Weeks 35-36 - US Open Main Draw

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

RE: Weeks 35-36 - US Open Main Draw

Peter too · Tennis legend

kundalini wrote:
Surprising Laura is winning such a low percentage on first serve, currently 10/19 53%

Yes she is winning a higher % of points on her 2nd serve. Her opponent on the other hand was winning 83% on 1st serve and 17% on 2nd but Laura just spoilt those figures by scoring points off Samantha's 1st serve to break again.

murrayman650 · ATP level

15-0

30-0

30-15

30-30

30-40

5-3 LAURA

15-0

15-15

15-30

30-30

40-30

40-40

adv robson

40-40

adv Robson

40-40

adv Robson

6-3

First Set Laura 6-3

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

Well done, she does like a bigger stage.

insomniacfolder · Challenger level

Essentially the set seems to boil down to this:
Laura BP conversion 2/4
Samantha BP Conversion 1/4

Closer than might have been hoped. Crawford may be a prospect, but her record this year doesn't suggest she should be giving Laura a match. GS draws don't get any kinder than this - rank ~400 17 year old.

Laura did well to keep composure when broken back and at deuce on her serve towards the end of the set.

Just get the W and run, however it comes.

insomniacfolder · Challenger level

kundalini wrote:
Was that 4 bps that Laura missed in the opening game of the 2nd set ? I went to put my tea in the oven.

Yup. 0/4.

That pressure will surely tell thouugh if she can keep it up.

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Tie break time ! Laura thrashed another young American in a tie break here last year....... I think to love, Taylor Townsend. Crawford is not having it though, 2 - 3

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

Yes, tense stuff but Laura gets over the line. I don't think any of us fancied a third set at this time of night.

Good to see Laura keep the double faults down today, and she was winning a good % behind her first serve in the second set. She needed to as well, as she couldn't afford multiple df given how close it was anyway.

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

The good - she won. Only 3 dfs in 45 2nd serves is amazingly low for Laura and there were zero in the first set.

The bad - 48% first serves in play. Only 2 aces. Winning 67% behind her first (significant improvement in the 2nd set, up from 56 to 82). Really shouldn't have been that close unless Crawford played brilliantly.

insomniacfolder · Challenger level

It's a solid win. Sometimes harder to win the matches you're expected to than when you're the plucky underdog.

Well, Laura's next match is sure to be televised, as Kim came through easily in straights.

A real chance to impress and make a (bigger) name on a show court then. Those R1 stats against Kim would likely spell trouble, though, quickly!

Hopefully the prospect will inspire Laura.

Not sure I'd want to be the one who ended Kim's career though. They seem to love her even more in NY than everywhere else, and that hardly seems possible - Lord we'll miss her. There are no Kim's, Lindsay Davenport's or Ai Sugiyama's left on tour it seems.

Peter too · Tennis legend

Tomorrow's schedule:-

Anne is 2nd on 17
Johanna is 3rd on 15
Flemming/Hutchins are 5th on 14

RBBOT · Futures qualifying

Well done Laura; now just the simple matter of beating Kim to defend last years points.

On a more superficial note, not only has Laura won the first round, she's also managed to fair better than most of the field in the US open's annual "let's see which member of our web publishing team can find the least flattering picture of the player ever taken" competition. Whoever did the photos for Jo vs. Timea is in with a good shout of winning. Instead of:

vs images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT7rP_pXnQA_b4n2gUYqWgNpzLN22OHvn4lKoQm_WREEEHNDP2p

We have:

vs

philwrig · Hall of fame

It's all about baby steps with the new coaching collaboration. Only 6% of dfs served on second serve, huge improvement on last several matches. Next step is to get a higher % of 1st serves and higher % won on 1st serve. I think people forget Crawford qualified so was probably playing close to top 100 level in doing so. Laura thus must of played at least top 100 level to beat her. Obviously to be competitive against Clijsters she will need to step it up. Clijsters I thought played very well tonight against a plucky young American.

Apparently a few of the Stirling uni crew were there and providing loud Robbo chants in support of the young Brit.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

I forgot to mention last night that just by appearing in the US Open, Laura has completed the 'Golden Slam' of tournament entries:

Australian Open: Qualifier
French Open: Lucky Loser
Wimbledon: Wildcard
Olympics: Alternate
US Open: Direct Entry

I don't suppose anyone will do that again.

On a more serious note, both Laura and Heather have won all their 'winnable' matches across all 5 of the main tournaments this year, which is really all you can expect of them in these events.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Potential Route to the Title for Laura

L64 : Kim Clijsters
L32 : Li Na
L16 : Sam Stosur
QF : Victoria Azarenka
SF : Maria Sharapova
Final : Serena Williams

Just a walk in the park really biggrin biggrin

Go Laura !!!!!