158 seconds of highlights (or full screen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1ozVFBD71M )

Venus takes the 1st set v Kerber 7-5

QF: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 10 11 def HALEP, Simona (ROU) 3 5 3-6 7-6(7)  6-2 

 

SF: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 10 11 v WILLIAMS, Venus (USA) 11 12 CH=1 2002 

H2H 2-1 

Wuhan 2015 4-6 6-3 5-7

Australian Open 2016 6-4 6-2 

Stanford 2016 7-5 5-7 6-2 

-- Edited by Peter too on Thursday 30th of March 2017 12:55:44 AM

The WTA live blog has an excerpt of a coaching timeout between Halep and Cahill.

20:21 Coach's Corner: Cahill and Halep

Here's an excerpt -- yes, this isn't all of it -- of the exchange between Halep and Cahill after the second set. Halep was down in the dumps at the start, but Cahill did well to get her out of it and approach the third set more positively.


Halep: "This is my character. I am so bad. I am ridiculous."

Cahill: "Well how are you going to fix it?"

Halep: "No chance."

Cahill: "Well get it all out. You've got a couple of minutes to get all the frustration out. How about you have a little conversation with the person who sits with you. What would that person tell you right now? You're a set all against a very good player and for the majority of this match you've been completely fine. You can write yourself off but I'm not writing you off."

Halep: "All the time I complicate things."

Cahill: "Well then Simo, you have an opportunity to make a difference. That's all I can say. You've been in this position many times before and most times, you're coming out second best. Right now you have an opportunity to change things. It's up to you. You can decide what you want to do here. You can go down this path and that's fine. Or you can take a deep breath, put your towel on your head and try and get a little better in these situations. It's as simple as that. It's up to you. It comes from within. It's no problem venting and getting all this stuff out, that's no problem, as long as you are willing to make a difference. And if she beats you playing great tennis, no worries. Shake her hand and tell her well done."

Halep: "Do you think I can win this match?"

Cahill: "Absolutely I think you can win this match."

skibbarriz wrote:

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Etienne wrote:

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The WTA live blog has an excerpt of a coaching timeout between Halep and Cahill.

20:21 Coach's Corner: Cahill and Halep

Here's an excerpt -- yes, this isn't all of it -- of the exchange between Halep and Cahill after the second set. Halep was down in the dumps at the start, but Cahill did well to get her out of it and approach the third set more positively.


Halep: "This is my character. I am so bad. I am ridiculous."

Cahill: "Well how are you going to fix it?"

Halep: "No chance."

Cahill: "Well get it all out. You've got a couple of minutes to get all the frustration out. How about you have a little conversation with the person who sits with you. What would that person tell you right now? You're a set all against a very good player and for the majority of this match you've been completely fine. You can write yourself off but I'm not writing you off."

Halep: "All the time I complicate things."

Cahill: "Well then Simo, you have an opportunity to make a difference. That's all I can say. You've been in this position many times before and most times, you're coming out second best. Right now you have an opportunity to change things. It's up to you. You can decide what you want to do here. You can go down this path and that's fine. Or you can take a deep breath, put your towel on your head and try and get a little better in these situations. It's as simple as that. It's up to you. It comes from within. It's no problem venting and getting all this stuff out, that's no problem, as long as you are willing to make a difference. And if she beats you playing great tennis, no worries. Shake her hand and tell her well done."

Halep: "Do you think I can win this match?"

Cahill: "Absolutely I think you can win this match."

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Moments like that are hardly a boost for the reputation for womens tennis. She's a top 5 level player in the world for crying out loud. I'd be embarrassed to overhear that sort of exchange at ITF or Challenger level. On court coaching facilitates the female players being less tactically and emotionally robust. They should get rid of it. 

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 She's a 25-year-old girl (no sexism intended, the same applies to a 25-year-old boy). However you look at it they are young people first and foremost, not automata. The challenge for all concerned is to get the best performance from a person, and pretending that they should be tennis-playing robots does no-one any favours.

JK gets off to a ripper 3-0.

currently 4-2