domi breaks back to take it and was too good overall
4-6 3-6
1st 3 matches are good steps though in what still could be a frustrating year for hev til those mandatoreys start coming off
stay patient and banking the points til then
good start, something in bank and plenty of time on court beat 2 players above her
plenty to build on
second serve needs lots of work
Pity, but still a pretty encouraging few days for Heather.
Re Heather's mandatories, the issue is not so much that she has so many poor mandatory scores clogging up her rankings, it is much more simply that they are generally so poor ( clearly with some extenuating circumstances ).
If you took her best 16 scores rather than 8 mandatories plus best 8 others, she would only have 30 more ranking points ( 555 rather than 525 ) with a 20 and 15 replacing one of her 5s and 0 from the one mandatory thay she actually missed.
What she really needs to do this year is generally replace these poor mandatories with much better mandatories, although yes she may drop some if she has to qualify and fails to do so ( hopefully not ).
Mire immefiately, she hss the issue that her one decent mandatory score ( 160 points from last year's Aussie Open ) is due to drop off imminently and she currently only has a 20 to teplace it with.
She's unlikely ever really to build up best others that will make a huge difgerence to her ranking as against having to count msndatories ( if not quite as extreme as Laura, for whom a ny score of 5 actually is in her best 16 anyway ).
Mire immefiately, she hss the issue that her one decent mandatory score ( 160 points from last year's Aussie Open ) is due to drop off imminently and she currently only has a 20 to teplace it with.
She's unlikely ever really to build up best others that will make a huge difgerence to her ranking as against having to count msndatories ( if not quite as extreme as Laura, for whom a ny score of 5 actually is in her best 16 anyway ).
Indiana - were you typing this left-handed as an experiment!!
Ha Ha, seagull, I was waiting for a comment from someone.
No, I was typing it on my mobile, when it often looks like that until I go back over and edit it. Unfortunately, I accidently sent it and I can't retrospectively edit from my mobile.
Recorded the match on BTSport and watched most of it this morning. Annie K was co commentator and was pretty good I thought.
Positive start to the season for Heather. She should be one of the favourites to qualify for the Aussie open.
Don't qualifiers get the single point for losing in R1? Steven's table shows 25 pts not 26.
No they don't (unless they've changed that this season too, but I haven't seen any evidence that they have) - in women's events, if you qualify and win a main draw match, the qualifying and main draw points get combined but if a qualifier goes out in R1, they only get the points gained in qualifying.
Conversely, in the few men's events where you still get points for a R1 defeat (i.e. slams and Masters, unless the player got in with a main draw WC), you do add R1 points to the qualifying points if you qualify then go out in R1.
__________________
GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
Impressed with the 1st set, nearly had Domi, but just couldn't sustain the level, looked a bit winded at the end of a hard fought 1st set. Got her 2nd wind after it was too late in the second.
Overall very good week, playing Sydney next week, the same week as Oz qualies, so we'll see how that works out.
-- Edited by philwrig on Monday 30th of December 2013 06:48:24 PM
Just watched most of the match now. Very good first set, not much between them, Domi slightly more consistent and attacked Hev's second serve. Hev could keep up the consistency in the second set.
I have no doubts that Hev will jump up the rankings soon(she will drop after Aussie Open), but should fly after that. Domi is 80+ places above and there wasn't that much between them.
Looks like we have a couple of very good co-commentators now. Annie K was excellent as is Sam Smith.
Overall very good week, playing Sydney next week, the same week as Oz qualies, so we'll see how that works out.
Seems a bit of a strange decision to play Sydney. I'm sure Hev won't want to miss out of AO Qualies, where she should have a great chance of getting through on current form, so if she gets through Sydney qualies she will put herself in a difficult position. Having got 4 matches under her belt in Brisbane I wonder if she might change her plans.
Are you allowed to play Tour and GS quails in the same week?
What happens if Hev gets through quails and wins a couple of rounds?
Hev's not made the main draw for Melbourne as far as I can tell.
Yes because Sydney belongs in week 2 and Aus Open is officially a week 3 event. The rules don't allow a player to be involved in two events in the same (official) week. If Heather is still competing in Sydney when the qualifying draw is made then she will be withdrawn. The standard scenario is that most players will play a few rounds of Sydney qualifying then tank prior to the Aus qualifying draw if necessary.
-- Edited by kundalini on Tuesday 31st of December 2013 08:45:04 PM
No, but don't you remember a couple of years ago, Robbo was in Eastbourne qualies, and Birimngham dragged on due to rain, and funnily enough, she was 'sick'.
I won't mind if Hev is 'sick' at least it'll mean that she's on a good run.