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9. A few days ago I wrote about the Ostapenko-Swiatek head-to-head. Our new task is to analyze the Ostapenko-Azarenka matchup (5-0 in favor of Vika) for clues, just as Wim Fissette and many other coaches are probably doing.
If the Vika method doesn’t work, what’s Iga’s next move? Many of you suggested that she needed more variety. Sure, I guess, it doesn’t hurt. But that misses the point. The average rally length in these matches is usually below three shots–there’s no time for variety! If you win all the long rallies, congrats, you’ve won what, six points? The match is decided on serve, serve returns, and some plus-ones. The best you can do is nudge Ostapenko away from cleaning up in those categories.
Hyper-aggressive game styles are endlessly fascinating to me, in part because they end up influencing everything else. Against Swiatek in Stuttgart, the average rally length was 2.7 shots. Against Sabalenka in the final, it was 2.6. Basically the same, against two such different players! Sabalenka arguably played better defense, even though her scoreline was more lopsided.
And then, after all this, Ostapenko went to Madrid and lost her first match to the unranked (not unseeded, unranked) Anastasija Sevastova. She’ll have to wreak more havoc another time.
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