Week 30 - WTA Premier 5 ($2.7M) - Montreal, Canada - Hard

wolf · Tennis legend

Week 30 - WTA Premier 5 ($2.7M) - Montreal, Canada - Hard

Strongbow · All-time great

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

That seemed very unlikely for a very long time. But she finished rather well.
If she gets the serve firing on all cylinders again she can cause upsets, though, not I suspect in the next round against Muguruza. But, you never know!

wolf · Tennis legend

She gets the night session against Muguruza tomorrow.

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

I imagine the conditions were far more difficult than they looked while the wind was blowing. That or both players were playing at 10K level at the same time. Naomi's serve looked vastly improved in that final set so I'm guessing the wind wasn't as much of a factor. Quite a few super aggressive backhands from Naomi though plenty of errors too.

Garbine hasn't played since Wimbledon. Hopefully Naomi enjoys the occasion and who knows what might happen.

-- Edited by kundalini on Tuesday 26th of July 2016 04:19:14 AM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

philwrig wrote:
Also don't think it's a great matchup for Hev, with her lack of height finding it tough to return the vicious top spin/kick shots which come off Stosur's racket.

CD will be happy to see that her favourite British coach is in Hev's box this week ;)

Say no more..... cry

On a brighter note, I loved reading the posts back, especially those of Naomi, not only because she won (yeh!), but because you can 100% visualise the match, all the good, the bad and the ugly. I can't bring myself to watch Naomi most of the time but she really makes me smile; utmost respect; she plays tennis to the beat of her own drum, that one....

Thanks for the reports, everyone, and at some ungodly time of the morning!

PaulM · Tennis legend

Well done Naomi! If you can win playing horribly its still a win and a fine one too!

Hev about standard for her this year really. She's not a legitimate threat to the top girls.

Needs a strong next few months

philwrig · Hall of fame

Super congrats to Naomi, even if it was ugly at times.

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

YAY; well done Naomi :D
Good to see Heather made a decent fist of it getting to 5-5 in the first; hope she can find her best again soon

Mervatron · Masters Series Champion

Great stuff by Naomi. Seems to slowly be getting the mojo back even if she's not paying her best tennis.

wimdledont · Challenger level

Really good result for Naomi - Puig is 20th in the Race, with a major recent surge of excellent form, and stands a very good chance of being seeded come the US Open.

BUT that's now about 45 DFs in 3 matches at this tournament - which is getting up towards 12 games of free return points given away.

Her shot-making is so idiosyncratic that, like say Niculescu, she poses a set of very unfamiliar problems to the top players. She has a chance against Muguruza, particularly as she seems to relish a big stage. And even if she loses, could seriously throw out Garbine's normal rhythm, ahead of a next round against hopefully Konta.

Thanks to our correspondents above for some very descriptive reporting on the course of the match.

Naomi is now up to 79 in the liverankings, and would go to a new CH71 by beating Muguruza. Her results on US hardcourts last year were so good that she seemed to have a daunting task to defend over 350 points post-Wimbledon. With 30 points last week + 90 and counting this week, she's making a very good job of it. To be (just about) certain of making the cut for the Oz Open main draw, she needs to find about another 50 points between here and November.

philwrig · Hall of fame

I was there in Wrexham in 2011, when they played each other the 1st time ! Needless to say both have improved massively since. That day Naomi just wasn't solid enough from the back of the court. If Garbine is struggling, Naomi has a shot, hopefully she is.

Jaggy1876 · Grand Slam Champion

One more win for Naomi to be GB number 2 I believe at least on a temporary basis. She would certainly deserve it if she is to beat Muguruza. If it's a low quality error strewn match that Naomi has a chance. This erratic tennis whilst being anywhere but top 50 level can garner results these days. Perhaps another indication of Women's tennis overall.

indiana · Tennis legend

Jaggy1876 wrote:
One more win for Naomi to be GB number 2 I believe at least on a temporary basis. She would certainly deserve it if she is to beat Muguruza. If it's a low quality error strewn match that Naomi has a chance. This erratic tennis whilst being anywhere but top 50 level can garner results these days. Perhaps another indication of Women's tennis overall.

I make it that Naomi needs two more wins, ie to reach the QF, to go GB number 2.

Heather has 961 points.

Naomi started the week on 805 points and will add a net 115 points if she reaches R3 ( 30 qualifying points + 105 R3 points - her 16th counter of 20 ) putting her on 920 points.

The further 85 points for reaching the QF would put her on 1005 points.

Jaggy1876 · Grand Slam Champion

I thought Heather had points coming off though? You are probably right though. Having said that only a matter of time I think until Naomi takes 2nd I think. The fact she can get results by not playing with with her ugly game helps. We don't have many players that win ugly.