Heather Watson Interview

insomniacfolder · Challenger level

RE: Heather Watson Interview

philwrig · Hall of fame

No idea where you guys are getting this information from can't see it on the WTA website, but thought Laura would be higher, I suspect if you took the last 6 months only she probably would have been higher.

insomniacfolder · Challenger level

philwrig wrote:
No idea where you guys are getting this information from can't see it on the WTA website, but thought Laura would be higher, I suspect if you took the last 6 months only she probably would have been higher.

http://www.wtatennis.com/page/Gallery/Latest/0,,12781,00.html?WT.mc_id=Nav8

Top 50, 10 players per day, those listed so far are:

Rank	Player	Nation	2012 WR
21	Vera Zvonareva	RUS	96
22	Urszula Radwanska	POL	31
23	Daniela Hantuchova	SVK	32
24	Kim Clijsters	BEL	20
25	Laura Robson	GBR	53
26	Francesca Schiavone	ITA	35
27	Roberta Vinci	ITA	16
28	Sorana Cirstea	ROU	27
29	Nadia Petrova	RUS	12
30	Christina McHale	USA	33
31	Kaia Kanepi	EST	19
32	Lucie Safarova	CZE	17
33	Heather Watson	GBR	49
34	Sloane Stephens	USA	38
35	Flavia Pennetta	ITA	45
36	Klara Zakopalova	CZE	28
37	Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova	RUS	36
38	Tamira Paszek	AUT	30
39	Ekaterina Makarova	RUS	20
40	Yanina Wickmayer	BEL	23
41	Petra Martic	CRO	59
42	Sofia Arvidsson	SWE	41
43	Simona Halep	ROU	47
44	Yaroslava Shvedova	KAZ	29
45	Hsieh Su-Wei	TPE	25
46	Svetlana Kuznetsova	RUS	72
47	Varvara Lepchenko	USA	21
48	Tsvetana Pironkova	BUL	42
49	Timea Babos	HUN	64
50	Zheng Jie	CHN	26

indiana · Tennis legend

Interesting. Kim quite low, but then again quite high I'd say really based on tournaments played, since there must be a large element of clicks just being based on practical purposes for being interested in some player in a tournament, certainly it is far from as simple as number of clicks indicating order of "favorite players".

By the way, I was checking for how many tournamets Kim had played and she seems to have now been wiped from history, so will have trouble getting clicks now !

Anyway, we know who we have to keep clicking on in 2013 wink

philwrig · Hall of fame

insomniacfolder wrote:
philwrig wrote:
No idea where you guys are getting this information from can't see it on the WTA website, but thought Laura would be higher, I suspect if you took the last 6 months only she probably would have been higher.
http://www.wtatennis.com/page/Gallery/Latest/0,,12781,00.html?WT.mc_id=Nav8
Top 50, 10 players per day, those listed so far are:
Rank Player Nation 2012 WR
21 Vera Zvonareva RUS 96
22 Urszula Radwanska POL 31
23 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 32
24 Kim Clijsters BEL 20
25 Laura Robson GBR 53
26 Francesca Schiavone ITA 35
27 Roberta Vinci ITA 16
28 Sorana Cirstea ROU 27
29 Nadia Petrova RUS 12
30 Christina McHale USA 33
31 Kaia Kanepi EST 19
32 Lucie Safarova CZE 17
33 Heather Watson GBR 49
34 Sloane Stephens USA 38
35 Flavia Pennetta ITA 45
36 Klara Zakopalova CZE 28
37 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 36
38 Tamira Paszek AUT 30
39 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 20
40 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 23
41 Petra Martic CRO 59
42 Sofia Arvidsson SWE 41
43 Simona Halep ROU 47
44 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ 29
45 Hsieh Su-Wei TPE 25
46 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 72
47 Varvara Lepchenko USA 21
48 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 42
49 Timea Babos HUN 64
50 Zheng Jie CHN 26

Darn I knew the information would be somewhere on the website, many thanks for the link.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Also per Sunday Times piece last Sunday, both Hev and Laura are heading stateside shortly to continue their offseason training schedule. Hev to Bradenton, Laura to Evert's academy in Boca Raton. As Hev has an important mixed doubles match partnering Tim against Annie K and Philippoussis on the 6/12 at the Royal Albert Hall it will only be for a few weeks.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Thanks for that, great editing !

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

I saw that Hev and Laura were both going to Florida so I was about to write that they will be almost round the corner from eachother. I then checked it on Google maps and it's the equivalent distance to London to Blackpool so I don't suppose they will be meeting up for lunch between training sessions.

indiana · Tennis legend

Voted.

Re Maria, oh dear, I thought her nice little video links were good and was thinking nice she isn't really on too lofty a perch, but seems that she's gone back up on it hmm I think these little fun links looked better for her image with many than these later comments.

And if it maybe looked ( actually genuinely it appears ) as if she'd stepped into something she wasn't really aware of, folk would be smiling, but not at her in any way that should concern her.

( edit : I rather retract that, given more context, in the following two posts )

-- Edited by indiana on Monday 19th of November 2012 03:21:13 PM

insomniacfolder · Challenger level

Not exactly on topic, but inconsequential, 'fun', trivial off-season nonsense, so I added it here.

Vote now for Laura as the fan favourite WTA Twitter! http://www.wtatennis.com/page/PlayerAwards2012

No GB girls appear eligible for any of the other fan awards. Surpisingly not even Laura's gangnam video, for video of the year - probably as it wasn't an official WTA video. Or. perhaps Maria has forbidden it, as she has recently been speaking out against it!

It was really fun until I found out what Gangnam was, or what Gangnam Style was. Laura actually approached me after one of my matches in Beijing and she was like, 'Can you just do this quick intro for me? We did this video, Gangnam Style.' I'm like, 'What?' She's like, 'Gangnam Style.' I'm like, 'I'll do it if you tell me how to pronounce it right.' She's like, 'What do you mean you don't know how to pronounce it?' I'm like, 'I've never heard of this.'

'So I did it and I sound ridiculous. I sound like I don't know what I'm talking about and obviously I'm very embarrassed about it. But then I'm driving in my car and I hear this ridiculous song and I'm like, 'What is this?' And I look at my radio and it says Gangnam Style. I'm like, 'Oh my goodness.

It's amazing what you'll read and think is worth sharing at 03:00 during the half time break of the American Footbal!

indiana · Tennis legend

philwrig wrote:

love how journo's use quotes to make a point and miss out the bits that contradict their message. Maria said all the above but then finished off her answer at a PC with this last bit ' I'm 25. I'm not that old. I'm still into it. So I didn't know what I was doing, but it came out great. It was funny '
http://instagram.com/p/RQK0PZt5vh/

Cheers, Phil for that, yes I have read it now elsewhere as part of a much larger WTA Championship interview http://www.mariasharapova.com/news/wta-championships-interview-(4).aspx ( the last part ), which more exspecially with what you've added and that she was I presume just answering straight off, sounds much more OK about it and actually not really an attack at all nor, as maybe above I was allowing myself to think, an indication that she was above it all.

Apologies, Maria ashamed

-- Edited by indiana on Monday 19th of November 2012 03:18:23 PM

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

As RBBOT mentioned back in mid Oct, Heather is playing Auckland in the opening week. 5 top 30 players announced so still an outside chance she may be seeded. Ag Radwanska the top seed in New Zealand, with Jie Zheng, Goerges, Wickmayer and Cirstea also featuring. Full list on wed according to their website. A recent article in the Independent stated that Laura starts her season in Shenzhen. I'm surprised by that choice as the heat can be a significant factor at the Australian Open. Shenzhen is typically quite a bit colder than New Zealand, nevermind Melbourne, at that time of year. Last year's cut-off point for Brisbane was low 70s, though perhaps the field is a lot stronger this year. Serena, Sharapova and Stosur announced for Brisbane.

-- Edited by kundalini on Monday 19th of November 2012 03:31:47 PM

philwrig · Hall of fame

insomniacfolder wrote:
Not exactly on topic, but inconsequential, 'fun', trivial off-season nonsense, so I added it here.

Vote now for Laura as the fan favourite WTA Twitter! http://www.wtatennis.com/page/PlayerAwards2012

No GB girls appear eligible for any of the other fan awards. Surpisingly not even Laura's gangnam video, for video of the year - probably as it wasn't an official WTA video. Or. perhaps Maria has forbidden it, as she has recently been speaking out against it!
It was really fun until I found out what Gangnam was, or what Gangnam Style was. Laura actually approached me after one of my matches in Beijing and she was like, 'Can you just do this quick intro for me? We did this video, Gangnam Style.' I'm like, 'What?' She's like, 'Gangnam Style.' I'm like, 'I'll do it if you tell me how to pronounce it right.' She's like, 'What do you mean you don't know how to pronounce it?' I'm like, 'I've never heard of this.'
'So I did it and I sound ridiculous. I sound like I don't know what I'm talking about and obviously I'm very embarrassed about it. But then I'm driving in my car and I hear this ridiculous song and I'm like, 'What is this?' And I look at my radio and it says Gangnam Style. I'm like, 'Oh my goodness.
It's amazing what you'll read and think is worth sharing at 03:00 during the half time break of the American Footbal!

I love how journo's use quotes to make a point and miss out the bits that contradict their message. Maria said all the above but then finished off her answer at a PC with this last bit ' I'm 25. I'm not that old. I'm still into it. So I didn't know what I was doing, but it came out great. It was funny '

http://instagram.com/p/RQK0PZt5vh/

PS I see an NFL fan, didn't make it to 3 in the morning though ! only 2.30 am ;)

indiana · Tennis legend

kundalini wrote:
As RBBOT mentioned back in mid Oct, Heather is playing Auckland in the opening week. 5 top 30 players announced so still an outside chance she may be seeded. Full list on wed according to their website. A recent article in the Independent stated that Laura starts her season in Shenzhen. I'm surprised by that choice as the heat can be a significant factor at the Australian Open. Shenzhen is typically quite a bit colder than New Zealand, nevermind Melbourne, at that time of year. Last year's cut-off point for Brisbane was low 70s, though perhaps the field is a lot stronger this year.

-- Edited by kundalini on Monday 19th of November 2012 03:26:40 PM

Interesting one. I wonder really how helpful it is playing tournaments in warm / hot condition before a quite likely hot tournamen.. I'm no conditioning expert, but i would have thought arguably just as important to get in good competitive practice in comfortable conditions, and then take Melbourne as it comes. And of course, for a number of weeks beforehand, she will have been living and training in Florida in I presume pretty warm conditions.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Three reasons for the Shenzhen choice might be it breaks up the 24 hour journey down under into 2 parts, temperature change not as pronounced between our winter and Australian summer, but maybe more relevant its just down the road from Ghangzhou where of course she did so well last month.