Dina had no business losing that match. Luckily for her, The Cone has no business winning it either. Luckily for us, Dina realized both these things just in time to turn her match around after dropping to 2-5 in the third set, staved of two match points and won five straight games to take the match and send the young Cone into tears.
Afterwards, Dinara was...well...Dinara:
Q. What was going through your mind? What tactics were you thinking?
DINARA SAFINA: Tactics? Not really. Just what I'm doing on the court,
you know, having the whole ‑‑ you know, it was all about me first set,
playing solid. Nothing special, just my game. It's 5‑Love for me. Okay,
I had set point on her serve. She hit a lucky shot, 5‑1. Losing so fast
my serve, 5‑2, and then I break her again, 6‑2 for me. 1‑Love, 15‑40 on
her serve.
From 1‑Love to go down 5‑1, it should have never
happened to me, being No. 3 in the world. I played really like a junior
today. I think it's just lucky that I went through.
But really it's sad that I can do these kind of mistakes.
Q. Can you pick yourself up for the next match?
DINARA SAFINA: I have to. There is no other way, you know. Because really it's sad what I did today.
...
Q. But the positive for you is that you're managing to fight
through these matches, and maybe your level will come in the next three?
DINARA SAFINA: I mean, the game is there. It's just that I'm soft on
myself. I mean, winning 6‑2 and then having 1‑Love, 15‑40 on her serve,
being dominant, and then like somebody switch me off and I started to
just play.
Of course, because she was complaining about
everything, I don't know what, her shoulder, this. I just started to
look at her, what she's doing, instead of focusing myself and
continuing being aggressive.
I just don't know. I'm so stupid looking at her instead of myself.
...
Q. In some way you must be pleased you were able to come back from two breaks down in the third set.
DINARA SAFINA: Of course, you know. But how many times I need to ‑‑ how
many chances I need to have? I'm also lucky that I won first round. The
girl, I didn't even have to stay in the court because she was playing
with herself. Se was shooting ten balls in the fence, one in the court.
I was lucky to go through second round, because the girl, she
could not win the match. Okay, third round at least I played something.
Today again the girl has I think ‑‑ I just don't know how many more
times I need to prove that either I play or I ready to go home.
The game is there. I just don't know what's going on through my mind.
Q. What did your coach say to you after the match?
DINARA SAFINA: The same. He said if I play like this, you gonna leave
home. He said it makes no point for him to sit there and seeing myself
playing completely different from what I'm practicing. Practicing
playing aggressive, hitting the balls ‑‑ from 10 times 10 I hit exactly
where I need to hit aggressive.
Come to the court and
completely like just shadow is playing. Like, you know, Dinara is
there, but just not me. So he's like, Okay, if you continue playing
like this, I mean, it's better that I go home. I cannot tell you
anything from sitting there. Because what I can tell you? You playing
even more passive.
I mean, he's telling me at 5‑4, Hit the
ball. I telling myself, Hit the ball, and just arm doesn't go because
my mind is just stupid.
God. It is so obvious that Zeljko is totes aware of the fucked-up dynamic of their relatioship. Threatening her with abandonment? That's cold.
This is so not going to end well.
But What Does It Meeeeeeaaaaannnnn????
"The Economist, once a year, heads out on this mission to see the
future. They try to predict the coming year... I am a fan of The
Economist-- that said, I think this project where they try to predict
the coming year is totally ridiculous. You have these great reporters
who have to write about, for instance, what's going to happen in
China in the year 2010 and they bring so much knowledge to this
question, but in the end, because no one can know the future, they
end up making these kind of equivocal 'on the one hand, on the other
hand' kinds of predictions... who cares?? ... 'Here's a bunch of random
things that may or may not happen, believe whatever you want.'"
-- Ira Glass, This American Life ("2010")
That right there is pretty much my personal opinion of predictions in sports like tennis. Who cares? Mostly, nothing means anything. The business of predictions, proclamations, assertions made on the basis of a single match (or one good week) is misleading and serves no purpose in an objective sport like tennis. This year especially, when there are so many comebacks (from both retirement and injury) and a string of Very Good Players who had Very Bad Years last year, proclaiming the future seems particularly futile. Trust me, I've been in sports where predictions and what certain people say and who won which events actually matters. You don't want any part of it.
I don't even get why people like to do it (is it so you can say later that you were right? Usually I could get into that). All you can do in tennis is watch and see what happens. To me, that's part of the beauty of it. I hate trying to guess what's going to happen. I'd much rather take stock as I go along.
So.
Things That--Really Guys-- Seem Completely Meaningless Right Now
Sorana Cirstea d Sam Stosur (Hopman Cup)
Melanie Oudin's "Sub-Par" Performance at Hopman Cup
Melanie's always down in small events and then up in Slams and Fed Cup (or, at least, that's the pattern she established last year). Her performances at Hopman Cup indicate nothing other than that-- so far-- that trend looks to continue.
"Comeback" Wins By Daniela Hantuchova, Alize Cornet, and Dominika Cibulkova
All of these women are former top-20 (or even top-5) players with immense amounts of talent, loads of past results, and a not-so-hot 2009. All of them had pretty stellar early matches this week that looked like their peak selves, prompting some to call them contenders for the second week of the Australian Open. All of them immediately had their asses handed to them by higher-ranked, more consistent players. Ahem. (Not that they couldn't be, mind you, it's just silly to declare that based on two good matches that follow 6 months--or more-- of nothing.)
Laura's new on the pro scene and has her youth and lack of record working against her in the "where might this be going" game. She also, should her mind turn out to tend towards these kinds of things, has a huge disadvantage in all the pressure that is being, and will continue to be piled on her by the British media. But it's been a lot of fun to watch her grow in confidence at Hopman Cup this week. In her first match, she looked terrified, but through playing mixed doubles with Andy Murray, she seems to be growing in her belief that she can keep up with the big kids. She played Sabine Lisicki very well, looking at all times like she belonged on the same court. It'll be interesting to see if that continues to develop for her.
On paper, Sam should have won all her matches at Hopman Cup. In the real world, she lost two out of three. Her ability is undeniable, but she isn't exactly projecting the kind of mental strength that's going to sustain her at the top of the game. Is this particularly dismal performance just a sign that, like Amelie Mauresmo in France, she doesn't cope well with the hometown pressure? Is it something bigger than that? Or did she just have a really bad week?
Ana Ivanovic (Brisbane)
Justine Henin (Brisbane)
She's back, and she's winning, but winning how? Her matches have all been close, and with the exception of Nadia Petrova, they've not been against people ranked anywhere near what is popularly thought of as Justine's caliber. We all know what Justine's capable of, her record is clear evidence of that. But it shouldn't be forgotten, either, how dismal the last few months of her "first" career were, or that she has yet to play-- let alone beat-- a top 10 player on her comeback.
Flavia Pennetta (Auckland)
Flavia's usual modus operandi is to have a pretty dismal winter, pick up at Acapulco, have a couple of good clay events, and then really come alive on the US Open Series in the summer. But this year in Auckland she's come roaring out of the gates, kicking ass and taking names. Hmmm.
Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka (Twitter)
Whaddya know. Some shit is completely predictable after all.
Posted by Carrie on January 07, 2010 in Alize Cornet, Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Commentary, Daniela Hantuchova, Dominika Cibulkova, Elena Dementieva, Flavia Pennetta, Guest Blogger, Justine Henin, Nadia Petrova, Sabine Lisicki, Sam Stosur, Sorana Cirstea, Vera Zvonereva, Victoria Azarenka, WTA | Permalink | Comments (19) | TrackBack (0)
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