I am waiting for Sheddie to start a pessimistic discussion on how it's too early to say whether Ula is going to be a top 100 player in the future or not.

I dont know if this has been said but Luxembourg bt Bulgaria 2-1 so i think GB have no chance of qualifying?

yep confirmation of that

Radwanska def Naomi Cavaday 6:3 6:2

not unexpected but still disappointing.

The Panda Bear wrote:

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Have you gone mad? She's one of the most talented players out there (and it's not just my opinion) and won against Camerin in straights when she was 15. You need to be incredibly good to beat Paszek, because Paszek is capable of beating Sharapova, Mauresmo etc.


Watch her crack the top 100 in twelve months time.

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Pfft, I'm a realist not a pessimist....of course I think she'll break the top 100, though it'll take her longer than 12 months   

we weren't talking about her talent, we were talking about whether she'd beat Domachowska, atm I think that Domachowska would beat her...she's a class act, you need to be to get as high as no 37. I say atm also because Ula has been a bit disappointing results-wise this year on the womens tour...no idea why you think she'd beat Domachowska 1 and 1.

ummm, what on earth is this about Paszek being capable of beating Sharapova and Mauresmo ??????   She's nowhere near capable of doing that, she got beat 1 and 3 by Zvonereva and 0 and 2 by Na Li this year

 

imoen wrote:

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Is that it for Fed cup until next year then?

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Yes unfortunately.....though do we still have some meaningless match tomorrow against a team from one of the groups ?

It's really tough to move up through the groups, to get to world group 2 you need (1) to come top of your mini-Euro African zone group  (2) win a playoff on Sat, and that's tough with players like Jankovic, Hantuchova even at this level !
(3) then win a world group 2 playoff in July

we've got a strong enough doubles team atm, the doubles rubber is virtually a banker every time. we just need a classy top 100 singles player and a top 150 no 2 to move up.  Hopefully Naomi will be that top 100 player in the future, and maybe Bally/Anne/Stoopy/Mel  can fill that 3rd role....2008 may still come too early for us, 2009 will probably be our best chance of moving up since the days of Sam Smith and Louise Latimer

The Panda Bear wrote:

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She was a set and a break up against Henin and then choked because she was playing a top player in a big stadium for the first time. If she can match Henin, I am sure that she can beat Sharapova. It seems unreal that a 16 year old can play that well, trust me! She'll win Slams if she gets some consistency and sheds some weight.

Domachowska is nowhere near her top 40 self and Ula was going through a bad patch. Players outside the top 150 are just cannon fodder for world class Juniors.



6-1 6-1 may be too much, I agree. But she won't concede more than 4 games if she is at her 80%.

-- Edited by The Panda Bear at 13:51, 2007-04-20

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Panda Bear, I can only assume you're referring to her chances in a modelling contest ??  In that case I certaintly agree, she'd beat Mauresmo by a mile...she's one of the best lookers on the tour for sure

If you're referring to the tennis, how can you make an absurd prediction like that based on just 1 match !  Surely you need a string of results like that against top 15 players to suggest she has a chance against Sharapova and Mauresmo who are elite top 5 and have been like that for a number of years...both have been world no 1 and won 2 slams !!!!  Even with the talent she has I don't think the chubby 16 year old would stand a chance against either...Sharapova and Mauresmo would simply outhit her, something like 1 and 3...she'd get 4 games at most. Have you seen how hard they hit the ball compared to Pascek ?

OK she was a set and a break up against Henin but this was an incredibly rusty Henin, still obviously struggling emotionally from her marriage break-up who had an absolute shocker, I watched the match. Pascek should have put her away 3 and 4 that day, Henin was so bad - spraying balls all over the place...i think Naomi Cavaday would have been a set and a break up against Henin playing like that.

Henin is not like a Sharapova or a Serena Williams who have the weapons to hit/serve their way out of trouble even on a really bad day...Henin doesn't have those big shots, she relies on her fantastic timing, anticipation, speed, tactical astuteness and all-court game to win matches....she's won so many slams because she's the most all-round player on tour and the best tactician.   It's a testament to what an incredible player she is, that those bad days come few and far between which is why she's had the amount of success she has had. But on a really, really bad day she's in trouble, even against someone like Pascek

RE Ula:  She is  going through a bad patch, that's why I think Domachowska would beat her especially on clay. I wouldn't say that players outside top 150 are cannon fodder, aswell as getting hammered by a French hacker outside the top 500, Ula also lost 4 and 2 to Parmentier earlier this year.