Why Serena Williams lost at 2012 French Open – Roland Garros?

Here is an opinion of Johan Kriek,  two-times Australian Open champion and former # 7 tennis player in the world. I like his point because Johan not just express his thoughts about Serena Williams lost in the first round of Roland Garros, as many already did. He also explain how should tennis players deal with that kind of the situation on the tennis court.

The mental breakdown and “strategy” instability during tough matches do not happen only in juniors but even at the very top. Look at this year’s French Open match between Serena Williams and Virginie Razzano…Serena was up a set and 5-1 in the tiebreaker against French woman Virginie Razzano.

Serena was the overwhelming favorite to win this match, Serena had never lost a 1st round match in her whole career during the majors, in fact she was 47 and 0! Although the French crowds can be very partisan, Serena was in fact “cruising” when suddenly, all the “wheels came off”! Serena lost 6 tie-breaker points in a row, lost the second set in the tie-breaker, but then “went away” mentally, completely, lost the next 5 games in a row to go down 5-0 ! Even though it made for some real tennis “theater” to see Serena make a last ditch effort to come back, she managed to get back to 5-3 Razzano serving for the match for the second time and that game lasted nearly 30 minutes! But here is what we can learn from a match such as this one.

And I tell my students this all the time…NEVER , EVER underestimate your opponent! EVER! Not before or during a match, because things can change around in seconds! This was a classic example of “underestimating” an opponent, and then suddenly find yourself so far in the “hole”, it is impossible to get back! I tell my students that no matter who you play, focus on execution at all times, and do not focus or become worried about the score. Yes, be aware of the score, since one has to play differently depending on the score and such, but when one can beat somebody, 0 and 0, do NOT let them think for a second they can come back! Beat them as badly as possible! Serena lulled herself into “lalaland” …or was so used to “never losing” she forgot to “execute” and suddenly looked like a “deer in the headlights!” She looked like somebody with no “purpose” and no idea what to do…

At 5-3 in the third set, Razzano was serving and with that “country club swing” albeit quite effective serve; she was so tight, that at 30 love, her second serve nearly hit the ground first! Serena should have immediately recognized that and focused on getting as many returns of serves back as possible..but what happened? Serena tried to blast second serve returns for winners and made at least 4 unforced errors on her returns in that last game. Huge mental error! On top of it, Razzano looked like she was cramping too, the more proof to just get the balls back in and let her run as much as possible, with the “eye” on easy winners too! It was astonishing to see such a high caliber player like Serena Williams come “undone”.
It happens and one can certainly learn from these matches by watching…if you know what to look for…Better to get some “reading skills” if you want to be a complete tennis warrior!