Oh drat.

Sorry, Hev, for just popping in like that, but I really need to go again, to bed.  All the best  !

 

Set 2, TB - Heather to serve first.
1-0*
1-1* Nice rally, Heather should probably have won it, but finally went for a bit too much.
*2-1
*2-2
3-2* The service 1-2 punch efficiently put away by Heather.
4-2* First Mini-Break courtesy of a Bartel UE FH into the net.
*4-3
*4-4 Soft second serves concedes momentum, and Heather can't get it back.
Umpire overrule causes a let - Heather thought that Mona had no play on the ball and should have won the point. Hard to tell it was in the far corner.
5-4* Close...
5-5* Strong serve Heather couldn't return.
*5-6
5-7 Causes a screeching tantrum from Heather (not sure why) and another racket smashing - possibly another warning from the umpire.

6(5)-7

Very close. And Heather is on more or less equal terms with Barthel. Though Mona is serving poorly, at 37%, the point split is 100 Mona, 94 Heather.

Come on.

insomniacfolder wrote:

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Love service game for Mona to open the decider. Heather needs to get her head together, quick.
*0-1

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 And make sure she doesn't run out of rackets

We'll have to see what the injury to Heather is.
It was an ugly atmosphere and ultimately has left a sour taste in the mouth - both girls culpable.

But, putting that aside. Heather could have won this match easily enough, and for the most part was pretty equal with a player having a very good year. The sort of year Heather will surely want next year, moving from ~70 up to ~40 and better.

Second serve is a liability at the moment though, and there are still a lot of UE's on that forehand, noticeably over the high part of the net, and down the line. She does seem close to a revelation in her game, but I'm not convinced it's going to come this year.

I hope I don't see her petulant like this again though. Ever.

Good luck for the doubles Heather

And so ends ~8 hours straight of tennis!

L32: Heather Watson WR 70 lost to (3) Mona Barthel (GER) WR 35 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 1-6

Sounds like this was an interesting match, even if not always for the right reasons.

Looks like it was a good battling performance by Heather over the first two sets, saving 12 of 15 break points, and taking 3 from 5 but she couldn't quite pull out the second tie break.

Unusual for Heather to get so angry on court, but maybe she was just following the bad example set by her opponent!

Although she will now fall below Laura in the rankings, Heather is still ahead in the race, so we could see them swap places a few times in the next month.

After Andy's match I watched the Bet365 live feed with Hev serving for the first set. Couldn't see the tennis ball, probably spoilt by watching HD coverage most of the time these days, so was difficult to really get a guage on the match. I did notice though that the normally quiet as a mouse Barthel who in the past showed zero emotion was certainly not that specimen last night. Hev showing her frustration is not surprising given that she does show a bit from time to time and with her opponent being so vocal sometimes you need to respond by showing angst yourself.

Do we know what the injury timeout was for insomniacfolder ?


Hev has had a bad trot of draws starting in Dallas, and with kinder draws in these weaker events could have picked up some big ranking points. She did however before that have a good run so maybe things have just evened themselves out now. It's amazing how this time last year she struggled to pick up many points, and it appears to be happening again. Playing indoors is probably her weakest set of playing conditions. She now heads to the fast courts of Asia which may not ideally suit her either, not much to defend though so any wins should see a move up the rankings.