Coup Droit wrote:

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PockyTastic wrote:

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You're welcome. It's a fun match, especially from a British perspective as Mandy is now 5-2 up in the second set.

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Yes. And that was certainly a fun last point.

Do wish Mandy would come in and take the ball out of the air sometimes, on the loopy, defensive shots when her opponent is in trouble.

But didn't stop her winning nicely today.

Well done.

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 Agreed, there were countless times that Amanda was pressing and Turati hit a defensive shot that could have been taken in the air but instead Mandy backed off which effectively re-started the rally... maybe Mandy's short stature puts her off hitting drive volleys? 

Yes. Agree.

But maybe she should work on changing that mindset a little.

Because Mandy was certainly the more offensive one from the back of the court, but lost her advantage in the point way too often - and, as Pocky says, there were countless 'very easy' drive volleys to be taken - and it would have stopped the Italian being so comfortable putting up the defensive high shot, and made her go for more, which would almost certainly have ended in more errors on her part.

But, yes, each to his/her own. And I like watching her.

Just wonder if she watches back the video sometimes and analyses where she could possibly have tried a different tactic.

And, to be honest, a 10k is exactly where she should be trying that sort of thing: given her points tally, there's not a great deal of point in playing 10ks - only winning it will give her any extra points of note. And 10ks are a loss-leader - the money will only, if anything, break even, and usually not that. So someone ranked 300 or so would only really play them to get a few wins under her belt, and try out certain tactics etc. in a match situation.

QF: CARRERAS, Amanda (GBR) 1 319 def TURATI, Bianca 5 533 7-5 6-2

SF: CARRERAS, Amanda (GBR) 1 319 v DENTONI, Corinna (ITA) 3 452 CH=132 2009

Amanda has 25 pts to defend before the end of the year - she needs some scores to do that hence the 10ks where she knows she'll do well.Whether she'll want to change her game at the same time as she's moving up a level (25ks) is a bigger problem.

The better scores she gets at 10k - the more breathing space she gets at 25k. Also the more matches she wins the better the confidence.

Always going to be hard at this transition. There's a huge gap between 300 and 250.

Good luck tomorrow

 

Coup Droit wrote:

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It's only really 20 or 21 points to defend as she has (small) counters to cover those coming off.

And given she's got 121 points in total, then the Oct-Dec quarter must be one of her lowest scoring quarters (if not THE lowest) and so the one she can take the most risk on.

I'm not saying 10ks aren't a valid option but, for someone of her profile, you've got to use them to take your game forward, and just replacing a few lowish point months isn't really going anywhere.

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 There's also a confidence factor - (like a lot of players) - she does better after a string of wins - she should mix and match the 10ks with higher tournaments. You have to bear in mind that she does not usually do well against players that are 50+ ranks above her. She usually does well against lower ranked players and holds her own against those just above and below her - hence her progress this year. Going into tournaments where she might even have to qualify, or just scape into R1, is a really big ask. She needs to choose them carefully.

Still - Good luck tomorrow

 

Coup Droit wrote:

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Yes, but obviously she does not normally do well against players ranked 50 places higher - if she did, she'd be ranked 50 places higher herself.

I've no problem with her choosing to play some 10ks (and why should she care what I think anyway) and I'm not saying she should play tournaments where she has to qualify. Quite the opposite. 10ks are a good idea BUT if she wishes to progress she has to use the 10ks as a means to getting better, not just as a means of getting a few 10k points.

I really enjoyed seeing her play this year (saw two of her matches and bits of a third) and she has many really good qualities - I just think a bit of focused coaching/strategy to move her forward is in order. And these are the tournaments to try it out (if she had the coach and the gameplan to do so).

But, of course, good luck tomorrow - any old how !

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 Saw her play today -Agreed