Women's Game Listing

[Orion]

In this thread, post your opinion on the individual game of a player, meaning how they rank (as in top 50, top 20, top 10, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) on the active list of players in the top 100-200 or so in several different categories, in your opinion. and discuss.

The categories (feel free to add more if I neglected some...):

1: 1st Serve
2: 2nd Serve
3: Return of Serve
4: Forehand (overall)
4a: Running
4b: Forehand Drive
4c: Slice Forehand
5: Backhand (overall)
5a: Running
5b: Backhand Drive
5c: Slice Backhand
6: Volley (overall)
6a: Forehand Volley
6b: Backhand Volley
6c: Overhead Volley
7: Smash
8: Lob
9: Dropshot
10: Movement (overall)
10a: Speed
10b: Footwork

[Orion]

First I'll do my overall list of the top 5 in each category


1st Serve:
1: Serena Williams
2: Lindsay Davenport
3: Venus Williams
4: Alicia Molik
5: Maria Sharapova

2nd Serve:
1: Davenport
2: Molik
3: Nadia Petrova
4: Svetlana Kuznetsova
5: S. Williams

Return of Serve:
1: V. Williams
2: Kim Clijsters
3: Justine Henin-Hardenne
4: S. Williams
5: Jennifer Capriati

Forehand (overall):
1: S. Kuznetsova
2: Molik
3: Capriati
4: Elena Dementieva
5: Clijsters

Running Forehand:
1: Capriati
2: Molik (when she really runs for them...)
3: Kuznetsova
4: Amelie Mauresmo
5: Anastasia Myskina

Forehand Drive:
1: Kuznetsova
2: Dementieva
3: Molik
4: Clijsters
5: Capriati

Slice Forehand:
1: Molik
2: Kuznetsova
3: Clijsters
4: Conchita Martinez
5: Paola Suarez

Backhand (overall):
1: Mauresmo
2: Henin-Hardenne
3: Sivia Farina-Elia
4: Davenport
5: Dementieva

Running Backhand:
1: Henin-Hardenne
2: Farina-Elia
3: Dementieva
4: Myskina
5: Mauresmo

Backhand Drive:
1: Mauresmo
2: Dementieva
3: Davenport
4: Henin Hardenne
5: Farina-Elia

Slice Backhand: Top 5
1: Mauresmo (finest approaching shot in women's tennis)
2: Molik (very good approaching shot)
3: Davenport
4: Dementieva
5: Kuznetsova

Volley (overall):
1: Mauresmo
2: Patty Schnyder
3: S. Williams (unorthodox, but still useful)
4: V. Williams (if only she did it more)
5: Kuznetsova

Forehand Volley:
1: Schnyder
2: Kuznetsova
3: S. Williams
4: V. Williams
5: Mauresmo

Backhand Volley:
1: Mauresmo
2: Henin-Hardenne
3: Schnyder
4: Kuznetsova
5: Vera Zvonereva (very neat shot, but not as incredible as others)

Overhead Volley:
1: V. Williams
2: S. Williams
3: Mauresmo
4: Kuznetsova
5: Pierce (scares me when I see it)

Smash:
1: S. Williams
2: Myskina
3: Petrova
4: Mauresmo
5: V. Williams

Lob:
1: Clijsters (picked it up from Lleyton)
2: Maggie Maleeva
3: Schnyder
4: Zuluaga
5: Sharapova

Dropshot:
1: Schnyder
2: Mauresmo (the French simply have lovely skillshots)
3: Nathalie Dechy
4: Elena Bovina
5: Sharapova (it's developing very nicely since last year)

Movement (overall):
1: Myskina
2: Henin-Hardenne
3: Sharapova
4: S. Williams
5: Capriati

Speed:
1: S. Williams
2: Myskina
3: Sharapova
4: Kuznetsova
5: V. Williams

Footwork:
1: Henin-Hardenne
2: Sharapova
3: Myskina
4: Davenport (yes, I said it. Otherwise, she couldn't hit the ball well standing still!)
5: S. Williams (it's gotten soooo much better than it used to be)

[Orion]

I'll do Svetlana Kuznetsova, because I like her game a ton.


1st Serve: Top 10. It's not too fast, but she puts some movement on the ball.

2nd Serve: Top 5. This is the strength of her service game: it doesn't crumble under pressure.

Return of Serve: Top 10. It's not incredible, but it's solid enough to keep her in the game.

Forehand (overall): 1st

Running Forehand: 3rd, behind Capriati and Molik

Forehand Drive: 1st, barely ahead of Dementieva and Molik

Slice Forehand: 2nd, interesting shot that Molik is excellent at, changes the pace of the game well.

Backhand (overall): Top 20. If there is a weakness in Kuznetsova's game, it's the backhand. Other than the
slice, she doesn't use it to great effect.

Running Backhand: Top 20

Backhand Drive: Top 20

Slice Backhand: Top 5

Volley (overall): 5th

Forehand Volley: 2nd

Backhand Volley: 4th

Overhead Volley: 5th

Smash: Top 10

Lob: Top 20. It's a skillshot Kuznetsova doesn't have a handle on quite yet.

Dropshot: Top 10. It can come from nowhere and surprise you, but not consistent enough yet

Movement (overall): Top 10

Speed: 4th. There's no denying, this girl is fast.

Footwork: Top 20. Not graceful. Reminds me a little of Serena when she was 18-20, she didn't take small steps. It worked without the small steps, but a few points at pivotal moments are determined by small steps.