Week 31 - WTA ($250K) International - Citi Open Washington, USA Hard

LordBrownof · Futures level

RE: Week 31 - WTA ($250K) International - Citi Open Washington, USA Hard

theemptyvessel · Club Coach

The most frustrating part of this is that the "training block" coincided with three WTA events last week with incredibly weak fields where Heather would have had a great shot to go deep if not win a tournament outright. Washington was always going to be a much tougher event and so it goes another first round exit.

This seems to be a trend with her schedule this year and I think she could benefit from changing her approach to go and get some wins and confidence at the less glamorous events and hopefully get her ranking up to where she can roll up to places like Washington and be seeded.

Priesty · Challenger level

The Stateside singles performances of Brits not named Broady have been hugely disappointing these last few days.

korriban · Challenger level

theemptyvessel wrote:
The most frustrating part of this is that the "training block" coincided with three WTA events last week with incredibly weak fields where Heather would have had a great shot to go deep if not win a tournament outright. Washington was always going to be a much tougher event and so it goes another first round exit.

This seems to be a trend with her schedule this year and I think she could benefit from changing her approach to go and get some wins and confidence at the less glamorous events and hopefully get her ranking up to where she can roll up to places like Washington and be seeded.

Difficult one to judge. Kyle could have played the U.S. Challenger immediately after his excellent tournament win 2 weeks ago. But he decided (in advance of his win, of course) to take a week out to train with Andy.....then got blown away by a journeyman in Washington qualies. who knows if he would have won the second Challenger event.

in fairness to Heather, if you want to be top 10 or 20, and after Wimbledon that didn't look too bad a shout.....you probably shoot for the stars With your training and tournament choices. that it's not worked out looks like bad scheduling, but if she'd grafted her way through today somehow and gradually found form (as Kyle did 2 weeks ago BTW) over the course of the tournament, we'd think she was inspired!

weird to be THAT out of sorts, however!

philwrig · Hall of fame

First of all I was impressed with Chirico, can certainly see her up into the top 50 in the next 2 years, but Hev put in one of those performances for which have been too often since she returned following GF. Flat, lifeless, too many soft errors, and looking like she was quite happy to accept defeat. She really has become an enigma since her return from GF, and with her more aggressive style. I do think she has the ability to get into the top 30 and stay there, but she has to be far more consistent. Playing weaker events in order to artificially raise your ranking has always been a short term view for me, but maybe she could play a few more weaker events.

PaulM · Tennis legend

Come on guys, the field here is good but she couldn't have asked for a better round 1 draw. Blaming the strength of tourney here kinda misses the point of the level of play and efforr she gave today.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

Let's not judge Heather's scheduling on one (admittedly very bad) result. She generally plays better with more matches, but there clearly needs to be a big step up in level over the next week or two.

indiana · Tennis legend

tony_orient wrote:
Let's not judge Heather's scheduling on one (admittedly very bad) result. She generally plays better with more matches, but there clearly needs to be a big step up in level over the next week or two.

I think it's an interesting discussion around such as striking while the iron is hot and holding to plans for training blocks, which risk upsetting short term momentum but may have later benefits.

It is the sort of interesting background discussion that I often like on this forum, even if it may be overforensic for some.

Some interesting points made. While by nature I am not short termist, I do wonder a bit in this instance. Certainly, like Phil, I wonder if adding in a few other say WTA International tournaments ( still a good level ) in general might be overall beneficial for Heather.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

indiana wrote:
tony_orient wrote:
Let's not judge Heather's scheduling on one (admittedly very bad) result. She generally plays better with more matches, but there clearly needs to be a big step up in level over the next week or two.

I think it's an interesting discussion around such as striking while the iron is hot and holding to plans for training blocks, which risk upsetting short term momentum but may have later benefits.
It is the sort of interesting background discussion that I often like on this forum, even if it may be overforensic for some.
Some interesting points made. While by nature I am not short termist, I do wonder a bit in this instance. Certainly, like Phil, I wonder if adding in a few other say WTA International tournaments ( still a good level ) in general might be overall beneficial for Heather.

Fair point - I don't want to get in the way of a good debate! What I meant was that I am not going to change my opinion on one match. I think there aren't many chances for a break in the season and last year Heather struggled as the season went on so a break now could do her good. If I was to question anything, then did she get out of holiday mode and back into tennis mode early enough?

insomniacfolder · Challenger level

R1: Naomi BROADY/Elena BOGDAN (GBR/ROU) 271 lost to Shuko AOYAMA/Eri HOZUMI (JPN/JPN) 179 1-6 4-6

Oakland2002 · All-time great

It depends a bit on what she has been working on, a bit of a catch 22 situation. There is a constant battle in terms of what you need to do to improve in the long term versus playing with what you've got in the hope that you'll get better through the experience of playing and refining what you've got. If your gradient of improvement is consistent you've got it right, the challenge comes when it flattened or stalls completely ie a player reaches their peak.

Hev can still get better, she has plenty of time in her career and has come of the back of an outstanding Wimbledon, realistically she was the only player to test Serena. There must be areas for development that Hev and her coach have identified, how to do that needs to be planned and takes time. Continuing to play gives no room for refinement she is now at a level where strategic rest, conditioning and training blocks are essential. The odd loss to a young player on a steep upward trajectory in the long term is neither here or there. A minor skirmish, the war is at the end of the month.

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

Yep, if Heather can have a great USO this result will have been neither here nor there as you say; here's hoping :)

insomniacfolder · Challenger level

From WTA: "Louisa Chirico, 19, scored her first career WTA main draw win with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Heather Watson. Chirico came into the Citi Open 0-5 in WTA main draw matches."

Randomly muses: So, the British Women are interesting at the moment, essentially we have no real form book for almost all our players; week to week the results are wildly unpredictable could equally be brilliant, awful or mediocre, with little pattern - Mirabelle excepted.
To some extent that is usual, but the noise in the data for our ladies seems very chaotic right now.

If they were all (or largely) still at the NTC, I'd say there was something in the water but then the boys would have gotten it too...

philwrig · Hall of fame

insomniacfolder wrote:
From WTA: "Louisa Chirico, 19, scored her first career WTA main draw win with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Heather Watson. Chirico came into the Citi Open 0-5 in WTA main draw matches."

Randomly muses: So, the British Women are interesting at the moment, essentially we have no real form book for almost all our players; week to week the results are wildly unpredictable could equally be brilliant, awful or mediocre, with little pattern - Mirabelle excepted.
To some extent that is usual, but the noise in the data for our ladies seems very chaotic right now.

If they were all (or largely) still at the NTC, I'd say there was something in the water but then the boys would have gotten it too...

I suggest 1 exception, and that ironically is Jo, who you would expect to be one of our more inconsistent performers.

indiana · Tennis legend

insomniacfolder wrote:
From WTA: "Louisa Chirico, 19, scored her first career WTA main draw win with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Heather Watson. Chirico came into the Citi Open 0-5 in WTA main draw matches."

Randomly muses: So, the British Women are interesting at the moment, essentially we have no real form book for almost all our players; week to week the results are wildly unpredictable could equally be brilliant, awful or mediocre, with little pattern - Mirabelle excepted.
To some extent that is usual, but the noise in the data for our ladies seems very chaotic right now.

If they were all (or largely) still at the NTC, I'd say there was something in the water but then the boys would have gotten it too...

As I said in a thread musing about our girls' performances last week it was my understanding that the higher ranked GB girls in general did have the NTC rather more as their British base. So maybe things have changed more for them.

So I speculated that they may be suffering some adverse delayed effect. Then again may be nothing in that.