To be honest, the matches till now were far from being one-sided except for the Kvitova's and her substitute Stosur's matches. Especially Errani proved to be a really tricky player again. She really gets into the opponent's mind and from time to time can even do that to Radwanska, whose game bases on this very tactic.
From the Round Robin part of this tournament I draw two conclusions. First one is more general. Players, who are more likely to lose their concentration during clutch moments are also the players who can't serve well. Maybe Errani may be an exception, she does not break down easily, actually not at all. (At least I'm referring to Errani whom we watch this whole year, maybe we should say Errani 2.0) Think of how Azarenka lost to Serena, or how miserable Li was against Azarenka in the first 6 games of the second set.
Second one is, an elite group of players started to distinguish themselves clearly from the other woman players. I'm talking about the Serena, Aza and Maria and to some extent Radwanska as well. All these players have more all around games and can hinder their opponents from exploiting their weak points with their various weapons and most importantly they choke much less than others. And these players maintained a decent level of tennis and physical shape throughout the whole year. Nearly all spots in this year's Slam finals were occupied by these players. (in French Open Errani was the deal breaker) This elite group of players, as I mentioned in my earlier blogs, like the top 4 in men's tennis, make to the final stages of many tournaments and let us enjoy new rivalries and new dramas, which lacked in women's tennis for years.
To conclude, it is hard to say anything about the upcoming matches, because these are all rivalry matches and past performances are not very decisive. Maybe I should elaborate on what I mean with rivalry matches. These are rivalries between top players who persisted to stay on top for a long period, and proved to be a very good player. So we can be sure that with a high probability they will play their best tennis at this stage. Secondly, the past matches of rivalries determine the atmosphere of the new matches to some extent, giving one side a psychological advantage. Players prepare these matches with a different mind set totally concentrated, they dedicate themselves in every respect, because these are the matches, to prove something both to themselves and to the world.
One thing they cannot forget by concentrating or meditating is their energy level though. Contrary to my earlier thoughts, Serena dealt with the first stage really well and enjoyed the break, whereas Errani tired the shit out of Radwanska. Tomorrow will be a physical test for Radwanska as much as a rematch of the Wimbledon final. Sharapova - Azarenka match is quite tricky. We shouldn't consider Azarenka's performance in the first three matches, in forming expectations. That semi final will be very much independent from them, and more dependent on the defeat Sharapova suffered in Moscow in a totally one-sided battle.
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