Week 39 - WTA Premier 5 - Tokyo, Japan - Hard

indiana · Tennis legend

RE: Week 39 - WTA Premier 5 - Tokyo, Japan - Hard

korriban · Challenger level

indiana wrote:

Well, at least Laura's currently still the best ranked teenager in the world !

smile smile smile smile

Only for a week more in all likelihood, so enjoy!!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm going to listen to Talksport from 4pm this afternoon in the background - could be fun! Although frankly it's hard to concentrate on work at my computer fully at the moment anyway with a 9 week old kitten attacking my socks half the day, so I can certainly support some ignorant vitriol in the background!

philwrig · Hall of fame

PaulM wrote:
Laura not committed to anything after Beijing.

I think the European indoor fortnight would actually suit her game very well (at least she wouldn't have to bother with wind), certainly you would think an event like Luxembourg would be a great opportunity for her.

But I'm not surprised she isn't playing again, unfortunately the indoor events don't fit into a schedule very easily without lots of trans-contintent travel, which is a shame.

I've read she's looking to get a WC into Osaka.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Right finally watched all the match, and I didn't think it was that bad, little bit below par yes, but not a shocker.
Negatives :
Poor reaction to losing 1st set, becoming a bit of a habit after losing tight sets, definitely something to work on.
A few too many bad UEs, put that down to lack of prep on the practice court due to wrist recovery.
Positives:
Massive strides made on the serve, ball toss still not perfect but only 2DFs and not made at crucial times.

Really needs to get a step faster if possible.

I've heard she's looking to get a WC into Osaka, which seems sensible.

BTW she actually has a W/L record of 17/20 for the year.

Also think she went into her offseason last year exhausted so maybe didn't maximise that period, this year that certainly won't be the case.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

philwrig wrote:
Right finally watched all the match, and I didn't think it was that bad, little bit below par yes, but not a shocker.
Negatives :
Poor reaction to losing 1st set, becoming a bit of a habit after losing tight sets, definitely something to work on.
A few too many bad UEs, put that down to lack of prep on the practice court due to wrist recovery.
Positives:
Massive strides made on the serve, ball toss still not perfect but only 2DFs and not made at crucial times.

Really needs to get a step faster if possible.

I've heard she's looking to get a WC into Osaka, which seems sensible.

BTW she actually has a W/L record of 17/20 for the year.

Also think she went into her offseason last year exhausted so maybe didn't maximise that period, this year that certainly won't be the case.

I think the match would have seemed a lot worse had you been watching at 4am

I just did a quick count and Laura is now 3-8 in matches with a tie-break in this year, so a handful of points have made a lot of difference to that overall W/L record. Not sure how much she can work on that in practice though.

paulisi · Tennis legend

To be fair to Laura, i don't believe she has been 100% fit at any stage this season. If she can get a training block in without any niggles then we could see further development of her game.

TomTraubert · Futures level

philwrig wrote:
BTW she actually has a W/L record of 17/20 for the year.

others in the top 50 with losing records

petrova (26)

goerges (48)

mladenovic (49)

petrova is really a blip, as her big points of last year are officially off now this, and shes most likely at about 67-70 come mondays ranking

TomTraubert · Futures level

genie beat sloane and so will defo be ranked ahead of laura on monday

Keys also won so shell be the top ranked of that bunch as it stands

keys has kvitova & genie has JJ next

a win for either probly seal the year end teenager race tho bejing could be interesting

-- Edited by TomTraubert on Tuesday 24th of September 2013 07:15:39 AM

PaulM · Tennis legend

Keys, Bouchard, Laura and Svitolina could be ranked side by side.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

Fairly inevitable they would overtake her at some point. Laura has been trailing the others in the YTD rankings pretty much all year.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Wow Genie Bouchard take a bow.
Watched her match against an inform Jankovic, and she basically beat her with a bit in hand. Already has dispatched Sloane so this is her break through tournament. Laura was well ahead of Genie for quite a while, and we were shocked when Laura was beaten by her twice. Now though she is without doubt 1 step ahead of the GB number 1.
I wonder whether this will inspire Laura going into the offseason, them being such close friends. Certainly I felt Hev's performance at Wimby last year may have contributed to Laura's sudden improvement in form last Summer. The more I think about Laura and watching Genie is the footwork around the ball that really seems to be key. That is the area for me Laura needs to really focus on, and was the area which dramatically improved last summer.

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

I can see the talent but not sure if ever gonna have the heart of a serena Williams .

indiana · Tennis legend

Who are you talking about, Gary ? Genie or Laura ?

Tough ask, anyway.

scottie1 · Futures level

A1 tennis academy wrote:
I can see the talent but not sure if ever gonna have the heart of a serena Williams .

As long as they are not so unsporting as Serena Williams will get on fine!

john · Top national player

I agree scottie. If Serena's attitude is "heart" then I'm more than happy for our girls to be heartless!