Week 23 - WTA 250 - Viking Open, Nottingham (grass)

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Week 23 - WTA 250 - Viking Open, Nottingham (grass)

indiana · Tennis legend

Julia Carrot wrote:
Very well done Jo. She played beautifully. I hope her knee problem has not been exacerbated, but likely has been in truth and that is why she is giving Birmingham a miss.

Yes, very well done Jo.

And re the knee, with her previously due to play Nottingham, Birmingham, Eastbourne and Wimbledon in successive weeks, and having played plenty tennis this week, I could well understand it being a proactive preventative withdrawal rather than a reactive withdrawal to further particular problems. Hope so anyway!

-- Edited by indiana on Sunday 13th of June 2021 04:48:03 PM

emmsie69 · ATP level

indiana wrote:
Julia Carrot wrote:
Very well done Jo. She played beautifully. I hope her knee problem has not been exacerbated, but likely has been in truth and that is why she is giving Birmingham a miss.
Yes, very well done Jo.
And re the knee, with her previously due to play Nottingham, Birmingham, Eastbourbe and Wimbledon in successive weeks, and having played plenty tennis this week, I could well understand it being a proactive preventative withdrawal rather than a reactive withdrawal to further particular problems. Hope so anyway!

I agree, a pretty comprehensive win and no need to play next week after quite a few matches on grass this week.

Andy Parker · Strong Club Player

Lovely to see Jo back - it is amazing after such a poor run of form, how she produced here. A well earned rest for Jo before hopefully good runs at Eastbourne and Wimbledon.

Well done Jo indeed.

indiana · Tennis legend

In the latest 14/06 rankings Jo's singles title here has slightly mitigated the rankings loss due to losing her RG 2019 points. She is down 10 places to WR 30.

In doubles Eden & Tara's 60 points for each playing together here has helped them to WR 176 and WR 178 respectively, GB #2 and GB #3 behind Heather WR 129, although all very close just now for GB #2 to 6 with Naomi WR 181, Emily WR 182 and Sam WR 186.

Tara has no ranking points due off before the second half of September. Her life and normal tennis partner Emina Bektas has also risen to WR 185 with a Dominican 25K RU. And with a follow-up 25K Dominican Republic title ( both these with Quinn Gkeason ) she is for now ahead of Tara in live rankings. The good thing for them and possible future opportunities is both their rankings continuing to rise.

TTMan · Intermediate Club Player

Andy Parker wrote:
Lovely to see Jo back - it is amazing after such a poor run of form, how she produced here. A well earned rest for Jo before hopefully good runs at Eastbourne and Wimbledon.

Well done Jo indeed.

Well done indeed and it's great to see Jo enjoying the game again. Well crafted winner's speech too.

There is evidence that Jo has put on the brakes on all year to protect her knee in reduced serving speed and mobility but I've always believed her underlying skills were still there and visible in her game. Covid restrictions will have worked against Jo too, such as gym needed to strengthen her knee and travel issues with Dan Smethurst (hitting partner / deputy coach) based in the UK and main coach Zavialoff in France. Also, quarantining in a hotel room would likely have caused her injury withdrawal at the AO.

Jo's service speed in Nottingham was significantly up (max 110ish mph). Though still down on Wimbledon 2019 (115ish mph) she still produced a very healthy supply of aces and effective second serves. Will be interesting to see how her life / career develops going forward. Lets hope in remains on court for a while yet.