Will put full match report up later. Decided to walk the 3 miles back to hotel to de stress

Ugh and this is a premier mandatory too. Thats a killer ranking wise. Maybe she can get a US Open seeding, she's left too much work for herself for RG/Wimbledon in my view especially with points still to drop which will see her slipping down into the low 40s

I await with interest ( not sure that 'looking forward to' is the appropriate phrase here ) to Bob's report.

He's not being short changed on epic matches !

Wow. I am not sure how many more matches like this I can take after the last two days. So let's begin this one from the beginning.

Heather served first and started a little tentatively. A DF and an easy volley in the net, left her facing a BP. But from the moment she saved that with a backhand cross court that caught the line, she didn't look back in the first set. Playing her new aggressive style, she simply blew Duque off the court. She hit with power and precision off both wings, attacked the Duque 2nd serve and was rewarded with several outright winners on returns. It was so impressive, I found myself thinking - Queens, Andy v Roddick, "keep it social" and all that. Hev was completely dominant in every facet of the game and fully deserved to dish out a 1st set bagel.

A French guy sitting to me asked Hev's ranking. I said, 40. He replied, "she can't be, she's far better than that, she's brilliant."

It was right at the start of the 2nd set that things started to go wrong. In the opening game, Heather missed just long with 3 attempted winners and was broken. In truth, I didn't mind that because I felt as long as she keeps attacking, she will come out on top. But from then on she went very much on the defensive. How much of that was a confidence thing and how much was from a change of tactic by Duque, I don't know, but I suggest that both factors played a part.

Duque started to play with a lot of slice and kept the ball very low. Hev's timing went completely and she looked a different player. Duque also used the drop shot to great effect, regularly drawing Heather in to the net and then passing her with monotonous regularity. Heather never really found an answer to the drop shot and that play almost became a "banker point" for Duque. I should also add that Heather's first serve deserted her and the second serve became ever more tentative as the match went on, dropping shorter and shorter, allowing Duque to dictate the points.

Heather fought hard as she always does but never looked like winning the set and ended up losing it 6-3.

Heather also went 0-2 down at the start of the decider but there were already signs that he game was beginning to come back. She broke to love, but then lost her serve again. She was a little unlucky in that game because three points in a row, Duque hit the line leaving Hev to deal with the unpredictable bounce.

Duque then held to lead 4-1 but I found myself more confident than ever that Hev would get back into it as her tactics and timing were so much better than in the 2nd set. The difference here of course was that Duque herself was a very different player to the 1st set, so we now had a much better quality match on our hands.

Heather fought back superbly and went on to lead *6-5 and serve for the match. The drama was just beginning though. Heather played very well to get to 40-15. But Duque hit two stunning winners, one from each wing, to save the MPs. Not much Heather could do about either of those. It was just "well played Duque". The next MP though will give Heather nightmares. She hit an excellent inside out forehand, forcing Duque off the court. Hev took the chance to approach the net which was absolutely the right move. Duque dug out a sliced backhand cross court and Hev was left with a head high backhand volley, 4 feet from the net. Duque was still outside the tramlines. Ball in court, match over. But Heather put it long. Of all Heather's 5 MPs, this was the only one where you could say she messed up, but this was a biggy.

Into the tiebreak and Heather found herself facing MPs at 4-6 but held on. If memory serves, one was a Hev winner and Duque dumped another in the net. From here of course, MPs came thick and fast for both players. Hev had two more at 7-6 and 9-8, I think. The first was the banker play from Duque. Drop shot, Hev dinked it to the backhand corner and Duque hit the cross court pass. The 2nd was another story altogether. Heather hit a strong inside out forehand that had Duque at full stretch. She again dug out the backhand slice, but this one hit the net, hopped up, landed again on the top of the net and literally rolled on to Heather's side of the court. On such fine margins are matches won and lost, confidence boosted or broken and fans left ecstatic or desolate.

Now it was Heather's turn to save MPs which she did with aplomb. The first was a cross court forehand which hit the sideline and the second was a backhand kill off a short ball having put Duque under pressure.

But at 11-12, it all came to an end. Heather to be fair played another excellent aggressive point and was left with a short high bouncing forehand from well inside the service line. But as Heather was about to hit the winner, Duque did the splits and fell flat on her face. I am sure Heather was distracted. Any "bunt" would have won the point, but the forehand went a whisker long. It was close enough to question the call, but a quick check of the mark by the umpire sealed Heather's fate.

I was left deflated, but I can only imagine how Heather was feeling. It was a match that could, and probably should, have been won. But when you are on a bad run and confidence is low, it is hard to get over the line.

I am left singing a Bob in Spain rendition of an old Rod Stewart song. The lyrics go something like this:

Oh I'll try to win again but I know ........ the last point is the hardest.

I'll let you lot guess the real song.

Meanwhile, Heather will be having nightmares about high backhand volleys and net cords.

Cheers Bob, as usually happens, match points lost are usually a combination of bad luck, good play from your opponent, and occasionally a bit of tightness from the player trying to win the match. Gut wrenching stuff.

Hopefully Bob you now have time to de-stress, these matches really need a government health warning.

philwrig wrote:

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Cheers Bob, as usually happens, match points lost are usually a combination of bad luck, good play from your opponent, and occasionally a bit of tightness from the player trying to win the match. Gut wrenching stuff.

Hopefully Bob you now have time to de-stress, these matches really need a government health warning.

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I can hopefully get a little rest tomorrow as I don't think there is ANY GB participation at all.  Which is a shame really as "an old friend of the forum" has sorted me out a player pass for tomorrow.

Edit

I should add that tomorrow will be my last day here this year, unless there are any drastic last minute changes to my plans.

-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Sunday 3rd of May 2015 09:17:53 PM

Although Heather hss undoubtably not been playing clise to her best very much recently, I do see real causes for optimism this year.

And that is mainly because her 'best' has definitely moved up a level this year. She doesn't just now produce it often enough, and today is not the first time I have seen or heard of her being too easily put off continuing a generally successful more agressive style. I think she still retains this "I don't like missing" mindset and while she is banging away and they are going in all good, but missing two or three quite close to each other seems to unnerve her.

The old more consistent Hev, but NOT agressive enough to really make an impression at the top level at times may be something we'd like to see more of. But the changes to her game are right, just clearly still will need a fair time to bed in and become more her default mode.

Thanks very much for the great report, Bob. And althiugh it must be a vsry painful defeat reasons for optimusm like that first set, her third set regrouping and losing the final set TB more just losing one that could have gobe any way from two battling players than having major clising out issues.

I did notice latterly ( I just followed LS from *4-5 final set ) the seemingly big number of mussed first serves, but I take it that that is a technical thing more than anything.

Ultimately again, when she can produce first sets like thus ine evidently was there are clear reasons for optimism. I prefer these who have shown that they really do have a high gear. If Heather is for now turning rather mire than expected into Laura in that regard, good. Laura haz her faults, as some let folk know only too well, but when she was