A 2014 WTA shot guide: Part 1 (Serve and Forehand) - UBITENNIS
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A 2014 WTA shot guide: Part 1 (Serve and Forehand)

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TENNIS WTA SHOT GUIDE – It is offseason time, so Ubitennis is having a look at the past year and rating the WTA players for their abilities in each of the fundamentals of tennis.

Season is officially over now. Fed Cup has been won, the Finals have given their verdict and the ranking has finally been decided.

Yes, 2014 is over for tennis fans, but in a little more than a month, the next season will start and, as usual, every player will be immediately tested for all the hard work they will have put in these weeks away from international competitions.

But before this will happen, we thought it would be interesting to redact a guide to the best ground strokes and fundamentals that shone during the past season, as to set a standard for the next one and check who will improve or decline in each section.

  • Serve

Service must come first in this analysis. Not only it is the first shot in every rally, but it can make a great difference on crucial points. In women’s tennis, it has often served a minor role, but more players are exploiting a bigger serve. However, in this ranking, not only the number of aces has been taken into account, but also the general value of the serve: variety, effectiveness, speed and reliability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyxyrPk8IKs

1) Serena Williams: she hit the most aces on tour, when in trouble, she can count on cheap points from her serve and she has many solutions from the heavy flat ball, to an accurate slice.

2) Karolina Pliskova: the Czech player has one of the most interesting serves on tour. She can hit with lots of power without losing in placement, but she can also use a great kick on both first and second serve, as well as a tricky slice.

Petra Kvitova by Art Seitz

Petra Kvitova by Art Seitz

3) Petra Kvitova: two girls from the same country are in the top three, Kvitova’s serve comes as second because, depending on her fitness, it can turn into a disaster movie, even though it often is her lifeline. It is no surprise this was the biggest weapon that took her to the second Wimbledon title.

4) Sam Stosur: yes, the Australian has been playing well under her standards during the year, but that does not take anything away from her serve. Her kick remains the best on women’s game.

5) Sabine Lisicki/Coco Vandeweghe: two players with a similar situation, great technique, amazing power and the ability of hitting as many aces as they wish in a single match. For both, however, a rather unstable mentality can make all the good job done with the serve go wasted.

  • Forehand

In many commentary boxes, there seems to be an ongoing idea that in the game of tennis forehands are the best shots of men, backhands of women. Well the five, and many more, names which follow clearly do not agree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73p1bSov88M

1) Serena Williams: when she is on a bad day, this is the only attackable side of the world number one, but on any other day, you do not want to start a cross court battle with her on this side. In the past few years, she also added some spin when in defence, which made it a thoroughly solid shot.

2) Ana Ivanovic: the blasting flat shots of the former world number one have finally reacquired strength and consistency. After years of anonymity, she shook the dust off and is back hitting the most incredible forehands of the tour.

3) Petra Kvitova: second third placement for the Czech. Her forehand is devastating, especially when she can hit without big movements. Cross court, down-the-line, from the middle, it makes no difference, when she is on, it is hard to stop any of these.

Samantha Stosur - Internazionali d'Italia 2014 - Roma (by Monique Filippella)

Samantha Stosur – Internazionali d’Italia 2014 – Roma (by Monique Filippella)

4) Sam Stosur: the Australian’s game revolves around this particular shot. Her serve-forehand combination is one of the deadliest of recent years, but contrary to the names above, her shot is not a big flat stroke. Her topspin is tricky to deal with, but at the same time, the ball travel as fast as a flat hit.

5) Lucie Safarova: another lefty in the ranking. For years, she has been underperforming when it most counted, making it hard to believe she would live up her potential. A semifinal at Wimbledon was a big change, something that could not have happened without this particular shot.

To be continued next week, who will be the best 5 on the backhand side?

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Caroline Garcia Opens Up About Recent Struggles After Claiming First Top 10 Win Since 2022 In Miami

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Caroline Garcia - Australian Open 2024 (Foto X @ausopen)

After a lacklustre start to her season, Caroline Garcia is finally finding some momentum in her tennis at the Miami Open. 

Garcia, who has been ranked as high as fourth in the world, came into the WTA 1000 event yet to reach a quarter-final on the Tour this year and hadn’t back-to-back matches. However, her fortunes have turned around at her latest event where she produced a stunning win over Coco Gauff in the fourth round on Monday. 

The 30-year-old rallied to a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, win over the reigning US Open champion. It is the first time she has beaten a top 10 player on the Tour for 16 months. Before taking on Gauff, she also beat four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in straight sets. 

“It’s definitely a great match and a great win for me. The last couple of months have not been easy,” Garcia said afterwards. 

Garcia claimed the biggest title of her career at the 2022 WTA Finals, where she won four out of her five matches played at the end-of-season event. However, since then she has only reached the final of two more Tour-level events which were during the first two months of last year. She is currently ranked 27th in the world and has been outside the top 20 since January. 

“Sometimes you don’t have all the results you want, and sometimes it can affect you too much,” Garcia commented.
“You have to find a good balance and a good relationship with tennis to balance your professional life and personal.
“I think we have been able to do good sometimes. On the practice courts in Indian Wells after the loss against Maria (Sakkari), I was a bit down and then we did some good practice and we saw she played well. 
“My game was there. I just had to go for it and play my matches. I have been able to do it one match at a time.”

The Frenchwoman will be hoping to continue her fairytale run in the quarter-finals where she will take on unseeded Danielle Collins. Collins, who will retire later this year, dropped only five games during her 6-3, 6-2, win over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea. 

“I just want to be focused on my game what I can do and at the end try my best and walk out of the court proud of the effort,” Garcia concluded. 

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Shocks Galore In Miami As Four Top 10 Players Crash Out Of Women’s Draw

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An action-packed Saturday at the Miami Open saw a series of top names suffer surprise losses in the third round with the the most high-profile exit being Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka. 

The world No.2 suffered a disappointing 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, loss to Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina after just over two hours of play. Sabalenka struggled particularly with her second serve with the Belarussian only winning 10 out of 27 points. In the final set, she failed to hold her serve once and smashed her racket on the ground multiple times immediately after the match concluded. 

“It’s always tough to play on big stages against these top players,” said Kalinina. “Today was really tough with nerves but I managed in the tough moments to deal with it. 
“So I’m a little bit proud of myself today.” 

Sabalenka’s defeat comes less than a week after the death of her former boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov who passed away in Miami. She has opted not to speak with the media at the tournament whilst playing due to the current circumstances. However, on Wednesday in a short statement on social media, she said her “heart was broken” by the “unthinkable tragedy.” 

Meanwhile, 32nd seed Kalinina will next play Yulia Putintseva. It is the first time she has beaten a top 10 player this season with Sabalenka being the second Grand Slam winner she has ousted in Miami. Earlier in the tournament, she also knocked out Caroline Wozniacki in a marathon encounter that lasted more than three hours. 

Another casualty in the draw is Ons Jabeur who lost 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, to Elina Avanbesyan. It is the fourth match in a row that the Tunisian has lost on the Tour. She is yet to win back-to-back matches on the Tour in 2024 but has been troubled in recent weeks by a knee injury. 

Chinese seventh seed Zheng Qinwen was knocked out of the draw in straight sets by former champion Victoria Azarenka. Zheng was broken four times in the match during her 6-4, 7-5, loss. 

Finally, Jelena Ostaoeko won just four games during her 6-3, 6-1, loss to Anna Kalinskaya. 

Despite the series of shocks, four out of five top five players remain in the draw this year. They are Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula. 

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Coco Gauff And Aryna Sabalenka Struggle Through In Indian Wells Openers

The duo were pushed to three sets in their first matches played at this year’s WTA 1000 event.

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Coco Gauff admits she didn’t play her best tennis at Indian Wells on Saturday after coming through a rollercoaster three-set battle. 

The world No.3 needed more than two hours to oust France’s Clara Burel 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Gauff found herself trailing multiple times during the match. After losing the opening set, the reigning US Open champion then had to battle back from a 0-4 deficit in the decider. Capitalising on some tentative hitting from Burel who was bidding to record the biggest win of her career. 

Despite prevailing, it was a far from vintage performance from Gauff who hit six double faults and 14 unforced errors during the first set alone. She also struggled behind her second serve, winning just 12 out of 36 points played. 

“I think for me it’s just getting through that match definitely meant a lot,” Gauff said. “Could have easily thrown in the towel. But honestly, I was just telling myself, like, win or lose, I don’t want to have any regrets on the court. I want to be like I gave myself the best opportunity to win, and I did that.
“Am I proud of how I played? Not really, to be honest. But the fight, I am proud of. I am eager to improve. I think it wasn’t my best tennis at all. I think I just have a lot of improvement that I can do to get better.”

The 19-year-old has become the first teenager in the last 15 years to have won 50 or more matches at WTA 1000 events. She will next play Lucia Bonzetti.

“That’s pretty cool,” Gauff commented on her latest milestone. “I feel like I have a lot of stats and stuff like that. Hopefully I can close this chapter of my life off good. I’m really happy with how my teenage years went.” 

Sabalenka avoids major upset 

Aryna Sabalenka was another player to experience trouble during their opening match after outlasting Peyton Sterns 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-6 (8), in a clash that lasted almost three hours. The world No.2 was on the verge of losing and had to save four match points when down 4-5 in the final set. Despite that blip, she held her nerve to break back before prevailing in a tightly contested tiebreaker. 

“Wow, I think I was right when I see this tattoo of a tiger and I was fighting today like a tiger,” said Sabalenka. “It’s just crazy what happened. She’s an unbelievable player.
“She played crazy tennis. She said at the net, ‘I had you,’ so she’s right. I was probably a little bit lucky to get this win. Super happy to get through this.”
“I didn’t play my best tennis and she was crushing it like crazy. I was just trying to stay in the game and keep fighting for every point. But this match definitely goes into the book of craziest matches and the best matches of my career.”

Sabalenka is hoping to go one step better in Indian Wells than 12 months ago when she reached the final before losing to Elena Rybakina, who has pulled out of the tournament due to gastrointestinal issues. 

Awaiting the Belrussian in the next round will be Emma Raducanu in what will be the first meeting on the Tour. 

Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka posted a convincing 7-5, 6-3, win over world No.15 Luidmila Samsonova. It is the first time she has beaten a top 20 player since returning to competitive tennis following the birth of her child. 

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