Week 7 - ITF ($10K) - Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Hard

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

RE: Week 7 - ITF ($10K) - Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Hard

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Antonia's got herself a WC entry into the doubles too, playing with Mrazova (cze)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

L32: Danielle Konotoptseva WR 759 lost to (8) Gai Ao (CHN) WR 592 (CH 581 in Sep) 6-2 6-2

Antonia and partner lost their doubles 6-4 6-0

steven · Tennis legend

Antonia made quite a fight of it in the 2nd set!

L32: (Q) Antonia Smallbone UNR lost to (5) Ana Veselinovic (MNE) WR 504 (CH 329 in 2007) by 6-0 7-6(4)

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Coup Droit wrote:
L32: Danielle Konotoptseva WR 759 lost to (8) Gai Ao (CHN) WR 592 (CH 581 in Sep) 6-2 6-2

I make this Dasha's 10th consecutive singles loss (I'm sure someone will correct my maths if it's wonky!). She really does seem to be struggling which seems a shame as she got good results during her extended spell in Egypt late last year. I saw her in one of the British events when she returned from Egypt last year (when she went out to Rona Berisha - Shrewsbury maybe?), and she seemed to have lost an awful lot of weight and consequently quite a lot of her power, which I thought affected her game. Hopefully the weight loss was a conscious decision and not the result of illness, but she certainly doesn't seem to be the player who had made such a good start on her career and ranking during the first half of 2013. Does anyone know where she is training? It used to be Dukes in Chiswick but I believe she moved on from there early last year. A player must need good support around them when a run like this happens, otherwise I don't see how they can keep their confidence up.

steven · Tennis legend

Her 11th consecutive loss, sadly (I only remember because I had noticed that the previous one was her 10th), but 10th straight R1 loss.

Interesting what you say about seeing her last year. If the weight loss was deliberate (and for sensible reasons), you'd hope it would help her in the long run but maybe she's having difficulty adjusting at the moment. Looking at the scorelines and the rankings of the players she has lost to, I would say she is improving gradually on how things were at their worst in the second half of last year, so whether she's getting over illness or just adjusting, hopefully things are starting to get a bit better for her.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

steven wrote:
Her 11th consecutive loss, sadly (I only remember because I had noticed that the previous one was her 10th), but 10th straight R1 loss.

Interesting what you say about seeing her last year. If the weight loss was deliberate (and for sensible reasons), you'd hope it would help her in the long run but maybe she's having difficulty adjusting at the moment. Looking at the scorelines and the rankings of the players she has lost to, I would say she is improving gradually on how things were at their worst in the second half of last year, so whether she's getting over illness or just adjusting, hopefully things are starting to get a bit better for her.

It's good that you have been able to spot an improving trend which I had missed - posting opponents rankings and CHs probably makes you more aware! Hopefully this trend will soon become obvious to us all. Wish her well and hope she is healthy.