Bit of a nightmare for Laura as Dokic is a long winning streak since she found a new coach. But you never know, nothing to lose attitude etc., etc., Heather has a tricky match but her opponent really is a clay court specialist. Katie and Cav look best placed.
Am I right in thinking Dokic also trains at the Moraglou.... thingamy Academy in Paris and that she and Laura are good friends - or am I just confused?
-- Edited by Julia Carrot on Monday 23rd of August 2010 09:31:26 PM
Heather has a great draw IMO and is most likely to qualify.
Laura I feel will qualify if she can beat Dokic but thats a big IF. That said, playing without the pressure should help.
Katie and Cavaday have good draws too with Katies opponents losing to Cav in R1 of Wimbledon qualies. As always though it depends what sort of form theyre in.
Am I right in thinking Dokic also trains at the Moraglou.... thingamy Academy in Paris and that she and Laura are good friends - or am I just confused?
-- Edited by Julia Carrot on Monday 23rd of August 2010 09:31:26 PM
Yes they struck up a friendship following their offseason training block last December. I'm not sure how much their paths have crossed recently though as Laura has not trained in Paris I believe for several months.
Katie and Cavaday have good draws too with Katies opponents losing to Cav in R1 of Wimbledon qualies. As always though it depends what sort of form theyre in.
Tsurenko did beat Cav on a hard court earlier in the year though.
What a cracking draw NOT for Laura. At least could Dokic not have been saved until Q2 and let laura pick up these 40 points that go for winning Q1 against a rather easier opponent.
Yes, great run Dokic is on with two 75k titles and a 50K title ( two clay and one hard ) in a 15 match run from the end of June. Half a dozen top 200 players beaten in that if no top 100 players. Dokic herself is now up to WR 82.
Of course Laura can rise to the occasion, so not totally without hope, but it's just not nice
"After playing her second-round doubles match , Robson was due to hit the stores with a rather special personal shopper Jelena Dokic. The Australian has formed a strong friendship with Robson through the Mouratoglou tennis academy they attended together in France and the former world No4 Dokic is full of admiration for the teenager.
"We arrived at the same time at Mouratoglou," Dokic said. "We didn't know each other at first and we didn't talk that much but then we went to do the off-season together and now we're really, really good friends. She's a great girl. It's funny, because she's 16 and I am 26 I could nearly be her mother but we get along great. It's actually her birthday. We're going shopping so it's good." "
Here are the full sections with British interest. Laura, if she can beat the Dok, and Katie have sections which offer hope of qualification but Naomi's is packed with talent. Hlavackova, who has slaughtered the last three Brits she has faced, is a big barrier for Heather.
(2) Jelena Dokic (AUS) vs. Laura Robson (GBR) Kristina Kucova (SVK) vs. Vesna Manasieva (RUS) Yuliana Fedak (UKR) vs. Mathilde Johansson (FRA) Ekaterina Ivanova (RUS) vs. (17) Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)
(4) Shuai Zhang (CHN) vs. Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU) Ekaterina Dzehalevich (BLR) vs. Mirjana Lucic (CRO) Julia Cohen (USA) vs. Naomi Cavaday (GBR) Kathrin Woerle (GER) vs. (29) Sesil Karatancheva (BUL)
(8) Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) vs. Julia Boserup (USA) Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP) vs. Heather Watson (GBR) Lauren Albanese (USA) vs. Yi-Miao Zhou (CHN) Maria Feranda Alvarez Teran (BOL) vs. (18) Arantxa Rus (NED)
(14) Rossana De Los Rios (PAR) vs. Valeria Savinykh (RUS) Olga Savchuk (UKR) vs. Alexa Glatch (USA) Misaki Doi (JPN) vs. Stephanie Foretz Gacon (FRA) Lesya Tsurenko (UKR) vs. (19) Katie O'Brien (GBR)
Yes, certainly agree that Katie's draw looks pretty good, and I'd say is the best of the 4 girls. The others look like having a rather tough job. I'm afraid with Laura "if she can beat the Dok" is the rather big problem.
Just seen the stats for this match - Katie has failed to win a single point on serve so far (50% 1st serves in, 2 DFs) while her opponent has won just 1 point on her serve (20% 1st serves in, 2 DFs)
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Play suspended while they get serving lessons. No, actually other matches suspended too.
Early days, so certainly hope stats pick up.
Still for many women's matches "serve up" almost seems more relevant than "break down" At best, it's certainly not as significant as in the men's game.