Week 40 - $4.7M WTA Premier Mandatory - Beijing,China - Hard

Peter too · Tennis legend

Week 40 - $4.7M WTA Premier Mandatory - Beijing,China - Hard

PaulM · Tennis legend

Heather has her usual bright start, twice a break up but now 6-5*

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

Heather took the first set 7-5 :D
5*-5 in the second

thejester · Satellite level

Up an early mini-break in the breaker. Come on Hev!

thejester · Satellite level

Make that a double 5-1*

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

GSM to Heather 7-5; 7-6 (2) :D

thejester · Satellite level

Good, solid win from Heather. And pretty impressive with a 1st serve percentage of just 42% to come through unscathed.

PaulM · Tennis legend

Well done, saved set point at 4-5* in the second

Jan · Hall of fame

Well done Heather!

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Yay!

insomniacfolder · Challenger level

Q1: Heather WATSON (GBR) [q4] 60 defeated Su-Wei HSIEH (TPE) 113 7-5 7-6(2)

FQR: Heather WATSON (GBR) [q4] 60 vs. Kateryna BONDARENKO (UKR) [q15] 82 (CH 29 12/2009)

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

Must be difficult for Heather to see Jo absolutely flying and taking the GB No.1 at a time when she has been struggling a bit. At least in the last couple of weeks Heather is seeing off this type of match that she should be winning and I'm sure the more wins she gets under her belt, the better she will play.

Bondarenko tomorrow is another in the 'should win' category.

skibbarriz · Strong Club Player

I typically think that British players find it a positive to see their countryfolk doing well. Heather is definitely a glass half full kind of girl and thinks generously towards others. Her form has been such that there can barely be a 2 month period that can called struggle free. Unfortunately the good moments have been bordered by bad.

Can't help but wonder if her attacking mentality reboot has done her more harm than good. She seems to have lost consistency and assurance. Especially with what we were hearing recently about recognising what your strengths are with Naomi. Heathers strength in the Serena match was all about the mental strength and composure and belief she displayed. I got the feeling she very much played to instinct in that match. Solidity mixed with counterpunching is what i see as her ticket to sucess. I think the wayward and unpredictable Heather is born out thinking she needs to be something else. Initially, I both supported and was excited by her decision to try a more offensive and dominant game style. At the time, she talked about wanting to become the type of player that comes in more finishes points off at the net. Does she do that stuff successfully now? Is it an improvement?

I've read more about her matches on here than I've seen live, so you guys may be able to correct me if i'm way off with some of this. But it's the feeling i have, looking back at her year. Whatever she tried to change, it seems like it destablised her and she lost the core strength and dependability of her game.

indiana · Tennis legend

Interesting.

I too very much supported the general intentions and logic of Heather adapting to being more attacking. I"m in more of a quandry now, really because Heather seems to be within matches, partly because she's maybe not convinced herself.

I certainly get the impression of a lot of second guessing going on, which must make things very difficult. Whereas, yes, against Serena, she appeared to just go out and play, not a lot of time to think should I be more / less aggresive here but when chances arose she generally took them.

I think I think ( second guessing can be terrible ! ) that it's still the way to go, but she will need good backup.

TennisLover · Strong Club Player

Missing a crucial part here - the powerful mental factor.

I don't think her match against Serena can be used as an example of what she can do.

Heather was playing with absolutely nothing to lose against someone who was under immense pressure.

You don't become an aggressive player overnight. It takes years and is nurtured through junior years (juniors and their entourage who focus on development rather than headline grabbing results). Aggressive/offensive play is a mindset thing as much as any of its other attributes. There is no room for hesitation. You and people around you have to mentally accept that you are going to make lots of errors. The aim is not to avoid making errors but to improve technically to make less of it.

The dilemma of defensive/passive players - who are accustomed to being consistent and winning a lot of matches through their opponents basically giving them free points - is that they mentally just cannot adjust/accept making errors or losing matches that they feel they should be winning.

Once they realise that they've reached the end of the road of where a defensive/passive game can take them, they decide to want to become aggressive, which is usually too late.

So yes skibbarriz, she might as well stick to what she is good at.

-- Edited by TennisLover on Friday 2nd of October 2015 07:53:39 PM