Week 18 - WTA ($220K) - Estoril, Portugal - Clay

DavidC · Tennis legend

RE: Week 18 - WTA ($220K) - Estoril, Portugal - Clay

philwrig · Hall of fame

Very very promising stuff from Hev.

Peter too · Tennis legend

In the 2nd set Heather won 9/10 on 1st serve and 3/3 on 2nd serve, 92% overall on her serve.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Those are very impressive figures!

Jajon · Strong Club Player

in both her matches she is yet to lose her service! :)

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Assume she will probably have to play her good friend Sloane Stephens in the final FQR , which could be a bit awkward. Estoril scoreboard seems to have gone AWOL so no idea what is happening there right now.

DavidC · Tennis legend

Sloane won in straight sets, so it will be her

Maza1987 · Challenger level

Heather beat her in Canada a while back I remember. Sloane was hitting the ball "sweet" (as Heather later Tweeted), but Heather came out on top in a relatively tight encounter. Similar build, but Sloane 'goes for it' a bit more. She has done the better of the two since they last met and seems to enjoy clay. But I will still say it's 50/50.

LordBrownof · Futures level

Given her recent injuries and form, this is exactly the kind of match (and matches) she needs. A tough 3 set tight win would do wonders for her confidence and would be a great launch pad for the rest of the season.

Peter too · Tennis legend

Q3: WATSON, Heather (GBR) 5 113 v STEPHENS, Sloane (USA) 1 78

This match-up looks as if it could have a long run. Sloane is just two months older than Heather and has a slightly better record so far but they could well be fighting it out in the top 100 for some years to come.

Peter too · Tennis legend

Heather is on 2nd tomorrow, not before 12.30.

Jan · Hall of fame

I've been out most of the day, so just caught up with Heather's win! Well done Heather! Good luck in the next round!

steven · Tennis legend

Remember Heather losing to Melanie Oudin at the start of the month, which seemed a pretty bad result given Oudin's recent form? Happily, it now looks like it was an Oudin revival rather than a Watson slump - the American has W 8 L 2 this month and has just won the Charlottesville 50K title.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Peter too wrote:
Q3: WATSON, Heather (GBR) 5 113 v STEPHENS, Sloane (USA) 1 78

This match-up looks as if it could have a long run. Sloane is just two months older than Heather and has a slightly better record so far but they could well be fighting it out in the top 100 for some years to come.

Sloane was born in 93 I think, and along with Babos they are the top 93's.

philwrig · Hall of fame

After Israel we slumped as a group of players apart from Anne, I wonder whether after a loss to Sweden the reverse might happen.
Hev is a solid top 100 player already, just lost a little bit of confidence during a difficult spell where she picked up the odd injury niggle.
Also hadn't realised her Columbian coach was coaching Sharapova when she won Wimbledon, so she should be in good hands.