Name: Novac Djokovic
Country: Serbia
Birthdate: 22th of May 1987
Birthplace: Belgrade, Serbia
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Plays: Right-handed with a double handed backhand
Height: 190 cm or 6ft 3in
Website: www.novakdjokovic.rs
Scouting: Novak is a very strong player from the baseline with equally good ground strokes on both sides. His forehand side is a bit stronger than his double handed backhand, but he tends to go for his shots a lot more on the forehand side, producing more winners but also more unforced errors.
As well as having a strong forehand he also has a strong first serve (as most of the top professionals do). Novak’s second serve is mainly just a stock standard kick serve but also likes to switch it up from time to time.
In terms of weaknesses a player really needs to step up on the day to be Novak. Making a lot of unforced errors isnt really going to give you not much of a chance playing Novak. Stepping in to his second serve and trying to push him onto the back foot early in the rallies is essential, while also mixing up your depth of shots from the baseline. From what I have seen of Djokovic over the years is that he has good hands at the net, but takes him a long time to get settled and into the right position to make a good volley.
Name: Elena Dementieva
Country: Russia
Birthdate: October 15, 1981
Birthplace: Moscow, then Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Plays: Right-handed with a double handed backhand
Height: 180 cm or 5ft 11in
Website: http://eng.dementieva.ru
Scouting: Elena is a very offensive baseline player with solid groundstrokes on both sides, but her forehand is her main weapon. Elena has a very strong running forehand in particular and she tends to go for it a lot more, but this also means she makes a lot more unforces errors.
Elena is pretty much one of those players who comes to net only once in a match and that is to shake hands. She has great speeds and athleticism around court and her fitness levels are very high.
Elena’s main weakness is her serve. Her serve is very inconsistent at time and especially in tight situation of big matches. Once Elena starts to tire her serve drops a little shorter and with less pace. Her very obvious weakness is her second serve that is nearly always to her opponents forehand, because she cant hit a kick serve and her serves are just slice.
Name: Ana Ivanović
Country: Serbia
Birthdate: November 6, 1987
Birthplace: Belgrade, Serbia then SFR Yugoslavia
Residence: Basel, Switzerland
Plays: Right-handed with a double handed backhand
Height: 186 cm or 6ft 1in
Website: www.anaivanovic.com
Scouting: Ana Ivanovic is one of most promosing tennis players in the world, but she has only really lived up to expectation once and that was the 2008 French Open in which she was the champion. Apart from that Ana has a great serve and hands around the court. She has a very strong forehand and likes to play from the back of the court as much as possible. Her return of serve is also quite strong and she really going for the first shot.
However, she still seems to lack a fair bit of consistency in terms of days in days out. Thus, some days she can turn up on top form and the next day she doesnt even turn up. Additionally, Ana doesnt really seem comfortable when moving forward into the court and seems even more tentative when it comes to volleying.
Name: Maria Yuryevna Sharapova
Country: Russia
Birthdate: April 19, 1987
Birthplace: Nyagan, Soviet Union
Residence: Bradenton, Florida, U.S.
Plays: Right-handed with a double handed backhand
Height: 188 cm or 6ft 2in
Website: www.mariasharapova.com
Scouting: What can you say about Maria Sharapova? Maria has some of the best ground strokes in the game and on a good day is pretty much unbeatable from the baseline. Both her forehand and backhands have great power and she loves to really go for her shots.
Maria’s first serve is top notch and she really likes to hit it hard, but this can also lead to not a very high first serve percentage. However, her second serve is the opposite, its quite weak and doesnt really do too much. When tired or tight Maria tends to really slow down her second serve which either ends up in double faults or falls short in the court.
Approaching is a very strong point for Maria as her ground strokes lay a good path to net. However, when at net she isnt too assured of herself. Normally, her racquet head drops which causes her to lose control and try to feel the ball over the net instead of moving forward into it.
Maria also plays a very slow game so be prepared to wait and take your time.
