Ivanovic's (Serving) Struggles Continue
2008 French Open Champion, Ana Ivanovic, lost in the third round of the 2009 Australian Open to the rising Russian teenager, Alisa Kleybanova. Although the loss is surprising, what’s even more troubling was witnessing Ivanovic’s frequently errant tosses during her three matches at the 2009 Australian Open. 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist, Elena Dementieva, struggled for years with serving toss problems and somehow managed to
play well enough in other areas of her game to maintain a top ten ranking. Former Number One and Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, Maria Sharapova, also developed serving problems over the past couple years. Sharapova is still on the sidelines recovering from shoulder surgery and it will be interesting to see how confidently she serves when she returns to the Tour. Past champions such as Chris Evert, Tracy Austin and Martina Hingis won multiple Grand Slam titles without a strong serve. However, given the importance of the serve in the women’s game in 2009, it’s unlikely that any female tennis pro could now win a Grand Slam without a solid first serve and very few double faults. Serving toss problems can really get into a player’s head and affect the rest of her/his game. Therefore, it’s critical to fix the tossing woes as soon as possible so that there aren’t both technical and mental/confidence problems to resolve.
|
