Week 41 - WTA International ($220K) - Osaka, Japan

philwrig · Hall of fame

RE: Week 41 - WTA International ($220K) - Osaka, Japan

Maza1987 · Challenger level

Yes, I always cringe whenever I hear any sportsperson say the "nothing to lose" line. If, indeed, you do end up losing, then you can say it was a good week and all.

djlovesyou · Strong Club Player

Do you think she should have said 'I think I've got a great chance of winning against Wozniacki' instead?

That would just be a bare faced lie. She has to be at least a little bit realistic.

indiana · Tennis legend

Sometimes the "nothing to lose" phrase can be inappropriate such as in my opinion when someone here said our Junior Davis Cup Final team had nothing to lose in the final.

I publicly disagreed with that in that it was the final and I was sure our guys would really regret if they lost the final, which of course they unfortunately did. They will not be remembered as Junior Davis Cup winners and that was something to lose.

On other occasions such as playing a particular match against a much higher ranked opponent I don't personally have an issue with it.

It's a turn of phrase, used by many in the past and no doubt in the future. I am sure it is used by many from different countries too, possibly even the aforementioned Rafael Nadal in days past, when the odds were stacked against him.

You don't see it from top-ranked players, like he is now, because they generally would have something to lose. It is not a true comparison.

I certainly don't see it as at all defeatist if that's what some folk see as the issue.

It' is perhaps indicative that she can and will go out without pressure, since in truth it will be no great surprise or big issue if she loses. If she plays with a mindset of feeliing under no pressure as Phil says it arguably might help her ( or as he also suggested maybe not if it gets tight ). I tend to think it's generally irrelevant and she will just go out and play her best.

I just really personally don't think it matters much at all, and in the circumstances, don't see there is any real issue with it. It's arguably a statement of the truth, no great problem, and I can't personally see any real problem with it.

Mikeduke · County player

I think its just to put the pressure on the opposition. Even if she is in a winning position there is still no pressure on her as she would be expected to lose!

BBC managed to notice

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8302344.stm

alex03maccy · Grand Slam Champion

pushniacki beat morigami 4 & 1.

L16: O'BRIEN, Katie WR 94 v (1) PUSHNIACKI, Caroline (DEN) WR 6

Ratty · County player

Maybe one shouldn't make too much of an issue over an off-the-cuff remark.

But you generally climb the rankings by beating people who are ranked higher than you. You have to be prepared to disturb the status quo, which is actually quite hard psychologically when there is an established pecking order. So giving the impression that you have no chance of winning a match, no matter than you are ranked 94 and your opponent 6, sort of suggests a lack of self-belief.

What I meant was that you cannot really imagine the likes of Serena Williams and Rafa EVER saying anything like that, because they have ALWAYS had the self-belief.

And "nothing to lose" is so not true anyway. There's the match itself to lose, for a start.

Plus there's maybe £5,000 to lose (difficult to find out prize money for WTA) for not getting to the quarters - the difference between roughly breaking even for the trip, and a decent profit.

(And don't try to kid me that (as the TV commentators love to repeat ad nauseam), that the money doesn't matter to the players. Yeah right, the £ multi-million mansions and the fast cars just sort of appear as if by magic ...)

DavidC · Tennis legend

A chance for Katie to make history then, with the last British win over a top tenner being Sam Smith v Conchita Martinez (ranked 7) at Wimbledon 1998. I don't know when the last time anyone beat a player ranked higher than Wozniacki, but an educated guess is Jo Durie in 1983/84 when she had wins over Tracey Austin, Pam Shriver and Hana Mandlikova.

The omens from this year aren't great. Mel got 2 games against the Danish Princess in Sydney, and that's more than Anne managed in Memphis. However Katie did win a set off her last time they met (2008 Fed Cup), whilst Caroline was lower ranked.

Mikeduke · County player

Katie has another day off, not on the order of play today.

alex03maccy · Grand Slam Champion

the KOB is 3rd on centre tomorrow, play starts 11am local time. she should be on at around 6.30ish our time.

Mikeduke · County player

Wozniak just took down Chang, so Katie should be on soon.

alex03maccy · Grand Slam Champion

my only lie-in day and i get up at half 6 to follow livescoe, she better make a game of it.

Mikeduke · County player

Katie serving first. Come on!!!!

Mikeduke · County player

Oh dear, thats not really the start we wanted...

alex03maccy · Grand Slam Champion

worst possible start, she really needed that early hold to settle down.