Week 31 - ITF ($60K) - Lexington, USA - Hard

Michael D · All-time great

Week 31 - ITF ($60K) - Lexington, USA - Hard

jb288 · Satellite level

5-5 now. Neither playing great tennis; Gabi in control of the points usually but netting a lot when going for the winner.

Michael D · All-time great

Gabi had 3 set points there, the last the ball hits the top of the net cord and just falls back her side rather than over. She then loses the next two points as well to fall back to 5-5

Michael D · All-time great

Gabi misses another 2 BPs, then hits it long, then hits a return into the net... and will now need to hold serve to reach a TB.

Michael D · All-time great

Gabi struggling with her ball toss too. There's no wind, but first serve has 3-4 attempts at the toss... Has 2 DFs but finally hits a clean winner, the first I've seen by either player for games and takes the set to the TB.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Disaster of a tie break was 1-5 at the break but 2-5 now with 2 serves to come from Pegula.

Michael D · All-time great

Ugh, awful ... gifts several points and loses the TB 2-7 and the match 3-6 6-7(2)

There wasn't anything redeeming about it. Playing half decently Gabi should have been able to win it easily.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Lost the tie break to 2 (and therefore the match) so a 6th defeat in 7 for her - the only win being the young WC yesterday. Far cry from the 25-2 or whatever it was earlier in the year. Some decent opponents in that run at the higher level, but you'd like to think she'd be beating the likes of Pegula if she was going to make in roads and close in on the top 100 like KB.

flamingowings · All-time great

Gabi is that little bit younger than KB though - I have no doubt it will come in time.

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Over-reaction to that result in my books.
Not her best, probably the most lacklustre performance of the dozen or so I've seen this year. It was only fine margins though, and by no means awful.

Needs to get the deficiency in her FH sorted, when she tries to take it early to change direction DTL; plants her feet too far away from the ball, the swing consequentially has no momentum from the body, and she drags it half way down the net. Cost her at least 10 soft points today, and half a dozen yesterday.

No one not named Serena wins all the time. Some teething issues at a step up in level, but her fundamentals are still good.
It's cyclical. Most players on their way up - if they're not immediately world class, and straigh into the top 100 and top 50 before they're 20 - get top 180, then fall back, 250 or so, come again a bit stronger, and so on. The good ones break through that quagmire of 120-180; many don't, like Pegula (to date) CH123 in 2013.
Even if she plays well, Gabi may finish well outside the top 200 this year, but that's no great alarm in my book. Time is on her side (yes, it is now...)

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Katy up on the live stream 1-0*
Already easy to see why Sharma has been making waves recently.

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

No BP, very even, 4-3*

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Katy saves the first pair of BP. Both players frustrated with the quality of officiating.
Sharma has hardly lost a point on serve thus far, just keeps banging that 1st serve in and winning 94% of those onts. When she misses, Katy has a chance, but Sharma ain't missing much
5-4*

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

TB, Katy has done well to get here, staying patient and waiting for chances which aren't coming, without getting frustrated
Sharma has to be favourite in a TB unless the serve falls off somehow.

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

First mini of the TB in point 11, and Katy has it off an uncharacteristic wild FH from Sharma *6-5
That is a seriously impressive, match tough, set of tennis from Katy, as she pinches a set in which she had barely a sniff on her opponents serve, kept grinding away.
7-6(5)