Week 35 - US Open Singles Main Draw - Hard

DF · Tennis legend

RE: Week 35 - US Open Singles Main Draw - Hard

john · Top national player

Hmmm, I can only remember half a dozen points in the match that Heather actually went and won. The rest of the time she was relying on errors from her opponent. That performance was a total regression from the tennis she had started playing. Can't consistently win matches in Slams playing that type of tennis. Really disappointing.

rebel_rebel · Lower Club Player

God, what an awful match!

nicofrance · Strong Club Player

Watson needs to take a hard look at herself as she has been dreadful since Wimbledon, lack of positive play and mentally she looks brittle. Perhaps she needs a change of coach but overall her game is going backwards. Lauren Davis was slightly less woeful but anyone playing her in the second round will be cracking open the champagne!

indiana · Tennis legend

Real pity

Not saying at all that she was unlucky, but just what has happened to that aggressive intent and why are we not seeing it on court when she needs it ?

Strange. It's clear she really wants it and I wish her all the best, but Heather and coach really do need to get their heads together, which clearly they will.

PaulM · Tennis legend

Shocking performance. These kind of matches convince me more and more that Hev just doesn't habe what it takes to ever be a threat at the higher echelons of the game.

She just cant be relied upon to bring a competent level of tennis from week to week, even against pretty basic opposition (for this level).

Unless she has a stellar year ejd i just cant see her getting back up to ghe top 40 any time soon. Just far too inconsistent both week to week and within individual matches.

nicofrance · Strong Club Player

The problem for Watson is that even her defensive game isn't up to much at the moment, her lack of confidence when she was serving for the second set was clear. I really don't know whats happened to her but shes learnt nothing from her narrow loss to Serena Williams. I think she might be better served getting a new coach, a fresh start might be needed but currently shes going nowhere and she really needs to sort out her mental approach.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

A real disappointment as Heather struggled to impose herself on the match at any point today. Only a lack of killer instinct from Davis (with the final tie-break a big exception) made the score as close as it was. The second set in particular was there for the taking but she let it slip badly and she will need to regroup after a touch US summer.

It's not often I warm to an opponent as they beat a Brit but I did warm to Lauren Davis after watching her today - she plays with the minimum of fuss and maximum of effort and she has clearly added some power to her game over the last couple of years.

nicofrance · Strong Club Player

PaulM wrote:
Shocking performance. These kind of matches convince me more and more that Hev just doesn't habe what it takes to ever be a threat at the higher echelons of the game.

She just cant be relied upon to bring a competent level of tennis from week to week, even against pretty basic opposition (for this level).

Unless she has a stellar year ejd i just cant see her getting back up to ghe top 40 any time soon. Just far too inconsistent both week to week and within individual matches.

Totally agree, shes managed to lose to some dire opponents this year and she doesn't have the weapons to get much higher up. Laura Robson does have the weapons but even when she was on the rise was still inconsistent but at least she loses going for her shots, its a high risk game but certainly more enjoyable to watch and at least frightens opponents. Even with her current lowly ranking I'm sure she was one player the seeds wanted to avoid given her record of good wins against the top ten.

indiana · Tennis legend

Supposed serve guru ( and positive intent guru ? ), Greg Rusedski, doesn't appear to have noticeably helped.

-- Edited by indiana on Monday 31st of August 2015 06:02:15 PM

nicofrance · Strong Club Player

indiana wrote:
Supposed serve guru ( and positive intent guru ? ) doesn't appear to have noticeably helped.

I think the problem for her is naturally shes a defensive player and there was a brief spell where she tried to become more aggressive but she seems to resort to a more passive game when shes not confident, unfortunately even here defensive qualities seem to have gone at the moment which leaves her with very little chance of winning matches. We have seen these runs from her before where theres a lot of poor results. Maybe a sports psychologist is in order.

indiana · Tennis legend

nicofrance wrote:
indiana wrote:
Supposed serve guru ( and positive intent guru ? ) doesn't appear to have noticeably helped.
I think the problem for her is naturally shes a defensive player and there was a brief spell where she tried to become more aggressive but she seems to resort to a more passive game when shes not confident, unfortunately even here defensive qualities seem to have gone at the moment which leaves her with very little chance of winning matches. We have seen these runs from her before where theres a lot of poor results. Maybe a sports psychologist is in order.

Just realised that I hadn't given Greg his name check. Now added to the original.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Shame, but Davis played better than I expected, and she thoroughly deserved her victory. I do really believe that Hev is a confidence player, and when she can play her way into a tournament, maybe with an ugly win, she becomes a very dangerous opponent for the better players. If you look at her Hobart success, she had just spent a great week in Andy's company, which provided her with a great confidence boost. I also when looking at her playing schedule wonder whether she has to be careful with overplaying, because of her GF issue. I do firmly believe that she'll have a stronger Asian swing, maybe after some soul searching. I also wonder whether she is enjoying her tennis as much as she used to, digging deep to win matches etc.,

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes as you say, Phil, Heather seems to very much a confidence player.

Laura on the other hand doesn't appear to be. Awful one day, the next day appears to be very much a new day for her, though unfortunately similar can apply to great one day ...

TennisLover · Strong Club Player

Aggressive and offensive play is not something that is easy to come by especially at Heather's stage. Attributes for that style of play has to be nurtured during junior years. It is very difficult to develop the mental fortitude to apply it on a consistent basis at the top professional level without reverting back to type.