Oh and if Dinara thinks that what he said meant she was stupid well she’s stupid then :p

When I saw that match, I saw that Krajan is under pressure too. His ego is on the line too; if Safina loses, he may not be doing a god job. At least that’s his thinking and thus he becomes tense too and “forgets” how to talk positively – instead he creates even more pressure – but in my opinion unknowingly (subconsciously).

During the match Krajan is never seen with a smile, and is almost always deathly disaproving, while Safina constantly glances at him for support or approval between points. Safina is already one of the most emotionally tensed players who worked hard to get to where she is, but also is often down on herself to the point of self destruction during important matches.

She should be focusing on the points being played, not doubting herself, and especially not worrying about what her coach thinks about her game during the match. That adds so much pressure on the already very tensed Safina and greatly contributes to her meltdowns on court.

In my opinion, Krajan just isn’t doing a good job about coaching the mental side of tennis for Safina.

There’s a difference between constructive criticism and negative criticism.

Krajan could have said:”Passing with a nice touch shot is wrong, don’t do it. Rather, pass with a hard hit shot.” This includes criticism but it’s just feedback on what doesn’t work. It’s doesn’t label Safina with anything.

But Zeljko said:”How many times do you have to miss to figure out that passing with a touch shot doesn’t work?” In other words, he is telling Safina that she is stupid. I can’t see how that has any benefits especially since if she believes that (and she does, as he is the authority there), she cannot change being stupid.

She can change something by learning something new. But if you’re stupid, your stuck with your own stupidity forever. Then how can she win a Grand Slam if she believes that she is stupid? How can she be confident if she believes that she is stupid?

Trust me, women “get” this and do it much better than men. So it depends what kind of criticism they receive…

Nice analysis – but the view of female/male tolerance for critisism are old fashioned. I know plenty of women who take critisism well and men who cant handle it. I will go as far as saying that your point is true to a minor degree, ie more men can handle critisism, but far from as absolute as you put it.
Maybe there is a difference in our respective countries on this point; in Denmark women have been in the work force for generations, and have thus hardened towards critisism and conflict. I suspect Slovenia and Russia (of Safina) are later developed in that respects – but that may be my prejudice?
BTW, I was in Portoroz and saw the semis – great stadium and setting, I regret I didnt stay for the final.

One the big criticisms of Safina in the U.S. is that even though she is #1 she still hasn’t won a Grandslam. One argument is that Serena should be #1 because of her consistent amount of Grandslam wins.

Probably the reason why Serena does and has done better then Safina in recent Grandslam matches is because of her mental attitude. During an interview she said that she puts cards in her tennis bag with positive messages that she reads during a match such as “you can do this”, “you are the best”, “You can win this match”.

The key difference is that Safina focuses on “not losing” while Serena has the belief that she can win in key pressure situations.

Serena was able to build this amount of confidence and attitude in herself throughout her career, hopefully Safina can do the same

-Nick