Weeks 25-26 - Wimbledon Singles Main Draw

jb288 · Satellite level

RE: Weeks 25-26 - Wimbledon Singles Main Draw

Tutu · Club Coach

You're all being WAY too harsh on Mel. She wasn't THAT bad. She just has A LOT to work on. She was just hitting flat and hard down the center and Johannson was soaking that up. It wasnt actually her who was making loads of errors, it was just usually decided by Johannson's winners or errors. Mel just has to work on using the angles of the court and moving the ball around because she was never going to win the match by just rallying down the middle, the opponent was always the first to change the direction and Mel just isnt quick enough. it wasnt TERRIBLE though. But not good at all, especially considering i've seen her go for her shots and the corners (for a while vs Marion at the AO and also vs Bondarenko here lat year), but hopefully she can do something in doubles and mixed and at least not make this wimbledon a waste. Shes a great doubles player, probably bette than in singles tbh.

PockyTastic · Futures level

OK so Mel vs Johansson was some pretty ugly tennis. That wasn't Mel at her best, but yes it was an opportunity wasted. Areas to work on (most of which has already been identified and probably Mel could identify herself): changing the direction/ pace/ angle of the ball during rallies - clearly she had hoped to pressurise Mathilde into playing a midcourt ball that she could then put away, but the French girl liked the pace Mel was giving her. A plan B was needed. Her forays into the net were pretty successful, and she showed some nice touch, but I guess opportunities to do that more weren't always there. I guess sometimes reigning it in would have helped....though I guess her movement would have then been exposed.....hmmm......

I was tres annoyed that I couldn't see any of Georgie's match (I only have freeview), but it sounds like she played really well and hopefully will start tomorrow in a similar vein. Zvonareva is a classy player, but short on match play so it is a real opportunity, but either way she has gone above and beyond what I was expecting, so good on her!

philwrig · Hall of fame

Has anyone seen Georgie play before and is she always as pumped as she was today. It beggars belief having seen her today why she has had such a woeful year to date.
As for Mel very disappointing but don't you think everybody underestimated her opponent who I think played a decent match.
I thought Laura was outstanding until she suddenly believed she might win and to be fair Daniela dug deep to change the momentum of the match. Her movement which is her biggest weakness was far better than I anticipated.

DavidC · Tennis legend

Georgie was superb, and a joy to watch taking full advantage of her underdog status to play her best tennis, cheered on by a good crowd on an outside show court.

However I would criticise the oop committee in part for Mel's below par performance. Not for the first time a British girl has been given the dreaded court tba and ended up on one of the main courts. The girls who get winnable draws are under enough pressure as it is without adding to it by putting them in the sort of arena which they have very limited experience of, immediately taking away the advantage they would have on a smaller outside court. Anne retired from her match a few years ago, having become ill with nerves, while Bally couldn't find the court against Sabine Klaschka when expected to win, having been given the same tba slot and ending up on Centre or no.1. Mel has played doubles successfully as underdogs on Centre, but that is of limited help to draw on for this type of match.

British girls should only be given these slots for matches against low-ranked players when they have played at Tour level for a while and can therefore be expected to cope, both for their sake and also for the sake of the spectators, who expect better fare on Centre/No.1

Tomorrow's oop

Anne 2nd on 4
Katie 1st on 14
Georgie 2nd on 18
Bally court tba

DavidC · Tennis legend

philwrig wrote:

Has anyone seen Georgie play before and is she always as pumped as she was today. It beggars belief having seen her today why she has had such a woeful year to date.

I've seen Georgie before, and she was quite feisty, but not as pumped as today - probably helped by having no realistic expectations of victory. That might change if she gets near the winning post.

jb288 · Satellite level

I just felt Mel today was one of those players who manages to make her own side of the court look huge - so much open space, particularly as she was often rallying from inside the baseline but still failing to get much penetration. Her shots are hard but not hugely so (e.g. Georgie's forehand - though that may have more today with taking the ball earlier than sheer speed) and there just wasn't much else to her game today - no doubt she is capable of far better, however. Really hope Georgie can get the win, will be extremely tough though, especially mentally after finishing on such a high.

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

Last time i saw Georgie was 4/5 years ago and yes, she did get herself quite pumped up. Her forehand was definately her biggest weapon and her backhand was weak. It has improved but it still needs work. I think her serve is much better now.

I think she improved her movement aswell. I think today has highlighted why her year is so up and down, in matches she must hit patches of brilliance then have a dip.

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

I think Mel just had a bad day at the office. I'm really angry she lost that match as i though Johansson was a terrible player but Mel just missed so many easy shots.

So far Mel has played well in one wimbledon then been bad the next year, so hopefully next year she can be better.

Tutu · Club Coach

jb288 wrote:

I just felt Mel today was one of those players who manages to make her own side of the court look huge - so much open space, particularly as she was often rallying from inside the baseline but still failing to get much penetration. Her shots are hard but not hugely so (e.g. Georgie's forehand - though that may have more today with taking the ball earlier than sheer speed) and there just wasn't much else to her game today - no doubt she is capable of far better, however. Really hope Georgie can get the win, will be extremely tough though, especially mentally after finishing on such a high.

I disagree, her shots are big, but johannson obviously likes pace so Mel needed to move the ball around a bit more, which she simply didnt do enough. I think she needs to take some lessons from Naomi. :p

-- Edited by Tutu on Tuesday 23rd of June 2009 12:27:59 AM

DUSTY DICK · Club Coach

Gutted that Mel lost this one. I really thought that his was a winnable match especially as Mel has not had a bad year so far but not to be when it mattered most. Disappointing after watching Lauras performance against Hantuchova. She really is one for the future and maybe if her opponent had been someone like Johansson at 87 she may well have won the match. I just hope Anne wins her match as she should do with her ranking and it will be expected of her to deliver the goods in this type of match.

markymc1983 · Club Coach

I don't think Mel has had agood year so far, qualifying for Sydney was about it. Her ranking has been inflated imo. I think it's a bit silly to be angry with somebody for losing though, nobody will ever want to lose a match. Come on Anne and Bally!

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Very disappointed by Mel's loss as that is a match that she really should have been looking to win, and it wasn't like Johansson played some stunning tennis to stop her. She just looked as if she only had one game plan out there and it wasn't working enough to enable her to win the match, and she made far too many bad errors.

Much better from Georgie though and I'm surprised that she's done as well as she has. Taking a set on Zvonereva is a great effort, especially considering she hasn't had the best of years. Hope she can carry it on today, but I'd expect Zvonereva to regroup overnight and find a way to win today.

The Hoose · Satellite level

DavidC wrote:

However I would criticise the oop committee in part for Mel's below par performance. Not for the first time a British girl has been given the dreaded court tba and ended up on one of the main courts. The girls who get winnable draws are under enough pressure as it is without adding to it by putting them in the sort of arena which they have very limited experience of, immediately taking away the advantage they would have on a smaller outside court. Anne retired from her match a few years ago, having become ill with nerves, while Bally couldn't find the court against Sabine Klaschka when expected to win, having been given the same tba slot and ending up on Centre or no.1. Mel has played doubles successfully as underdogs on Centre, but that is of limited help to draw on for this type of match.

British girls should only be given these slots for matches against low-ranked players when they have played at Tour level for a while and can therefore be expected to cope, both for their sake and also for the sake of the spectators, who expect better fare on Centre/No.1

Bally court tba

Perhaps they should have done her a really big favour and given her a pair of free spectator tickets, instead of a wildcard. Then the pressure might really have been off.

I don't think they should build the OOP around maximising the chances of any competitor but, in any case, I'd hope that Mel and others would want to play on the show courts in front of big crowds, and benefit from doing so.

wolf · Tennis legend

Katie's match is now on freeview channel 302.