posted Oct 4, 2008

Perfectly clear Blue and I totally agree - that Muppet of a coach should be fined and banned for awhile - I'm still ticking and shame on JJ

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posted Oct 5, 2008

The worst part about this is that Jankovic played well enough so that she could have won this match without turning the match into a three-ring circus. Venus was struggling in the 2nd set - no question, even though she had copious opportunities to win the set and the match at 7-6 6-4.

As her stamina declined, her footwork and serve went south and she only converted 2/16 break points. Jankovic was clearly fit, played some great shots on key points, benefited off Venus' errors but to her credit kept her own under control. her confidence grew as the match went on and I suspect she is improving as she develops a taste for victory.

So there was absolutely NO need for her antics or those of her incredibly obnoxious coach who should have been warned if not fined for attempting to officiate the match. Then there was her her incessant whining throughout the match.

Amid all of the yelling and blatant coaching he then pulled out a stop-watch? Not even Yuri Sharapov (so often guilty of trying to coach Maria) has ever sunk so low. It was rude, it was classless, it was juvenile and I was EMBARRASSED for Jankovic and her team, even if they didn't have the good sense or the dignity to feel that way on their own behalf.
Seriously, who does that?

It's disheartening because I like what Jankovic could potentially bring to the women's game in terms of her style - she's a hard-hitting counter-puncher with accuracy, angles, retrieval skills and speed with the ability to keep the big power-hitters honest and on their toes and defeat them should they fail to control their aggression.

Plus, she seems like she can be pleasant and charming when she wants to be.

But I really wish that she wouldn't resort to conveniently-timed injury timeouts. I wish that she wouldn't constantly show-boat around the court by having a protracted, elaborate consultation process on every single challenge as if she were at the Whitehouse deciding on the budget.

I wish she didn't seek sideline coaching and relied on her own ability insetad. I also can't stand the blatant attention-seeking past and present - i.e. collapsing on the court and lying there for an age or doing stretches on her own time. And the way trots up to the umpire for a private tete-a-tete to lay out her demands princess-diva style as if she were A Very Important Person and simply refuses to just get ON with the damn match? Irritating.

The irony is that with all of the external drama that she insists on bringing on court, she is one of the BIGGEST time-wasters of all and seems to go out of her way to disrupt the normal rhythm of play.

She has enough real personality to be a genuinely likeable player, but I'm not a 12- year-old so I can't get with the overly precious flouncy! Smirky! Glittery! Poppin'! Lip gloss! High school! persona that she has adopted of late. For heaven's sake she's 23, not 13.

Venus' expression said it all as she waved and walked off the court - not impressed.

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posted Oct 5, 2008

Midnight_Robber, nicely put, and I agree with you.

This incident has put me right off Jankovic unfortunately.

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posted Oct 5, 2008

I agree with Blue, Midnight_Robber an excellent post which sums up the charade perfectly.

The only other point I would make is the spineless officiating that occurs in such circumstances.

Jankovic should have received a waring or three for timewasting - the MTO (non injury) should only have been permitted before her own serve.

In addition the obnoxious coach should have been warned by the Umpier or Referee and if necessary removed from the court.

It is not possible that the shouting and coaching went unnoticed and a couple of point deductions might have put things back under control.

Not familiar with the Chair Umpire but she was clearly out of her depth.

Such behaviour should be stamped on and "bringing the game in to disrepute" should carry match bans for player and coach.

This is supposed to be Professional Tennis !

Roll on a worthy #1

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posted Oct 5, 2008

I used to be a great fan of Jankovic, but yesterday's performance has also put me off....as someone has already said, she's just full of distractions.....I'm never quite sure why coaches/family are allowed to sit so near to the court....they should be put further away.....this might help. But the fact JJ and the coach were timing Venus, well, that's totally unprofessional...I Petrova does well today..

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posted Oct 5, 2008

"...Supreme Venus"???
There's been a FINAL since her (Williams) defeat.
C'mon OP, wake up!!!

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posted Oct 5, 2008

OP!!!
OP!!!
Let me help you.
It's pretty straightforward!

Take out Venus from your "Supreme Venus" title and insert JJ!!!(or Jelena Jankovic).

EASY!!!

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posted Oct 5, 2008

Well played Jankovic... she deserved to win the title as she played the best tennis - the most consistent tennis.

However, she has developed into a player that forces other players to play their -worst- tennis. Venus William's game totally collapsed (admittedly under a lot of 'ball'/point pressure) and many of her errors were horrendous - off both wings and on the serve. Her volleying (excellent all week - and had the commentators drooling in Friday's match against Safina) became ungainly and amateurish - so conscious was she of Jankovic running he next ball down.

And it was exactly the same for Petrova today - her forehand simply fell apart under rallying/point pressure, leaking error after error. By midway in the 2nd set Petrova had struck *three times* as many unforced errors as Jankovic. Yet Petrova had played an excellent tournament the whole week - to *this match*.

Jankovic gets into players heads and shreds their games.... somehow, she can win matches in which players are hitting x2 to x4 as many winners as her by applying continual scoreboard and [what i call] 'ball' pressure. For me, it's the absolute worst kind of player to play against... you have to do almost all of the work out there on court and it seems like you get nowhere for your efforts and shotmaking.

======================
If only we could return to days of Henin... a player who finished a match like this with more winners than errors and (typically, frequently) far more winners than her defeated opponent.

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posted Oct 5, 2008

Jelena Jankovic in her after match interview.

"...Yeah, that's what you wanna do, you wanna play the game that your player doesn't really want to play.
You want to put your game forward so that your opponent cannot get the rhythm and that's what I did so I'm really happy about that."

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