Ignominious
6-7(7) 3-6

Laura seemed to lack any sort of rhythm for the whole match. It's amazing she got so close to winning the first set really as nothing was working for her.

Looking at Pegula's general non-activity on the ITF site I had rather hoped Laura would have had the edge. Sigh. Sometimes it is hard being a Robson fan. Still have faith she can back up the doubles win from last year though!

Nix wrote:

---

blob wrote:

---

Ignominious
6-7(7) 3-6

---

 Ignominious, really? Is it really shameful disgraceful, embarrassing?

---

Well, we could cherry pick the least flattering synonyms...
Equally we could have used discreditable, abject, sorry, pitiful, miserable etc. which would fit pretty much the way Laura played and carried herself yesterday.
'Deserving or causing a public shame', I'd stick by that. People watching that would have cause to pity Laura.

But, mileage may vary.

It's certainly a fair point you make in the rest of the post.

Should we reject expectations or hopes based on previous performance, now given a realistic appraisal of the last two years? Yes, I think so. The thing about yesterday though, as I find often with Laura R, is I am doing that. This was not a commentary on the gap from her absolute peak to her current position, but the random, borderline mindless (not as in stupid, but as in unthinking, or without a plan) way in which the tennis is carried out on the court. Still going for the exact same point construction and awful shot choices. Still not moving her feet, or employing the basics of good footwork - nothing to do with speed, her naturally being slow, it's technical not genetic; she's actually a touch improved in court coverage, especially coming up the court; it's the footwork on routine shots along the baseline where there is no reason to be out of position and hitting at a stretch, and thus netting or blazing wide/long.
And so on, and so on.

These sorts of things should be better, not arguably worse. Look at others that have had similarly lengthy times out, Keys, Stephens, Rybaikova etc etc. Keys especially, as her game is so similar to peak Laura's. They come back and easily get back to the top 100 or so, and then incrementally edge up back to where they were over the longer term. More importantly, Keys has clearly worked on her fitness, her BH technique, and her footwork in the enforced downtime. She has moved from near the bottom of the tour to well in the middle of the pack on the areas that were her weakest.

Yes, some other players who had roughly analagous peaks, for example Bencic or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, come back, and suffer a similar malaise to Laura. AKS is just playing badly, but you can see how the pieces will all fit at some point. Bencic seems to have the Agnes Szavay (or Ellie Dean) problem, that she may never be truly fit again for any sustained period. Laura is healthy, and has played consistently for years since return, but there's still a vacancy to her play, which some call, 'going for her shots', or, 'playing her natural game', and it's not working - though I had noted some of the positives of the last few months in other posts in the thread. Insert the oft misattributed quote about the definition of insanity.

In other news, Tammi retired from her singles, so Laura's doubles defence seems prematurely curtailed.

the addict wrote:

---

blob wrote:

---

In other news, Tammi retired from her singles, so Laura's doubles defence seems prematurely curtailed.

---

 Live scores show they gave a walkover, so that's it for Laura for this week.

---

We may still have the champion at the end of the week though...

QF: Webley-Smith/Lykina (GBR/RUS) [2] defeated (Q) Routliffe/Wacnik (USA/CAN) 6-4 6-3

Your other points are interesting, although I'm not sure all those players mentioned were effectively out for two years.

My point was that Laura seems to get a harder time on this board than practically anyone. And that the language we use is important. I'd hate her to read this board sometimes, it would be so demoralising. I'd much rather learn about what people think she's doing wrong, could improve on, than just constantly project their own disappointment.

I certainly agree that something in the way she's being prepared by her team is flawed, as some of the basic faults don't seem to be addressed, which could be to the great advantage of her overall game.

But it appears that that's just me!

I wonder what Laura herself thinks about her performances and progress generally. I suspect nothing here is particularly harsher than she would say herself and nothing factually about comparisons now vs previously clearly any surprise. Posters have certainly not been abusive and I see little point in sugar coating things in post match comments. And during any match it is to me much more interesting to read genuine thoughts and expectations.

There also were above clear comments on her preparation on the baseline, the little movements that are separate from her more general movement issues. And her point construction has been pointed to before going for it / blazing away. So things she's doing wrong and can improve on. I doubt this is likely to become the first source for more technical info as to how to resolve some of her problems ! 

Further, quite a number of people have also over time suggested that they think she probably needs help on the mental side and when you think how Jo has benefitted I'd also think these fair thoughts. All are of course very different individually but I'd actually hope that she's already quietly taken steps in that line.

Back to her game, I do recall someone with a very similar game to Laura of Landisville 2017 who showed much better point construction, reigning in natural instincts to go for it too early, and who had much better body language. I suggest Laura seeks out a video of Laura Robson Landisville 2016. It is all very strange and however one may judge all the words here, there is so much evidence that people care about her and so much want her to do better. One or two folk undoubtably think there is too much care about Laura.