Week 32 - WTA Premier ($2.44M) - Rogers Cup Montreal, Canada Hard

Jan · Hall of fame

RE: Week 32 - WTA Premier ($2.44M) - Rogers Cup Montreal, Canada Hard

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

I'm so glad i wasn't following that match LOL

Great to see Hev pulled it off though

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

Theres a vid here if anyones interested:

www.youtube.com/watch

I didnt realise Hev was 0-3 down in the TB

airsmashers · County player

Heather lost the 1st set 6-2 but has now broken back in the 2nd to get past that 2 games barrier.

2-6*3-3

steven · Tennis legend

L16: (Q) Heather Watson WR 57 lost to (8) Viktoria Azarenka (BLR) WR 11 (CH 1 in 2012) by 2 & 4

A great week though and 6 games against Vika is more than Hev won in their previous 3 meetings put together!

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

Heather played reasonably well but was very careless at 30-0 3-3 in the 2nd set having just broken back. She had all the momentum then simply gifted Azarenka the next 3 points and saw a 2nd serve despatched on bp. On the positive side, some super combination play, creating an opening then striking a winner.

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

Been another great week for Hev. To be fair she must have been tired after the match the day before and 3 3 set matches. All of which she should have won in 2 LOL

Back in the top 50 and beating top 20 players now, great strides forward

indiana · Tennis legend

Very good week, and the way Heather's ranking points are now distributed, so much opportunity to move further up the rankings.

Counting ranking points added in :

September to December 2013 : 130 from 5 counters
January to April 2014 : 280 from 5
May to August 2014 : 675 from 6 ( 650 from last 5 )

Total : 1085 from 16

BeefyDeedz · Pro player

Many positives from this week as a whole! From the points to taking more games off of Azarenka than she had in three previous meetings. She seems willing to push on and I could see her doing very well with little points to defend in the rest of the year.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

indiana wrote:
Very good week, and the way Heather's ranking points are now distributed, so much opportunity to move further up the rankings.

Counting ranking points added in :

September to December 2013 : 130 from 5 counters
January to April 2014 : 280 from 5
May to August 2014 : 675 from 6 ( 650 from last 5 )

Total : 1085 from 16

Heather played really well and won a lot of matches in Jan to April too; it just shows how much harder it is to rack up ranking points from a position outside the top 100

philwrig · Hall of fame

This match reminded me so much of her Kerber/Halep matches. Losing the 1st set but not looking outclassed, then hanging tough in the 2nd, and putting the opponent under real pressure. Best performance of the tournament by Hev and another step in the right direction. Vika was marginally affected by the knee problem, pulling up occasionally lame after a rally, but it was her best performance since the start of the year. If I look at the rankings I would put Hev in the 30-40 range at the moment, just about all the top 30 players are still a little ahead of Hev IMO. Still though she is a much better player than when she hit a career high a couple of years ago, when I actually thought she was overranked.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Quite annoyingly Vika fell apart in her next match, clearly hampered by her knee injury.

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, Tony, with all Heather's qualifying and general draws when lower ranked, I do think that has to an extent inflated the points difference between January to April and May to August.

However, well as she undoubtedly played early in the year, I do think that she has generally continued to improve.

I think there was ( rightly ) quite an element of being very impressed with her play earlier in the year, particularly after coming back from Glandular Fever. As the year has progressed, and with a lower overall percentage of wins ( really because she has been generally playing higher ranked opponents ), I do feel that folk have with greater expectations become more picky.

The facts are, to my mind, that she is continuing to progress well, and while indeed probably overemphasised, these more recent ranking points are some reflection of how she has been playing in recent months. Her two equal CH wins ( against WR 12s ) have come in June at Eastbourne and this week.

indiana · Tennis legend

That's now 37 wins and 14 losses for the year for Heather.

Against WR 1 to 50 : 6 wins, 9 losses
Against WR 51 to 100 : 10 wins, 2 losses
Against WR 101 + : 21 wins, 3 losses.

Very consistent against lower ranked opponents, with mitigating circumstances for some losses. Also, this year getting more wins over top 50 players including CH wins.

I would tend to agree with Phil that she's now pretty much around the 30 to 40 range, although with that already pretty much her "race" position and with her on an improving trend, I would tend now to be more thinking of her as just about edging into the top 30.

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

Now wouldn't it be a joy if Laura and Heather could actually be fit at the same time...