Week 5 - WTA International ($235K) - Pattaya City, Thailand - Hard

daisy · County player

RE: Week 5 - WTA International ($235K) - Pattaya City, Thailand - Hard

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Hev saves a MP and gets back one of the breaks. Trouble is, holding seems as difficult as breaking at the moment.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

You know Hev won't give up, but relying on nerves from her opponent now.

PaulM · Tennis legend

That's not good. She was playing very poorly in Oz but managed to grind out matches, and that showing today doesn't suggest a massive upturn in form.

She had it at the start of the third as well, and it slipped away. Needs to play better next week, we need her on form if we want to get through the groups again.

daisy · County player

All over for Heather in Pattaya; I guess she'll head westwards to Eilat now?
Sevastova won 7'6(4), 4'6, 6'2.

blob · All-time great

Hmm, sobering.
Hev's worst result for a very long time.

Well, get the loss out the system before Fed cup/

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

Sevastova gets the break to win cry

Bad day at the office for Hev, unless Sevastova had found her form of a couple of years ago.

Still in the doubles, with a decent chance looking at the draw.

wolf · Tennis legend

Hope she pulls out of the doubles.

steven · Tennis legend

That's Hev first loss to a player outside the top 100 since the loss to Chan in Carlsbad last July and her lowest-ranked loss since she lost to another former top 40 player, Melanie Oudin (then WR 304), in Charleston Q last April. Her worst loss since then was to Giorgi (then WR 93) in Beijing but of course she then went on to win the Osaka title immediately afterwards. The Charleston loss was followed by a good week (Q+R2) in Estoril too.

Sevastova could be re-finding some of her old form at the start of a new season (though she hadn't shown it in the first couple of weeks of the year) but Hev clearly isn't at her best at the moment (loss to Bertens, two wins at the AO when she wasn't playing well), yet 220 points in a month isn't bad for a player who's not in top form!

korriban · Challenger level

Shame.

To be honest, Hev didn't play well in Australia. Fighting spirit yes in adundance, but evidence of more power, more weapons, bigger serve.......not really, in my opinion. She was poor in R1 and R2 by her own admission, then outplayed by Aggi.......again! Slightly better than in the past, but not even close.

Here in Thailand, Sevastova might be back to some reasonable level of form, as in 2011, but that still only puts her at a CH of 36 - not exactly someone to be feared. Obviously we couldn't see the match, but the stats imply that Sevastova is a power player - lots of aces, a high first serve percentage, and runs of points on return....possibly a Laura type. But she's the same height and weight as Heather, not a giant at all, so it must be doable for Heather.

Hev had 1 ace in 3 sets and a lower than required first serve success rate. Until she adds power to her speed, consistency and fighting spirit - every match risks being a long drawn out struggle against her peers in the top 25-75 (or players having good days like this one), and she will continue to get squashed by most of the top 10.

This looks like its going to take her some time, but if anyone can do it, she can. At least her form is better than last year in the early months! Until she cracks this power story, hanging in there in the 30s or 40s will be a very good outcome indeed.

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Heather's doubles match has been cancelled for today and is rescheduled for tomorrow. (Not enough time for rest apparently). It's past midnight there and some singles matches still going on so lucky for them really.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

Julia Carrot wrote:
Heather's doubles match has been cancelled for today and is rescheduled for tomorrow. (Not enough time for rest apparently). It's past midnight there and some singles matches still going on so lucky for them really.

Yes, Daniela Hantuchova has just started her second round at half midnight having played her first round starting at 11am and straddling a significant rain delay.

Might explain why she is 2-0 down after 4 minutes!

Julia Carrot · All-time great

And she's retired now (Daniela) at 0 - 3 in the second ! This tournament is becoming somewhat of a shambles it seems.

indiana · Tennis legend

Pattaya is used to having plenty late night action !

korriban · Challenger level

Matron!