Perth 25K

Sheddie · administrator

Perth 25K

Sheddie · administrator

Just copying my rd1 preview over to this page:

Rd1: Anna Smith (GB) v Christina Wheeler (Aus)

Luckily Anna hasn't drawn a seed. Wheeler will be tough though, she's ranked 350 and has been as high as 147 (though that was back in 2003). Anna's a lot better than her current ranking, her playing strength is more like a top 400 player so it could be close. Wheeler made the final of a 25K in Melbourne in mid-Feb (the field was pretty weak though), she beat Jade Curtis 1 and 1 in rd1 there. Wheeler's best results of 2006 were quarters of two 25Ks, she beat Dani Brown, Melissa Berry and Jessica Jackson in the summer.

Salmon · Tennis legend

ultimateshedman wrote:

Re Jade Curtis: Where has it gone wrong for her in the last couple of years ?? She had some great results in 2005 (including that amazing run in the Wimbledon wc playoffs when she reached the final and would have got a main draw wc in any other year) in womens and juniors but since then the results have dried up and her ranking is going in the opposite direction. She's now losing to players ranked 700-1000 who she was beating a couple of years ago.

Players like Cavaday, Windley, Rae, Fitzpatrick, Broady, Cornish, Bann, Slater etc are all now regarded as better prospects in the womens game. If she played all of those players, it'd be interesting to see whether she would beat any of them.

Who knows where it has gone... She was better than Caro once and Caro now takes 75Ks without being much troubled by the opposition.

She can surely beat Cavaday. If she can beat Ula Radwanska, then she can beat all those players. But she doesn't have the consistency to beat three of them players back to back.

Sheddie · administrator

I spoke to the tournament organisers early this morning....

They said " Jade Curtis was the strongest of the 3 Brits in qualifying here. However, she made too many errors in her 6-2, 6-1 second round loss against Marinne Giraud. Jade matched Giraud for a while with her powerful hitting but Giraud played the smarter tennis and ran away with it in the end. Jade could still be involved here in the doubles, she's top of the alts list."

jamatthews · Strong Club Player

Anna Smith (GBR) defeated Christina Wheeler (AUS) 46 64 61

Sheddie · administrator

The Panda Bear wrote:
Who knows where it has gone... She was better than Caro once and Caro now takes 75Ks without being much troubled by the opposition.

She can surely beat Cavaday. If she can beat Ula Radwanska, then she can beat all those players. But she doesn't have the consistency to beat three of them players back to back.

Wow, didn't realise she used to be better than Wozniacki !

Was that just in terms of their respective rankings or did Jade beat her too ?

Hmmm...I'd be very, very surprised if she beat Cavaday. OK Jade beat Radwanska in that one match, but at her best, I reckon Naomi would have a great chance of doing so too. She pushed Pazcek close for 2 sets and that was 6 months ago !

Naomi wouldn't be losing to the opponents Jade's losing to atm. If they played each other now, I think it'd be something like a 2 and 2 win to Naomi. Both players like to attack from the baseline but Naomi can do it with much more consistency and she also has the bigger serve.

Jade's problem is that she's playing a game style which doesn't suit her height. Unless she grows in the next few years, she's going to have to adapt her game. From what I'm told, she likes to play aggressive and tries to match her opponents shot-for shot from the baseline but ends up makes too many errors or getting over powered by harder hitting opponents with much bigger serves. She needs to try and play smarter ie: mix up the pace more, come into the net more...she needs to try ways to disrupts her opponent's rhythm instead of getting in a hitting match.

Salmon · Tennis legend

No, Jade even beat her.

http://www.tenniseurope.org/pdf/junior/Results%202003/Telford%2014/gsm.pdf

Sheddie · administrator

jamatthews wrote:

Anna Smith (GBR) defeated Christina Wheeler (AUS) 46 64 61

That's a brilliant result for Anna

Wheeler's ranked over 100 places higher and made a 25K final last month !

Onwards to the top 450 for Anna !

Sheddie · administrator

The Panda Bear wrote:

No, Jade even beat her.

http://www.tenniseurope.org/pdf/junior/Results%202003/Telford%2014/gsm.pdf

OMG ! Arka, I guess I shouldn't really be surprised by now, but how on earth did you find a drawsheet, 3 years old ! ??

Sheddie · administrator

Next up:

Rd2: A Smith (GB)(WC) v Napaporn Tongsalee (Thai)

Lol @ that name

The 5th seed was replaced by a lucky loser and the Thai girl took full advantage in rd1. Great chance now for both players to make the quarters. Tongsalee is ranked 314 so it'll be another step up for Anna but she's capable of beating players like that...came close to beating Olga Panova (who's ranked 300ish) in Sutton, outhit the Russian completely for a set.

Tongsalee was a top 250 player last August. She has only played sporadically though, and her only other match in 2007 before this tournament was a three set loss to former top 65 player Melinda Czink in qualifying for WTA Pattaya in February.

Salmon · Tennis legend

Nana, it's very easy. Tenniseurope has a really detailed archive which is also fast accessible. Sadly it doesn't extend back to the days when Andy Murray was 12 years old.

Lovely win for Smith!

Salmon · Tennis legend

314-Napaporn Tongsalee (THA) d. wc/526-Anna Smith (GBR) - 4-6,6-2,6-1

Sheddie · administrator

Shame Anna couldn't keep it up after the first set

Now moves up to a career best of 463.

She'll be in qualies for next week's 25K down under

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Great start. Good effort Anna.

I take it Jade never made the doubles cut then?

Sheddie · administrator

Jade never made doubles cut.

Anna was controlling the match until 6-4, 2-3 but when Tongsalee broke to lead 4-2 it was all one-way traffic after that.

This is what Luke Milligan said about Jade Curtis "I haven't actually seen Jade play for a long time as she's now based over in the States but she's a good player with a lot of good qualities and hopefully things will start to work for her. In the women's game today, getting the game style right is very important You have to find the right balance, you can't be just a good retriever who gets a lot of balls back as there are so many girls out there who can outhit you, so even the shorter girls have to be able to play aggressive tennis. It's all about the balance, you can go a fraction one way and end up overpressing and a fraction the other way and you're playing too passive. Maybe Jade's just not yet struck the right balance yet with the attacking options in her game."