The choice will be so important. They will have sat down and agreed upon what style of tennis player she is to be. And what she currently has in her mind on that topic, I don't know.
-- Edited by skibbarriz on Wednesday 24th of February 2016 01:55:55 PM
Its sad to see the loss of form for Heather Watson. This year has been dreadful so far, its hard to know whats happened to her game but she's likely to drop out of the top 100 soon. I think she needs to go back to what she did well before, her game is based on sound defense and her quickness around the court. Perhaps she's trying to become a different player but simply doesn't have the sustained power of shot or accuracy to become that more attacking player. Its no shame to stick to what you do best. I know she does go through these up and down spells. I really hope she can make it back into the top 50 very soon. She has a lovely personality and it would be great to see her back really enjoying her tennis again.
Has it been THAT bad a start to the year?
She won 2 out of 3 matches in Hopman Cup beating Gavrilova and Lisicki and lost in 3 to Garcia.
She won 2 out of 3 matches at Fed Cup, admittedly against lower ranked opponents, but one was 6-2 6-0. She lost very narrowly to Van Uytvanck.
She won 2 out of 3 matches in Hobart. Unfortunately, because she'd done so well last year she lost a lot of points. The two she won were against top 50 opponents and the loss was a tight three setter which started at gone midnight after having played another match just a few hours earlier.
Her last two losses have once again been very close - against Babos and McHale.
So she has a 6-5 win-loss for the year including exhibitions; 4-5 against top 100 players but interestingly 4-2 against top 50 players.
she hasn't lost a single match in straight sets this year, so she has taken at least one set off every single player she's come against!
To me, thats not nearly as worrying as we're making out... she's lost three matches in a row. so has the world no.4 (and against weaker opponents on the whole!)
-- Edited by cwej on Wednesday 24th of February 2016 02:19:59 PM
I think the issue is that it is not just this year. Following a good start last year Heather had a lot of close losses similar to the one she just experienced and other than her runs at IW and Wimbledon did not have much success. I felt last year, possibly due to her coaching situation, that she did not play enough tournaments and particularly did not play in some of the weaker WTA events after first round losses in the bigger events.
Missing out on the opportunities to gain confidence boosting wins and pick up some cheap points has put her in this position now where she has 2 big counters making up a lot of her remaining points and a precipitous drop in the rankings is very likely. I hope that she can resolve the coaching situation soon and start playing a more balanced schedule mixing in a few of the bigger ITF tournaments with the smaller WTA events. If she can get her mojo going we all know she has the game to follow Jo into the top 30 but it has to start with getting that run of results as both Jo and Naomi did in the second half of last year.
-- Edited by theemptyvessel on Wednesday 24th of February 2016 02:45:52 PM
Yes, I would agree with cwej that it has not really been a "dreadful" start to the year ( and the summation given backs that up ) though certainly a bit disappointing that she hasn't really got her year going.
I thought that it was understandable and quite brave to go for the more attacking policy in a drive not to be satisfied but to really move forward. Unfortunately, she has rarely looked really comfortable with this, often seemingly thinking too much about it and maybe second guessing herself. I agree a good, understanding coach is needed so that they can plan the way ahead with her game, and if that involves a certain step back in gameplan to again more consistent, less attacking, no shame in that. She has given it a go at something a bit different, but it is important that she is comfortable with what she is trying to do.
Be great if she could have a really good few weeks. The odds no doubt are that she will be, but she's not down to GB #3 yet nor out of the top 100.
-- Edited by indiana on Wednesday 24th of February 2016 08:03:37 PM
I'm with you, cwej (and Indiana). Is it a red-hot start to the year? No. Is it a sad one? No. I'd say that under the circumstances, she's doing really quite well ... and she's picked up from (relative) dips before.
Heather has always been a player who can go out in the first round or go on and win it - so no point expecting consistancy. Hopefully the new coach will level it up a bit.
Almost every game has been going to at least one deuce.
Mirjana, though, just had her strongest service hold, to 15, so Jo will need to close at the second time of asking.
*5-4