago but only got a chance to reply tonight.
Its public recognition of sorts that Marion has moved from being totally invisible to totally frustrating. And progress that some now recognise that on a good day Marion can beat anyone. A year or two ago many would have found that statement laughable. I take your points on board Aaress and know they come from a good place.
Marion deserves support but is all too often met with venomous criticism and rejection. In part it goes with the territory of being French, and in part with the vicissitudes of being a professional tennis player.
There are many who profess to be fans yet become rather equivocal in their support when push comes to shove. With friends like these…..
Look at the way she held her shoulders in shame following the Stanford final. Yet Marion had NOTHING to feel ashamed about in my opinion.
As a fan, I may feel frustration FOR her, but not frustration BECAUSE OF her.
Aaress Lawless | Oct 19, 2008 | Reply
Excellent thoughts, everyone!
Vlado, Ana Ivanovic can be extremely frustrating. But I do believe the proverbial jury is still out on her future. Personally, I’m not terribly concerned about her slump. I think this was just a classic case of too much, too soon for a young inexperienced player. Two Grand Slam finals and the Roland Garros trophy is a pretty good haul for one season.
Jim, thanks for the links on your websites! I really appreciate your support of OTB. Yes, I thought about including Maria Kirilenko, but this year I’ve been fairly impressed by her results.
Andrew, sorry about the unicode! We’re using the WordPress blogging platform and for some reason, it did not recognize your comment.
Nick, I’m glad you liked the post! Tamira Paszek’s ranking has swung like a pendulum this season, and although I still think she has a lot of potential, she needs to work on being consistent.
Alice, to borrow a phrase from the great Winston Churchill, Marion Bartoli and her father are very similar to “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” They are a perplexing duo, and many fans and those in the tennis community find it difficult to understand them.
I’m not even going to attempt to analyze why that is, except to say that Marion is a staunch individualist. Part of that could be a good thing, because after all, tennis is an individualistic sport. She has a closely drawn circle, not unlike the Sharapova Camp, yet I do wonder if Marion could stand to benefit from supplemental assistance. Perhaps someone can cite an example, but off the top of my head, I can’t think of a truly successful champion who reached the top of the sport without at least using the assistance of someone outside their family. Even Venus and Serena, as loyal as they are to their parents, often seek advice from other avenues, for example Nick Bollettieri.
But I don’t think Marion’s image problem is because she is French. After all, Amelie Mauresmo, Tatiana Golovin, and Mary Pierce to name a few have not come under fire because of their nationality.
Alice | Oct 21, 2008 | Reply
That’s a very fair analysis Aaress. I think partly it’s that very enigmatic individualistic quality which draws some people to Marion. The loner outsider thing also.
Just to clarify. When I wrote that it goes it with the territory of being French, what I meant was that the French fans and French people at large have a reputation for being quite fickle and unforgiving of their own hero’s (Marion in particular). I wasn’t saying that the international tennis audience are against the French. Of course not. Sorry for the initial lack of clarity on my part.
Alice | Oct 21, 2008 | Reply
PS. Churchill and Bartoli.. I like that
Aaress Lawless | Oct 21, 2008 | Reply
Thanks, Alice, for the clarification!