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Any comments on her serve? One of the ugliest I have seen, only surpassed in the old days by the Francoise Durr serve... Doesn't she have a coach?
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I was watching one of her matches on time when Justin Gimelstob was commentating and he described her serve motion as "straight from the parks and recreation" league. -
I like the word "comic" better than "ugly" to describe what this woman does.
It isn't just the serve, either. Her pre-point rituals, her stretches, etc., all make her a true original in the tradition of the great French film "Mr. Hulot's Holiday." Mr. Hulot is a tennis player, too. His serve is a parody of Roddick's although Hulot's came first.
Tennis players tend to be too judgmental. Everybody should throw out their borders a bit more. Also, it's much too early for anyone to have forgotten Monica Seles, and how about the time Bartoli beat Justine Henin at her peak to put herself in the Wimbledon final with the great moral support of Pierce Brosnan, the second or fourth James Bond.
Two-handed from both sides is a special, fascinating game all of its own.
I wouldn't even like tennis if it didn't have room for such quirkiness.
It wasn't style that caused Bartoli to lose to Wozniacki in the Indian Wells final-- she got tired, is all. Before that it was her style that beat some hard-hitters, emphasizing the virtue of steadiness once again.Last edited by bottle; 03-21-2011, 08:40 AM.Comment
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Her father glued tennis balls to her feet, to make sure she stayed on the balls of her feet! Was wearing some Ghoulishly white sun screen at IW. She loves fast courts, due to her flat hitting, wt. into the shots style. That stance, is weird, the open the door serve motion, is the single most hideous tennis move ever seen, trumping Forgets' pony kick foot motion on his serve, and I can't even think of any motion that goes up to that level, almost as if you just want to watch it, like looking at an accident, like, wait a minute, wait a minute, she's going to do it again! The cameras were pulling off of it, it was so bad, as if, you know one of her boobs came out or something.Comment
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Once again I'm with Bottle
I think you guys are missing something. Yes, the beginning of Marion's service motion is hideous, but take a look at this slow motion from two years ago. Don't even look at the motion until 19 seconds into the clip. That's the trophy position. From there she does awfully well.
Obviously, her father has her doing things which most of us "enlightened" teaching pros have utter disdain for, but hey...she was sick all week according to all reports and still managed to make an exciting match of it against the number one player in the world (granted, no majors). Instead of simply going away in the second set, she came back and won that second set by taking it to Caroline. She is 3 inches shorter, carries at least 5 kilos more according to the WTA site (and it's not muscle), has strokes and movement characteristics that most of us "enlightened" ones would say give her no chance. Clearly, she is not naturally fast. At the end of the first set, she looked exhausted. And Caroline, wisely, decided to try to run her as far as possible and take advantage of the fitness disparity. Marion is not going to be fast, but I wish someone could get to her father and get him to see what she could do if she had the fitness (and leaness) of a Henin or Dementieva. Also, she must be much fitter than she appears, because she kept fighting yesterday when many lesser souls might have mailed it in for the end of the match.
I watched an interview from earlier in the week on TennisTV and found her to be intelligent, interesting and really charming. I've always been totally turned off by her idiosyncratic movements on the court. I think it's sad that no one was able to teach her a clean, rhythmic backswing and rock for her serve. But give the kid credit; she is a terrific fighter and there are many things about what she does that are to be admired and even emulated (though perhaps not her strokes). Come on, Phil, Francoise Durr never served 105 mph; in fact she probably never served 85 mph. Marion was routinely serving over 100mph yesterday, despite being just 5' 7" tall. And a girl. She has a "pro drop" that you would do well to emulate. Obviously, they had problems getting her there with conventional backswings. The rhythm is weak, but they do get her into an excellent power position.
Despite what appear to be some severe handicaps, she has won almost 400 matches and over $5,000,000 in prize money on the WTA Tour. I have to say I became a little bit of a fan... of her spirit, not her strokes.
donComment
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Hey don, if to get a pro drop you are telling me to emulate her Mousieur Hulot backswing, I think I'll stick with what I have...
Otherwise, I agree about her being a likeable person.
There have been some weird servers on the men's pro tour as well, such as Jay Berger and Karsten Barsch...Comment
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No, Monsieur Hulot has nothing to worry about. I don't know what that backswing is supposed to do for Marion, but she definitely gets a good pro drop. Watch the swing from just the point I suggested and it's really a pretty good hitting action with all the pieces the modern serve is supposed to have...but not the toss.Originally posted by gzhpcu View PostHey don, if to get a pro drop you are telling me to emulate her Mousieur Hulot backswing, I think I'll stick with what I have...
Otherwise, I agree about her being a likeable person.
There have been some weird servers on the men's pro tour as well, such as Jay Berger and Karsten Barsch...
And Berger and Brasch were conservative by comparison.
donComment
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