Week 19 - $50K Fukuoka, Japan Grass

Priesty · Challenger level

RE: Week 19 - $50K Fukuoka, Japan Grass

paulisi · Tennis legend

Excellent news to get up to.

New CH as well.

Also won doubles.

steven · Tennis legend

Great news to wake up to - well done Naomi on reaching her first 50K singles final!

She should definitely now take out her Jan 2012 career high, probably up to about 180.

SF: (9) Naomi Broady WR 194 beat Chan Yung-Jan (TPE) WR 274 (CH 50 in 2007) by 3 & 3

FINAL: (9) Naomi Broady WR 194 v (2) Krystyna Pliskova (CZE) WR 126 (CH 86 in 2013)

H2H 0-2 - Pliskova won 4 & 4 at Kurume 2010 and 2 & 4 at Grenoble 2012

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

Great stuff Naomi.

Final will be tough. The Pliskova twins are basically the same player as Naomi but maybe a little better. Hope Naomi totally proves me wrong by winning tomorrow though

Sim · County player

Congratulations Naomi.

Got to b

e certain to get a Wimbledon wc, she is easily the 2nd best British woman in points earnt in 2014.

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

Naomi holds to 30 1-0*

Kristyna holds to love in no time with 2 aces *1-1

Naomi holds to 30 2-1*

Naomi with 2 bps. She breaks. One df at some stage. *3-1

Naomi starts with a couple of aces. Holds to 15 4-1*

Kristyna with another ace as she holds to 15 *4-2

Naomi holds to love 5-2*

Kristyna saves 2 bps (set points), one with an ace, then another ace to take the game *5-3

Naomi immediately goes 0-40 down. She saves all three but down another bp. Saved. Set point. No. Bp. Saved. Bp. Broken 5-4*

Kristyna holds to 15 including another ace *5-5

Naomi broken to 15. Huge momentum shift when Kristyna saved those 2 set points, winning 7 points in a row 5-6*

Kristyna holds to 30 5-7

Shame because Naomi looked reasonably comfortable on her serve until serving for the set at 5-3.

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Naomi saves 2 bps. Then df gifts another bp. Saved. Bp. Broken 0-1*

Kristyna holds to 15 *0-2

Naomi finally holds to 30 1-2*

Naomi gets a bp. Kristyna df to gift her the break *2-2

Naomi holds to 40 3-2*

Kristyna dfs her way to 15-40 but saves both bps. Another bp for Naomi. Taken. *4-2

Naomi holds to 15 5-2*

Kristyna's 7th df puts her in trouble at 15-30 but she takes the next 3 points *5-3

Naomi with 3 set points. A df. Then takes her 2nd 6-3

A surprising momentum shift, due, at least in part, to Kristyna's dfs. I thought Naomi was doomed when she was broken at the start of the set

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Kristyna holds from 30-30 *0-1

Naomi holds to love including her 5th ace 1-1*

Kristyna holds to 15 despite her 8th df *1-2

Naomi holds to 30 despite her 4th df 2-2*

Kristyna starts with a df. Naomi with 3 bps. 1 saved. Breaks *3-2

Naomi holds to 30 with a couple of aces 4-2*

Kristyna easy hold to love *4-3

Naomi does likewise including her 8th ace 5-3*

Kristyna saves a mp before holding *5-4

Naomi with another mp. Takes it 6-4

-- Edited by kundalini on Sunday 11th of May 2014 02:56:02 AM

Peter too · Tennis legend

Hopefully Naomi's service is back to the very high standard she reached in the QFs with a string of aces and very few DFs. Last night she started with several DFs but after 3 service games tonight she has scored 2 aces and no DFs.

Peter too · Tennis legend

There has been a huge turn around in serving ability as this match progressed. Both clearly rely on a very strong service game. Early on Naomi had 3 aces to 1 DF while Kristyna had 7 aces to 3 DFs. It now stands at Naomi 8 aces and 4DFs to Kristyna 7 aces and 10DFs.

Peter too · Tennis legend

F: BROADY, Naomi (GBR) 9 194 beat PLISKOVA, Krystyna (CZE) 2 126 5-7 6-3 6-4

Well done Naomi!

Last year I thought she had probably reached her peak and would slowly fall back but she has really turned it round and it will exciting to see just how far she can now go.

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

So Naomi started well then went to pieces after Kristyna saved 2 set points, especially after she was broken serving for the set. Kristyna appeared in total control a set and a break up but once she lost her rhythm on 2nd serve, she allowed Naomi to take 5 games in a row. Naomi did well once she was back in the contest.

I still think of Tara and Sam as being better players than Naomi but perhaps she has improved since I last saw her play in the autumn. On fast surfaces her serve is a huge weapon. On slower courts she can look very ordinary.

-- Edited by kundalini on Sunday 11th of May 2014 03:28:31 AM

steven · Tennis legend

Thanks for the reports - what a wonderful week for Naomi!

That should take her to a new career high in the mid-160s (166 by the looks of it)

She has now won singles titles at 10K, 25K and (for the first time) 50K levels in the space of 8 weeks!

Oh, and she has now gone over 200 points since the start of 2014

Priesty · Challenger level

Well done Naomi!! biggrin biggrin

Wonderful to see after a dismal 2013!!! Not only back on track but racing ahead of where she was before! Could be an exciting UK grass court season for her....

paulisi · Tennis legend

Excellent news.

I've seen Kristyna play and when she's good, she's very good. However she is very reliant on that big serve for easy points and it quite regularly misfires.
It looks like Naomi look advantage at the right times.

Just seen her prize money this year before this week was $13k, so with a Wimbledon wildcard will probably make a living out of tennis this year.

In addition to that she should qualify for full LTA funding next year....

DF · Tennis legend

Congratulations to Naomi.!

korriban · Challenger level

Every time I've watched Naomi play in the past, I've seen huge weapons, particularly her serve (although it used to become so predictable that it often became a liability against better players as matches progressed) and massive technical flaws. What was also evident was a fantastic attitude and a real will to win. I'm surprised on one level that she has really progressed in 2014, but absolutely delighted for her.......clearly this is 90% down to herself, but perhaps her time spent with the Mouratoglu Academy team has paid off in some way. I really look forward to watching Naomi on grass this Summer, and unless she is exhausted, she must be a dark horse to win again this week on her favourite surface. Brilliant stuff!

-- Edited by korriban on Sunday 11th of May 2014 07:04:58 AM