Week 5 - WTA 500 ($565K) - Melbourne Gippsland, Australia Hard

ROSAMUND · Futures level

RE: Week 5 - WTA 500 ($565K) - Melbourne Gippsland, Australia Hard

Andy Parker · Club Coach

Lovely to see Katie back to her best and firing on all cylinders.

Lots of people thought that she was too thin and not up to mixing it with the top players - I felt that this was a red herring, as there are lots of very good players who are fairly slim, and that the Katie B I saw who made the top 100 really looked like a good all round player with all the shots and a good attitude to boot. Whatever happens from here, using her Protected Ranking and choosing to fly and quarantine to Australia has been the right decision.

There were people on here who posted comments that they didn't think with the standard she was at, that she would currently beat any of the top players - I always felt and said that her ranking was just due to her recovery from injury and that she just needed regular tennis and to get a run going - hopefully this is the tournament that marks her comeback properly.

Glad she has proved the doubters wrong, but much more glad that she once again looks like the tremendous prospect that I believe her to be. Even if she loses heavily to Osaka, she has already done enough to indicate that she belongs in the top 100, and I don't think it is certain that she will be trounced..

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

As I recall, most of the posters who were concerned about her being too thin (me included) was not that it would, in itself, stop her being a great tennis player but that it would make her more prone to injury, which - then - would impede here progress

And given her history of back injury and her ongoing battles with chronic fatigue syndrome, which makes it extremely difficult for her to train properly, to get the strength that would support her body, it's a fair concern. And still a current concern.

However, I completely agree, and always have, about her potential and, yes, it's wonderful to see her performing well, and seemingly happy and healthy.

Peter too · Tennis legend

R2: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 5 14 def PERA, Bernada (USA) 63 6-2 6-3
R2: BOULTER, Katie (GBR) 369 def GAUFF, Cori (USA) 48 3-6 7-5 6-2

R3: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 5 14 (CH=4 2017) v BEGU, Irina-Camelia (ROM) 79 (CH=22 2016)
R3: BOULTER, Katie (GBR) 369 (CH=82 2019) v OSAKA, Naomi (JPN) 2 3 (CH=1 2019)

Jo beat Irina in two in Rome, earlier this year.
Katie lost to Naomi in Birmingham and Wimbledon in 2018.

-- Edited by Peter too on Tuesday 2nd of February 2021 08:14:26 PM

Andy Parker · Club Coach

Coup Droit wrote:
As I recall, most of the posters who were concerned about her being too thin (me included) was not that it would, in itself, stop her being a great tennis player but that it would make her more prone to injury, which - then - would impede here progress

And given her history of back injury and her ongoing battles with chronic fatigue syndrome, which makes it extremely difficult for her to train properly, to get the strength that would support her body, it's a fair concern. And still a current concern.

However, I completely agree, and always have, about her potential and, yes, it's wonderful to see her performing well, and seemingly happy and healthy.

There were lots of people who posted about Katie B being too thin (so I wasn't specifically directing this post at anybody), but there were a lot of people who felt that the attention she had was hyped up by the media because she is slim and good looking, and that the attention wasn't warranted, and that somehow she was the poster girl of the tabloids and not the real deal. I have always said that it should not matter what a tennis player looks like and that a good looking player should not be somehow ashamed of their good looks, and that it is fair enough if they then get extra sponsorship as firms want to use them to endorse products - this will never, ever change, so there is no point railing against it. For me, Katie B is the real deal and I feel certain that she will make it back into the top 100 at some point, and who knows how far up the rankings she can get.

Will being slim cause her extra injuries - you may be right Coup that back injuries are associated with very slim people. I am 5 foot 9 and 9 and a half stone - almost a pensioner now, but still swimming 2 miles every time I can get in the swimming baths, but the one thing that always plagues me is bad back, and I do agree with you that pencil thin people are much more likely to suffer from back problems.

dodrade · Futures qualifying

seagull wrote:
dodrade wrote:
Great win for Katie after saving a match point (although Coco seems to be slipping somewhat), I went to bed at 5-5 in the second and was too nervous to watch. No expectations on her against Osaka so can just give it her best shot.

Does she have no one else with her in Melbourne apart from Jeremy Bates?

-- Edited by dodrade on Tuesday 2nd of February 2021 11:17:13 AM
Pretty sure she didn't save a match point?

Sorry got that wrong.

christ · Futures level

Peter too wrote:
R2: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 5 14 def PERA, Bernada (USA) 63 5-2 6-3

New shortened scoring system?

Barefoot · Lower Club Player

Nice work Katie. I won a whole tenner on her at 5-1, lots of you got better odds!

Coco really needs the opportunity to go away and develop further outside of the pressure that is the current media attention, but Im unconvinced the powers that be will let her...

flamingowings · All-time great

Gosh Andy, my recollection of those posts were mainly of the injury concerns like CD posted rather than she is a pretty lass (which she is, but so are all our players tbh).

It is great that Katie has been able to play with higher ranked players and gain some momentum.

Peter too · Tennis legend

christ wrote:
Peter too wrote:
R2: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 5 14 def PERA, Bernada (USA) 63 5-2 6-3
New shortened scoring system?

I always check my posts before hitting send but I still miss typos. disbelief

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Katie is a 9% chance to beat Osaka according to TA. Jo is only 40% to beat Begu. Still unsure re this one. But the TA algorithm is built on method, although not always correct in its predictions.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Looking at it more closely, TA gives Begu an elo rank of 15 and 13 in hard courts. So ahead of Jo in their ranking. It must be driven by her doing well at Indian Wells 125 and Prague Challenger last year and these probably have a disproportionate impact on their rating.

Jo should certainly look to cause the upset in this one.

brittak · Satellite level

Well didnt really see this coming but Katie has taken the first set 6-3 (two breaks of serve). She is playing really well with some wonderful ball striking. Her only downside has been 5 or 6 double faults from one end which I guess might be down to the position of the sun?

Anyhow lets hope she can keep this going....

-- Edited by brittak on Wednesday 3rd of February 2021 12:52:31 AM

DelayedReaction · Lower Club Player

This is really exciting

LordBrownof · Futures level

This is so good.