I got the impression that Laura became very determined towards the end of the third set. After the DF she immediately served an ace and from then on she was stepping in and really hitting the ball very hard. I think that is what was creating UEs from her opponent at the end.

indiana wrote:

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One thing I have always thougt about Laura is that so many shots go awry much more because of not being in position to a greater or lesser extent rather than shot technique.

That must be so frustrating when you've basically got the shots. Which makes me all the more surprised that Laura would appear to maybe not be doing all she can to improve her athleticism, in particular movement and footwork. Because with her stroke production at its best, I would imagine that it must be so satisfying when they speed off to basically where she wanted on court, very largely because she was precisely in position. You'ed want that feeling time and time again.

How much she is working in that area, and how much more she could do, of course, none of us knows.

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You've captured precisely my feelings on the matter, but of course in a much more articulate way. Of course she's taller than she used to be, stronger than she used to be, more experienced than she used to be, has received another year's expert coaching, and unless things go completely pear-shaped ought to have a higher year end ranking (albeit only slightly) than 2012, continuing her year-on-year pattern of an upwards trajectory - so the "cup half full" lobby has a case.

But there is a big elephant in the room.......movement.......her big strides forward/lack of progress seem linked almost entirely to this one factor and hand on heart she's probably slightly down on than a year ago, and light years away from where she should be aiming for. We all seem to agree that this is the one area in which every player can take action successfully if they commit to it 100%, seek out expert support, and do more than their opponents........and the results can often be astounding. I just don't see much evidence of any tangible improvement, so it begs the obvious question.......

Why not?

-- Edited by korriban on Sunday 29th of September 2013 06:32:20 PM

steven wrote:

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Laura has played Kerber twice before - the German won their first meeting at Barnstaple 50K in 2008 in 3 sets but Laura won in 3 sets at Wimbledon 2 years ago.

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 That last match of course was memorable for the Virginia Wade commentating epicness.

Thanks for all the reporting guys, interesting read through. kundalini at times seems to have mystic powers LOL

kundalini wrote:

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This is an extraordinary match. Both players desperately short of confidence. Laura wastes 2 bps with awful errors then KZ gifts her the break with a couple of terrible backhands.

Laura breaks again, assisted by yet more errors from KZ. And once more, after KZ saved 2 mps with super play. 

Well done Laura. Kept going and found some reasonable form in third set. Not many dfs for a 3 set match. Returning was about as bad as I've ever seen. 

-- Edited by kundalini on Sunday 29th of September 2013 10:39:52 AM

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Return of serve is all about doing your homework on your opponent, reading body language and spotting patterns as the match progresses, but above all anticipation, speed of movement and athleticism to get you into a good position moving forward which allows your tennis/hand skills to do the rest. I find it interesting that Laura's serve seems to have got a little better recently with her new coach (not as potent as it could/should be, but certainly less of a liability, especially under pressure), but if anything her return of serve has gone backwards, and her UE count on rally balls is still far far too high.

My sense is that the technical aspects of her game, like service motion, may be benefitting from Mr McClagan, but it would appear that her speed, footwork and fitness has NOT improved, and arguably have gone backwards since the second half of the 2012 season - reflected in a less successful return of serve, a UE count that reminds one of the 16/17 year old Laura, and a habit of petering out in longer matches (although not today). Her best results came in the first weeks and months under coach Krajan when I'm sure she did whatever she was told, however draconian and severe the training regime. It's not the results which suggest this to me, more the manner in which she was playing then, the manner in which she is now playing, and the ways she tends to lose points........after all, it tends to be Laura who controls the destiny of most points in her matches and NOT the opponent.

Unless she is going to request all her opponents hit their serves and groundstrokes towards wherever she happens to be standing, I fear that we could be describing matches as "almost unwatchable" for some time to come. Athleticism, speed, movement, footwork, fitness excellence is the only route from top 50 to top 10 for Laura....the rest she's pretty much got......go on bite the bullet.....find a taskmaster!

Well, I know we're a British tennis forum and so all the attention is, obviously, on Laura.

But I think that if you were neutral and watched that match (I saw the first couple of games and then all of it from about 4-3 in the second set), the thing you'd come away thinking is how on earth could Klara play so badly, especially at key moments ?

For a WR 33 player (ex-WR 20 only 6 months ago or so), it was dreadful. Really dreadful. She looked in great shape, superb fitness, and yet played a horrible third set.

I thought Laura looked positively calm and focused compared to Klara. And Laura's return in the third set was fine.

I'm not saying that Laura was particularly impressive (although there was some good positive stuff) but maybe it just shows that women's tennis can be very up and down. Certainly I wouldn't berate Laura after that match - but I would have a real go at Klara if I were her coach.

One thing I have always thougt about Laura is that so many shots go awry much more because of not being in position to a greater or lesser extent rather than shot technique.

That must be so frustrating when you've basically got the shots. Which makes me all the more surprised that Laura would appear to maybe not be doing all she can to improve her athleticism, in particular movement and footwork. Because with her stroke production at its best, I would imagine that it must be so satisfying when they speed off to basically where she wanted on court, very largely because she was precisely in position. You'ed want that feeling time and time again.

How much she is working in that area, and how much more she could do, of course, none of us knows.