How Diana Shnaider Figured Out a Former Cincinnati Open Doubles Winner
Third seed Diana Shnaider of Russia pushed past American Alycia Parks in the semifinals of the Monterrey Open held in Monterrey, Mexico. This is the fourth time the two have squared off against each other, the third time for the year, and Shnaider leads the head-to-head between them 3-1 overall with this Monterrey win, at 6-3, 7-6. Past scores from previous, more matches have been more contested, so what is it that Shnaider seems to have figured out about Parks that she has not? The two have had stellar performances so far during the tournament, with favorable semi-final stats, so let’s see how they matched up against each other and why it went the way it did.
Gamestyles: Enduring vs. Explosive
Alycia Parks plays a brand of tennis that complements her six-foot-one frame very nicely, with massive serves and big swings that result in explosive, solid shots. Intensity, explosiveness, and offensive play are the name of her game. Her court coverage is quite good as well for her height, though I think she favors and perhaps primes her mind more to be prepared to run for the angled shots. She’s often left unready or flat-footed for simpler balls in the middle of the court or body shots, but she’s always down to grind out a full-court point to the end, reaching impressive parts of the court. Shnaider is very solid on her groundstrokes, with an enduring power to her game. She focuses on getting the ball deep and consistent, all while striking the ball fearsomely, but she knows when to temper it back for the sake of control.
Gameplay
Shnaider demonstrated a clinical and economic nature throughout the match, which, despite all of Parks' impressive, blistering bells and whistles, was lacking that same thoughtfulness, and she couldn’t match up. The American came out swinging hard, as always, and she was hitting all of her marks. Shnaider, though she had a lot to face with the sheer intensity of Parks’ groundstrokes, kept to the basics, a coach’s dream; robust and through the middle, biding her time and keeping control and consistency at the forefront of her priorities. These smart moves, playing down the middle, especially allowed Shnaider to find out Parks' key weakness very early on. It mattered little that she was left scraping and scrambling after her serves and winners; she pulled away fairly quickly after 3-3, because Parks simply could not maintain her error-point surplus balance. The down-the-middle and body shots were responsible for many of these forced yet unforced errors, as that is the simplest shot in tennis to have to handle, yet time and time again, it frazzled Parks.
Parks truly plays bang-bang-boom tennis best. She knows how to blast a winner off a ball that’s angled far from her, or how to punish a short ball lobbed up as a result of Shnaider barely reaching a huge backhand crosscourt. Shnaider found a change of pace that rattled her, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and she stuck with it. Parks seemed not to find any hacks to upset Shnaider; she only continued to do what she knew how to do, an often unfortunate pitfall to players with a one-dimensional or one-speed game.
Service Games and Breaks
Parks had 13 aces throughout the entire match, a grand number. It would be far grander if she didn’t have eight double faults accompanying them; that’s only a five-point benefit from what should be 13 free points. Shnaider, on the other hand, had one ace and three double-faults; still a bad balance, but not as costly for someone who doesn’t rely so heavily on their serve, as Parks does. The two had close overall service percentages; Shnaider with 69.2%, first serve accuracy rate, hitting 54/78. Out of those first serves to start the point, she won 40 of them, putting her at a comfortable 74.1%. Shnaider won 58.3% of her second serve points. Not bad at all for someone whose serve is not their primary strength, yet she had consistency and accuracy there to help her bolster the rest of her game. Parks had a lower first serve accuracy at 61.5%, with 48 out of 78 balls hit in, and won 75% of her first serve points. Parks’ second serve stat was awful, not reaching up to half, at 46.7%. Once more, Shnaider was just more economical in every aspect. Service is the basic start of the game, and Parks hurt herself badly too many times in each game by hitting an ace, then following with a double fault. She is very wasteful; it is actually more than just not being economical.
Shnaider faced six break points and wrangled back every single one and saved herself to hold; her opponent never got one break on her throughout the match. Parks faced five break chances and was only able to save herself from three. The difference between the two here other than the obvious statistic, was clear in the match. Shnaider changes gears for precarious situations, such as a break point against her, whilst Parks knows no such concept. Parks goes 100% at everything always, even when it makes the least sense, and especially when it damages her. If the American were to leash that part of herself alone, there might have been a third set, as that attribute is largely responsible for her wastefulness.
Overall, the match stats between the two for overall points are close, despite the score. Out of a total of 156 points, Shnaider won 82 and Parks won 74. They were around equally bad as returners, Parks with 30.8% and Shanider at 35.9%. The stats are baffling, but they show just how important it is for the correct decisions to be made right in the moment, right at the split second it’s all going down. If Parks could add some more thought and patience to her game, alongside some tools to further aid in slowing the tempo and throwing off rhythms, like a reliable backhand slice, or trying more dropshots, but successfully, maybe she may get the better of Shnaider the next time they meet. For now, bang-bang tennis with a penchant to end up in the bottom of the net or long will not be getting her any closer to winning over her, and it can be said with confidence.
