Sanchez hits the courts with Wozniacki (boyfriend joins!) + coaches bring on advice for Grand Slam success

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Wilson Blade 9

In the video you can see the footage of world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki‘s practice with her new coach Ricardo Sanchez in Dubai. Interestingly, her father Piotr, mother Anna and boyfriend Rory McIlory were all there to watch on the best-ranked WTA player. And now that we’ve mentioned the ranking, these days there have been quite a few high-profile diagnosis for Wozniacki’s lack of Grand Slam titles and pieces of advice for her 2012 season.

Nick Bollettieri accused Wozniacki of being too predictable, despite praising her abilities:

If she wants to win a Grand Slam, she should do anything other than what opponents expect of her. They have figured her out […] She has a good foundation to play an elaborate game. She moves extremely well, [but] she can only win a Grand Slam if she disregards the thought that says that she can only get the ball back and be a steady player.


Bollettieri also made a hilarious statement about the patience of Wozniacki’s new coach who used to collaborate with Jelena Jankovic:

Anyone who has managed to work with Jelena Jankovic for long time deserves a medal—it’s not easy to be with her.

Sven Groeneveld, who has helped coach Wozniacki over the past few years, believes that in order to finally win a Grand Slam the Dane has to reduce her schedule.

Does she need to play Madrid, Rome and Brussels in row right up to Roland Garros? And is it really necessary to play a hard-court tournament (Copenhagen) before Wimbledon? The key is to stay focused before and during a Grand Slam.

In addition, in the latest article on Tennis.com by Steve Tignor, Wozniacki is called the “biggest women’s disappointment”.

Hm, even though Wozniacki should do her best to add a Grand Slam title to her biography, she’s not as bad as it’s been widely presented in the tennis world, and analysis of actual numbers here on Women’s Tennis Blog have been proving it, such as “Part 1: Comparison of the five slamless No.1s and the origin of the phenomenon”. Part 2 entitled “Hingis and Davenport were just as slamless No.1s as Jankovic, Safina and Wozniacki and nobody criticized them” will be even more revealing! 😉 Part 2 will be posted in a few days. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

8 COMMENTS

  1. Very interesting video! It looks like Sanchez is going to make some big changes to Wozniacki’s game. I noticed in the video she was slicing and hitting volleys with just one hand on the racquet :-O I’m very intrigued to see how she gets on in the first tournaments of 2012 in Australia…

    And looking forward to the next stats article by Omair 🙂

  2. Can anyone translate? Well, the images speak by themselves, but it would still be great to have the translation.

    Can’t wait to see the slice backend on the grass at Wimbledon! lol

  3. It will be interesting to see the product of their work,for sure.

    I don’t believe the argument with the schedule, short schedule is not a guarantee of anything. Maria Sharapova played the least tournaments of all top 10 players and yet…no slam wins this season. On the other hand she won more matches at GS than anyone else, as Omair mentioned in one of his analyses.
    Ricardo makes a good impression on me. He is very dedicated and I think he really wants to help her make the most of her tennis.

  4. I have translated the danish parts in the clip for you, please excuse my less than perfect english..
    Translation:

    Speaker: Amongst palm trees and under Dubai’s baking sun, Caroline Wozniacki (CW) arrives to this day’s training. A training, that under Ricardo Sanchez’ (RS) supervision has a different character.

    CW: it is working out nicely, I have both my farther and RS on the court, they work as a team. Everything is going good so far.

    RS: speaking English…

    Speaker: Because of the new trainer situation, Piotr must take a step down, so CW now only receives instructions from RS.

    CW: I think it is good, because they constantly talk together, so there is not really a big difference: It is only one voice I’ll have to listen to –one could say, instead of having to listen to ten different people at the same time. Now it only goes through one person.

    Speaker: backhand slices, onehand shots and lots of offence shots from the forehand. Today’s training showed clearly what skills RS is working to enhance with CW.

    RS: speaking English…

  5. Harriet, thanks! I said that the images spoke by themselves but actually there is precious information in the commentary. I have never disliked Piotr but one must admit that he is now down to the same level as Rory.

  6. I don’t think her father should be there with her during these sessions….he should let Sanchez take full control. It’s one thing if he travels with her, but for Piotr to still be present suggests to me that Sancehz does not have full coaching control….we’ll see!

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