Week 19 - ITF (W60) - Fukuoka, Japan - Carpet

Babfive · Satellite level

Week 19 - ITF (W60) - Fukuoka, Japan - Carpet

paulisi · Tennis legend

Heather is so reliant on confidence. Excellent win and hopefully a stepping stone.

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Very pleased for Heather.

PaulM · Tennis legend

Fantastic!

Nix · Futures level

paulisi wrote:
Heather is so reliant on confidence. Excellent win and hopefully a stepping stone.

Totally this!

Well done Heather and good luck for the rest of the year.

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

Wonderful stuff; well done Heather :D

JonH · All-time great

Great win , well done heather and in 2 sets!

JonH · All-time great

JonH wrote:
I see the surface is outdoor carpet and from past years they actually play on artificial grass, which has a Sand base. Tends to bounce lower than real grass but also slower and slippier. Not sure whether it will suit naomi too much , but heather with her lower centre of gravity and volleys might like it.

She liked it it seems!

Status Quo · Intermediate Club Player

Womes GB $60K titles in consecutive weeks; one could get used to this!
Well done Hev.

indiana · Tennis legend

Heather certainly seemed to need a confidence boost and even if this a 60K and with respect generally, and certainly initially, not the most testing of opponents up to the final, she was getting decent wins and court time.

However more impressive then, but probably helped by the rest of the week, is to collect the title in a well fought match against a 'proper' challenge in Diyas.

Well done

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

It will be interesting to see what Heather does next. Selfishly I'd like her to stay and at least start Kurume because 2 wins, as a high seed, and she may just about sneak into the Wimbledon main draw directly, 3 wins and 30 points for a semi final would almost certainly see her in. Katie B was in a similar situation last year after winning this title, she stayed in Kurume, but didn't play her R1 match until the Wednesday when she retired against Patterson 1 set all, before heading to Paris to prep for Roland Garros qualifying.

Fantastic win though as Indi says (against Diyas) and her best for some time.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

She obviously entered Kurume so would have intended to play it, but she may also feel she has got what she wanted from this trip with those 5 wins and 80 points, knowing she'll be assured of a Wimbledon WC anyway. The Japan final was Sunday last year and women's FO quals started on the Tuesday and if that combo came into fruition for Heather then it's a very tight turnaround. I don't know KBs individual circumstances from last year and whether RG was on her mind when retiring, or if she just wasn't up to continuing the deciding set, but you'd probably think that generally the deeper you go in this event, the chances of doing well in RG quals a few days later would shorten.

JonH · All-time great

If I was heather I'd stick in Japan, get used to winning, play and lose early in rg qualies for the dosh, let's face it she wont qualify and then get on grass at surbiton

indiana · Tennis legend

JonH wrote:
If I was heather I'd stick in Japan, get used to winning, play and lose early in rg qualies for the dosh, let's face it she wont qualify and then get on grass at surbiton

On balance I'd tend to agree. Lose early and she's had a bit more matchplay and decent time to get to RG. Go deep and she picks up decent points.

the addict · Tennis legend

If she lost in the first round of RG qualifying, she'd still get just over $7k, which is more than the RU gets in a 60k. I agree with JonH - get some more matches in, grow that confidence and then stop off at RG and who knows, might pick up a win there, but making the main draw is a bit of a step still.