(Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)
Interesting...very interesting....amidst the nerve wracking round-ups in the second Monday at Wimbledon, the fourth-round clash between Dinara Safina and Amelie Mauresmo takes up a huge wedge of the pie.
The former World No. 1, who has been continously erratic in her performances, slipping and regaining ranking spots, will look forward to advance further in the second week at the Championships.
The 2006 Champion hasn't been able to repeat her stellar show in the following two years, as her play slipped further and further, especially when compared to her other peers and contemporaries.
Mauresmo can be described as being "consistently inconsistent" often slipping below the radar due to lack of displaying her true gifted potential. Considering her age, this kind of tennis might very well act as the start of the end of the road for her.
Having a point to prove and reclaiming some of the lost spark, the Frenchwoman needs to do things fast and desperately before things start going downhill for her.
The fact that Dinara Safina is her next opponent shouldn't act as a debilitating factor, for while Mauresmo has already tasted success at Wimbledon, Safina is on the wait to become another of the "Non-Slam Ichiban" category.
Age and experience will be Mauresmo's plus points, points which she can use to dictate Safina in the green outback.
Mauresmo's confidence level also has to start ticking, because if by any chance Safina draws the first blood, she has the potential to carry the match home due to her gain in confidence.
Another example of mental fortitude, in this match Mauresmo needs to be mentally poised and ready to fend off any challenge the by the Russian, in addition to playing a complete and clinical game.
Her shot making has to be precise. Mauresmo must know when to bend Safina. Lapses in the Russian's concentration, due to her often freely available and erratic shots, need to be capitalised.
Making use of Safina's not-so-fluid-movement on the court, Mauresmo has to charge and keep on charging if she wants to shake off the remnants of cobwebs from her own professional self.
Safina is just a sort of gate-keeper and more will follow in her wake, but there again it all boils down to saying "If I can upset the World No. 1 ,then I can follow-up my own performance against the rest remaining" or in other words, a clear case of psychological advantage peaking at a possible high time.
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