philwrig wrote:

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Sublime performance by Jo, I'd rate it a 10/10 apart from the blip near the end of the match, having seen their previous matchup I knew MN's tricky slices wouldn't cause her problems but that performance was better than anything she produced at the Oz open, Vika will be very very tough but play like that and I wouldn't completely rule out the upset.

Hev looked a bit jaded and carrying a small injury made it tough but she still played some good stuff at times.

-- Edited by philwrig on Monday 28th of March 2016 10:38:12 PM

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Got to give room within the out of 10, including all the other matters guys might rank out of 10 or nowhere to go when the absolute dream arrives    

Verrry good though.

Brilliant performance and a brilliant result

Jo has taken responsibility for harnessing her talent over the last 12 months and performances like yesterday reflect how well she matured as a competitor. With her coaches she has moulded her backhand (particularly cross court as mentioned by others earlier) and serve into consistent offence weapons allied with a relatively less potent but deep forehead in defence, the consistency of the later I think has been underestimated in keeping her in points allowing her to finish them when her opponent plays to her strengths. That is where she will be challenged in week 2. 

Nikulescu is atypical in terms of how she plays, frustrating opponents willing them to implode and thereby surviving as opposed to winning each round. Jo's game has matured most psychologically and from that perspective last nights game ranks a 10. Given her successes in last years US open and more recently in Melbourne she is beginning to show the consistency of game of a top eschelon player who is judged on her week two performance, as week one goes that was definitely a 10 but she is now moving from the undergraduate curriculum to have her thesis examined. 

I am really optimistic that Hev will be able to see how close she is to being able to make that step, although not quite having Jo's weight of shot she has great athleticism and there is no question that consistent use of her present ammunition backed with a baseline psychological 8 plus would put her in the same place.

With Katie likely to evolve over the next 2-3 years into a top 80 player and who knows a fit Laura moving in a similar direction and I think ladies tennis will be getting its market share of TV audience every June/July on these shores and with a frightening cohort of American teenagers I can't see August/September being too shabby across the pond. So very exciting here and on a broader front some top quality ammunition for the WTA to answer critics if the ladies game in the right way.

insomniacfolder wrote:

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Courtesy of the WTA: "...this is the first time since 1987 Australian Open that two British women have reached R16 at a 96/128 draw tournament"

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Kudos Jo and Heather

And Jo our first ever quarterfinalist at WTA Miami  

If it is only one pair can play in the mixed dubs, I would have thought Jamie would have more right to the place than his younger brother....