I finally got to see Hingis hit the ball, live, in her match with Samantha Stosur last night. Stosur is a talented Aussie with an explosive all-court game and solid volley; she’s a little bit Lisa Raymond, a little bit Justine Henin-Hardenne and – it seemed to me – a little bit Jana Novotna.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that!
Stosur is now coached by former doubles champion, Gigi Fernandez, who believes the lean, boyish Aussie has the game to win Wimbledon. I agree with her, although I get the sense that Stosur has to rennovate her attic in order to emerge as a top player. She played great for stretches yesterday, and pushed Hingis to her limit in the latter half of the second set.
But. And this is a big but. . . she was playing from behind the whole time, fighting gamely to stay in the match. It’s not an uncommon profile at any level of the game – the opposite, in a way, of the classic front runner who plays better and better the further in front he or she is (Andre Agassi, anyone?).
Stosur is a great rear runner, but the moment she is in with a chance to take command or assert herself, her game drops a notch. This a serious foundational flaw that suggests a negative reaction to pressure: I will fight to stay alive, if I must but I lack the will or confidence to take control.
Still, Stosur is a very attractive player and it was an entertaining match. The only fault I found with Hingis was the tentative way she played when she served for it at 5-3. It struck me how much more aggressive Hingis is in her comeback; she really makes a strong move on the ball and she always wants to do something positive with it.
Did you check out how often she hits the backhand with an open stance (that’s the ultimate attack mode in today’s game), and how she seems to get a little extra on the ball when, running parallel with the baseline, she decides to pull the string. And that fighting spirit is something to behold. Isn’t it great to see someone clawing like a badger, with a great big grin on her face. What’s this chick doing having fun out there?
Clijsters next; that will be interesting.