No one is more composed on the court than Lauren Davis, and nobody is making a bigger statement in Auckland. But if she wants to be a consistent top 20 player, she still needs to improve all aspects of her game. Many tennis fans still do not know much about Davis. The 21-year-old American has been steadily moving up the rankings and is currently ranked No. 54 in the world.
Many do not think that Davis will be a top 20 player, but former American Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez has been quoted as saying she sees big potential in her. Davis is known as an extremely hard worker who prides herself on her work ethic. It is true on the surface that the smiley youngster, who is all of 5″2, does not scream intimidation, but on the court Davis shows no fear and truly believes that she can beat anybody.
Davis has found herself a set down in every match thus far in Auckland, but still has managed to win every match. In the first round she found herself down 1-6, 0-4 to fellow American Shelby Rogers and everybody thought the match was over. Everybody except for Davis; she won the next six games and eventually the third set.
In the second round Davis was down again, this time to fellow 21-year-old American Sloane Stephens, but again came back and won. Even though Stephens did not play her best tennis, it was still a sensational win for Davis over a top 25 opponent. Davis followed up her win over Stephens with a 2-6 6-2 6-1 win over Urszula Radwanska. She will take on Venus Williams in the semi-finals next, which should be a good test for the young American.
Though Davis has had some promising results, there are still some things like most young players she needs to improve on, the most worrisome of which is Davis’ trend of slow starts. In Grand Slams especially she will need to learn to dismiss opponents quicker to save energy otherwise she will run out of gas.
One way she can play matches more efficiently is by going for more shots, which could generate more errors, but is worth the risk. Davis tends to grind out points and hope her opponent will make a mistake, but when you are playing the top players in the world, they don’t tend to make too many errors. She needs to take chances with longer shots because, despite her size, she can generate decent power on her ground strokes. She made a habit of this toward the end of her match with Stephens, creating more racket head speed.
The other area on which Davis needs to improve is her serve; she has trouble generating pace, and her opponents take full advantage. Last year in Sydney, Jamila Gajdosova demolished some of Davis’ serves in the second round because they sat right up in her wheelhouse. It would be interesting to see if she can muster up some more pace by engaging more of her legs, or find a way to generate more spin so her opponents cannot pound the ball down her throat.
Davis’ big strength other than her obvious mental toughness is her movement. She moves extremely well side to side and is able to read drop shots extremely well. She reminds me somewhat of David Ferrer or Lleyton Hewitt the way she moves and the way she is able to grind out points.
While Davis may not win any Grand Slams any time soon, she is definitely a player on the rise and definitely a player for American tennis fans to follow. Nevertheless, if she stays healthy it would be a shock not to see her in the top 30 by the end of the year.
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