Weeks 12 & 13 - WTA Premier Mandatory - Miami, USA - Hard

SuperT · Futures level

RE: Weeks 12 & 13 - WTA Premier Mandatory - Miami, USA - Hard

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

SuperT wrote:
Ace Ventura wrote:
Jo's had 10 BPs, chances on pretty much every game, yet one converted. Wang should get credit for saving them, but you're not going to win at this level with that conversion ratio. So disappointing the way this has gone from 4-2 first set.
Wang played well and was consistent, but not that special. One game Jo was 0-40 up and faced a really weak second serve which was there for the taking, but she totally overhit it, and after that the game was gone. Also I didn't see the whole match but I didn't see her call her coach at all. Wouldn't it have been a good idea to try and get some fresh ideas? I hate to say this but my overall feeling was that she was hopeless. Sorry!

No, I largely agree. I watched all of the first set but once I saw the way it was going, I was dipping in and out of other matches and just catching the odd point here and there.

I mean Wang is obviously no slouch, she's got into the top 20 by merit with a lot of good wins at home towards the back end of last year, but still had a lot of questions if she could do it outside of China - she's not reached the 4th round of any slam in 20+ attempts.

It mainly seemed a confidence issue, just mentally shot once that opening set and her body language wasn't great. To be honest, I've watched the Flink, Vekic, Parmentier, Hsieh, Bertens and Pegula matches in recebt weeks and I'm not even sure if I'd recognise her new coach.

10 games lost in a row is very concerning.

ROSAMUND · Futures level

Did not watch the match but oh dear. Not a good week for British womens tennis. To be honest you wonder how we are going to fare in the Fed Cup. We simply don't belong in the top group. There's not an equality issue either. Having said that there are reasons why female tennis players might perform badly at certain times. Even in 2017 when Jo had her successful grass court season she had a poor match at Birmingham against CoCo Vanderweghe and later on in China a very poor match against Niculescu. I read somewhere about Jo not wanting to call her current coach on court for some reason or other. It would be interesting to read any comments from Jo about the match afterwards. Really disappointing and disappointed. I'm adding this on about losing 10 games in a row and not calling on the coach. Back in 2015 at the Fed Cup with Judy Murray courtside she lost the first 10 games in a row against Govortsova. I don't believe that Jo doesn't care whether she wins or not. From social media her boyfriend was with her in Indian Wells and one assumes in Miami. One would think that you'd want to put on a decent performance in front of your loved ones even if it doesn't work out that way. Re coaches I know people comment on the fact that Jo finished with Fissette(based on the fact that Angie Kerber won Wimbledon) but she might have been better sticking with Estaben Carril after she had the successful run in the far east in 2016. Perhaps my earlier comment about Jo being competitive against the better players wasasking for trouble. Also in fairness recalling the match with Ajla Tomljanovic in Brisbane wasn't the score then 2-6 0-4 with points for 0-5 before Jo made a match of it? More recently at Acapulco against Donna Vekic didn't she lose 16 of the last 19 points?.Simon Briggs in the Telegraph says Jo lost focus and control from 4-2 up. However he comments that the collapse may have been related to the poor officiating which had been a theme throughout the event.

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Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

And now Serena withdraws so Wang gets a bye to the L16...

telstar · Strong Club Player

Serena withdraws-what a shock! Does it even more often than Nadull!

ROSAMUND · Futures level

Interesting article on the Telegraph by Simon Briggs about Johanna Konta in relation to her peak at Miami 2 years ago and the loss in Miami now. Emphasizes the problems of the line calling this year and where her game is now compared with where it was at its peak in 2017. A reasoned and sensible article.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Only watched it during half time in the footie. I blame Annie K.....as I switched over at 4-2 she stated that Jo had been imperious on serve at which point she promptly failed to get a first serve in all game and was broken. I only watched until 0-2 in the 2nd set as then went back to the footie. However, it suddenly struck me how she goes for the lines with almost every shot. And I was reminded of Kvitova who does the same. When either of them is on a roll (as when Jo stormed up the rankings), everything hits those lines and they are unplayable, but on an off day that lack of margin for error costs them dear and it all just looks wild. Jo hasn't looked super confident for a while so if I were coaching I'd be trying to get her to aim a little bit further inside the court, certainly in the short term. It would make almost zero difference to the effectiveness of the shot if the power and angles were right.

flamingowings · All-time great

indiana wrote:
L32: Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) & Heather Watson CR 88 (39+49) beat (7) Andreja Klepac & Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (SLO/ROU) CR 38 (19+19) by 6-2 7-5

L16: Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) & Heather Watson CR 88 (39+49) vs Darija Jurak & Raluca Olaru (CRO/ROU) CR 76 (40+36)

L16: Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) & Heather Watson lost to Darija Jurak & Raluca Olaru 7-5, 6-3.

mbturner · Lower Club Player

Weak performance, neither played well.

JonH · All-time great

On the back of the poor form of our women, it makes Kazakhstan look to be a tricky opposition to face in just a few weeks time; Putintseva is into Miami last 16, Diyas is just outside the top 100. As it sits now, I wouldnt feel confident predicting we could get 3 out of 5 wins in that tie right now. I would have expected we would win the Doubles at least, as Kazakstan have no one of note, but this loss doesnt fill one with confidence.

In singles, it would be hard to predict anyone beating Putintseva and certainly would be concerned we could get two wins against Diyas - not looking very positive right now!

indiana · Tennis legend

Heather's doubles form has generally been much better than her poor singles form and at quite a high level of competition.

Even if not too good yesterday , if required I would be fairly confident that she can contribute a Fed Cup doubles win possibly partnering Harriet.

My concern would be more if Heather is not picked for a deciding doubles.

JonH · All-time great

indiana wrote:
Heather's doubles form has generally been much better than her poor singles form and at quite a high level of competition.

Even if not too good yesterday , if required I would be fairly confident that she can contribute a Fed Cup doubles win possibly partnering Harriet.
My concern would be more if Heather is not picked for a deciding doubles.

I am sure you are right, Indy, would you feel confident that we can win 2 out of 4 singles right now?

PS Gary Mcallister (who lives or lived in Harrogate) got attacked in Leeds over the weekend, after a night out with his wife, bad news.

indiana · Tennis legend

JonH wrote:
indiana wrote:
Heather's doubles form has generally been much better than her poor singles form and at quite a high level of competition.

Even if not too good yesterday , if required I would be fairly confident that she can contribute a Fed Cup doubles win possibly partnering Harriet.
My concern would be more if Heather is not picked for a deciding doubles.
I am sure you are right, Indy, would you feel confident that we can win 2 out of 4 singles right now?

PS Gary Mcallister (who lives or lived in Harrogate) got attacked in Leeds over the weekend, after a night out with his wife, bad news.

I'd be fairly confident we can win at least 2 singles, decent chance in 3 of them anyway and I wouldn't totally rule out Katie B vs Putintseva though unlikely.

Yes, I saw a headline re that Gary McAllister attack

JonH · All-time great

indiana wrote:
JonH wrote:
indiana wrote:
Heather's doubles form has generally been much better than her poor singles form and at quite a high level of competition.

Even if not too good yesterday , if required I would be fairly confident that she can contribute a Fed Cup doubles win possibly partnering Harriet.
My concern would be more if Heather is not picked for a deciding doubles.
I am sure you are right, Indy, would you feel confident that we can win 2 out of 4 singles right now?

PS Gary Mcallister (who lives or lived in Harrogate) got attacked in Leeds over the weekend, after a night out with his wife, bad news.
I'd be fairly confident we can win at least 2 singles, decent chance in 3 of them anyway and I wouldn't totally rule out Katie B vs Putintseva though unlikely.
Yes, I saw a headline re that Gary McAllister attack

Good to see some confidence there!

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Don't even think the doubles are a given. Kazakhstan's pair, although at home, beat China who had a doubles specialist and another in the top 100 in their deciding rubber to gain promotion.

Assuming they go with Voskoboeva (#63) and Danilina (#143) again and not throw in Poots and/or Diyas it'll probably be evenly matched. Heather + Fanny beat Voskoboeva and her partner in Hungary recently, but they then lost to Danilina and her partner a week later at IW, albeit after both flew in from Hungary a few days earlier. Voskoboeva pretty much only plays doubles and has partnered Mladenovic a few times in recent months.

I'd probably lean towards 40/60 now. About a week ago, Konta's stock would probably have been higher than Poots nd you might have hoped/expected 2 wins from Jo, but a drubbing to Wang Qiang compared to fantastic successive wins over Bencic and Sevastova can't help but alter the mindset. Home advantage will surely help and increase our chances, but player for player, I'm not sure it'll be enough.