Argh; so close :(

Bit disappointed to be honest. She could have won that in straight sets but didnt close out last night which was a blow and she needs to find a way to get over those nerves heading into the summer. Nice fight in the third but after doing all the hard work was quickly broken once the pressure was back on her. Both Briggs and Dickson reporting four poor errors to hand Kerber the match.

 

Seems like her level fluctuated wildly throughout and she missed far too many final balls into the open court, but important she never gave up and fought every step of the way.

Kerber has been so out of form its hard to see this as anything other than an opportunity missed to notch up a top 20 win (the courtside journos seem to agree) but its been a good few weeks and im hopeful she can keep motoring over the clay to have a sniff at a Wimbledon seeding. 

 

Lots to be excited about for Hev thats for sure!

-- Edited by PaulM on Saturday 28th of March 2015 07:37:54 PM

Pity Heather couldn't get the win. I think a winnable match at her best.

What I find so good this year is that I believe her 'best' has moved up a few notches and when she's on and keeping playing reasonably aggresively she looks more capable than ever before. She can be more erratic than sometimes in times past, but she is going in the right direction.

459 ranking points from 6 tournaments in 2015 with 'just' 175 from 2 counting tournaments to defend before the French Open. Being seeded there must be an aim.

She has a further 295 points ( 110 from Roland Garros and 185 from Eastbourne, thanks to Wimbledon being a week later this year ) to defend before Wimbledon seeding date, so that looks more of a job, but getting that French Ipen seeding could be helpful for Wimbledon in turn.

My main concern is that she has a tendency to run out of gas, not sure if its GF related, but she plays flat at times as well. Her nerve to stick to aggressive play when in winning positions is also suspect BUT overall there is improvement but for me her ranking is about right, I don't quite see her as a top 30 player yet. Clay is Ok for her so I'm hopeful of some good runs there as well.

philwrig wrote:

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My main concern is that she has a tendency to run out of gas, not sure if its GF related, but she plays flat at times as well. Her nerve to stick to aggressive play when in winning positions is also suspect BUT overall there is improvement but for me her ranking is about right, I don't quite see her as a top 30 player yet. Clay is Ok for her so I'm hopeful of some good runs there as well.

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Taking Indian Wells and Miami together - wins over Giorgi and Radwanska, taking Suaraz Navarro and Kerber to 3 sets - I'd say that's top 32 form myself but as Paul says Heather does need to find a way of converting those narrow losses into wins; I'm quietly confident she may well get into the top 32 by RG :) 

vohor wrote:

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philwrig wrote:

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My main concern is that she has a tendency to run out of gas, not sure if its GF related, but she plays flat at times as well. Her nerve to stick to aggressive play when in winning positions is also suspect BUT overall there is improvement but for me her ranking is about right, I don't quite see her as a top 30 player yet. Clay is Ok for her so I'm hopeful of some good runs there as well.

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Taking Indian Wells and Miami together - wins over Giorgi and Radwanska, taking Suaraz Navarro and Kerber to 3 sets - I'd say that's top 32 form myself but as Paul says Heather does need to find a way of converting those narrow losses into wins; I'm quietly confident she may well get into the top 32 by RG :) 

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 I agree. I'm not sure I've seen her play better than in some of those matches. What's really impressive to me is the addition of the cross court backhand as a weapon, it was really moving players out of court. If she can keep developing that, and add consistency to the serve, we have a top 25 player.