I didn't know where to put this cause it combines ATP/WTA. The general idea is that consistent usually fast baseliners are suited to clay and the all round game bigger serve is suited to the other extreme grass.

In the ATP we see Federer who's game suits grass perfectly contrasted with Nadal's game which suits clay perfectly.

Then I thought of the WTA. At the moment Henin renowned as having the all court game owns Roland Garross at the moment. Also apart from Mauresmo this year the grass has been dominated by Williams and hard hitters (Sharapova).

This is all relatively recent stuff from this decade but I wondered why it is opposite?

Well Serena and Venus both have all round games too. Perhaps not as complete as Henin's but probably more effective across all surfaces, Serena in particular is the best all courter of active players. In 2002 she won the FO and then Wimbledon using similar tactics. Of course she did utilise her athleticism more at SW19 and came into the net a bit more and stood closer to the baseline. But basically Serena's game is effective like Agassi's and can be adapted to all contrasting surfaces quite easily, hence why they are the only players of the moment to have won all four slams.

Justine is obviously also an all courter but her baseline game tends to be more fragile at the faster Wimbledon, so she tends to come into the net more there, a technique that while excellent at times can sometimes fall apart (see the final). So I would actually say Serena is more of an all courter than Justine in that respect. More akin to Fed really.

Justine is probably the better shot maker and the thing of her having a more complete all round game is simply and image the media created as some of its more ignorant members :angry: disliked Serena's strong hitting and preferred Justine's beautiful shot making (even though it was slightly less effective than Serena's game).

Venus also has brilliant volleys, and is very competent at the net (although she foolishly for some reason tried to dispose of Vaidisova at the net at RG this year :doh:), Venus certainly has a perfect game for grass and a good one for clay even if she doesn't always implement it :rolleyes:

Sharapova's game is hardly bad for clay but she just moves very poorly on it.

Maria is too impatient to really work the point on clay, her meltdown against Dinara was purely of her own doing. Safina has pretty much given up until Masha started gifting her games, then there were the drop shots....

...she hasn't quite got the court craft or movement YET to succeed on clay as you say SW19, but I really don't see her ever winning in Paris.

Maria's movement isnt horrendous, but its generally very average and on clay even more so. Finds it hard to employ good foot-work on the clay, often missing key foot-steps around the ball and she cant slide at all. Movement is a real issue for maria on the clay.

Ye I would be surprised if she ever actually won there. I see her going the same way as Lindsay...

I think Maria will have a bit more success than Lindsay overall at RG though, because I'm sure she'll maintain a superior attitude on the red clay ;) :lol:

As you said SW19, Maria's game isn't actually that bad on clay, but she just doesn't have the movement skills needed for the RG champion yet.

Ye a final maybe but lots of quarters and a couple of semis :)

Yeh, I don't see her winning it in the next few years unless the draw really opens up for her :shrug:

maria actually has a great serve for clay, doesnt always rely on pace and can manipluate the spins and placement. The problem is she probably doesnt realise that :lol: