Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka went through their best and both Worlds on Saturday. Novak Djokovic is still too good to retire, but he still might do it.
I'm no fan of Sabalenka (too noisy!) but am wondering what you think about all the grief she's been getting over her press conference response. I give her credit for saying what she really thought and felt whether or not it was fair to Coco.
I have my issues with Sabalenka, but it's not one of them. She was genuine, and I'll take genuine in this case. And what she said was mostly true: she was a mess, totally self-destructed, and let Gauff run away with the title. There's no mandate for the loser to bend over, bow down and only say nice things about the winner. The only thing that was not needed was that line about how Iga would have won that: it was too much, but also it's very Aryna. She was very gracious during her on-court speech, and then she answered the questions with honesty and, really, knowing her, she could have said a lot worse lol. She played an awful match in a GS final: Why would we expect her to come to press and say anything else that I played an awful match in a GS final (again).
You don't get to that level without some strong ego. And sometimes, it acts as a bit of denial / bad faith. Also, it's a super competitive world at the top so... Sometimes it gets catty. But really nothing wow shocking happened IMO. Cringe, yes, but headlines worthy? Hmmm, I don't think so.
First of all, what a great read. You provide us with such a well thought out analyse! Thank you for writing this!
I think players underestimate Coco a lot. Which I understand to a certain point. She has had her ups and downs. But she is still young and still developing her game.
However, underestimating her it is something players do to their own detriment. We have heard many times "the tennis was not the best but Coco won". That is bc Coco keeps players from playing their best tennis.
She is able to always get the ball back, always make another touch, and the opponent does not know how to react and is not able to select their shots properly on time. Sabalenka made so many errors bc she knew she had to go all in or Coco was going to make the ball keep coming back.
Coco's fitness and incredible defensive skills create conditions where players have to keep playing points that had shots they thought were winning and the ball would not be returning.
(sorry for my english it is not my first language)
I wouldn't say they underestimate her, I would say they feel her game style shouldn't be as feared as Iga's or Aryna's for example. They're not as impressed. But they all know how great of an athlete she is and how many balls she's going to get back.
Sabalenka didn't miss because of that. She's used to it, had just won in Madrid. She honestly just lost her mind out there, which is something she used to do against all types of game styles not so long ago but people have forgotten lol. On Saurday, she even missed balls where Gauff was on the other side of the court. I don't think there's anything wrong saying Sabalenka just played horrendous from 4-1 40-0 up and Gauff was smart enough to help her there. She's not taking as much risks as Sabalenka in her game so, with this wind, it was much easier for her to get that one more ball back. But the wind was the same at the start of the match and Sabalenka was still zoning...
So yeah I don't think it's underestimating Gauff, it's top players thinking they'll always have their shot against her if they play the way they have to. And then Coco coming out there to prove them wrong here and there.
Brilliant work. Nuance gets lost a lot in sports coverage. But several things can also be true at once. Coco can both deserve to win AND the level can be far from elite AND the conditions can be suboptimal AND Aryna is fully entitled to express HER truth and frustration in a post match press conference AND Coco could perhaps stand at the edge of greatness if she can continue to elevate her level AND that doesn’t mean she’s not great already.
I'm no fan of Sabalenka (too noisy!) but am wondering what you think about all the grief she's been getting over her press conference response. I give her credit for saying what she really thought and felt whether or not it was fair to Coco.
I have my issues with Sabalenka, but it's not one of them. She was genuine, and I'll take genuine in this case. And what she said was mostly true: she was a mess, totally self-destructed, and let Gauff run away with the title. There's no mandate for the loser to bend over, bow down and only say nice things about the winner. The only thing that was not needed was that line about how Iga would have won that: it was too much, but also it's very Aryna. She was very gracious during her on-court speech, and then she answered the questions with honesty and, really, knowing her, she could have said a lot worse lol. She played an awful match in a GS final: Why would we expect her to come to press and say anything else that I played an awful match in a GS final (again).
I agree. The comments about Iga from both Sabalenka and Gauff made me cringe.
You don't get to that level without some strong ego. And sometimes, it acts as a bit of denial / bad faith. Also, it's a super competitive world at the top so... Sometimes it gets catty. But really nothing wow shocking happened IMO. Cringe, yes, but headlines worthy? Hmmm, I don't think so.
First of all, what a great read. You provide us with such a well thought out analyse! Thank you for writing this!
I think players underestimate Coco a lot. Which I understand to a certain point. She has had her ups and downs. But she is still young and still developing her game.
However, underestimating her it is something players do to their own detriment. We have heard many times "the tennis was not the best but Coco won". That is bc Coco keeps players from playing their best tennis.
She is able to always get the ball back, always make another touch, and the opponent does not know how to react and is not able to select their shots properly on time. Sabalenka made so many errors bc she knew she had to go all in or Coco was going to make the ball keep coming back.
Coco's fitness and incredible defensive skills create conditions where players have to keep playing points that had shots they thought were winning and the ball would not be returning.
(sorry for my english it is not my first language)
Thanks for liking my coverage! ;)
I wouldn't say they underestimate her, I would say they feel her game style shouldn't be as feared as Iga's or Aryna's for example. They're not as impressed. But they all know how great of an athlete she is and how many balls she's going to get back.
Sabalenka didn't miss because of that. She's used to it, had just won in Madrid. She honestly just lost her mind out there, which is something she used to do against all types of game styles not so long ago but people have forgotten lol. On Saurday, she even missed balls where Gauff was on the other side of the court. I don't think there's anything wrong saying Sabalenka just played horrendous from 4-1 40-0 up and Gauff was smart enough to help her there. She's not taking as much risks as Sabalenka in her game so, with this wind, it was much easier for her to get that one more ball back. But the wind was the same at the start of the match and Sabalenka was still zoning...
So yeah I don't think it's underestimating Gauff, it's top players thinking they'll always have their shot against her if they play the way they have to. And then Coco coming out there to prove them wrong here and there.
Brilliant work. Nuance gets lost a lot in sports coverage. But several things can also be true at once. Coco can both deserve to win AND the level can be far from elite AND the conditions can be suboptimal AND Aryna is fully entitled to express HER truth and frustration in a post match press conference AND Coco could perhaps stand at the edge of greatness if she can continue to elevate her level AND that doesn’t mean she’s not great already.
Exactly! Well said :) Thanks