Wow Laura so confident at net with these drive volleys. Im speechless! Keep it up!

-- Edited by murray_2k9 on Monday 6th of May 2013 04:50:29 PM

steven wrote:

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Whisper it ... but Laura might now be one win away from being seeded at Roland Garros.

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But then she'd be facing a lower ranked player. I think I'd prefer 7 straight seeds.

-- Edited by RBBOT on Monday 6th of May 2013 05:29:05 PM

markymc1983 wrote:

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I'm not really understanding the disgruntlement here, it's perfectly reasonable for Laura to not be a big crowd puller in Spain (yet). Sure Aga is a big name but it's worth noting that there are 3 WTA matches on Centre and 2 WTA on court 1 so the scheduling seems fine to me.

Good luck Laura! I'm thinking she will take at least a set of Aga!

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 I'm not as bothered now that I know all three courts are televised. I thought only the top 2 were televised, in which case it looks very unfair. There are not 2 WTA on Court 1, there is 1 match, with M'lady vs Espinosa so it appeared that there was a 4:7 split of televised matches.

Glad Bob is a fan of the court anyway! Lets hope Laura gets some support and can make Aga sweat.

kundalini wrote:

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Ag Rad beat Pironkova 6-2 6-4. Can't imagine Laura winning many of the longer rallies so she'll have to land a lot of early aggressive shots, especially heavy returns; not much margin for error given Radwanska's superb movement. 

 

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 I was wrong, Laura won more of the longer rallies than Ag Rad; still can't quite believe it. On unreturned serves Radwanska was up by 8, in part due to Laura going for aggressive 2nd serve returns but missing the target in the early stages of the match (5 in the first set, none in the 2nd). On points won in 3 shots or less (forced errors on 4th shot count, ues don't), including unreturned serves, Laura was ahead 30-24. Her winning margin was +19 so she must have won the longer rallies by 13 points (34-21). 

I was surprised that AR went for winners early in the rally, missing the target too often. Normally the sensible approach is to move Laura around and wait for her to make the error but it seemed as though Laura's weight of shot was too much for Radwanska, making her feel that she had to go for the winner much earlier than usual. In the 2nd set Radwanska went drop shot crazy, her sublime touch winning her 6 of the 8 she attempted. 

As the match progressed Laura landed more heavy returns. AR's slow serves are always vulnerable to her opponent simply firing returns straight past her. Laura's first serve wasn't as good as it might have been, only 1 ace and 4 other unreturned first serves. Lots of her first serves missed by inches and would have been aces. 2nd serve was clearly better than usual with 3dfs in 22 second serves, compared to 33% df rate in some recent matches. 

Not sure if Laura had to land lots of early aggressive shots in order to win but she did so. I thought her first groundstroke after her serve was very impressive, producing several brilliant winners and few ues. The Robson forehand was superb throughout and her backhand crosscourt was also good. Laura's smashes are awful. She still struggles when asked to hit forehands on the run. One nice drop shot at the end of a super rally and executed 3 drive volleys perfectly, as well as one volley. A great backhand winner having chased down a drop shot then a lob.

Best performance I can recall seeing from Laura though perhaps not quite up to the standard of tennis she produced in the 3rd set against Na Li (first set of that match was full of errors from both players).

 

-- Edited by kundalini on Monday 6th of May 2013 09:15:58 PM

Bob in Spain wrote:

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philwrig wrote:

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I see court 3 is a stadium court so we will have a live stream afterall, good stuff.
My prediction is a 3 and 3 victory for a Agadoo, but she isn't playing at her best so a shock victory isn't completely out of the question.

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Correct.  Court 3 is a stadium court.  In fact, it possibly has the best atmosphere of any court.  It is small and compact, holding approx 300 - 400 people and the crowd are really close to the players.  My tickets to the centre court also give me access to Court 3 and I spend more time there than in the vast empty expanses of the main court which I find devoid of any atmosphere - although it may be different in the semis and finals when it is full.

I saw Isner play on Court 3 last year and you really get a feel for the pace on the serve because you are that close - although not as close as the ballboy in the corner who was right in the firing line of several aces.  The poor little fella only looked about 10 and the ball kept hitting the wall right behind him and then hitting him on the back of the head.  In the end, they had to swap him with someone a bit older.

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 Thanks for the info Bob, and just a shame the Ex Pat Barmy Army even without the Elvis impersonator won't arrive in time to give the match the atmosphere it deserves.

Match before Laura's has just finished so not long now