Week 12 - WTA Premier ($6.1M) - Miami, USA Hard

murrayman650 · ATP level

RE: Week 12 - WTA Premier ($6.1M) - Miami, USA Hard

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Really surprised Jo didn't call for Esteban Carril at 1-4, things unravelling a bit quickly.
Vika steady, Jo dipped very considerably.

murrayman650 · ATP level

15-0

30-0

40-0

5-1

0-15

15-15

30-15

30-30

40-30

40-40

adv Konta

40-40

adv Konta

5-2

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Did quite well there to at least hold and ask Vika to serve it out.

murrayman650 · ATP level

15-15

30-15

30-30

30-40

40-40

adv Azarenka

6-2

GSM Azarenka

6-4 6-2

Peter too · Tennis legend

QF: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 24 23 lost to AZARENKA, Victoria (BLR) 13 8 4-6 2-6

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

Ah c**p, still a good couple of week's work, so I'll take it.

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Second set a bit of a let down after the first.
But, Vika's returning and reading of the game are way above anything else Jo has faced.
Jo's serve wins her a lot of cheap points, not against Azarenka because Vika gets many more returns back, and builds pressure.
Similarly, Jo's double handed cross court BH has been destroying opponents, but Vika was reading it, moving really early on it, and returning it, sometimes with interest.
Turns out Azarenka is quite good at tennis!

Can't deny anything from Jo though, fantastic, generation best, stuff yet again.
Hopefully she'll learn from all this, and next time be able to keep the level for the second set too.
Well done Jo!

Clay, well perhaps the form is now good enough that she'll start to re-write her own achievements on the surface to date. I think thats what everyone is hoping. I do expect a slowdown though, but that's no disgrace or slight to Jo.

indiana · Tennis legend

Very good week for Jo, lost her way a bit in the second set, but she was playing a quality player who was putting a lot of pressure on.

And women's tennis is the better for having a fit and healthy and even occasionally stroppy Vika back near the top.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Jo was dialled into her 'A' game maybe even 'A+' game against Nicu and in the 1st set here, but Vika's ability to raise her level on the big points was just too much for Jo, disappointingly Jo dropped a level or two in the second and Vika was unrelenting, nice embrace at the net afterwards. Had lots of discussions at the FedCup as to whether Jo could get into the top 10, I said no at the time, but I'm upgrading my expectation to definitely top 15 after watching her this week.

theemptyvessel · Club Coach

indiana wrote:
Very good week for Jo, lost her way a bit in the second set, but she was playing a quality player who was putting a lot of pressure on.

And women's tennis is the better for having a fit and healthy and even occasionally stroppy Vika back near the top.

Agree with all of this. With Serena looking a little less dominant than 12 months ago I think Vika is in with a good shot of adding to her haul at GS level and maybe even finishing the year at number 1. Certainly I expect Vika to beat whoever she faces this week now that so many top seeds are out and make it an IW & Miami double. In that context I think Jo did really well and will only get better as she plays more of these types of matches.

wimdledont · Challenger level

Vika is certainly in my view the best player on the WTA based on the YTD. So that was very creditable from Jo, and Vika was very complimentray post-match.

Jo's form last year actually picked up first on the clay, first in America, esp in doubles, then took off from there.

She's also I believe been training on clay in her new Spanish set-up.

philwrig · Hall of fame

I think clay will be solid for Jo, certainly not her best surface, but I basically believe she has been effective on the surface in the past, so it would be reasonable to expect her to perform well enough this time around. It certainly helps when you're seeded.

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

Thought Jo was doing great at the end of the first set and really had Azarenka worried (and stropping!); pity she couldn't quite get the break back for 5-5.

Great experience and brilliant tournament :)

nicofrance · Strong Club Player

No shame in losing to the worlds best player on current form. I thought Johanna played well especially in the first set but sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say the other player was superb.