OK here's YET another tennis post, but this time it has a different spin (or topspin!) on it, as this time it isn't just about tennis scores and how tournaments are progressing, its all about a certain Danish player who sadly at the moment just isn't cutting it on the ladies tour, and that player is Caroline Wozniacki.
In the last couple of years Caroline really was on top of her game, reaching the final of the US Open, and while she lost to Kim Clijsters, she carried on with her consistency and winning plenty of titles such as in Beijing, Tokyo, Montreal, Indian Wells and Dubai, all of which are big Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 level tournaments. However last year after that really good first spell of the year, Wozniacki's level suddenly dropped off, and this might have started maybe round about April in Stuttgart, where she reached another Premier WTA event final, only to lose out to unseeded German player Julia Goerges, in straight sets no less. After that loss and despite winning a couple of smallers Premier event tournaments in Brussels and New Haven, Wozniacki's 2011 just didn't get any better, particularly in her grand slam results, with her worst result in years at the French Open, losing in the 3rd round to Danielle Hantuchova in a comprehensive straight set defeat. Also at Wimbledon she didn't even reach the quarter finals as she lost to Dominika Cibulkova in the 4th round in a tight 3 set match, but for a player of her top ranking she really shouldn't be losing to unseeded or lower ranked players. And these worrying signs carried on in the latter half of the year where again she failed to defend her title at the Roger Cups in Toronto, losing in her first match and again in Cincinnati. She did however manage to reach the semi finals of the US Open, but again she was blasted off the court in straight sets by Serena Williams, a player she has never beaten. And to top it off, despite her World No.1 ranking she even failed to get to the final of the WTA Championships in Istanbul, as she was hampered by an injury, and was ultimately put out by the rising star Petra Kvitova, who by then had won her fist major at Wimbledon.
And unfortunately Caroline's game has followed the exact same path this year, losing out to Kim Clijsters in the Australian Open quarter finals, and with that her ranking dropped off to the World Number 4. And since then she has struggled to even play to that ranking, as she was defeated last week in her first match in Doha to Lucie Safarova, a player that isn't even in the top 20, and now again this week in Dubai, where she was the defending champion, she lost out to Julia Goerges for the third time, again in straight sets in 7-6, 7-5.
So things really haven't got any better for Caroline, in fact at this rate she will be set to drop out of the Top 10 quite soon. And its a great pity to have such a talented player, just fall away from the game so quickly, and Agnieszka Radwanska, no doubt will soon overtake her in the rankings, who has just guaranteed the World No.5 spot having defeated Julia Goerges in the Dubai final today in a very good tight final in 7-5, 6-4. And despite the fact that Radwanska herself is a counterpuncher as well, her game has more guile and ingenuity about it than Wozniacki's has, as Radwanska can out-think alot of her opponents on court and disguise her play to other players, whereas with Caroline its a case of what you see is what you get.
So what is Caroline's problem????? Well I'm certainly no expert, but for me she just isn't an aggressive enough player, she is by nature a counterpuncher, and quite often is too defensive and trades from the baseline. Caroline's forehand is also highly susceptible and is prone to making too many errors, however her backhand at the same time is one of the best in the ladies game. But Caroline is losing too regularly to players ranked below, which is definitely a troubling sign, and maybe the reason for that is again she is up against players that can outhit with their power and pace, and they also come in against her at the net. Andy Murray certainly once was considered too as a counterpuncher, but he has stepped his game since then and become a more aggressive player, and he has always been a far more consistent player, who has played to his ranking.
But for Caroline, her game is fast slipping away, and she is no longer a threat to many of the players on tour, and she is day by day becoming more fallable. For me also her game is a bit too predictable, with no variety as she is always using the forehand/backhand combination, she also isn't a very good vollier, and she isn't comfortable playing at the net, too many times players have played winners off her second serve, and she has seen too many cross court forehands whizz past her. So if Caroline is to make more headway, she definitely will need to step up the aggression, and maybe also get in a new coach, similar to Andy Murray, find a past slam champion who can guide her to the right path, and help her make the necessary changes to her game, to get her back on top. She also quite often relies too heavily on her father, who is her coach, as she calls him on alot to give her advice, meanwhile a lot of the other players on the tour mostly just try and work it out for themselves.
But until the worrying signs may continue for the former world no.1 and it is a great shame to see such a talented player drop off like that, and let other players overtake, as there have already been several players such as Sam Stosur, Li Na, Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka, who have all since become first time grand slam champions, and all of them were ranked below her.
Anyways here's hoping in the future Caroline can try and find a way to make that major breakthrough and get back into the game, but if its going to happen, changes will need to be made.
So that's it for now.
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