Week 38 - ITF ($75K) - Albuquerque, USA Hard

nicofrance · Strong Club Player

RE: Week 38 - ITF ($75K) - Albuquerque, USA Hard

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

indiana wrote:
Naomi certainly has played better, but again Krajicek was not overall much the better player or she wouldn"t have ever been two mathpoints down and winning 7-5 in the third

There have recently been signs of better movement and better general play from Naomi if agreed not really today.

But maintain such recent much better consistency on her serve weapon and just keep working on other areas and the future is certainly looking better than I imagine few foresaw not too long ago.

I agree with that. I suppose I meant "more talented" in general rather than an assessment of her performance on the day, which had good points and bad points.

Yes I was one who thought Naomi had blown her chance of top 100 when she barely managed to win another match after her Wimbledon win last year. Her success really has surprised me. Though it was evident on the grass in 2014 that the various elements of her game could be impressive on their day, the problem being getting enough of them to turn up for a given match to get the win.

indiana · Tennis legend

nicofrance wrote:
indiana wrote:
It's most enlightening to discover there are weaknesses in Naomi's game
Lol! So is forum policy that we're now not allowed to point out a players weaknesses and where theres room for improvement. It's like if a player loses we've got to come on and just spout a lot of pleasantries like poor luv, she tried her best, give her a hug blah, blah. I call it as I see it. I'm happy to give credit and plaudits when a Brit does well or plays well and loses. If a player underperforms or puts in a below average performance then criticism is perfectly acceptable. I'm not questioning Broadys guts or determination to do well but simply pointing out her second serve returns are generally rubbish and she needs to move a bit more and not stand there like a statue hoping the ball will come to her.

You point miss.

I'm all for folk saying it as it is, hey I have someone around here that keeps questioning how full my glass is , so don't mistake myself or most folk here as uncritical cheerleaders. Much of what you say about Naomi is very true, my point was really that much of it is also very well known to have been true for a long time.

Let's agree that hopefully she continues to work to improve these various areas such as movement, return of serve and still even now some of her shot production. If only so much could have been corrected / improved at an earlier age.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

Looking at the ranking points she has gained this season really illustrates how spectacular Naomi's recent form has been:

Up to the end of July: 23 tournaments played, 222 ranking points earned (average 10, highest 30 & lowest 1) - position in WTA race 181
From August onwards: 5 tournaments played, 308 ranking points (average 62, highest 110 & lowest 30) - position in WTA race c. 112

WR100 hovers around the 600 point mark, so Naomi has got half the points she needs to be ranked inside the top 100 in just 2 months. I think it's unrealistic to think she will maintain this current level of form (though JoKo has shown it is possible) but also hopeful she can be consistently at a much higher level than the start of the year.

indiana · Tennis legend

kundalini wrote:
indiana wrote:
Naomi certainly has played better, but again Krajicek was not overall much the better player or she wouldn"t have ever been two mathpoints down and winning 7-5 in the third

There have recently been signs of better movement and better general play from Naomi if agreed not really today.

But maintain such recent much better consistency on her serve weapon and just keep working on other areas and the future is certainly looking better than I imagine few foresaw not too long ago.
I agree with that. I suppose I meant "more talented" in general rather than an assessment of her performance on the day, which had good points and bad points.
Yes I was one who thought Naomi had blown her chance of top 100 when she barely managed to win another match after her Wimbledon win last year. Her success really has surprised me. Though it was evident on the grass in 2014 that the various elements of her game could be impressive on their day, the problem being getting enough of them to turn up for a given match to get the win.

Oh me too. I just never saw this rise back up the rankings and past her CH coming. It's been such a pleasant surprise.

nicofrance · Strong Club Player

indiana wrote:
nicofrance wrote:
indiana wrote:
It's most enlightening to discover there are weaknesses in Naomi's game
Lol! So is forum policy that we're now not allowed to point out a players weaknesses and where theres room for improvement. It's like if a player loses we've got to come on and just spout a lot of pleasantries like poor luv, she tried her best, give her a hug blah, blah. I call it as I see it. I'm happy to give credit and plaudits when a Brit does well or plays well and loses. If a player underperforms or puts in a below average performance then criticism is perfectly acceptable. I'm not questioning Broadys guts or determination to do well but simply pointing out her second serve returns are generally rubbish and she needs to move a bit more and not stand there like a statue hoping the ball will come to her.

You point miss.
I'm all for folk saying it as it is, hey I have someone around here that keeps questioning how full my glass is , so don't mistake myself or most folk here as uncritical cheerleaders. Much of what you say about Naomi is very true, my point was really that much of it is also very well known to have been true for a long time.
Let's agree that hopefully she continues to work to improve these various areas such as movement, return of serve and still even now some of her shot production. If only so much could have been corrected / improved at an earlier age.

Fair enough, I certainly wish her the best of luck and hope she can make that step forward.

Long time reader · Lower Club Player

Thought that was a phenomenal effort to hang in there as long as she did in the final set considering she looked to be really struggling with the heat, just a shame she didn't connect with that forehand on match point. Still an awesome couple of months and whatever weaknesses Naomi may have her fighting spirit and desire certainly aren't lacking.

Personally I think Naomi's movement has improved a lot over the last few years and she gets a lot more balls back than she used to, but I don't really think improving her movement more is going to have much impact at all on her results, as she is never going to be a good mover.

For me improving the return of serve and the first ball after her serve are the areas which will have the biggest impact on wins and losses and therefore how high she can go in the future. I think she needs to be more aggressive on return, which she seemed to be in the matches I saw last week but not so much this week.

Strongbow · All-time great

Well done Naomi - I'm sure she's gutted not to win - but still a very good week biggrin

Also, a new CH and no score >20 to defend untill next June smile

wolf · Tennis legend

Oh wow, for some reason the match hasn't been made available for catch up on the live stream but I'm glad it wasn't - reading through this thread was torture enough.

With her points distribution I'm fairly confident she will crack the top 100, but let's hope it's not a James Ward like crawl across the line.

Peter too · Tennis legend

F: BROADY, Naomi (GBR) 7 127 lost to KRAJICEK, Michaella (NED) Q 435 7-6(2) 6-7(3) 5-7

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

Peter too wrote:
F: BROADY, Naomi (GBR) 7 127 lost to KRAJICEK, Michaella (NED) Q 435 7-6(2) 6-7(3) 5-7

Pity Naomi couldn't get over the line this time cry

On the bright side, new CH world #122 this morning biggrin

-- Edited by vohor on Monday 28th of September 2015 03:19:00 PM

-- Edited by vohor on Monday 28th of September 2015 03:32:37 PM

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

Naomi's points haul from her last 5 tournaments, if multiplied by 16/5, would give her 985...alongside the current world #54; what an amazing run! Here's hoping she can keep it going in Linz and beyond :)

paulisi · Tennis legend

wolf wrote:

With her points distribution I'm fairly confident she will crack the top 100, but let's hope it's not a James Ward like crawl across the line.

There are a lot of points needed to bridge the gap from 122 to 100 - although Naomi hasn't too much defend for a while, but will need a few more big tournaments.

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

Yes she's 111 points adrift....a WTA International SF plus one! ;)

indiana · Tennis legend

Only 62 points ( 552 - 490 ) adrift though of the current WR 108, which should be the approximate Aussie Open main draw cut off point, which I think is the first point of interest.

Only 1 net point ( 10 - 9 ) to defend before entry date, though any points she adds will be reduced by her lowest counter, currently 10.